Spells are a choice and you don't necessarily have to take the useless spells. Now Favored Enemy is replaceable by Favored Foe which in themselves are both more useful than they seem.
What I mean is that there is something wrong with the monk features. They seem like a trap, initially you see a lot of them and you want to try it and then you realize you hardly ever use them. I've been playing dnd for several years is I've only used "Deflect Missiles" 1 time, 0 times "Patient Defense", 0 times "Astral Projection"... And the only times here I have used Slow Fall is because there was a spellcaster who could give the group the same thing and the only thing I could say is: <<for me there is no need I can do it myself>>.
For posterity, here is a summary of the thread in the format of stating the issue with monks currently and then listing the proposed solutions. The issues are roughly listed from highest priority to lowest priority. Theoretically someone could take this and make it into a poll.
Monks are the most Multi-Ability Score Dependent (MAD) class requiring high DEXTERITY and WISDOM.
A) No changes. B) Provide 1 more Ability Score Improvement for Monks, likely at level 10. C) Allow Monks to wear light or medium armor. D) A change not listed above.
Monks are not built to be in melee 100% of the time. Without a reliable Disengage, they have trouble getting out of melee range.
A) No change. Each subclass has a unique way of avoiding melee or getting out of melee. B) Give Monks a bonus action Disengage that costs no resources (such as Rogue's Cunning Action). C) When a Monk attacks with a melee attack, the target can not take attacks of opportunity. (such as Mobile and Swashbuckler) D) When a Monk hits with a melee attack, the target can not take reactions (such as Open Hand Monk). E) When a Monk hits with a melee attack, the target is pushed 5 ft (such as Crusher). G) Increase the Hit Dice from d8 to d10. H) Change Deflect Missile to also work against melee weapon attacks, with changes in the numbers for balance. The ability would of course be renamed. I) A change not listed above.
Monk's Action Economy is clumped around the Bonus Action (Martial Arts bonus Attack, Patient Defense, Step of the Wind, Flurry of Blows). The reactions Slow Fall and Deflect Missile are circumstantial.
A) No change. By having all initial Ki abilities use the Bonus Action, a level 2 Monk cannot burn all their Ki in a single turn. B) Move Flurry of Blows into the Attack action (1 ki for 1 extra attack). Note: Existing subclasses have features that rely on the existing definition of Flurry of Blows and Bonus Action Martial Arts attack, so this may not be compatible with all printed subclasses. C) Move Patient Defense to a reaction that adds to the AC. Possible values are proficiency bonus, DEX modifier, WIS modifier, or a Martial Arts die roll. Duration could be a single attack (0 ki), or for the rest of the turn (1 ki). D) Add a counter attack reaction ability (such as Riposte, or melee variant of Deflect Missile). E) Change Deflect Missile to Deflect Attack, with changes in the numbers for balance. F) A change not listed above.
When a Monk is out of Ki, they are substantially hampered. This is more likely to occur when a party/DM/situation is not conducive to short rests.
A) No change. B) Increase the maximum ki to (Monk levels) + (WIS modifier). C) A 10 minute mediation (similar to ritual casting) restores WIS modifier Ki points. D) A 10 minute mediation (similar to ritual casting) restores Proficiency Bonus Ki points. E) As an Action (or appropriate time interval), restore all Ki points (limited to twice per long rest). F) A change not listed above.
For Levels 11 and higher, the monk's damage output does not increase.
A) No change. B) An ability to spend additional Ki to get more attacks in Flurry of Blows. C) An ability to spend additional Ki to get more attacks as part of the main Action. D) When a melee attack hits, spend ki to add martial arts dice to the damage. (such as Kensei Deft Strike) E) Increase the scaling of the martial arts dice. F) Add some form of reaction counter attack. G) A change not listed above.
The only choice during building a Monk is which subclass to use and whether to apply ASI to DEX or WIS.
A) No change. B) Being able to select a Fighting Style (including Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh). C) Being able to select Battle Master maneuvers (or similar). D) Selecting alternatives to Stunning Strike that have a similar power level. E) Increasing the number of ASI opens up the possibility of feats. F) A change not listed above.
