This Thread has as its purpose the study and development of a variant of the Monaco class presented in the Player's Handbook Playtest6. Putting my ideas in writing helps me to develop a monk Homebrew class. You are free to write your opinion if you are interested in the topic, or if you disagree with certain of my reasoning.
I have always thought that the monk needs a complete redesign, and so for quite some time I have been trying to create monk homebrews. While studying the monk, I noticed that the pricipal features are:
Attack/Defense/Movement = FoB/PD/SotW.
Unfortunately, since all three require a bonus action it blocks their use. I think these features should flow and accompany each other and not self-cancel.
Another problem is that these features, although pricipal in the monk class do not evolve and so the class has no sense of growth.
For my part I found it redundant to stop a 3-pole development, and so I thought of making it 5-pole. By making it like the 5 elements in Chinese culture.
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 plus your Dexterity modifier plus your monk level.
Fast. You can spend 1 Spirit point to take both the Disengage and Dash actions as part of movement, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
Focus. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack, you can spend 1 Spirit point, roll a Martial Arts die and add it to the damage roll.
Knowledge. When you fail an ability check, you can spend 1 Spirit point, roll of Martial Arts die and add it to the ability check.
Life. You can spend 1 Spirit point as a Bonus Action, and regain a number of Hit Points equal to a roll of Martial Art die plus your Wisdom modifier.
As many have already noticed, 1D&D has Weapon Mastery as its main theme. A major change that will revolutionize the way the game is played and finally give technical value to the weapon of choice. Unfortunately, Unarmed Strike does not hold a candle to it and among the classes that suffer the most is the monk. For this reason I thought I would try to create a variant of Unarmed Strike Rule and make it more in line with Weapon Mastery. This variant of Unarmed Strike will be used in the monk class so as to adapt it to its battle style.
UNARMED STRIKE (variant)
An Unarmed Strike is a Melee attack that involves you using your body to addle, damage, grapple, push, or sweep a target within 5 feet of you. Whenever you use your Unarmed Strike, choose one of the following options for its effect:
ADDLE. The creature can’t make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.
DAMAGE. You make an attack roll against the target. Your bonus to hit equals your Strength modifier + your Proficiency Bonus. On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier.
GRAPPLE The target must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or it has the Grappled condition. The DC for the saving throw and any escape attempts equals 8 + your Strength modifier + your Proficiency Bonus. This grapple is possible only if the target is no more than one size larger than you and if you have a hand free to grab it.
PUSH. You can push the creature up to 10 feet away from you horizontally if it is no more than one size larger than you.
SWEEP. The target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your Strength modifier + your Proficiency Bonus, or fall in the Prone condition.
This monk arrangement will provide access to feats that require martial weapons Proficiencies. It will also allow the monk to use the martial die on simple weapons and martial weapons that use dexterity, and thus increasing the number of weapons it can access with the different weapon properties that use Weapon Mastery.
Proficiencies
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
1st: Martial Arts
Your practice of martial arts gives you mastery of combat styles that use your Unarmed Strike and Simple Weapons. You gain the following benefits while you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:
Martial Arts Die. You can roll a d6 in place of the normal damage of your Unarmed Strike or your weapon attacks. This die changes as you gain Monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.
Martial Master. You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for all the Unarmed Strike (variant) properties,and also for all Simple Weapons that do not have the two-handed property.Each long rest you can choose a property of Unarmed Strike (Addle, Grapple, Push or Sweep) and combine this property with the damage of each of your unarmed strikes.
Quick Strike. When you use the Attack action with an Unarmed Strike or with a Weapon that use dexterity on your turn, you can make one Unarmed Strike as a Bonus Action on the same turn.
I think Focus is better than FoB. Focus is meant to go well with any striking attack, so either unarmed or weapon attack, melee or ranged. Since it can only be used with attacks that have already hit the resource points will never be wasted, whereas if FoB is activated it might happen that one or both attacks do not hit thus having the unpleasant feeling of having wasted the Spirit (ki) point.
Focus. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack, you can spend 1 Spirit point, roll a Martial Arts die and add it to the damage roll.
Focus also allows Stunning Strike to be adjusted so that it can be performed only once per turn and by sharing the same resource even if the enemy passes the saving salvo on CON you don't feel that you have wasted the ki points since the Focus damage remains.
5th. Stunning Strike. When you hit a creature with Focus, you can attempt a Stunning Strike. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or have the Stunned condition until the end of your next turn.
FoB is not lost, everyone likes the monk because it has the carratteristics of making many unarmed attacks as a bonus action. In this case FoB is moved to 11th level and made free by the resource constraint.
11th. Flurry of Strikes. Your Martial Arts feature now confers two Quick Strikes rather than one. Additionally, if you spend 1 Spirit point or more as an action, you can perform Flurry of Strikes as a bonus action before the end of the turn.
Another very important reason is for the DPR balance of the monk class. The monk is known to have a good DPR value in its first phase (level 1-4) and this begins to drop in the second phase (level 5-10) and in the third phase (level 11-16) it is outclassed by almost all other classes.
Having had a martial arts die enhancement, the monk at a higher DPR in the first phase thus making it even stronger in the first phase, but not strong enough for the third phase.
Using magic items boosts the DPR value of a class based on the number of attacks. Having FoB at the second level increases the damage in the first phase thus making it even more unbalanced in the first phase.
Focus can be upgraded as a monk's capostone, and being connected directly with Stunning Strike also automatically releases it.
20. Limitless Your unarmed attacks have never been more powerful. If you use 1 Spirit Point at the beginning of your turn to perform Focus, each of your attacks that hit during your turn is a Focus attack
Why do we think SotW is an unfair technique? Because other classes are allowed to do it without having to waste resources. That is why I think SotW should go beyond the bonus action and instead be part of the movement action.
