Monty this is taken from an article on D&D Beyond. The answer is yes it works! Reach Out and Grab 'Em If you're looking to spice things up, the new Grappler feat combines exceptionally well with the Warrior of the Elements' extended reach and the 2024 Monk's ability to grapple using Dexterity. With the Grappler feat, you can attempt to grapple a creature you hit as part of the same Attack action you use to make an Unarmed Strike. Seeing as being Grappled reduces a creature's Speed to 0, you can easily hold them out of reach and wail on them with your elemental strikes, which you'll now get Advantage on thanks to Grappler. On top of being a mechanically powerful ability, this adds to the power fantasy of wielding the elements against your foes. You can flavor your grapples to be temporary ice chunks that hold your foes in place or swirls of air that catch your enemies and prevent them from moving.
Be careful about assuming those articles provide accurate representations of the rules as written. In my experience, they often provide poor, sketchy, and inaccurate info. Obviously, I don't have the PHB2024, so I'm not arguing either way. I suspect, though, that a careful reading might prevent grappling at range.
And Grappler also lets you drag the target around at your normal speed. I can't see any reason why this couldn't be your fly speed once you have it. So if they escape the grapple, they take falling damage.
Monty having a full on moment as his beautiful and finely honed dnd mind breaks- in real time, over the elemental monk sparks a certain kind of joy. And it might just be the most glowing endorsement of the 2024 phb.
One argument that can be made for the Open Hand monk is that since the augmentations to their Flurry of Blows already allow you to push and knock enemies prone, you're free to take different feats or ASI's for your monk like Crusher, Lucky, or a Fighting Style or Weapon Mastery feat; which I'd personally do since taking a fighter dip means you don't get the +4 bonus to Dexterity and Wisdom if you reach level 20
Yeah, I was about to comment that. Open Hand is still a great subclass depending on the build. Not everyone will dip Fighter or take Tavern Brawler. Alert is also a great Origin Feat for Monks.
I personally have never liked multiclassing anyway. And even more taking one or two level dips just feels incredibly cheap and poor spirit to me. I mean I fully understand the potential mechanical benefits, and I’m not denying its strength potential. I’m just saying to me personally it kinda feels like cheating.
Being able to Flurry of Blows before taking the Attack Action is a huge buff to Open Hand monks. They've now got two attempts to knock an enemy prone and get advantage before unleashing their three attacks with light weapons (picking up Weapon Mastery of a Nick weapon through the 4th-level feat or a dip in Fighter/Ranger/Rogue)
I guess it is worth not dipping into fighter if you know the campaign will reach level 20, if that’s not the case just take the dip. You’ll get way more out of it and get benefits from it for the rest of the campaign
I am slightly disappointed Kensei didn't make it with Weapon Masteries baked into it, but besides that Monk is looking great. Can't wait to see how Elements looks.
@@thomasquesada7248The Way of the Kensei is the exception where monasteries specialize in channeling Ki energy through a weapon and using that weapon as an extension of your own body, be it a blade or bow.
I think a big point for Open Hand Monk is that Grappler and Tavern Barwler's free grapples/pushes don't work on your Bonus Action, while Open Hand is all about adding those features to specifically your Flurry
You didn't even consider the real implication of the flying elemental monk grappler, you can just lift people helplessly off the ground! They can't hit you, and if they break out they fall to their death!
The elemental monk broke Monty. Lol. My group is planning our second big campaign tonight. My DM told us to make two characters to choose from. I only needed one. Warrior of elements stood out to me immediately. I have never had the desire to ever try the monk, but my god. It looks so fun.
I personally played an Open Hand monk with the new rules at level 20. While the subclass wasn't changed that much, the changes to the base class really stood out. Especially with level 10 giving three attacks with flurry of blows and that's basically what the entire level 3 feature is made it so much better. Not to mention the ability to always be dashing at level 11 and Quivering Palm is basically a smite now that you only have to give up an attack rather than your whole action.
Glad to see monks getting some love. Not only do I think Monty should play a monk. I think after Drakkenheim finishes Kelly should DM a campaign and Monty plays the monk so we can all witness it in real time.
I vote that the monk be called Python! Perhaps the warrior of the serpant subclass that they wrote. Also let the monk have a tendency to go full monty.
Ok, a fun thing with Open Fist monk is the number of conditions you can apply. With Tavern Brawler, Grappler, and a single flurry of blows punch, you can deal damage and grapple them (Tavern Brawler), stun them, AND knock them prone (Open Fist). They're not getting up because they're grappled, and they have disadvantage on all their attack rolls. Alternatively, with Tavern Brawler, you can push a creature up to 20 feet away
Using the 2024 Elements Subclass with 2014 monk/game and it still a huge improvement. My player was so happy because they know story and not mechanics.
I'm 5:20 into the video, and I already want to play a 2024 monk. I've never even considered taking a dip into monk, let alone play one, under the 2014 rules. This monk is what they should have been all along, truly. And glad we've finally gotten this version.
I've always loved playing monks. Honestly, they are my second favourite class. Don't give a shit that they had disadvantages compared to the other classes. Now it's going to be really cool. I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks for the great video and for sharing your enthusiasm. ❤❤❤
I think the reach issue with elemental monks falls in the same category as Bugbears with their increase reach. From what I found when I built a bugbear, the reach was only while making the attack, and so opportunity attacks and the like at 10ft were not triggered, because their actually reach was still 5ft. I am curious though if a bugbear elemental monk stacks that reach, because that would be crazy.
Magic Initiate Druid & Magic Initiate Wizard for Control Flames, Gust, Shape Water, & Mold Earth. Then with Elementalism, you finally have all the elements. Coupled with two free casting of Absorb Elements. Or more tempting for Blade Ward or Resistance. If Monk's Diamond Soul is still around, they'll have Proficiency in CON Saves eventually.
8:30 A save to resist the initial grapple and an ability check to get out of a grapple makes sense. Saves are to nullify or reduce the incoming effects made towards you, while Checks are for active actions you the creature are making to succeed at a goal. This makes sense to me, and this ruling helps clear that better for newer players to know what the difference between a check and a save is
@andrecosta8680 That's coming from one of the feats, it allows you to force the saving throw after you hit with an unarmed strike rather than giving up your attack to do it.
HELL YEAH, MONKS ARE AWESOME! AND WE DESERVE IT AFTER ALL THAT BULLSHIT! By the way, you might be wrong on Crusher actually, since the Monks don't have magical strikes anymore and instead change their damage type to Force rather than bludgeoning. Even less worth it if you're going Elements, since that one is specifically about changing your damage to elemental. Speaking on that, unless the wording changed from before the range is increased BY 10 feet, not TO 10 feet, so your range is actually 15. Also grapples still work on that. And with the eventual fly speed you can drag them high and drop them. Astral Self was already one of my favorite subclasses and this is just a straight upgrade, I love it so much- (Oh I paused the video just before you corrected this lmao)
I dont know about other dms but even if you have a 15ft reach, youre going to need to explain to me how an enemy youre grappling cant hit you with a melee attack, you literally have to be touching them to grapple them. Dont get me wrong, its sweet and can keep people away from others whilst you bonus action dodge to make you hard to hit, but its kinda nonsense if you think about it. Edit: also RAW it doesnt work, the grapple breaks after the attacks are done and the reach goes back down anyway.
IMHO Tavern Brawler is massively overrated. 2 of the abilities are obviously useless on a monk (d4 attack die and improvised weapon proficiency as Monks are improvised weapons!), the rerolling of 1s only adds around 0.4 hp of damage to each attack which is tiny! The only good feature is a once per turn 5' push. It's an OK feat at best I'd much rather tough on a monk than Tavern Brawler.
@@dabeef2112 Agreed. I was trying to decide whether I felt like expressing this when I saw your comment. I definitely wouldn't bother with Tavern Brawler. There are far better feats for any Monk.
Love the flavor of the fest but I don't see it really being that useful. Should have at least let you reroll the improvised weapons rolls and let you do the 5 foot push too.
The push gets exponentially better when you already have pushes to add it to. The rerolling ones.... At later levels when you can make 5 unarmed strikes it's something like +2.5 damage all together which yeah not amazing.
