Admittedly, I didn't think that my character would make it to level 10, let alone 14. Currently (since last post) Krog is now level 11 and we'll soon be moving into "Storm King's Thunder" at the same level. As such, I do have to retract my previous idea about the Resilient feat. My DM is telling me that he'll let me keep the feat until level 14, as it is inherently useful and appropriate to the character, then allow me to either change feats or just use the ability modifiers typically granted in place of a feat.
While not necessarily on-point with the thread's discussion, I did think it important to issue that correction.
So, my revised Monk/Drunken Master build would actually just be:
1. Lucky feat at first opportunity.
2. Alert at second opportunity.
If you take those two feats at levels 1, 4, and/or 8, respectively, by the time you hit level 8 or 12 you'll have a pretty solid build on your character and can look at options from there. After this point the list of useful feats does get rather short. Personally, after the first two feats, I'd likely recommend sticking to increasing ability scores for levels 12, 16, and 20. Some feats do offer helpful things (such as Charger, Defensive Duelist (if you use DEX), or Savage Attacker), but those bonuses depend on the niche you're trying to fill.
Slightly off-topic, but it is related to the Drunken Master mythos as a whole. Based on a cursory observation of available books, UE, and errata, I don't see anything that fixes the most glaring problem with the Drunken Master. There isn't any sort of improvised weapon proficiency.
I have seen some homebrew adaptations of this feat that do fix this for monks, especially drunken masters, but it is a bit painful that WOTC would not see that one coming. Anyone who understands Drunken Master lore (I.E. the Jackie Chan films the class was based on) knows that improvised weapons are a very important part of the drunken master build.
Likely one of the most infuriating feats, though, is Tavern Brawler. This feat grants you +1 to STR or CON, improvised weapon proficiency, unarmed strike proficiency, but only at 1d4 damage (which, as a monk you already have and at a higher damage rate), and bonus action to grapple (which, unless you have the Grappler feat is not all that useful, and it's doubly useless if you are a primarily DEX focused monk, as that feat requires a minimum STR of 13).
Just my opinion, but I would like to see an official fix to that feat, or make a whole new feat, in the D&D canon.
If I'm wrong about there not being a canonical fix or other feat that corrects this, please let me know.
Slightly off-topic, but it is related to the Drunken Master mythos as a whole. Based on a cursory observation of available books, UE, and errata, I don't see anything that fixes the most glaring problem with the Drunken Master. There isn't any sort of improvised weapon proficiency.
I have seen some homebrew adaptations of this feat that do fix this for monks, especially drunken masters, but it is a bit painful that WOTC would not see that one coming. Anyone who understands Drunken Master lore (I.E. the Jackie Chan films the class was based on) knows that improvised weapons are a very important part of the drunken master build.
Likely one of the most infuriating feats, though, is Tavern Brawler. This feat grants you +1 to STR or CON, improvised weapon proficiency, unarmed strike proficiency, but only at 1d4 damage (which, as a monk you already have and at a higher damage rate), and bonus action to grapple (which, unless you have the Grappler feat is not all that useful, and it's doubly useless if you are a primarily DEX focused monk, as that feat requires a minimum STR of 13).
Just my opinion, but I would like to see an official fix to that feat, or make a whole new feat, in the D&D canon.
If I'm wrong about there not being a canonical fix or other feat that corrects this, please let me know.
Well one thing to keep in mind is this sentence from the rules on improvised weapons in the PHB:
Often, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club. At the DM's option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her proficiency bonus.
The other thing I've found, it just doesn't matter.
When I play my halfling drunken master, Welliby, he stumbles around the fight, tripping on chairs, clumsily kicking rocks, or banging chairs into foes, usually exclaiming his shock and mortification that people appear to be haplessly knocking themselves out slipping on his spilled drinks, or tripping on his staff and falling onto some random broken branch. Just about every round I try to describe his antics like this, almost never targeting a foe with a direct attack or blow, but that said, both I and the DM know mechanically I am rolling four unarmed attacks each round, then just describing it in some way that utilizes my surroundings. Sure, no improvised proficiency, but within the narrative it all goes down in an (usually) entertaining way.
