Monk Fighting Styles -Unearthed Arcana/Dragon Magazine

[Satori]

I'm a neurotic freak. I dwell on pointlessly simple and ultimately useless pieces of information because I am a sick, twisted, and disturbed individual.

Keeping that in mind, I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out the reason for various "Monk Fighting Style Feats" from Unearthed Arcana.

They are all completely listed in the "Base Class" PDF at Candle Keep, so I don't believe I'm violating anything by posting some info here.

Essentially, alternate 1st, 2nd, and 6th level feats are presented to players that play in campaigns that don't have Oriental Adventures Monk rules (where these levels warrant ANY bonus Martial Arts feat). If all the requirements are met for a certain style, a fun little bonus is added as incentive.

So...if Stunning Fist, Deflect Arrows, and Imp Trip don't work for you, then you can give "Sleeping Tiger" style a shot, or "Wushu" a chance.

Now...some of these make wonderful sense.

I.E. Cobra Style gives Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack with a boost to your Dodge bonus if you fulfill the requirements.

However, some of these styles simply baffle me...which is frustrating, since I am currently in need of an alternate fighting style for a monk pc. It doesn't help that I'm a Martial Artist IRL.

Let me list some styles that I don't understand.

Sleeping Tiger- Gives Weapon Finesse, Imp Initiative, and Imp Sunder. The style is said to be based upon attacking from ambush, and fulfilling the requirements gives +1d6 sudden strike. So...why the heck is Imp Sunder in there??? It is quite possibly one of the worst feats for monks to take (since hands and monk weapons are light weapon...and while the quarterstaff isn't, it negates the previously acquired weapon finesse), and it simply doesn't fit with the concept.

Denying Stances- Gives Imp Grapple, Combat Reflexes, and Imp Disarm. The style is said to create an unbeatable stance...by grappling? By disarming??? It also gives a skill bonus to tumble...which, of course, we do a lot of tumbling while disarming and grappling...right??

Wu Shu- Gives Imp init, Power Attack, and Imp Feint with a bonus on Tumble. Ok, I can see tumble and imp init...but Power Attack and Imp Feint? Not only is Power Attack darn near useless for Monks, but Imp Feint also draws upon a cross class skill! What the heck?

Anyhoot, I'm hoping someone has created "fixes" or houseruled fighting styles for their monks...or can point me in the direction of an errata.

Perhaps I should go take my medication now...

 

[No Name]

Don't forget you can power attack with an unarmed strike.

Those styles are mostly for flavor I think. I've tried a couple of them, and had players use them in games I've ran. They never seemed to have a very noticeable effect

The one I remember best was called Hand and Foot I believe. In a year long campaign, the bonuses from that style rarely played a part in combat. Partly because the DM never bull rushed anyone, and NPCs who made trip attacks were extremely rare. Really the only times the trip part came up was when my character attempted a trip and failed, then I would get the bonus when my opponent got a free trip against me.

With the Hand and Foot style character, the DM let my character invent his own style which wasn't fully developed until level 12 or so. I modeled it after those styles found in an older Dragon (the one with the Githyanki invasion). I figured my character learned a basic style from levels 1 to 6, and continued from there with a more advanced one.

 

[Satori]

True, you can power attack with unarmed strikes...but power attack caters to those with high bab...which isn't monks. Especially at a low level, a monk would have to have a massive ability mod to even make decent use of Power Attack. Add to that the fact that using 2 Handers with Power Attack is SO amazing that using it for a light/one hander seems pointless.

I like the idea of a continued style...I might have to play with that.

I'm also trying to see if I can substitute some more appropriate feats for some of these styles, as I feel the "flavor" is great.

I'm thinking Flying Kick for "Sleeping Tiger" lvl 6, Combat Expertise and Defensive Strike for "Denying Stance", and Dash and some Weapon Feat for Wushu.

Thanks for the feedback!