I have been wanting to create a Monk but was wary of the Ki point usage until it seemed that after a short rest you regain all of your Ki points. I do not have a players guide and this DnD Beyond reference does not make it clear to me. Do you gain 1 Ki point per short rest, or all? If all, then I see the Ki point system to be well balanced in comparison to spell slots.
Starting at 2nd level, your training allows you to harness the mystic energy of ki. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of ki points. Your monk level determines the number of points you have, as shown in the Ki Points column of the Monk table.
You can spend these points to fuel various ki features. You start knowing three such features: Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, and Step of the Wind. You learn more ki features as you gain levels in this class.
When you spend a ki point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you draw all of your expended ki back into yourself. You must spend at least 30 minutes of the rest meditating to regain your ki points.
Some of your ki features require your target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:
I have been wanting to create a Monk but was wary of the Ki point usage until it seemed that after a short rest you regain all of your Ki points. I do not have a players guide and this DnD Beyond reference does not make it clear to me. Do you gain 1 Ki point per short rest, or all? If all, then I see the Ki point system to be well balanced in comparison to spell slots.
I've played 2 Monks now and what I've found is that Monks, like spell casters, are always watching their limited use abilities carefully. At 5th level, for example, a Monk only has 5 Ki points and if a Way of the Open Hand Monk uses 1 Ki point per round for a Dodge bonus action that Monk will usually run out of Ki points before the end of a combat. I enjoy playing them but I use my Ki points where they'll have the most impact instead of using an ability that requires Ki points every round.
Regaining all Ki points at the end of a short rest, unlike Sorcerers who regain their spells at the end of a long rest, makes Monks playable and balanced with the rest of the classes. But, Monks are a ton of fun to play! Just be aware that abilities that use Ki Points are very limited.
I absolutely agree. WotfE monk is outclassed not only due to Ki costs though. The limited number of spells you get is just terrible. It makes them extremely limited in what they can do and gimps them more then the Ki cost in a lot of cases. I found this homebrew pretty well, though I am still testing it out. It is still not perfect, but certainly addresses the issues of the issue of the Wotfe monk.
I backed a Kickstarter project that was a book of magic items. One of them was a ring that gives the wearer one additional Ki point.
Hmm. Just one? Does it regain it like other magic items in 5e regain charges, ie at dawn, or when you regain Ki, or something else?
I think I'd rather have it work like charges in a normal magic item, have 5 or so, regain 1d4+1 every dawn, and have special things you can use it for like spending charges to boost your ki abilities, in addition to spending charges to get Ki back.
But I could see a minor magic item that just gives you 3 ki per day, or 1 per short rest.
Speaking of fun rings for monks in 5e, I'm working on a ring that builds up kinetic energy as you hit things, building charges, and you can use the charges to power an attack, or gain extra jump distance, or run faster. It's a coil of copper that wraps around your entire finger, but somehow doesn't interfere with moving your finger. When you take it off it shrinks into a solid copper band that looks more polished and clean the more charges it has, and when you put it on it "unwinds" as you push it onto your finger, and seems to have no beginning or end.
The Ki point is regained after a short or long rest, the same as the rest of a Monk's Ki points. So it gives a small, but consistent, bump in power.
There's another magic item in there for monks that gives 1d4 of lightning damage on a successful open hand attack that works like most magic items in 5e where it has a set number of charges and it regains 1d4 at dawn every day. It's also a great item for a Monk.
It is mainly an issue just before your damage dice upgrades or so I feel. Right after the upgrade I usually do fine and kill the mobs normally or even faster then everyone else ( WotFEM) as you can unload up to 4 attacks or an attack a very small number of spells in one round. As you level and bonuses on enemies get higher it feels like that took less and less effect and I had to sink in more Ki points to get the same result till again my damage upgraded. Not sure how to fix it as there is no easy way that couldn't bust the class.
As far as repeated encounters with out a rest go it feels on par with most classes. You still get 3 attacks between your action and bonus action at no cost as long as you hit.