By the way, Halfling Luck pairs perfectly with the Drunken Master's slipperiness. And Squat Nimbleness has been great for keeping him from getting pinned down. I want Lucky so bad, but I need more Wisdom, badly! I'm thinking level 12 if I ever get there, lol
And yes, Tavern Brawler is an infuriating feat. . . sadly so.
I’m currently playing a Tabaxi lv1 Barbarian/lv 5 Drunken Master. I took barbarian first for that feel no pain when drinking effect. I also use 2 metal jugs and a flint on my thumb to ignite alcohol if I choose to spit it. Doesn’t do much dmg, 1d4 5’r, but it’s fun and useful at times. Barbarian also let me raise my con up instead of worrying about wis so much while still giving me AC bonus’s. Granted my stunning strike takes a hit from it but I have a ton of hp’s. 17AC, half dmg, can use a ki to kick in disadvantage, 63hp at lv6... He’s a pretty stout tank. Can’t wait till next Level when I can tank and redirect the big baddies attack at his minions.
For the record, the drunken fist (or drunken monkey) is based off of a real martial arts fighting style, whether or not D&D particularly was inspired by Jackie Chan's movie (I haven't seen it yet but want to).
That being said, in real life, the martial artist actually does NOT get drunk, and even if he did, it would in no way or form actually improve his fighting any way, if anything impair it. The actual technique is call drunken fist not because the artist is drunk but imitating the wavering and unpredictable movements and swaying of a drunk, in order to 1) be underestimated by their opponent who thinks that that they may be drunk 2) the unpredictable movements are hard to block and counter.
D&D adding proficiency with brewer's supplies and performance is fun and is thematic on the surface (whether or not the martial artist actually drinks, it'll be hard to convince people that you're drunk if they never see you with a drink...), it's a little annoying when players (including a DM monk in my own campaign) INSISTS that he's a heavy drunk and needs to drink and is actually always drinking.. Sure, its fun. sure it's a game. sure, do it to make your character fun... but it's a little annoying when doing something is insisted even when in reality it actually goes against what the character actually is.
For the record, the drunken fist (or drunken monkey) is based off of a real martial arts fighting style, whether or not D&D particularly was inspired by Jackie Chan's movie (I haven't seen it yet but want to).
That being said, in real life, the martial artist actually does NOT get drunk, and even if he did, it would in no way or form actually improve his fighting any way, if anything impair it. The actual technique is call drunken fist not because the artist is drunk but imitating the wavering and unpredictable movements and swaying of a drunk, in order to 1) be underestimated by their opponent who thinks that that they may be drunk 2) the unpredictable movements are hard to block and counter.
D&D adding proficiency with brewer's supplies and performance is fun and is thematic on the surface (whether or not the martial artist actually drinks, it'll be hard to convince people that you're drunk if they never see you with a drink...), it's a little annoying when players (including a DM monk in my own campaign) INSISTS that he's a heavy drunk and needs to drink and is actually always drinking.. Sure, its fun. sure it's a game. sure, do it to make your character fun... but it's a little annoying when doing something is insisted even when in reality it actually goes against what the character actually is.
/rant :)
Similar to the comments here. I did take Alert and Lucky for my Drunken Master Monk.
Drunken Monk is truly a nice absurd class to have around. For a campaign I recently joined in. My monk is an adventurer-chef who goes across the land in search of ingredients/recipes/etc as well as challenging other "chefs" through combat or in kitchen-duels at their restaurants (dojo) . I use the alcohol-provided not solely as a means to get drunk but as an ingredient.
Agreed on the "not necessarily getting drunk-part". By lore, to my current knowledge , most of Kung-fu's techniques are an emulation. Hence why they have names like Crane/Monkey-raging-fist-swipe/Tiger etc. In this archetype's case -- a drunkard .Even if it's mechanically described as "drunken-fighting", what I did was I've described my actions/techniques as absurd food-related terminologies that still somehow emulate the movement of drunken fighting. Here are some examples from what I recall.