The DM of our Thursday night game went to Gencon and was able to get a copy of the 2024 Players Handbook. Last Thursday, he upgraded our characters and we played the 2024 versions. My 2024 Warrior of Shadow is so much more powerful and cool than it was as a 2014 Way of Shadow Monk. And I don't even miss spamming stunning strike, which was unexpected. Yes, Monty has to play an elemental monk. Also, it's nearly required that you guys revisit the party of all one character class videos. Revisit the all monk party, with one of each subclass, or one of each and two of the Mercy Monk. Yes, I may be borrowing a copyrighted name, but I'm going to go ahead and call a party made up of all 2024 monks the A-Team 😁. Keep the dice rolling, guys
I like the idea Monty playing a warrior of the serpent. Let's call him Monty's, Python. 😮😅😂 He has a thing for pragramming language and parody plays and sometimes goes full monty. 😮😉🙃🤪😁
I think the Elements monk combo works. The 'Grappling' entry doesn't mention a range but says it follows the rules of how it was initiated and refers to 'Unarmed Strike'. That entry specifies a grapple with an unarmed strike with is 'within 5 feet', and since the Elements ability is saying your reach an 'Unarmed Strike' is '10 feet greater than normal' that would mean you have 15 ft grapples. On top of that, you didn't mention at level 3 Elements monk also has the ability to force a saving throw to push/pull the target 10 feet, which is not limited to once per turn so you can try it on every Unarmed Strike. So if the enemy is up in your face you can push them 10 ft away and still be able grapple/attack them. If they are grappled and don't have the reach, they have to use up their action (so potentially doing nothing) to break the grapple to move toward you, but you can rinse repeat next turn.
A grapple is not a strike. While there are rules allowing a grapple at the same time as a strike does the grapple part gain the extended range? Does a grapple on its own count as an unarmed attack? Probably. Does holding a grapple count as an unarmed attack? It doesn’t require an attack action. Clarification needed!
@@0pjgarner grappling and shoving are now things you can do as part of an unarmed strike in the new rules, as well as attacking for damage. So things such as the grappler feat allow you to use both the grapple and damge parts of an unarmed strike in one attack
@@bominfoodgaming7703Simic hybrid and thri-kreen are interesting options too for extra grappling. My choice will be a loxodon born into a circus (I IRL joined a youth circus at the age of 7) with rather large flappy ears and a mouse friend/mentor, if you catch my drift. 🤔🤪🤣🤣🤣😉
Great video, love this! My 13 year old daughter and her friends are getting into D&D and asked me to DM their campaign. I used. to play in High School, and I've ran a few sessions with them, it's gone great, but I'm still shaky on combat encounters. It would be amazing if you did a video on how new players should properly run combat encounters, while keeping the game play moving when no one really knows the mechanics. Maybe record some encounter examples between different classes and different monsters, starting with simple and going more complex. Maybe create a video series on this. Love your channel!
Open Hand Monk has changed drastically. The alterations to the core class means that OHM is drastically more powerful with its abilities to add even more effects to its FOB and bonus actions. It also gains the ability to help position allies during combat and the final subclass capstone is huge consistent burst damage. The difference is that the OHM doesn't get huge mechanical changes in it's own text like the Shadow Monk or Elements Monk. But by comparison, the Mercy Monk has been flat out nerfed, with it's critical 11th level ability reduced to only a few uses per rest instead of every single turn with the use of a Focus/Ki point.
I love the many improvements to the monk class and subclasses. Shadow monk is looking reeeeally nice, lots of teleports and free flurry of blows Elements might be my favorite, we finally get to play as the avatar
I think the grapple range works. Giant octopus and other creatures grapple with reach. This has just been the first time grapple is tied with unarmed strikes and unarmed strikes have an extended range. I could see a DM not allowing it but rules as written it is true
The grapple at range works, what I think most dms will (rightly) balk at is the idea that the person grappled can't hit you back, you have to be grappling them somehow, so there must be some part of you attached to them that they can attack.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure for unarmed strike you only make an attack roll if you are choosing the damage option, the Grapple or Shove option are JUST the saving throw. Besides the Grappler Feat letting you make the free Grapple once per turn when you hit on your Action
I still maintain that the base class was fine and it was the subclasses that needed work, but I won't complain about the base class getting buffed. Edit: Bugbears natural have 10 foot reach. Meaning an Elements Monk Bugbear can have a 20 foot reach. Edit Edit: I'd have to read the actual book to see the exact word-for-word wording, but it sounds like the grapple thing works.
Yes, when you succeed on a grapple within the enhanced range you have them at your mercy to do what you want with the target. I might do a Fighter/ Monk build Get that 3rd attack as the fighter. Then dump the rest of the levels in monk.
I am stupidly excited to play a monk, specifically a Shadow Monk. Being an 80's kid when ninja movies were all the rage, I can finally feel happy about living out my ninja character fantasy at the table. The movie American Ninja influenced me to start training in martial arts, including Ninjutsu, and if course the TMNT's kept the dream alive in my teens. I've never played monk in any edition of DnD, and so for the first time I'm genuinely excited to finally do so. EDIT: Monty should play a monk 😊
I think the best change to the monk is how its martial arts works. The bonus action attack can go first and you don't have to use the attack action. During playtest, I used thorn whip to pull an enemy towards my character then attacked with the martial arts to stun them. Really fluid and cool
Monks are the best at using daggers now, since they upgrade the damage dice. Take a level in Fighter or Rogue for Weapon Mastery and they can use nick to have their bonus action free for anything else
Dagger would indeed be great for monk. On a gestalt campaign a soul knife/open hand would be pretty cool. Mercy or long death seems thematic for phantom rogue but arcane trickster could also work interestingly with either open hand or shadows. Open hand has a hidden dash with cunning action hide at monk 11. Hmm maybe playing a goblin monk monk will be fun. 🤔😉🤣🤫😁
Regarding the grappling tendrils and the elements monk, it might be similar to what happened to the Dual Wielder feat, which does not apply to the Soul Knife, for instance, although I’d need to read the new rules. However, the 2024 looks really nice! Great video, thank you, Dudes!
Your unarmed strike range is increased by 10 ft- works When you make an unarmed strike its range is increaaed by 10 ft- grapple immediately breaks as the range returns to 5 ft when not actively making an attack (if it even works in the first place- the grapple rule specifies you need a hand free to do so, which the extendes range does not use hands
Deflect missile becoming deflect attack is a pretty huge you missed - works on any S/P/B attack, spend a point to send it back (although saving throw rather than an attack roll for the target) - Upgrades to work against energy at higher level Uncanny metabolism is also a self heal
I feel like what the Open Hand needs is a rough equivalent to fighting styles, that give them a choice of a thematic set of improvements to their unarmed attacks but also a thematic buff to reinforce using their style. Say for instance: Choose the Unarmed Style "Keen Touch", granting A) Their unarmed attacks can deal slashing damage, B) Increase to their crit range by 1, and C) Regain 1 Focus whenever they successfully crit with an unarmed attack. Gives us an Open Hand monk with all kinds of fun martial arts tropes packed into it. They could also get the option to upgrade or diversify their style multiple at later subclass levels, but just scaling up the one choice works too. Oh well... at least us homebrewera wont be put out of work anytime soon.
I’ve ignored most of these videos because I want to move away from Hasbro & maybe into DC20. But I watched this one because I wanted to see monks get some love. They phenomenal in Baldur’s Gate.
I already built my first Monk using the 2024 rules. He's a human Arcane Hand Monk in a Drakkenheim campaign. I gave him Tavern Brawler and Magic Initiate to get Booming Blade (I call it Thunder Fist) and I'm going to give his the Athlete, Grappler, Fey Touched and War Caster feats.
You should have mentioned that DEFLECT MISSILE became DEFLECT ATTACK. Now, once per round, the monk can reduce ANY hit's damage by 1d10+monk level+Dex Mod - for free - no focus point for this. That's huge - it's like having tons more Hit Points. Sure, one can use a point to return some damage, but that's usually feeble compared to using the point elsewhere. Sadly, the open hand option to deprive an opponent of their reactions (no save) is now limited to depriving them only of attacks of opportunity with ADDLE. They can still do other reactions now, and some of those might be quite powerful.
I'm with you Kelly, shadow monk was always one of my favorite themes. So I'm really happy it made it into the 2024 version. Same goes for the shadow sorcerer, which didn't make the cut, but I'm going to play it anyway 😂.
I wanted to play a very mobile magical trapper style character that could fly without casting a spell or using an item. And that they between using traps would do unarmed strikes. Reflavoring a polearm for unarmed attacks and using polearm master and sentinel feats on an Eldritch Knight was the closest I got. 2024 Elements monk with the grappler feat means way more options for ASI's and feat choices. I can actually max out dexterity and not worry about losing out on feats.
12:50 If you use the bugbear as your species, with a reach weapon, and go elemental monk, you would have a MELEE range of 20ft. Assuming i didn't miss a rule about reach stacking.
You would be correct, because they don't make it a new range but instead increase the range. So that plan is correct. Same reason why bugbears with polearms are crazy strong.
@@woutvanostaden1299 Given that your grapple is now tied directly to unarmed strikes and the rules stating it not exceeding the grapple range, that seems to imply that it would be based on the range of your unarmed strikes.
