I just got to Level 4 with my Monk. As a result I increased my Strength/Dexterity ability scores to 15/16, therefore making their modifiers +2 (Strength) and +3 (Dexterity).
As a Monk, I get Dextrous Attacks:
You can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier for the attack and damage rolls of your Unarmed Strikes and Monk weapons.
Unarmed Strike damage modifier is 1 + Strength modifier, however with Dextrous Attacks and the fact that my Dex modifier is higher, AND with the post above in mind, should it not substitute my Dex modifier here?
So since my Dex modifier is higher (+3), should I not get 1d6+4 Damage for Unarmed Strikes? It still says 1d6+3.
My guess is that it's still using the Strength modifier, since that's the default setting for this attack. However, as a Monk, I would expect the attack to use my Dexterity modifier, since that's higher and therefore can have the most potential damage.
Edit: After talking with my DM about it, we believe this is just a typo. The description for Unarmed Strike reads:
"On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1 plus your Strength modifier."
However, we believe the intended wording is "...damage equal to 1d6 plus your Strength modifier". (since I'm using Dextrous Attacks, this would be my Dexterity modifier - it would be great if the wording included this condition as well)
Damage. You make an attack roll against the target. Your bonus to the roll equals your Strength modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1 plus your Strength modifier.
When it should read:
Damage. You make an attack roll against the target. Your bonus to the roll equals your Strength modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 plus your Strength modifier.
This text should be updated, in dnd beyond to resolve this bug.
There's another level of complexity here that I didn't notice when we first encountered this bug:
It seems the first (top-most) item for Unarmed Strike is the default one every class gets (1 + Strength modifier), and then the second mention of Unarmed Strike in the Actions tab is the Monk/Martial Arts unarmed strike, listed as a Bonus Action, and is the preferred way Monks use Unarmed Strike.
This can be corroborated by looking at my or any Monk's Character Sheet.
Perhaps the best solution would be to change the first occurrence of Unarmed Strike to the Martial Arts version? The description for the Martial Arts version is correct: you replace the base damage of Unarmed Strike with a roll of your Martial Arts die (1d6 instead of just 1) and then you add your Strength or Dexterity modifier, as granted by Dextrous Attacks.
I don't see anywhere to change the STAT used for Unarmed Strikes to DEX. By default it seems to pick STR and my character sheet doesn't show "Martial Arts" like yours does.
I don't see anywhere to change the STAT used for Unarmed Strikes to DEX. By default it seems to pick STR and my character sheet doesn't show "Martial Arts" like yours does.
Martial Arts is shown on the Features & Traits tab on your character sheet.
The Unarmed Strike feature that's available to all characters doesn't change based on having other features that override parts of it. However, the Unarmed Strike attack on the Actions tab will use Dexterity appropriately when calculating the modifiers and the dice rolls. It shows correctly on your character right now.
I just got to Level 4 with my Monk. As a result I increased my Strength/Dexterity ability scores to 15/16, therefore making their modifiers +2 (Strength) and +3 (Dexterity).
As a Monk, I get Dextrous Attacks:
You can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier for the attack and damage rolls of your Unarmed Strikes and Monk weapons.
Unarmed Strike damage modifier is 1 + Strength modifier, however with Dextrous Attacks and the fact that my Dex modifier is higher, AND with the post above in mind, should it not substitute my Dex modifier here?
That's not the damage modifier, that's the damage in total for the default rules. The description doesn't change for monks, but there's an additional ability in your class features that changes it, and that ought to be reflected in the Unarmed Strike entry among all the clickable actions at the top of the actions tab.
So since my Dex modifier is higher (+3), should I not get 1d6+4 Damage for Unarmed Strikes? It still says 1d6+3.
My guess is that it's still using the Strength modifier, since that's the default setting for this attack. However, as a Monk, I would expect the attack to use my Dexterity modifier, since that's higher and therefore can have the most potential damage.
It's correct. You do 1d6 base damage because you're a monk, and add your dex modifier.
The damage calculation on his sheet is correct. No issue there, but the description for the attack/damage is incorrect. See my first reply.
The text describing the damage that you quoted in your first reply is correct.
The damage for an Unarmed Strike (absent any overriding features like Martial Arts) is 1 plus your Strength modifier, not 1d6 plus your Strength modifier.
Ok then the calculation is incorrect then. On his character sheet if you override the dexterity to 0 it correctly changes to 1d6+2 and then if you add the dexterity back it correctly changes to 1d6+3, because of Martial arts (the marital arts override works correctly).
However if you are saying the text is correct then the bonus should be 3 with strength and 4 with dexterity, which is not the case.
So either the math is wrong (i don't think so) or the text is wrong (you don't think so).
Ok then the calculation is incorrect then. On his character sheet if you override the dexterity to 0 it correctly changes to 1d6+2 and then if you add the dexterity back it correctly changes to 1d6+3, because of Martial arts (the marital arts override works correctly).
However if you are saying the text is correct then the bonus should be 3 with strength and 4 with dexterity, which is not the case.
So either the math is wrong (i don't think so) or the text is wrong (you don't think so).
Need some clarity here.
I still can't see the actual character (you would need to set the Privacy setting to Public for that) but based on the stats given in the original post, the correct damage for an Unarmed Strike for this character is 1d6+3. I am not seeing anything in the text anywhere that says it should be 4 (or 1d6 + 4). Where are you seeing that?
