Another thread here had me come up with an idea for the Monk. Like the Ranger who has two choices of paths to follow (2-Wep or Ranged), how about a similar choice for Monks at level 4?
This would represent differnet fighting styles, at its most basic - A Monk could choose between defensive style and attack style, just by applying his/her AC Bonus column to attacks instead. This would put him on-par with an equal-level ftr for hitting, but leave them far more vulnerable.
We could even have a Feat that would allow them to switch-back for the duration of a single encounter, which would emulate learning an alternate style as well (or even one that splits the bonus, for mixed styles).
In a way, its like using the AC Bonus points similar to what has been done with the Cleric's Turning ability, by opening it up to other possibilites. I'd love to see more options open up for simulating styles of combat for the Monk class, and using the AC bonus might be a good way to go.
Anyone have any thoughts?
The monk class already has a large number of bonus feats to choose from to represent different fighting techniques, doesn't it?
I'd like to see something along the lines of the different martial art styles. IE five animals and weapons. They tried in OA but were less than stellar.
I would definately like to see the Monk Class get the coverage the Sorceror gets in PRPG, but I just thought this would be a 'quick fix' to allow a monk who wanted to be more about dealing damage to use his AC Bonus in a different way. By applying it to attacks (and damage?), the Monk gets almost the same BAB progression as a fighter.
I think the original OA rules (by Gygax) from 1e were on the right track, moreso then later TSR/WotC versions, and something along those lines would be pretty cool. Anything more specific for fighting styles would probably require its own book.
I would like the Monk class move away to a more generic martial artist, instead of the the "Wise man on the mountain". As this is not in the cards, an alternate advancement path towards more Wuxia than the mystical stuff would be nice.
For my local game, the GM and me prepared a "Martial Artist" costum class, with very similar advancement as the 3.5 monk ( in power level ), but abilities more inclined towards maximum acrobacy in combat.
I was thinking much the same - I had started work on a 3e Kara-Tur Netbook, but then abanndoned the project when I heard about the 4e plans for FR.
I had envisioned the Monk being a Martial Artist (keeping the name to keep backwards-compatibility), and then having a 'Mystic Warrior' PrC that requires levels in a Psionic class as well.
I always felt the Paladin shouldn't be a core class (a knight at 1st level?!), and should be a PrC built off a multi-classed Ftr/Clr, and I feel the same about the Mystical Monk - he's a highly specialized ftr that has some psionic (Ki) diciplines.
I don't think the Monk should get all the fighting-style goodness at the get-go (save that for a Pathfinder OA), but he should at least get as much cool background as the Sorcerors got - Paizo has done an amazing job of turning them into a unique class, rather the WotC's version of "Wizards that cast differently".
