D&D 5E Monks - Bonus Actions, Extra Attack, Flurry of Blows, and Movement

[dmnqwk]

This is, unfortunately, one of those times when the poor grasp of the English language causes problems.

I am aware of who said it, but it's explicitly stated that "you can attack twice, instead of once, when you take the Attack action on your turn." Now this states you take the attack action before using up all of your attacks because otherwise you are incapable of attacking when you take the action. It also suggests you have taken the action before completing it, so then we'd be in the realm of "immediately after" instead of it saying "upon completion of an attack action."

Again, while I do enjoy the slight roughshod flexibility of 5th edition with so much interpretation even the creator of the game disagrees with what he put in text, because the person responsible for ensuring Extra Attack, Section 8's combat text and the Monk ability Flurry of Blows was not employed to actually perform a check that they all make sense together.

As such you should feel free 100% to allow the Monk to flurry of blows after either attack and if anyone questions it, give them a stern look like you're about to deduct XP or throw them in a pit of acid they cannot escape out of. (But don't let him use more than 1 Bonus Action unless you want him to be super powerful!)

 

[Galendril]

Just a couple of things to note:

1. It's not "Bonus" Action it's "Bonus Action." The difference is each turn you can perform 1 Move Action, 1 Action, 1 Bonus Action and 1 Reaction.
The Reaction is granted when your character reacts to things, for example Attacks of Opportunity. This is where the old "1 AoO a turn" is hidden, because you only get 1 Reaction until it's your go again.
The Move Action, as you rightly believed, can be split between Attacks of an Attack Action.

I don't mean to be overly nit-picky, but for purposes of being explicitly clear there is one other action that can be taken each turn. It's the Free Action which is typically used to draw one weapon, but can be used to interact with any object within reach.

I realize this isn't part of the OP's question, but anyone who's new who reads this post should be made aware.

 

[Leugren]

This is, unfortunately, one of those times when the poor grasp of the English language causes problems.

I am aware of who said it, but it's explicitly stated that "you can attack twice, instead of once, when you take the Attack action on your turn." Now this states you take the attack action before using up all of your attacks because otherwise you are incapable of attacking when you take the action. It also suggests you have taken the action before completing it, so then we'd be in the realm of "immediately after" instead of it saying "upon completion of an attack action."

Again, while I do enjoy the slight roughshod flexibility of 5th edition with so much interpretation even the creator of the game disagrees with what he put in text, because the person responsible for ensuring Extra Attack, Section 8's combat text and the Monk ability Flurry of Blows was not employed to actually perform a check that they all make sense together.

As such you should feel free 100% to allow the Monk to flurry of blows after either attack and if anyone questions it, give them a stern look like you're about to deduct XP or throw them in a pit of acid they cannot escape out of. (But don't let him use more than 1 Bonus Action unless you want him to be super powerful!)

You're overthinking this. The Attack Action normally consists of one attack. With Extra Attack, the Attack Action can consist of two attacks instead of one. You are allowed to Flurry after you complete the Attack Action. That's the face-value interpretation of the RAW, unless you overanalyze it, trying to look for hidden meanings that aren't there. You are, of course, free to ignore the RAW and the accepted RAI, but it's good to understand them before you start to fiddle with them in the same way that it's good to understand an auto engine before you start trying to customize it. Perhaps the authors of the rules are using specific turns of phrase that are more common in the U.S. than in the U.K. That's certainly a possibility and might be a contributing factor to a misunderstanding of this sort.

 

[Eltab]

An L5 Monk with the ki available should be able to roll 4 x d20 attack rolls on his turn: Attack, Extra Attack, Flurry(1), Flurry(2). As I read it, he can move before the first attack, between each of these attacks, and after the last one (total distance is limited, but not how you split it up). He can attack anywhere from 1 to 4 targets.

Does your group have a Ranger? Get him to take the feature about "you do +1d8 to a target at less-than-full HP" plus his series of "call in some artillery" spells, and the two of you can team up to clobber Team Monster.

 

[Pants]

This came up in our game last night.

The party were getting ready to ambush a particularly inattentive scouting party of gnolls and hyenas. The level 5 wood elf monk got the highest initiative in the group. He proceeded to move 15 ft., first attack against a hyena, killed it, moved 10 ft., killed the second hyena with the second attack, and then moved another 15 ft. and killed the third hyena with the bonus action attack.The next two party members to go ended up mowing down the remaining two gnolls in two turns. It was honestly pretty gloriously awesome. The ability to break up movement between attacks is so much more interesting than the 5-ft. stepping full attacking of Pathfinder and 3e.