Fast. You can spend 1 Spirit point to take both the Disengage and Dash actions as part of movement, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
Having the monk only a d8 hit points and a large movement ability this should make it a skirmish warrior, unfortunately in the 5e version this was not possible except with the mobile feat. Now thanks to the push property of the weapon or unarmed attack it is possible. This allows it to disengage from the enemy if hit and in the case of many enemies it remains SotW.
Movement is an important feature of the monk and that is why I wanted to improve it. The jump that is enhanced by SotW is worth little without a little added and this could also make synergy with Slow fall by offering the player more aerobic and imaginative maneuvers.
2nd. Unarmored Movement. You gain the following benefits while you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:
Spirit Jump. You can use Wisdom instead of Strength to determines how far you can jump.
Heightened Speed. Your speed increases by 10 feet, this bonus increases when you reach certain Monk levels, as shown in the Monk table.
Slow Fall. You can use your Reaction when you fall to reduce any damage you take from the fall by an amount equal to five times your Monk level.
I thought that at some point the monk could perform a more advanced movement, such as the spell "spider movement" or "walking on water" and why not even a sub version of " fly"?
9th. Art of Movement. You gain the following benefits while you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:
Inertia. You gain the ability to move along vertical surfaces and across liquids on your turn without falling during the move.
Gravity Walk. You can spend 1 Spirit Point as a bonus action and for 10 minutes, you can hold your position and not fall while using inertia.
Lightning Step. When you use Fast your step is so light that for the turn you can run through the air.
Playing with the monk, many will surely have felt that its bonus action is too full and difficult to balance, and often people decide to simply take the mobile feat to avoid using SotW and use FoB as much as possible. Instead PD honestly I have used it so few times that it never seemed very useful, but that might vary from the way the player plays. Honestly, I always thought PD was too indirect as a defense. Predicting an attack toward your player could simply lead to disappointments where resources were also wasted. I prefer something reactive and sudden, kind of like the shield spell or the Defensive Duelist feat. So I decided to do the opposite of what has been proposed so far and my solution is Defense.
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 plus your Dexterity modifier plus your monk level.
Defense is a nice solution to reduce some damage and thus have a greater margin of hit points during the game and this without having to waste a bonus action and risk not being attacked thus wasting resources unnecessarily.
I'm sure many will think, "yes, but PD offers defense throughout the turn and thus is a life saver in situations where you are surrounded by many enemies." I honestly find this way of thinking correct, but at the same time not related to the monk's type of design. The monk should avoid this situation and move as much as possible to stay out of trouble. A feature like PD only confuses the player by making them think that the monk is a good tank. NO, the monk has d8 hit points, it will never be a good tank. The monk is a wise class and prefers to stay out of trouble, at least that is what I believe. Another interesting reason is that thanks to Focus working with ranged weapons it has freed the monk from melee combat making it less of a problem.
Defense damage reduction was taken from Deflect-Missiles and this linked them together. But in this case Deflect-Missiles will allow the monk to deflect any ranged attack that uses a roll to hit and thus also some spells.
3rd. Deflect-Missiles. When you use Defense and you reduce a ranged attack damage to 0, you can deflect the attack against a creature. If you do so, choose a creature within 60 feet of yourself that isn’t behind Total Cover. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die. The damage is the same type dealt by the attack.
To fulfill the dream of so many I chreated the Counter-Strike feature, which like Deflect-Missiles is always linked to Defense.
10th: Counter-Strike. When you use Defense and you reduce a melee attack damage to 0, you can make an unarmed attack against a creature within 5 feet of yourself.
As many people know, the higher you level up, the easier it is to hit, this is due to the ever-increasing bonus to hit that fails to be followed by AC. That is why I thought of finishing this feature as PD by adding the dodge bonus. This is also due to that the more the level goes up, the more the number of attacks increase.
15th: Master of Defense. When you use Defense you attain the benefits of the Dodge action.
Honestly, I am still very undecided about this feature and don't know whether to simply add an additional reaction, but that would lead to too much counterattack. Does anyone have any solutions?
Due to WotC's choice to replace the term ki from the monk class to detach from an Asian geo-cultural concept and replace it with Martial Discipline brought no small amount of dissension among the public. So I looked for alternative terms and reading the introductory text of the monk class I found that the concept of spiritual growth is the basis of the monk class and therefore I am convinced that Spirit point might be the right term. I admit that I was also seduced by Force point, but references to Star Wars and Jedi are protected by rights and so it is a complicated subject.
Training and Asceticism
Small walled cloisters dot the landscapes of the worlds of D&D, tiny refuges from the flow of ordinary life, where time seems to stand still. The Monks who live there seek personal perfection through contemplation and rigorous training. Many entered the monastery as children, sent to live there when their parents died, when food couldn’t be found to support them, or in return for some kindness that the monks had performed for their families.
Some Monks live entirely apart from the surrounding population, secluded from anything that might impede their spiritual progress. Others are sworn to isolation, emerging only to serve as spies or assassins at the command of their leader, a noble patron, or some other mortal or divine power.
The majority of Monks don’t shun their neighbors, making frequent visits to nearby towns or villages and exchanging their service for food and other goods. As versatile warriors, Monks often end up protecting their neighbors from monsters or tyrants.
For a Monk, becoming an adventurer means leaving a structured, communal lifestyle to become a wanderer. This can be a harsh transition, and Monks don’t undertake it lightly. Those who leave their cloisters take their work seriously, approaching their adventures as personal tests of their physical and spiritual growth. As a rule, Monks care little for material wealth and are driven by a desire to accomplish a greater mission than merely slaying monsters and plundering their treasure.