Loved it!. I once knew an irritatingly always in character player (bless them) once continue to act as a mage despite being a rogue. They had entire stage magician set pieces with names and details. This reminded me of:
Somnambulists obscuring aroma (sleeping spell or just sneaking behind someone and putting them to sleep with poison?)
Smoking mirror fog cloud of hypnotism. (its not so fun when some maniac is throwing around hallucinogenic smoke egg shell bombs, we laughed we cried the walls melted and we were flying through a landscape of cracker people.)
i totally agree with a monk or fighter making some of the moves / abilities your own my naming them and thinking how they differ from just 'i hit it' to become 'i hit it with style'
I really enjoy reading these cool takes on the Drunken Master and how to make it more thematically fun. I think that's the real crux of this class is how it adds to the flavor of the game.
So, a fun little thing I worked out with my DM as part of my character (Krog, a human who just found out he and his brother, our Barbarian, have both Primordial and Oni blood in their ancestry. The Barbarian took to his Primodial bloodline while Krog took to his Oni ancestry.) was that Krog has been in a sort of family imposed exile for almost 20 years. In that time he was trained in the Drunken Fist style. Specifically the Fist of the Drunken Bear style.
For our game I created six different styles based on each of the attributes, which have their own innate strengths.
Tiger - STR focused. Proud warriors of martial discipline.
Monkey - DEX focused. Fast and agile tricksters.
Bear - CON focused. Hardy wanderers who can soak up damage (and booze).
Heron - INT focused. Haughty cloistered scholars.
Crow - WIS focused. Street-wise watchers and information gatherers.
Snake - CHA focused. Deadly and charismatic spies and manipulators.
The kicker here is that for our story's plot-hook, each style has an ancient scroll that teaches that style to the fullest extent. Those six scrolls, when one learns all six styles learns the Master Style of Drunken Boxing. A style that poets and storytellers say is so undefeatable that the gods of [your realm here] sought out the original master who created it. They warned that such power was too much for the mortal world. The master, having seen his most prized student fall to his baser desires and fought his master to the death, realized that the gods were right. So, he created the six scrolls and only taught his students one form each. Those six students went out into the world and took on students of their own, repeating this process over generations. The six scrolls were hidden and scattered across [realm] by the Master before he began a 1000 year meditation to seek further enlightenment. Then he climbed to the highest peak, where his body remains today in meditation, a state that is neither living nor dead.
The plot hook is that Krog's former lover, a student of the Snake Style, is seeking out the scrolls to learn the true Drunken Master style. Now, it's something of a race to see who can secure the scrolls and why.
Just a fun little plot device to make things interesting. There's more detailed info to it, but I'm just giving the basic rundown so others can try it for their game if they wish.
I don't know. It seems to me that the devs just watched a few kung fu movies b/c they were running out of sub-class ideas for the Monk and then built this class. So yes, it's fun to play this character in a low-to-mid campaign, but it's damage and control aspects don't scale very well from levels 10 to 16. The level 11 ability is expensive and adds no flavor to the Drunken Master. Just very bland. Like a warm Coors light. I wish they had added some kind of improvised weaponry or something that improved the usefulness of the character against boss or sub-boss monsters.
Could you elaborate some more? Crunch, fluff, both?
When it comes to XGtE, my group has used materiel from every chapter (and at least one of the appendices). My last four PCs to see play all included subclasses from this book (College of Swords, Scout, Way of the Drunken Master, and The Celestial), and every other player in my group has played at least one subtype. My Drunken Master was particularly fun to play, sometimes drastically altering the battlefield while encouraging both myself and fellow players to really have fun with the narrative (see my previous post).
Plenty more time has passed, any more examples of Drunken Masters in the wild?
It suffers from (IMO) a lack of power, some ‘eh’ abilities and identity confusion. Tipsy Sway and Frenzy both indicate you wanna be in the thick of it (patient defense + tipsy sway is by far my favorite combo), but all its other features wants you to hit and run. The prone ability is eh, and very situational. Like all Monks it suffers from over-reliance on KI, and frenzy is awful.
i know people like it, but lvl 18 for a CHANCE to do 1d10 +5 to five different targets.... come on that’s trash.
