As you pointed out, the base Martial Arts features and Flurry of Blows rely on you taking the Attack action (and in the case of the bonus action attack, specifically make at least one attack with an unarmed strike or monk weapon). Natural Weapons are not unarmed strikes BUT any creature is capable making an unarmed strike. So, a even in bear form you could could take the Attack action to try to headbutt a creature, in which case everything should be fine. Just use the bear's Str/Dex modifier.
What gets weird is when you consider that in many beast stat blocks, using your Natural Weapons is tied to specific Action. That is to say, you are not actually taking the Attack action when you attack with your fangs or claws or what have you. You are taking the Bite action, for example. In this case, using the beast's natural weapons likely wont work with Martial Arts or Flurry of Blows in the first place, so you would be depending on your Unarmed Strikes all the same
As far as something like Stunning Strike is concerned, though, any route you choose should be fine. In the monster manual, any attacks made with natural weapons are still counted as "melee weapon attacks" which is all you need to pull off stunning strike
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Kaboom979 (Paraphrased) [wild shapes do not have attack actions] uh NO, you are wrong, in fact most critters have an attack action. Take your "bear" (or an ankle biting badger) example... Multi-ATTACK, one bite, one paw slap... right there in the MM. Multi-ATTACK. could it work with a POUNCE action? uh no... But in the examples you gave, BOTH PART OF an UNARMED Multi-ATTACK so stun could work but I will defer to a dev to jump in and hope they retain 'cool'. might even be a 'flurry of paws capable" which would be so kewl. I honestly think DC Druid and Monk or DC Ranger-Monk kinda give the class more appeal, next to some of the options. And it is not game breaking really... better than say a Champion Fitter, BUT a CLERIC /tank with GUIDING BOLT... still yeesh. Level 3 bladesinger? yeesh. HexAdin? YEESH! This is just another form of yeesh of which there may be 20, but not busted because you have to play limited time and no talk with party.
The Furries will march upon your game place and picket your anti-fur perspective.
The Furries will march upon your game place and picket your anti-fur perspective.
🤨
Ya'll taking this way too serious in the Legal Argument about what is "An Attack". I tried to inject humor... I normally stay away, some of the reddit and posts here of 'true believers'... it is a come on man thing... We Be Here, Cause We Love... 'Member Dat?' But I have a passion to this build and a cool monk. And as far as EXP, I played Tomb of Horrors, won and survived, in 1983. Been through a few sand pits so... To Quote Panzer "That's not the same as the Attack action. You are making attacks but you are not using the "Attack" action that'd be required for a bunch of class features. Attacking != using the "Attack" action."
Let me debunk this... (Channeling Darkwing Duck) Let's... get... LOGICAL!
Given: A PC = ANY character created AND DRIVEN by a person to play TO HAVE FUN. Remember, the object of the game is to have fun, not become Wanna Be Lawyers. (Intro Page PHB) Given: an attack in Chapter 9 PHB causes a target to save or attacker to hit or both. Given: Monks are not always fun as they wear nerf all over, some peeps just want to be Jackie Chan or Tony Jaa or (ahh AHH) THE LEE OF BRUCE! (Ref just about any DND Youtuber) Given: and Monk Fans can't keep up most times, due to action economy and what not scaling... (Ref any D&D Youtuber Devs, what are you afraid of?) Given: Ki/Chi is a Mind/Spirit thing... (PHB) Given: a level 2 Moon Druid is really a great low level survivable PC. Given: in Wild Shape, all mental and spiritual stuff is baked into Wild Shape. You can even burn a spell slot for healing on a bonus action. (PHB, druid section) Given: A monk has no verbal component to Ki Use... and uses a lot of bonus actions... (PHB p 78) GIVEN: A Ranger Pet Action Command of Attack... is using its natural weapons... (PHB ranger section) Given: Any one can take MULTIPLE DIFFERING ACTIONS (Re-Read Chapter 9, PHB) on their turn. Not all are attacks but attacks have attack rolls or saving throws or both (duh?).