D&D is a group game. The Monk currently does not have many abilities that work with teammates.
A) No change. Stunning Strike already sets up team mates. B) The ability to apply Deflect Missiles to others within 5 ft. C) The ability to extend Slow Fall to others. D) The ability to apply Stillness of Mind at a range of touch, likely costing an Action. E) More abilities that apply debuffs to enemies (prone, grappled, fear, slowed, etc) similar to Stunning Strike or Battlemaster Maneuvers. A lot of ideas have been generated for this already. F) A change not listed above.
Stillness of Mind has wording ambiguity that leads to questions of whether it applies when the character is unaware of the charm or cannot control his or her actions.
A) No change in functionality. Clarify wording. B) You have Advantage on saving throws against Fear and Charm. C) At the start of your turn if you are under the effect of Fear or Charm, make a saving throw to end the effect. (Works with advantage from other sources.) D) Immunity to Fear and Charm. E) A change not listed above.
Diamond Soul is an extremely powerful ability. But it appears at level 14 while most campaigns end around level 8-12.
A) No change. B) Split Diamond Soul among multiple levels. Such as gaining 1 saving throw proficiency with each Ability Score Increase. C) Make Diamond Soul available at an earlier level. D) A change not listed above.
Stunning Strike is an extremely powerful ability that is hard to balance encounters around. Yet it is possible for a Level 5 Monk to spend all 5 Ki points attempting a Stun with bad luck due to monsters having high CON saves.
A) No change. B) Make Stunning Strike available at a higher level, when more Ki and ASI and Proficiency Bonus increases the save DC. C) Initially limit Stunning Strike attempts to 1/turn, but the limit increases at later levels. D) At Level 5, a player chooses an ability, where Stunning Strike is one choice. Other choices should be designed for DEX focused Monks, Ranged Monks, etc. A lot of ideas have been generated for this already. E) A change not listed above.
G. When a monk scores a critical hit they regain 1 Ki, or half proficiency bonus, rounded down (could be restricted to Flurry of Blows or open to any unarmed strike or monk weapon attack)
For posterity, here is a summary of the thread in the format of stating the issue with monks currently and then listing the proposed solutions. The issues are roughly listed from highest priority to lowest priority. Theoretically someone could take this and make it into a poll.
Monks are the most Multi-Ability Score Dependent (MAD) class requiring high DEXTERITY and WISDOM.
A) No changes. D) A change not listed above.
Giving armor would open doors for the monk with base strength, but with light armor you would only make him more MAD. You have to choose dexterity or strength or give up wisdom. so I would propose to leave it as is and focus on movement and disengagement. Another alternative is to accept shields instead or make the unarmored defense base 11 instead of 10. [ your AC equals 11 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier. ]
Another solution that would solve all the problems is to use wisdom for rolls to hit. This would allow strength + armor and unarmored defense with dexterity.
Monks are not built to be in melee 100% of the time. Without a reliable Disengage, they have trouble getting out of melee range.
C) When a Monk attacks with a melee attack, the target can not take attacks of opportunity. (such as Mobile and Swashbuckler) D) When a Monk hits with a melee attack, the target can not take reactions (such as Open Hand Monk). E) When a Monk hits with a melee attack, the target is pushed 5 ft (such as Crusher). G) Increase the Hit Dice from d8 to d10. I) A change not listed above.
These are all good solutions, but I would opt for the 5-foot push, but with no size or weight limit. It reminds me of martial arts.
Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that deals bludgeoning damage, you can move it 5 feet to an unoccupied space.
Monk's Action Economy is clumped around the Bonus Action (Martial Arts bonus Attack, Patient Defense, Step of the Wind, Flurry of Blows). The reactions Slow Fall and Deflect Missile are circumstantial.
F) A change not listed above.
I would make the weaponless attack an indippendent attack of the action. So if the 4 element monk performed a spell he could still attack with a unarmed strike. As for flurry of blow, I would make it out of the context of action or bonus action, it simply gives an attack during the monk's turn, this would make it always usable but not boostable by the fighter.
