Base class of Monk relies too much on "Just Right conditions" to work well compared to other martials:
Some of the "Just Right conditions" I am referring to:
* At low levels, somebody to draw aggro and tank damage. For a mostly melee class, Monks are flimsy, what with mediocre AC and d8 HD but no spells and being ineffective at range.
* Very lucky stat generation rolls or "Heroic Array" at the start.
* Variant Human or some way to get Mobile feat right off that bat.
* Playing at very high levels AND the DM does not hand out magic items that mostly benefit the other martial classes more.
* DM refrains from targeting the Monk with spells and effects that focus on CHA, STR, or INT saves.
* DM restricts access to feats with the word "Master" in them, such Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, Heavy Armor Master.
If it was just one or two of the above, that might be fine. However, the fact that the base Monk needs quite a few of the above to apply to not get KO'd constantly or to feel left behind by other martials is a bad sign.
I would disagree with most of this. In particular the Mobile feat. I mean you can disengage as a bonus action for a ki, why get the feat? V. Human is a good race, but you are better off with Tough or Magic Initiate or Weapon Master or Fey Touched or a host of other feats at 1st level. Heck I even think PAM would be a better feat than Mobile, just for the reaction attack when someone enters your range.
I think do better than other non-casters when it comes to magic items. Pretty much any simple weapon (or weapon they are proficient in) is going to favor a Monk and a lot of them will be better in the hands of a Monk at high level because they can use their martial arts die on that Dragontooth Dagger, Javelin of Lighning, Staff of Thunder and Lighting or Staff of Striking. This is aside from the items that are ideal for Monks or are only usable by Monks. Eldritch Claw Tatoo is uncommon, meaning you can make or buy it in many campaigns relatively easy. The Monks I played were all in published campaigns and they have not been wanting for magic items.
Monks have a mediocre AC, but they can also dodge as a bonus action, which makes up a ton of ground, and while their ki is limited, at the top of tier 2 and beyond it is not much of a limit in play. Long Death Monk is bonkers when it comes to durability at high levels ..... Oh I am at 1 hp and paralyzed... ok I have 9 ki left so you only have to hit me 9 more times and I will go down.
I played a Monk to 20th level in a recent campaign. She had a 1-level Sorcerer dip and 1-level Cleric dip, but at high level she was the second most powerful character I played (the most powerful was a 20th level Bladesinger). She was more powerful than my 20th level Ranger or my 20th level fighter and from level 14 on she was more powerful than any character I played of that level (again other than my bladesinger).
Monks are weak in levels 5-8. Above that, when they can spend ki nearly at will and below that when they are getting more attacks they are pretty competitive with other non-casters. Once they hit 14th level they are better than any of the other non-casters, mostly because they get proficiency in all saves.
If you have played a lot in tier 4+ you know that saves really start to kill you, especially Wisdom saves. That GWM-PAM fighter might look great in the whiteroom, but at high level he kind of sucks when he is out of the fight 2 rounds out of 4 because he is frightened. paralyzed or worse swinging at the party because he is charmed. Oh you have indomitable because you are a fighter .... ok roll again, you only need a 21 to make the save. A Monk not only has all proficiencies he can flat cancel charmed or frightened even if he fails the save.
Here is the sheet on the character I mentioned above. She was 20th level when we finished but I did not level her past 19 on DNDB:
Base class of Monk relies too much on "Just Right conditions" to work well compared to other martials:
Some of the "Just Right conditions" I am referring to:
[SNIPPED for brevity]
If it was just one or two of the above, that might be fine. However, the fact that the base Monk needs quite a few of the above to apply to not get KO'd constantly or to feel left behind by other martials is a bad sign.
I would disagree with most of this. In particular the Mobile feat. I mean you can disengage as a bonus action for a ki, why get the feat? V. Human is a good race, but you are better off with Tough or Magic Initiate or Weapon Master or Fey Touched or a host of other feats at 1st level. Heck I even think PAM would be a better feat than Mobile, just for the reaction attack when someone enters your range.