Those are good points. I don't think that Open Palm or Shadow monks, or any of the UA monks, really, are in need of any big tweaks. I would like to add a few extra Ki ability choices as you level up, and give a few alternative choices to stunning strike, because I don't like it, and would rather monks be spending ki on fun utility stuff or flurry, not just trying to stun the thing every single round until they run out, and I want to swap the language thing with something that actually feels like a monk/kung fu master/mystic martial artist, but those are all minor things or swaps.
My only issue is with the elemental monk.
I think there are a ton of different ways to fix that subclass, too.
Disciplines built like mystic disciplines, but with costs more appropriate to the monk's Ki totals, where when focused on the stance, your unarmed attacks deal an elemental damage type associated with that Stance, and you get a 1/turn extra benefit with an unarmed strike. You gain the passive benefit, and can only use the 1/turn at-will ability, listed below, when focused on that stance. Lastly, each stance comes with the ability to shape that element, as with the elemental control psuedo-prestidigitation cantrips from Elemental Evil. At level 3, you can only focus on one Stance at a time.
Fire Stance Discipline, the target catches fire and take 1d4 fire starting their next turn, until the spend their movement to put it out
Air Stance has an extra 10ft range, and instead of changing damage type, you can disengage as a reaction after being targeted by an attack.
Lightning Stance has 1d4 extra Lighting Damage to another target within 5ft of the first
Water Stance I don't know, honestly. Bonus to healing?
Ice Stance slows the target, they lose 10ft off their speed?
Earth Stance add your profiency mod to damage, can use reaction to reduce incoming damage by amount equal to unarmed damage die? Ie, your are blocking with a stone arm, essentially? Might come with your speed being reduced by 10ft while in this stance?
And then each one would have stuff like burning hands, and all that, at appropriate ki cost, and you'd have a chart for the max amount of ki you can spend on a Stance power at a given level. The Ki abilities would mostly be stolen from the existing discipline list.
At level 3 You get two disciplines, and the ability to cast Absorb Elements for 1ki/spell level. That should be in line with the shadow monk, who gets 4 really good level 2 spells at level 3, at 2ki each, and a cantrip.
At level 6, you can spend Absorb Elements at 1 level higher than what you spend Ki for, to absorb the element associated with your stance, and you gain an extra Stance.
At Level 11, you gain 1 more Stance. When you cast Absorb Elements, you can spend 1 extra Ki to regain hit points equal to your hit die + your wisdom modifier.
At Level 17 You gain another stance. Your Unarmed Strikes ignore resistence, to the the elemental damage type you are focused on, and treat immunity as resistence. Additionally, you can Focus on 1 more Stance, gaining it's passive and 1/turn benefits. Entering a second stance requires 1ki, spent as a bonus action, and remaining focused on both stances requires concentration, as with a spell.
I might also include a Positive Energy Stance, where 1/turn you hit a target and the next ally to hit the target regains 1d4+ your wis mod HP. Damage type:Radiant.
Negative Energy, if anyone wanted one, would be necrotic damage, and 1/turn, the target must make a con save or be poisoned.
Water bypasses shields and any AC boosts that are supposed to be parrying or something similar. Maybe throw in a 1 ki ability to force a Str save to avoid being knocked prone?
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As I said before, the monk I've got in my group is using a short sword for her basic attacks, so I didn't have to worry about balancing it for her. But, starting at 5th level, Flurry of Blows would basically generate 4/5 of the points, so you might want to limit it to a certain number of times per day. Maybe something along the lines of only once per round, or only on the bonus attacks granted by the Martial Arts or Flurry of Blows.
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
It's important to remember the monk at higher levels is not a tank. His contribution requires more careful tactics the higher level monsters you face. Against some monsters stun won't work as often, but knocking the monster down might be more important, depending on the initiative order. There may be some places where just depriving a monster of his reaction that turn will be significant. Paying close attention to initiative order is important in gauging what monk effect will work in each situation.
It's important to remember the monk at higher levels is not a tank. His contribution requires more careful tactics the higher level monsters you face. Against some monsters stun won't work as often, but knocking the monster down might be more important, depending on the initiative order. There may be some places where just depriving a monster of his reaction that turn will be significant. Paying close attention to initiative order is important in gauging what monk effect will work in each situation.
I agree completely! Monks are support characters. They help the rest of the party in combat. They do damage in the process, but they're not a front line fighter unless the party doesn't have enough front line fighters to protect the squishy magic users.