When a Monk is out of Ki, they are substantially hampered. This is more likely to occur when a party/DM/situation is not conducive to short rests.
B) Increase the maximum ki to (Monk levels) + (WIS modifier). C) A 10 minute mediation (similar to ritual casting) restores WIS modifier Ki points. D) A 10 minute mediation (similar to ritual casting) restores Proficiency Bonus Ki points. E) As an Action (or appropriate time interval), restore all Ki points (limited to twice per long rest). F) A change not listed above.
Every class teaches self-control. The monk is no exception. I instead of adding ki points or making it faster rechargeable would opt for a reward after a critical attack. Each critical attack would give the monk 2 ki points. This would make critical attacks more exciting and the game would be more fun.
For Levels 11 and higher, the monk's damage output does not increase.
B) An ability to spend additional Ki to get more attacks in Flurry of Blows. C) An ability to spend additional Ki to get more attacks as part of the main Action. D) When a melee attack hits, spend ki to add martial arts dice to the damage. (such as Kensei Deft Strike) E) Increase the scaling of the martial arts dice. F) Add some form of reaction counter attack. G) A change not listed above.
I am more for a skill that scales with the martial arts die and the battle master's sepecial attacks. The consumption would not be small, but the possibility of doing a lot of damage is there.
The only choice during building a Monk is which subclass to use and whether to apply ASI to DEX or WIS.
B) Being able to select a Fighting Style (including Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh). C) Being able to select Battle Master maneuvers (or similar). E) Increasing the number of ASI opens up the possibility of feats.
Being MAD, the moanco needs an extra ASI. This would also give him access to some feats and also be able to customize him a little more. (Hoping they make some useful feats for the moanco as well). I love the batlemaster's techniques, and I am sure that the combination of the ki and dice of martial arts and the maneuvers of the battle master were a perfect match.
D&D is a group game. The Monk currently does not have many abilities that work with teammates.
B) The ability to apply Deflect Missiles to others within 5 ft. C) The ability to extend Slow Fall to others. D) The ability to apply Stillness of Mind at a range of touch, likely costing an Action. E) More abilities that apply debuffs to enemies (prone, grappled, fear, slowed, etc) similar to Stunning Strike or Battlemaster Maneuvers. A lot of ideas have been generated for this already.
These are all good solutions. The monk is too focused on himself, and the stunning strike is no fun since that's all it is.The monk needs to be part of the group, and his skills should be able to help the group as well. If not, there is a risk that he may not even be able to use them for himself, since strangely enough enemies know what kinds of attacks are ineffective against monks and traps where only the monk is saved are not the dungeon master's favorite.
Stillness of Mind has wording ambiguity that leads to questions of whether it applies when the character is unaware of the charm or cannot control his or her actions.
B) You have Advantage on saving throws against Fear and Charm. C) At the start of your turn if you are under the effect of Fear or Charm, make a saving throw to end the effect. (Works with advantage from other sources.) E) A change not listed above.
I would have solved it this way: << ...you can use your action to end one effect that is causing you or one willing creature that you touch to be charmed or frightened. This feature is activated at the subconscious level by blocking any action imposed by effect itself>> or specify which spells can negate this feature.
Diamond Soul is an extremely powerful ability. But it appears at level 14 while most campaigns end around level 8-12.
A) No change. B) Split Diamond Soul among multiple levels. Such as gaining 1 saving throw proficiency with each Ability Score Increase.
Good solutions, I would opt to separate them into two parts. Intelligence and constitution first and wisdom and charisma at the end. But at the same time I don't find it too important.
Stunning Strike is an extremely powerful ability that is hard to balance encounters around. Yet it is possible for a Level 5 Monk to spend all 5 Ki points attempting a Stun with bad luck due to monsters having high CON saves.
B) Make Stunning Strike available at a higher level, when more Ki and ASI and Proficiency Bonus increases the save DC. C) Initially limit Stunning Strike attempts to 1/turn, but the limit increases at later levels. D) At Level 5, a player chooses an ability, where Stunning Strike is one choice. Other choices should be designed for DEX focused Monks, Ranged Monks, etc. A lot of ideas have been generated for this already. E) A change not listed above.
