OA - Tattoo Monk Question

[Junkheap]

Allright, let me sii if i can expalin this as best as possible without the book. One of the PC's has taken the tatoo monk, and has in total 4 tattoos so far. i think they are crab, wasp, unicorn and something else. Either way, he is paying is as tho no matter which tattoo he picks, they all get better. I don't agree. I say you have to pick the same tattoo multiple times to actually improve it(ex more times a day or better DR).

Also we thought of another way that it works. If it does stack, it should matter in which level you take the tattoo, like for example crab at 1st level giving you basically weak DR, AND does not get better, compared to taking it at 7th where it stacks with the other tattoos before it. I know it's confusing, but i need help.

As it is the monk is terribly powerfull. He is 6 Monk/7 Tattoo Monk.
The way he plays he has DR 4/8, haste 4 times, reroll 4 times as well as another ability which i can't remember off the top of my head.

Again sorry for the vagueness, but i don't have the book on me and i need to know the correct way to play it.

Thanx again, as usual guys.

 

[Ma'varkith]

You need to look at each individual Tattoo decription. Some of them DO improve as you gain more Tattoos, typically increasing in bonuses or number of times per day it may be used.

I don't believe that all work that way, though, but many do. Also pay attention to the minimum level requirements. They're easy to overlook.

Your description of the character's powers seems about right for the tattoos in question and the level of the character, but I don't have my books at hand. The character is giving up many regular Monk abilities to gain the Tattoos, however, so you're really trading one set of powers for another.

I'd recommend sitting down with the character sheet and the rulebook and going over each Tattoo carefully, making sure you and the player are both understanding the rules in the same way.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

It just says "per tatoo". Who knows if they meant "Per Crab Tatoo"? Doesn't say you can or can't take one multiple times, so I'd say it's up to your DM. If your playtesting is showing that "Per ANY tatoo" is too powerful, then it probably is.

 

[Crothian]

Our Monk is also in this prestige class. We allow it to all stacks, so for the powers that say per tattoo, we allow any tattoo. We are having no problems with him. THe Barbarian is still better in combat unless there are over 10 weak creatures. THe Druid can actually effect more with his spells, and the Bard is catching up.

So, I say allow them all to stack. It won't screw things up.

 

[Junkheap]

Yea, that is exactly the problem tho. It says under crab tattoo, as per tattoo. I thin that eveything that can improve(ie number of times used per day or always on DR) it states per tattoo, under each tattoo description. I don't think it would have to say that under each tattoo if was understood that each improves. I don't think it is really fair that the magical abilities of the tattoo improve as you get other tattoo's later in your career.

In our campaign, the monk is the best fighter, easily. He never had to spend his money on weapons and armor, so he could beef up the stats he needed, such as dex, strength, wis, int. He has the best saves, best AC, second to the fighter in to hit. But capable of doing almost the same amount of damage(more monk attacks/haste). He can hit almost anything with DR 4/8, and takes almost NO damage every hit. It is really tough to compete with that.

Either way, i am not saying he is too powerfull, it's just you can read the description in a couple of ways, and we kinda want to know which is the right way.

Sorry about the long posts. Either way, if i don't get an answer, i am going to go with the most popular answer.

Btw, i am not the DM, but i am posting this question because i don't want an argument to start up next time we start playing.

 

[Archer]

The tattooed monk is pretty good and those tattoos picked are some (all?) of the best. The intent of the class is definately that the more tattoos there are the more powerful some of them become. I forgot how good the crab tattoo was.

In Rokugan a tattooed monk only has one of each tattoo. Which is just some random source material thrown in.

There is a reason why it is a DM approval only prestige class.

 

[Black Omega]

Yea, that is exactly the problem tho. It says under crab tattoo, as per tattoo. I thin that eveything that can improve(ie number of times used per day or always on DR) it states per tattoo, under each tattoo description. I don't think it would have to say that under each tattoo if was understood that each improves. I don't think it is really fair that the magical abilities of the tattoo improve as you get other tattoo's later in your career.

Yes, it is per tattoo...if he has four tattoos then he can do it four times a day, etc. The monk is giving up quite a bit to get there. For one thing, he's pretty much toast against anything with DR, unless he bought something to counter that, since he won't have Ki Strike. From what you've said, he's not spent money on weapons, so I Imagine he can't have +3 nunchaku. does he get Magic Fang cast on him or something?

In our campaign, the monk is the best fighter, easily. He never had to spend his money on weapons and armor, so he could beef up the stats he needed, such as dex, strength, wis, int. He has the best saves, best AC, second to the fighter in to hit. But capable of doing almost the same amount of damage(more monk attacks/haste). He can hit almost anything with DR 4/8, and takes almost NO damage every hit. It is really tough to compete with that.

I'm very surprised at this. It's only 8 points of damage stopped and this is a 13th level group? The 5th Level Samurai in my game would be doing damage to him with every strike with just +1 katana. I'd imagine CR 13 creatures can do far more damage than that.

Either way, i am not saying he is too powerfull, it's just you can read the description in a couple of ways, and we kinda want to know which is the right way.

It's really not all that ambiguous. It says 'per tattoo'. Unless you are hoping that's a typo, that's pretty much what it means. Not Per Crab Tattoo or Per Unicorn Tattoo.

All you have is a guy who minimaxedthe best combat tattoos and is evidently not having any of his weak spots taken advantage of, from the looks of it.

 

[Veldrane]

Yes, it is per tattoo...if he has four tattoos then he can do it four times a day, etc.

Right. We had a Tattoed Monk in our campaign and actually it was a good tank, he could take on decent amounts of damage, but he was never comparable to fighters in terms of damage dealed per round... ...maybe your fighters are not min/maxed as your monk, and that's the problem (the tattooed monk is the best monk PrC hands down Imho)... ...anyway the tattoos stack with every other tattoo he takes, he's right about this...

For one thing, he's pretty much toast against anything with DR, unless he bought something to counter that, since he won't have Ki Strike. From what you've said, he's not spent money on weapons, so I Imagine he can't have +3 nunchaku. does he get Magic Fang cast on him or something?

Wrong, read the Damage Reduction rules in the DMG to learn that any creatures who has damage reduction can bypass a DR eqal or lower his own with natural weapons, thus the Tattooed Monk with, say, 6/+4, can naturally bypass DR up to +4...

...anyway, what is a DR 4/8? a DR of 4/+8? if this is the case, how could he get to 26 Con and still have buffs for other stats?

 

[Joker]

I think he meant DR 8/+4 since he has four tattoos. He just got them switched.

Tata.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

All they need to do is add a line that says something to the effect of "It is possible, though pointless, to take the same tatoo multiple times." As it stands, with the "per tatoo" phrase solidly listed in the specific paragraph for each type of tatoo, it lends itself to multiple interpretations. The best guess at the designer's intention is probably to wiegh the balance issues involved. As a start though, I would definitely rule in favor of the player (which would mean reading it as "per total number of tatoos, regardless of type" in this case.). Only if that proved clearly unbalanced would I consider the more-restrictive (and admittedly less-likely) interpretation.