I don't think that is how it works. The bugbear long arms give you a reach of 10 feet when you make an attack with a melee weapon. A Pole arm gives you a reach of 10'. Both of these only add an extra 5 feet of reach to what you already have as a base. You don't add the length of your weapon to your base reach, a polearm just increases that base reach. So, You don't stack the reach of the polearm onto your normal 5" to get 15, you just get 10. In the same way, you wouldn't stack the full 10" on your reach as a bugbear. You would only add the extra 5" of reach from "Long arms" to the polearm and get 15. Don't even get me started on Bugbear Monks and trying to decide if unarmed strikes are melee weapon attacks. RAW, PHB 2014 says no. PHB 2024 may have corrected that but I still don't see the specific wording that would allow it. They will need to fid it in the Species abilities if/when they re-write the Bugbear.
It sounds like you can reach to 15 feet and grapple because it extends your reach. It would be flavored as the elemental energies are grappling you. If they included a line in that paragraph that states your 15ft reach ended at the end of your turn, or after the strike, or it didn't apply to grapples, then it wouldn't work. As a DM, I would let the player use this until I deemed it to be encounter ending consistently. Its very powerful and adding the right feats would make it very strong for sure. The issue that I see coming up is you can grapple two creatures at a time and potentially just run them through damage fields ie: Spike Growth, cloud of daggers, and other environmental sources or magical spells. Monks got a great buff and I love it. I personally want to play the Warrior of the Elements Monk!
I want to play a bugbear elemental monk. With a 20 foot elemental attack, you're basically a ranged monk. And that's before even adding the extra 2d6 of damage to every attack in the first round of combat. Eventually that reaches a potential 10d6 if you get lucky. One other thing to note is that although a lot of people think the change to stunning strike is a nerf, I actually think it's an improvement. I personally think an unreliable stun is actually less powerful than a reliable slow. And you still stun them once in a while too. With your monk speed, you can slow them, disengage as a bonus action for free, then move farther from them than they can reach you even if they dash. Overall I'm happy with the monk changes. The only thing I don't like is how Tavern Brawler and Grappler are almost mandatory for a monk now. You have a choice between taking Tavern Brawler at Level 1 and Grappler at Level 4, or playing a less optimized monk.
My first thought I had when I saw the lack of weapon mastery was that they'll probably add it to Kensei monk when it gets republished, seems natural since its the weapon focused monk of the subclasses. On the other hand I'm so happy that Master of the Elements got buffed, I really liked that thematic!
Late to this video but had to comment, if you land your stunning strike you can grapple on your second attack and it now auto-succeeds because of grapples being changed to a saving throw (which a stunned target auto fails dex and str saving throws). This means you can flurry of blows your remaining attacks that round at advantage (stun) and all your attacks the following round are at avantage too (grapple) because they can't escape the grapple as attempting it requires taking an action but they are stunned!
Im stoked to play a Monk. Especially after you guys pointed out Elements monk is basically sun soul, astral self, and 4 elements fused but better plus flight. That's O.D.
This is the most exciting thing in the 5.24 update. The new monk is a massive quality of life improvement that the monk desperately needed. Im surprised the video is only 20 minutes.
Rules as written, from what I just heard. It sounds like your reach is only 15 during the attack phase of your turn which is a small part, you can grapple but the grapple turns off at the end of your turn, at the latest. Also gllomsyalker bugbear go hard with that I think to give closer to 25ft reach of martial attack. And to tac spores onto those from druid 2; I mean, an additional d4 is a d4. And rogue sneak attack with adv all combines for a lot of damage per hit.
Just finished playing a campaign as an astral self monk with 5e rules, and I thought I was OP then. Astral self monks can see in magical darkeness, I had darkness tattoo so magical darkness would follow me and cover 10’ away from me. I had grappler and crusher feats. 20 wisdom, astral self makes your wisdom = strength. So I was grappling enemies 10’ away, in darkness, always had advantage, and unless it was an aoe spell, spells couldn’t target me and attacks against me always had disadvantage. I also had a reduce/enlarge spell tattoo. My lvl 11 monk solo’d an Adult Blue Dracolich while my party took care of the mobs.
Also as a grappler, you are playing chess each fight. With monk speed I was always controlling the fight. Bring fast enemies to your tank, away from your squishy party members. Move a downed ally to your healer. Endless environmental kill possibilities as well.
I think of the legacy subclasses long death is going to come out extremely strong. Their boosts to damage output and massively increased damage reduction means theyll be getting their temp hp way more often and that itll go much farther, and the fact that all general feats are going to give them an opportunity to boost their stats their wisdom is gonna be higher so the temp hp theyre getting is gonna be a larger amount too
Monk is my favourite class, although I still consider myself a new player since I’ve only played a few games. I got into DnD over Covid, awesome game. The one thing I found with Monks is that they don’t cater to the pure Wong Fei Hung/Ip Man -type martial artist expert. I picture them as blocking and counter-attacking, multiple hits. I get this might come across in the flavor of your opponent rolls to hit and misses, then you roll and hit, and so that is translated as monk blocks and kicks or punches. But I would love a mechanic where you either soend points to give opponents disadvantage to hit or perhaps spend points for reaction. Either way this in mind I think this is what Open Hand Monks should be, that block/counter-attack master martial artist. Just my thoughts.
Working on a grappler monk that uses a level of Barbarian to get rage. What are the downsides of pouring all ability points into strength and constitution? The new monk means you can choose to use Dex or Strength as a modifier. What am I missing?
I'm asking this for like the 10th time,but I'm genuinely interested for the 5e spell ranking list. So far it's only 1st levels,but I thought you guys wanted to do all the levels...I REALLY enjoyed the videos,so I hope that there'll be more...
For the record, Damage, Grapple and Shove are all separate options for the Unarmed Strike action. Each one has their own "contest". The rules state, ""Whenever you use your Unarmed Strike, choose one of the following options for its effect. Damage. You make an attack roll against the target. Your bonus to the roll equals your Strength modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1 plus your Strength modifier. Grapple. The target must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or it has the Grappled condition. The DC for the saving throw and any escape attempts equals 8 plus your Strength modifier and Proficiency Bonus. This grapple is possible only if the target is no more than one size larger than you and if you have a hand free to grab it. Shove. The target must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or you either push it 5 feet away or cause it to have the Prone condition. The DC for the saving throw equals 8 plus your Strength modifier and Proficiency Bonus. This shove is possible only if the target is no more than one size larger than you."" See how the "make an attack roll" is part of the damage option? That means that if you want to Grapple, you do NOT have to hit them first. Beating their AC and then having them beat your grapple would suck. Also, If you had to land a hit before applying any of the Unarmed strike options, you would have to land the hit twice to do damage. I know a lot of the focus in the comments have been about the whole ranged grapple thing but I felt it was necessary to clarify this in case anyone is researching the basics of unarmed strike with this video.
I’ve been debating on my first PC to be either a sorc or monk. I’ve come to the same conclusion of tavern brawler, crusher and a grappler. I did not however think of the 15 ft range grapple, I think Crawford will have a word on this in the future
Monty should DEFINITELY play a monk. This version is so cool! I can't wait until I'm no longer a forever DM this will definitely be my first build. Drunken bar fighting dwarf who breathes fire and flies here we come
12:33 RAW reads: “When you make an Unarmed Strike, your reach is 10 feet greater than normal, as elemental energy extends from you.” Now, I may be misunderstanding, but the way I understand this is as a 15’ range. 10’ greater than normal => 10’ + normal => 15’.
You grapple with an unarmed strike and the unarmed strike has 15' range, so yeah...you can grapple at 15' (or 20' if you're a bigbear), which is awesome! Looking forward to playing the new Monk. It DEFINITELY wins the most improved class award.
Oh man, I have a Shadow Monk /Swashbuckler Rogue multiclass I've been holding, waiting for the right campaign. New Shadow Monk makes it sound even better
TBH, I’m still kinda temped by Open Hand. Their ability to step of the wind for free every turn actually seems really fun. Grapple gives monks a ton of control over enemy positioning, and step of the wind eventually allows them to carry friendlies. Seems like a great character for ferrying friends and foes exactly where your team wants them, without sacrificing damage.
I think that OHM/moon druid will be hilarious. Same bonus action that you wildshape you can dash as well. And druid gets lots of great spells for monk.
So if I've heard that all correctly...an elements monk can grapple somebody from the air, then move them with them at no extra cost due to the grappler feat higher up...then drop them after elemental punching them some more?
I think the elemental monk can't keep someone grappled 15 ft away because the elemental attunement feature says that WHEN YOU MAKE an unarmed attack the range is increased and the grappled condition ends if the creature is beyond the reach of the grapple. So after you're done making the attack, your reach returns to 5ft. Still wanna play a monk tho.
@@54Dcool Yes i know. If it would be worded that monk has 15 feet reach, it would work. But when it is +10 feet when you make unarmed strike. It means that it change from 5 feet to 15 feet and back to 5 feet. So it works diffrently.
@@haukionkannel Exactly if it said "your unarmed strikes have a reach of 15 ft" then your AoO reach is 15 ft and you can keep a creature grappled at 15 ft. If it says "when you make an unarmed strike your reach increases to 15 ft" then your AoO reach is 5 ft, and your grapples end if the creature is more than 5ft away from you when you stop attacking it.
We had a similar debate about the extended range of a grapple with eldritch claw tattoo. I argued that the inky tendrils dissipate between attacks, so you can’t keep grappling the target
Four elements sounds great. It also sounds like I would need to really read the hell out of it before playing, as it is just so different now. I've wanted to play a monk and this is the way I will go for my next character.
Monk Idea: Founder of the Dojo of Elements. Kicked out of the Open Hand school for using elemental ki instead of raw physical prowess, this monk travels the land doing quests for founding money and to impress future students and followers. His goal is to hone his technique and then visit and beat each of his peer rivals from the other monk schools and then use his riches and reputation to found his own Dojo.
I’ve had a monk character prepped for a while that I’m going to be using in my next campaign, and I can say I’m a huge fan of these buffs. And that’s on top of other things around that character that have also been buffed like Dragonborns or new crafting rules.
Sounds like the new 4 elements monk will be ideally suited to a build concept that's been hard to set up effectively in 5e but still worth it thanks to the asymmetry in action economy for escaping a grapple: the speed to fall damage converter. When a creature takes fall damage it automatically lands prone, so a grappler PC that flies or has a good jump can lock down a single target very effectively. I had some luck with a Simic Hybrid Glory Paladin build but this could be way more busted. Imagine grappling an enemy, flying them up to drop them so they land prone, then attacking them with advantage and re-grappling. Lather, rinse, repeat.
18:30 As a DM, sounds like that's how it works. I'm guessing the idea is that you can flavor it as your elemental earth to grapple something to the ground or freeze it in place with elemental ice and water.
I feel like (unless it's worded differently in your PDF files) Elements monk has an INCREASED range by 10ft (It doesn't state a 10ft range, but rather increased by 10ft.). Which would make me think you could reach anything w/ 2 squares in between you. Isn't base range considered 5 ft? As far as 'holding' the grapple, I don't believe that's possible. Your range is only increased 'When you make an Unarmed Strike'. Thus you would be forced to end a grapple unless you move into a realistic range to maintain a grapple. (This is all my personal understanding)
In the 2024 rules, a grapple breaks "if the distance between the Grappled target and the grappler exceeds the grapple’s range." As far as we can tell, that range is determined when the attack is made.
@@DungeonDudes INTERESTING! Will be good to see if that gets clarified in that case. Seems like an oversight... But I'm 100% down w/ my Elven Accuracy Grappling Flying monk 😀
@@DungeonDudes Also.. I said all of this in the first half of the video... SO I'm laughing here at the end as both points were circled back on ^_^. LOL!
I'm so incredibly excited to play a grappling monk tentacle monster (plasmoid). WotC F**ked over the Ranger, but at least the Monk is fun now. I never cared for Rangers anyway, so it's a pure win in my book.
In this discussion about grapple, I would, in my tables, say that it does not work. Since the elemental cantrips do a lot more and still cannot restrain the target, I would say that you got an instant blow of elemental energy and that is it. To grapple you would need to actually touch yor target, with your hands,
But the reach doesn't go back to normal as there's no "on your turn" part of the text. Technically you could opportunity attack with an unarmed strike so would you get the reach then?
@@20storiesunderI've rewatched the episode and edited my response. The range of the grapple heavily depends on the length of time of the elemental attunement ability. I think you can grapple on a reaction, but the react triggers when they move outside of your reach.
I really like MOST of elements monk, but the elemental blast feature is undertuned. The damage should have been 'roll martial arts dice equal to your proficiency bonus' and THAT would have given it scaling good enough to be worth using after like level 10.
Hearing all these changes over the last few weeks, not just the monk changes but others too, I really feel there’s a lot of open ended potential. For example these grapple changes… strength or dex saving throws instead of athletics or acrobatics? That’s either a maybe slightly good change that makes grapples more interesting, or an absolutely terrible change that renders grappling totally ineffectual and worthless to even try. It all depends on what’s in the new Monster Manual, if they lowered monster’s often ridiculously high, sometimes to the point of being unfailable, saving throws. Because if they didn’t then forget your grappling dreams because they will work so rarely you might not ever have a successful grapple. Unless it’s monsters trying to grapple your characters with their equally high DCs.
The 1/turn making stun-locking bosses harder is 100% worth all the other improvements. So excited to play/DM a monk, especially on a battle mat where you can really maximize the mobility
Monk with Tavern Brawler and Grappler feat, i can't wait for all the baki like charactersXD I also can't wait to finally play this monk, i really love the deflect attacks feature and the fact that you get so many focus points back, basically uncanny metabolism is just a 3rd short rest basically, is just so damn awesome, i just wanna play already, all i need are people to play withXD
@@The_RealWilliam you still get to reroll If you roll 1 on your DMG Roll and get proficiency with improvised weapons, besides, the DMG is a d4 whereas your unarmed strikes AS a Monk already Deal a d6 at lvl 1, and you can Attack twice already
This *is* the Monk we are looking for. And the one we deserve ;).
100% agreed! Love monks and now I can FINALLY play one the way it should have been all along
you finally get to build an elements monk that wont automatically be tier 2 or 3!
Only two weeks till I play mine!
Hear hear!
Colby, I love that you've made basically the same comment on pretty much every Monk video. You deserve this.
If they were to republish Kensei monk, that should be the subclass to have Weapon Mastery baked in. That’s how I’m ruling it with my homebrew.
Especially since Way of Mercy got so little changes and Kensei could have gotten a lot of fleshing out.
I'm pretty sure that exactly what they are going to do.
This.
yes.
Them and swords bard although swords bard with weapon mastery and access to Conjure Minor Elementals is going to be insane.
@@XanderHarris1023 One level of Fighter is enough to make this insanity real :P
Monty this is taken from an article on D&D Beyond. The answer is yes it works!
Reach Out and Grab 'Em
If you're looking to spice things up, the new Grappler feat combines exceptionally well with the Warrior of the Elements' extended reach and the 2024 Monk's ability to grapple using Dexterity. With the Grappler feat, you can attempt to grapple a creature you hit as part of the same Attack action you use to make an Unarmed Strike.
Seeing as being Grappled reduces a creature's Speed to 0, you can easily hold them out of reach and wail on them with your elemental strikes, which you'll now get Advantage on thanks to Grappler.
On top of being a mechanically powerful ability, this adds to the power fantasy of wielding the elements against your foes. You can flavor your grapples to be temporary ice chunks that hold your foes in place or swirls of air that catch your enemies and prevent them from moving.
Awesome! Thanks for this!
Sounds like fun 😄 Can a 2024 grapplin' bendermonk drag their target around while keeping them at 15ft reach?
@@VanBurenPhilips The article doesn't say but it does confirm that they can at least hold them in place at reach.
Be careful about assuming those articles provide accurate representations of the rules as written. In my experience, they often provide poor, sketchy, and inaccurate info.
Obviously, I don't have the PHB2024, so I'm not arguing either way. I suspect, though, that a careful reading might prevent grappling at range.
And Grappler also lets you drag the target around at your normal speed. I can't see any reason why this couldn't be your fly speed once you have it. So if they escape the grapple, they take falling damage.
A monks ability to stun-lock a boss is reduced. However, their ability to simply pummel the boss to death is greatly increased.
a much better world to live in honestly
which is all we were asking for all along. still would have liked an ability to add wis mod to unarmed damage at level 11 ish but eh its still great
Its was a save or suck effect, now its so much better
@@kuroshinigami9143 there may be magic items for that in the dmg
@kuroshinigami9143 couldn't you just take druid initiate and pick shillilagh?
Monty having a full on moment as his beautiful and finely honed dnd mind breaks- in real time, over the elemental monk sparks a certain kind of joy. And it might just be the most glowing endorsement of the 2024 phb.
One argument that can be made for the Open Hand monk is that since the augmentations to their Flurry of Blows already allow you to push and knock enemies prone, you're free to take different feats or ASI's for your monk like Crusher, Lucky, or a Fighting Style or Weapon Mastery feat; which I'd personally do since taking a fighter dip means you don't get the +4 bonus to Dexterity and Wisdom if you reach level 20
Yeah, I was about to comment that. Open Hand is still a great subclass depending on the build.
Not everyone will dip Fighter or take Tavern Brawler. Alert is also a great Origin Feat for Monks.
I personally have never liked multiclassing anyway. And even more taking one or two level dips just feels incredibly cheap and poor spirit to me.
I mean I fully understand the potential mechanical benefits, and I’m not denying its strength potential. I’m just saying to me personally it kinda feels like cheating.
Being able to Flurry of Blows before taking the Attack Action is a huge buff to Open Hand monks. They've now got two attempts to knock an enemy prone and get advantage before unleashing their three attacks with light weapons (picking up Weapon Mastery of a Nick weapon through the 4th-level feat or a dip in Fighter/Ranger/Rogue)
You need the fighting style feature to pick a fighting style feat. Everything else works though.
I guess it is worth not dipping into fighter if you know the campaign will reach level 20, if that’s not the case just take the dip. You’ll get way more out of it and get benefits from it for the rest of the campaign
I am slightly disappointed Kensei didn't make it with Weapon Masteries baked into it, but besides that Monk is looking great. Can't wait to see how Elements looks.
I'm sure that when they release the kensei monk, it's going to have weapon mastery on it.
@@adriel8498 oh I agree, and in the meantime I'll for sure homebrew it in
@@agent00puffball I would just homebrew 1 Weapons mastery in for the Monk and Rogue. Makes no sense that they don't get it.
@@Koranthusexcept rogues do have weapon mastery and monks shouldn’t have them as they are made to focus on unarmed combat
@@thomasquesada7248The Way of the Kensei is the exception where monasteries specialize in channeling Ki energy through a weapon and using that weapon as an extension of your own body, be it a blade or bow.
Monk has gotten a nice boost thank god , great video as always Dungeon Dudes!
I think a big point for Open Hand Monk is that Grappler and Tavern Barwler's free grapples/pushes don't work on your Bonus Action, while Open Hand is all about adding those features to specifically your Flurry
Bingo, too many folks miss that it's general on "the attack action" for most other stuff.
@@CaptainPopcorn That's absolutely right!
Actually nothing on the new books says thats needs to be on your Attack action, because that you can now grapple as OppAttck@@20storiesunder
Ooo good one, they missed it it seems!
Nice! Monks are so good now ... and you can explore so many fun concepts with the new feats
You didn't even consider the real implication of the flying elemental monk grappler, you can just lift people helplessly off the ground! They can't hit you, and if they break out they fall to their death!
The elemental monk broke Monty. Lol. My group is planning our second big campaign tonight. My DM told us to make two characters to choose from. I only needed one. Warrior of elements stood out to me immediately. I have never had the desire to ever try the monk, but my god. It looks so fun.
I personally played an Open Hand monk with the new rules at level 20. While the subclass wasn't changed that much, the changes to the base class really stood out. Especially with level 10 giving three attacks with flurry of blows and that's basically what the entire level 3 feature is made it so much better. Not to mention the ability to always be dashing at level 11 and Quivering Palm is basically a smite now that you only have to give up an attack rather than your whole action.
Finally, I can play my Sonic inspired character without feeling like I come up short in terms of power compared to my teammates
"What kind of monk eats nothing but chili dogs?"
monk + speedy feat + epic boon of speed
go fast and never look back
Hell yeah, go fast and go hard
As a monk who had boots of speed with haste cast on him. Live the dream.
sonic oc in dnd is wild
Monty staring right into my soul whenever Kelly is talking really is something else😂
Loving the monk changes so far. I might make one that's boxer inspired in the future.
So good so far
this, using grappler and maybe tavern brawler is too good to pass up
Glad to see monks getting some love. Not only do I think Monty should play a monk. I think after Drakkenheim finishes Kelly should DM a campaign and Monty plays the monk so we can all witness it in real time.
I vote that the monk be called Python! Perhaps the warrior of the serpant subclass that they wrote. Also let the monk have a tendency to go full monty.
@@woutvanostaden1299 And his rival is a white Harengon Beast Barbarian.
@@Xecryo A white harengon that likes to run towards knights. 😁🤣🤣🤣😆😉
Ok, a fun thing with Open Fist monk is the number of conditions you can apply. With Tavern Brawler, Grappler, and a single flurry of blows punch, you can deal damage and grapple them (Tavern Brawler), stun them, AND knock them prone (Open Fist). They're not getting up because they're grappled, and they have disadvantage on all their attack rolls. Alternatively, with Tavern Brawler, you can push a creature up to 20 feet away
I bet Kelly and Monty are over the moon with joy reading the changes to the Monk!!! i wonder if Kelly will play a Monk in season 4 of Drakenheim?
Bonus action dash + elements fly speed + grappler = drag enemies into space, punch them and drop them. Crazy good!!
It's Seismic Toss from the Pokemon anime 😆
Using the 2024 Elements Subclass with 2014 monk/game and it still a huge improvement. My player was so happy because they know story and not mechanics.
That is a really good question not only for the elements Monk but for the astral self and any character that uses Eldritch claw tattoo.
I'm 5:20 into the video, and I already want to play a 2024 monk. I've never even considered taking a dip into monk, let alone play one, under the 2014 rules. This monk is what they should have been all along, truly. And glad we've finally gotten this version.
I've always loved playing monks. Honestly, they are my second favourite class. Don't give a shit that they had disadvantages compared to the other classes. Now it's going to be really cool. I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks for the great video and for sharing your enthusiasm. ❤❤❤
I think the reach issue with elemental monks falls in the same category as Bugbears with their increase reach. From what I found when I built a bugbear, the reach was only while making the attack, and so opportunity attacks and the like at 10ft were not triggered, because their actually reach was still 5ft. I am curious though if a bugbear elemental monk stacks that reach, because that would be crazy.
The language used is different. Bugbear specifies it only works on their turn.
Magic Initiate Druid & Magic Initiate Wizard for Control Flames, Gust, Shape Water, & Mold Earth. Then with Elementalism, you finally have all the elements.
Coupled with two free casting of Absorb Elements.
Or more tempting for Blade Ward or Resistance. If Monk's Diamond Soul is still around, they'll have Proficiency in CON Saves eventually.
Blade ward would be a good pick. Especially since you can cast bladeward and still attack with your BA.
was waiting for this video!! monks are so much better now I needed this. glad to see you guys like it too
8:30 A save to resist the initial grapple and an ability check to get out of a grapple makes sense. Saves are to nullify or reduce the incoming effects made towards you, while Checks are for active actions you the creature are making to succeed at a goal. This makes sense to me, and this ruling helps clear that better for newer players to know what the difference between a check and a save is
They said that you need to hit, I dont think so, you attack and forces the grapple
@andrecosta8680 That's coming from one of the feats, it allows you to force the saving throw after you hit with an unarmed strike rather than giving up your attack to do it.
HELL YEAH, MONKS ARE AWESOME! AND WE DESERVE IT AFTER ALL THAT BULLSHIT!
By the way, you might be wrong on Crusher actually, since the Monks don't have magical strikes anymore and instead change their damage type to Force rather than bludgeoning. Even less worth it if you're going Elements, since that one is specifically about changing your damage to elemental.
Speaking on that, unless the wording changed from before the range is increased BY 10 feet, not TO 10 feet, so your range is actually 15. Also grapples still work on that. And with the eventual fly speed you can drag them high and drop them. Astral Self was already one of my favorite subclasses and this is just a straight upgrade, I love it so much-
(Oh I paused the video just before you corrected this lmao)
Imagen someone casts spike growth on a verticle surface, that'll make drag n drop even more fun.
I'm just glad to hear monks got the buff they really needed and deserved.
I dont know about other dms but even if you have a 15ft reach, youre going to need to explain to me how an enemy youre grappling cant hit you with a melee attack, you literally have to be touching them to grapple them.
Dont get me wrong, its sweet and can keep people away from others whilst you bonus action dodge to make you hard to hit, but its kinda nonsense if you think about it.
Edit: also RAW it doesnt work, the grapple breaks after the attacks are done and the reach goes back down anyway.
IMHO Tavern Brawler is massively overrated. 2 of the abilities are obviously useless on a monk (d4 attack die and improvised weapon proficiency as Monks are improvised weapons!), the rerolling of 1s only adds around 0.4 hp of damage to each attack which is tiny! The only good feature is a once per turn 5' push. It's an OK feat at best I'd much rather tough on a monk than Tavern Brawler.
@@dabeef2112 Agreed. I was trying to decide whether I felt like expressing this when I saw your comment. I definitely wouldn't bother with Tavern Brawler. There are far better feats for any Monk.
Love the flavor of the fest but I don't see it really being that useful. Should have at least let you reroll the improvised weapons rolls and let you do the 5 foot push too.
The push gets exponentially better when you already have pushes to add it to.
The rerolling ones.... At later levels when you can make 5 unarmed strikes it's something like +2.5 damage all together which yeah not amazing.
@@20storiesunder I'd still rather the 20 HP that tough would get me at level 10.
@@dabeef2112 Oh absolutely, tough is the better feat for the monk I'd say, gives them a 1d10 hit die basically
The DM of our Thursday night game went to Gencon and was able to get a copy of the 2024 Players Handbook. Last Thursday, he upgraded our characters and we played the 2024 versions. My 2024 Warrior of Shadow is so much more powerful and cool than it was as a 2014 Way of Shadow Monk. And I don't even miss spamming stunning strike, which was unexpected. Yes, Monty has to play an elemental monk. Also, it's nearly required that you guys revisit the party of all one character class videos. Revisit the all monk party, with one of each subclass, or one of each and two of the Mercy Monk. Yes, I may be borrowing a copyrighted name, but I'm going to go ahead and call a party made up of all 2024 monks the A-Team 😁. Keep the dice rolling, guys
I like the idea Monty playing a warrior of the serpent. Let's call him Monty's, Python. 😮😅😂 He has a thing for pragramming language and parody plays and sometimes goes full monty. 😮😉🙃🤪😁
I think the Elements monk combo works. The 'Grappling' entry doesn't mention a range but says it follows the rules of how it was initiated and refers to 'Unarmed Strike'. That entry specifies a grapple with an unarmed strike with is 'within 5 feet', and since the Elements ability is saying your reach an 'Unarmed Strike' is '10 feet greater than normal' that would mean you have 15 ft grapples.
On top of that, you didn't mention at level 3 Elements monk also has the ability to force a saving throw to push/pull the target 10 feet, which is not limited to once per turn so you can try it on every Unarmed Strike. So if the enemy is up in your face you can push them 10 ft away and still be able grapple/attack them. If they are grappled and don't have the reach, they have to use up their action (so potentially doing nothing) to break the grapple to move toward you, but you can rinse repeat next turn.
new monk playstyle is gonna be grab as many targets as you can, fly up and drop them 💀
@@jaere17 im already thinking about that, gonna be playing an aaracokra monk for my next campaign
A grapple is not a strike. While there are rules allowing a grapple at the same time as a strike does the grapple part gain the extended range? Does a grapple on its own count as an unarmed attack? Probably. Does holding a grapple count as an unarmed attack? It doesn’t require an attack action. Clarification needed!
@@0pjgarner grappling and shoving are now things you can do as part of an unarmed strike in the new rules, as well as attacking for damage. So things such as the grappler feat allow you to use both the grapple and damge parts of an unarmed strike in one attack
@@bominfoodgaming7703Simic hybrid and thri-kreen are interesting options too for extra grappling. My choice will be a loxodon born into a circus (I IRL joined a youth circus at the age of 7) with rather large flappy ears and a mouse friend/mentor, if you catch my drift. 🤔🤪🤣🤣🤣😉
Great video, love this! My 13 year old daughter and her friends are getting into D&D and asked me to DM their campaign. I used. to play in High School, and I've ran a few sessions with them, it's gone great, but I'm still shaky on combat encounters.
It would be amazing if you did a video on how new players should properly run combat encounters, while keeping the game play moving when no one really knows the mechanics.
Maybe record some encounter examples between different classes and different monsters, starting with simple and going more complex. Maybe create a video series on this.
Love your channel!
Open Hand Monk has changed drastically. The alterations to the core class means that OHM is drastically more powerful with its abilities to add even more effects to its FOB and bonus actions. It also gains the ability to help position allies during combat and the final subclass capstone is huge consistent burst damage.
The difference is that the OHM doesn't get huge mechanical changes in it's own text like the Shadow Monk or Elements Monk. But by comparison, the Mercy Monk has been flat out nerfed, with it's critical 11th level ability reduced to only a few uses per rest instead of every single turn with the use of a Focus/Ki point.
I love the many improvements to the monk class and subclasses.
Shadow monk is looking reeeeally nice, lots of teleports and free flurry of blows
Elements might be my favorite, we finally get to play as the avatar
I think the grapple range works. Giant octopus and other creatures grapple with reach. This has just been the first time grapple is tied with unarmed strikes and unarmed strikes have an extended range. I could see a DM not allowing it but rules as written it is true
The grapple at range works, what I think most dms will (rightly) balk at is the idea that the person grappled can't hit you back, you have to be grappling them somehow, so there must be some part of you attached to them that they can attack.
@chrism6315 I didn’t even think about that. I wish that was clarified.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure for unarmed strike you only make an attack roll if you are choosing the damage option, the Grapple or Shove option are JUST the saving throw. Besides the Grappler Feat letting you make the free Grapple once per turn when you hit on your Action
I still maintain that the base class was fine and it was the subclasses that needed work, but I won't complain about the base class getting buffed.
Edit: Bugbears natural have 10 foot reach. Meaning an Elements Monk Bugbear can have a 20 foot reach.
Edit Edit: I'd have to read the actual book to see the exact word-for-word wording, but it sounds like the grapple thing works.
Great video and cool class update.
I'm looking forward to the ranger's video. I have a hunch their feedback and reactions will be priceless.
Yes, when you succeed on a grapple within the enhanced range you have them at your mercy to do what you want with the target. I might do a Fighter/ Monk build Get that 3rd attack as the fighter. Then dump the rest of the levels in monk.
I am stupidly excited to play a monk, specifically a Shadow Monk. Being an 80's kid when ninja movies were all the rage, I can finally feel happy about living out my ninja character fantasy at the table. The movie American Ninja influenced me to start training in martial arts, including Ninjutsu, and if course the TMNT's kept the dream alive in my teens. I've never played monk in any edition of DnD, and so for the first time I'm genuinely excited to finally do so.
EDIT: Monty should play a monk 😊
Thief Rogue is still closer to feeling like a proper ninja than Shadow Monk, imo.
I think the best change to the monk is how its martial arts works. The bonus action attack can go first and you don't have to use the attack action. During playtest, I used thorn whip to pull an enemy towards my character then attacked with the martial arts to stun them. Really fluid and cool
Monks are the best at using daggers now, since they upgrade the damage dice. Take a level in Fighter or Rogue for Weapon Mastery and they can use nick to have their bonus action free for anything else
Dagger would indeed be great for monk. On a gestalt campaign a soul knife/open hand would be pretty cool. Mercy or long death seems thematic for phantom rogue but arcane trickster could also work interestingly with either open hand or shadows. Open hand has a hidden dash with cunning action hide at monk 11.
Hmm maybe playing a goblin monk monk will be fun. 🤔😉🤣🤫😁
Regarding the grappling tendrils and the elements monk, it might be similar to what happened to the Dual Wielder feat, which does not apply to the Soul Knife, for instance, although I’d need to read the new rules. However, the 2024 looks really nice! Great video, thank you, Dudes!
Your unarmed strike range is increased by 10 ft- works
When you make an unarmed strike its range is increaaed by 10 ft- grapple immediately breaks as the range returns to 5 ft when not actively making an attack (if it even works in the first place- the grapple rule specifies you need a hand free to do so, which the extendes range does not use hands
Deflect missile becoming deflect attack is a pretty huge you missed - works on any S/P/B attack, spend a point to send it back (although saving throw rather than an attack roll for the target) - Upgrades to work against energy at higher level
Uncanny metabolism is also a self heal
I feel like what the Open Hand needs is a rough equivalent to fighting styles, that give them a choice of a thematic set of improvements to their unarmed attacks but also a thematic buff to reinforce using their style.
Say for instance:
Choose the Unarmed Style "Keen Touch", granting
A) Their unarmed attacks can deal slashing damage,
B) Increase to their crit range by 1, and
C) Regain 1 Focus whenever they successfully crit with an unarmed attack.
Gives us an Open Hand monk with all kinds of fun martial arts tropes packed into it. They could also get the option to upgrade or diversify their style multiple at later subclass levels, but just scaling up the one choice works too.
Oh well... at least us homebrewera wont be put out of work anytime soon.
I’ve ignored most of these videos because I want to move away from Hasbro & maybe into DC20. But I watched this one because I wanted to see monks get some love. They phenomenal in Baldur’s Gate.
The new rules are tending to the good.
I already built my first Monk using the 2024 rules. He's a human Arcane Hand Monk in a Drakkenheim campaign. I gave him Tavern Brawler and Magic Initiate to get Booming Blade (I call it Thunder Fist) and I'm going to give his the Athlete, Grappler, Fey Touched and War Caster feats.
Doesn't Booming Blade require a weapon?
@@RokuroCarisu yes it does. I found a homebrew item called hand wraps that my DM said I can use for that reason.
You should have mentioned that DEFLECT MISSILE became DEFLECT ATTACK. Now, once per round, the monk can reduce ANY hit's damage by 1d10+monk level+Dex Mod - for free - no focus point for this. That's huge - it's like having tons more Hit Points. Sure, one can use a point to return some damage, but that's usually feeble compared to using the point elsewhere.
Sadly, the open hand option to deprive an opponent of their reactions (no save) is now limited to depriving them only of attacks of opportunity with ADDLE. They can still do other reactions now, and some of those might be quite powerful.
I'm with you Kelly, shadow monk was always one of my favorite themes. So I'm really happy it made it into the 2024 version.
Same goes for the shadow sorcerer, which didn't make the cut, but I'm going to play it anyway 😂.
Thanks dudes! ❤
I wanted to play a very mobile magical trapper style character that could fly without casting a spell or using an item. And that they between using traps would do unarmed strikes. Reflavoring a polearm for unarmed attacks and using polearm master and sentinel feats on an Eldritch Knight was the closest I got. 2024 Elements monk with the grappler feat means way more options for ASI's and feat choices. I can actually max out dexterity and not worry about losing out on feats.
12:50 If you use the bugbear as your species, with a reach weapon, and go elemental monk, you would have a MELEE range of 20ft. Assuming i didn't miss a rule about reach stacking.
You would be correct, because they don't make it a new range but instead increase the range. So that plan is correct. Same reason why bugbears with polearms are crazy strong.
@@SkaalKesh That would be insane to go that now with both as a monk just smacking people across the room. XD
Would great if the wording (if I don't remember it wrongly) didn't say that the extended reach is for your unarmed punches.
@@woutvanostaden1299 Given that your grapple is now tied directly to unarmed strikes and the rules stating it not exceeding the grapple range, that seems to imply that it would be based on the range of your unarmed strikes.
I don't think that is how it works. The bugbear long arms give you a reach of 10 feet when you make an attack with a melee weapon. A Pole arm gives you a reach of 10'. Both of these only add an extra 5 feet of reach to what you already have as a base. You don't add the length of your weapon to your base reach, a polearm just increases that base reach. So, You don't stack the reach of the polearm onto your normal 5" to get 15, you just get 10. In the same way, you wouldn't stack the full 10" on your reach as a bugbear. You would only add the extra 5" of reach from "Long arms" to the polearm and get 15.
Don't even get me started on Bugbear Monks and trying to decide if unarmed strikes are melee weapon attacks. RAW, PHB 2014 says no. PHB 2024 may have corrected that but I still don't see the specific wording that would allow it. They will need to fid it in the Species abilities if/when they re-write the Bugbear.
It sounds like you can reach to 15 feet and grapple because it extends your reach. It would be flavored as the elemental energies are grappling you. If they included a line in that paragraph that states your 15ft reach ended at the end of your turn, or after the strike, or it didn't apply to grapples, then it wouldn't work. As a DM, I would let the player use this until I deemed it to be encounter ending consistently. Its very powerful and adding the right feats would make it very strong for sure. The issue that I see coming up is you can grapple two creatures at a time and potentially just run them through damage fields ie: Spike Growth, cloud of daggers, and other environmental sources or magical spells.
Monks got a great buff and I love it. I personally want to play the Warrior of the Elements Monk!
I want to play a bugbear elemental monk. With a 20 foot elemental attack, you're basically a ranged monk. And that's before even adding the extra 2d6 of damage to every attack in the first round of combat. Eventually that reaches a potential 10d6 if you get lucky.
One other thing to note is that although a lot of people think the change to stunning strike is a nerf, I actually think it's an improvement. I personally think an unreliable stun is actually less powerful than a reliable slow. And you still stun them once in a while too. With your monk speed, you can slow them, disengage as a bonus action for free, then move farther from them than they can reach you even if they dash.
Overall I'm happy with the monk changes. The only thing I don't like is how Tavern Brawler and Grappler are almost mandatory for a monk now. You have a choice between taking Tavern Brawler at Level 1 and Grappler at Level 4, or playing a less optimized monk.
My first thought I had when I saw the lack of weapon mastery was that they'll probably add it to Kensei monk when it gets republished, seems natural since its the weapon focused monk of the subclasses. On the other hand I'm so happy that Master of the Elements got buffed, I really liked that thematic!
Late to this video but had to comment, if you land your stunning strike you can grapple on your second attack and it now auto-succeeds because of grapples being changed to a saving throw (which a stunned target auto fails dex and str saving throws). This means you can flurry of blows your remaining attacks that round at advantage (stun) and all your attacks the following round are at avantage too (grapple) because they can't escape the grapple as attempting it requires taking an action but they are stunned!
That’s a really clever combo!
Im stoked to play a Monk. Especially after you guys pointed out Elements monk is basically sun soul, astral self, and 4 elements fused but better plus flight. That's O.D.
This is the most exciting thing in the 5.24 update. The new monk is a massive quality of life improvement that the monk desperately needed. Im surprised the video is only 20 minutes.
Rules as written, from what I just heard. It sounds like your reach is only 15 during the attack phase of your turn which is a small part, you can grapple but the grapple turns off at the end of your turn, at the latest. Also gllomsyalker bugbear go hard with that I think to give closer to 25ft reach of martial attack. And to tac spores onto those from druid 2; I mean, an additional d4 is a d4. And rogue sneak attack with adv all combines for a lot of damage per hit.
Just finished playing a campaign as an astral self monk with 5e rules, and I thought I was OP then. Astral self monks can see in magical darkeness, I had darkness tattoo so magical darkness would follow me and cover 10’ away from me. I had grappler and crusher feats. 20 wisdom, astral self makes your wisdom = strength. So I was grappling enemies 10’ away, in darkness, always had advantage, and unless it was an aoe spell, spells couldn’t target me and attacks against me always had disadvantage. I also had a reduce/enlarge spell tattoo. My lvl 11 monk solo’d an Adult Blue Dracolich while my party took care of the mobs.
Also as a grappler, you are playing chess each fight. With monk speed I was always controlling the fight. Bring fast enemies to your tank, away from your squishy party members. Move a downed ally to your healer. Endless environmental kill possibilities as well.
I think of the legacy subclasses long death is going to come out extremely strong. Their boosts to damage output and massively increased damage reduction means theyll be getting their temp hp way more often and that itll go much farther, and the fact that all general feats are going to give them an opportunity to boost their stats their wisdom is gonna be higher so the temp hp theyre getting is gonna be a larger amount too
Dhampir longdeath monk with an (undead/fiend) warlock dip. (Armor of agathys has been changed to work with any temp hp)
Monk is my favourite class, although I still consider myself a new player since I’ve only played a few games. I got into DnD over Covid, awesome game.
The one thing I found with Monks is that they don’t cater to the pure Wong Fei Hung/Ip Man -type martial artist expert. I picture them as blocking and counter-attacking, multiple hits. I get this might come across in the flavor of your opponent rolls to hit and misses, then you roll and hit, and so that is translated as monk blocks and kicks or punches. But I would love a mechanic where you either soend points to give opponents disadvantage to hit or perhaps spend points for reaction. Either way this in mind I think this is what Open Hand Monks should be, that block/counter-attack master martial artist. Just my thoughts.
Working on a grappler monk that uses a level of Barbarian to get rage.
What are the downsides of pouring all ability points into strength and constitution?
The new monk means you can choose to use Dex or Strength as a modifier. What am I missing?
I loved my PF 1e monk. Was really disappointed with the 5e version. Now it looks like it’s back to being playable.
Good changes.
I'm asking this for like the 10th time,but I'm genuinely interested for the 5e spell ranking list. So far it's only 1st levels,but I thought you guys wanted to do all the levels...I REALLY enjoyed the videos,so I hope that there'll be more...
We'll come back to those for sure, but it did turn out to be a MUCH more ambitious project than expected.
@@DungeonDudes Hey Dungeon Dudes,thank you for your answer! 🤞 I can totally work with that information and I can now enjoy the wait for the videos 💯
For the record, Damage, Grapple and Shove are all separate options for the Unarmed Strike action. Each one has their own "contest".
The rules state,
""Whenever you use your Unarmed Strike, choose one of the following options for its effect.
Damage. You make an attack roll against the target. Your bonus to the roll equals your Strength modifier plus your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1 plus your Strength modifier.
Grapple. The target must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or it has the Grappled condition. The DC for the saving throw and any escape attempts equals 8 plus your Strength modifier and Proficiency Bonus. This grapple is possible only if the target is no more than one size larger than you and if you have a hand free to grab it.
Shove. The target must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or you either push it 5 feet away or cause it to have the Prone condition. The DC for the saving throw equals 8 plus your Strength modifier and Proficiency Bonus. This shove is possible only if the target is no more than one size larger than you.""
See how the "make an attack roll" is part of the damage option? That means that if you want to Grapple, you do NOT have to hit them first. Beating their AC and then having them beat your grapple would suck. Also, If you had to land a hit before applying any of the Unarmed strike options, you would have to land the hit twice to do damage.
I know a lot of the focus in the comments have been about the whole ranged grapple thing but I felt it was necessary to clarify this in case anyone is researching the basics of unarmed strike with this video.
Oh I am DEFINITELY playing an elemental monk for my group’s next campaign! Those changes sound so good
What a glowing recommendation for the elemental monk!