I am more of the idea of limiting the stunning strike. An example would be: <<Stunning Strike. When you hit another creature with a melee attack with advantage or with a critical hit, you can interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent's body. Roll one Martial Arts die and add it to the damage roll, and it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn.>>
Stillness of Mind. Not that it's come up as an issue for our group when I was playing a tabaxi monk, but it is kept simple. 1) It is not an automatic anti-charm ability. A monk can still be charmed. 2) A monk by 7th level has strength of mind enough to recognise being under the influence and can spend an action removing the relevant condition. We tend to think the monk is quite powerful as a class and the weaknesses are more in the poor quality sub-classes. That would be how I interpret it too as DM - the monk ability supersede's any usual limitation.
Stunning Strike should be removed from the game for how swingy it is. That way WOTC can stop using it as an excuse to not give monks the buffs they need. Martials are also so far behind casters but Monk has the chance to shine in how supernatural/superhuman it is. WOTC should focus on this aspect, allowing monk to fulfill a Sun Wukong-esque fantasy by level 20. Buff the monk hit die, clarify Stillness of Mind, remove Timeless Body, fix our capstone or give us the ability to regain Ki on critical hits. And allow monk to have fighting styles and abilities that don't rely on Ki use. The monk should be using Ki to be enhanced, to be ahead of the game, Ki should not be the only thing that allows monks to even compete with Fighters or Rogues. That just doesn't make sense.
Stunning Strike should be removed from the game for how swingy it is. That way WOTC can stop using it as an excuse to not give monks the buffs they need. Martials are also so far behind casters but Monk has the chance to shine in how supernatural/superhuman it is. WOTC should focus on this aspect, allowing monk to fulfill a Sun Wukong-esque fantasy by level 20. Buff the monk hit die, clarify Stillness of Mind, remove Timeless Body, fix our capstone or give us the ability to regain Ki on critical hits. And allow monk to have fighting styles and abilities that don't rely on Ki use. The monk should be using Ki to be enhanced, to be ahead of the game, Ki should not be the only thing that allows monks to even compete with Fighters or Rogues. That just doesn't make sense.
With the current One D&D UA playtest going on I could see WotC using the new Dazed condition for Stunning Strike. And maybe it scale up to Stunning condition at a later level. We won't know until the Warrior Group UA comes out in the future.
There are new conversations going on about the monk over in the Unearthed Arcana forums that you and others who see this thread might be interested in, if you haven't read them already.
This Thread has some more thoughts on how to improve the Monk now that the One D&D UA's have started coming out.
Here is another thread of mine gathering the UA changes that may affect the Monk
I just started updating this thread with info from the Druid/Paladin UA with items that may affect the Monk. It is only one item from this UA so far, and it is just speculation, but I intend to go through the UA a little better and see what else might be in there that is good news for the monk in 1D&D.
"Stunning Strike should be removed from the game for how swingy it is. That way WOTC can stop using it as an excuse to not give monks the buffs they need. Martials are also so far behind casters but Monk has the chance to shine in how supernatural/superhuman it is. WOTC should focus on this aspect, allowing monk to fulfill a Sun Wukong-esque fantasy by level 20. Buff the monk hit die, clarify Stillness of Mind, remove Timeless Body, fix our capstone or give us the ability to regain Ki on critical hits. And allow monk to have fighting styles and abilities that don't rely on Ki use. The monk should be using Ki to be enhanced, to be ahead of the game, Ki should not be the only thing that allows monks to even compete with Fighters or Rogues. That just doesn't make sense."
100 percent man , I'd like it to either be only for a subclass or get rid of it . id like options to do more damage and have competitve dpr . I think alot of players haven't played with optimal fighters or even rogues so they dont realize how monk can really fall behind. my stun rarely works on high cr monsters . id rather spend my ki on a powered up flurry or a dragon jump kick or something maybe a ki blast.
Well Monks are going to be Warriors, so we know for sure they'll get access to Fighting Styles.