[SNIPPED]
Monks have a mediocre AC, but they can also dodge as a bonus action, which makes up a ton of ground, and while their ki is limited, at the top of tier 2 and beyond it is not much of a limit in play. Long Death Monk is bonkers when it comes to durability at high levels ..... Oh I am at 1 hp and paralyzed... ok I have 9 ki left so you only have to hit me 9 more times and I will go down.
I played a Monk to 20th level in a recent campaign. She had a 1-level Sorcerer dip and 1-level Cleric dip, but at high level she was the second most powerful character I played (the most powerful was a 20th level Bladesinger). She was more powerful than my 20th level Ranger or my 20th level fighter and from level 14 on she was more powerful than any character I played of that level (again other than my bladesinger).
Monks are weak in levels 5-8. Above that, when they can spend ki nearly at will and below that when they are getting more attacks they are pretty competitive with other non-casters. Once they hit 14th level they are better than any of the other non-casters, mostly because they get proficiency in all saves.
If you have played a lot in tier 4+ you know that saves really start to kill you, especially Wisdom saves. That GWM-PAM fighter might look great in the whiteroom, but at high level he kind of sucks when he is out of the fight 2 rounds out of 4 because he is frightened. paralyzed or worse swinging at the party because he is charmed. Oh you have indomitable because you are a fighter .... ok roll again, you only need a 21 to make the save. A Monk not only has all proficiencies he can flat cancel charmed or frightened even if he fails the save.
Here is the sheet on the character I mentioned above. She was 20th level when we finished but I did not level her past 19 on DNDB:
Right, saving throws are great, but it's useless if your campaign ends before you get it, which is where most players are.
Low level monks can dish out a bit more damage than most martials, but it relies too much on having Tanky character soak damage for you unless you pick your "race" very carefully: Tortle (superior AC without armor), Tabaxi (climb speed plus feline agility), Grung (somewhat broken due to poison skin plus climb speed), Goblin (no Ki to disengage) or V.Human. So it's not impossible, but difficult without good support from other party members. The fact that Ki points are so limited at low levels is part of the problem, but so is the d8 HD.
I agree with you on Long Death Monk durability, but that's only one subclass out of about 10. I'm talking about the base Monk class here. That's the chassis and engine that all the subclass bells and whistles get applied to.
I'm sure that Monks can get access to magic items, and it's easier if you're playing with a DM who is friendly to you and in a long campaign where such things are easy to plan for. But its tough on A.L players, players who play mostly from published modules, and amateur DMs who are unaware of the ways that Monks often get left out of the magic item pool because so much permanent magic stuff is armor, weapons, or rods/wands.
Base class of Monk relies too much on "Just Right conditions" to work well compared to other martials:
Some of the "Just Right conditions" I am referring to:
[SNIPPED for brevity]
If it was just one or two of the above, that might be fine. However, the fact that the base Monk needs quite a few of the above to apply to not get KO'd constantly or to feel left behind by other martials is a bad sign.
I would disagree with most of this. In particular the Mobile feat. I mean you can disengage as a bonus action for a ki, why get the feat? V. Human is a good race, but you are better off with Tough or Magic Initiate or Weapon Master or Fey Touched or a host of other feats at 1st level. Heck I even think PAM would be a better feat than Mobile, just for the reaction attack when someone enters your range.
[SNIPPED]
Monks have a mediocre AC, but they can also dodge as a bonus action, which makes up a ton of ground, and while their ki is limited, at the top of tier 2 and beyond it is not much of a limit in play. Long Death Monk is bonkers when it comes to durability at high levels ..... Oh I am at 1 hp and paralyzed... ok I have 9 ki left so you only have to hit me 9 more times and I will go down.
I played a Monk to 20th level in a recent campaign. She had a 1-level Sorcerer dip and 1-level Cleric dip, but at high level she was the second most powerful character I played (the most powerful was a 20th level Bladesinger). She was more powerful than my 20th level Ranger or my 20th level fighter and from level 14 on she was more powerful than any character I played of that level (again other than my bladesinger).
Monks are weak in levels 5-8. Above that, when they can spend ki nearly at will and below that when they are getting more attacks they are pretty competitive with other non-casters. Once they hit 14th level they are better than any of the other non-casters, mostly because they get proficiency in all saves.
