1. Oh yeah, the monk is more than viable in melee, and kicks major butt late in the game. The unarmed attack is very fast, which more than compensates for the lack of damage bonuses from weapons and Armsmaster.2. and 3. See the link below for a bit about GM unarmed, Staff and Armsmaster for the monk. I wouldn't recommend investing skill points in either Staff or Armsmaster. (You may still want to use a nice staff (if you can find one) very early in the game, before you have significant points in Unarmed.)
4. Dodge works while wearing leather only once you have GM Dodge. Then you get all your bonuses from both Dodge and Leather skills (and the armor itself), which is awfully nice.
BV