2nd: Spiritual Power. Your self-discipline and martial training allow you to sense extraordinary energy within yourself. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of Spirit Points. Your Monk level determines the number of points you have, as shown in the Spirit Points column of the Monk table. You can spend these points to fuel various Spirit Powers. You start knowing five such features: Defence, Fast, Focus, Knowledge and Life. You learn more Spiritual features as you gain levels in this class. When you spend a Spirit Point, it is unavailable until you finish a Short Rest or Long Rest, at the end of which you regain all your expended points. Some of the Spiritual features require your target to make a saving throw to resist the Power’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:
Force save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 plus your Dexterity modifier plus your monk level.
Fast. You can spend 1 Spirit point to take both the Disengage and Dash actions as part of movement, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
Focus. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack, you can spend 1 Spirit point, roll a Martial Arts die and add it to the damage roll.
Knowledge. When you fail an ability check, you can spend 1 Spirit point, roll of Martial Arts die and add it to the ability check.
Life. You can spend 1 Spirit point as a Bonus Action, and regain a number of Hit Points equal to a roll of Martial Art die plus your Wisdom modifier.
This monk class has a lower need for resources, but at the same time has the ability to use more resources during its turn. This depends very much on the player's game strategy. If this follows a risky strategy, it could lead to overuse of resources.
An example would be to frequently use Defense to reduce damage only to be able to use Reaction to counterattack.
Another example is to use Fast every turn so as to disengage. This feature is designed only for cases where you are surrounded by many enemies. The correct technique is to take advantage of Weapon Mastery properties (Push) and Unarmed Strike properties (Addle and Pusch).
To lessen the burden of resource consumption, however, I added a fast charging feature.
7th: Spiritual Sensitivity. Your Spirit power nourishes your body and mind. You no longer need food or water. Additionally, if you spend at least 1 minute meditating, you can regain all your expended Spirit points. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
The monk being a MAD class needs Ability Score right from the start to balance with the rest of the classes, and I think receiving it even at 6th level like the fighter is a good solution.
4th: Ability Score Improvement. You gain the Ability Score Improvement or another feat of your choice for which you qualify, and again at 6th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
For all those who say that there are too many Ability Scores and that the monk already has too many features that replace these bonuses, now unfortunately that is no longer the case. I remind you that the fighter has 7 ASI (4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 19th) and now has even more features than before.
Normally the monk's 11th-level subclass features should have given a DPR enhancement, although it honestly never happened leading precisely to the problem of too low a DPR. This prompted me to create Flurry of Strikes.
11th. Flurry of Strikes. Your Martial Arts feature now confers two Quick Strikes rather than one. Additionally, if you spend 1 Spirit point or more as an action, you can perform Flurry of Strikes as a bonus action before the end of the turn.
Having added the Flurry of Strikes feature in the monk's core class, the monk no longer needs a subcalss feature at 11th level so it was moved to 13th level and I also moved the 6th one to 7th level. In this way, the DPR remains mainly handled by the core class, thus avoiding problems in the future.
3rd: Monk Subclass. You gain a Monk subclass of your choice: Shadow, Elementalist, or Psionic. Subclasses are detailed after this class’s description. A subclass is a specialization that grants you special abilities at 3rd level and again at 7th, 13th, and 17th Monk levels.
The monk class needs more choices in terms of skills. The monk is known as an intellectual warrior and if it does not have as wide a choice as the fighter it would be strange. For this reason I decided to add the skills Medicine and Nature.
I also noticed that the monk's list of skills does not match well with its abilities, so I decided to eliminate History and Religion. Perhaps many people think that the monk is strongly related to religion but that is not the case. Official 5e descriptions of monks don’t mention religion; they are portrayed as scholars seeking personal perfection through meditation and training. Perhaps religion should belong more to a monastery-style background, or otherwise related to a cult.
A monk rather than interested in religion I imagine would be more in tune with nature. I can imagine a monk in tune with nature and life, and why not, even animals could be soothed by the good spirit of a monk. After all, it is known that some martial arts styles came into being through imitation of animals and insects, and that is why I decided to add Animal Handling to the list.
Concentration is typical of a trained mind and like that of a martial arts master or like someone who meditates to sharpen its senses and improve itself. So concentration allows one to refine one's perceptions. The skill Perception is perfect for the monk class.
Some of the features I came up with still don't convince me. So I decided to create some alternative solutions.
PD is designed to be activated in situations where the monk cannot escape and has been targeted by a group of enemies. For this reason, the feature takes effect until the start of the monk's next turn.
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.
The feature designed by me is designed for direct defense and easier to use, unfortunately it is not weighted for a large number of enemies. This is fine, the monk is not meant to be a Tank, it is not his job to draw the enemy and take the beating, this should be left to the clssi such as the barbarian, paladin, fighter etc. But for the sake of technique development, I thought of changing it this way:
Defense. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to spend 1 Spirit point and reduce the damage by 1d10 plus your Dexterity modifier plus your monk level. The reduction remains active until it is fully used or until the start of your next turn.
I admit that Master of Defense was a bit of a flop.
15th: Master of Defense. When you use Defense you attain the benefits of the Dodge action.
It was my attempt to take the SotW feature back to its roots. I decided to modify Defense to be able to allow this enhancement, and being a fairly important enhancement I thought I would move it to the 18th level.
18th: Master of Defense. When using Defense, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to enhance this feature, thus reducing the damage by 1d12 + your proficiency bonus + twice your monk level.
I think this feature is a bit weak for 18th level and although Stunning Strike is powerful, you can only use it 1 time per turn and it becomes difficult to use as early as 15th level being enemies often with good CON.
18th: Spiritual Master. When using Stunning Strike, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to affect the opponent’s mind, in which case the Stunning Strike saving throw will be on Wisdom. If the saving throw is succeeded by the enemy, this use of Spirit point isn’t expended.
