Like, the ways I always read that flavor text was that those beyond your help wasn't the ill or infirm, but rather the immoral, as even the greatest physician can't fix the soul.
Man, I always love the way you analyze the class abilities form a roleplaying perspective. How your character develops as they level and what their abilities mean in terms of story is something that people don't talk about enough. Great video! - The Innkeeper
Really great perspective on this character type. I played a Mercy monk last night for the first time and I’m really enjoying it but this discussion was also a huge help.
I'm not exactly sure why you dislike the flavor text of "However, to those beyond their help, they bring a swift end as an act of mercy.". That's where Hand of Harm comes in...the enemies are beyond reasoning and rather cause grief and destruction to those around them so you must put an end to it. I see it as you have to sometimes trim the branch to save a tree. At Level 17, I think If someone is really low and have debuffs on them, it'd be best to kill them then use you Ultimate Mercy ability
I imagine Li Mu Bai from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; like a martial artist who evolved into a very peaceful person with some serious healing chi. Or, a devoted medical student who has some early insights into shutting people down in a fight, like kicking their liver for a sudden hangover poisoning, but whose real training is in healing. In either case, the swift mercy might mean putting down a serial killer or comforting a terminal patient, but that too evolves into a more dedicated healing form. It reminds me of pratchett's granny weatherwax in Carpe Jugulum. She really rides the line between light and dark as a small village healer, because that's where the real decisions are made. Sometimes she has to make the worst choice during a difficult birth, or pass judgment on a local psychopath. The point is the good vs bad/life vs death dichotomy gets blurred when you are the one who has to make the call in a pinch. I suspect there are a lot of similar dilemmas behind the scenes in hospitals.
Nice video and good analysis. At 6:50, however, RAW since the monk has to take the attack action to get flurry of blows; if the monk spends the 1 ki to perform hand of healing instead of performing an attack action, that monk would not be able to take flurry of blows. Hand of healing when used with unarmed strikes only applies for flurry of blows unarmed strikes. At level 11 and above a monk can only perform 2 hands of healing on the monk's turn since the monk can only perform one flurry of blows per turn as a bonus action after that monk takes the attack action.
I'm playing WoM now and I like your summary now. What attracted me was the idea that harm is never really as strong as healing because eventually the way of mercy doesn't mean get carte blanche over someone's life....I.e: ending it
Healing was slow in low levels, so I double down with the Healer feat, which saved the party more than once. One reason I think they give you an Insight proficiency is that they had the TV show House in mind. Dr. House's main mantra is that, no matter who the patient is, they are always lying to him. Therefore: Insight Check! Oh, yeah, the attempt to bring hospital drama to D&D is real.
@@andrewfairl2846 I think it depends on what you wanted out of your character. I wanted a support character that could heal as much as possible without being a cleric. I also tried this with divine soul sorcerer and celestial warlock. So, my character became known the Westmarch style server as a reliable person to have. Between Hands of Healing, his Healer feat and a lot of potions, his mobility kept the party up and healthy more often than not. But, yeah, Healer feat did help save a lot of Ki points especially at low levels.
I have a concept for a Aasimar Way of Mercy monk that takes inspiration from Thane from the Marvel Comics. I plan for them to be like the re incarnation of an Angel and they slowly start learning things they could do in their previous life (I.e. heal, take away status effects and finally being my able to resurrect somebody)
Of all the classes to be a plague doctor, I would never assume monk. Druid? Sure. Cleric? Too obvious, but sure. Wizard? Well, medicine was considered witchcraft once I guess... but Monk? Are you gonna punch Corona out of someone?
I was playing in a “Warforged Civil War” game in one of my friends home games, and it was so fun playing with. I cannot share stories cause this was a more mature game, but it was all great memories! This subclass is super fun and cool.
Always loved the theme of life & death in D&D. I'm playing currently a HoTDQ campaign as a bit too curious, taxidermists that found a book about necromancy. The logistics and preparation of collecting and transporting corpses around for her soon-to-be undead army, I mean workforce, made me think about a Way of Mercy Monk that would preserve and keep the bodies of fallen enemies (acquiring Gentle Repose somehow), with the goal to ultimately resurrect and give them all a second chance in life.
