2nd - 4th level monk can actually get up to 4 attacks- dual wield handaxe and dagger to get the nick property, plus fury of blows - 3d6 + 3×dex +1d4. RAW you'd have to use the vex advantage for the dagger attack, but I as a DM would allow it to be applied to the unarmed strike instead.
I still think the monk is somewhat underpowered at low levels, but this might be fixed by throwing in some extra Discipline/ki points, say making it level+wis instead of just level
- Apply all the monk features to any weapon you have proficiency (maybe but for those Heavy that would use Str instead Dex), not only the hardwritten simple. If a monk wants to specialize in weapons and gets the feat of martial weapons, should be able with no problem at all. So no matter how it ends I will apply this.
- The Flex weapon mastery needs a fix, is the worst and useless. I see no reason a monk should use a quarterstaff or spear after getting d8 MA damage die. And those are 2 weapons very related to MA.
- Discipline low at low level, should get a base + monk level, maybe base = 2.
The extra "Quick Short Rest" is nice, specially if limiting (like me) the number of SR allowed between Long Rests. I allow 2 so the monk can take a 3rd in 1 minute. Good for restoring Discipline.
The Shadow monk feels good, now with its own Darkness that can move can do many things. Move it at the start on enemy, Bonus Action to teleport if required, and deal an extra attack with double dagger (Nick) with advantage if the enemy can't see in darkness. So if you don't need to teleport, at level 5 you can deal 4 attacks with advantage with double dagger, if you have your Dex maximized, is a good amount.
And because the double dagger is so good, cannot understand how bad are those with Flex.
Darkness could always move if you put it on an object you or someone else could move. Being able to see in the darkness is a huge upgrade, but the loss of pass without a trace is a nerf.
Already played the Shadow Monk and have to say that being able to cast so many times Pass Without Trace is overpowered. With the current cost and even limiting the Short Rests you can have surprise for each combat, that is a huge advantage.
Still can't Dash (once) or Disengage for free. Step of the Wing being Dash + Disengage rolled into one is nice, but you're more likely to only need one of these so it's only a tiny boost at best.
Still MAD; Monks have fewer ASIs than Fighter or Rogue, neither of which are as MAD, so Monks still have basically no room for other feats.
Still low basic hit-points, which only makes the MAD problem worse.
Stunning Strike being limited to once per turn only makes it no less powerful when it lands, but makes it even less reliable, so it's the worst of both worlds (strong enough to justify another 10 years of nerfing sub-classes, but too unreliable to actually represent real scaling into higher levels). This feature needs to be completely re-thought, not nerfed in the most half-assed way possible.
Basically no higher level scaling at all now; previously it came from having more Ki to pour into Stunning Strikes but now that's simply not an option now? 1 extra damage per hit doesn't solve the core problems.
So while it has some nice quality of life improvements, it's still far too little to make a real difference. Meanwhile full casters are getting a bunch of new features on top of the most powerful set of class features in the game (Spellcasting). Plus Bard's College of the Dance is basically a much more capable Monk because it has a form of Martial Arts with full-casting and the same hit dice (plus better at skills, support etc.).
The designers just don't seem to grasp that Spellcasting isn't one feature, it's nine (one for every level of spell) plus half-features in between (more spell slots); they could release a class that only had the Spellcasting feature and literally nothing else and it would still outperform most martials thanks to having some of the most powerful class features with strong progression. Martials are competing with the best class features in the game, yet all the love seems to be going to the classes that least need it?
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.
In addition to that, have you read the latest fighting style feats? The requirement is having the fighting style feature, which Monk and Barbarian lacks, but Paladin and Ranger have.
So nice, the Paladin can get blind fightting style but not the monk, but don’t worry you can get one level of Paladin and then have access to buy the blind fighting style for your martial arts WARRIOR. Seriously?
Then the monk should get a fighting style, as it could give some reason to use weapons, i.e. great weapon fighting to use quarterstaff or spear, or two-weapon fighting to use double dagger.
We have so favored classes like half-casters getting so many combat things, while pure warriors like Monk or Barbarian can’t even have access to it even spending a feat. Sounds like a bad joke.
The next thing would be grant fighting styles to the War Cleric, poor it needs it to be fulfilled, but some Warriors will continue having its access blocked.
