Greetings adventurers!
I have just released my first PDF here on Paizo. The Monk Unfettered. It is a complete reinvention of the class over 38 pages that is designed to give the monk vastly greater diversity. The core changes are to the flurry mechanic and consolidating a large set of class abilities into insights (akin to rage powers and rogue talents).
On Jerall Toi's blog there is a sneak peak of some of the content and art assets. Have a look! Even with the imminent release of Pathfinder Unchained upon us, I think the book is a valuable addition to any campaign.
Let me know what you think. Any questions are welcome!
There's been an incredible amount of work on this forum on revising the monk, so this looks worth looking at.
Do monks get a full BAB? That's been the one thing that helped monks in my campaigns stay competitive with other non-spellcasting classes.
There's been an incredible amount of work on this forum on revising the monk, so this looks worth looking at.
Do monks get a full BAB? That's been the one thing that helped monks in my campaigns stay competitive with other non-spellcasting classes.
Yes and no. By default the monk in Monk Unfettered is still a 3/4 BAB class, however, two things balance this off:
- firstly the Monk Unfettered's flurry mechanic is different from the Core monk's (basically the Unfettered Monk gets to use his highest BAB on *all* his attacks in a flurry)
- secondly there are a lot of insights that allow the Unfettered Monk to use his monk level as BAB for various purposes (e.g. on "Stunning Fist" attacks, against favored enemies, on AOOs, etc). There even is an insight that allows the monk to use his monk level as BAB for the purpose of qualifying for feats.
So no, he doesn't get full BAB by default - but you can spend the insights if you want to become a full BAB class. At the same time it isn't so bad to have 3/4 BAB if you're making 5 attacks that are all at your highest BAB.
There's been an incredible amount of work on this forum on revising the monk, so this looks worth looking at.
Do monks get a full BAB? That's been the one thing that helped monks in my campaigns stay competitive with other non-spellcasting classes.
Yes and no. By default the monk in Monk Unfettered is still a 3/4 BAB class, however, two things balance this off:
- firstly the Monk Unfettered's flurry mechanic is different from the Core monk's (basically the Unfettered Monk gets to use his highest BAB on *all* his attacks in a flurry)
- secondly there are a lot of insights that allow the Unfettered Monk to use his monk level as BAB for various purposes (e.g. on "Stunning Fist" attacks, against favored enemies, on AOOs, etc). There even is an insight that allows the monk to use his monk level as BAB for the purpose of qualifying for feats.
So no, he doesn't get full BAB by default - but you can spend the insights if you want to become a full BAB class. At the same time it isn't so bad to have 3/4 BAB if you're making 5 attacks that are all at your highest BAB.
That's pretty cool. However, from my experience with GMing for monk characters, monks seem to struggle the most at early levels. With a 3/4 BAB, they do not qualify for Power Attack, Deadly Aim, and other feats that make the monk strong. And because they lack armor proficiencies, they have both low offense and defense ontop of lacking utility. Once they get extra attacks, gear, and feats, they're pretty strong. Having a solution that assists their late game does not really appeal to me.
Does the unfettered monk receive anything that helps the monk's really weak early game?
With the insight that allows them to use their monk level as BAB for the purpose of qualifying for feats, a monk can take Power Attack at level 1. The insight in question, "prodigy of battle", can be taken by a monk at level 1.
Likewise, the insight "cat's paw strikes" (showcased on the Tiger in Waiting on Jerall's blog) allows the monk to use half his Dex bonus for damage instead of using Str. The follow-up insight "cat turns tiger" allows using the full Dex bonus. If you spend your level 1 feat to gain an extra insight, along with the innate level 1 insight that the monk gets, a monk can use his full Dex to damage when flurrying from level 1. The combination allows for high defense and offense in early levels, while also reducing the MAD of the monk.
"Iron body" grants DR/- that grows as the monk gains levels.
There are truly a lot of insights (100+) and many of those give the monk potent options from the early game onward. Many insight choices also grow with the monk, granting increasing benefits with higher levels, or granting new abilities at higher level. The monk can be relevant at all levels of play.
Oh, that's pretty cool. And that's a lot of talents!
hehehe - Monk Unfettered was a project that took me nearly two years to complete, there was a lot of time for design, balance and testing. The number of insights just naturally escalated more and more as time went on.
I have the pdf. Reviewing it is a bit of a problem. I got done with a ton of reviews and have a lot more to go, and this book has a lot of options to pare through.
I have the pdf. Reviewing it is a bit of a problem. I got done with a ton of reviews and have a lot more to go, and this book has a lot of options to pare through.
Thank you :) - there is absolutely no rush. Just enjoy it.
It's been a while, but there finally are a few reviews up for the Monk Unfettered! Including this one at TriangularRoom that shows off a new bit of art :)