So given these initial conditions, a monk plus moon druid could be loads of fun with a twist of crazy. [Me Likey Crazy hehehe] Picture Rocket 'Jaa' Squirrel stops going Tony Jaa on the rooftop and to survive takes the disengage action, bonus action flying squirrel off the roof. So far, what you all pronounce, would be allowed and people would chuckle. It is a cool stunt, not game breaking at all. But it is not a stretch that any attack a PC makes, is the attack action, a definition ya'll are making. If a 2 level dip Fighter-Bladesinger can cast using action surge 2 FULL SPELLS... or a Quickened Sorcerer can blast a cantrip and a spell... And do not get me started on some other builds which are much more powerful... You are arguing, because it is not a hand or foot or knee, no stuns (which have a save or no further effect), no deflect (mostly dodge) missile is possible. Re-Read Chapter 9... Kaboom and Panzer, do you guys see the logic hole All Day Petersen could run to the end zone in? Any action that creates a roll to hit or save or both is an attack action. It is right there in the PHB Chapter 9.
Look, I see this build as a battlefield healer and infiltrator spy thing... take goodberries in, run around as something and play St. Bernard dodging slings and arrows. Or doing a sneak as a critter that would not be noticed on the wall above to learn stuff to move the plot forward and possibly have to switch forms a time or so. Or an attack without the massive Sneak Attack d6 boost-instakill just to break concentration and possibly stun him long enough to GTFO Dodge cause the rolls went poorly... This whole 'no hands' prejudice, you want to run things that way, fine, its yer table. Says so in the PHB. Used to say it in the DMG. But I renew the call for a DEV to clarify, hopefully on the logic presented so we can have creative roll play and NOT MMORPG things.... I think we ditched 4e for that reason, alone. and 3.5 because lawd, that was way too complex... or 2e because a BARD WAS GOD and took forever to get. Heck, most of 2e was dumped because peeps realized Gary was a racist... not being able to resurrect an Elf? And fer dern sure, it is not as yech as a Gloomstalker-Rogue at night, or the playtest Dragon Magazine Ninja of 2e or even most Cleric (clerics rule... really) or Paladin builds with a certain nod to a few that really go wild and do not even start on the Pal-Lock or Hexadin or Bladesinger+Fighter builds. Following action economy and level progression, the build works, with ki strikes in the wild shape yet without game breaking though some 'stunts' may be wild but not really game breaking. Peeps want to have fun... and free running a cat through the bazaar with the entire garrison in pursuit can be comedic. Popping Fog Cloud and then wildshaping to a skink and going up the wall to GTFO or change direction and attack on the next turn? Or popping bear and stunning a few down so the rest can leave? Why is this a problem? We having a Gygax moment? Let's bring a nod to creativity and let the kids play not go this 'unwritten rule' route or follow 'Fundamentalist Gygax'... Because notice, not one single page was listed in any source material disputing my facts, from source material. Just opinions as if handed down by DEVS. The FORMAT OF ACTIONS IN THE MM is not saying a bite is not an attack! It has a TH roll or save or both. Ergo, with limits, this is all good and like I said, survivable but not game breaking with the add that playing a wis based build means a person should play wisely. And I dare anyone to find in literature the evil monk druid controlling the land... Because it is not broken.
It sounds like a fun combo to me! One thing to be aware of though is that a beast's Natural Weapons do not count as Unarmed Strikes per RAW.
The Natural Weapons granted by many player races say they can be used to make Unarmed Strikes, but this is the exception and not the rule. The reason I bring this up is because to get the free bonus action Unarmed Strike from Martial Arts you need to use your action to make at least one attack with an Unarmed Strike or a Monk weapon. Flurry of Blows on the other hand only requires that you take the Attack action and doesn't care what you do with it.
So it is worth asking your DM if they are willing to treat all Natural Weapons as Unarmed Strikes.
Per RAW? WTH is RAW? Moreover, I think I made a logical argument in here somewhere disputing the whole dern paradigm against fur and stun...
We don't take it too seriously at all. That's how you argue RAW. It is as written, not as you'd like things to be. Anything else is homebrewing/handwaving. You're free to do that in your group of course but it has zero place in a forum argument unless explicitly marked as homebrew. Sorry to disappoint, but you didn't debunk anything there. Lot's of words for nothing.