Since it was originally supposed to be a feature that enhances the Focus feature, I thought I would add an enhancement to the Throw to Hit. As for the Stun Shot enhancement, I still have to think about it.
15th: Spiritual Master. When one of your attacks doesn't hit, you can decide to use Focus to enhance your attack to hit instead of enhancing the damage. Additionally, when using Stunning Strike, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to affect the opponent’s mind, in which case the Stunning Strike saving throw will be on Wisdom.
Having evaluated Defense as a very powerful feature, being able to reduce any damage it is better not to make it more powerful than it already is, and so it is left as it was before.
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.
I added the detail that the Deflect-Missiles and Counter-Strike features will only be able be performed once per turn due to the 18th-level Master of Defense feature.
3rd: Deflect-Missiles. Once per turn, when you use Defense and you reduce a ranged attack damage to 0, you can deflect the attack against a creature. If you do so, choose a creature within 60 feet of yourself that isn’t behind Total Cover. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die. The damage is the same type dealt by the attack.
10th: Counter-Strike. Once per turn, when you use Defense and you reduce a melee attack damage to 0, you can make an unarmed attack against a creature within 5 feet of yourself.
Master of Defense allows the monk to take full advantage of the Defense feature, and being able to upgrade the feature is even more useful.
18th: Master of Defense. When using Defense the reduction now remains active until it is fully used or until the start of your next turn. Additionally, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to enhance the Defense feature, thus reducing the damage by 1d12 + your proficiency bonus + twice your monk level.
Revise of Features 3
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level. The reduction remains active until it is fully used or until the start of your next turn.
3rd: Deflect-Missiles. Once per turn, when you use Defense and you reduce a ranged attack damage to 0, you can deflect the attack against a creature. If you do so, choose a creature within 60 feet of yourself that isn’t behind Total Cover. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die. The damage is the same type dealt by the attack.
10th: Counter-Strike. Once per turn, when you use Defense and you reduce a melee attack damage to 0, you can make an unarmed attack against a creature within 5 feet of yourself.
18th: Master of Defense.When you use Defense, you can spend 1 more Spirit point to double the value of reduction.
Focus. Once per turn, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point, roll a Martial Arts die and add it to a damage roll or an attack roll.
5th: Stunning Strike. When you hit a creature with Focus, you can attempt a Stunning Strike. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or have the Stunned condition until the end of your next turn.
15th: Spiritual Master. When using Stunning Strike, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to affect the opponent’s mind, in which case the Stunning Strike saving throw will be on Wisdom.
20th: Limitless. If you use 1 Spirit point at the beginning of your turn to perform Focus, each of your attacks that hit during your turn is a Focus attack. Additionally, when you meditate you can project your mind and observe the multiverse to find enlightenment. It can also communicate with someone or teleport you to the place where your mind is observing. When you try to communicate in this state, you can touch the spirit of other minds so that you understand all languages and any creature can understand what you say.
Kane was a male human monk of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose in the Earthspur Mountains south of Damara in the Bloodstone Lands.
Kane was a supremely talented and highly trained monk and martial artist. He was proficient in such weapons as the bo stick, jo stick, or quarterstaff; the dagger and sap; the halberd; and even crossbows, the lasso, and caltrops.He could fight well when blindedor against unseen foes. He had good endurance.
He was capable in animal training, the mimicking of animal noises, finding a direction (survival), and the use of ropes.
By 1357 DR, he had attained a mystical "spirit walking" ability. While in a meditative state, he could project his mind to another location, no matter how far away it was or whether it was on another plane. Then, by an act of will, he could bring his corporeal body along after it. (Empty Body, Astral Projection, Teleport)
By 1368 DR, Kane had also mastered the quivering palm technique, being able to strike a foe and set up vibrations in their body that he could manipulate, whether to control their body or kill them outright. This effect would last some time before wearing off.
Kane could hold in his bare hands the evil sword Charon's Claw, which burnt the flesh and souls of those who failed to master it in a contest of wills, without any ill effect. Anyone who touched the blade or handle of this sword unprotected would need to compete with it in a battle of wills. Failure meant it would burn the flesh and skin of the wielder's hand away. (Stillness of Mind, Diamond Soul)
It was rumored that Kane once battled one white dragon (Glacialamacus) and two red dragons. A brigade of King Gareth's warriors were fighting the three dragons at Great Fork Ford and were about to lose. Kane rushed in, avoided fire and frost (Evasion), and tricked the dragons into breathing upon each other (Deflect magic?). All three dragons suffered severe damage from their breaths, the blows of Kane, and the charge of Gareth's soldiers
Around 1357 DR, Kane appeared to be only around 40 years old, though he was actually closer to 60—such was his good health. Even around 1368 DR, he still only seemed just past middle-aged, though he had hair and beard now white and fraying. By 1484 DR, (167 years old) however, Kane had transcended the restraints of the human body. He appeared very old—just skin and bones under a white robe. (Timeless Body)
Kane's goal in life was to discover and achieve a higher plane of existence.In a common day, Kane would spend at least four hours in meditation and four more training to develop his skills.
Features Flavoring
Your mastery of martial arts makes you able to fight effectively even when you are blinded or against unseen enemies.
You learn to touch the ki of other minds so that you understand all spoken languages. Moreover, any creature that can understand a language can understand what you say.
You no longer need food or water.
Your mastery of the ki flowing through you makes you immune to disease and poison.
Your ki sustains you so that you suffer none of the frailty of old age, and you can't be aged magically. You can still die of old age, however.
You can spend 8 ki points to cast the astral projection spell, without needing material components. When you do so, you can't take any other creatures with you.
Adjustment
1) Fighter style feat (Blind Fighting)?
2) Tongue of the Sun and Moon: Moved to a subclass?