We know they'll be able to take them as feats, but we don't know if they'll get one as standard; Martial Arts is essentially already a better fighting style.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Well Monks are going to be Warriors, so we know for sure they'll get access to Fighting Styles.
We know they'll be able to take them as feats, but we don't know if they'll get one as standard; Martial Arts is essentially already a better fighting style.
Im wondering what will happen since they might change some weapons up, will they also change the monks fist in some way?
Well Monks are going to be Warriors, so we know for sure they'll get access to Fighting Styles.
We know they'll be able to take them as feats, but we don't know if they'll get one as standard; Martial Arts is essentially already a better fighting style.
Im wondering what will happen since they might change some weapons up, will they also change the monks fist in some way?
I'm hoping at the very least that now grappling/shoving is part of unarmed strikes (at least they are in the UA so far) that we'll gain the ability to use Dexterity for these, as it would give us a lot more options for basic control. Open Hand Technique could then build on top of that somehow; maybe they can do a grapple/shove for free when using Flurry of Blows (so 3-4 attacks + 1 free grapple or shove), or enhancing the effect (enemy has disadvantage to save and/or can push further)?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
It would be nice to see a connection between open hand techniques and grapples that would simulate the throws and control holds of judo, akido etc.
yo that would be pretty sick. especially if they had different techniques.
The best would be a list of unarmed techniques similar to the battle master's maneuvers. However, these unarmed techniques cannot be repeated on the same opponent in the same turn (to avoid falling back on the repetitiveness of the stunning strike).
Just thinking of this idea but what if the monk had the ability so that when they score a Critical Hit with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon the target has the Dazed Condition (in the UA) until the end of the targets next turn?
Anyway, just thought about that and wanted to post it. Hope the Warrior UA won’t be too far down the road.
DAZED [CONDITION] While Dazed, you experience the following effect: Limited Activity. You can Move or take one action on your turn, not both. You also can’t take a Bonus Action or a Reaction.
So Dazed condition is basically Slow spell vs. one target, minus the stuff about spells?
Personally, I'm not a fan of tying important class features to Criticals. Criticals are not reliable and the while making the Monk's crits count isn't a bad thing, I feel like this just encourages multi-classing with Fighter to get Champion's thing, which Monks shouldn't have to do to feel competent.
Theoretically how would people feel about spending 1ki and making it so that all your unarmed strikes cause a save vs Daze on hit. If you hit someone already Dazed, it upgrades to Stunned.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Spells are a choice and you don't necessarily have to take the useless spells. Now Favored Enemy is replaceable by Favored Foe which in themselves are both more useful than they seem.
What I mean is that there is something wrong with the monk features. They seem like a trap, initially you see a lot of them and you want to try it and then you realize you hardly ever use them. I've been playing dnd for several years is I've only used "Deflect Missiles" 1 time, 0 times "Patient Defense", 0 times "Astral Projection"... And the only times here I have used Slow Fall is because there was a spellcaster who could give the group the same thing and the only thing I could say is: <<for me there is no need I can do it myself>>.
For posterity, here is a summary of the thread in the format of stating the issue with monks currently and then listing the proposed solutions. The issues are roughly listed from highest priority to lowest priority. Theoretically someone could take this and make it into a poll.
Monks are the most Multi-Ability Score Dependent (MAD) class requiring high DEXTERITY and WISDOM.
A) No changes.
B) Provide 1 more Ability Score Improvement for Monks, likely at level 10.
C) Allow Monks to wear light or medium armor.
D) A change not listed above.
Monks are not built to be in melee 100% of the time. Without a reliable Disengage, they have trouble getting out of melee range.
A) No change. Each subclass has a unique way of avoiding melee or getting out of melee.
B) Give Monks a bonus action Disengage that costs no resources (such as Rogue's Cunning Action).
C) When a Monk attacks with a melee attack, the target can not take attacks of opportunity. (such as Mobile and Swashbuckler)
D) When a Monk hits with a melee attack, the target can not take reactions (such as Open Hand Monk).
