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What's Up With The Monk?
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<blockquote data-quote="hong" data-source="post: 282553" data-attributes="member: 537"><p>The problem with the monk isn't that it's over- or under-powered, or that it's unbalanced. The problem is that the class abilities, while individually they have roots in the martial arts genre, don't come together to produce a result that's always in line with player expectations.</p><p></p><p>Consider kung-fu and karate action movie heroes like Bruce, Jackie, Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. What do these people do? They kick butt. They may go about it in a variety of ways, ranging from the comical to the morally ambiguous, but the common thread is that they get into big stand-up fights, and they win.</p><p></p><p>The D&D monk isn't like that. If you get into stand-up fights, you generally lose, because you don't have the BAB, AC or hit points for the task. Kicking butt in physical combat is the fighter's schtick. The monk's schtick is the invulnerability/mage-killing thing, and while that's useful, it may not be what the monk's player had in mind. Hence the variety of alt.monks ("martial artists") which try to boost the character's buttkicking power without making it overpowering into the bargain.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Hong "need I mention <a href="http://ww.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/martialartist.htm" target="_blank">this one</a>?" Ooi</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hong, post: 282553, member: 537"] The problem with the monk isn't that it's over- or under-powered, or that it's unbalanced. The problem is that the class abilities, while individually they have roots in the martial arts genre, don't come together to produce a result that's always in line with player expectations. Consider kung-fu and karate action movie heroes like Bruce, Jackie, Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. What do these people do? They kick butt. They may go about it in a variety of ways, ranging from the comical to the morally ambiguous, but the common thread is that they get into big stand-up fights, and they win. The D&D monk isn't like that. If you get into stand-up fights, you generally lose, because you don't have the BAB, AC or hit points for the task. Kicking butt in physical combat is the fighter's schtick. The monk's schtick is the invulnerability/mage-killing thing, and while that's useful, it may not be what the monk's player had in mind. Hence the variety of alt.monks ("martial artists") which try to boost the character's buttkicking power without making it overpowering into the bargain. Hong "need I mention [url="http://ww.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/martialartist.htm"]this one[/url]?" Ooi [/QUOTE]
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