Because They Prioritize Versatility Over Power

March 6, 2023 | Tome of Misunderstanding | Images from Player’s Handbook, Dungeons and Dragons, 1st and 4th Editions

Prelude

Ikko Dusthallow stood victorious over the fallen Ogre, Durmash.  Ikko raised his long arms to the sky and raised them in triumph.  Cheers and jeers rained over him in equal measure from the rabid crowds at the gladiatorial arena.  Ikko soaked in the adulation and insults for a few moments, too exhausted to do anything else, and then turned and trudged out of the arena. 

After passing through the darkened entranceway covered with sawdust, he entered the roped off space that served as a preparation and recovery area.  There were several (bloody) straw pallets on the ground, some of them occupied by bloody, groaning humanoids.  Ikko lowered himself onto an empty pallet, and lay back, staring up at the dark, stone ceiling.  He thought back to how he defeated the elephantine Ogre champion, and smiled as he recalled his clever adjustment of tactics on the fly.  He had danced in, jabbed to Durmash’s nose twice, dodged his sledgehammer-like fists, then launching a strong strike to his forehead, finally stunning the Ogre.  After that, the finish was inevitable as Durmash was helpless to react and defend himself. 

“You’re in my pallet,” rumbled an impossibly deep voice.  Ikko started out of his reverie.  The minotaur was a dark chestnut brown, white horned, broad-chested and hugely muscled.  She was leaking blood from several wounds.  Ikko guessed that she had gone to relieve herself, or bust some more skulls, and had come back to find her pallet taken by an impolite bugbear. 

“I’m sorry,” Ikko said.  “I didn’t know you were here.”  He got up and moved to the next pallet. 

The minotaur paused a moment.  Her face wore a puzzled expression, as if she were expecting a fight.  She eased herself into the now vacant pallet, maintaining a hard stare at Ikko with her black eyes.  She muttered something to him.

“Sorry?” Ikko said.  The minotaur repeated herself.  Ikko caught a part of the phrase that he recognized; a dusty, forgotten part of himself.

“That’s Bugbear,” Ikko said.  “I don’t speak that.  Only Common and Halfling.  Where did you learn Bugbear?”

The minotaur gingerly rolled away from Ikko, averting her face.  Ikko thought that was the end of their conversation, but after a moment, the minotaur’s face half-turned back towards him.

“I’ll tell you after you explain how you speak Halfling and not Bugbear,” she said.  “My name is Zandia.  What’s yours?”

“Ikko,” he said. 

“You fought well today,” she said.

“You were watching?” he asked.

“I need to know the strengths of my opponents,” she said.  “And you are fighting me next.”

Introduction

If you haven’t read my previous post on how Monks Don’t Suck Because They Are Actually Melee Half-Spellcasters, then you can do so for the low, low price of nothing by clicking on this link here.  What that post described was how Monks aren’t actually as sucky as they seem from the standpoint of available resources.  To summarize, the progression of their Ki points is very similar to Pact Magic, which is associated with Warlock, a similar half-caster. 

What I omitted was a bunch of other descriptive fluff, and finally some recommendations about battle tactics for you based on the flexibility that Ki points afford. 

To explain the monk class design, we should go back- way, way back- to 1978, for the first edition of the Player’s Handbook. 

History of the Monk, First Edition

First, from my original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook, first edition, page 30, this excerpt describes Gary Gygax’s class concept:

And:

What do these two excerpts tell us?  The first one tells us that the monk is designed to be hard to play.  It was hard to roll the right stats in 1978.  It was hard to figure out how to play the monk.  But, the payoff was a character that was “the most deadly” at higher levels.  Gygax also pointed out that the Monk was so unusual, it wasn’t even in alphabetical order!  How weird!

The second excerpt tells us that traditional metrics for efficacy do not apply to monks.  Few hit points.  No spells, armor, shields, flaming oil (I don’t recall that being a big thing then, but perhaps it was).  Gygax asserts that other attributes of the monk make the class.  This suggests that we need to learn a new skillset to play the class effectively, and not attempt to duplicate tactics that you might try with a fighter or a thief. 

Continuing down the path of history, Gygax is quoted from an ENWorld Q&A in 2004 (https://orbitalflower.github.io/rpg/people/gary-gygax-quotes.html#monk):

“All of the titles for the Monk Class were taken unabashedly from mah jjong, one of my favorite games. As flowers are honors tiles, delicate and beautiful, I thought it fitted well with an Eastern aesthetic martial artist, the object belying his actual prowess.”

I thought this was a pretty neat quote, underscoring that the monk is not who she seems.  Underneath a fragile chassis and non-flashy feature-set, if you lift the hood, you will find a humming engine of efficacy and flexibility. 