E) When a Monk hits with a melee attack, the target is pushed 5 ft (such as Crusher).
G) Increase the Hit Dice from d8 to d10.
H) Change Deflect Missile to also work against melee weapon attacks, with changes in the numbers for balance. The ability would of course be renamed.
I) A change not listed above.
Monk's Action Economy is clumped around the Bonus Action (Martial Arts bonus Attack, Patient Defense, Step of the Wind, Flurry of Blows). The reactions Slow Fall and Deflect Missile are circumstantial.
A) No change. By having all initial Ki abilities use the Bonus Action, a level 2 Monk cannot burn all their Ki in a single turn.
B) Move Flurry of Blows into the Attack action (1 ki for 1 extra attack). Note: Existing subclasses have features that rely on the existing definition of Flurry of Blows and Bonus Action Martial Arts attack, so this may not be compatible with all printed subclasses.
C) Move Patient Defense to a reaction that adds to the AC. Possible values are proficiency bonus, DEX modifier, WIS modifier, or a Martial Arts die roll. Duration could be a single attack (0 ki), or for the rest of the turn (1 ki).
D) Add a counter attack reaction ability (such as Riposte, or melee variant of Deflect Missile).
E) Change Deflect Missile to Deflect Attack, with changes in the numbers for balance.
F) A change not listed above.
When a Monk is out of Ki, they are substantially hampered. This is more likely to occur when a party/DM/situation is not conducive to short rests.
A) No change.
B) Increase the maximum ki to (Monk levels) + (WIS modifier).
C) A 10 minute mediation (similar to ritual casting) restores WIS modifier Ki points.
D) A 10 minute mediation (similar to ritual casting) restores Proficiency Bonus Ki points.
E) As an Action (or appropriate time interval), restore all Ki points (limited to twice per long rest).
F) A change not listed above.
For Levels 11 and higher, the monk's damage output does not increase.
A) No change.
B) An ability to spend additional Ki to get more attacks in Flurry of Blows.
C) An ability to spend additional Ki to get more attacks as part of the main Action.
D) When a melee attack hits, spend ki to add martial arts dice to the damage. (such as Kensei Deft Strike)
E) Increase the scaling of the martial arts dice.
F) Add some form of reaction counter attack.
G) A change not listed above.
The only choice during building a Monk is which subclass to use and whether to apply ASI to DEX or WIS.
A) No change.
B) Being able to select a Fighting Style (including Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh).
C) Being able to select Battle Master maneuvers (or similar).
D) Selecting alternatives to Stunning Strike that have a similar power level.
E) Increasing the number of ASI opens up the possibility of feats.
F) A change not listed above.
D&D is a group game. The Monk currently does not have many abilities that work with teammates.
A) No change. Stunning Strike already sets up team mates.
B) The ability to apply Deflect Missiles to others within 5 ft.
C) The ability to extend Slow Fall to others.
D) The ability to apply Stillness of Mind at a range of touch, likely costing an Action.
E) More abilities that apply debuffs to enemies (prone, grappled, fear, slowed, etc) similar to Stunning Strike or Battlemaster Maneuvers. A lot of ideas have been generated for this already.
F) A change not listed above.
Stillness of Mind has wording ambiguity that leads to questions of whether it applies when the character is unaware of the charm or cannot control his or her actions.
A) No change in functionality. Clarify wording.
B) You have Advantage on saving throws against Fear and Charm.
C) At the start of your turn if you are under the effect of Fear or Charm, make a saving throw to end the effect. (Works with advantage from other sources.)
D) Immunity to Fear and Charm.
E) A change not listed above.
Diamond Soul is an extremely powerful ability. But it appears at level 14 while most campaigns end around level 8-12.
A) No change.
B) Split Diamond Soul among multiple levels. Such as gaining 1 saving throw proficiency with each Ability Score Increase.
C) Make Diamond Soul available at an earlier level.
D) A change not listed above.
Stunning Strike is an extremely powerful ability that is hard to balance encounters around. Yet it is possible for a Level 5 Monk to spend all 5 Ki points attempting a Stun with bad luck due to monsters having high CON saves.