So nice, the Paladin can get blind fightting style but not the monk, but don’t worry you can get one level of Paladin and then have access to buy the blind fighting style for your martial arts WARRIOR. Seriously?
I know right? Dancer-Bard + Paladin is now just better in everyway than a monk... at doing monk-things.
Something that occurred to me is that OneD&D has already given a significant buff to Monks from one of the other playtests. Namely, the change that when you Attack with thrown weapons, you get to draw a thrown weapon as part of the attack itself rather than being limited to drawing one weapon for free per turn (without the Thrown Weapon Fighting style).
Why is this significant? Because Monks can use Martial Arts damage for any simple melee weapon, including daggers, handaxes, and javelins—which are still classed as melee weapons even if you throw them. So this change significantly helps Monks' ranged game.
No. Martial Arts dice apply only to unarmed strikes now, not to their Monk weapons.
I do think its a shame they removed the ability to use martial arts die for weapons. It was one of the cooler aspects monk that they could make otherwise weak weapons more viable.
FYI monks only ever get 2 attacks with weapons as well,
The context of this argument is "monks not getting weapon mastery for their unarmed strikes means that rangers with weapons will always be better than monks with unarmed strikes." That's the paraphrase of what you said (we can go back and look at the original comment, but that's what we're arguing here). Which means we're not talking about how many weapon attacks monks get, we're talking about how many unarmed strikes they get.
Monks get 3-4 attacks at 5th level, due to their bonus action unarmed strike.
+ 2 attacks with a beast companion
Not relevant to this argument. See above.
.Option 1: Vex - increases an average to hit from 0.6 to 0.77, and 0.7 to 0.8, so build time:
Already addressed this. But to summarize in a qualitative way: With Vex, at best (depending on the situation), the Ranger gets to roll a d20 four times, but only two of those can actually hit and do damage. With Flurry of Blows, the Monk gets to roll a d20 four times ... but all four can hit and do damage. They have the same probability of only landing one hit out of four rolls. They have the same probability of only hitting twice out of four rolls. But the Ranger has zero probability of hitting 3 or 4 times, on the same number of dice rolled.
Even without Flurry of Blows, the Monk has the chance to hit three times, where the Ranger still only has the opportunity to hit twice.
The Monk wins this one, not the Ranger.
Option 2: Nick - [irrelevant note omitted because it doesn't stay on topic]
Already addressed this one as well. All this does is give the Ranger a situational 2nd attack at 2nd-4th levels (to match the Monk's 2 regular or 3 situational attacks)... and 3 attacks at 5th+ level, where the Monk is now getting 3-4 attacks at 5th+ level. Further, the Monk at this point is doing d8+mod damage per hit, and the Ranger cannot use Nick with a d8 melee weapon, so they're still only doing d6+mod damage per hit.
The Monk wins this one as well.
General Conclusion: Ranger > Monk
Not if you're actually paying attention and staying on topic.
PS A dual wielding Hunter Ranger can use Horde Breaker to get 4 attacks per round many of which are at Adv thanks to Vex, to out-DPR the monk without expending any resources at all.
And if we start to factor in subclass abilities, companion abilities, and other non-(weapon+mastery vs unarmed strikes), then the entire analysis becomes murky and stops being about your original assertion (and your above comment completely omits any subclass or other options for the monk). Which gets back to: the only way you can hope to salvage your original assertion is by shifting goal posts into things that have nothing to do with weapons+mastery vs unarmed strikes. Which you know, or you wouldn't keep trying to do it despite it having been pointed out to you that that's what you're doing.
This I agree with, but not for the reason you gave (solely for weapons). It should be there for the other Fighting Styles, and a few of them should be reworded to be more Monk compatible.
Reword Defense so that you get the +1 AC benefit if you are wearing armor OR have the Unarmored Defense feature.
Reword "Dueling" to "When you are wielding a melee weapon with one hand, and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage with that Melee Weapon. If you are not wielding any melee weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage with your unarmed strikes."
Reword Protection and Interception so that the Unarmored Defense feature will qualify as a substitute for a Shield. "must be wielding a shield OR have the Unarmored Defense feature and have a free hand."
"Two Weapon Fighting" isn't that useful to a Monk, but I wouldn't change it. It's just not one a Monk will need/take.
Blind Fighting, Superior Technique, and Unarmed Fighting styles all have utility for the Monk and don't need to be re-written IMO. I might add a note to "Superior Technique" that the Martial Arts feature can substitute for a weapon requirement for whichever maneuver you select.
