The Way of The Grim Reaper is an assassin type build for the Monk who enjoys courting death and the macabre. This is a better organized and sorted version of the original. and like the Eldritch Fist I think the best way to improve it more is by expanding the ki pool size. I would love to hear feedback on this subclass of death.
“Well, John wasn’t exactly ‘The Boogeyman.’ He was the one you sent to kill the f**kin’ Boogeyman.”
" The Shadow Monarch is the ultimate expression of a "One Man Army" even in a team Setting his minions would act as meat shields for the allies while going on the Offensive, maybe in future version I will develop tactics and formations for the minions so the minions and party won't easily be decimated by random monsters or even the character's current enemies."
This subclass is the Way of the Long Death with spellcasting on top. If we say that Way of the Long Death is a perfectly balanced subclass, with spellcasting, it becomes unbalanced. As an example, at 18th level, you can cast an incredibly potent 7th level spell 3 times. A 20th level wizard can do that twice.
If you are worried about resource management, I would hasten to agree. The Way of the Four Elements is infamous for giving players too many options for their ki points. The magic arts does a similar thing. It might be worth replacing it with a spellcasting ability in the style of the arcane trickster and the eldritch knight.
No matter what you do, you should definitely change the features so they are not direct copies of the Way of the Long Death.
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Its been fixed, and like theEldritch Fistsubclass it does just fine with the selected spells.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
" The Shadow Monarch is the ultimate expression of a "One Man Army" even in a team Setting his minions would act as meat shields for the allies while going on the Offensive, maybe in future version I will develop tactics and formations for the minions so the minions and party won't easily be decimated by random monsters or even the character's current enemies."
Ok... wow. I was linked to this after seeing your Eldritch Fist, and... you have such an odd mix of overpowered and underpowered abilities.
For example, Reaper's Fated Grasp. As written, it allows you to once per day pull a creature 30 ft closer to you as an action, maybe restraining them until the start of your next turn. Now, if you are adding the restrain, it is a nice little once per day ability. But, it isn't anything great. Especially since, you have Eldritch blast.
Now, you do not mention your casting stat for these spells, but I am going to assume Wisdom, based of ki abilities. So, I have a wisdom cantrip that can hit 120 ft away, and I'm a monk who prefers hit and run.... why am I pulling someone closer to me with my action instead of just blasting them?
The spells at 3rd are really wonky too. Why both Hex and Hunter's Mark, they are nearly identical and you can't stack them, plus they take your entire ki pool at 3rd level. Now, at higher levels, these become really good, but I would say to pick one, either hunter or cursing hex, not both.
And, much like with the Eldritch fist, you block spells of multiple levels under the same cost, at least this one is a ladder that makes more sense, but you again go all the way to 9th level. The spells aren't that bad balance wise, a lot of them are poorer spells that are more for flavor than actual use, but then you throw in things like Danse Macabre for minions and Holy Weapon, which is very powerful on a monk with their 4 attacks.
Then we look at actual class abilities, and I'm stunned.
Reaper of Nightmares is crazy powerful. It is a 30 ft aura that lasts about 7 rounds (average monk has a +4 wisdom, and this one is certainly buffing that stat) with no concentration, versus 4d10 damage. Now, grant, it is save vs nothing, but still I can't think of a single 30 ft aura in the game until you start getting to high levels. One of the best Cleric spells in the game is Spirit Guardians, 3rd level so it comes online at 5th level. That is 15 ft, and deals 3d8, and costs a spell slot. This doesn't cost anything, just an action to do it, once per short rest, and the enemies only recourse is to either hide from you or kill you. This ability is way too powerful as written. At a minimum, it should be concentration. At a minimum.
Earth Bound Rapture is... really weak. First of all, why Ressurection? It doesn't do anything, and it should take an hour to cast. You just do it in a round? Then, you have a -4 penalty to every die roll, plus it costs 6 ki, which you have to have when you died. That is half your pool you didn't use before dying, which is unrealistic to be honest. And, you could instead just add Deathward to the Second Rondo. Then, pre-planning is to your advantage, it costs only 4 ki, and instead of having penalties for days you just prevent yourself from dying once. OR just make it Revivify.