It's interesting to me that you struggled so much with reconciling the flavor of this class. It made perfect sense to me that the monk might consider mercy to be a swift end exactly when the flavor text says -- when the patient is beyond their help -- but later on, once they gain the ability to resurrect, the patient is no longer beyond their help, so THAT then becomes the best mercy they can offer.
I get what you're saying, but then the real solution is just to change the name of the class ability at 17th level. I love the story that you have created to justify why it levels the way it does, I think that's awesome. However, in a video where people are looking for a subclass review and then the person who people are looking to for info says it isn't good because of an ability title-- and then the way to fix that is by using this specific story. Saying that will really keep people bound to that one story for this character. Subclasses are amazing because you can flavor what you do and use in so many ways, and I don't like the notion that a subclass is deemed as not liked because of an ability title. Party comp nullifying the ability also isn't important, the same can be said about the cleric on the flip side. Again, I know you weren't saying it was bad, but people are impressionable. You obviously have a right to opinion and can not like a subclass for any reason you like, I've got no problem with that obviously. It's just that people can be impressionable, and whether or not it was meant to come off this way, it felt like the "fix" to the subclass was using this one specific story about a character learning that healing is a better form of mercy than death. Maybe the resurrection ISN'T through healing, but using your knowledge of death to kill the contract between the soul and the afterworld. Maybe the resurrection isn't though healing, but what about a time themed character and because death is the ultimate mercy, you are reaching through space to kill of an entire timeline-- cutting and trying the threads of time to bring your ally back. All just flavor for a 17th level ability, I just don't agree with disliking for an ability feature and then saying that the solution is one story in a video where people are looking up to you.
I just put together a Way of Mercy monk and a Grave Domain cleric. The two flavors go hand and hand (pun intended) so well. This physician loses himself because of losing a patient (his wife) so he sells his soul to a death god to gain the ability to make sure no one dies on his watch again. And then eventually the god gives him enough power to heal and harm through touch alone. I’m digging it!
My next character is a half-blind WoM Wuxia acupuncturist / Dian Xue (Dim Mak) practitioner. I really want to lean into the Ki cultivation and circulation side of things. That, and healing people by hitting them just has to be played at least once.
I know I'm late to the party and you probably won't see this but mechanics wise if you kill a lycanthrope and resurrect it the person no longer has lycanthropy thus the 17th level ability is the ultimate form of hand of healing. This could be used with a spell to counter stronger curses/diseases such as vampirism
Playing a homebrewed half-dryad Mercy Monk character (racial traits decided via An Elf and an Orc had a Little Baby). In addition to some dryad traits like Tree Stride, I also have picked up the Magic Initiate feat to grab some druid spells (huzzah Goodberry + shillelagh on my quarterstaff when I need magical melee attacks) to reflect her upbringing in a Druidic circle with a wood elf ranger for a dad. Will also pick up the healer feat later to help with healing. My character concept is basically the moment in Avatar when the swamp water tribe tell Aang that everything is connected and he sees the energy of the giant tree. As a half-dryad, Willow is interested in how life force/ki flows through each creature and connects us all.
I am currently playing a level 5 way of mercy monk/rogue in a party with a cleric, paladin and warlock/bard that can heal. What would you advise in terms of making myself as useful as possible?
I have a tabaxi monk that i will use this subclass for and how i am have her backstory i'm making not even use the hurt part of it as she's afraid of killing people and had vowed never to kill people. i wanted to make a nonmagical healer and this class can give that to me.
While euthanasia is one interpretation, I prefer to think of it as someone beyond your help morally. Be merciful to the rest of the world and to their own tortured existence.
Like, the ways I always read that flavor text was that those beyond your help wasn't the ill or infirm, but rather the immoral, as even the greatest physician can't fix the soul.
Man, I always love the way you analyze the class abilities form a roleplaying perspective. How your character develops as they level and what their abilities mean in terms of story is something that people don't talk about enough.
Great video!