3) 7th: Spirit-Sensitive. Your Spiritual power nourishes your body and mind, forgoing food and drink doesn’t give you Exhaustion. Additionally, if you spend at least 1 minute meditating, you can regain all your expended Spirit points. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
4) 10th: Stillness of Mind. Your body and mind are so trained that you are now proficient in Constitution saving throws, and have advantage in saving throws against the Charmed, Frightened and Poisoned conditions.Additionally, whenever you make a saving throw and fail, you can spend 1 Spirit point to reroll it and take the second result.(To be considered whether to keep both or delete one of them)
5) 14th: Harmony. Your spiritual power connects you with the life of the multiverse and sustains you so that you suffer none of the frailty of old age, For every 10 years, your body ages only 1 year, and you can't be aged magically. You can still die of old age, however. Additionally, your physical and mental discipline grant you proficiency in all saving throws.
6) 20th: Limitless. Your unarmed attacks have never been more powerful. If you use 1 Spirit point at the beginning of your turn to perform Focus, each of your attacks during your turn is a Focus attack. Additionally, when you meditate you can project your mind and observe the multiverse to find enlightenment. It can also communicate with someone or teleport you to the place where your mind is observing. When you try to communicate in this state, you can touch the spirit of other minds so that you understand all languages and any creature can understand what you say.
Why this Thread
This Thread has as its purpose the study and development of a variant of the Monaco class presented in the Player's Handbook Playtest6. Putting my ideas in writing helps me to develop a monk Homebrew class. You are free to write your opinion if you are interested in the topic, or if you disagree with certain of my reasoning.
Monk Homebrew LINK: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/AAitVEY4XoK3
Main characteristics of the monk
I have always thought that the monk needs a complete redesign, and so for quite some time I have been trying to create monk homebrews. While studying the monk, I noticed that the pricipal features are:
Attack/Defense/Movement = FoB/PD/SotW.
Unfortunately, since all three require a bonus action it blocks their use. I think these features should flow and accompany each other and not self-cancel.
Another problem is that these features, although pricipal in the monk class do not evolve and so the class has no sense of growth.
For my part I found it redundant to stop a 3-pole development, and so I thought of making it 5-pole. By making it like the 5 elements in Chinese culture.
Attack-Fire / Defense-Earth / Movement-Water / Knowledge-Metal / Vitality-Wood.
And I finally arrived at this solution:
Rule Modification
As many have already noticed, 1D&D has Weapon Mastery as its main theme. A major change that will revolutionize the way the game is played and finally give technical value to the weapon of choice. Unfortunately, Unarmed Strike does not hold a candle to it and among the classes that suffer the most is the monk. For this reason I thought I would try to create a variant of Unarmed Strike Rule and make it more in line with Weapon Mastery. This variant of Unarmed Strike will be used in the monk class so as to adapt it to its battle style.
UNARMED STRIKE (variant)
An Unarmed Strike is a Melee attack that involves you using your body to addle, damage, grapple, push, or sweep a target within 5 feet of you. Whenever you use your Unarmed Strike, choose one of the following options for its effect:
Unarmed Mastery and Weapon Mastery
This monk arrangement will provide access to feats that require martial weapons Proficiencies. It will also allow the monk to use the martial die on simple weapons and martial weapons that use dexterity, and thus increasing the number of weapons it can access with the different weapon properties that use Weapon Mastery.
Proficiencies
1st: Martial Arts
Your practice of martial arts gives you mastery of combat styles that use your Unarmed Strike and Simple Weapons. You gain the following benefits while you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:
Attack Power
I think Focus is better than FoB. Focus is meant to go well with any striking attack, so either unarmed or weapon attack, melee or ranged. Since it can only be used with attacks that have already hit the resource points will never be wasted, whereas if FoB is activated it might happen that one or both attacks do not hit thus having the unpleasant feeling of having wasted the Spirit (ki) point.
Focus. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack, you can spend 1 Spirit point, roll a Martial Arts die and add it to the damage roll.
Focus also allows Stunning Strike to be adjusted so that it can be performed only once per turn and by sharing the same resource even if the enemy passes the saving salvo on CON you don't feel that you have wasted the ki points since the Focus damage remains.
5th. Stunning Strike. When you hit a creature with Focus, you can attempt a Stunning Strike. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or have the Stunned condition until the end of your next turn.
FoB is not lost, everyone likes the monk because it has the carratteristics of making many unarmed attacks as a bonus action. In this case FoB is moved to 11th level and made free by the resource constraint.
11th. Flurry of Strikes. Your Martial Arts feature now confers two Quick Strikes rather than one. Additionally, if you spend 1 Spirit point or more as an action, you can perform Flurry of Strikes as a bonus action before the end of the turn.
Another very important reason is for the DPR balance of the monk class. The monk is known to have a good DPR value in its first phase (level 1-4) and this begins to drop in the second phase (level 5-10) and in the third phase (level 11-16) it is outclassed by almost all other classes.
Having had a martial arts die enhancement, the monk at a higher DPR in the first phase thus making it even stronger in the first phase, but not strong enough for the third phase.
Using magic items boosts the DPR value of a class based on the number of attacks. Having FoB at the second level increases the damage in the first phase thus making it even more unbalanced in the first phase.
Focus can be upgraded as a monk's capostone, and being connected directly with Stunning Strike also automatically releases it.
20. Limitless Your unarmed attacks have never been more powerful. If you use 1 Spirit Point at the beginning of your turn to perform Focus, each of your attacks that hit during your turn is a Focus attack
Movement
Why do we think SotW is an unfair technique? Because other classes are allowed to do it without having to waste resources. That is why I think SotW should go beyond the bonus action and instead be part of the movement action.