It suffers from (IMO) a lack of power, some ‘eh’ abilities and identity confusion.
I . . . I can't actually disagree with that statement. I do wonder if that might not be a Monk thing (I'm generalizing here), as it doesn't seem to fit solidly into a single role like striker, defender, or controller without a Monastic Tradition tipping the scales. In that respect the Way of the Drunken Master continues to spread out its focus. lol, I might also be inclined to say the 'eh' abilities feels like a Monk thing too, though I love them and the fact that Monks have so very many abilities to love.
What the Way of the Drunken Master does seem to focus on is frustrating and undermining their opposition. In zero-sum game I doubt they're a closer, especially (as you mentioned) their over-reliance on Ki, which likely curtails any staying power they'd need to capitalize on such a tactic. Yet with a diverse team of adventurers to support and coordinate with and encounters with varied and layered aims and dramatic questions, I think (read: opinion) the Drunken Master can solidly carry their weight in game. And perhaps more importantly, I had a lot of fun giving it a go (Yes, very anecdotal... and probably vague too lol).
Tipsy Sway and Frenzy both indicate you wanna be in the thick of it (patient defense + tipsy sway is by far my favorite combo), but all its other features wants you to hit and run. The prone ability is eh, and very situational. Like all Monks it suffers from over-reliance on KI, and frenzy is awful.
i know people like it, but lvl 18 for a CHANCE to do 1d10 +5 to five different targets.... come on that’s trash.
With their mobility, I'm not sure I see a difference between 'hit and run' and 'in the thick of it', with the exception of Tipsy Sway (Redirect Attack) which really wants you to stick around to get attacked (and OMG! Why didn't I think of combining patient defense + tipsy sway? Did I? Maybe I just forgot? Whatever, I'm in love!). This is probably more dependent on particular builds though... same with:
If it's just extra attacks at 1d10 +5, then yeah, Intoxicated Frenzy doesn't offer up much, given that none of those five attacks can be against the same critter and few minions will pop at 15 damage, especially at 18th level. But it is 18th level, your character probably has some items, feats, abilities, spells, or effects upping the damage and/or adding riders on a hit or damage, right? I know it's quite subjective, but with the right ability, being able to reach out and touch up to 7 targets in a round must have some delightful potential.
Actually, I kind of wish their capstone ability would have been more like Action Surge from fighter, with maybe the stipulation being the second action would have to be on a second target. So you could attack twice then get a second action to use on a separate target. You could decide where to use your BA attack or FoB. First target, second target, or even a third target as you can move around. It would kind of play like the monk bouncing between multiple targets to attack quickly
Actually, I kind of wish their capstone ability would have been more like Action Surge from fighter, with maybe the stipulation being the second action would have to be on a second target. So you could attack twice then get a second action to use on a separate target. You could decide where to use your BA attack or FoB. First target, second target, or even a third target as you can move around. It would kind of play like the monk bouncing between multiple targets to attack quickly
Now that I could get behind. 8 total attacks to spread out to at least 2 targets, allowing you to actually put a hurting on something higher than challenge rating 2.
Not a “wow” ability, but definitely a better capstone
Actually, I kind of wish their capstone ability would have been more like Action Surge from fighter, with maybe the stipulation being the second action would have to be on a second target. So you could attack twice then get a second action to use on a separate target. You could decide where to use your BA attack or FoB. First target, second target, or even a third target as you can move around. It would kind of play like the monk bouncing between multiple targets to attack quickly
Now that I could get behind. 8 total attacks to spread out to at least 2 targets, allowing you to actually put a hurting on something higher than challenge rating 2.
Not a “wow” ability, but definitely a better capstone
Actually. I believe the most you would get is 6 attacks. 2 on first attack action, 2 more on second attack action, and 1-2 on your bonus action unarmed attack (1 unarmed strike) or FoB (2 unarmed strikes). You only ever get one bonus action with action surge. If the ability gave an entire new turn that would be different but that wasn’t what I was saying.