Which is why PHB pg 178 Paragraph (or formatted as a paragraph past the numbered) 4, upper right states... "If there is any question something you are doing counts as an attack, the rule is simple. If you..." The PC "...are making an attack roll, you are making an attack." This is the entire crux of my argument, thus 'not homebrew'.
It sounds like a fun combo to me! One thing to be aware of though is that a beast's Natural Weapons do not count as Unarmed Strikes per RAW.
The Natural Weapons granted by many player races say they can be used to make Unarmed Strikes, but this is the exception and not the rule. The reason I bring this up is because to get the free bonus action Unarmed Strike from Martial Arts you need to use your action to make at least one attack with an Unarmed Strike or a Monk weapon. Flurry of Blows on the other hand only requires that you take the Attack action and doesn't care what you do with it.
So it is worth asking your DM if they are willing to treat all Natural Weapons as Unarmed Strikes.
Per RAW? WTH is RAW? Moreover, I think I made a logical argument in here somewhere disputing the whole dern paradigm against fur and stun...
As I understand it "RAW" is an abbreviation of "Rules as Written".
At the time I wrote that post it is in response to your first post in this thread (#19). I wrote my post to point out a conflict in mechanics that might cause a DM to rule in a way that isn't favorable for your character. It is a small issue and I only posted about it because the second post in this thread mentioned the free bonus action attack as a benefit of a Monk/Druid multiclass that may or may not actually play out at a given table.
Natural Weapons and Unarmed Strikes occupy a weird place in the rules. I wanted to encourage you to talk about your character concept with your DM so that way you are on the same page and their aren't any surprise rulings during gameplay.
I just did a Way of Mercy Monk 4/Circle of the Blighted Druid 2 Beasthide Shifter.
My go to was shifting into a Draft Horse, doing 1d4+4 Str unarmed damage, plus 1d4+4 necrotic damage with a Ki point, plus 1d4 necrotic damage for Defiled Ground... while adding my Unarmed Defense (base 14), Blighted Shape (+2 AC when Wild Shape), & Shifted (+1 AC with 1d6+6 temp HP) for a 17 AC and ~28 HP. It got even more ridiculous when I went for Wolf.
Solid combo with a lot of fluffy rp potential as dirty nilist hippy Djin Knox.
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Carley Simon, thanks for writing that song about me!
Natural weapons are indeed weapons. That's not what I said. I said that they are not Melee weapons. Because they are not. They are natural weapons. There are plenty of natural weapons that are not modified by things that modify melee weapons.
Since unarmed strikes by the monk are classified as Melee weapons Stunning strike works. Because Natural Weapons are not automatically melee weapons it doesn't. It's just like a bow is a weapon but it is not a melee weapon and thus without something else specifically changing how things work for a subclass or the like you can't stun with it but it's still a weapon.
Bear stat block lists claw and bite actions as melee weapon attacks. This means they should work.
I'm not sure that is accurate. I believe natural weapons are also melee weapons.
This is because on the statblock for Giant Goat the Ram is listed as a melee weapon attack.
Black Bear has a bite and claw. Both are listed as melee weapon attacks as well. For these reasons stunning strike should work.
I think the designation is to prevent this from being used with ranged attacks.
Whether or not Natural Weapons count as Melee Weapons depends on the Natural Weapon in question. The only Natural Weapons I can think of that do count as Melee Weapons are those offered to the Path of the Beast Barbarian. The text of that subclass tells us that their Natural Weapons also count as Simple Melee Weapons. As far as I am aware though no monster stat block states that their Natural Weapons count as either an Unarmed Strike or a Melee Weapon.
That being said you are right about a Black Bear's Claw and Bite being Melee Weapon Attacks. Being a Melee Weapon and making a Melee Weapon Attack are different things and the distinction is important. For example you can make a Ranged Weapon Attack with a Melee Weapon by throwing it. Similarly you can make a Melee Weapon Attack with a Ranged Weapon by clubbing someone with it.
This is a nuance I had missed when I initially joined the thread and you are correct to point out. Stunning Strikes only requires that you hit with a Melee Weapon Attack, it doesn't care if it was a Melee Weapon, Unarmed Strike, or Natural Weapon. I might be mistaken but I am pretty sure every attack listed in every monster stat block will tell you if it is a Melee/Ranged Weapon/Spell Attack. So in general I would expect Stunning Strike to work just fine with the various Beast forms a Druid can assume.