Fast. You can spend 1 Spirit point to take both the Disengage and Dash actions as part of movement, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
Having the monk only a d8 hit points and a large movement ability this should make it a skirmish warrior, unfortunately in the 5e version this was not possible except with the mobile feat. Now thanks to the push property of the weapon or unarmed attack it is possible. This allows it to disengage from the enemy if hit and in the case of many enemies it remains SotW.
Movement is an important feature of the monk and that is why I wanted to improve it. The jump that is enhanced by SotW is worth little without a little added and this could also make synergy with Slow fall by offering the player more aerobic and imaginative maneuvers.
2nd. Unarmored Movement. You gain the following benefits while you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:
I thought that at some point the monk could perform a more advanced movement, such as the spell "spider movement" or "walking on water" and why not even a sub version of " fly"?
9th. Art of Movement. You gain the following benefits while you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:
Defense Power
Playing with the monk, many will surely have felt that its bonus action is too full and difficult to balance, and often people decide to simply take the mobile feat to avoid using SotW and use FoB as much as possible. Instead PD honestly I have used it so few times that it never seemed very useful, but that might vary from the way the player plays. Honestly, I always thought PD was too indirect as a defense. Predicting an attack toward your player could simply lead to disappointments where resources were also wasted. I prefer something reactive and sudden, kind of like the shield spell or the Defensive Duelist feat. So I decided to do the opposite of what has been proposed so far and my solution is Defense.
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 plus your Dexterity modifier plus your monk level.
Defense is a nice solution to reduce some damage and thus have a greater margin of hit points during the game and this without having to waste a bonus action and risk not being attacked thus wasting resources unnecessarily.
I'm sure many will think, "yes, but PD offers defense throughout the turn and thus is a life saver in situations where you are surrounded by many enemies." I honestly find this way of thinking correct, but at the same time not related to the monk's type of design. The monk should avoid this situation and move as much as possible to stay out of trouble. A feature like PD only confuses the player by making them think that the monk is a good tank. NO, the monk has d8 hit points, it will never be a good tank. The monk is a wise class and prefers to stay out of trouble, at least that is what I believe. Another interesting reason is that thanks to Focus working with ranged weapons it has freed the monk from melee combat making it less of a problem.
Defense damage reduction was taken from Deflect-Missiles and this linked them together. But in this case Deflect-Missiles will allow the monk to deflect any ranged attack that uses a roll to hit and thus also some spells.
3rd. Deflect-Missiles. When you use Defense and you reduce a ranged attack damage to 0, you can deflect the attack against a creature. If you do so, choose a creature within 60 feet of yourself that isn’t behind Total Cover. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die. The damage is the same type dealt by the attack.
To fulfill the dream of so many I chreated the Counter-Strike feature, which like Deflect-Missiles is always linked to Defense.
10th: Counter-Strike. When you use Defense and you reduce a melee attack damage to 0, you can make an unarmed attack against a creature within 5 feet of yourself.
As many people know, the higher you level up, the easier it is to hit, this is due to the ever-increasing bonus to hit that fails to be followed by AC. That is why I thought of finishing this feature as PD by adding the dodge bonus. This is also due to that the more the level goes up, the more the number of attacks increase.
15th: Master of Defense. When you use Defense you attain the benefits of the Dodge action.
Honestly, I am still very undecided about this feature and don't know whether to simply add an additional reaction, but that would lead to too much counterattack. Does anyone have any solutions?
Why Spirit Points
Due to WotC's choice to replace the term ki from the monk class to detach from an Asian geo-cultural concept and replace it with Martial Discipline brought no small amount of dissension among the public. So I looked for alternative terms and reading the introductory text of the monk class I found that the concept of spiritual growth is the basis of the monk class and therefore I am convinced that Spirit point might be the right term. I admit that I was also seduced by Force point, but references to Star Wars and Jedi are protected by rights and so it is a complicated subject.
Training and Asceticism
Small walled cloisters dot the landscapes of the worlds of D&D, tiny refuges from the flow of ordinary life, where time seems to stand still. The Monks who live there seek personal perfection through contemplation and rigorous training. Many entered the monastery as children, sent to live there when their parents died, when food couldn’t be found to support them, or in return for some kindness that the monks had performed for their families.
Some Monks live entirely apart from the surrounding population, secluded from anything that might impede their spiritual progress. Others are sworn to isolation, emerging only to serve as spies or assassins at the command of their leader, a noble patron, or some other mortal or divine power.
The majority of Monks don’t shun their neighbors, making frequent visits to nearby towns or villages and exchanging their service for food and other goods. As versatile warriors, Monks often end up protecting their neighbors from monsters or tyrants.
For a Monk, becoming an adventurer means leaving a structured, communal lifestyle to become a wanderer. This can be a harsh transition, and Monks don’t undertake it lightly. Those who leave their cloisters take their work seriously, approaching their adventures as personal tests of their physical and spiritual growth. As a rule, Monks care little for material wealth and are driven by a desire to accomplish a greater mission than merely slaying monsters and plundering their treasure.
2nd: Spiritual Power. Your self-discipline and martial training allow you to sense extraordinary energy within yourself. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of Spirit Points. Your Monk level determines the number of points you have, as shown in the Spirit Points column of the Monk table. You can spend these points to fuel various Spirit Powers. You start knowing five such features: Defence, Fast, Focus, Knowledge and Life. You learn more Spiritual features as you gain levels in this class. When you spend a Spirit Point, it is unavailable until you finish a Short Rest or Long Rest, at the end of which you regain all your expended points. Some of the Spiritual features require your target to make a saving throw to resist the Power’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:
Force save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Resources / Spirit points
This monk class has a lower need for resources, but at the same time has the ability to use more resources during its turn. This depends very much on the player's game strategy. If this follows a risky strategy, it could lead to overuse of resources.
An example would be to frequently use Defense to reduce damage only to be able to use Reaction to counterattack.