It's important to remember the monk at higher levels is not a tank. His contribution requires more careful tactics the higher level monsters you face. Against some monsters stun won't work as often, but knocking the monster down might be more important, depending on the initiative order. There may be some places where just depriving a monster of his reaction that turn will be significant. Paying close attention to initiative order is important in gauging what monk effect will work in each situation.
I agree completely! Monks are support characters. They help the rest of the party in combat. They do damage in the process, but they're not a front line fighter unless the party doesn't have enough front line fighters to protect the squishy magic users.
I'd disagree with the support class statement. The monk is like the rogue and warlock. Skirmishing damage dealers. That isn't support, imo.
We'll have to agree to disagree. I love playing monks, but in my group my monks are much more a support class than a front line melee fighter. They're incredible at helping the front line melee fighters and they're incredibly effective though!
I mean, you kinda come across as thinking there is just "front line" and "support"? The monk is a skirmisher. Support classes are stuff like bards and clerics, who make the rest of the party more effective as a primary means of helping the group.
The monk *can* be played as support, depending on subclass. The class features aren't focused on support, at all, though. Maybe Stunning could be described as support, but he has to punch someone to do it. The Monk is an offensive melee warrior, by default.
I guess you could try gaining double amount of Ki points per level or, monk level + Wisdom mod per level.
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I have been wanting to create a Monk but was wary of the Ki point usage until it seemed that after a short rest you regain all of your Ki points. I do not have a players guide and this DnD Beyond reference does not make it clear to me. Do you gain 1 Ki point per short rest, or all? If all, then I see the Ki point system to be well balanced in comparison to spell slots.
You regain all of the Ki points per short rest:
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I absolutely agree. WotfE monk is outclassed not only due to Ki costs though. The limited number of spells you get is just terrible. It makes them extremely limited in what they can do and gimps them more then the Ki cost in a lot of cases. I found this homebrew pretty well, though I am still testing it out. It is still not perfect, but certainly addresses the issues of the issue of the Wotfe monk.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Feel free to use this item. If you don't want the leveling up effect, just use the starting portion of the item:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/8076-masters-ring-of-kinesis
As I said before, the monk I've got in my group is using a short sword for her basic attacks, so I didn't have to worry about balancing it for her. But, starting at 5th level, Flurry of Blows would basically generate 4/5 of the points, so you might want to limit it to a certain number of times per day. Maybe something along the lines of only once per round, or only on the bonus attacks granted by the Martial Arts or Flurry of Blows.
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“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
It's important to remember the monk at higher levels is not a tank. His contribution requires more careful tactics the higher level monsters you face. Against some monsters stun won't work as often, but knocking the monster down might be more important, depending on the initiative order. There may be some places where just depriving a monster of his reaction that turn will be significant. Paying close attention to initiative order is important in gauging what monk effect will work in each situation.
That would work!
We do bones, motherf***ker!
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We do bones, motherf***ker!
also, monks can do solid damage. It's no afterthought or secondary concern.
@ low level, it's ki limited, but using better monk weapons, you're throwing out (1d8+3)+(1d4+3) w/o ki, + another 1d4+3 with ki.
That's pretty close to a rogue, and IMO catches up to the rogue at level 5.
While you have ki, at least. Without ki you're still behind.
We do bones, motherf***ker!
Monks do solid damage, yes. But other classes do a lot more damage than monks do when they're played well.
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We do bones, motherf***ker!
We'll have to agree to disagree. I love playing monks, but in my group my monks are much more a support class than a front line melee fighter. They're incredible at helping the front line melee fighters and they're incredibly effective though!
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I mean, you kinda come across as thinking there is just "front line" and "support"? The monk is a skirmisher. Support classes are stuff like bards and clerics, who make the rest of the party more effective as a primary means of helping the group.
The monk *can* be played as support, depending on subclass. The class features aren't focused on support, at all, though. Maybe Stunning could be described as support, but he has to punch someone to do it. The Monk is an offensive melee warrior, by default.
We do bones, motherf***ker!
I have a Warlock that makes great use of a Pearl of Power.
I guess you could try gaining double amount of Ki points per level or, monk level + Wisdom mod per level.
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"