Yeah the capstone is super meh, but I find the level 11 ability bums me out way more. 2 ki per roll! And only to cancel out disadvantage. Feh. I'm over it. Level 10-12 is the real capstone. Capstones might as well be epic play now. So it bums me out that level 11 is just so lame.
I really like the 3rd and 6th level abilities though, at least in concept, if not completely in execution.
I would tweak Drunken Technique because I don't like that it's only tied to Flurry of Blows, but overall I really like what it brings to the table. I personally view Mobile as a feat tax for any monk not trying to lean into some ranged routine enabled by a subclass so getting a "free" disengage is a big deal to me and worthy of a third level ability. This would be my fix to Drunken Technique:
Drunken Technique
At 3rd level, you learn how to twist and turn quickly as part of your Flurry of Blows. Whenever you use Ki, you gain the benefit of the Disengage action, and you can move up to 10 feet immediately after completing the ability once per turn.
The Drunken Master is a slipper devil all the time. Not just when they're flurrying. Changing the movement in this way combines with Tipsy Sway, Deflect Missiles and Diamond Soul to create the cinematic moments this class is meant to achieve. The Drunken Master isn't going to just make a save against the Wizard's Hypnotic Pattern. They're gonna fall backwards on their ass, distracting the mage while he's finishing weaving the spell, and then do a backwards roll and leap up some feet away ready to elbow some poor fool in the mouth.
I don't have anything I'd do to Tipsy Sway, but I would like to see them get an ability that makes Leap to your Feat a more quintessential part of the kit. Something like this:
Drop Kick/ Flying Elbow
When you make your martial arts bonus action attack, you may choose to fall prone as part of the attack. You do not suffer disadvantage from the prone status for this attack. If the attack hits, it deals additional damage equal to your proficiency bonus.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Yea taking the resilient feat as a monk is a terrible idea. Unless your multiclassing out before 14.
Yes, you would be correct.
Admittedly, I didn't think that my character would make it to level 10, let alone 14. Currently (since last post) Krog is now level 11 and we'll soon be moving into "Storm King's Thunder" at the same level. As such, I do have to retract my previous idea about the Resilient feat. My DM is telling me that he'll let me keep the feat until level 14, as it is inherently useful and appropriate to the character, then allow me to either change feats or just use the ability modifiers typically granted in place of a feat.
While not necessarily on-point with the thread's discussion, I did think it important to issue that correction.
So, my revised Monk/Drunken Master build would actually just be:
1. Lucky feat at first opportunity.
2. Alert at second opportunity.
If you take those two feats at levels 1, 4, and/or 8, respectively, by the time you hit level 8 or 12 you'll have a pretty solid build on your character and can look at options from there. After this point the list of useful feats does get rather short. Personally, after the first two feats, I'd likely recommend sticking to increasing ability scores for levels 12, 16, and 20. Some feats do offer helpful things (such as Charger, Defensive Duelist (if you use DEX), or Savage Attacker), but those bonuses depend on the niche you're trying to fill.
Gerey Finore, Cleric at Large.
Slightly off-topic, but it is related to the Drunken Master mythos as a whole. Based on a cursory observation of available books, UE, and errata, I don't see anything that fixes the most glaring problem with the Drunken Master. There isn't any sort of improvised weapon proficiency.
I have seen some homebrew adaptations of this feat that do fix this for monks, especially drunken masters, but it is a bit painful that WOTC would not see that one coming. Anyone who understands Drunken Master lore (I.E. the Jackie Chan films the class was based on) knows that improvised weapons are a very important part of the drunken master build.
Likely one of the most infuriating feats, though, is Tavern Brawler. This feat grants you +1 to STR or CON, improvised weapon proficiency, unarmed strike proficiency, but only at 1d4 damage (which, as a monk you already have and at a higher damage rate), and bonus action to grapple (which, unless you have the Grappler feat is not all that useful, and it's doubly useless if you are a primarily DEX focused monk, as that feat requires a minimum STR of 13).
Just my opinion, but I would like to see an official fix to that feat, or make a whole new feat, in the D&D canon.