Another example is to use Fast every turn so as to disengage. This feature is designed only for cases where you are surrounded by many enemies. The correct technique is to take advantage of Weapon Mastery properties (Push) and Unarmed Strike properties (Addle and Pusch).
To lessen the burden of resource consumption, however, I added a fast charging feature.
7th: Spiritual Sensitivity. Your Spirit power nourishes your body and mind. You no longer need food or water. Additionally, if you spend at least 1 minute meditating, you can regain all your expended Spirit points. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
Ability Score
The monk being a MAD class needs Ability Score right from the start to balance with the rest of the classes, and I think receiving it even at 6th level like the fighter is a good solution.
4th: Ability Score Improvement. You gain the Ability Score Improvement or another feat of your choice for which you qualify, and again at 6th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
For all those who say that there are too many Ability Scores and that the monk already has too many features that replace these bonuses, now unfortunately that is no longer the case. I remind you that the fighter has 7 ASI (4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 19th) and now has even more features than before.
Monk Subclass levels
Normally the monk's 11th-level subclass features should have given a DPR enhancement, although it honestly never happened leading precisely to the problem of too low a DPR. This prompted me to create Flurry of Strikes.
11th. Flurry of Strikes. Your Martial Arts feature now confers two Quick Strikes rather than one. Additionally, if you spend 1 Spirit point or more as an action, you can perform Flurry of Strikes as a bonus action before the end of the turn.
Having added the Flurry of Strikes feature in the monk's core class, the monk no longer needs a subcalss feature at 11th level so it was moved to 13th level and I also moved the 6th one to 7th level. In this way, the DPR remains mainly handled by the core class, thus avoiding problems in the future.
3rd: Monk Subclass. You gain a Monk subclass of your choice: Shadow, Elementalist, or Psionic. Subclasses are detailed after this class’s description. A subclass is a specialization that grants you special abilities at 3rd level and again at 7th, 13th, and 17th Monk levels.
Skills Proficiencies
The monk class needs more choices in terms of skills. The monk is known as an intellectual warrior and if it does not have as wide a choice as the fighter it would be strange. For this reason I decided to add the skills Medicine and Nature.
I also noticed that the monk's list of skills does not match well with its abilities, so I decided to eliminate History and Religion. Perhaps many people think that the monk is strongly related to religion but that is not the case. Official 5e descriptions of monks don’t mention religion; they are portrayed as scholars seeking personal perfection through meditation and training. Perhaps religion should belong more to a monastery-style background, or otherwise related to a cult.
A monk rather than interested in religion I imagine would be more in tune with nature. I can imagine a monk in tune with nature and life, and why not, even animals could be soothed by the good spirit of a monk. After all, it is known that some martial arts styles came into being through imitation of animals and insects, and that is why I decided to add Animal Handling to the list.
Concentration is typical of a trained mind and like that of a martial arts master or like someone who meditates to sharpen its senses and improve itself. So concentration allows one to refine one's perceptions. The skill Perception is perfect for the monk class.
Skills (Choose 2): Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Stealth.
Revise of Features
Some of the features I came up with still don't convince me. So I decided to create some alternative solutions.
PD is designed to be activated in situations where the monk cannot escape and has been targeted by a group of enemies. For this reason, the feature takes effect until the start of the monk's next turn.
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.
The feature designed by me is designed for direct defense and easier to use, unfortunately it is not weighted for a large number of enemies. This is fine, the monk is not meant to be a Tank, it is not his job to draw the enemy and take the beating, this should be left to the clssi such as the barbarian, paladin, fighter etc. But for the sake of technique development, I thought of changing it this way:
Defense. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to spend 1 Spirit point and reduce the damage by 1d10 plus your Dexterity modifier plus your monk level. The reduction remains active until it is fully used or until the start of your next turn.
I admit that Master of Defense was a bit of a flop.
15th: Master of Defense. When you use Defense you attain the benefits of the Dodge action.
It was my attempt to take the SotW feature back to its roots. I decided to modify Defense to be able to allow this enhancement, and being a fairly important enhancement I thought I would move it to the 18th level.
18th: Master of Defense. When using Defense, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to enhance this feature, thus reducing the damage by 1d12 + your proficiency bonus + twice your monk level.
I think this feature is a bit weak for 18th level and although Stunning Strike is powerful, you can only use it 1 time per turn and it becomes difficult to use as early as 15th level being enemies often with good CON.
18th: Spiritual Master. When using Stunning Strike, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to affect the opponent’s mind, in which case the Stunning Strike saving throw will be on Wisdom. If the saving throw is succeeded by the enemy, this use of Spirit point isn’t expended.
Since it was originally supposed to be a feature that enhances the Focus feature, I thought I would add an enhancement to the Throw to Hit. As for the Stun Shot enhancement, I still have to think about it.
15th: Spiritual Master. When one of your attacks doesn't hit, you can decide to use Focus to enhance your attack to hit instead of enhancing the damage. Additionally, when using Stunning Strike, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to affect the opponent’s mind, in which case the Stunning Strike saving throw will be on Wisdom.
Revise of Features 2
Having evaluated Defense as a very powerful feature, being able to reduce any damage it is better not to make it more powerful than it already is, and so it is left as it was before.
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.
I added the detail that the Deflect-Missiles and Counter-Strike features will only be able be performed once per turn due to the 18th-level Master of Defense feature.
3rd: Deflect-Missiles. Once per turn, when you use Defense and you reduce a ranged attack damage to 0, you can deflect the attack against a creature. If you do so, choose a creature within 60 feet of yourself that isn’t behind Total Cover. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die. The damage is the same type dealt by the attack.
10th: Counter-Strike. Once per turn, when you use Defense and you reduce a melee attack damage to 0, you can make an unarmed attack against a creature within 5 feet of yourself.
