I am trying to explain to a friend of mine why his Monk taking a magical short sword is generally a bad idea, even if he's technically proficient at it. But my experience with monks is all second-hand.
It's not. Monks are proficient with simple weapons and shortswords, can can even substitute their martial arts die for the weapon die once it's larger. And you don't even need a free hand to make the Martial Arts bonus action attacks, as an unarmed attack can be performed with any part of the body. Really one of the weak points of monks that could stand to be addressed is that there's pretty much no magic weapons that support unarmed fighting, so when you get into number crunching a pure unarmed monk can end up falling behind on damage.
It's not. Monks are proficient with simple weapons and shortswords, can can even substitute their martial arts die for the weapon die once it's larger. And you don't even need a free hand to make the Martial Arts bonus action attacks, as an unarmed attack can be performed with any part of the body. Really one of the weak points of monks that could stand to be addressed is that there's pretty much no magic weapons that support unarmed fighting, so when you get into number crunching a pure unarmed monk can end up falling behind on damage.
Let me rephrase - Are there any disadvantages for a Monk to abandon their unarmed fighting stance?
None that I can think of. Level 6 if it wasn't a magic weapon would be a minor detriment losing the magic damage tag. But overall no, not a problem at all. Give that monk a sweet magical staff and let's go.
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
It's not. Monks are proficient with simple weapons and shortswords, can can even substitute their martial arts die for the weapon die once it's larger. And you don't even need a free hand to make the Martial Arts bonus action attacks, as an unarmed attack can be performed with any part of the body. Really one of the weak points of monks that could stand to be addressed is that there's pretty much no magic weapons that support unarmed fighting, so when you get into number crunching a pure unarmed monk can end up falling behind on damage.
Let me rephrase - Are there any disadvantages for a Monk to abandon their unarmed fighting stance?
With regards to the base class, none; as I said, you don't need empty hands to make unarmed strikes, and strictly speaking unarmed strikes are sub-optimal because you can't get any magic weapon modifiers or other riders on them. There's one or two subclass features that specifically interact with unarmed strikes, but overall you're not going to lose anything focusing on weapons. Keep in mind that the Martial Arts bonus action attack/Flurry of Blows are always unarmed, so a Monk can always make at least one such attack a turn in addition to any weapon attacks.
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I am trying to explain to a friend of mine why his Monk taking a magical short sword is generally a bad idea, even if he's technically proficient at it. But my experience with monks is all second-hand.
Help me out?
I don't think it's a bad idea, what makes you think it is?
It's not. Monks are proficient with simple weapons and shortswords, can can even substitute their martial arts die for the weapon die once it's larger. And you don't even need a free hand to make the Martial Arts bonus action attacks, as an unarmed attack can be performed with any part of the body. Really one of the weak points of monks that could stand to be addressed is that there's pretty much no magic weapons that support unarmed fighting, so when you get into number crunching a pure unarmed monk can end up falling behind on damage.
Let me rephrase - Are there any disadvantages for a Monk to abandon their unarmed fighting stance?
None that I can think of. Level 6 if it wasn't a magic weapon would be a minor detriment losing the magic damage tag. But overall no, not a problem at all. Give that monk a sweet magical staff and let's go.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
With regards to the base class, none; as I said, you don't need empty hands to make unarmed strikes, and strictly speaking unarmed strikes are sub-optimal because you can't get any magic weapon modifiers or other riders on them. There's one or two subclass features that specifically interact with unarmed strikes, but overall you're not going to lose anything focusing on weapons. Keep in mind that the Martial Arts bonus action attack/Flurry of Blows are always unarmed, so a Monk can always make at least one such attack a turn in addition to any weapon attacks.