Archery, Great Weapon Fighting, and Thrown Weapon Fighting styles are still viable for a Monk if they're choosing weapons over unarmed strikes. I wouldn't change those.
Add it to the Monk's 1sts level features. Maybe at the expense of their increased damage die compared to the 2014 Monk (because the new Dueling wording, or Unarmed Fighting style, both make up for it using the lower damage die progression). Though, if Dueling were to be reworded as above, then I would probably pick Dueling over Unarmed Fighting. But making this change basically lets the Monk choose whether they want to focus on raw damage improvement with the die boost OR flexibility with other maneuvers.
I'm less in favor of adding it to the Barbarian. Barbarians aren't about learned skilled Fighting Style, which is why I think they never got it in the pre-OneD&D rules. Barbarians are about rage and brute power as their fighting methods. But I _would_ change the requirements for the Fighting Style Feats to be "Warrior Group OR Fighting Style Feature." So I wouldn't give it to them for free, but I would let them go out of their way to get it via a Feat.
I do think its a shame they removed the ability to use martial arts die for weapons. It was one of the cooler aspects monk that they could make otherwise weak weapons more viable.
I agree. I'm not upset about it, because it causes the monk to be EXTRA focused on their unarmed strikes, which is very genre appropriate for the class's origins. But I do agree that this was a nice extra touch for the Monk, in the past. I expect that this will become a part of the Kensei subclass. If it doesn't come back to the Monk class in later revisions (at least in a Tasha style optional rule), it absolutely should be part of the Kensei subclass: For a Kensei, for all Monk weapons and the Kensei weapons, the player should get to choose between the weapon's normal damage dice or the Monk's Martial Arts die. Where the non-Kensei being more focused on unarmed strikes is more source appropriate, the Kensei being more weapon focused is also appropriate.
"Two Weapon Fighting" isn't that useful to a Monk, but I wouldn't change it. It's just not one a Monk will need/take.
With the nick property, two weapon fighting can be quite useful for a monk, adding another attack pet turn (because the off-hand weapon attack is part of the attack action, leaving the BA free for unarmed strike)
This I agree with, but not for the reason you gave (solely for weapons). It should be there for the other Fighting Styles, and a few of them should be reworded to be more Monk compatible.
Reword Defense so that you get the +1 AC benefit if you are wearing armor OR have the Unarmored Defense feature.
Reword "Dueling" to "When you are wielding a melee weapon with one hand, and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage with that Melee Weapon. If you are not wielding any melee weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage with your unarmed strikes."
Reword Protection and Interception so that the Unarmored Defense feature will qualify as a substitute for a Shield. "must be wielding a shield OR have the Unarmored Defense feature and have a free hand."
"Two Weapon Fighting" isn't that useful to a Monk, but I wouldn't change it. It's just not one a Monk will need/take.
Blind Fighting, Superior Technique, and Unarmed Fighting styles all have utility for the Monk and don't need to be re-written IMO. I might add a note to "Superior Technique" that the Martial Arts feature can substitute for a weapon requirement for whichever maneuver you select.
Archery, Great Weapon Fighting, and Thrown Weapon Fighting styles are still viable for a Monk if they're choosing weapons over unarmed strikes. I wouldn't change those.
Add it to the Monk's 1sts level features. Maybe at the expense of their increased damage die compared to the 2014 Monk (because the new Dueling wording, or Unarmed Fighting style, both make up for it using the lower damage die progression). Though, if Dueling were to be reworded as above, then I would probably pick Dueling over Unarmed Fighting. But making this change basically lets the Monk choose whether they want to focus on raw damage improvement with the die boost OR flexibility with other maneuvers.
I'm less in favor of adding it to the Barbarian. Barbarians aren't about learned skilled Fighting Style, which is why I think they never got it in the pre-OneD&D rules. Barbarians are about rage and brute power as their fighting methods. But I _would_ change the requirements for the Fighting Style Feats to be "Warrior Group OR Fighting Style Feature." So I wouldn't give it to them for free, but I would let them go out of their way to get it via a Feat.
I do think its a shame they removed the ability to use martial arts die for weapons. It was one of the cooler aspects monk that they could make otherwise weak weapons more viable.