If you have played a lot in tier 4+ you know that saves really start to kill you, especially Wisdom saves. That GWM-PAM fighter might look great in the whiteroom, but at high level he kind of sucks when he is out of the fight 2 rounds out of 4 because he is frightened. paralyzed or worse swinging at the party because he is charmed. Oh you have indomitable because you are a fighter .... ok roll again, you only need a 21 to make the save. A Monk not only has all proficiencies he can flat cancel charmed or frightened even if he fails the save.
Here is the sheet on the character I mentioned above. She was 20th level when we finished but I did not level her past 19 on DNDB:
Right, saving throws are great, but it's useless if your campaign ends before you get it, which is where most players are.
Low level monks can dish out a bit more damage than most martials, but it relies too much on having Tanky character soak damage for you unless you pick your "race" very carefully: Tortle (superior AC without armor), Tabaxi (climb speed plus feline agility), Grung (somewhat broken due to poison skin plus climb speed), Goblin (no Ki to disengage) or V.Human. So it's not impossible, but difficult without good support from other party members. The fact that Ki points are so limited at low levels is part of the problem, but so is the d8 HD.
I agree with you on Long Death Monk durability, but that's only one subclass out of about 10. I'm talking about the base Monk class here. That's the chassis and engine that all the subclass bells and whistles get applied to.
I'm sure that Monks can get access to magic items, and it's easier if you're playing with a DM who is friendly to you and in a long campaign where such things are easy to plan for. But its tough on A.L players, players who play mostly from published modules, and amateur DMs who are unaware of the ways that Monks often get left out of the magic item pool because so much permanent magic stuff is armor, weapons, or rods/wands.
The campaigns I played in with Monks were all published campaigns and the DM gave us whatever was in the print. No freindly or unfriendly or anything like that, whatever the campaign said the loot was we got and the Monks did well, better than most other non-caster PCs I think. A lot of the pool is weapons, but Magic Weapons are great for Monks and magic staffs and daggers in particular are better for Monks than they are for any other martial characters (and there a lot of staffs and daggers).
I mean the magic item issue is a much, much bigger problem for a GWM-PAM fighter than it is for a Monk and generally a bigger problem for a fighter at all.
I agree completely about level, and I mentioned that earlier. I think that is the biggest reason Monks get a lot of hate, because games end when they are weak. Monks gain power gradually until 14th level and then take a huge jump. Other classes get a big boost at 5th and another at 11th.
I also disagree about Race. Monks are good with a lot of races. Playing an Elf, Half Elf or Dwarf for weapon proficiencies puts you in a good spot (Warhammer, Longsword, Whip and either a net or Longbow). Similarly playing a V. human to get those weapons and a dex boost with Weapon Master. There are races that don't work particularly well on a Monk, Goblin is one even though it is generally a very powerful race. With stunning strike and patient defense Monks can be pretty darn tanky. Those two things make up for the 1 hp per level on d8 hit dice, even at low levels when they are limited. Now that assumes you are not spamming FOB of course.
The biggest mistake I see on Monks is excessive use of FOB. I think the 20th level Character I linked earlier used FOB less than 10 times total from level 2 to level 20. The only time she ever used it was when an enemy was near death or at high level when I really needed to stun an enemy. She used Patient Defense all the time and used stunning strike pretty regularly. If you are using FOB you are going to take a lot of damage that you would not otherwise take if you saved your ki for more effective uses.
Also prioritizing Wisdom instead of dexterity helps the Monk be more tanky because when you use a ki for stunning strike it is more likely to land (thereby eliminating attacks from that enemy for a turn). A lot of players prioritize dex and that is a mistake because you are going to hit more often than you will have ki for stunning strike, so when you use it you want it to work.
The campaigns I played in with Monks were all published campaigns and the DM gave us whatever was in the print. No freindly or unfriendly or anything like that, whatever the campaign said the loot was we got and the Monks did well, better than most other non-caster PCs I think. A lot of the pool is weapons, but Magic Weapons are great for Monks and magic staffs and daggers in particular are better for Monks than they are for any other martial characters (and there a lot of staffs and daggers).
I mean the magic item issue is a much, much bigger problem for a GWM-PAM fighter than it is for a Monk and generally a bigger problem for a fighter at all.
