A while ago, I mentioned that I was working on a total rebuild of the monk. Well, today we’re taking our first step toward that goal, today. And, when you’re rebuilding something that you think is broken, your first step should always be the same.
Identify the problem.
And that is exactly what we plan to do, today.
So…what is the monk? Or rather…what is it supposed to be? Well, according to its description in the Core Rulebook, monks: “elevate their bodies to become weapons of war, from battle-minded ascetics to self-taught brawlers. Monks tread the path of discipline, and those with the will to endure that path discover within themselves not what they are, but what they are meant to be.”
Okay, so they’re supposed to be high-minded warriors. The focus on discipline and train their bodies to become weapons of war. That makes sense.
And what are they supposed to do? Again, according to the Core Rulebook: “Monks excel at overcoming even the most daunting perils, striking where it's least expected, and taking advantage of enemy vulnerabilities. Fleet of foot and skilled in combat, monks can navigate any battlefield with ease, aiding allies wherever they are needed most.”
All right, so they’re mobile warriors, fleeting across the battlefield and dealing damage at-large to opponents as well as aiding their allies when it’s necessary.
Okay, so with that in mind, let’s take a look at the monk’s abilities.
Base Attack Bonus: Medium…huh. Okay. This is supposed to be an ultra-disciplined weapon-of-war class, right? So why does it get medium BAB? I’d think high, like the Fighter, Ranger and other warrior classes, would be much more appropriate.
Saves: All high. With the ascetic, disciplined warrior bit, I can jive with this. Monks train themselves to resist all sorts of attacks, whether physical or mental.
Skills: Meh. 4 points feels right, and I don’t really take much stock in skills if they aren’t a major part of the class (such as with the bard or rogue).
Proficiencies: These seem mostly appropriate, though I think it should be updated to include all “monk” weapons (weapons with the “monk” special weapon quality).
AC Bonus: A rather drab name, but an effective ability. Wisdom Bonus on AC. Okay, I like that. But only when not wearing armor or carrying a medium load. All right, I can deal with that. Wisdom is supposed to be a major score, right?
Flurry of Blows: There it is! The monk’s signature ability. Unleashing a huge flurry of strikes on their enemies as a full-attack. And at Full-BAB, as well! Now that’s what I call a—wait. Full-attack? Well that seems a little antithetical to the whole “mobile striker” motif. You can only move 5 feet and still make a full-attack. So that means that the class can only do it’s thing when standing still, when it’s supposed to be running all over the battlefield helping its allies. Huh…
Unarmed Strike: This functions exactly as it should. I see nothing wrong here.
Bonus Feat: This is the only “selectable/customizable” option the monk gets. It’s interesting, to say the least. One of the things I adore about the Pathfinder system is that nearly every class feels customizable. From rage powers to rogue talents to bloodlines and favored enemies. Each class gets something that it can choose from. In fact, the only classes with this same lack of customizability are the Bard and the Gunslinger (and I have my own words concerning those classes). Granted, these feats aren’t bad, and you do have the option to choose feats for which you don’t normally qualify, but overall it just reinforces how constricted the class feels.
Stunning Fist: No argument here. It’s a good ability and I like it.
Evasion: All right. It’s an unarmored class intended to run around and dodge. I can see this.
Fast Movement: Now this just seems to reinforce the problem with Flurry of Blows. It can only do its thing when standing still, and in the end the class has a movement speed of 90 feet. WOW do these abilities not mesh.
Maneuver Training: The problem with Maneuver training is that it’s just compensating for the fact that the class has a medium BAB instead of high.
Still Mind: This is weak. It fits the class, but it’s weak.
Ki Pool: I really like this. Its abilities are nice, and it flavorfully fits with the class. My only issue is that it seems to come late.
Slow Fall: Bleh. This ability’s useless and weak. I mean…when you make an ability weaker than Feather Fall, it really shows.
High Jump: All right. I admit I like this one. Not the most powerful or useful ability, but it’s fun.
Purity of Body: Immunity to diseases. Good ability. Could be better.
Wholeness of Body: I can kind of understand this…a little. But overall it just feels a little pointless. It can heal itself. And only itself. A little bit.
Improved Evasion: It’s better than evasion. What can I say?
Diamond Body: Immunity to poisons. Should have come much earlier.
Abundant Step: Okay…so, I’m not going to argue with the usefulness of this ability. A mini-self-teleport is always nice. But just why does this class get this ability? How exactly does this scream ascetic, disciplined warrior?
Diamond Soul: Sheer awesomeness. The only class I can think of that gets spell resistance as a standard ability. Booyah!
Quivering Palm: My absolute favorite ability, only because it mirrors the “Five-Point-Palm-Exploding-Heart-Technique” from Kill Bill, Part 2. It’s nice, even if it doesn’t show up for a while.
Timeless Body: Essentially useless if your GM doesn’t consider Age Effects into their game. I can see its point and its use, but I’ve never been a fan.
Tongue of the Sun and Moon: ¿Que? Why does this ability exist? Why is the monk suddenly, at level 17, a human translator? I am totally lost with this ability, as well as its utility at such a high level.
Empty Body: Another ability that baffles me. Why exactly can this class go ethereal, now? What about its flavor states: “can turn into a ghost”?
Perfect Self: This is good. I have no qualms with this ability. The end.
Okay. So, now that we’ve seen the abilities, let’s see how it all flows together. What abilities are problems? What abilities interact? And how does the class hold up as a whole?
Well, first of all, let’s see if its abilities support its flavor.
The short answer is No.
The long answer, however, is that this class suffers from the fact that it gains too many abilities that do too little. And almost none of them mesh and flow together. As already stated, Flurry of Blows and Fast Movement are nearly antithetical to each other. Add that to the fact that Still Mind, Wholeness of Body, Timeless Body and Tongue of the Sun and Moon are essentially useless, and that the class gets a slew of abilities that don’t fit with its flavor, and you start to get the picture that the Paizo people (and the Wizards of the Coast people before them) didn’t really know what to do with the class, and just threw a bunch of hodgepodge abilities at it, hoping some would stick. That, quite frankly, is NOT how you build a class. And I’m not insulting Jason Bulmahn or the rest of the Paizo team. Their goal was to update the class and also make it backwards compatible.
Another major fault in the class is its base ability score requirements. It needs Strength to deal damage and hit its enemies, Dexterity to boost its AC (since it has no armor), Constitution to survive the hits it’s going to take (since it has no armor) and Wisdom to power its abilities, such as its AC bonus and its Ki Pool. This is often called MAD, or Multiple Attribute Dependency. It’s when a class needs 3 or 4 high ability scores just to be effective. Unfortunately, the Monk also has the issue of the Unarmed Strike. It gets abilities to avoid some (not nearly all) forms of Damage Reduction with them. But in order to give them an enhancement bonus (like you would with a weapon) you must have an Amulet of Mighty Fists, which costs more than twice as much as a weapon enhancement, or Brass Knuckles, which are dumb and don’t fit with the monk’s flavor.
In summary, the Monk suffers from a lack of customizability, a slew of weak abilities, a serious case of MAD, and several abilities that are antithetical to each other and don’t fit with the overall flavor of the class.
Next time, we’ll discuss how we can fix the class, and we’ll begin building our new monk.
-Chris
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