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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gargoyle" data-source="post: 287454" data-attributes="member: 529">Monks are a lot like bards.  (And yes I know some of you think they suck too...) They're specialized, and they're most useful in large parties that already have the major classes covered.  They're good for rounding out a party, but won't replace a fighter, cleric, wizard, or rogue.   When monks have the advantage:- In civilized areas where weapons are banned or uncommon.  (Not a common D&D setting!)- Against creatures without damage reduction.- In wide open areas where their mobility is useful.  - Against lots of low AC creatures.  - Against spellcasters.I like to think of them as the special forces of the party.  They can get behind enemy lines and take out leaders and spellcasters, but can't soak up or deal out the damage like a fighter.  Some advice  on playing a monk:- If you're playing a monk in a party with only a few members, try not to be a substitute fighter.  You'll be much more effective as a substitute rogue.   If there are no fighter types, consider playing one instead, then multiclassing into monk later (it could be an interesting roleplaying experience to have such a career change.)  - Don't disdain using magic weapons.  You need to hit more often and need to get past damage reduction.- Learn to realize when damage reduction is causing your blows to have no effect.  Switch to a magic weapon, or grapple with such a creature instead so that your friends can finish it off easier.- The monk's biggest problem is not hitting often enough and not hitting hard enough.  If you use unarmed attacks, you don't hit often enough, but do cause good damage, unless facing damage reduction.  If you use magic weapons, you hit more often, but do less damage at higher levels.    My advice is to do one of two things:  Either start with a high Strength and keep improving it through magic items and when gaining levels, or go with a high Dexterity and take Weapon Finesse: Unarmed Strike, then Weapon Finesse: <Insert monk weapon here>.  Each path works well for a monk.  Make Wisdom your second most important stat in any case.  If you're DMing a group with a monk, I would suggest making sure that the monk has something useful to do.  They're great at surviving traps, volleys of arrows, and spells.  Good challenges for them include hordes of low AC / low hit point enemies for them to use flurry of blows on (good for fighters with Cleave too),  enemy spellcasters hiding behind lines of troops, and encounters where weapons aren't allowed or available.  Also, make sure they can get magical weapons just as easily as the other members of the party, and that if you throw high damage reduction creatures at them, that there are other enemies that they can fight effectively.  (I actually made this mistake last weekend, but the monk improvised and bullrushed the lead villain off the deck of the ship with a flying kick, turned out to be quite cool.)Monks are hard to play, and create some challenges for the DM, but if they fit into your campaign world (and they don't always fit!) then I think they're balanced and fun.  They're just not as easy to deal with as the other classes, and really should be used to round out a larger party, not as a fighter substitute.</blockquote>

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