I agree. I'm not upset about it, because it causes the monk to be EXTRA focused on their unarmed strikes, which is very genre appropriate for the class's origins. But I do agree that this was a nice extra touch for the Monk, in the past. I expect that this will become a part of the Kensei subclass. If it doesn't come back to the Monk class in later revisions (at least in a Tasha style optional rule), it absolutely should be part of the Kensei subclass: For a Kensei, for all Monk weapons and the Kensei weapons, the player should get to choose between the weapon's normal damage dice or the Monk's Martial Arts die. Where the non-Kensei being more focused on unarmed strikes is more source appropriate, the Kensei being more weapon focused is also appropriate.
I completely missed that they didn't get fighting styles. They are part of the warrior group so should have access to them as well. I like your notes on changing them to fit both weapon and unarmed monks. I do think monks should get their MA die to weapons. I know some don't like it due to access to magic weapons makes unarmed strikes less desirable (favors weapon monks over unarmed monks) and add masteries on top makes unarmed monks even more less desirable. But I guess it's a trade off. If you want to go with dagger or hand axe wielding monks you get masteries and possible magic weapons. If you go Unarmed you get higher damage dice. And you have to remember Unarmed Strikes now have additional features of Grapple/Shove. Monks just need to be able to use their Martial Discipline DC instead of based on STR.
I'm fine with not having "Monk Weapons" and just simple, but I think they could get rid of the "no two handed property" to use DEX for simple weapons (I want my giant club monk, lol). But I am hoping that a revision will include a Dedicated Weapon like feature so that if you gain proficiency with a martial weapon you can use DEX unless Heavy or Special property. Then Kensei can have simple and martial proficiencies at level 3 and bypass the Heavy restriction.
I don't see why Heightened Metabolism needs to be 7th level. It could be part of the 2nd level Martial Discipline feature. It scales automatically and Tier 1 is where you need more Discipline points.
The more I read the UA PDF the more I have mixed feelings on the Monk. The MA die increase was needed, imo. But I don't think they did enough to boost the monk as much as it needs. Especially compared to buffs they gave Paladins. Despite the 1/turn smites they are still one of the more powerful classes. Hopefully the revision of monk will be much better.
In 5E, the MA dice applied to weapons and unarmed strikes. But +X magic weapons also provide an accuracy boost. So a +1 dagger would be strictly better than unarmed strikes. I've noticed playing in Tier 3 that my monk's unarmed strikes are less accurate than other attacks due to this. It is more noticeable when dealing with +2 and +3 weapons.
In the June UA, the MA dice only applied to Unarmed Strikes. So a +1 dagger is more accurate than Unarmed Strikes, but deals less damage. This creates a trade-off of using Unarmed Strikes for more damage, but using weapons for accuracy + weapon mastery effects. What do others think of this trade-off?
My initial desire is for Unarmed Strikes and weapons to get it all. Simple weapons get the MA dice. Unarmed strikes get the MA dice, weapon masteries, and +1 (then +2 and +3) accuracy at appropriate levels. Is this too much to ask for?
...I don't see why Heightened Metabolism needs to be 7th level. It could be part of the 2nd level Martial Discipline feature. It scales automatically and Tier 1 is where you need more Discipline points...
they can't put it at level 2 for the multiclass dips. but I don't see why it's restricted to one (per long rest) at 7th or whatever.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
...I don't see why Heightened Metabolism needs to be 7th level. It could be part of the 2nd level Martial Discipline feature. It scales automatically and Tier 1 is where you need more Discipline points...
they can't put it at level 2 for the multiclass dips. but I don't see why it's restricted to one (per long rest) at 7th or whatever.
Almost nothing regens on a SR now though except for monk points. So it doesn't matter if other classes dip to get it.
In 5E, the MA dice applied to weapons and unarmed strikes. But +X magic weapons also provide an accuracy boost. So a +1 dagger would be strictly better than unarmed strikes. I've noticed playing in Tier 3 that my monk's unarmed strikes are less accurate than other attacks due to this. It is more noticeable when dealing with +2 and +3 weapons.
There are magic items that can help a Monk's unarmed strikes. In older editions there's fist wraps (which can easily be brought forward to the current editions), and in 5e there's a tattoo that enhances unarmed strikes. The DM just needs to recognize that they need to tailor loot around the presence of a Monk.
