I'm the DM on a long running campaign, and one of my players was hoping they could gain additional class features from another archetype. The player, a 16th level Tabaxi Shadow Monk, just met their long-lost mother, who is a Tabaxi Kensei Monk. The party just finished an adventure, and I was going to give them 2 years of downtime. The monk was wondering if they could get some Kensei features by spending the two years training with their mother instead of seeking monetary rewards or crafting magic items like the rest of the party. I felt like it made since RP wise, since him becoming more skilled in aspects of the same class isn't any more outrageous than a sorcerer becoming a ranger. Considering he has all the requirements he might need at his disposal, it should be a done deal. In terms of gameplay, however, it might be problematic. If this were to happen, he would gain extra features without having to level up. There is also the issue of determining how successful he would be, how much additional experience he would gain, and whether or not he would be able to continue gaining Kensei features in addition to his current abilities. Normally, I would just tell them that it wasn't possible, but I want to encourage him to pursue this as it would work well with his story and character arc. So, how should I approach this?
I think it depends on the feature. If it is a unique ability that isn't replicated anywhere else (same or different way), I'd probably say no; that is the benefit unique to the sub-class. If, however, the ability can be replicated with a magic item or is available to other classes I would be more inclined to allow it. At 16th level, your monk having a few extra class features will probably not cause you any more headaches than the 8th level spells the wizard or cleric have.
I think this is a perfectly fine thing to do, and is actually well-supported (albeit indirectly) by the rules.
Chapter 7 from the DMG has a section on giving "Other Rewards" to players - one of which includes Training: I'll just include a couple snippets from the text
Training
A character might be offered special training in lieu of a financial reward. This kind of training isn’t widely available and thus is highly desirable. It presumes the existence of a skilled trainer — perhaps a retired adventurer or champion who is willing to serve as a mentor.
A character who agrees to training as a reward must spend downtime with the trainer. In exchange, the character is guaranteed to receive a special benefit. One of the examples of the benefits includes a feat.
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So you have a character who has sufficient downtime and a mentor that is both willing and able to train them. They definitely qualify. While not explicitly a feat, a subclass feature is absolutely within the same realm of power and scope. I think you could reasonably provide your monk with the "Path of the Kensei" feature, especially since your other players are dedicating two years of downtime to making money or crafting magic items. They are augmenting their power in other ways.
I would even allow the monk to additionally craft a rare quality magic weapon that can be used as a Kensei weapon. A rare weapon only takes about 200 days of downtime and 5000 gp. Given that you are providing characters with about 700 days of downtime, I think that 500 dedicated to training and 200 to obtaining the weapon is completely reasonable.
For future progression, I would just allow your monk to choose between Opportunist or Unerring Accuracy when they hit level 17.
Adding new things or swapping out, like the level 6 power from one subclass to the other? To me adding is more problematic because it runs the risk of the character getting a bit OP. But if you let the whole party find their own trainers so everyone gets a goodie, that might be ok. Of course, if it’s your campaign, you can do whatever you like.
Also, Tasha’s has rules for switching subclasses - not mix and match, just all one or all the other. They basically say just train and you can switch with DM approval, but you might want to check them out.
I had seen those rules in Tasha's, but that wouldn't work because the monk doesn't want to switch classes, he just wants to gain something from the training that wasn't a feat or experience. I've worked it out with him, and he will gain the 3rd level features from the Kensei subclass, but won't gain any higher level features from the subclass in addition to those from his actual subclass. As for keeping him from getting OP, it shouldn't be much of a problem, since his magic items aren't nearly as good as those that the rest of the party has.
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I'm the DM on a long running campaign, and one of my players was hoping they could gain additional class features from another archetype. The player, a 16th level Tabaxi Shadow Monk, just met their long-lost mother, who is a Tabaxi Kensei Monk. The party just finished an adventure, and I was going to give them 2 years of downtime. The monk was wondering if they could get some Kensei features by spending the two years training with their mother instead of seeking monetary rewards or crafting magic items like the rest of the party. I felt like it made since RP wise, since him becoming more skilled in aspects of the same class isn't any more outrageous than a sorcerer becoming a ranger. Considering he has all the requirements he might need at his disposal, it should be a done deal. In terms of gameplay, however, it might be problematic. If this were to happen, he would gain extra features without having to level up. There is also the issue of determining how successful he would be, how much additional experience he would gain, and whether or not he would be able to continue gaining Kensei features in addition to his current abilities. Normally, I would just tell them that it wasn't possible, but I want to encourage him to pursue this as it would work well with his story and character arc. So, how should I approach this?
I think it depends on the feature. If it is a unique ability that isn't replicated anywhere else (same or different way), I'd probably say no; that is the benefit unique to the sub-class. If, however, the ability can be replicated with a magic item or is available to other classes I would be more inclined to allow it. At 16th level, your monk having a few extra class features will probably not cause you any more headaches than the 8th level spells the wizard or cleric have.
I think this is a perfectly fine thing to do, and is actually well-supported (albeit indirectly) by the rules.
Chapter 7 from the DMG has a section on giving "Other Rewards" to players - one of which includes Training: I'll just include a couple snippets from the text
Training
A character might be offered special training in lieu of a financial reward. This kind of training isn’t widely available and thus is highly desirable. It presumes the existence of a skilled trainer — perhaps a retired adventurer or champion who is willing to serve as a mentor.
A character who agrees to training as a reward must spend downtime with the trainer. In exchange, the character is guaranteed to receive a special benefit. One of the examples of the benefits includes a feat.
---
So you have a character who has sufficient downtime and a mentor that is both willing and able to train them. They definitely qualify. While not explicitly a feat, a subclass feature is absolutely within the same realm of power and scope. I think you could reasonably provide your monk with the "Path of the Kensei" feature, especially since your other players are dedicating two years of downtime to making money or crafting magic items. They are augmenting their power in other ways.
I would even allow the monk to additionally craft a rare quality magic weapon that can be used as a Kensei weapon. A rare weapon only takes about 200 days of downtime and 5000 gp. Given that you are providing characters with about 700 days of downtime, I think that 500 dedicated to training and 200 to obtaining the weapon is completely reasonable.
For future progression, I would just allow your monk to choose between Opportunist or Unerring Accuracy when they hit level 17.
Thank you! I was worried about not receiving an answer before our next play session. I'll be sure to inform the monk. Thank you again.
Adding new things or swapping out, like the level 6 power from one subclass to the other? To me adding is more problematic because it runs the risk of the character getting a bit OP. But if you let the whole party find their own trainers so everyone gets a goodie, that might be ok. Of course, if it’s your campaign, you can do whatever you like.
Also, Tasha’s has rules for switching subclasses - not mix and match, just all one or all the other. They basically say just train and you can switch with DM approval, but you might want to check them out.
I had seen those rules in Tasha's, but that wouldn't work because the monk doesn't want to switch classes, he just wants to gain something from the training that wasn't a feat or experience. I've worked it out with him, and he will gain the 3rd level features from the Kensei subclass, but won't gain any higher level features from the subclass in addition to those from his actual subclass. As for keeping him from getting OP, it shouldn't be much of a problem, since his magic items aren't nearly as good as those that the rest of the party has.