Master of Defense allows the monk to take full advantage of the Defense feature, and being able to upgrade the feature is even more useful.
18th: Master of Defense. When using Defense the reduction now remains active until it is fully used or until the start of your next turn. Additionally, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to enhance the Defense feature, thus reducing the damage by 1d12 + your proficiency bonus + twice your monk level.
Revise of Features 3
Defense. When you take damage, you can spend 1 Spirit point and use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level. The reduction remains active until it is fully used or until the start of your next turn.
3rd: Deflect-Missiles. Once per turn, when you use Defense and you reduce a ranged attack damage to 0, you can deflect the attack against a creature. If you do so, choose a creature within 60 feet of yourself that isn’t behind Total Cover. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die. The damage is the same type dealt by the attack.
10th: Counter-Strike. Once per turn, when you use Defense and you reduce a melee attack damage to 0, you can make an unarmed attack against a creature within 5 feet of yourself.
18th: Master of Defense. When you use Defense, you can spend 1 more Spirit point to double the value of reduction.
Focus. Once per turn, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point, roll a Martial Arts die and add it to a damage roll or an attack roll.
5th: Stunning Strike. When you hit a creature with Focus, you can attempt a Stunning Strike. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or have the Stunned condition until the end of your next turn.
15th: Spiritual Master. When using Stunning Strike, you can choose to spend 1 Spirit point to affect the opponent’s mind, in which case the Stunning Strike saving throw will be on Wisdom.
20th: Limitless. If you use 1 Spirit point at the beginning of your turn to perform Focus, each of your attacks that hit during your turn is a Focus attack. Additionally, when you meditate you can project your mind and observe the multiverse to find enlightenment. It can also communicate with someone or teleport you to the place where your mind is observing. When you try to communicate in this state, you can touch the spirit of other minds so that you understand all languages and any creature can understand what you say.
Monk Lore
Kane was a male human monk of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose in the Earthspur Mountains south of Damara in the Bloodstone Lands.
Kane was a supremely talented and highly trained monk and martial artist. He was proficient in such weapons as the bo stick, jo stick, or quarterstaff; the dagger and sap; the halberd; and even crossbows, the lasso, and caltrops.He could fight well when blinded or against unseen foes. He had good endurance.
He was capable in animal training, the mimicking of animal noises, finding a direction (survival), and the use of ropes.
By 1357 DR, he had attained a mystical "spirit walking" ability. While in a meditative state, he could project his mind to another location, no matter how far away it was or whether it was on another plane. Then, by an act of will, he could bring his corporeal body along after it. (Empty Body, Astral Projection, Teleport)
By 1368 DR, Kane had also mastered the quivering palm technique, being able to strike a foe and set up vibrations in their body that he could manipulate, whether to control their body or kill them outright. This effect would last some time before wearing off.
Kane could hold in his bare hands the evil sword Charon's Claw, which burnt the flesh and souls of those who failed to master it in a contest of wills, without any ill effect. Anyone who touched the blade or handle of this sword unprotected would need to compete with it in a battle of wills. Failure meant it would burn the flesh and skin of the wielder's hand away. (Stillness of Mind, Diamond Soul)
It was rumored that Kane once battled one white dragon (Glacialamacus) and two red dragons. A brigade of King Gareth's warriors were fighting the three dragons at Great Fork Ford and were about to lose. Kane rushed in, avoided fire and frost (Evasion), and tricked the dragons into breathing upon each other (Deflect magic?). All three dragons suffered severe damage from their breaths, the blows of Kane, and the charge of Gareth's soldiers
Around 1357 DR, Kane appeared to be only around 40 years old, though he was actually closer to 60—such was his good health. Even around 1368 DR, he still only seemed just past middle-aged, though he had hair and beard now white and fraying. By 1484 DR, (167 years old) however, Kane had transcended the restraints of the human body. He appeared very old—just skin and bones under a white robe. (Timeless Body)
Kane's goal in life was to discover and achieve a higher plane of existence.In a common day, Kane would spend at least four hours in meditation and four more training to develop his skills.
Features Flavoring
Adjustment
1) Fighter style feat (Blind Fighting)?
2) Tongue of the Sun and Moon: Moved to a subclass?
3) 7th: Spirit-Sensitive. Your Spiritual power nourishes your body and mind, forgoing food and drink doesn’t give you Exhaustion. Additionally, if you spend at least 1 minute meditating, you can regain all your expended Spirit points. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest.
4) 10th: Stillness of Mind. Your body and mind are so trained that you are now proficient in Constitution saving throws, and have advantage in saving throws against the Charmed, Frightened and Poisoned conditions. Additionally, whenever you make a saving throw and fail, you can spend 1 Spirit point to reroll it and take the second result. (To be considered whether to keep both or delete one of them)
5) 14th: Harmony. Your spiritual power connects you with the life of the multiverse and sustains you so that you suffer none of the frailty of old age, For every 10 years, your body ages only 1 year, and you can't be aged magically. You can still die of old age, however. Additionally, your physical and mental discipline grant you proficiency in all saving throws.
6) 20th: Limitless. Your unarmed attacks have never been more powerful. If you use 1 Spirit point at the beginning of your turn to perform Focus, each of your attacks during your turn is a Focus attack. Additionally, when you meditate you can project your mind and observe the multiverse to find enlightenment. It can also communicate with someone or teleport you to the place where your mind is observing. When you try to communicate in this state, you can touch the spirit of other minds so that you understand all languages and any creature can understand what you say.
Math
MONK 5 turns - Spiritual Master (Spirit points used only for attack)
MONK 10 turns - Spiritual Master (Spirit points used only for attack)
MONK 15 turns - Spiritual Master (Spirit points used only for attack)
MONK 20 turns - Spiritual Master (Spirit points used only for attack)