...I don't see why Heightened Metabolism needs to be 7th level. It could be part of the 2nd level Martial Discipline feature. It scales automatically and Tier 1 is where you need more Discipline points...
they can't put it at level 2 for the multiclass dips. but I don't see why it's restricted to one (per long rest) at 7th or whatever.
Almost nothing regens on a SR now though except for monk points. So it doesn't matter if other classes dip to get it.
We don’t know that for sure until the UA5 revised warlock and other classes comes out. It could change back just like some other things. As far as HM goes it could be worded to only work for either discipline points or monk features (in case they have other monk subclasses that will benefit from it)
And Action Surge still resets on SR, which I don’t mind. I’m not too worried about a 2 level monk dip just for HM.
In 5E, the MA dice applied to weapons and unarmed strikes. But +X magic weapons also provide an accuracy boost. So a +1 dagger would be strictly better than unarmed strikes. I've noticed playing in Tier 3 that my monk's unarmed strikes are less accurate than other attacks due to this. It is more noticeable when dealing with +2 and +3 weapons.
There are magic items that can help a Monk's unarmed strikes. In older editions there's fist wraps (which can easily be brought forward to the current editions), and in 5e there's a tattoo that enhances unarmed strikes. The DM just needs to recognize that they need to tailor loot around the presence of a Monk.
Not all DMs tailor their magic items, like mine. Although he did give us the opportunity to pick one magic item from a deal we made with a dragon, from its hoard. At 15th level though. My Druid took a +3 Moonsickle.
I do think its a shame they removed the ability to use martial arts die for weapons. It was one of the cooler aspects monk that they could make otherwise weak weapons more viable.
It was a right decision, though. When MA dice applies to weapons, literally any magical weapon is better than fighting unarmed. In a class that is based around the idea of fighting unarmed.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
2nd - 4th level monk can actually get up to 4 attacks- dual wield handaxe and dagger to get the nick property, plus fury of blows - 3d6 + 3×dex +1d4. RAW you'd have to use the vex advantage for the dagger attack, but I as a DM would allow it to be applied to the unarmed strike instead.
I still think the monk is somewhat underpowered at low levels, but this might be fixed by throwing in some extra Discipline/ki points, say making it level+wis instead of just level
Generally like the changes. Things to fix:
- Apply all the monk features to any weapon you have proficiency (maybe but for those Heavy that would use Str instead Dex), not only the hardwritten simple. If a monk wants to specialize in weapons and gets the feat of martial weapons, should be able with no problem at all. So no matter how it ends I will apply this.
- The Flex weapon mastery needs a fix, is the worst and useless. I see no reason a monk should use a quarterstaff or spear after getting d8 MA damage die. And those are 2 weapons very related to MA.
- Discipline low at low level, should get a base + monk level, maybe base = 2.
The extra "Quick Short Rest" is nice, specially if limiting (like me) the number of SR allowed between Long Rests. I allow 2 so the monk can take a 3rd in 1 minute. Good for restoring Discipline.
The Shadow monk feels good, now with its own Darkness that can move can do many things. Move it at the start on enemy, Bonus Action to teleport if required, and deal an extra attack with double dagger (Nick) with advantage if the enemy can't see in darkness. So if you don't need to teleport, at level 5 you can deal 4 attacks with advantage with double dagger, if you have your Dex maximized, is a good amount.
And because the double dagger is so good, cannot understand how bad are those with Flex.
Darkness could always move if you put it on an object you or someone else could move. Being able to see in the darkness is a huge upgrade, but the loss of pass without a trace is a nerf.
Already played the Shadow Monk and have to say that being able to cast so many times Pass Without Trace is overpowered. With the current cost and even limiting the Short Rests you can have surprise for each combat, that is a huge advantage.
There are some good minor changes in the latest playtest but they still haven't really fixed the main problems:
So while it has some nice quality of life improvements, it's still far too little to make a real difference. Meanwhile full casters are getting a bunch of new features on top of the most powerful set of class features in the game (Spellcasting). Plus Bard's College of the Dance is basically a much more capable Monk because it has a form of Martial Arts with full-casting and the same hit dice (plus better at skills, support etc.).
The designers just don't seem to grasp that Spellcasting isn't one feature, it's nine (one for every level of spell) plus half-features in between (more spell slots); they could release a class that only had the Spellcasting feature and literally nothing else and it would still outperform most martials thanks to having some of the most powerful class features with strong progression. Martials are competing with the best class features in the game, yet all the love seems to be going to the classes that least need it?
