I've never played as a Monk in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons, but I've always kind of wanted to. You know how when you go up really high in a hotel and you lean over the balcony and think 'I wonder what would happen if I jumped'? Or how when you're cooking and the hob gets real hot, and you think 'if I tapped this really quick, would it really hurt'? That's the sort of self-destructive compulsion that makes me want to play as a Monk. And in the OneD&D Unearthed Arcana Playtest 6 for the 2024 Player's Handbook (it's less fun typing that whole thing each time than it is reading it), there's even less reason for me to try it out.
I know why Monks appeal to some people: they're extremely annoying for DMs to deal with. They're a cross between Fighters and Rogues, and while I personally would rather play as either a Fighter or a Rogue on their own, Monks have unique benefits. Monks aren’t the battering ram Barbarians or Paladins are, but they move around too much and hit hard enough that you can't afford to leave them alone, and they come loaded with a bunch of resistances, while species bonuses can add more resistances on top. I get it. But also, I don't get it.
One of the things stopping me playing as a Monk is that it walks like a damaging class, talks like a damaging class, but is not a damaging class. I know it does other things, but it postures like a tough guy and I'm always annoyed when it can't back that up. The latest Playtest tries to solve this problem... kinda.
In the current version of the rules, pre-Playtest, Monks can roll a d4 (which rises through the levels to d10) rather than their regular damage die for Unarmed Strike or their Monk weapon. In the Playtest, these dice change up to d6 rising to d12, meaning Monks are more powerful. However, there's a substantial catch that I'm not sure makes any sense - you can't use it for weapons, only Unarmed Strikes. The fact that a lot of Monks use Unarmed Strike means this probably accounts to a fair trade off rather than a nerf, but the whole point was that Monks are underpowered. Keeping it the same by a different method does not help matters.
Unarmed Strike is now non-magical too, only using Force damage or the three standard (Piercing, Bludgeoning, and Slashing) damage types. Given that stronger enemies tend to resist non-magical attacks, or even have some immunity, Monks are taking a lot of Ls here. Weapon Mastery only allows Simple weapons too. Stunning Strike is also now once per turn, but since everyone hates it I don't think we'll see any complaints. If anything, people will want them to do more to get rid of this. For me it's the only good thing Monk has, and it’s in their nature to be annoying, so I'm less desperate to see it stripped away. Then again, if the whole class were to be upended, I wouldn't object to that either.
There are some balance improvements, but I don't think they're worth it. Ki is now Martial Discipline, and allows you to Disengage and Dash, while Empowered Strikes (which lose the Ki- prefix) do Force damage. A lot of the features have changed too. Perfect Self (now known as Perfect Discipline) has dropped to 15th Level from 20th Level, making room for Defy Death (which lets you roll four Martial Arts dice in exchange for four Discipline Points (yep, Ki) to recover that amount of HP. Meanwhile, 13th Level introduces Defect Energy, a Deflect Missiles-style defence against all ranged attacks including spells, replacing the unpopular Tongue of the Sun and Moon.
I thought we might see a major switch-up to Monk, given these Playtests have not been shy in throwing the baby out with the bathwater, safe in the knowledge that they can scoop the baby back up, dust it off, and stick it back in the bath if changes prove unpopular. Instead, the redesign of Monk seems compromised from the start, mixed up in misunderstandings of what Monks can do, should do, and why people play them. I'm still tempted to give them a go eventually, if only to find out if the stove really is that hot.