- The Innkeeper
Really great perspective on this character type. I played a Mercy monk last night for the first time and I’m really enjoying it but this discussion was also a huge help.
I'm not exactly sure why you dislike the flavor text of "However, to those beyond their help, they bring a swift end as an act of mercy.". That's where Hand of Harm comes in...the enemies are beyond reasoning and rather cause grief and destruction to those around them so you must put an end to it. I see it as you have to sometimes trim the branch to save a tree.
At Level 17, I think If someone is really low and have debuffs on them, it'd be best to kill them then use you Ultimate Mercy ability
I imagine Li Mu Bai from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; like a martial artist who evolved into a very peaceful person with some serious healing chi.
Or, a devoted medical student who has some early insights into shutting people down in a fight, like kicking their liver for a sudden hangover poisoning, but whose real training is in healing.
In either case, the swift mercy might mean putting down a serial killer or comforting a terminal patient, but that too evolves into a more dedicated healing form.
It reminds me of pratchett's granny weatherwax in Carpe Jugulum. She really rides the line between light and dark as a small village healer, because that's where the real decisions are made. Sometimes she has to make the worst choice during a difficult birth, or pass judgment on a local psychopath. The point is the good vs bad/life vs death dichotomy gets blurred when you are the one who has to make the call in a pinch. I suspect there are a lot of similar dilemmas behind the scenes in hospitals.
Nice video and good analysis. At 6:50, however, RAW since the monk has to take the attack action to get flurry of blows; if the monk spends the 1 ki to perform hand of healing instead of performing an attack action, that monk would not be able to take flurry of blows. Hand of healing when used with unarmed strikes only applies for flurry of blows unarmed strikes. At level 11 and above a monk can only perform 2 hands of healing on the monk's turn since the monk can only perform one flurry of blows per turn as a bonus action after that monk takes the attack action.
You are technically correct - the best kind of correct.
you are awesome. Loved the dm notes at the end. Deep role play w this subclass
I'm playing WoM now and I like your summary now. What attracted me was the idea that harm is never really as strong as healing because eventually the way of mercy doesn't mean get carte blanche over someone's life....I.e: ending it
Healing was slow in low levels, so I double down with the Healer feat, which saved the party more than once.
One reason I think they give you an Insight proficiency is that they had the TV show House in mind. Dr. House's main mantra is that, no matter who the patient is, they are always lying to him. Therefore: Insight Check! Oh, yeah, the attempt to bring hospital drama to D&D is real.
I looked at the feat it seems kinda bad am I wrong?
@@andrewfairl2846 I think it depends on what you wanted out of your character. I wanted a support character that could heal as much as possible without being a cleric. I also tried this with divine soul sorcerer and celestial warlock. So, my character became known the Westmarch style server as a reliable person to have. Between Hands of Healing, his Healer feat and a lot of potions, his mobility kept the party up and healthy more often than not. But, yeah, Healer feat did help save a lot of Ki points especially at low levels.
I have a concept for a Aasimar Way of Mercy monk that takes inspiration from Thane from the Marvel Comics. I plan for them to be like the re incarnation of an Angel and they slowly start learning things they could do in their previous life (I.e. heal, take away status effects and finally being my able to resurrect somebody)
I dig this as a multi-class for cleric. I am strongly considering taking it on my Aerenal Elf death cleric.
You really take these subclasses to another level
Of all the classes to be a plague doctor, I would never assume monk. Druid? Sure. Cleric? Too obvious, but sure. Wizard? Well, medicine was considered witchcraft once I guess... but Monk? Are you gonna punch Corona out of someone?
I was playing in a “Warforged Civil War” game in one of my friends home games, and it was so fun playing with. I cannot share stories cause this was a more mature game, but it was all great memories! This subclass is super fun and cool.
Always loved the theme of life & death in D&D. I'm playing currently a HoTDQ campaign as a bit too curious, taxidermists that found a book about necromancy. The logistics and preparation of collecting and transporting corpses around for her soon-to-be undead army, I mean workforce, made me think about a Way of Mercy Monk that would preserve and keep the bodies of fallen enemies (acquiring Gentle Repose somehow), with the goal to ultimately resurrect and give them all a second chance in life.