Also something else Fateless doesn't quite get right is saying that a Monk's Unarmed Strike count as Melee Weapons. In general Unarmed Strikes explicitly do not count as Melee Weapons as described here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/combat#MeleeAttacks. For Monks only three things change from the general rule. First, the damage increases to be the Martial Arts die of the Monk's level. Second, Monks can use either Strength or Dexterity for their attack rolls and damage. Third, at 6th level a Monk's Unarmed Strikes count as Magical Weapons for the purposes of overcoming damage resistance and immunity. For contexts other than damage resistance or immunity a Monk's Unarmed Strikes are still just Unarmed Strikes. So if you want to combo your Unarmed Strikes with a spell like Holy Weapon be sure to check with your DM first as this would not work RAW.
So the way of the astral self monk works around most of the limiting factors by using the astral arms for attacking, also gives you 10 feet reach. you can use them to make unarmed strikes while in beast shape, so even if your dm rules that natural weapons are in fact wielded weapons you can use the astral arms for all your attacks, the argument could also be made that since you're using a feature you can make an extra attack while beast shaped given you did it with the astral arms instead of the natural weapons of the beast shape. The PHB says that you maintain all of you features and soft stats while beast shaped so I would argue that includes extra attack and that the reason you don't get the extra attack is the limiting factor of the beast shape, I as a dm would allow extra attack as rules as written even though I think it bypasses rules as intended.
So from this I would take Monk of the Astral self with a 2 lvl splash of Moon Circle Druid if I was optimizing for melee combat. the split could be more oven further down the line but I would try for at least 6-8 lvls of monk before moving into druid again.
So the way of the astral self monk works around most of the limiting factors by using the astral arms for attacking, also gives you 10 feet reach. you can use them to make unarmed strikes while in beast shape, so even if your dm rules that natural weapons are in fact wielded weapons you can use the astral arms for all your attacks, the argument could also be made that since you're using a feature you can make an extra attack while beast shaped given you did it with the astral arms instead of the natural weapons of the beast shape.
Totally unnecessary. Every creature in the game is entitled to make unarmed strikes - you don't need Astral arms to do it while Shaped.
The PHB says that you maintain all of you features and soft stats while beast shaped so I would argue that includes extra attack
That's not a topic of debate. The RAW is very clear that you retain Extra Attack. Of course, you can't Extra Attack and Multiattack.
and that the reason you don't get the extra attack is the limiting factor of the beast shape, I as a dm would allow extra attack as rules as written even though I think it bypasses rules as intended.
So from this I would take Monk of the Astral self with a 2 lvl splash of Moon Circle Druid if I was optimizing for melee combat. the split could be more oven further down the line but I would try for at least 6-8 lvls of monk before moving into druid again.
The Monk levels do much less for you than the Moon Druid levels, in general, although Astral Self monks are relatively ki efficient in that their defining feature spends ki to put up a buff that should last the whole fight. Because Wild Shape will unlock new forms for a Moon Druid at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, and 18, there isn't an actual lull in the progression until 10 (the 12 unlock is CR 4 Beasts for 1 Shape but at 10 you already got 4 different CR 5 forms that cost 2 shapes, so it's not as new as the previous steps). You can do a lot with Monk 1/Moon Druid X (and it only gets better if you mix Bladesinger into it, since you've already given up the front-runner for best capstone in the game).
To add to this:
As you pointed out, the base Martial Arts features and Flurry of Blows rely on you taking the Attack action (and in the case of the bonus action attack, specifically make at least one attack with an unarmed strike or monk weapon). Natural Weapons are not unarmed strikes BUT any creature is capable making an unarmed strike. So, a even in bear form you could could take the Attack action to try to headbutt a creature, in which case everything should be fine. Just use the bear's Str/Dex modifier.
