After watching a season of the kung fu show Warrior, it occurred to me that there isn't really a subclass equivalent for the classic martial arts movie hero, parrying countless enemies in constant motion. Here's my attempt: The Way of the Stuntman.
How's it look? A few thoughts:
I went back and forth on whether to include Zinger, since Silvery Barbs is so over-powered. It could be replaced by Cutting Words.
How much should you be able to move during Taking All Comers? I thought that prohibiting any movement would be a little too situational and underpowered, so instead I let you move 5 feet in total. But even so, I'm not sure it's that strong a feature, especially given that it forces you to spread your attacks around.
The class really takes off at Level 17, when you rival the Cavalier in your ability to have fun with reactions. I thought about requiring ki points for extra reactions, but since you'll be burning through ki points for all those reactions anyway I decided it wasn't necessary.
I thought about including an "Aerial Combat" flight ability, but decided there was enough going on already. If I drop Silvery Barbs, it might make sense to add in.
A monk that has many reactions seems like alot of fun and plays into the theme of monks being super fast and reflexive.
In general if i was going to play a character that had abilities that were primarily reaction based i would not want to wait until level 17 for it to come online. Perhaps start with the ability to use a second reaction right at third level and add the ability to use another at 9th, 13th, and 17th (but still being only be able to use the same reaction once) this way there is more of a linear progression and a better feel for the subclasses experience at lower levels. The earlier use of extra reactions would still be limited by ki anyways so i dont think it would be OP.
Ki is always an issue with how monks are currently designed so i might suggest being able to use any of your reaction based features once per short rest for free and then additional uses cost ki. Otherwise they are still competing with stunning strike and fob for the same limited resource.
Propmaster is great. I like that alot.
I would use cutting words in place of silvery barbs. Silvery barbs is to easy to abuse and i am not sure affecting saving throws is within the scope of a stuntman, unless its restricted to st, dex and con saving throws.
What about adding in the option of taking athletics or acrobatics? They both seem very stuntman appropriate.
Moving 5 feet for taking all comers is fine. Its rare that a monk will be surrounded by 3 or more enemies to use this feature alot but when you do get to use it it would be fun.
Own worst enemy is fun. Very much like drunken master. This is one i would consider letting a player using again with an extra reaction. Monks are squishy, and to go into melee against multiple opponents should have a nice pay off considering the risk.
Stunt double is a nice idea. It pairs very well with diamond soul at 14th level. Again, the squishiness of monks makes this a risky feature to use. I might suggest adding in the rider that on a str or con save the monk takes 1/2 damage on a failed save and no damage on a successful save. I think stunt doubles would know how to get hit in such a way as to reduce the damage in this type of scenario.
Its all just food for thought but overall i like the theme and flavor.
After watching a season of the kung fu show Warrior, it occurred to me that there isn't really a subclass equivalent for the classic martial arts movie hero, parrying countless enemies in constant motion. Here's my attempt: The Way of the Stuntman.
How's it look? A few thoughts:
A monk that has many reactions seems like alot of fun and plays into the theme of monks being super fast and reflexive.
In general if i was going to play a character that had abilities that were primarily reaction based i would not want to wait until level 17 for it to come online. Perhaps start with the ability to use a second reaction right at third level and add the ability to use another at 9th, 13th, and 17th (but still being only be able to use the same reaction once) this way there is more of a linear progression and a better feel for the subclasses experience at lower levels. The earlier use of extra reactions would still be limited by ki anyways so i dont think it would be OP.
Ki is always an issue with how monks are currently designed so i might suggest being able to use any of your reaction based features once per short rest for free and then additional uses cost ki. Otherwise they are still competing with stunning strike and fob for the same limited resource.
Propmaster is great. I like that alot.
I would use cutting words in place of silvery barbs. Silvery barbs is to easy to abuse and i am not sure affecting saving throws is within the scope of a stuntman, unless its restricted to st, dex and con saving throws.
What about adding in the option of taking athletics or acrobatics? They both seem very stuntman appropriate.
Moving 5 feet for taking all comers is fine. Its rare that a monk will be surrounded by 3 or more enemies to use this feature alot but when you do get to use it it would be fun.
Own worst enemy is fun. Very much like drunken master. This is one i would consider letting a player using again with an extra reaction. Monks are squishy, and to go into melee against multiple opponents should have a nice pay off considering the risk.
Stunt double is a nice idea. It pairs very well with diamond soul at 14th level. Again, the squishiness of monks makes this a risky feature to use. I might suggest adding in the rider that on a str or con save the monk takes 1/2 damage on a failed save and no damage on a successful save. I think stunt doubles would know how to get hit in such a way as to reduce the damage in this type of scenario.
Its all just food for thought but overall i like the theme and flavor.
The Way of the Stuntman is a good idea, but it doesn't feel like it belongs in a fantasy setting. It feels more like something out of a action story.