Kensei is great if you want stuff like better AC in melee, being better with using bows, and are worried about not having a magic weapon.
Open hand makes a poor grappler, because grappling offensively scales off of strength. Your stats will always be stretched thin between Dex, Con, and Wis, so splitting it even further with strength will be tough. On top of that you don't have a way to get advantage/expertise on athletics so it's a tough justification. It's good for some melee control though, being able to push enemies through hazardous terrain or knocking them prone to give melee allies advantage are great features.
If you are serious about wanting to do grappling, the Way of the Astral Self is the way to go. It lets you scale athletics off of wisdom, which helps let you focus on it over dex for boosting your Stunning Strike save DC. You also get to use Wisdom for attacking.
So i'm planning on creating a Harengon monk. I'm having a hard time deciding on Open Hand grappler or Kensai Sword monk. What do you all think?
Kensei is great if you want stuff like better AC in melee, being better with using bows, and are worried about not having a magic weapon.
Open hand makes a poor grappler, because grappling offensively scales off of strength. Your stats will always be stretched thin between Dex, Con, and Wis, so splitting it even further with strength will be tough. On top of that you don't have a way to get advantage/expertise on athletics so it's a tough justification. It's good for some melee control though, being able to push enemies through hazardous terrain or knocking them prone to give melee allies advantage are great features.
If you are serious about wanting to do grappling, the Way of the Astral Self is the way to go. It lets you scale athletics off of wisdom, which helps let you focus on it over dex for boosting your Stunning Strike save DC. You also get to use Wisdom for attacking.