Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 taenia Mar 25, 2009 13:46:55	Early after the phb 4th ed was released wotc put out an article which gave you options for substituting phb 1 classes for 3.0 classes that didnt make it into the phb1. One of these was the monk which they used the ranger, dual wield build for. However, with the phb 2 another option presents itself in much better monk flavor, the Avenger. So with the ranger they dropped the armor prof and gave them a bonus to ac in cloth armor, a feature the avenger already has. They changed some of the feature to boost will defense, something the avenger already has covered. The real issue comes up in that they removed martial weapon proficiencies in return for an unarmed attack the equivalent of a longsword, +3 prof, 1d8 damage. For a dual wielding ranger this worked fine, for a 2 handed weapon using avenger it wouldn't fit as well. So i would suggest something like this: You lose proficiency with martial melee weapons, you gain access to an unarmed attack that does one of the following 1. +2 prof, 2d6 damage or. 2. +2 prof, 1d12 damage, high crit or 3. +3 prof 1d10 damage 4. +2 prof, 1d8 damage, +1 ac A feat will be allowed, called improved unarmed strike which changes your unarmed attack to one of the following 1. +2, 1d12, brutal 2, high crit 2. +2, 2d6, brutal 1 3. +3, 1d12, high crit 4. +2 , 1d10, +1 ac (another feat could be taken to increase the bonus to ac to +2) In each case this is the equivalent of a martial weapon or a weapon available with a feat. One additional factor would be the ability to use power attack with unarmed strike as if it were a 2 handed weapon with every option but 4. For the case of magic weapons, an avenger monk would use none, the unarmed strike would have the property of adding the implement bonus/powers from holy symbols to any attack made with this power, and making it clear that unarmed strike as the weapon key word and can be used whenever a weapon could. The use of holy symbol rather than weapons is balanced in my opinion as it gives them more flexibility with avenger powers but loses access to magic weapon properties. Not sure what other changes might have to be made, the idea that oath makes 2 attack rolls reminded me of flurry in some ways. The other abilities also seem very monk like and feats could be taken, as suggested in the original article, to mimic other monk abilities.
#2 samyueru Mar 25, 2009 16:49:52	A pretty cool, and well thought out, fix. But someone else with a better knowledge of all the mechanics and workings of 4e could probably give you a better critique of this.