If I'm wrong about there not being a canonical fix or other feat that corrects this, please let me know.
Gerey Finore, Cleric at Large.
Well one thing to keep in mind is this sentence from the rules on improvised weapons in the PHB:
The other thing I've found, it just doesn't matter.
When I play my halfling drunken master, Welliby, he stumbles around the fight, tripping on chairs, clumsily kicking rocks, or banging chairs into foes, usually exclaiming his shock and mortification that people appear to be haplessly knocking themselves out slipping on his spilled drinks, or tripping on his staff and falling onto some random broken branch. Just about every round I try to describe his antics like this, almost never targeting a foe with a direct attack or blow, but that said, both I and the DM know mechanically I am rolling four unarmed attacks each round, then just describing it in some way that utilizes my surroundings. Sure, no improvised proficiency, but within the narrative it all goes down in an (usually) entertaining way.
By the way, Halfling Luck pairs perfectly with the Drunken Master's slipperiness. And Squat Nimbleness has been great for keeping him from getting pinned down. I want Lucky so bad, but I need more Wisdom, badly! I'm thinking level 12 if I ever get there, lol
And yes, Tavern Brawler is an infuriating feat. . . sadly so.
I’m currently playing a Tabaxi lv1 Barbarian/lv 5 Drunken Master. I took barbarian first for that feel no pain when drinking effect. I also use 2 metal jugs and a flint on my thumb to ignite alcohol if I choose to spit it. Doesn’t do much dmg, 1d4 5’r, but it’s fun and useful at times. Barbarian also let me raise my con up instead of worrying about wis so much while still giving me AC bonus’s. Granted my stunning strike takes a hit from it but I have a ton of hp’s. 17AC, half dmg, can use a ki to kick in disadvantage, 63hp at lv6... He’s a pretty stout tank. Can’t wait till next Level when I can tank and redirect the big baddies attack at his minions.
For the record, the drunken fist (or drunken monkey) is based off of a real martial arts fighting style, whether or not D&D particularly was inspired by Jackie Chan's movie (I haven't seen it yet but want to).
That being said, in real life, the martial artist actually does NOT get drunk, and even if he did, it would in no way or form actually improve his fighting any way, if anything impair it. The actual technique is call drunken fist not because the artist is drunk but imitating the wavering and unpredictable movements and swaying of a drunk, in order to 1) be underestimated by their opponent who thinks that that they may be drunk 2) the unpredictable movements are hard to block and counter.
D&D adding proficiency with brewer's supplies and performance is fun and is thematic on the surface (whether or not the martial artist actually drinks, it'll be hard to convince people that you're drunk if they never see you with a drink...), it's a little annoying when players (including a DM monk in my own campaign) INSISTS that he's a heavy drunk and needs to drink and is actually always drinking.. Sure, its fun. sure it's a game. sure, do it to make your character fun... but it's a little annoying when doing something is insisted even when in reality it actually goes against what the character actually is.
/rant :)
One comment, about the alert feat mentioned here
There is no surprised round.
At the beginning of combat, everyone rolls initiative, and surprised characters simply have to skip their turn.
Someone can sneak up on you, and combat begins, and you still get a chance to go first.
Similar to the comments here. I did take Alert and Lucky for my Drunken Master Monk.
Drunken Monk is truly a nice absurd class to have around. For a campaign I recently joined in. My monk is an adventurer-chef who goes across the land in search of ingredients/recipes/etc as well as challenging other "chefs" through combat or in kitchen-duels at their restaurants (dojo) . I use the alcohol-provided not solely as a means to get drunk but as an ingredient.
Agreed on the "not necessarily getting drunk-part". By lore, to my current knowledge , most of Kung-fu's techniques are an emulation. Hence why they have names like Crane/Monkey-raging-fist-swipe/Tiger etc. In this archetype's case -- a drunkard .Even if it's mechanically described as "drunken-fighting", what I did was I've described my actions/techniques as absurd food-related terminologies that still somehow emulate the movement of drunken fighting. Here are some examples from what I recall.