A) No change.
B) Make Stunning Strike available at a higher level, when more Ki and ASI and Proficiency Bonus increases the save DC.
C) Initially limit Stunning Strike attempts to 1/turn, but the limit increases at later levels.
D) At Level 5, a player chooses an ability, where Stunning Strike is one choice. Other choices should be designed for DEX focused Monks, Ranged Monks, etc. A lot of ideas have been generated for this already.
E) A change not listed above.
Add to the list “when a monk is out of Ki”
G. When a monk scores a critical hit they regain 1 Ki, or half proficiency bonus, rounded down (could be restricted to Flurry of Blows or open to any unarmed strike or monk weapon attack)
Thanks for putting together the list.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Giving armor would open doors for the monk with base strength, but with light armor you would only make him more MAD. You have to choose dexterity or strength or give up wisdom. so I would propose to leave it as is and focus on movement and disengagement. Another alternative is to accept shields instead or make the unarmored defense base 11 instead of 10. [ your AC equals 11 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier. ]
Another solution that would solve all the problems is to use wisdom for rolls to hit. This would allow strength + armor and unarmored defense with dexterity.
These are all good solutions, but I would opt for the 5-foot push, but with no size or weight limit. It reminds me of martial arts.
Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that deals bludgeoning damage, you can move it 5 feet to an unoccupied space.
I would make the weaponless attack an indippendent attack of the action. So if the 4 element monk performed a spell he could still attack with a unarmed strike. As for flurry of blow, I would make it out of the context of action or bonus action, it simply gives an attack during the monk's turn, this would make it always usable but not boostable by the fighter.
Every class teaches self-control. The monk is no exception. I instead of adding ki points or making it faster rechargeable would opt for a reward after a critical attack. Each critical attack would give the monk 2 ki points. This would make critical attacks more exciting and the game would be more fun.
I am more for a skill that scales with the martial arts die and the battle master's sepecial attacks. The consumption would not be small, but the possibility of doing a lot of damage is there.
Being MAD, the moanco needs an extra ASI. This would also give him access to some feats and also be able to customize him a little more. (Hoping they make some useful feats for the moanco as well). I love the batlemaster's techniques, and I am sure that the combination of the ki and dice of martial arts and the maneuvers of the battle master were a perfect match.
These are all good solutions. The monk is too focused on himself, and the stunning strike is no fun since that's all it is.The monk needs to be part of the group, and his skills should be able to help the group as well. If not, there is a risk that he may not even be able to use them for himself, since strangely enough enemies know what kinds of attacks are ineffective against monks and traps where only the monk is saved are not the dungeon master's favorite.
I would have solved it this way: << ...you can use your action to end one effect that is causing you or one willing creature that you touch to be charmed or frightened. This feature is activated at the subconscious level by blocking any action imposed by effect itself>> or specify which spells can negate this feature.
Good solutions, I would opt to separate them into two parts. Intelligence and constitution first and wisdom and charisma at the end. But at the same time I don't find it too important.
I am more of the idea of limiting the stunning strike. An example would be: <<Stunning Strike. When you hit another creature with a melee attack with advantage or with a critical hit, you can interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent's body. Roll one Martial Arts die and add it to the damage roll, and it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn.>>
Stillness of Mind. Not that it's come up as an issue for our group when I was playing a tabaxi monk, but it is kept simple. 1) It is not an automatic anti-charm ability. A monk can still be charmed. 2) A monk by 7th level has strength of mind enough to recognise being under the influence and can spend an action removing the relevant condition. We tend to think the monk is quite powerful as a class and the weaknesses are more in the poor quality sub-classes. That would be how I interpret it too as DM - the monk ability supersede's any usual limitation.