What gets weird is when you consider that in many beast stat blocks, using your Natural Weapons is tied to specific Action. That is to say, you are not actually taking the Attack action when you attack with your fangs or claws or what have you. You are taking the Bite action, for example. In this case, using the beast's natural weapons likely wont work with Martial Arts or Flurry of Blows in the first place, so you would be depending on your Unarmed Strikes all the same
As far as something like Stunning Strike is concerned, though, any route you choose should be fine. In the monster manual, any attacks made with natural weapons are still counted as "melee weapon attacks" which is all you need to pull off stunning strike
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Well I am only taking the monk for unarmored defense while in beast form to give me better AC to keep concentration. I am only using 1 level of monk
Kaboom979 (Paraphrased) [wild shapes do not have attack actions] uh NO, you are wrong, in fact most critters have an attack action. Take your "bear" (or an ankle biting badger) example...
Multi-ATTACK, one bite, one paw slap... right there in the MM. Multi-ATTACK. could it work with a POUNCE action? uh no...
But in the examples you gave, BOTH PART OF an UNARMED Multi-ATTACK so stun could work but I will defer to a dev to jump in and hope they retain 'cool'. might even be a 'flurry of paws capable" which would be so kewl. I honestly think DC Druid and Monk or DC Ranger-Monk kinda give the class more appeal, next to some of the options.
And it is not game breaking really... better than say a Champion Fitter, BUT a CLERIC /tank with GUIDING BOLT... still yeesh. Level 3 bladesinger? yeesh. HexAdin? YEESH! This is just another form of yeesh of which there may be 20, but not busted because you have to play limited time and no talk with party.
The Furries will march upon your game place and picket your anti-fur perspective.
🤨
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Ya'll taking this way too serious in the Legal Argument about what is "An Attack". I tried to inject humor...
I normally stay away, some of the reddit and posts here of 'true believers'... it is a come on man thing...
We Be Here, Cause We Love... 'Member Dat?'
But I have a passion to this build and a cool monk.
And as far as EXP, I played Tomb of Horrors, won and survived, in 1983.
Been through a few sand pits so...
To Quote Panzer "That's not the same as the Attack action. You are making attacks but you are not using the "Attack" action that'd be required for a bunch of class features. Attacking != using the "Attack" action."
Let me debunk this...
(Channeling Darkwing Duck)
Let's... get... LOGICAL!
Given: A PC = ANY character created AND DRIVEN by a person to play TO HAVE FUN. Remember, the object of the game is to have fun, not become Wanna Be Lawyers. (Intro Page PHB)
Given: an attack in Chapter 9 PHB causes a target to save or attacker to hit or both.
Given: Monks are not always fun as they wear nerf all over, some peeps just want to be Jackie Chan or Tony Jaa or (ahh AHH) THE LEE OF BRUCE! (Ref just about any DND Youtuber)
Given: and Monk Fans can't keep up most times, due to action economy and what not scaling... (Ref any D&D Youtuber Devs, what are you afraid of?)
Given: Ki/Chi is a Mind/Spirit thing... (PHB)
Given: a level 2 Moon Druid is really a great low level survivable PC.
Given: in Wild Shape, all mental and spiritual stuff is baked into Wild Shape. You can even burn a spell slot for healing on a bonus action. (PHB, druid section)
Given: A monk has no verbal component to Ki Use... and uses a lot of bonus actions... (PHB p 78)
GIVEN: A Ranger Pet Action Command of Attack... is using its natural weapons... (PHB ranger section)
Given: Any one can take MULTIPLE DIFFERING ACTIONS (Re-Read Chapter 9, PHB) on their turn. Not all are attacks but attacks have attack rolls or saving throws or both (duh?).
So given these initial conditions, a monk plus moon druid could be loads of fun with a twist of crazy. [Me Likey Crazy hehehe]
Picture Rocket 'Jaa' Squirrel stops going Tony Jaa on the rooftop and to survive takes the disengage action, bonus action flying squirrel off the roof.
So far, what you all pronounce, would be allowed and people would chuckle. It is a cool stunt, not game breaking at all.
But it is not a stretch that any attack a PC makes, is the attack action, a definition ya'll are making.
If a 2 level dip Fighter-Bladesinger can cast using action surge 2 FULL SPELLS... or a Quickened Sorcerer can blast a cantrip and a spell...
And do not get me started on some other builds which are much more powerful...
You are arguing, because it is not a hand or foot or knee, no stuns (which have a save or no further effect), no deflect (mostly dodge) missile is possible.
Re-Read Chapter 9...
