Actually, if you train yourself to hit through armor, after a long enough time, you will get better at hitting through armor. That's just how it works. Your fists get tougher, and you get stronger. Please also remember that while DnD is close to the real world, it is not in fact bound by the same laws of physics, and so it is quite possible that you could in fact wind up punching through armor if you tried hard and long enough.name_here wrote:Training harder gives them bonus special abilities, so they can channel holy fire through their fists 4/day or spend Ki points to do so. It does not let them punch holes in armor more easily all by itself. So if you can get +1 to your fists from training, it's limited duration. they don't get +1 flaming hands with larger dice from leveling up, that's unbalancing. they get them from magic weapons that bascially enhance punching people. they aren't restriced from displaying weapons like the inventors of martial arts were, so they have no good reason to hide their combat power.
The problem here is that when people think "monk," they think "real world Shaolin Kung-Fu Master." I'm not denying he would wipe the floor with me, but in DnD he's maybe third or fourth level. They need to be thinking "DBZ," as much as some people might hate that archetype.
Slightly more on topic, Monte Cook (I know, I know) had a feat in Arcana Evolved that allowed you to literally enhance your fists (you dipped them in boiling water and then magic components or some shit like that). I'm sure that if people are so determined to keep the sucktastic 3.x monk, something like this wouldn't go far wrong.