*My PC background is largely inspired from Cooking Master Boy, Iron Chef and Toriko.*
Loved it!. I once knew an irritatingly always in character player (bless them) once continue to act as a mage despite being a rogue. They had entire stage magician set pieces with names and details. This reminded me of:
Somnambulists obscuring aroma (sleeping spell or just sneaking behind someone and putting them to sleep with poison?)
Smoking mirror fog cloud of hypnotism. (its not so fun when some maniac is throwing around hallucinogenic smoke egg shell bombs, we laughed we cried the walls melted and we were flying through a landscape of cracker people.)
i totally agree with a monk or fighter making some of the moves / abilities your own my naming them and thinking how they differ from just 'i hit it' to become 'i hit it with style'
I really enjoy reading these cool takes on the Drunken Master and how to make it more thematically fun. I think that's the real crux of this class is how it adds to the flavor of the game.
So, a fun little thing I worked out with my DM as part of my character (Krog, a human who just found out he and his brother, our Barbarian, have both Primordial and Oni blood in their ancestry. The Barbarian took to his Primodial bloodline while Krog took to his Oni ancestry.) was that Krog has been in a sort of family imposed exile for almost 20 years. In that time he was trained in the Drunken Fist style. Specifically the Fist of the Drunken Bear style.
For our game I created six different styles based on each of the attributes, which have their own innate strengths.
The kicker here is that for our story's plot-hook, each style has an ancient scroll that teaches that style to the fullest extent. Those six scrolls, when one learns all six styles learns the Master Style of Drunken Boxing. A style that poets and storytellers say is so undefeatable that the gods of [your realm here] sought out the original master who created it. They warned that such power was too much for the mortal world. The master, having seen his most prized student fall to his baser desires and fought his master to the death, realized that the gods were right. So, he created the six scrolls and only taught his students one form each. Those six students went out into the world and took on students of their own, repeating this process over generations. The six scrolls were hidden and scattered across [realm] by the Master before he began a 1000 year meditation to seek further enlightenment. Then he climbed to the highest peak, where his body remains today in meditation, a state that is neither living nor dead.
The plot hook is that Krog's former lover, a student of the Snake Style, is seeking out the scrolls to learn the true Drunken Master style. Now, it's something of a race to see who can secure the scrolls and why.
Just a fun little plot device to make things interesting. There's more detailed info to it, but I'm just giving the basic rundown so others can try it for their game if they wish.
Gerey Finore, Cleric at Large.
I don't know. It seems to me that the devs just watched a few kung fu movies b/c they were running out of sub-class ideas for the Monk and then built this class. So yes, it's fun to play this character in a low-to-mid campaign, but it's damage and control aspects don't scale very well from levels 10 to 16. The level 11 ability is expensive and adds no flavor to the Drunken Master. Just very bland. Like a warm Coors light. I wish they had added some kind of improvised weaponry or something that improved the usefulness of the character against boss or sub-boss monsters.
17 levels of drunken monk with 3 levels of battlemaster fighter for the action surge and maneuvers would be a hell of a multiclass I think.
XGtE in general is really lackluster.
Monks not excluded.
Oh, delightful thread to raise from the dead!
Could you elaborate some more? Crunch, fluff, both?
When it comes to XGtE, my group has used materiel from every chapter (and at least one of the appendices). My last four PCs to see play all included subclasses from this book (College of Swords, Scout, Way of the Drunken Master, and The Celestial), and every other player in my group has played at least one subtype. My Drunken Master was particularly fun to play, sometimes drastically altering the battlefield while encouraging both myself and fellow players to really have fun with the narrative (see my previous post).
Plenty more time has passed, any more examples of Drunken Masters in the wild?
It suffers from (IMO) a lack of power, some ‘eh’ abilities and identity confusion. Tipsy Sway and Frenzy both indicate you wanna be in the thick of it (patient defense + tipsy sway is by far my favorite combo), but all its other features wants you to hit and run. The prone ability is eh, and very situational. Like all Monks it suffers from over-reliance on KI, and frenzy is awful.
i know people like it, but lvl 18 for a CHANCE to do 1d10 +5 to five different targets.... come on that’s trash.