I agree completely about level, and I mentioned that earlier. I think that is the biggest reason Monks get a lot of hate, because games end when they are weak. Monks gain power gradually until 14th level and then take a huge jump. Other classes get a big boost at 5th and another at 11th.
I also disagree about Race. Monks are good with a lot of races. Playing an Elf, Half Elf or Dwarf for weapon proficiencies puts you in a good spot (Warhammer, Longsword, Whip and either a net or Longbow). Similarly playing a V. human to get those weapons and a dex boost with Weapon Master. There are races that don't work particularly well on a Monk, Goblin is one even though it is generally a very powerful race. With stunning strike and patient defense Monks can be pretty darn tanky. Those two things make up for the 1 hp per level on d8 hit dice, even at low levels when they are limited. Now that assumes you are not spamming FOB of course.
The biggest mistake I see on Monks is excessive use of FOB. I think the 20th level Character I linked earlier used FOB less than 10 times total from level 2 to level 20. The only time she ever used it was when an enemy was near death or at high level when I really needed to stun an enemy. She used Patient Defense all the time and used stunning strike pretty regularly. If you are using FOB you are going to take a lot of damage that you would not otherwise take if you saved your ki for more effective uses.
Also prioritizing Wisdom instead of dexterity helps the Monk be more tanky because when you use a ki for stunning strike it is more likely to land (thereby eliminating attacks from that enemy for a turn). A lot of players prioritize dex and that is a mistake because you are going to hit more often than you will have ki for stunning strike, so when you use it you want it to work.
Note that automatic weapon proficiencies based on the PC's race is going out the window in OneD&D.
More importantly, though, if you're spending most your Ki and your Bonus Actions on Patient Defense, you're only getting 1 attack from level 1 to level 4. This means you're averaging only 4 to 6 damage per round, assuming you hit, since you're not using FoB. But by not investing in DEX, you're also hitting less often on average. Therefore, you are basically being carried by your party until level 5. So the thing that's supposed to oh-so-great about Monks at early levels is then actually not very useful. Then you get Stunning Strike at level 5, which is great - if your enemies have low CON scores or you fight a lot of spellcasters. Otherwise, it's just okay-ish unless the RNG gods like you. It doesn't compare that well with Fighters who get their 2nd ASI at level 6 and can really start putting on the hurt by combining Feats or Paladins, who have their Aura going and 2nd level spell slots to smite with. But hey, at least from levels 6 to 10 you're existence as a Monk is now occasionally justified by landing a few Stunning Strikes on enemy casters.
I have played three published modules. So far, not one of them has presented any magic items that boost a Monk's damage capability that don't work just as well or better with a Fighter or Rogue. Also, how are staves great for Monks when most Monks have no spellcasting capability whatsoever?
The campaigns I played in with Monks were all published campaigns and the DM gave us whatever was in the print. No freindly or unfriendly or anything like that, whatever the campaign said the loot was we got and the Monks did well, better than most other non-caster PCs I think. A lot of the pool is weapons, but Magic Weapons are great for Monks and magic staffs and daggers in particular are better for Monks than they are for any other martial characters (and there a lot of staffs and daggers).
I mean the magic item issue is a much, much bigger problem for a GWM-PAM fighter than it is for a Monk and generally a bigger problem for a fighter at all.
I agree completely about level, and I mentioned that earlier. I think that is the biggest reason Monks get a lot of hate, because games end when they are weak. Monks gain power gradually until 14th level and then take a huge jump. Other classes get a big boost at 5th and another at 11th.
I also disagree about Race. Monks are good with a lot of races. Playing an Elf, Half Elf or Dwarf for weapon proficiencies puts you in a good spot (Warhammer, Longsword, Whip and either a net or Longbow). Similarly playing a V. human to get those weapons and a dex boost with Weapon Master. There are races that don't work particularly well on a Monk, Goblin is one even though it is generally a very powerful race. With stunning strike and patient defense Monks can be pretty darn tanky. Those two things make up for the 1 hp per level on d8 hit dice, even at low levels when they are limited. Now that assumes you are not spamming FOB of course.