This was the first combat they'd had since turning level 5 so it was a great example of the jump in power they got.

 

[Nebulous]

Can somebody clarify for me how many attacks a 5th level HASTED monk can get in a single turn? My wizard player is telling me it is ten attacks, which I feel is wrong, but but frankly the verbiage confuses me and I haven't seen a hasted monk before. I think it is 5 attacks including burning a Ki point, but I would like to see it clearly spelled out.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Can somebody clarify for me how many attacks a 5th level HASTED monk can get in a single turn? My wizard player is telling me it is ten attacks, which I feel is wrong, but but frankly the verbiage confuses me and I haven't seen a hasted monk before. I think it is 5 attacks including burning a Ki point, but I would like to see it clearly spelled out.

LOL, yeah, they are wrong--you are right.

Attack (1)
Extra Attack (2)
Flurry of Blows (3 & 4) via Ki point
Haste (5)

It is important to understand Haste is very nerfed from prior editions. It allows you 1 extra attack via the attack action (this is specified in the spell description). Also, since Flurry of Blows uses your bonus action, that is limited to once per turn.

EDIT: Something to shoot for if you do multiclassing:

Fighter 2/ Monk 5/ Ranger 3

Attack (1)
Extra Attack (2)
Flurry of Blows (3 & 4)
Horde Breaker from Ranger (Hunter) (5)
Haste (6)
Action Surge - Attack (7)
Action Surge - Extra Attack (8)

Throw in Polearm Master with staff or spear and you get another attack as a reaction when they enter your reach.

 

[Don Durito]

I just picked up the Player's Handbook and started looking over the Monk. I'm a bit confused. My friend thinks the following is possible for a 5th level Monk but I'm not sure:

Move 5 ft up to a creature, use Attack action, spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes (Flurry of Blows), move 10 ft to another creature, use Extra Attack, spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes (Flurry of Blows), move 10 ft, use bonus action (from Martial Arts) to make an unarmed strike, move 10 ft away from said creature.

Reasons this may not work:

• Flurry of Blows states that you use it "after you take the Attack action", and Extra Attack is part of Attack action. So Flurry of Blows can only be used once per turn.
• I can't find in the rules where it states you can move between an Action and Bonus Action (but you can move between Attack and Extra Attack)
• Mearls wanted fast combat; the above example seems like it will take a long time to resolve. Imagine 7 to-hit rolls and 7 damage rolls each turn. Yikes.

It's really not all that fast. Too many attacks are part of the issue (although the biggest offender is spells that are, or use, bonus actions). It's faster than 4E, but that's not saying much, and the maths is easier than 3E.

 

[Nebulous]

LOL, yeah, they are wrong--you are right.

Attack (1)
Extra Attack (2)
Flurry of Blows (3 & 4) via Ki point
Haste (5)

It is important to understand Haste is very nerfed from prior editions. It allows you 1 extra attack via the attack action (this is specified in the spell description). Also, since Flurry of Blows uses your bonus action, that is limited to once per turn.

EDIT: Something to shoot for if you do multiclassing:

Fighter 2/ Monk 5/ Ranger 3

Attack (1)
Extra Attack (2)
Flurry of Blows (3 & 4)
Horde Breaker from Ranger (Hunter) (5)
Haste (6)
Action Surge - Attack (7)
Action Surge - Extra Attack (8)

Throw in Polearm Master with staff or spear and you get another attack as a reaction when they enter your reach.

OMG that's crazy. Well, I do allow multiclassing but I don't like running D&D up to 10th level... Thanks for the clarification though.

 

[Seramus]

Attack (1)
Extra Attack (2)
Flurry of Blows (3 & 4)
Horde Breaker from Ranger (Hunter) (5)
Haste (6)
Action Surge - Attack (7)
Action Surge - Extra Attack (8)

You could abuse Gloom Stalker to get three Dread Ambushes thanks to Action Surge + Haste giving you two triggering Attack Actions. But only if your DM favors multiple small encounters instead of a few deadly encounters (where Horde Breaker pulls ahead).