Barbarian and Monk builds that wouldn't play similarly?

[Rfkannen]

The main classes I most want to try out (after my alchemist) are barbarian and monk. However I am worried that playing those classes in a row could make gameplay kind of monotonous, as both have a lot of feats for tossing people around the battlefield and maneuvers. I really enjoy that type of martial control, but I am concerned that I will accidently make two characters who play exactly the same. so I was wondering if y'all had any tips for making members of those classes that wouldn't feel similar to play.

The feats I am most interested in for each class:
Barbarian: oversized throw, friendly toss, quaking stomp.
monk: ki blast, ki form, timeless body.

Any ideas? What types of builds would mix things up between those characters and feel different in gameplay?

[Perpdepog]

IMO you already have some fairly different possible builds with just those sets of feats. One good way to make sure your characters stay different is to also consider how both classes manipulate movement. Monks are good at pushing people around, but, at least as far as I can tell, they are better at moving themselves wherever they need to be.

If you build a barb who is good at pushing others around, and a monk who is good at pushing themselves where they have to go, then I think you'll come up with some pretty different playstyles.

Or you can focus on different kinds of movement with both. Reflective Ripple Stance, and its feats, give a monk lots of good ways to Trip enemies, and also Shove them, but not much Grapple game, like a barbarian would have.

[Rfkannen]

Perpdepog wrote:

IMO you already have some fairly different possible builds with just those sets of feats. One good way to make sure your characters stay different is to also consider how both classes manipulate movement. Monks are good at pushing people around, but, at least as far as I can tell, they are better at moving themselves wherever they need to be.

If you build a barb who is good at pushing others around, and a monk who is good at pushing themselves where they have to go, then I think you'll come up with some pretty different playstyles.

Or you can focus on different kinds of movement with both. Reflective Ripple Stance, and its feats, give a monk lots of good ways to Trip enemies, and also Shove them, but not much Grapple game, like a barbarian would have.

Alright rad! I don't have much experiance with either so I am glad to hear they do that diffrently!

Reflectibe ripple stance was one of the main monk stances I was looking at!! (the other was gorrila) I really like the idea of playing an undine monk with the reflecting ripple stance! (not sure what would be a good main ancestry for that though) I am glad to hear that would feel different from a grapple barb!

[HumbleGamer]

I think it's the animal barbarian the one who would probably play like a monk. I have seen plenty of players going for the monk dedication ( as barbarians ) to grab flurry of blows.

So the world is now full of barbarian with a monk attitude

Quote:

The strength of your fist flows from your mind and spirit. You seek perfection—honing your body into a flawless instrument and your mind into an orderly bastion of wisdom. You’re a fierce combatant renowned for martial arts skills and combat stances that grant you unique fighting moves. While the challenge of mastering many fighting styles drives you to great heights, you also enjoy meditating on philosophical questions and discovering new ways to obtain peace and enlightenment.

It makes me laugh all the times, thinking about a horde of raging barbarians seeking for interior peace.

Talking about mechanics, the monk is more efficient and versatile:

- Stances offer a different approach and are just lvl 1 feats ( you may get another "free" one through natural ambition ).

- you have more choice in terms of saving throws.

- mobility allows you to dart on the battlefield ( barbarian has to pay for a slightly better mobility while raging ).

- Monk has also accesso to ranged weapons

- Being able to use flurry of blows, you have 2 actions left you can use for supportive purporses like:

+ Recall Knowledge
+ Battle Medicine
+ Demoralize
+ Assurance + Athletics
+ Interact actions ( feeding a potion to somebody or drink it yourself )

and so on.

I think being able to rely on stances already makes character differents ( apart from a flavor point of view in terms of roleplay ), but consider also playing an unarmed monk if you used weapons with your barbarian, or viceversa. This could also help you feeling different.

[Ventnor]

Rfkannen wrote:

Perpdepog wrote:

IMO you already have some fairly different possible builds with just those sets of feats. One good way to make sure your characters stay different is to also consider how both classes manipulate movement. Monks are good at pushing people around, but, at least as far as I can tell, they are better at moving themselves wherever they need to be.

If you build a barb who is good at pushing others around, and a monk who is good at pushing themselves where they have to go, then I think you'll come up with some pretty different playstyles.

Or you can focus on different kinds of movement with both. Reflective Ripple Stance, and its feats, give a monk lots of good ways to Trip enemies, and also Shove them, but not much Grapple game, like a barbarian would have.

Alright rad! I don't have much experiance with either so I am glad to hear they do that diffrently!

Reflectibe ripple stance was one of the main monk stances I was looking at!! (the other was gorrila) I really like the idea of playing an undine monk with the reflecting ripple stance! (not sure what would be a good main ancestry for that though) I am glad to hear that would feel different from a grapple barb!

If you want to play a Monk who uses some of the stronger ki spells like Ki Blast or Ki Form, then your Undine's Base ancestry should probably be human. The human feat Natural Ambition will let you get an extra level 1 class feat, which means you can have both Reflective Ripple Stance and one of the Level 1 ki spell feats (which are prerequisites for the stronger ki spell feats).

[Deriven Firelion]

Every class that hits things kind of plays the same in terms of how they damage targets.

Barbarians and Monks play very different as far as overall builds.

Barbarian is very damage oriented with a simple play style: rage and attack.

Monk is on the other hand more defensive and versatile in combat. They have high mobility. They have some great maneuver builds allowing you to toss people around the battlefield. They have higher AC than the barbarian. They have good action economy with flurry and can can take different stances to have some strike versatility.

I have played both a barbarian to 16th level and a monk to 10th. They don't feel very much alike other than they both hit things to do damage.

Giant instinct barbarian was fun. It hit real hard, hardest strikes I've seen in the game.

Monk has been more versatile. I can't say more fun because seeing a barbarian brutally kill tons of things quickly is pretty fun. The monk doesn't hit near as hard. But I made the monk more of a defender. He has Ironblood Stance, uses a shield, and picked up Champion Dedication with Champion's Reaction to protect people. He is super mobile moving 50 feet a move action. He has done pretty well as part of the group.