Then, the granddaddy of confusing abilities. Spectre's Passing.
You can pas through a crowd as though you were under the effects of Mind Blank, Greater Invisibility and Pass Without a Trace.
What qualifies as a crowd? Can you walk past a door with two guards on it? Why bother with Mind Blank, since you are invisible and can't be targeted by effects that would read your mind since they would require you to be seen. If you are "passing through a crowd" and you get in a fight, do all these abilities go away? After all, you are no longer passing through a crowd, you are fighting. Why would you ever repress the invisibility, since the entire point of this is to be unseen, why would you want to be seen? If you sit in a cafe, or shop, or do anything in a city at all, do you lose these effects? Does this work for passing through a warzone?
It is ill-defined to the point of being nearly useless, and the only RAI I can get from this applies to situations that a 17th level monk shouldn't even be dealing with anymore, since being tailed in a city is a low-level adventure, not a high-level one, and while you are invisible, none of the rest of the party is, so it doesn't even prevent you from being tailed unless you are going it solo.
So, end of the day, you have a monk with cleric, wizard, paladin and ranger spells, with best cantrip in the game, a god-like AOE once per short rest, a crappy ability not to die if he wasn't really trying in the first place, and the ability not to be tailed or mind read while walking through the townsquare.
It doesn't even feel like a monk. I don't see the theme here or what kind of strategies you would even want to implement. It just feels like a mash-up of a bunch of spells and some abilities
For example, Reaper's Fated Grasp. As written, it allows you to once per day pull a creature 30 ft closer to you as an action, maybe restraining them until the start of your next turn. Now, if you are adding the restrain, it is a nice little once per day ability. But, it isn't anything great. Especially since, you have Eldritch blast.
The feature was meant to be a grapple check at a max of 60ft range, the subclass is a monk version of a magical assassin. Those marked for death tend to want to flee when they can't fight or don't think they can win.
The spells at 3rd are really wonky too. Why both Hex and Hunter's Mark, they are nearly identical and you can't stack them, plus they take your entire ki pool at 3rd level. Now, at higher levels, these become really good, but I would say to pick one, either hunter or cursing hex, not both.
Hex and Hunter's Mark are varying spells on the same concept, one is meant for tracking while the other is meant for in combat use.
Then we look at actual class abilities, and I'm stunned. Reaper of Nightmares is crazy powerful. It is a 30 ft aura that lasts about 7 rounds (average monk has a +4 wisdom, and this one is certainly buffing that stat) with no concentration, versus 4d10 damage. Now, grant, it is save vs nothing, but still I can't think of a single 30 ft aura in the game until you start getting to high levels. One of the best Cleric spells in the game is Spirit Guardians, 3rd level so it comes online at 5th level. That is 15 ft, and deals 3d8, and costs a spell slot. This doesn't cost anything, just an action to do it, once per short rest, and the enemies only recourse is to either hide from you or kill you. This ability is way too powerful as written. At a minimum, it should be concentration. At a minimum.
Reaper of Nightmares is a class feature variant of Phantasmal Killer with a few twists though I am considering making its once per long rest instead of short and adding the concentration roll each round it persists or when they pass the saving throw against it. That I can agree on.
Earth Bound Rapture is... really weak. First of all, why Resurrection? It doesn't do anything, and it should take an hour to cast. You just do it in a round? Then, you have a -4 penalty to every die roll, plus it costs 6 ki, which you have to have when you died. That is half your pool you didn't use before dying, which is unrealistic to be honest. And, you could instead just add Deathward to the Second Rondo. Then, pre-planning is to your advantage, it costs only 4 ki, and instead of having penalties for days you just prevent yourself from dying once. OR just make it Revivify.
Originally it was a deathward based ability but the site mods kept kicking me out and forcing changes most around this feature. I hate revivify and true resurrection is op for this setup so I went with its ginger cousin instead.
