D&D General Rebuilding a new monk (+)

[CreamCloud0]

So there’s been a bit of discussion on the monk in recent threads so i made this thread to facilitate a discussion how you would want to build a new monk and what should go into it, the poll is there help show what are the most popular concepts so vote for as many options as you want, they don’t have to be ‘all at once’ on a single execution of monk just ideas that are monk-y, change your votes if something else comes along, I’ve tried to put everything I could think of but I’ll add to the poll choices if something is suggested to me that isn’t too similar to anything already on the poll
This is a + thread for everyone’s fun so no crapping on other people’s ideas

I, personally think the monk should take the roll of less of a damage dealer and more someone who nullifies damage from the opposition, dodging blows, deflecting arrows and inflicting negative statuses on opponents, damage is more of a quantity over quality thing with them, hitting more times rather than dealing big damage.
I don’t really think there’s something to be said for the monk as a ‘spiritual warrior’ performing exorcisms or contacting spirits and the like

 

[DND_Reborn]

Nice poll.

I like monks to have:

martial skills (unarmed or dedicated weapon)
maneuvers (non-magical)--some of which are ki-related, but others aren't
defensive features, resistances, and immunities
priestly/spiritual
and knowledge expertise in something

I see monks as a blend of Shaolin monk and Friar Tuck, I like the class to be open enough to satisfy multiple approaches, and the subclasses to specialize the features into focus.

 

[Yaarel]

I want the Monk to handle the nonmagic gymnastic Athlete: extraordinary mobility, climbing, jumping, running, etcetera. Plus wrestling, brawling, etcetera.

The base class becomes nonmagical, so its subclasses can handle both nonmagical and magical archetypes.

One of the archetypes uses the psionic power source, but it specifically refers to the ki being the bodily aura.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

The most recent tropes present Monks as really resilient, not necessarily nimble and lite. (Diablo, FF, Pillars etc)
So focus on Con and Wis, achieving perfect mastery of oneself to be able to shed the limitations of body and mind.

In my games, monks have d12 HD, can wield shields without losing their AC bonus, just like barbarians. They are the opposite of the same coin: one is abandon, the other is self-control, the result being the same.

Astral Projection and all that stuff should be given to an archetype, not every monk.

 

[Undrave]

One of the biggest thing to fist is the way the Monk is MAD. You gotta do something about it. For one, it needs better Hit Dice so it's not relying so hard on CON to survive hits.

I don't like the way the Monk's defensive and offensive capabilities are based off the same ressource. If you want to not be squishy, you need to spend your Bonus Action and Ki on Dodging or Disengaging, but you need those to keep up your damage and managing you Ki points is just not intuitive.

I don't think the Monk should have to work that hard to be dodgy and hard to pin down (Rogues can just disengage without needing to spend a ressource!)

Spending ressources on your defenses is just not efficient. It doesn't make the fight end faster so it feels like a waste of time.

I think the Monk should actually rely on stances instead? So it's a little more going from one mode to another and once a stance is active you don't need to do anything until you change it. The Monk needs a more meaty signiture class ability that is then further modified as they gain level. As it is, the Monk feels like a pile of disparate features, just a bunch of legacy ideas thrown into a pot. You shouldn't be building the Monk simply by going 'they had that in the past' but instead asking yourself 'what is a Monk doing when a Fight breaks out?' you need to purpose build the class and if a legacy feature doesn't fit, you just don't include it or throw it in a subclass.

And I honestly feel like, as cool as it is, Stunning Strike is WAY too centralizing a feature and it's never really panned out for me. Either it's waste on critters you'd defeat faster by using Flurry of Blows, or you just use it to burn through a boss' Legendary Resistance. It's super rare to have the type of enemy you a) would WANT to stun and that b) would actually FAIL the save. I think it's basically a trap option that drains too much design space. And it's so often cited as THE thing the Monk gets but it only comes online halfway through an average campaign's level range.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

One of the biggest thing to fist is the way the Monk is MAD. You gotta do something about it. For one, it needs better Hit Dice so it's not relying so hard on CON to survive hits.

I don't like the way the Monk's defensive and offensive capabilities are based off the same ressource. If you want to not be squishy, you need to spend your Bonus Action and Ki on Dodging or Disengaging, but you need those to keep up your damage and managing you Ki points is just not intuitive.

I don't think the Monk should have to work that hard to be dodgy and hard to pin down (Rogues can just disengage without needing to spend a ressource!)

Spending ressources on your defenses is just not efficient. It doesn't make the fight end faster so it feels like a waste of time.

I think the Monk should actually rely on stances instead? So it's a little more going from one mode to another and once a stance is active you don't need to do anything until you change it. The Monk needs a more meaty signiture class ability that is then further modified as they gain level. As it is, the Monk feels like a pile of disparate features, just a bunch of legacy ideas thrown into a pot.

And I honestly feel like, as cool as it is, Stunning Strike is WAY too centralizing a feature and it's never really panned out for me. Either it's waste on critters you'd defeat faster by using Flurry of Blows, or you just use it to burn through a boss' Legendary Resistance. It's super rare to have the type of enemy you a) would WANT to stun and that b) would actually FAIL the save. I think it's basically a trap option that drains too much design space. And it's so often cited as THE thing the Monk gets but it only comes online halfway through an average campaign's level range.

Start them with 3 basic Stances: Mobility, Resilience, Damage. You switch between them as bonus action.
When you are in a specific Stance, you gain access to different powers that cost ki.

That could be a fun start.

 

[Undrave]

Start them with 3 basic Stances: Mobility, Resilience, Damage. You switch between them as bonus action.
When you are in a specific Stance, you gain access to different powers that cost ki.

That could be a fun start.

Yeah that could work! Give them some traditional sounding names, like they're a specific tradition. Each of them would also grant a specific passive bonus until you change stance, and you keep the Monk able to do unarmed strikes with a bonus action (I would simplify it and just say you always can do this because the conditions are just not that impactful).

Another idea would be to have a default 'Balanced' stance, then one that would be described as focusing your Ki within you to affect your body and one where you project your Ki outward to affect/perceive the world around you, feels thematic that way.

 

[Stormonu]

While the Shaolin-style monk is foremost in my mind, I want the monk to be as flexible as the wizard as a supernatural fighter. To me, the main issue I have with the class is that many of their abilities are fixed. I want more control on what they can do, and how they do it. If I want to build an offensive brawler, I should be able to. If I want to build a tank that can take whatever is thrown at them, let me do that. If I want to make a contemplative guru with a repertoire of supernatural abilities, let me do that.

This is what I've been working on - focusing on "styes" to customize the martial portion and a suite of selectable ki abilities akin warlock invocations.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I know many people favor styles or techniques, but IMO you have to keep them simple for 5E--you can't get too fiddly with them.

To be clear, I think something could work, but it would be delicate work.

 

[Minigiant]

To me, the monk is enhanced "humanity".

A unarmored, unarmed humanoid runs, jumps, dodges and punches. The focus should be on movement, dodginess, and non-martial weapon.

I think the monk should learn from fighting games and have non-resource special moves. Infinite Dragon punches