Stunning Strike should be removed from the game for how swingy it is. That way WOTC can stop using it as an excuse to not give monks the buffs they need. Martials are also so far behind casters but Monk has the chance to shine in how supernatural/superhuman it is. WOTC should focus on this aspect, allowing monk to fulfill a Sun Wukong-esque fantasy by level 20. Buff the monk hit die, clarify Stillness of Mind, remove Timeless Body, fix our capstone or give us the ability to regain Ki on critical hits. And allow monk to have fighting styles and abilities that don't rely on Ki use. The monk should be using Ki to be enhanced, to be ahead of the game, Ki should not be the only thing that allows monks to even compete with Fighters or Rogues. That just doesn't make sense.
With the current One D&D UA playtest going on I could see WotC using the new Dazed condition for Stunning Strike. And maybe it scale up to Stunning condition at a later level. We won't know until the Warrior Group UA comes out in the future.
There are new conversations going on about the monk over in the Unearthed Arcana forums that you and others who see this thread might be interested in, if you haven't read them already.
This Thread has some more thoughts on how to improve the Monk now that the One D&D UA's have started coming out.
Here is another thread of mine gathering the UA changes that may affect the Monk
I edited the OP to include these links as well
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
I just started updating this thread with info from the Druid/Paladin UA with items that may affect the Monk. It is only one item from this UA so far, and it is just speculation, but I intend to go through the UA a little better and see what else might be in there that is good news for the monk in 1D&D.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
thanks for making this post. has some good idea generation.
"Stunning Strike should be removed from the game for how swingy it is. That way WOTC can stop using it as an excuse to not give monks the buffs they need. Martials are also so far behind casters but Monk has the chance to shine in how supernatural/superhuman it is. WOTC should focus on this aspect, allowing monk to fulfill a Sun Wukong-esque fantasy by level 20. Buff the monk hit die, clarify Stillness of Mind, remove Timeless Body, fix our capstone or give us the ability to regain Ki on critical hits. And allow monk to have fighting styles and abilities that don't rely on Ki use. The monk should be using Ki to be enhanced, to be ahead of the game, Ki should not be the only thing that allows monks to even compete with Fighters or Rogues. That just doesn't make sense."
100 percent man , I'd like it to either be only for a subclass or get rid of it . id like options to do more damage and have competitve dpr . I think alot of players haven't played with optimal fighters or even rogues so they dont realize how monk can really fall behind. my stun rarely works on high cr monsters . id rather spend my ki on a powered up flurry or a dragon jump kick or something maybe a ki blast.
Well Monks are going to be Warriors, so we know for sure they'll get access to Fighting Styles.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
We know they'll be able to take them as feats, but we don't know if they'll get one as standard; Martial Arts is essentially already a better fighting style.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Im wondering what will happen since they might change some weapons up, will they also change the monks fist in some way?
I'm hoping at the very least that now grappling/shoving is part of unarmed strikes (at least they are in the UA so far) that we'll gain the ability to use Dexterity for these, as it would give us a lot more options for basic control. Open Hand Technique could then build on top of that somehow; maybe they can do a grapple/shove for free when using Flurry of Blows (so 3-4 attacks + 1 free grapple or shove), or enhancing the effect (enemy has disadvantage to save and/or can push further)?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
It would be nice to see a connection between open hand techniques and grapples that would simulate the throws and control holds of judo, akido etc.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
yo that would be pretty sick. especially if they had different techniques.
The best would be a list of unarmed techniques similar to the battle master's maneuvers. However, these unarmed techniques cannot be repeated on the same opponent in the same turn (to avoid falling back on the repetitiveness of the stunning strike).
Just thinking of this idea but what if the monk had the ability so that when they score a Critical Hit with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon the target has the Dazed Condition (in the UA) until the end of the targets next turn?
Anyway, just thought about that and wanted to post it. Hope the Warrior UA won’t be too far down the road.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
So Dazed condition is basically Slow spell vs. one target, minus the stuff about spells?
Personally, I'm not a fan of tying important class features to Criticals. Criticals are not reliable and the while making the Monk's crits count isn't a bad thing, I feel like this just encourages multi-classing with Fighter to get Champion's thing, which Monks shouldn't have to do to feel competent.
Theoretically how would people feel about spending 1ki and making it so that all your unarmed strikes cause a save vs Daze on hit. If you hit someone already Dazed, it upgrades to Stunned.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!