Okay, is it just me?

RPGC Community Realm of the Dragons Forum
1

Is it just me, or are Monks COMPLETELY OVERPOWERED?! I mean, I’m not sure if I’m looking at the most up-to-date rules, (Just from my Neverwinter Nights manual) but the amount of special abilities and bonuses excedes all other classes by a long shot. Check this out:
Bonus Feats
The monk recieves several feats for free, from the standard feat list. They gain Improved Unarmed Strike and Stunning Fist at 1st level. At 2nd level they receive Deflect Arrows, and at 6th level, Knockdown and Improved Knockdown

Specialty Weapon
The monk retains his unarmed attack bonus when fighting with a kama.

Monk Armor Class Bonus
Monks add both their wisdom modifier and their dexterity modifier to their armor class.

Flurry of Blows
The monk receives an extra attack per round when fighting unarmed or with a kama.
Gained: 1st Level

Evasion
Monks are able to escape potentially deadly situations.
Gained: 1st Level
Bonuses: In situations where a succsessful Reflex saving throwwould allow others to take half damage, the monk escapes unscathed.

Monk Speed
Monks gain the ability to move quickly.
Gained: 3rd Level
Bonuses: Monks move faster than other classes and this ability improves with experience.

Purity of Body
Monks are immune to common diseases.
Gained: 5th Level
Bonuses: Immune to disease.

Wholeness of Body
The monk is capable of healing his wounds.
Gained: 7th Level
Bonuses Restore a number of hit points equal to twice the number of the character’s level.

Improved Evasion
The monk gains a superhuman ability to avoid danger.
Gained: 9th Level
Bonuses: In situations where a successful reflex throw would allow others to take half damage, the character escapes unscathed on a successful save and takes only half damage even if the saving thow fails.

Ki Strike
When attacking creatures with the damage reduction ability, the character’s unarmed attack is treated as a weapon with an enhancement bonus.
Gained: 10th Level
Bonuses: Equivalent to a +1 enhancement bonus at 10th level, +2 bonus at 13th level, +3 bonus at 16th level.

Diamond Body
Through meditation and control over his body, the disciplined monk eventually becomes immune to all natural and most magical poisons.
Gained: 11th Level
Bonuses: Immunity to poison.

Diamond Soul
Ki, the spiritual energy that powers the monk, eventually develops into a force that is capable of repelling all but the most determined magic attacks. (YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!)
Gained: 12th Level
Bonuses: Spell resistance is equal to the character’s level +10

Quivering Palm
Harnessing his Ki, the monk is able to deliver quick death with an unarmed strike.
Gained: 15th level
Bonuses: If the attack succeeds and does damage, the target must make a Fortitudesave (DC 10 +1/2 the monk’s level + the monk’s Wisdom Modifier). Failure results in the target’s immediate death. :mwahaha:

Empty Body
Mastering his ki can allow the monk to fade from sight.
Gained:18th Level
Bonuses: The monk gains 50% concealment.

Perfect Self
So complete is the monk’s mastery over his body and spirit that he becomes a supernatural being, able to shrug off ordinary weapons and most spells.
Gained: 20th level
Bonuses:Immune to all mind-affecting spells; gains damage reduction 20/+1

There there it is; that’s a monk. Now am I the only one who’s flipping out over this? I don’t know if these are exactly the most recent rules, but they’re the exact stats from my Neverwinter Nights game (Which is a game that is strictly DnD and abides by the rules of DnD- it’s basically DnD in computer game form). Seriously people, you can’t tell me they didn’t over do the monks. However, I’m not DnD expert, so for all I know, monks AREN’T overpowered. Am I right or wrong?

2

Monk is a bit different in 3.5 compared to NWN’s altered 3.0 system. Some stuff just applies more to PnP RPGs such as the monk only able to do Quivering Palm once a week and Wholeness of Body once a day. Others are just 3.5 changes like Perfect Self’s damage reduction becoming 10/magic, and Ki Strike changing your weapon type instead of +enchantments.

Monks also have several disadvantages:
3/4 BAB - This rather prevents you from being a real damage dealer even with flurry and hurts your trip and disarm attempts.
Lawful requirement - Not as bad as paladins who lose all skills but still annoying and you will most likely piss off your chaotic buddies.
d8 HD - No tanking for you.
Low AC - +Wis isn’t really a good substitute for armor.
MAD(Multiple Ability Dependence) - You need Str, Dex, Con, and Wis at high levels or you suffer greatly.
Restricting class - Not many Prcs you can take without losing a lot of abilities.

The monk’s high speed, high saves, and other skills makes it an excellent surgical strike against unknowing wizards and like the like, but can’t easily stand up to other tanking classes and is more of a novelty in a party as a support character since it doesn’t fit into the four basic part roles (tank, offensive caster, healer, trapfinder).

3

Wow, you certainly showed me up. Thanks for the info man, that’s dead useful to know. About the healer being a basic part role; couldn’t that be a cleric, which could also double as a tank?

4

Monk isn’t inherently broken, but it’s the easiest to break, in my opinion: lycanthropy, Lizardfolk, or illithid all lead to some very broken monks.
Lycanthropes can put their high initial stats into wis, since the physical bonuses will compensate for lower base stats.
Lizarfolk; penalty to int doesn’t matter, physical bonuses, +5 natural armour. Nice!
Illithid; okay, now, take extract. Then take flurrly of blows and immense grapple bonuses. Dear god.

EDIT: Oh, and Lycanthrope monks can tank. Lizardfolk still, slightly.

5

Hmm. Well I only have Neverwinter Nights- the only races in that game are Human, Half Elf, Half Orc Dwarf, Halfling, and Gnome. Can you tell me which race is best for monk, out of those 5 choices?

6

Half-Orc, I suppose, for the Str bonus, since int and cha are monk dump stats, but monks are pretty awful with all of the bastard races.