The biggest mistake I see on Monks is excessive use of FOB. I think the 20th level Character I linked earlier used FOB less than 10 times total from level 2 to level 20. The only time she ever used it was when an enemy was near death or at high level when I really needed to stun an enemy. She used Patient Defense all the time and used stunning strike pretty regularly. If you are using FOB you are going to take a lot of damage that you would not otherwise take if you saved your ki for more effective uses.
Also prioritizing Wisdom instead of dexterity helps the Monk be more tanky because when you use a ki for stunning strike it is more likely to land (thereby eliminating attacks from that enemy for a turn). A lot of players prioritize dex and that is a mistake because you are going to hit more often than you will have ki for stunning strike, so when you use it you want it to work.
Note that automatic weapon proficiencies based on the PC's race is going out the window in OneD&D.
More importantly, though, if you're spending most your Ki and your Bonus Actions on Patient Defense, you're only getting 1 attack from level 1 to level 4. This means you're averaging only 4 to 6 damage per round, assuming you hit, since you're not using FoB. But by not investing in DEX, you're also hitting less often on average. Therefore, you are basically being carried by your party until level 5. So the thing that's supposed to oh-so-great about Monks at early levels is then actually not very useful. Then you get Stunning Strike at level 5, which is great - if your enemies have low CON scores or you fight a lot of spellcasters. Otherwise, it's just okay-ish unless the RNG gods like you. It doesn't compare that well with Fighters who get their 2nd ASI at level 6 and can really start putting on the hurt by combining Feats or Paladins, who have their Aura going and 2nd level spell slots to smite with. But hey, at least from levels 6 to 10 you're existence as a Monk is now occasionally justified by landing a few Stunning Strikes on enemy casters.
I have played three published modules. So far, not one of them has presented any magic items that boost a Monk's damage capability that don't work just as well or better with a Fighter or Rogue. Also, how are staves great for Monks when most Monks have no spellcasting capability whatsoever?
I know about ONE, but the playtest Monk was pretty overpowered too. I think Weapon Master feat will still be a thing.
At early levels you get 2 attacks a round with martial arts without using any ki. You get 1 on rounds you use patient defense and 3 on rounds you use FOB. At level 1-4 you can't use patient defense all the time, but if you are using a mix of patient defense and martial arts you will gnerally be more "tanky" than most PCs and dealing more damage than martials not optimized for DPR.
Also you can use a subclass ability that uses ki as an action and still attack as a bonus action with ki-fueled attack, which is a ptetty big deal for some subclasses like shadow monk.
Also if you prioritize Wisdom Stunning Strike works fairly well. A lot of enemies do have a high Constitution, but if you stay on the Wisdom tree most enemies will fail that save a majority of the time and every time they fail that is a lost round at a minimum, plus the extra damage they take due to all other attacks being at disadvantage. It is an even bigger deal when you are swinging a great (for the level) weapon like a sword of lifestealing or a staff of thunder and lighting and you can use stunning strike with that weapon and even if the stun fails you can make a third attack with the weapon again as a bonus action without spending another ki (or swing it as a bonus action with advantage if the stun does land).
I would say a Monk is well behind most other martials at levels 5-8. At these levels they still have to conserve ki and they can't compete with other classes, like Fighter and Paladin, by the time they hit 10th level though this is not really as big a deal because 9th level is really about where you get to that turning point where you start to have enough ki that you don't need to conserve it as much and a Monk who can spend more than one ki every turn of combat is going to do pretty well.
As far as magic itmes, here are some examples of magic items from Tyranny of Dragons that work BETTER with a Monk than a fighter or Rogue:
1. Dragontooth Dagger (this does more damage with a Monk because he gets martial dice instead of the d4). A Monk using this at 6th level is doing 2d6+1+dex and making 2 or 3 attacks a round with it.
2. Bracers of Defense
3. Insignia of Claws
4. Dagger of Venom (again monk die instead of d4)
5. Dragongleam (spear)
6. Belt of Hill Giant Strength (this benefits a Monk more because a Monk's dex is typically lower than a Rogue or a Fighter, meaning there is a larger boost to his attacks and he is making more attacks so he is getting the bonus more often).