I mean, I would very much like to smack people and make them feel better out of combat as well, but I get your point.
It's interesting to me that you struggled so much with reconciling the flavor of this class. It made perfect sense to me that the monk might consider mercy to be a swift end exactly when the flavor text says -- when the patient is beyond their help -- but later on, once they gain the ability to resurrect, the patient is no longer beyond their help, so THAT then becomes the best mercy they can offer.
The way you described it makes it a PC you want to play from 1-20
I get what you're saying, but then the real solution is just to change the name of the class ability at 17th level. I love the story that you have created to justify why it levels the way it does, I think that's awesome.
However, in a video where people are looking for a subclass review and then the person who people are looking to for info says it isn't good because of an ability title-- and then the way to fix that is by using this specific story. Saying that will really keep people bound to that one story for this character. Subclasses are amazing because you can flavor what you do and use in so many ways, and I don't like the notion that a subclass is deemed as not liked because of an ability title.
Party comp nullifying the ability also isn't important, the same can be said about the cleric on the flip side.
Again, I know you weren't saying it was bad, but people are impressionable. You obviously have a right to opinion and can not like a subclass for any reason you like, I've got no problem with that obviously. It's just that people can be impressionable, and whether or not it was meant to come off this way, it felt like the "fix" to the subclass was using this one specific story about a character learning that healing is a better form of mercy than death.
Maybe the resurrection ISN'T through healing, but using your knowledge of death to kill the contract between the soul and the afterworld.
Maybe the resurrection isn't though healing, but what about a time themed character and because death is the ultimate mercy, you are reaching through space to kill of an entire timeline-- cutting and trying the threads of time to bring your ally back.
All just flavor for a 17th level ability, I just don't agree with disliking for an ability feature and then saying that the solution is one story in a video where people are looking up to you.
Thanks for the video, I hope I can implement some of your ideas
I play a changeling who was dropped off at a monastery as a baby and became a way of mercy monk. His back ground was as a bounty hunter.
I just put together a Way of Mercy monk and a Grave Domain cleric. The two flavors go hand and hand (pun intended) so well. This physician loses himself because of losing a patient (his wife) so he sells his soul to a death god to gain the ability to make sure no one dies on his watch again. And then eventually the god gives him enough power to heal and harm through touch alone. I’m digging it!
My next character is a half-blind WoM Wuxia acupuncturist / Dian Xue (Dim Mak) practitioner. I really want to lean into the Ki cultivation and circulation side of things. That, and healing people by hitting them just has to be played at least once.
I know I'm late to the party and you probably won't see this but mechanics wise if you kill a lycanthrope and resurrect it the person no longer has lycanthropy thus the 17th level ability is the ultimate form of hand of healing. This could be used with a spell to counter stronger curses/diseases such as vampirism
Playing a homebrewed half-dryad Mercy Monk character (racial traits decided via An Elf and an Orc had a Little Baby). In addition to some dryad traits like Tree Stride, I also have picked up the Magic Initiate feat to grab some druid spells (huzzah Goodberry + shillelagh on my quarterstaff when I need magical melee attacks) to reflect her upbringing in a Druidic circle with a wood elf ranger for a dad. Will also pick up the healer feat later to help with healing. My character concept is basically the moment in Avatar when the swamp water tribe tell Aang that everything is connected and he sees the energy of the giant tree. As a half-dryad, Willow is interested in how life force/ki flows through each creature and connects us all.
I am currently playing a level 5 way of mercy monk/rogue in a party with a cleric, paladin and warlock/bard that can heal. What would you advise in terms of making myself as useful as possible?
I have a tabaxi monk that i will use this subclass for and how i am have her backstory i'm making not even use the hurt part of it as she's afraid of killing people and had vowed never to kill people. i wanted to make a nonmagical healer and this class can give that to me.
While euthanasia is one interpretation, I prefer to think of it as someone beyond your help morally. Be merciful to the rest of the world and to their own tortured existence.
If dominatrix was a class it would be this
I just want to be Batman
Don't we all?
I wish this video was more coherent.