History of the Monk, 4^th Edition

For those of you who played 4^th Edition Dungeons and Dragons (I know there are not as many of you), the Monk (as Treantmonk pointed out in his video) was not included as a base class.  It was included later, not in PHB 1, not in the PHB 2, but in the Players Handbook 3.  This post is not meant to defend or explain 4^th edition, but highlight a few salient points.  The game edition designed classes around 4 key roles, and a host of sources of power.  The 4 roles were: Leader, Defender, Striker and Controller.  The power sources were: Divine, Martial, Arcane, Primal, Psionic and Shadow.  The Striker’s role description is found on page 16 of the 4^th Edition Players Handbook:

The Monk’s specific class role description is found in the 4^th Edition Player’s Handbook 3, page 62:

The power source is in the same section:

What do these excerpts tell us?  Peeling back some of the layers, the original, AD&D concept of the Monk is that of someone who starts out weak and abject, but whose hidden talents and abilities bloom over time (akin to certain halflings who get sent on a mission to a volcano).  Flowers are beautiful and appear fragile, but concealed within we discover strength and life.  Mah jjong is a game of skill, strategy, and luck (Wikipedia), and so should we also conceptualize how monks are designed to consider their maneuvers in combat. 

Fourth edition tells us that, at that time, Monks were conceptualized and designed as strikers, suited to dealing damage and controlling single targets via unarmed strikes, wearing no armor, and utilizing their mobility to best advantage.  Moreover, they were not a martial class, but Psionic.  While this designation did not make it into 5^th edition, the design of the monk specifically set it apart from how Martial classes were meant to function, through using “strength and willpower to vanquish their enemies.”  Summarizing the Psionic power source is challenging since the passage on it is quite long and rather unspecific, as the lore is meant to be shrouded in mystery.  However, suffice it to say that there was a rupture in this Gate in the Astral Sea through which aliens from the “Far Realms” entered our world, causing Ioun and Pelor to defend our reality.  Through this process, monks were first able to harness psionic power, or “psionic magic” as it is called in the passage.  Therefore, the lineage of monks is that their power originates in magic, and through practice and discipline this is realized into their unique abilities. 

Monk Intentional Design

Let’s summarize some of the previous fluff into a class concept. 

• Difficult to master
• Synergies are not obvious
• Single target focus
• Damage and control on battlefield
• Unique features and abilities
• Lack of access to traditional damage dealing or control methods
• Martial Arts theme

5^th Edition Monk

Now, let’s consider the 5^th edition monk.

As I mentioned previously, the monk secretly is designed as a melee range half-spellcaster.  To put the monk tactics into a spellcaster frame:

The monk has their main attack, or “At Will” attack, which is usually a quarterstaff or spear, attacking with two hands due to the versatile property.  Then, they get to use their bonus action to use what I will term their “cantrip”, which is a single unarmed strike.  This unarmed strike uses Dexterity as the attack and damage bonus, and since this is not Two-Weapon fighting, which specifically prohibits adding the damage bonus to the second attack, Unarmed Attack as a bonus action does not prohibit this, and is therefore added.  Both these actions are infinitely repeatable at the cost of Action and Bonus Action, which is why I term these the At Will attacks. 

Let’s say you are 2^nd level, and you want to burst damage—in other words, use your one, lonely Ki point to “cast” Flurry of Blows.  This is like your 1^st level spell.  If you did that, you would do 11.7 points of damage on average for that one round only.  The chance for critical strikes for 3 attacks bumps this up about 1 hp per round which offsets the 60% chance to hit.  Treantmonk uses a warlock casting eldritch blast and using their bonus action to cast Hex as a low baseline for damage.  Since you only get the 1 cantrip per round (the only bonus action Warlocks get is Magic Stone), a warlock will do 5.67 damage per round.  Note that 11.7 monk damage is good for only 1 round at level 2.  Thereafter, sustained damage drops to 8.15.  So, you can see that at level 2, Monks are well above the baseline for damage, especially if you factor in their “nova” ability. 

Let’s fast forward to level 5.  This is the next touchpoint which illustrates where monks are positioned.  By level 5, Monks will have gained Unarmored Movement, Deflect Missile, Reflect Missile, Ki-Fueled Attack, Stunning Strike, Extra Attack, and their subclass.  Their Martial Arts die increases to a d6. 

At this level:

Warlocks have 2 level 3 spell slots (6 spell-levels) that recharge on a short rest, 2 cantrips (1 of which is almost certainly Eldritch Blast). 

Monks have 5ki points, which they can use to “cast” their ki powers that recharge on a short rest, 2 “At Will” attacks.