To clarify further:
For all characters without any special unarmed features, the damage of an Unarmed Strike is equal to 1 plus their Strength modifier. This is a flat number, no die roll.
For a Monk, the damage is a roll of their Martial Arts die (which at level 4 is a d4 for a 2014 Monk or a d6 for a 2024 Monk) plus their Dexterity modifier.
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I just got to Level 4 with my Monk. As a result I increased my Strength/Dexterity ability scores to 15/16, therefore making their modifiers +2 (Strength) and +3 (Dexterity).
As a Monk, I get Dextrous Attacks:
From another thread I read on this subject, the Character Sheet should automatically take the bigger of the two modifiers and use that for the modifier, so that would be Dex (+3):
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/bugs-support/94400-monk-unarmed-strike-adding-strength-instead-of-dex?comment=2
Unarmed Strike damage modifier is 1 + Strength modifier, however with Dextrous Attacks and the fact that my Dex modifier is higher, AND with the post above in mind, should it not substitute my Dex modifier here?
So since my Dex modifier is higher (+3), should I not get 1d6+4 Damage for Unarmed Strikes? It still says 1d6+3.
My guess is that it's still using the Strength modifier, since that's the default setting for this attack. However, as a Monk, I would expect the attack to use my Dexterity modifier, since that's higher and therefore can have the most potential damage.
Character Sheet:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/159686455
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Edit: After talking with my DM about it, we believe this is just a typo. The description for Unarmed Strike reads:
"On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1 plus your Strength modifier."
However, we believe the intended wording is "...damage equal to 1d6 plus your Strength modifier". (since I'm using Dextrous Attacks, this would be my Dexterity modifier - it would be great if the wording included this condition as well)
The unarmed strike damage reads:
Damage. You make an attack roll against the target. Your bonus to the roll equals your Strength modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1 plus your Strength modifier.
When it should read:
Damage. You make an attack roll against the target. Your bonus to the roll equals your Strength modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 plus your Strength modifier.
This text should be updated, in dnd beyond to resolve this bug.
There's another level of complexity here that I didn't notice when we first encountered this bug:
It seems the first (top-most) item for Unarmed Strike is the default one every class gets (1 + Strength modifier), and then the second mention of Unarmed Strike in the Actions tab is the Monk/Martial Arts unarmed strike, listed as a Bonus Action, and is the preferred way Monks use Unarmed Strike.
This can be corroborated by looking at my or any Monk's Character Sheet.
Perhaps the best solution would be to change the first occurrence of Unarmed Strike to the Martial Arts version? The description for the Martial Arts version is correct: you replace the base damage of Unarmed Strike with a roll of your Martial Arts die (1d6 instead of just 1) and then you add your Strength or Dexterity modifier, as granted by Dextrous Attacks.
The first version SHOULD be the Martial Arts version. Mine certainly is.
If you want anyone to look at your sheet to help, you need to set it to public. I couldn't view it. However, to compare, here's a Monk of mine (2024):
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/153265102
Here's a 2014:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/88804148
I don't see anywhere to change the STAT used for Unarmed Strikes to DEX. By default it seems to pick STR and my character sheet doesn't show "Martial Arts" like yours does.
Martial Arts is shown on the Features & Traits tab on your character sheet.
The Unarmed Strike feature that's available to all characters doesn't change based on having other features that override parts of it. However, the Unarmed Strike attack on the Actions tab will use Dexterity appropriately when calculating the modifiers and the dice rolls. It shows correctly on your character right now.
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That's not the damage modifier, that's the damage in total for the default rules. The description doesn't change for monks, but there's an additional ability in your class features that changes it, and that ought to be reflected in the Unarmed Strike entry among all the clickable actions at the top of the actions tab.
It's correct. You do 1d6 base damage because you're a monk, and add your dex modifier.
The damage calculation on his sheet is correct. No issue there, but the description for the attack/damage is incorrect. See my first reply.
The text describing the damage that you quoted in your first reply is correct.
The damage for an Unarmed Strike (absent any overriding features like Martial Arts) is 1 plus your Strength modifier, not 1d6 plus your Strength modifier.
pronouns: he/she/they
Ok then the calculation is incorrect then. On his character sheet if you override the dexterity to 0 it correctly changes to 1d6+2 and then if you add the dexterity back it correctly changes to 1d6+3, because of Martial arts (the marital arts override works correctly).
However if you are saying the text is correct then the bonus should be 3 with strength and 4 with dexterity, which is not the case.
So either the math is wrong (i don't think so) or the text is wrong (you don't think so).
Need some clarity here.
I still can't see the actual character (you would need to set the Privacy setting to Public for that) but based on the stats given in the original post, the correct damage for an Unarmed Strike for this character is 1d6+3. I am not seeing anything in the text anywhere that says it should be 4 (or 1d6 + 4). Where are you seeing that?
To clarify further:
For all characters without any special unarmed features, the damage of an Unarmed Strike is equal to 1 plus their Strength modifier. This is a flat number, no die roll.
For a Monk, the damage is a roll of their Martial Arts die (which at level 4 is a d4 for a 2014 Monk or a d6 for a 2024 Monk) plus their Dexterity modifier.
pronouns: he/she/they