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.
In addition to that, have you read the latest fighting style feats? The requirement is having the fighting style feature, which Monk and Barbarian lacks, but Paladin and Ranger have.
So nice, the Paladin can get blind fightting style but not the monk, but don’t worry you can get one level of Paladin and then have access to buy the blind fighting style for your martial arts WARRIOR. Seriously?
Then the monk should get a fighting style, as it could give some reason to use weapons, i.e. great weapon fighting to use quarterstaff or spear, or two-weapon fighting to use double dagger.
We have so favored classes like half-casters getting so many combat things, while pure warriors like Monk or Barbarian can’t even have access to it even spending a feat. Sounds like a bad joke.
The next thing would be grant fighting styles to the War Cleric, poor it needs it to be fulfilled, but some Warriors will continue having its access blocked.
I know right? Dancer-Bard + Paladin is now just better in everyway than a monk... at doing monk-things.
No. Martial Arts dice apply only to unarmed strikes now, not to their Monk weapons.
Man, WotC do really hate Monks.
I do think its a shame they removed the ability to use martial arts die for weapons. It was one of the cooler aspects monk that they could make otherwise weak weapons more viable.
The context of this argument is "monks not getting weapon mastery for their unarmed strikes means that rangers with weapons will always be better than monks with unarmed strikes." That's the paraphrase of what you said (we can go back and look at the original comment, but that's what we're arguing here). Which means we're not talking about how many weapon attacks monks get, we're talking about how many unarmed strikes they get.
Monks get 3-4 attacks at 5th level, due to their bonus action unarmed strike.
Not relevant to this argument. See above.
Already addressed this. But to summarize in a qualitative way:
With Vex, at best (depending on the situation), the Ranger gets to roll a d20 four times, but only two of those can actually hit and do damage.
With Flurry of Blows, the Monk gets to roll a d20 four times ... but all four can hit and do damage.
They have the same probability of only landing one hit out of four rolls. They have the same probability of only hitting twice out of four rolls. But the Ranger has zero probability of hitting 3 or 4 times, on the same number of dice rolled.
Even without Flurry of Blows, the Monk has the chance to hit three times, where the Ranger still only has the opportunity to hit twice.
The Monk wins this one, not the Ranger.
Already addressed this one as well. All this does is give the Ranger a situational 2nd attack at 2nd-4th levels (to match the Monk's 2 regular or 3 situational attacks)... and 3 attacks at 5th+ level, where the Monk is now getting 3-4 attacks at 5th+ level. Further, the Monk at this point is doing d8+mod damage per hit, and the Ranger cannot use Nick with a d8 melee weapon, so they're still only doing d6+mod damage per hit.
The Monk wins this one as well.
Not if you're actually paying attention and staying on topic.
And if we start to factor in subclass abilities, companion abilities, and other non-(weapon+mastery vs unarmed strikes), then the entire analysis becomes murky and stops being about your original assertion (and your above comment completely omits any subclass or other options for the monk). Which gets back to: the only way you can hope to salvage your original assertion is by shifting goal posts into things that have nothing to do with weapons+mastery vs unarmed strikes. Which you know, or you wouldn't keep trying to do it despite it having been pointed out to you that that's what you're doing.
This I agree with, but not for the reason you gave (solely for weapons). It should be there for the other Fighting Styles, and a few of them should be reworded to be more Monk compatible.
Add it to the Monk's 1sts level features. Maybe at the expense of their increased damage die compared to the 2014 Monk (because the new Dueling wording, or Unarmed Fighting style, both make up for it using the lower damage die progression). Though, if Dueling were to be reworded as above, then I would probably pick Dueling over Unarmed Fighting. But making this change basically lets the Monk choose whether they want to focus on raw damage improvement with the die boost OR flexibility with other maneuvers.
I'm less in favor of adding it to the Barbarian. Barbarians aren't about learned skilled Fighting Style, which is why I think they never got it in the pre-OneD&D rules. Barbarians are about rage and brute power as their fighting methods. But I _would_ change the requirements for the Fighting Style Feats to be "Warrior Group OR Fighting Style Feature." So I wouldn't give it to them for free, but I would let them go out of their way to get it via a Feat.
