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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ZombieRoboNinja" data-source="post: 5986026" data-attributes="member: 54843">I'm not completely sure what people are envisioning when they talk about divorcing the monk class from its Eastern trappings - wouldn't that just be a pugilist, or brawler, or something?In any case, if what you're looking for is a Bruce Lee-style martial artist without the wuxia mystic powers, my hope is that multiclassing will be a viable answer in 5e.If you think about it, the 3e monk didn't start getting all wuxia until higher levels. My guess/hope is that the 5e monk will be similar: Bruce Lee with a little parkour built in up to about level 10, and then a gentle phasing in of the more mystical elements of the class until we have a preternatural badass at high levels.So if you start out with a few levels of monk, then add levels of fighter through the "3e-style multiclassing" we've been promised (and I still don't understand how they'll avoid the gimped multiclass casters and overpowered single-level dipping of 3e, but we'll see), and carefully select your combat superiority powers for the fighter, you SHOULD be able to get a dude who has the unarmed/unarmored benefits of the monk along with the martial prowess and flexibility of the fighter (although obviously without the full, specialized benefits of either).To me, this seems an obvious better choice than just eliminating the monk class. D&D monks aren't just fighters with different weapons and armor; they fulfill a very different combat role, play differently, and are effective in very different ways. Given that Mearls has said the monk class was the easiest to design (suggesting they've already done most of the work), why toss that away?For the same reason you'd use a longsword and plate mail instead of becoming a wizard and zapping the dragon with lightning bolts: because being a monk or wizard requires years or decades of disciplined training and sacrifice, not to mention different ability scores (Wis for the monk, Int for the wizard). You can flip the question around rather easily too: why spend years or decades training martial arts to become a level 1 monk when you can spend a few weeks in basic training, strap on a suit of armor and grab a sword, and be just as effective as a fighter?</blockquote>

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