Blog-It Llama!

By Nick - July 2, 2009

This is the second (click here for the first) in a weekly series where I investigate some of the features in D&D Insider, a purely digital “feature” that Wizard has created for those that wish to shell out a few extra bucks for some nifty content. It’s about half the price of an MMO, maybe less if you’re willing to commit to it for 6 months at a time.

Monks! FINALLY! I know this is just a Playtest but this has me very excited. These guys were in 3rd Edition Player’s Handbook from the get-go. In just about every campaign I played before 4th Edition there would be someone playing a Monk. They were an attractive class. For many players, the simplicity of having far less equipment made character management significantly easier. It was also one of the few classes that received a new class feature every level, sometimes even more than one in a single level. The Monk just felt different from all other classes.

4th Edition’s new focus on character balance has probably made Wizard weary to release this class without a great deal of testing. The 3rd Edition Monk was better than many other classes, even exploitable to a knowledgeable player or dungeon master. I think it’s understandable for Wizard to have taken this long.

Right off that bat I noticed something strange: Monks are Psionic? What? After really giving it some thought, Monks are about the unity of body and mind. The mental discipline you see in martial arts masters is something almost psychic, using the mind to bypass certain limits that are thought to be had on the body. So fine, Monks are Psionic. I find that’s a perfectly reasonable category for these guys, especially after looking at some of the more Street Fighter-like energy flinging abilities that these guys have.

Unarmed Combatant

So the Monk’s fist doesn’t increase in damage like it used to in 3rd Edition, but its really accurate now. Not a bad trade-off considering the fact that you won’t be attacking five to a trillion times a round anymore. The off-hand weapon property is a bit odd, since 4th Edition says that you take penalties with it if you use it in your off-hand. This might be to encourage monks to use some kind of weapon in their main-hand. Personally, I rather go all-out Bruce Lee with it.

This is basically the same old unarmed fighting option available for a Monk updated for 4th Edition. The big, dramatic change to this is the fact they can have their freakin’ FISTS enchanted. You want hands that burn with the flaming wrath of hellfire and damnation? Sure ya’ do, because you’re a Monk. 

Armor Proficiency

They get a +2 AC bonus for wearing the lightest kind of armor. This makes a lot of sense, because there are a lot of magic enchantments that would make it way too valuable to not wear at least some kind of armor. The +2 AC bonus might not be enough to keep a Monk in cloth at higher levels, but at the start it is a very attractive bonus.

PREDICTION: They’ll probably add a feat that allows you to add your Wisdom modifier instead of this +2 AC bonus.

Focused Expertise

Starts off giving you a +1 attack bonus with a Monk weapon of your choice, and increases to +2 at level 11 and +3 at level 21. Nice, right? I’m glad they threw this in because the Monk was definitely one of those classes were you really felt the difference in power as you gained levels. I think “the guy that never misses” is a pretty good role to have in the party.

Centered Flurry of Blows

This is the only ability that is currently available to choose from in the “Centered Breath” class option. I imagine this will be the place where they introduce new class options in future D&D books. I think this should be called Centered Breath: Flurry of Blows. That would make it more in theme with the “Channel Divinity” powers. Not sure that it really matters because people are just going to call it Flurry of Blows anyway. This is a pretty beefy ability, especially at higher levels. This is a great ability for killing Wizards I imagine. So you deal damage equal to your Wisdom modifier to a target you just hurt. That would have been easy enough to make into a feat instead of a full-on power, but what makes it wacky is the fact that you can slide the target towards you if they weren’t already adjacent to you. When you reach a high enough level, you can use this to follow up every target you’ve struck within a round instead of just one. I would say this in combination with all of the maneuverability from the Full Discipline powers, the Monk is really a Controller / Striker hybrid, not just a Striker.

Full Discipline Powers

This totally came out of nowhere. “Full Discipline” powers work in two phases that can take up all of your actions in one round or you can opt to use only part of it like a normal power. You’re also restricted to using a Full Discipline power once a round. I really like this, actually. It really gives you the fell of a Monk using an ancient technique that is much more fluid than just hitting someone. It makes them unpredictable. The Scout from 3rd Edition was driven by the idea of being a mobile striker, but it is much more appropriate that the Monk has taken up this mantle. I’m a big fan of this new feature.

At-Will Powers

All of the At-Will powers available to a monk are Full-Discipline as well. Essentially, this gives them some extra maneuverability outside of combat. Since the Monk no longer gains a progressive movement bonus like in 3rd Edition, this seems like a nice substitute.

Other Powers

Rising Dragon Fire, Monk Attack Level 19

You focus your mind and execute a spinning kick that leaves a blazing inferno in its wake. You stand amidst the flames, daring any foe to draw near.

See? What’d I tell you? Very Street Fighter. Reminds me a lot of Crimson Viper from Street Fighter 4. This is probably one of the coolest powers they get. A big, flaming spin kick that hits a bunch of targets and leaves a zone of fiery death.

WHAT IT NEEDS

I would have liked to have seen the names of more old abilities from 3rd Edition used for some of these new ones. They also need another option instead of Centered Flurry of Blows, but I imagine they’ll get to that when they also increase the number of powers these guys have to choose from. Not using Armor might also need to get beefed up a little bit, but I imagine it is just to leave some options open for a weird weapon-wielding armored Monk if someone feels inspired to make it.

All and all, I’m very happy with it. They’ve managed to keep the old flavor of the Monk while making it refreshing and new. I’m just a bit impatient now because other classes have so many more options than the Monk does at this point. I’m eager to see what’s next, which makes this a top tier class. My campaign will be rampant with these beta-Monks.

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