I . . . I can't actually disagree with that statement. I do wonder if that might not be a Monk thing (I'm generalizing here), as it doesn't seem to fit solidly into a single role like striker, defender, or controller without a Monastic Tradition tipping the scales. In that respect the Way of the Drunken Master continues to spread out its focus. lol, I might also be inclined to say the 'eh' abilities feels like a Monk thing too, though I love them and the fact that Monks have so very many abilities to love.
What the Way of the Drunken Master does seem to focus on is frustrating and undermining their opposition. In zero-sum game I doubt they're a closer, especially (as you mentioned) their over-reliance on Ki, which likely curtails any staying power they'd need to capitalize on such a tactic. Yet with a diverse team of adventurers to support and coordinate with and encounters with varied and layered aims and dramatic questions, I think (read: opinion) the Drunken Master can solidly carry their weight in game. And perhaps more importantly, I had a lot of fun giving it a go (Yes, very anecdotal... and probably vague too lol).
With their mobility, I'm not sure I see a difference between 'hit and run' and 'in the thick of it', with the exception of Tipsy Sway (Redirect Attack) which really wants you to stick around to get attacked (and OMG! Why didn't I think of combining patient defense + tipsy sway? Did I? Maybe I just forgot? Whatever, I'm in love!). This is probably more dependent on particular builds though... same with:
If it's just extra attacks at 1d10 +5, then yeah, Intoxicated Frenzy doesn't offer up much, given that none of those five attacks can be against the same critter and few minions will pop at 15 damage, especially at 18th level. But it is 18th level, your character probably has some items, feats, abilities, spells, or effects upping the damage and/or adding riders on a hit or damage, right? I know it's quite subjective, but with the right ability, being able to reach out and touch up to 7 targets in a round must have some delightful potential.
Actually, I kind of wish their capstone ability would have been more like Action Surge from fighter, with maybe the stipulation being the second action would have to be on a second target. So you could attack twice then get a second action to use on a separate target. You could decide where to use your BA attack or FoB. First target, second target, or even a third target as you can move around. It would kind of play like the monk bouncing between multiple targets to attack quickly
Now that I could get behind. 8 total attacks to spread out to at least 2 targets, allowing you to actually put a hurting on something higher than challenge rating 2.
Not a “wow” ability, but definitely a better capstone
Actually. I believe the most you would get is 6 attacks. 2 on first attack action, 2 more on second attack action, and 1-2 on your bonus action unarmed attack (1 unarmed strike) or FoB (2 unarmed strikes). You only ever get one bonus action with action surge. If the ability gave an entire new turn that would be different but that wasn’t what I was saying.
But it didn’t require 5 separate opponents
Yeah the capstone is super meh, but I find the level 11 ability bums me out way more. 2 ki per roll! And only to cancel out disadvantage. Feh. I'm over it. Level 10-12 is the real capstone. Capstones might as well be epic play now. So it bums me out that level 11 is just so lame.
I really like the 3rd and 6th level abilities though, at least in concept, if not completely in execution.
I would tweak Drunken Technique because I don't like that it's only tied to Flurry of Blows, but overall I really like what it brings to the table. I personally view Mobile as a feat tax for any monk not trying to lean into some ranged routine enabled by a subclass so getting a "free" disengage is a big deal to me and worthy of a third level ability. This would be my fix to Drunken Technique:
The Drunken Master is a slipper devil all the time. Not just when they're flurrying. Changing the movement in this way combines with Tipsy Sway, Deflect Missiles and Diamond Soul to create the cinematic moments this class is meant to achieve. The Drunken Master isn't going to just make a save against the Wizard's Hypnotic Pattern. They're gonna fall backwards on their ass, distracting the mage while he's finishing weaving the spell, and then do a backwards roll and leap up some feet away ready to elbow some poor fool in the mouth.
I don't have anything I'd do to Tipsy Sway, but I would like to see them get an ability that makes Leap to your Feat a more quintessential part of the kit. Something like this: