Is Rasaad Going To Suck?
GoodSteve
Member Posts: 607
Having BGTuTu installed I'm able to roll up a monk in the first game and frankly level 1 monks are TERRIBLE! If Rasaad has an 18 strength and 18 dexterity with at least 16 Constitution he'll be at peak performance for a level 1 monk but he'll still totally suck. I seriously doubt that overhaul will give him these stats as it seems a little excessive but if they do he'll have a whopping 5 AC with 10 hit points and a THAC0 of 19 with his fists with 1 attack per round. He'll actually be worse at fighting than a level 1 thief with the same stats wearing studded leather armor (the thief would have 3 AC). I forsee Rasaad needing to be constantly babysat to make sure he doesn't die in just about every combat particularly since he will move faster than the other characters and thus close to melee faster having all enemies target him first.
What do you think overhaul is going to do to compensate for the weakness of the monk class at the lower levels? I'm hoping they will start him with a pair of bracers bringing his AC more in line with the rest of the NPC's. A friend of mine suggests giving him a sling and sitting him in the back but this is dependant on whether or not he'll have proficiency. Also, having a monk sitting in the backfield using a sling kind of defeats the purpose of the class, doesn't it? You could do the same with a thief but be able to backstab, or pick pocket, or do any number of useful thief abilities aswell. Does anyone else have any ideas of how to make Rasaad a useful addition to the group?
What do you think overhaul is going to do to compensate for the weakness of the monk class at the lower levels? I'm hoping they will start him with a pair of bracers bringing his AC more in line with the rest of the NPC's. A friend of mine suggests giving him a sling and sitting him in the back but this is dependant on whether or not he'll have proficiency. Also, having a monk sitting in the backfield using a sling kind of defeats the purpose of the class, doesn't it? You could do the same with a thief but be able to backstab, or pick pocket, or do any number of useful thief abilities aswell. Does anyone else have any ideas of how to make Rasaad a useful addition to the group?
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Or failing that, interesting dialogue?
@Tome
No, he will throughout BG1. Monks only really start to shine after level 13 or so.
He'll be 1 level shy of having his unarmed attacks counting as +1 for overcoming damage reduction. So things like Werewolves (the whole werewolf island will be brutal for Rasaad), or Vampiric wolves or any number of creatures immune to nonmagical weapons will be invulnerable to Rasaad. I guess he'll have to keep a magic longsword around to try and deal with these foes, but even then he'll be fighting like a gimped Thief.
Throw on a pair of bracers of AC or a ring of protection and he'll be fine. Just keep in mind BoAC do not stack with monks natural AC bonus.
That said, it's called game balance. Wizards only start with 4 HP, they die in 1 hit in most cases, but are powerful at later levels.
Here's what the new manual states re: monks:
Monk
Monks are warriors who pursue perfection through contemplation as well as action. They are versatile fighters, especially skilled in combat without weapons or armor. Though Monks cannot cast spells, they have a unique magic of their own. They channel a subtle energy called ki, which allows them to perform amazing feats. The Monk’s best known feat is the ability to stun an opponent with an unarmed blow.
Advantages:
Moves 2 points faster than normal. Movement rate further improves by 1 every 5 levels.
May make 1 unarmed attack per round. An additional 1/2 attack per round is gained every 3 levels.
Damage dealt by unarmed attacks increases with level as follows:
o Level 1-2: 1d6
o Level 3-5: 1d8
o Level 6-8: 1d10
o Level 9-14: 1d12
o Level 15+: 1d20
At level 9, the Monk’s fists are treated as a +1 magical weapon and gain a +1 bonus to hit and damage rolls. This enchantment improves to +2 at level 12, +3 at level 15, and +4 at level 20.
Receives a +2 bonus to save vs. spell.
Deflect Missiles: +1 bonus to AC vs. missile attacks every 3 levels.
3% magic resistance per level starting at 14th level (that is, 42% at 14th level).
Starts with an Armor Class of 9 at 1st level and gains an additional +1 bonus every 2 levels.
May use Stunning Blow ability once per day every 4 levels.
o STUNNING BLOW: All successful attacks within the next 6 seconds force the victim to save or be stunned. This special ability automatically modifies normal attacks; no targeting needs to be
done.
5th level: Becomes immune to all diseases and cannot be slowed or hasted.
7th level: May use Lay on Hands ability to heal 2 hit points per level.
8th level: Gains -1 to speed factor.
9th level: Gains a +1 bonus to all saving throws and becomes immune to charm.
11th level: Becomes immune to poison.
12th level: Gains another -1 to speed factor.
13th level: May use the Quivering Palm ability once per day.
o QUIVERING PALM: The next successful unarmed attack forces the opponent to save or die. This special ability automatically modifies normal attacks; no targeting needs to be done.
20th level: Becomes immune to non-magical weapons.
Hit Die: d8
Disadvantages:
May not wear any armor.
May only use weapons available to the Thief class (except twohanded).
Interestingly and humorously, in all those snippets of action from the new trailer, watch Rasaad's portrait. He goes red, red, red down to about one hit point in every shot, while the other character portraits of normally-powered characters stay mostly untouched.
I think that any party with Rasaad is going to have to get used to him dying a lot, and carrying his body around and raising him, unless he is made to run from pretty much every battle. And, the lack of any magical attacks for the whole game makes the problem even worse.
I'm sorry, I hate to be all Xan about this, but the new npc's are not the reason I support this project.
There you have my two cents, which I have expressed several times in other threads, so, I don't want to argue about it with anybody or anything, but, I will read other people's opinions with interest.
EDIT: I just thought of a really funny running joke that is going to be totally doable as a theme with Rasaad, and I anticipate many threads that are variations on the funny theme. This boy is going to be analogous to "Kenny" from "South Park".
Wolf: to hit roll, 5, hit; Wolf does 10 damage, Rasaad, dead. "You bastard, you killed Rasaad!"
Bassilus: to hit roll, 2, hit; Bassilus does 20 damage, Rasaad, dead. "You bastard, you killed Rasaad!"
Mulahey: to hit roll, 2, hit; Mulahey does 20 damage, Rasaad, dead. "You bastard, you killed Rasaad!"
Tranzig: cast Magic Missile, Rasaad, dead. "You bastard, you killed Rasaad!"
Vampire Wolf: to hit roll, 2, hit; Vampire Wolf does 4 damage; Rasaad: to hit roll 10, hit. Rasaad: "My weapon has no effect!" Vampire Wolf, to hit roll, 4, hit. Rasaad, paralyzed. Vampire Wolf, to hit roll, 6, hit. Rasaad, dead. "You bastard, you killed Rasaad!"
And on and on.
Yes, they are weak in BG1 even if you roll with a 18 STR, 18 DEX, 16 CON PC, but they're not hopeless. What I did was let a beefier NPC become the main target of enemies and then mico-managed my Monk around the front lines.
You missed a thing in your post. The first two points are not for the monk, but for the Avenger druid (text block before monk in the manual).
Reminds me of The Hobbit. "Stay! Your wish is granted! Here is Gandalf! And none too soon it seems. If you don't like my Burglar, please don't damage him. Put him down, and listen first to what he has to say!"
When I first saw the title of this thread, I wondered if it was related to the Romance discussion. :P