I agree. I'm not upset about it, because it causes the monk to be EXTRA focused on their unarmed strikes, which is very genre appropriate for the class's origins. But I do agree that this was a nice extra touch for the Monk, in the past. I expect that this will become a part of the Kensei subclass. If it doesn't come back to the Monk class in later revisions (at least in a Tasha style optional rule), it absolutely should be part of the Kensei subclass: For a Kensei, for all Monk weapons and the Kensei weapons, the player should get to choose between the weapon's normal damage dice or the Monk's Martial Arts die. Where the non-Kensei being more focused on unarmed strikes is more source appropriate, the Kensei being more weapon focused is also appropriate.
With the nick property, two weapon fighting can be quite useful for a monk, adding another attack pet turn (because the off-hand weapon attack is part of the attack action, leaving the BA free for unarmed strike)
I completely missed that they didn't get fighting styles. They are part of the warrior group so should have access to them as well. I like your notes on changing them to fit both weapon and unarmed monks. I do think monks should get their MA die to weapons. I know some don't like it due to access to magic weapons makes unarmed strikes less desirable (favors weapon monks over unarmed monks) and add masteries on top makes unarmed monks even more less desirable. But I guess it's a trade off. If you want to go with dagger or hand axe wielding monks you get masteries and possible magic weapons. If you go Unarmed you get higher damage dice. And you have to remember Unarmed Strikes now have additional features of Grapple/Shove. Monks just need to be able to use their Martial Discipline DC instead of based on STR.
I'm fine with not having "Monk Weapons" and just simple, but I think they could get rid of the "no two handed property" to use DEX for simple weapons (I want my giant club monk, lol). But I am hoping that a revision will include a Dedicated Weapon like feature so that if you gain proficiency with a martial weapon you can use DEX unless Heavy or Special property. Then Kensei can have simple and martial proficiencies at level 3 and bypass the Heavy restriction.
I don't see why Heightened Metabolism needs to be 7th level. It could be part of the 2nd level Martial Discipline feature. It scales automatically and Tier 1 is where you need more Discipline points.
The more I read the UA PDF the more I have mixed feelings on the Monk. The MA die increase was needed, imo. But I don't think they did enough to boost the monk as much as it needs. Especially compared to buffs they gave Paladins. Despite the 1/turn smites they are still one of the more powerful classes. Hopefully the revision of monk will be much better.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
In 5E, the MA dice applied to weapons and unarmed strikes. But +X magic weapons also provide an accuracy boost. So a +1 dagger would be strictly better than unarmed strikes. I've noticed playing in Tier 3 that my monk's unarmed strikes are less accurate than other attacks due to this. It is more noticeable when dealing with +2 and +3 weapons.
In the June UA, the MA dice only applied to Unarmed Strikes. So a +1 dagger is more accurate than Unarmed Strikes, but deals less damage. This creates a trade-off of using Unarmed Strikes for more damage, but using weapons for accuracy + weapon mastery effects. What do others think of this trade-off?
My initial desire is for Unarmed Strikes and weapons to get it all. Simple weapons get the MA dice. Unarmed strikes get the MA dice, weapon masteries, and +1 (then +2 and +3) accuracy at appropriate levels. Is this too much to ask for?
they can't put it at level 2 for the multiclass dips. but I don't see why it's restricted to one (per long rest) at 7th or whatever.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Almost nothing regens on a SR now though except for monk points. So it doesn't matter if other classes dip to get it.
There are magic items that can help a Monk's unarmed strikes. In older editions there's fist wraps (which can easily be brought forward to the current editions), and in 5e there's a tattoo that enhances unarmed strikes. The DM just needs to recognize that they need to tailor loot around the presence of a Monk.
We don’t know that for sure until the UA5 revised warlock and other classes comes out. It could change back just like some other things. As far as HM goes it could be worded to only work for either discipline points or monk features (in case they have other monk subclasses that will benefit from it)
And Action Surge still resets on SR, which I don’t mind. I’m not too worried about a 2 level monk dip just for HM.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Not all DMs tailor their magic items, like mine. Although he did give us the opportunity to pick one magic item from a deal we made with a dragon, from its hoard. At 15th level though. My Druid took a +3 Moonsickle.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
It was a right decision, though. When MA dice applies to weapons, literally any magical weapon is better than fighting unarmed. In a class that is based around the idea of fighting unarmed.