Monk grappling love suggestions?

[Scarytincan]

Got a bit on a tangent in another thread, so thought I'd start another here to flush out a bit more :

I feel like the masters of martial arts should have some grappling love other than having to stun the target first so they can't fight back. How would you give the monk class some love in this regard if you were to give it a variant class feature or something to that effect? Allowing acrobatics instead of athletics seems common, adding wis mod to grapple checks is another thought I had. Others?

[MaxWilson]

As a monk base class feature, if a player asked for it I'd allow the monk to substitute Wisdom (Athletics) for Strength (Athletics).

[stoutstien]

The real question is why would a monk want to grapple on a regular basis? It reduces their movement and keeps a foe within range to retaliate.

[Expired]

As a monk base class feature, if a player asked for it I'd allow the monk to substitute Wisdom (Athletics) for Strength (Athletics).
Or even Dexterity (Athletics) considering some grapples don't have to be done with sheer force.

[MaxWilson]

The real question is why would a monk want to grapple on a regular basis? It reduces their movement and keeps a foe within range to retaliate.

Because it's in-theme for a martial artist?

From a tactics perspective it's kind of useful to have a ki-free option for removing one enemy from a fight (or negotiation). If you want to save your ki for the tough fights, being able to reliably grapple/prone an enemy and hold them there while you beat them to death at advantage (and they're stuck attacking you back at disadvantage) is kind of cool, and unlike a regular fighter you've still got your full offensive and defensive capabilities even with only one free hand. I've played a Prodigy (Athletics) monk before and it's really fun. It's really the opposite of a normal monk's kiting tactics--you're playing more anvil than hammer.

[stoutstien]

Because it's in-theme for a martial artist?

From a tactics perspective it's kind of useful to have a ki-free option for removing one enemy from a fight (or negotiation). If you want to save your ki for the tough fights, being able to reliably grapple/prone an enemy and hold them there while you beat them to death at advantage (and they're stuck attacking you back at disadvantage) is kind of cool, and unlike a regular fighter you've still got your full offensive and defensive capabilities even with only one free hand. I've played a Prodigy (Athletics) monk before and it's really fun. It's really the opposite of a normal monk's kiting tactics--you're playing more anvil than hammer.

Fair enough. generally grappling is pretty ease to do for anyone who grabs proficiency in athletics I think your suggestion for WIS(athletics) would be enough to cover it.

[Zalabim]

The first bullet point of martial arts currently says: You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk weapons.

Given the preceding paragraph already limits all the benefits to while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons, I believe this could be changed to say: You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for your attacks.

[Maan]

The first bullet point of martial arts currently says: You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk weapons.

Given the preceding paragraph already limits all the benefits to while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons, I believe this could be changed to say: You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for your attacks.

Considering how a grapple attempt it's a substitute for an attack, making it work on Dexterity rather than Strength it's not too much of a stretch even if it may not be exactly RAW.

[GorogIrongut]

I'd go for the Athletics (Wis) and then allow a player to spend a point of ki for Adv on a grappling check.