With 5 ki points, and the knowledge that they recharge on a short rest, monks can act even more like a Warlock.  They are not yet at a point where their resources are flowing like water, but there is some breathing room to spend a point or two and still be able to do burst damage.  At this point, the monk has some decisions turn by turn in combat to make.  Their AC is still around 16—too low to thrive in melee range, not as good as martials or the half- or one-third-casters, but better than many pure spellcasters who are faced with Mage Armor and the occasional Shield spell (which they can cast 4 times per long rest if that’s all they want to do). 

Therefore, monks can select and prioritize what actions to take on their turn.  They have their action, reaction, and a bonus action to consider.  Their action options are:

Action	Result	Time	Ki Cost
Attack	2 melee weapon attacks	Action	0
Dodge	Impose disadvantage on enemy attacks	Action	0
Dash	Additional 35 or 40’ of movement	Action	0
Disengage	No opportunity attacks	Action	0
Unarmed Strike	1 unarmed attack	Bonus action	0
Flurry of Blows	2 unarmed attacks	Bonus action	1
Patient Defense	Impose disadvantage on enemy attacks	Bonus action	1
Step of the Wind	Disengage or Dash	Bonus action	1
Stunning Strike	Impose Stun Condition (con save)	Upon melee weapon hit, no extra time required	1
Move	35 to 40’ movement	Move	0

One of the issues Treantmonk has with the monk is that he states he does not know what the monk’s purpose is, and that monk supporters keep moving the goalposts:

“I get told different things by different people.  It’s tough to keep the goalposts steady, but I can narrow it down to a few things.  The first is I’m told the monk can be good at delivering damage.  I’ve been told this is especially true at lower levels where Martial Arts and Flurry of Blows can really deliver, holding past level 5 because of Extra Attack and maybe faltering at the very high levels.  And whenever I point out that that’s not the case, then the goalposts switch, and then I’m told the second thing, that the monk is actually an effective tank.  I’m mistaken in thinking that I should be focusing on offense when I should be focusing on defense, because the monk can draw enemy attacks and seldom get hit due to their unarmored defense and their ability to use dodge using a bonus action, combined with their amazing saving throws.  And when I point out how that doesn’t work, then I am told a third thing, that the monk’s strength is actually their maneuverability, able to pop into and out of melee, delivering damage and Stunning Strikes, then slipping out again with unmatched speed and thus able to avoid enemy attacks.  And then fourthly, finally, and most commonly, I am told the monk’s strength is their ability to control the battlefield, as they can stun multiple creatures on their turn, avoiding magic resistance, delivering one of the most effective status conditions in the game.”

Aside from Treantmonk’s negative interpretation of the monk effectiveness, I can’t disagree with anything that he just said.  In fact, I’m going to lean into it: 

Monks are effective because they don’t have to choose a single approach to problem-solving in combat.  They are effective because they don’t have spell slots.  They instead have a flexible pool of ki that regenerates on short rest that they can use in the moment depending on where and how much of the resources need to be deployed.  They focus on their Striker role, with an emphasis on switching tactics depending on the weaknesses of their enemy.   

I want to go back to one of Treantmonk’s statements that I quoted in my previous article on this:  

“Enough!  Here’s the thing: the monk isn’t good at any of those things.  Not to say they are terrible at all of them, but even with the expenditure of their precious resources, which, by the way, all draw from the same source, unlike the Bard with their Inspire, or a Cleric with their Channel Divinity, or a Paladin with their Channel Divinity or their spells, or a wizard with their subclass abilities, or a Sorcerer with their Sorcery points.  So many classes in the game draw their resources from different sources, the monks draw them all from the same very limited source, and even when they use it, they don’t measure up in any of those areas.”

My response here is that each of the abilities Treantmonk just listed refresh on Long Rest.  There’s a reason he didn’t mention the Warlock.  Reframing Ki as flexible spell slots helps to understand how the monk competes.  At 5^th level, to examine one of the class examples Treantmonk referenced, a Bard (given their support role) will usually be able to use Bardic Inspiration 4 times, and these uses will refresh on a short rest.  Bards will have 3 cantrips and a total of 9 spells (16 spell levels) to cast.  Monks will have 5 ki that refresh on a short or long rest.  If you consider the usual adventuring day consists of 6-8 encounters, 2 short rests and 1 long rest at the end, every 3^rd encounter, monks will have 5 ki points, which gives them 15 “casts” of their Ki using abilities.  Monks will be doing much more damage than a Bard at this level, which offsets the 4 uses of Bardic Inspiration per short rest.  Their casting power is about the same overall. 

Monk Tactics

Here’s how monks vary their tactics. 

Monks need to assess the state of battlefield to determine what 2 out of 3 approaches to take against specific targets. 

The 3 approaches are:

1. Damage
2. Evasion
3. Control

The neat thing about having these three tactics is that you don’t have to be better than your opponent at everything—you only need to be better than your opponent at one thing he is really bad at. 

