Comments on: 4e Monk project

By: Josiah

Josiah — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:14:31 +0000

I couldn’t find the monk class on the site anymore when you moved sites. Any chance I can get a link to the updated class?

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:25:11 +0000

Thanks (and sorry for the late reply).

To answer your questions:

As written, No Shadow does allow for that, though it wasn’t what I was picturing. I’m not sure this is something that needs fixing, though. 3[W] damage on two attack rolls isn’t a lot for a daily, even considering the +2 bonus to the first attack roll.

A stance isn’t necessarily any more powerful than another power. The Stance keyword only means that the power ends if another Stance is used. So far, in testing, it doesn’t seem overpowered — its basic effect is to trade speed and tactical maneuverability (which is one of the traditional characteristics of the monk class in D&D, at least in theory) for some area denial. It could allow quite a few extra attacks, but two things mitigate that: first, they’re all basic attacks, which will be weak-ish (unless the monk has Martial Strike, in which case they’ll be adequate). Second, they use the monk’s opportunity attack against that target for that turn — and since it’s an interrupt, it’s not triggered by the monk moving adjacent to a creature, since the monk can’t interrupt during his own turn. So the net effect is simply to extend an OA to a creature moving into the space adjacent to the monk, rather than only moving out of one.

If you do try it and find it overpowered, though, please let me know. I’m doing my best to playtest the class as I revise, but I’m sure there will be things I miss.

As for the speed ability, it is one of the stronger class features of the monk. You may find you need to give them something else in its place in order to keep them competitive with other strikers, as the rogue and the TWF-ranger can do more damage, while the archer-ranger and warlock can both do their damage at range. The monk has a range power here and there, but most of their real work needs to be done up close.

By: KnightCA

KnightCA — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:46:43 +0000

I really like the cclass creation. I’ll be using it in my game (minus the speed ability). Some questions:
No Shadow – does it allow the secondary attack to be at the primary target?
Isn’t a stance power at 1st level powerful? (I noticed no other class had it)
Crane Stands in the Still Pond – what about limiting the number of attacks per round gained by this ability to once per round?

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:40:48 +0000

It was initially an idea for a controller; later, I came to feel that a striker was more suitable for the way I envisioned the class. It should become a bit more striker-like after the next revision, although it should still be a little lighter on damage and a little heavier on status effects than the other strikers.

Blade proficiency is a nod to martial arts. Sword, spear, and staff techniques were all common; unarmed fighting was a last resort. Focus on unarmed strikes is actually a fairly modern development. Of course, the traditional D&D monk focuses on unarmed strikes, so…

Ideally, I’d like weapon vs. unarmed to be more a matter of flavor than of effectiveness.

By: David

David — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:50:07 +0000

Overall, you are doing spectacular work, but the class seems a bit too spread out. By that I mean, that the class doesn’t really fit into just one role. Is it supposed to be a striker or a controller? Also, if Wisdom is supposed to factor so heavily into the class, why no bonus? Lastly, why have blade proficiency? Monks are based on the simple farmers of the middle east where they were banned from having real weapons, thus the focus on unarmed combat. This is also why most of their weapons were farm implements and daily items such as staves, sticks, and scarves. Hope this is constructive.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:28:07 +0000

It’s both, sort of. I suppose I should make that explicit. Various powers provide small bonuses to one or the other, too.

By: Lord Thanatos

Lord Thanatos — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:15:38 +0000

Great! BTW:

“Additionally, if you are a martial monk, your unarmed strike is considered to belong to the Polearm weapon group (in addition to the Light Blade and Unarmed groups).”

Martial monk is a build option, not a class feature.

By: Monk-y Business « A Butterfly Dreaming

Monk-y Business « A Butterfly Dreaming — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:11:27 +0000

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