[Gimli]

Well I won't reply to the ridiculous portion of the previous post. But some number crunching seems like it would clear up the damage points further.

"lol, in IWD2, a monk with 10 strength does 2-30 damage per hit at level 29-30."

Well I am talking about regular mode, where levels 29-30 aren't very likely to be attained. But regardless, the numbers will never add up for the Monk against a high Str Fighter-type with a 2 handed weapon.

First, the Monk will have alot of low damage totals when the dice he rolls for damage come up low, because there are no pluses to his damage. I would take a d12 over a d20 any day when I know the d12 is going to have say +10 or more to damage from the Strength bonus (*1.5 with a 2-hander), another +2 from weapon specialization, and perhaps say another d8 or so from magical effects from the weapon. The Monk's potential low damage score is 1 point of damage; the fighter's potential low score would be 14. The most a Monk could do would be 20 (and there's only a 5% chance it will happen - in fact, fully 70% of the time, the Monk's damage will be less than or equal to the fighter's *minimum*), the most the Fighter-type could do would be 30. But on average, the fighter-type will do alot more because he always has a huge "guaranteed" bonus to damage that a low str monk doesn't.

But that's just for non-critical strikes. The greatsword will critical twice as often as fists; and the greataxe does 3x critical damage instead of 2x (ditto the halberd, that is what my fighter(4)/monk(x) uses). A Monk's mimimum critical damage is a paltry 2 points from a d20; a fighter's with a greatsword as above would have a minimum of 28; the monk's maximum is 40; a fighter with a greataxe as above could dish out 90+. Also there are keen weapons that make fighter criticals even more frequent; there are no keen fists. Both classes can take improved critical so that's a wash.

Plus there are monsters with damage resistance that the monk's damage will only penetrate on very high rolls, whereas the fighter with the high str will get through on every strike because of his "guaranteed" damage. In cases like that the fighter will way outdamage a Monk.

"A barbarian with an outlandish strength of 36 (with rage etc etc), wielding a Great Sword, deals 1d12+19. Thats more, but only while he has his magic aide to his strength. **If the monk had the same bonuses (about 10 points worth or so), his damage would be greater.**"

That's the point though - finally maybe you agreed with me, that the Monk could benefit from a high Str!

"Also, no other class can deal a d20 in damage, and in IWD 2, they deal 1d20+1d10. lol, it looks like you failed your 'test'. Whatta crock."

They do that at 29th and 30th level; they don't get to d20 until 16th. And with low strength, alot of the damage totals will still be very low.

I'm not here to "test" anyone, I just post what I feel is the correct interpretation of the rules of IWD II (not PnP) and hope that others will do the same so that I can learn from them and be a better player. The board is here so we can help each other and share info, but you don't want to post info that is wrong or misleading. I'd be glad to admit I am wrong on certain points, I'm sure others know facets of the game better than I - and I would be happy to profit from their knowledge rather than bicker with them.