Kaboom and Panzer, do you guys see the logic hole All Day Petersen could run to the end zone in?
Any action that creates a roll to hit or save or both is an attack action. It is right there in the PHB Chapter 9.
Look, I see this build as a battlefield healer and infiltrator spy thing... take goodberries in, run around as something and play St. Bernard dodging slings and arrows.
Or doing a sneak as a critter that would not be noticed on the wall above to learn stuff to move the plot forward and possibly have to switch forms a time or so.
Or an attack without the massive Sneak Attack d6 boost-instakill just to break concentration and possibly stun him long enough to GTFO Dodge cause the rolls went poorly...
This whole 'no hands' prejudice, you want to run things that way, fine, its yer table. Says so in the PHB. Used to say it in the DMG.
But I renew the call for a DEV to clarify, hopefully on the logic presented so we can have creative roll play and NOT MMORPG things....
I think we ditched 4e for that reason, alone. and 3.5 because lawd, that was way too complex... or 2e because a BARD WAS GOD and took forever to get.
Heck, most of 2e was dumped because peeps realized Gary was a racist... not being able to resurrect an Elf?
And fer dern sure, it is not as yech as a Gloomstalker-Rogue at night, or the playtest Dragon Magazine Ninja of 2e or even most Cleric (clerics rule... really) or Paladin builds with a certain nod to a few that really go wild and do not even start on the Pal-Lock or Hexadin or Bladesinger+Fighter builds.
Following action economy and level progression, the build works, with ki strikes in the wild shape yet without game breaking though some 'stunts' may be wild but not really game breaking.
Peeps want to have fun... and free running a cat through the bazaar with the entire garrison in pursuit can be comedic.
Popping Fog Cloud and then wildshaping to a skink and going up the wall to GTFO or change direction and attack on the next turn?
Or popping bear and stunning a few down so the rest can leave?
Why is this a problem? We having a Gygax moment?
Let's bring a nod to creativity and let the kids play not go this 'unwritten rule' route or follow 'Fundamentalist Gygax'...
Because notice, not one single page was listed in any source material disputing my facts, from source material. Just opinions as if handed down by DEVS.
The FORMAT OF ACTIONS IN THE MM is not saying a bite is not an attack! It has a TH roll or save or both.
Ergo, with limits, this is all good and like I said, survivable but not game breaking with the add that playing a wis based build means a person should play wisely.
And I dare anyone to find in literature the evil monk druid controlling the land...
Because it is not broken.
Per RAW?
WTH is RAW?
Moreover, I think I made a logical argument in here somewhere disputing the whole dern paradigm against fur and stun...
Which is why PHB pg 178 Paragraph (or formatted as a paragraph past the numbered) 4, upper right states...
"If there is any question something you are doing counts as an attack, the rule is simple. If you..." The PC "...are making an attack roll, you are making an attack."
This is the entire crux of my argument, thus 'not homebrew'.
As I understand it "RAW" is an abbreviation of "Rules as Written".
At the time I wrote that post it is in response to your first post in this thread (#19). I wrote my post to point out a conflict in mechanics that might cause a DM to rule in a way that isn't favorable for your character. It is a small issue and I only posted about it because the second post in this thread mentioned the free bonus action attack as a benefit of a Monk/Druid multiclass that may or may not actually play out at a given table.
Natural Weapons and Unarmed Strikes occupy a weird place in the rules. I wanted to encourage you to talk about your character concept with your DM so that way you are on the same page and their aren't any surprise rulings during gameplay.
I just did a Way of Mercy Monk 4/Circle of the Blighted Druid 2 Beasthide Shifter.
My go to was shifting into a Draft Horse, doing 1d4+4 Str unarmed damage, plus 1d4+4 necrotic damage with a Ki point, plus 1d4 necrotic damage for Defiled Ground... while adding my Unarmed Defense (base 14), Blighted Shape (+2 AC when Wild Shape), & Shifted (+1 AC with 1d6+6 temp HP) for a 17 AC and ~28 HP. It got even more ridiculous when I went for Wolf.
Solid combo with a lot of fluffy rp potential as dirty nilist hippy Djin Knox.
Carley Simon, thanks for writing that song about me!
I'm not sure that is accurate. I believe natural weapons are also melee weapons.