The only major named or rare items I see in this adventure that benefit Fighters more than Monks is Harizawn which is a greatsword. As far as minor items go, there are also some +1 weapons that would benefit a Monk more and some uncommon weapons and armors that benefit Fighters more. I can't find anything beyond +1 leather armor that would benefit Rogues more than Monks.
When it comes to the good magic items, this adventure definitely favors a Monk over those 2 classes and by a wide margin.
That is the only published adventure I have a complete listing of magic items for. I think other published adventures will be similar though. I can remember a couple from out of the Abyss too where we had a Monk in the party and he used both Dawnbringer (sunblade) and Staff of the Wyrmling that were better in his hands than in those of the Bladesinger, the Barbarian or the Rogue in the party.
6. Belt of Hill Giant Strength (this benefits a Monk more because a Monk's dex is typically lower than a Rogue or a Fighter, meaning there is a larger boost to his attacks and he is making more attacks so he is getting the bonus more often).
6. Belt of Hill Giant Strength (this benefits a Monk more because a Monk's dex is typically lower than a Rogue or a Fighter, meaning there is a larger boost to his attacks and he is making more attacks so he is getting the bonus more often).
Based on what metric, or whose?
Because a Monk is MAD and is typically splitting their point buy numbers and ASIs between Wisdom and Dexterity, while a Fighter or Rogue is typically prioritizing their attack stat over all others. Additionally both a Rogue and a Fighter get one more ASI than a Monk, meaning they have more points to distribute.
That is not always the case, there are Rogues that prioritize strength and fighters that prioritize charisma, but generally a Belt of giant Strength will benefit a Monk more.
Also there is just the fact the Monk is making more attacks than either of these classes at most levels, so even if the score is the same without the belt, the Monk is using the belt more often on his attacks. A fighter making 2 attacks a round with an 18 strength is getting 2 points of damage out of this belt if both hit. A Monk with an 18 dex is getting 2 points when he makes 2 attacks, 3 points when he makes 3 attacks and 4 more points when he makes 4 attacks.
I would disagree with most of this. In particular the Mobile feat. I mean you can disengage as a bonus action for a ki, why get the feat? V. Human is a good race, but you are better off with Tough or Magic Initiate or Weapon Master or Fey Touched or a host of other feats at 1st level. Heck I even think PAM would be a better feat than Mobile, just for the reaction attack when someone enters your range.
I think do better than other non-casters when it comes to magic items. Pretty much any simple weapon (or weapon they are proficient in) is going to favor a Monk and a lot of them will be better in the hands of a Monk at high level because they can use their martial arts die on that Dragontooth Dagger, Javelin of Lighning, Staff of Thunder and Lighting or Staff of Striking. This is aside from the items that are ideal for Monks or are only usable by Monks. Eldritch Claw Tatoo is uncommon, meaning you can make or buy it in many campaigns relatively easy. The Monks I played were all in published campaigns and they have not been wanting for magic items.
Monks have a mediocre AC, but they can also dodge as a bonus action, which makes up a ton of ground, and while their ki is limited, at the top of tier 2 and beyond it is not much of a limit in play. Long Death Monk is bonkers when it comes to durability at high levels ..... Oh I am at 1 hp and paralyzed... ok I have 9 ki left so you only have to hit me 9 more times and I will go down.
I played a Monk to 20th level in a recent campaign. She had a 1-level Sorcerer dip and 1-level Cleric dip, but at high level she was the second most powerful character I played (the most powerful was a 20th level Bladesinger). She was more powerful than my 20th level Ranger or my 20th level fighter and from level 14 on she was more powerful than any character I played of that level (again other than my bladesinger).
Monks are weak in levels 5-8. Above that, when they can spend ki nearly at will and below that when they are getting more attacks they are pretty competitive with other non-casters. Once they hit 14th level they are better than any of the other non-casters, mostly because they get proficiency in all saves.
If you have played a lot in tier 4+ you know that saves really start to kill you, especially Wisdom saves. That GWM-PAM fighter might look great in the whiteroom, but at high level he kind of sucks when he is out of the fight 2 rounds out of 4 because he is frightened. paralyzed or worse swinging at the party because he is charmed. Oh you have indomitable because you are a fighter .... ok roll again, you only need a 21 to make the save. A Monk not only has all proficiencies he can flat cancel charmed or frightened even if he fails the save.
