Consequences? "All weapons are monk weapons"

[JusticeZero]

After looking at a variety of gongfu weapons forms with weapons that are not [monk] weapons, I pondered why it is that monks only use a tiny number of japanese weapons, in spite of not even being from Japan. They don't even use normal peasant weapons.
So.. why not just treat every weapon as a monk weapon, give the monk all simple and martial weapons?
I'm using PF (can't afford a bunch of out of print splats), though the 3.5 effects are probably good to know too. Would that have some crazy unforseen consequences, and how would you deal with them?

[eftexar]

I don't really see any problems mechanically, but flavor wise I see a problem. Even if Monks did use a lot of random weapons they didn't use all weapons and that is the problem we have here.

I think it might be better to allow the Monk to select one or two weapon groups (see Unearthed Arcana) to add to the list of monk weapons.

[TuggyNE]

Think of all the flavor you'd lose!!!1!

No, there are no really terrible consequences. There are no martial weapons that are so amazing that a Monk using them would be particularly overpowered, nor (honestly) many exotic weapons that could manage that either. As far as I can tell, it's purely fluff-driven; it's not a decision with much impact on balance.

[JusticeZero]

It actually *improves* the flavor to remove the dependence on either strange variants of common weapons or bizarre weapons that nobody would normally use. I've never seen anyone seriously suggest training with a siangham outside of dnd, but i've seen lots of wushu, taiji, and so forth forms done with broadswords, longspears, halberds, daggers, rapiers, clubs, and 10' poles. I don't have to strain my brain trying to posit bizarre faraway lands if the unarmed fighting mystic guys are using weapons that are common to the local culture.

[eftexar]

I hadn't meant that specific types of weapons have anything to do with flavor, but that Monks are specialists.

They learn how to use a few weapons and learn to do it really well. So weapon groups instead of all weapons represents that better. This would expend versatility, while still keeping that concept.

[inuyasha]

I dont know why everybody complains about the monk...I made one that fought with his bare fists...in fact he was the parties main tank...and although I dont see a problem with monks knowing about all weapons...I dont think it should be a problem


P.S. VoP feat+Dvaati monk=fun with flanking abuse!

[eftexar]

Because the Monk is weak. More fun than the Fighter, but still. Most of it's abilities are immunities and stuff that sounded cool. When you mix them all you get a class that can't do anything particularly well or many things really that mediocrely at all:

The AC bonus doesn't really help because you can't wear armor, so you end up roughly were you would be with armor which doesn't help much because the armor system is ganked.

Unarmed damage is worse than many weapons until higher levels, so it really just makes it a viable weapon instead of being a real class feature. Even at 2d10, an average of 11 damage, that is basically a bonus to damage along the lines of the feats in the weapon focus line.

Slowfall can be replicated, and better, with a 1st level spell. And Abundant Step can only be used once per day when it would have been perfectly fine at will by the level you get it.

Ki strike is like the unarmed damage. It just allows the Monk to do what others can do with magic weapons, but with unarmed strikes, so you really aren't getting anything here.

Quivering Palm is severely limited beyond ridiculousness, when some other classes offer death effects usable at will by this level. Just make it work like death attack or give it a recharge time like a breath weapon.

Purity of body only renders you immune to mundane diseases, when most diseases DMs throw at you will be magical in nature. So you are basically immune to the effects of a single spell. And I don't even want to get into still mind.

So your list of class features is really this: Bonus Feat x4, Flurry of Blows, Fast Movement, Wholeness of Body, Evasion (and Improved), Diamond Soul, Ki Strike (Adamantine), and Empty Body. And bonus feats don't even really count as class features.

So half the class features do nothing but bring unarmed strikes to the same capability as manufactured weapons and the other features come too late, and can't be used often enough, to be worthwhile.

[Just to Browse]

Crescent Knife monk flurry ftw