Really makes me want to make one right now to pop into a future game
Excitedly waiting for my warlock class update video! 👀
I’ve been debating on my first PC to be either a sorc or monk. I’ve come to the same conclusion of tavern brawler, crusher and a grappler. I did not however think of the 15 ft range grapple, I think Crawford will have a word on this in the future
Monty should DEFINITELY play a monk. This version is so cool! I can't wait until I'm no longer a forever DM this will definitely be my first build. Drunken bar fighting dwarf who breathes fire and flies here we come
12:33 RAW reads: “When you make an Unarmed Strike, your reach is 10 feet greater than normal, as elemental energy extends from you.”
Now, I may be misunderstanding, but the way I understand this is as a 15’ range. 10’ greater than normal => 10’ + normal => 15’.
You grapple with an unarmed strike and the unarmed strike has 15' range, so yeah...you can grapple at 15' (or 20' if you're a bigbear), which is awesome!
Looking forward to playing the new Monk. It DEFINITELY wins the most improved class award.
Oh man, I have a Shadow Monk /Swashbuckler Rogue multiclass I've been holding, waiting for the right campaign. New Shadow Monk makes it sound even better
TBH, I’m still kinda temped by Open Hand. Their ability to step of the wind for free every turn actually seems really fun. Grapple gives monks a ton of control over enemy positioning, and step of the wind eventually allows them to carry friendlies. Seems like a great character for ferrying friends and foes exactly where your team wants them, without sacrificing damage.
I think that OHM/moon druid will be hilarious. Same bonus action that you wildshape you can dash as well. And druid gets lots of great spells for monk.
So if I've heard that all correctly...an elements monk can grapple somebody from the air, then move them with them at no extra cost due to the grappler feat higher up...then drop them after elemental punching them some more?
why stun when you can drop people from like 60ft+ in the air on every turn for free
Hwo do you move a grappled creature without moving yourself? I don't think there are rules for it.
I think the elemental monk can't keep someone grappled 15 ft away because the elemental attunement feature says that WHEN YOU MAKE an unarmed attack the range is increased and the grappled condition ends if the creature is beyond the reach of the grapple. So after you're done making the attack, your reach returns to 5ft.
Still wanna play a monk tho.
You can pull the opponent to 5 feet, so if you do that the crable will hold!
But i agree that they can not do it while keeping enemy at 15feet!
@@haukionkannel But then that kinda negates the point of wanting to grapple them while they're at a distance
Would it count for you making an opportunity attack?
@@54Dcool
Yes i know. If it would be worded that monk has 15 feet reach, it would work.
But when it is +10 feet when you make unarmed strike. It means that it change from 5 feet to 15 feet and back to 5 feet. So it works diffrently.
@@haukionkannel Exactly if it said "your unarmed strikes have a reach of 15 ft" then your AoO reach is 15 ft and you can keep a creature grappled at 15 ft. If it says "when you make an unarmed strike your reach increases to 15 ft" then your AoO reach is 5 ft, and your grapples end if the creature is more than 5ft away from you when you stop attacking it.
We had a similar debate about the extended range of a grapple with eldritch claw tattoo. I argued that the inky tendrils dissipate between attacks, so you can’t keep grappling the target
Four elements sounds great. It also sounds like I would need to really read the hell out of it before playing, as it is just so different now. I've wanted to play a monk and this is the way I will go for my next character.
It's basically a new subclass.
Monk Idea: Founder of the Dojo of Elements. Kicked out of the Open Hand school for using elemental ki instead of raw physical prowess, this monk travels the land doing quests for founding money and to impress future students and followers. His goal is to hone his technique and then visit and beat each of his peer rivals from the other monk schools and then use his riches and reputation to found his own Dojo.
I’ve had a monk character prepped for a while that I’m going to be using in my next campaign, and I can say I’m a huge fan of these buffs. And that’s on top of other things around that character that have also been buffed like Dragonborns or new crafting rules.
Sounds like the new 4 elements monk will be ideally suited to a build concept that's been hard to set up effectively in 5e but still worth it thanks to the asymmetry in action economy for escaping a grapple: the speed to fall damage converter. When a creature takes fall damage it automatically lands prone, so a grappler PC that flies or has a good jump can lock down a single target very effectively. I had some luck with a Simic Hybrid Glory Paladin build but this could be way more busted. Imagine grappling an enemy, flying them up to drop them so they land prone, then attacking them with advantage and re-grappling. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Wow, we can actually play a monk now. Nice!
New ranger will be a godly dip for monk for hunter's mark and Nick.
Yep hunters mark was getting changed for good reasons even if everybody hated it and they had to revert it
18:30 As a DM, sounds like that's how it works. I'm guessing the idea is that you can flavor it as your elemental earth to grapple something to the ground or freeze it in place with elemental ice and water.
I feel like (unless it's worded differently in your PDF files) Elements monk has an INCREASED range by 10ft (It doesn't state a 10ft range, but rather increased by 10ft.). Which would make me think you could reach anything w/ 2 squares in between you. Isn't base range considered 5 ft?
As far as 'holding' the grapple, I don't believe that's possible. Your range is only increased 'When you make an Unarmed Strike'. Thus you would be forced to end a grapple unless you move into a realistic range to maintain a grapple.
(This is all my personal understanding)
In the 2024 rules, a grapple breaks "if the distance between the Grappled target and the grappler exceeds the grapple’s range."
As far as we can tell, that range is determined when the attack is made.
@@DungeonDudes INTERESTING! Will be good to see if that gets clarified in that case. Seems like an oversight... But I'm 100% down w/ my Elven Accuracy Grappling Flying monk 😀
@@DungeonDudes Also.. I said all of this in the first half of the video... SO I'm laughing here at the end as both points were circled back on ^_^. LOL!
Base melee range is 5ft so the elemental monk has a reach of 15ft with fisticuffs
I'm so incredibly excited to play a grappling monk tentacle monster (plasmoid).
WotC F**ked over the Ranger, but at least the Monk is fun now. I never cared for Rangers anyway, so it's a pure win in my book.
I'm going to be playing an arcane hand monk using the updated monk in my next campaign and I am so pumped!
In this discussion about grapple, I would, in my tables, say that it does not work.
Since the elemental cantrips do a lot more and still cannot restrain the target, I would say that you got an instant blow of elemental energy and that is it. To grapple you would need to actually touch yor target, with your hands,
There's nothing about the elemental cantrips, this is an unarmed strike with a range of 15ft.
I had a player use the 2024 Shadow Monk in a one-shot I did this past weekend at lvl 15, he had a lot of fun. He was pretty strong too.
Edited: range grapple work. Elemental attunement ability lasts for 10 minutes. The ability increases the range of your unarmed strikes by 10 feet.
But the reach doesn't go back to normal as there's no "on your turn" part of the text. Technically you could opportunity attack with an unarmed strike so would you get the reach then?
@@20storiesunderI've rewatched the episode and edited my response. The range of the grapple heavily depends on the length of time of the elemental attunement ability. I think you can grapple on a reaction, but the react triggers when they move outside of your reach.
@@20storiesunder I found an article claiming the elemental attunement lasts 10 minutes. So your reach is increased during that time.
@@randallgpreston Aye it's a bit vague about how long it lasts but if it's a out the attunement ability then that's preety versatile!
I really like MOST of elements monk, but the elemental blast feature is undertuned. The damage should have been 'roll martial arts dice equal to your proficiency bonus' and THAT would have given it scaling good enough to be worth using after like level 10.
Barbarian makes a great one level dip for rage + weapon masteries. Especially good if you rolled well and have any kind of STR bonus score
Hearing all these changes over the last few weeks, not just the monk changes but others too, I really feel there’s a lot of open ended potential.
For example these grapple changes… strength or dex saving throws instead of athletics or acrobatics? That’s either a maybe slightly good change that makes grapples more interesting, or an absolutely terrible change that renders grappling totally ineffectual and worthless to even try. It all depends on what’s in the new Monster Manual, if they lowered monster’s often ridiculously high, sometimes to the point of being unfailable, saving throws. Because if they didn’t then forget your grappling dreams because they will work so rarely you might not ever have a successful grapple. Unless it’s monsters trying to grapple your characters with their equally high DCs.
The 1/turn making stun-locking bosses harder is 100% worth all the other improvements. So excited to play/DM a monk, especially on a battle mat where you can really maximize the mobility
Monk with Tavern Brawler and Grappler feat, i can't wait for all the baki like charactersXD
I also can't wait to finally play this monk, i really love the deflect attacks feature and the fact that you get so many focus points back, basically uncanny metabolism is just a 3rd short rest basically, is just so damn awesome, i just wanna play already, all i need are people to play withXD
The only problem with Tavern is you can't use your Dex modifier for damage. So you are missing out on those pluses after each hit. 😢😢
@@The_RealWilliam you still get to reroll If you roll 1 on your DMG Roll and get proficiency with improvised weapons, besides, the DMG is a d4 whereas your unarmed strikes AS a Monk already Deal a d6 at lvl 1, and you can Attack twice already
@@gamepire5312 Yeah I get that but you are missing out on your Dex modifier damage for each strike.