For instance, let’s take an Open Hand Monk.  The Way of the Open Hand at 3^rd level adds the ability to impose one of three conditions upon her opponent when she lands a Flurry of Blows strike:

• It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
• It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
• It can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn.

Please note that the Open Hand monk can impose the same or a different condition with each Flurry of Blows hit. 

So with this additional palette of options, let’s look at some example scenarios:

Fighting a high HP/AC Frontliner?

Probably has low dexterity saves.

Tactic: Use Flurry of Blows to knock opponent prone and give teammates advantage on melee attacks vs. AC. 

Fighting a high dexterity ranged striker?

Probably has low strength and constitution saves.

Tactic: Close the distance with Dash/Step of the Wind.  Use Flurry of Blows to reposition opponent for advantage, and prevent reactions (no save) if two hits landed.  Use Strike as add-on Ki point for each hit with Melee Weapon Attack/Extra Attack/Flurry of Blows.  Save reaction for Reflect/Deflect Missile in case opponent disengages and/or creates some distance to launch ranged attacks.  Consider grappling. 

Fighting a tough boss?

You need to get it to focus some attacks on you to preserve your teammates, and try to reposition it to advantage

Tactic: Close the distance and land some combo hits, using Ki to Dodge, reposition, knock prone, or prevent reactions. 

Please note that this range of tactical options is atypical for most classes, and underscores some of the principles from the Monk Intentional Design heading:

• Difficult to master… check
• Synergies are not obvious… check
• Single target focus… check
• Damage and control on battlefield… check
• Unique features and abilities… check and also see below for Stunning Strike
• Lack of access to traditional damage dealing or control methods… check
• Martial Arts theme… check

Stunning Strike Utility

Treantmonk determined that Stunning Strike tends to land about 1/3 of the time.  Well, the class is designed to account for this.  You don’t have to decide if you are using a Ki point until you actually land an attack.  Stunning Strike is therefore a rider to an attack.  If you attack 4 times with Extra Attack and Flurry of Blows, you will hit around 2.4 times (assuming a 60% accuracy).  Over the span of two turns, assuming you can close in again and Flurry a second time, there is around an 80% chance that one of your Stuns will land.  The balance here is that Stunlocking an opponent is quite devastating, so it tends to cost Actions and time to land it. 

Here are all the ways a PC can impose the Stunned condition on an enemy:

1. Contagion- 5^th level spell
2. Divine Word- 7^th level spell
3. Psychic Scream- 9^th level spell
4. Power Word Stun- 8^th level spell
5. Symbol- 7^th level spell
6. Stunning Strike- 5^th level monk ability

So the lowest level a character can be to impose stun other than a monk is 9^th level.  Contagion does have a few nuances, including that you must fail 3 Con saves before you are possibly stunned.  Could you make an argument that causing a pure stun is a 4^th level spell?  Pure casters get 4^th level spells at 7^th character level.  I make this argument because ki points roughly translate into spell levels, and 4 is how many ki points you spend on average to have greater than an 80% chance of causing the stunned condition.  You have a 33% cumulative chance on the first hit, 56% by the second, 71% by the third, and 81% by the fourth.  If you ask me, the optimal strategy would be to close the distance, Flurry of Blows with your Bonus action, if hit once, knock prone to allow melee distance attacks with advantage, and Stunning Strike.  Flurry of Blows 2^nd hit to disallow reactions, and Stunning Strike again if not stunned yet.  Then take the Attack action, Stunning Strike again if not stunned yet.  Then Extra Attack, Stunning Strike again if not stunned yet (pretty unlikely), or consider grappling.  At the end of the nova round versus the boss, the target stands a good chance of being stunned, prone, incapacitated, and grappled.  If the monk has any Ki points left (not terribly likely at 5^th level, but much more likely with more Ki points as levels rise), stunlock is just about assured given the auto fail of Dex saving throws while stunned, and the fact that the stunned condition lasts until the end of the turn. 

Let me add here that there is an advantage of using 4 Ki points over casting a 4^th level spell.  You get to choose how and when to deploy Ki points, and while there is a lower overall chance of landing a 4^th level spell, the ability to repeatedly try the rider effect means that you could use less resources overall to gain the desired effect. 

Against minions or hordes, the Monk can start their attack cycle and use their 35 or 45 feet of movement to move between enemies, starting with flurry of blows to impose prevention of reactions between minions, or stay in the same place to do more damage.  If you are facing a horde of minions between you and a frail boss, you can start by spending a ki point to Step of the Wind to maneuver around the hordes and make it to the boss, where you Stun once or twice for your 2 attacks. 

Conclusion

I hope this has persuaded some of you that monks can be really fun to play and quite effective as long as you understand some hidden synergies and tactics. 

The Tome of Misunderstanding wishes you good reading and less misunderstandings!