Does a monk use DEX or STR when attacking in a brawl?
Brancalonia, built on top of D&D 5E, adds rules for non-lethal brawls. The rules say that you can't use class abilities like extra attacks, but passive class abilities like Unarmored Defense do apply.
Does a monk in a brawl get the Martial Arts dexterity bonus for unarmed strikes, or does the monk instead use the default strength bonus in a brawl?
If I'm understanding the rules correctly, this question only applies to the chance to hit. A successful hit in a brawl deals one "whack", not rolled damage. (I have only played one session so far and we're all new to this game variant.)
1 answer
Our GM met the game designer at GenCon 2025 and was able to ask some questions on our group's behalf. For brawls, the designer pointed out that from level 2, characters have the brawl feature Heroic Ignorance, which allows you to use the stat of your choice instead of strength. We had incorrectly thought that this feature was a brawl move, meaning we were limited in how much we could use it, but this was incorrect.
We were already well past level 2 when we were able to ask, so we didn't ask specifically about level-1 monks and DEX. I think it is reasonable to conclude that monks have to wait for level 2 like everyone else, because Martial Arts is not a strictly passive ability.
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