Quote Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post
While I'm in favor of narrowing down the entries to key elements, the lack of unarmed strike proficiency is just one of the problems with the way the Monk class is written.
  • Unarmed Strike says "There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed." What that apparently means is that the Monk can make off-hand attacks, but doesn't have the usual ½ STR bonus damage limit. But that's not how it's written.
  • The Bonus Feats class feature is clear right up to where it says "A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them." When applying fighting styles or ACFs which change the bonus feats, does "these" refer to Monk bonus feats in general, or just the 6 feats mentioned in the base class?
  • Many Monk abilities (AC Bonus, Flurry of Blows, Fast Movement) only work if the Monk is unarmored. But Evasion works if the Monk is unarmored or wearing light armor. Huh?
  • Similarly, the Monk's Fast Movement is nifty, but is completely useless in relation to their Flurry of Blows.
  • Ki Strike says "At 4th level, a monk’s unarmed attacks are empowered with ki." They don't say what ki is, or define it in the Glossary.
  • Diamond Body says "a monk gains immunity to poisons of all kinds." but that's a Supernatural ability. They don't "note otherwise" in the Monk class, so how does that work?
  • The Monk can use a Quivering Palm attack "once a week". Is that an interval or a calendar week?
  • Tongue of the Sun and Moon lets the Monk "speak with any living creature". Can the creature respond? What about if the creature doesn't normally speak? Can the Monk understand if it does?
No, I really think the entire Monk class qualifies for the "worst-written" list.
1. bonus feats: this isn't because the class was badly written. it's because the monk was published before the introduction of ACFs. in other words, it is the ACFs that are badly written in this instance, not the monk class itself.

2. fast movement: a Druid's spellcasting is completely useless in relation to their wildshape as is. a rogue's trap sense is completely useless in relation to their trap finding (if you find the trap, you don't need trap sense). having unrelated class features doesn't mean that the class is badly written. unfocused, yes. badly written, no.

3. ki strike: the description following the part you described explains exactly what ki does for a monk.