Here is the sheet on the character I mentioned above. She was 20th level when we finished but I did not level her past 19 on DNDB:
Dara's Character Sheet - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)
Right, saving throws are great, but it's useless if your campaign ends before you get it, which is where most players are.
Low level monks can dish out a bit more damage than most martials, but it relies too much on having Tanky character soak damage for you unless you pick your "race" very carefully: Tortle (superior AC without armor), Tabaxi (climb speed plus feline agility), Grung (somewhat broken due to poison skin plus climb speed), Goblin (no Ki to disengage) or V.Human. So it's not impossible, but difficult without good support from other party members. The fact that Ki points are so limited at low levels is part of the problem, but so is the d8 HD.
I agree with you on Long Death Monk durability, but that's only one subclass out of about 10. I'm talking about the base Monk class here. That's the chassis and engine that all the subclass bells and whistles get applied to.
I'm sure that Monks can get access to magic items, and it's easier if you're playing with a DM who is friendly to you and in a long campaign where such things are easy to plan for. But its tough on A.L players, players who play mostly from published modules, and amateur DMs who are unaware of the ways that Monks often get left out of the magic item pool because so much permanent magic stuff is armor, weapons, or rods/wands.
The campaigns I played in with Monks were all published campaigns and the DM gave us whatever was in the print. No freindly or unfriendly or anything like that, whatever the campaign said the loot was we got and the Monks did well, better than most other non-caster PCs I think. A lot of the pool is weapons, but Magic Weapons are great for Monks and magic staffs and daggers in particular are better for Monks than they are for any other martial characters (and there a lot of staffs and daggers).
I mean the magic item issue is a much, much bigger problem for a GWM-PAM fighter than it is for a Monk and generally a bigger problem for a fighter at all.
I agree completely about level, and I mentioned that earlier. I think that is the biggest reason Monks get a lot of hate, because games end when they are weak. Monks gain power gradually until 14th level and then take a huge jump. Other classes get a big boost at 5th and another at 11th.
I also disagree about Race. Monks are good with a lot of races. Playing an Elf, Half Elf or Dwarf for weapon proficiencies puts you in a good spot (Warhammer, Longsword, Whip and either a net or Longbow). Similarly playing a V. human to get those weapons and a dex boost with Weapon Master. There are races that don't work particularly well on a Monk, Goblin is one even though it is generally a very powerful race. With stunning strike and patient defense Monks can be pretty darn tanky. Those two things make up for the 1 hp per level on d8 hit dice, even at low levels when they are limited. Now that assumes you are not spamming FOB of course.
The biggest mistake I see on Monks is excessive use of FOB. I think the 20th level Character I linked earlier used FOB less than 10 times total from level 2 to level 20. The only time she ever used it was when an enemy was near death or at high level when I really needed to stun an enemy. She used Patient Defense all the time and used stunning strike pretty regularly. If you are using FOB you are going to take a lot of damage that you would not otherwise take if you saved your ki for more effective uses.
Also prioritizing Wisdom instead of dexterity helps the Monk be more tanky because when you use a ki for stunning strike it is more likely to land (thereby eliminating attacks from that enemy for a turn). A lot of players prioritize dex and that is a mistake because you are going to hit more often than you will have ki for stunning strike, so when you use it you want it to work.
Note that automatic weapon proficiencies based on the PC's race is going out the window in OneD&D.
More importantly, though, if you're spending most your Ki and your Bonus Actions on Patient Defense, you're only getting 1 attack from level 1 to level 4. This means you're averaging only 4 to 6 damage per round, assuming you hit, since you're not using FoB. But by not investing in DEX, you're also hitting less often on average. Therefore, you are basically being carried by your party until level 5. So the thing that's supposed to oh-so-great about Monks at early levels is then actually not very useful. Then you get Stunning Strike at level 5, which is great - if your enemies have low CON scores or you fight a lot of spellcasters. Otherwise, it's just okay-ish unless the RNG gods like you. It doesn't compare that well with Fighters who get their 2nd ASI at level 6 and can really start putting on the hurt by combining Feats or Paladins, who have their Aura going and 2nd level spell slots to smite with. But hey, at least from levels 6 to 10 you're existence as a Monk is now occasionally justified by landing a few Stunning Strikes on enemy casters.
