The Monk has gone live, and he is not what people were expecting. The Ki power source, alluded to in the Player’s Handbook is apparently no more. Rather, he is a Psionic Striker. There is a great Design and Development article explaining the reasoning. The gist of it being that the Ki power source “grew thinner and thinner” as a power source and they didn’t want to have to lump all the asian flavored classes under Ki.
There is a new mechanic for the Monk, called “Full Discipline”, it’s a power that gives you two or more actions to choose from, a standard attack action, and a move. The full discipline power represents a style of fighting for the monk, letting him combine his movements and attacks.
Many people have written about Monks in 4th Ed., and many were featured in the “Open Game Table” anthology. I can’t wait to read their take on the monk as presented officially on DDI. Me? I like it, I can see it being potentially very deadly. I have nothing to compare it to, because I never played a monk in previous editions, or played with someone who did, so when I do see one it’ll be new to me. I can’t wait. Mike Mearls said on twitter that it’s his favorite class. Ever. So there you go.
If you can’t wait for PHB3 to see it, go subscribe to DDI… or wait for the 100 write ups we’ll see on the class soon.
So yes. A psionic striker.
www. Newbie DM .com 
kaeosdad
May 11, 2009
The psion move is a disappointment. I was under the impression that ki was all about inner strength of the mind body and soul. I thought they were using ki as a catch all term for chi, qi, prana and mana.
I read through the pdf quickly and it looks interesting, but the psionic shift bums me out right off the bat.
Chris
May 11, 2009
kaeosdad said: “I was under the impression that ki was all about inner strength of the mind, body and soul.”
Ummm, that whole inner strength thing sounds pretty psionic to me mate. Similar thing, different names (and different cultural FX) perhaps? š
Sebkha
May 11, 2009
Me, I entirely endorse folding all the “inner power” variants into psionics mechanically, and leaving the flavor text to determine whether it’s called psi, ki, or incarnum. The interesting bit will be where the martial power source ends and the psionic one begins.
Todd
May 11, 2009
Whatever the source, after going through the playtest the monk looks like it’d be a blast to play. I really liked the comparison you made on Twitter to the monk being like a pinball bouncing all around the battlefield. Can’t wait to see how it integrates with the other classes.
newbiedm
May 11, 2009
@Kaosdad: read the design and developement article if you get a chance… as sebkha said, let the flavor handle it!
@Todd: that’s the first thing I imagined, a little pinball wearing nothing but a robe zipping around hitting all the bumpers on the pinball machine… boom boom bam bam boom boom bam bam boom stop… catch a breath… boom boom boom bam bam bam boom boom bam
Harlan
May 11, 2009
In 1st and 3rd editions Monks were my favorite class. By far. My first characters were always monks.
I like.
4th edition has too many strikers, not enough of everything else. Discuss.
kaeosdad
May 11, 2009
@chris: perhaps, I can dig that I guess. It felt real sci fi at first and less hmm…. primal. Though I guess when you put it that way psionics sort of walks the fine line between.
@sebhka: I was thinking the samething about the martial and psionic sources.
@newb: will do.
As an aside, I’ve been wanting to play a re-fluffed bard as a psionic character, many of his powers are psychic based. I’m surprised the bard was arcane and not psionic.
Scott
May 11, 2009
I like the look of the monk so far. Not quite sure about the Full Discipline thing, but it’s a great concept.
milambus
May 11, 2009
@Harlan
Hmm…
PHB1:
Cleric – Divine Leader
Fighter – Martial Defender
Paladin – Divine Defender
Ranger – Martial Striker
Rogue – Martial Striker
Warlord – Martial Leader
Warlock – Arcane Striker
Wizard – Arcane Controller
FRPG:
Swordmage – Arcane Defender
PHB2:
Avenger – Divine Striker
Barbarian – Primal Striker
Bard – Arcane Leader
Druid – Primal Controller
Invoker – Divine Controller
Shaman – Primal Leader
Sorcerer – Arcane Striker
Warden – Primal Defender
Play tests:
Artificer – Arcane Leader (EPG)
Monk – Psionic Striker
Roles:
Controller: 3
Defender: 4
Leader: 5
Strikers: 7
Power Sources:
Arcane: 6
Divine: 4
Martial: 4
Primal: 4
Psionic: 1
So yes, there definitely more strikers than any other role. 3 from each PHB so far. Does that mean there are too many however? Thats hard to say. People like to deal damage, so having variety in the Striker role is a good thing.
I would say that the Leader and Defender roles seem well represented to me. We do need more Controllers. And hopefully the next class presented will be one.
But they really did need to preview the monk. Its the last core class from 3/3.5 to make the transition, and many people have been waiting for them.
PHB3 being 3 controllers, 2 defenders, 2 leaders and 1 striker would be just about perfect IMO.
P.
May 22, 2009
hmm…
In my oppinion there is a difference between the power of the mind and the power of the spirit, and lumping the two together would be as appropriate as combining cosmic powers of the arcane source and natural powers of the primal source. No matter how old world you paint it, psionics have a taste of science fiction that clashes with the spiritual elements of the monk’s theme.
And while I agree that Ki power source is not broad enough to cover all of Asia, it shouldn’t have to be. All we need is one small part.
That being said, the monk has been resigned to a psionic class since the release of secrets of sarlona in early ’07
azstrael telemenov
November 5, 2009
There is a huge difference between qi and psi. Qi is centered in the body — it is not spirit in the sense of spirituality or soul. It represents animus and largely was recognized only by two civilizations, those in the chinese arc and those in the indian arc. Psi represents mental power, brain wave projection, which may be enriched by qi (as might the primal power source). Psi represents a more highly evolved consciousness, a development of mental faculties. Qi might be an underlying level of reality that applies to all mortals, a sort of matrix-like (in the sense of seeing the visual characters that represent the programming code that generates a virtual world) visual of reality that underlies the mortal realms and transforms into divine/divinity in the celestial realms.
Point being made
November 26, 2009
@Chris.
Psionics is nothing about one’s inner strength. It’s about being very smart. One’s mind becomes so powerful, it expands outside one’s head. That’s the gist of psionics or psychic power.
Ki, on the other hand, is (or should have been) about manipulating the life-force, present in all living beings, one’s own or another being’s. Heck, there’s a better name for the power source: Life-force. With ‘Life-force’ they could have avoided the association with the orient.
But no. Guess they’re just not smart enough for that.
Rob
January 17, 2010
Ki, Qi, Chi, etc mostly comes from Qi-Gong practitioners, as most asians were Buddhists (which don’t believe much in Qi) and Atheists – as I am a Buddhist myself. Monks have nothing to do with Qi and usually never practice martial arts which is already different in D&D.
Originally Qi meant Air until it was discovered how different Air was from life force, which changed some ideas in Qi-Gong practice.
Anyways for D&D to make monks violent, martial arts, qi practitioners – they already totally destroyed real Buddhist monks – so let them mix qi with psionic powers. Already the world fights enough on what qi really is if it were to be real.