Just played a monk for the first time in years

[Phithis]

I started in a new game tonight with pc's starting at third level. I had yet to try a monk in 5e so I decided, why not? I took goblin for his race and made a dex build. Is it just me or are monks OP? Using ki this lil' bastard was like a honey badger crossed with a blender. So fun!

[CTurbo]

I think they're stronger than people think, but definitely not OP. They're extremely limited outside of combat for sure. I like the class though. I played a Wood Elf Long Death Monk with some great stat rolls and it WAS OP in combat.

[Foxhound438]

They're super fun, and they get a lot of diversity in terms of abilities and movement options you can leverage. Probably my most played or second most played class in 5e due to the different things you can pull off with great success.

OP? probably not. Early on their damage scales fast and outpaces other classes without feats. They fall behind getting into later levels when fighters get more weapon attacks and feats like Great Weapon Master get involved, but the monk's damage is very "par", being equivalent at high levels to a rogue or warlock's. The most powerful thing is probably Stunning strike, but sometimes that can become a Ki sink that doesn't pay off.

[Unoriginal]

Monks are great, they're not OP.

Goblin Monks have the advantage of being able to do some of the Monk's typical actions (Disengage and Dodge) without spending Ki. It helps making them last longer.

[nickl_2000]

Monk are really good at low levels, and they are incredible in a situation where there is only one bad guy or it's hit and run.

Other the other hand, if you have a mob against a monk they have a lot more difficulty. I wouldn't call them OP, but I love monks, always have loved monks, and always will.

[Vexacia]

Low level Monks are very strong.

They fall off and become stunning strike bots at higher levels, because they don't have any way to keep up in damage with GWM/SS users or Rogues.

[Phithis]

Thanks for the insight guys. From what I'm hearing I may multiclass him a bit later on. Oh, and here's a snippet of his backstory as I'm playing him as kind of "comic relief" against the kind of grim background of ToA.

A bit of backstory: The Wisdom of Hwang or Tao of a Crazy Goblin
Narrator: So, how did someone so..ah...lively.. manage life in a monastery?
Hwang: Master say Hwang very good with martial arts. Say me something like a honey baturd. Me still think that weird thing to compare Hwang to, but shrugs Hwang digress......OHHH BUG!!!!...slurp...Sorry me forget manners. Then him say Hwang lack discipline. Hwang says, no me good with discipline. Me show you. So, then me beat him with Hwang's bamboo staff of discipline and ask if him like Hwang's discipline. Him did not, so Hwang had to leave monastery....Umm... you has lice in hair?....snatch, sluuurp
Narrator: HELP!! Get him off m.....
(Narrator sounds like David Attenborough)

[Theodoxus]

I had a monk player with Mage Slayer and Sentinel... made it quite difficult to get away from him. Swap MS for PAM and your quarterstaff (or spear, I guess with the new errata) becomes very sticky.

I played a tabaxi monk in an AL game (so couldn't go Kensai, like I wanted) but Open Hand Tabaxi is amazing. I was running up buildings to snipe with a short bow as critters came into town, then ran down going to town on them in melee, only to run off before they could wreck me back.

About the only drawback to monk is, unless you roll well, you're spending your early ASIs on stat increases. A vhuman shadow monk (for the lowcost ki based darkvision) can grab PAM for the reaction attack... or mobility for extra speed... or alert to go first... or...

[sophontteks]

Monks get some really good stuff as they level including bonuses to their saves, increased mobility options, and scaling damage increases. I wouldn't call them "stun bots" because that incinuates that they run in, use stun and stand there. Instead they are constantly using their mobility to bypass enemy defenses and remove key targets from the fight. Everything in their kit fits this perfectly. They are resistant to every form of ranged attack, and are very hard to pin down in melee. They just got to keep moving and pay close attention to their surroundings. When you can walk on walls and over water, there are many more options then a grid would show.