I have played three published modules. So far, not one of them has presented any magic items that boost a Monk's damage capability that don't work just as well or better with a Fighter or Rogue. Also, how are staves great for Monks when most Monks have no spellcasting capability whatsoever?
I know about ONE, but the playtest Monk was pretty overpowered too. I think Weapon Master feat will still be a thing.
At early levels you get 2 attacks a round with martial arts without using any ki. You get 1 on rounds you use patient defense and 3 on rounds you use FOB. At level 1-4 you can't use patient defense all the time, but if you are using a mix of patient defense and martial arts you will gnerally be more "tanky" than most PCs and dealing more damage than martials not optimized for DPR.
Also you can use a subclass ability that uses ki as an action and still attack as a bonus action with ki-fueled attack, which is a ptetty big deal for some subclasses like shadow monk.
Also if you prioritize Wisdom Stunning Strike works fairly well. A lot of enemies do have a high Constitution, but if you stay on the Wisdom tree most enemies will fail that save a majority of the time and every time they fail that is a lost round at a minimum, plus the extra damage they take due to all other attacks being at disadvantage. It is an even bigger deal when you are swinging a great (for the level) weapon like a sword of lifestealing or a staff of thunder and lighting and you can use stunning strike with that weapon and even if the stun fails you can make a third attack with the weapon again as a bonus action without spending another ki (or swing it as a bonus action with advantage if the stun does land).
I would say a Monk is well behind most other martials at levels 5-8. At these levels they still have to conserve ki and they can't compete with other classes, like Fighter and Paladin, by the time they hit 10th level though this is not really as big a deal because 9th level is really about where you get to that turning point where you start to have enough ki that you don't need to conserve it as much and a Monk who can spend more than one ki every turn of combat is going to do pretty well.
As far as magic itmes, here are some examples of magic items from Tyranny of Dragons that work BETTER with a Monk than a fighter or Rogue:
1. Dragontooth Dagger (this does more damage with a Monk because he gets martial dice instead of the d4). A Monk using this at 6th level is doing 2d6+1+dex and making 2 or 3 attacks a round with it.
2. Bracers of Defense
3. Insignia of Claws
4. Dagger of Venom (again monk die instead of d4)
5. Dragongleam (spear)
6. Belt of Hill Giant Strength (this benefits a Monk more because a Monk's dex is typically lower than a Rogue or a Fighter, meaning there is a larger boost to his attacks and he is making more attacks so he is getting the bonus more often).
The only major named or rare items I see in this adventure that benefit Fighters more than Monks is Harizawn which is a greatsword. As far as minor items go, there are also some +1 weapons that would benefit a Monk more and some uncommon weapons and armors that benefit Fighters more. I can't find anything beyond +1 leather armor that would benefit Rogues more than Monks.
When it comes to the good magic items, this adventure definitely favors a Monk over those 2 classes and by a wide margin.
That is the only published adventure I have a complete listing of magic items for. I think other published adventures will be similar though. I can remember a couple from out of the Abyss too where we had a Monk in the party and he used both Dawnbringer (sunblade) and Staff of the Wyrmling that were better in his hands than in those of the Bladesinger, the Barbarian or the Rogue in the party.
Based on what metric, or whose?
Because a Monk is MAD and is typically splitting their point buy numbers and ASIs between Wisdom and Dexterity, while a Fighter or Rogue is typically prioritizing their attack stat over all others. Additionally both a Rogue and a Fighter get one more ASI than a Monk, meaning they have more points to distribute.
That is not always the case, there are Rogues that prioritize strength and fighters that prioritize charisma, but generally a Belt of giant Strength will benefit a Monk more.
Also there is just the fact the Monk is making more attacks than either of these classes at most levels, so even if the score is the same without the belt, the Monk is using the belt more often on his attacks. A fighter making 2 attacks a round with an 18 strength is getting 2 points of damage out of this belt if both hit. A Monk with an 18 dex is getting 2 points when he makes 2 attacks, 3 points when he makes 3 attacks and 4 more points when he makes 4 attacks.