This is because on the statblock for Giant Goat the Ram is listed as a melee weapon attack.
Black Bear has a bite and claw. Both are listed as melee weapon attacks as well. For these reasons stunning strike should work.
I think the designation is to prevent this from being used with ranged attacks.
Whether or not Natural Weapons count as Melee Weapons depends on the Natural Weapon in question. The only Natural Weapons I can think of that do count as Melee Weapons are those offered to the Path of the Beast Barbarian. The text of that subclass tells us that their Natural Weapons also count as Simple Melee Weapons. As far as I am aware though no monster stat block states that their Natural Weapons count as either an Unarmed Strike or a Melee Weapon.
That being said you are right about a Black Bear's Claw and Bite being Melee Weapon Attacks. Being a Melee Weapon and making a Melee Weapon Attack are different things and the distinction is important. For example you can make a Ranged Weapon Attack with a Melee Weapon by throwing it. Similarly you can make a Melee Weapon Attack with a Ranged Weapon by clubbing someone with it.
This is a nuance I had missed when I initially joined the thread and you are correct to point out. Stunning Strikes only requires that you hit with a Melee Weapon Attack, it doesn't care if it was a Melee Weapon, Unarmed Strike, or Natural Weapon. I might be mistaken but I am pretty sure every attack listed in every monster stat block will tell you if it is a Melee/Ranged Weapon/Spell Attack. So in general I would expect Stunning Strike to work just fine with the various Beast forms a Druid can assume.
Also something else Fateless doesn't quite get right is saying that a Monk's Unarmed Strike count as Melee Weapons. In general Unarmed Strikes explicitly do not count as Melee Weapons as described here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/combat#MeleeAttacks. For Monks only three things change from the general rule. First, the damage increases to be the Martial Arts die of the Monk's level. Second, Monks can use either Strength or Dexterity for their attack rolls and damage. Third, at 6th level a Monk's Unarmed Strikes count as Magical Weapons for the purposes of overcoming damage resistance and immunity. For contexts other than damage resistance or immunity a Monk's Unarmed Strikes are still just Unarmed Strikes. So if you want to combo your Unarmed Strikes with a spell like Holy Weapon be sure to check with your DM first as this would not work RAW.
If you make a melee attack with a natural weapon, its a melee weapon attack. Because it’s melee.
So the way of the astral self monk works around most of the limiting factors by using the astral arms for attacking, also gives you 10 feet reach. you can use them to make unarmed strikes while in beast shape, so even if your dm rules that natural weapons are in fact wielded weapons you can use the astral arms for all your attacks, the argument could also be made that since you're using a feature you can make an extra attack while beast shaped given you did it with the astral arms instead of the natural weapons of the beast shape. The PHB says that you maintain all of you features and soft stats while beast shaped so I would argue that includes extra attack and that the reason you don't get the extra attack is the limiting factor of the beast shape, I as a dm would allow extra attack as rules as written even though I think it bypasses rules as intended.
So from this I would take Monk of the Astral self with a 2 lvl splash of Moon Circle Druid if I was optimizing for melee combat. the split could be more oven further down the line but I would try for at least 6-8 lvls of monk before moving into druid again.
Totally unnecessary. Every creature in the game is entitled to make unarmed strikes - you don't need Astral arms to do it while Shaped.
That's not a topic of debate. The RAW is very clear that you retain Extra Attack. Of course, you can't Extra Attack and Multiattack.
The Monk levels do much less for you than the Moon Druid levels, in general, although Astral Self monks are relatively ki efficient in that their defining feature spends ki to put up a buff that should last the whole fight. Because Wild Shape will unlock new forms for a Moon Druid at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, and 18, there isn't an actual lull in the progression until 10 (the 12 unlock is CR 4 Beasts for 1 Shape but at 10 you already got 4 different CR 5 forms that cost 2 shapes, so it's not as new as the previous steps). You can do a lot with Monk 1/Moon Druid X (and it only gets better if you mix Bladesinger into it, since you've already given up the front-runner for best capstone in the game).
This is one of those cases where a DM should ignore RAW and go with RAFun! If someone wants to be Kung fu panda, why not?
oh god, now I want to be kung fu panda.