Then, the granddaddy of confusing abilities. Specter's Passing. You can pas through a crowd as though you were under the effects of Mind Blank, Greater Invisibility and Pass Without a Trace. What qualifies as a crowd? Can you walk past a door with two guards on it? Why bother with Mind Blank, since you are invisible and can't be targeted by effects that would read your mind since they would require you to be seen. If you are "passing through a crowd" and you get in a fight, do all these abilities go away? After all, you are no longer passing through a crowd, you are fighting. Why would you ever repress the invisibility, since the entire point of this is to be unseen, why would you want to be seen? If you sit in a cafe, or shop, or do anything in a city at all, do you lose these effects? Does this work for passing through a warzone? It is ill-defined to the point of being nearly useless, and the only RAI I can get from this applies to situations that a 17th level monk shouldn't even be dealing with anymore, since being tailed in a city is a low-level adventure, not a high-level one, and while you are invisible, none of the rest of the party is, so it doesn't even prevent you from being tailed unless you are going it solo.
Legally and rules based, a crowd is defined as small a cluster of 4-9 people surrounding you. This subclass is meant be a magical assassin based monk. given the inherent speed of the class and combined with the rest of the subclass features its a real threat from the shadows and deadly character both in a solo and party setup.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
" The Shadow Monarch is the ultimate expression of a "One Man Army" even in a team Setting his minions would act as meat shields for the allies while going on the Offensive, maybe in future version I will develop tactics and formations for the minions so the minions and party won't easily be decimated by random monsters or even the character's current enemies."
For example, Reaper's Fated Grasp. As written, it allows you to once per day pull a creature 30 ft closer to you as an action, maybe restraining them until the start of your next turn. Now, if you are adding the restrain, it is a nice little once per day ability. But, it isn't anything great. Especially since, you have Eldritch blast.
The feature was meant to be a grapple check at a max of 60ft range, the subclass is a monk version of a magical assassin. Those marked for death tend to want to flee when they can't fight or don't think they can win.
The spells at 3rd are really wonky too. Why both Hex and Hunter's Mark, they are nearly identical and you can't stack them, plus they take your entire ki pool at 3rd level. Now, at higher levels, these become really good, but I would say to pick one, either hunter or cursing hex, not both.
Hex and Hunter's Mark are varying spells on the same concept, one is meant for tracking while the other is meant for in combat use.
Then we look at actual class abilities, and I'm stunned. Reaper of Nightmares is crazy powerful. It is a 30 ft aura that lasts about 7 rounds (average monk has a +4 wisdom, and this one is certainly buffing that stat) with no concentration, versus 4d10 damage. Now, grant, it is save vs nothing, but still I can't think of a single 30 ft aura in the game until you start getting to high levels. One of the best Cleric spells in the game is Spirit Guardians, 3rd level so it comes online at 5th level. That is 15 ft, and deals 3d8, and costs a spell slot. This doesn't cost anything, just an action to do it, once per short rest, and the enemies only recourse is to either hide from you or kill you. This ability is way too powerful as written. At a minimum, it should be concentration. At a minimum.
Reaper of Nightmares is a class feature variant of Phantasmal Killer with a few twists though I am considering making its once per long rest instead of short and adding the concentration roll each round it persists or when they pass the saving throw against it. That I can agree on.
Earth Bound Rapture is... really weak. First of all, why Resurrection? It doesn't do anything, and it should take an hour to cast. You just do it in a round? Then, you have a -4 penalty to every die roll, plus it costs 6 ki, which you have to have when you died. That is half your pool you didn't use before dying, which is unrealistic to be honest. And, you could instead just add Deathward to the Second Rondo. Then, pre-planning is to your advantage, it costs only 4 ki, and instead of having penalties for days you just prevent yourself from dying once. OR just make it Revivify.
Originally it was a deathward based ability but the site mods kept kicking me out and forcing changes most around this feature. I hate revivify and true resurrection is op for this setup so I went with its ginger cousin instead.
Then, the granddaddy of confusing abilities. Specter's Passing. You can pas through a crowd as though you were under the effects of Mind Blank, Greater Invisibility and Pass Without a Trace. What qualifies as a crowd? Can you walk past a door with two guards on it? Why bother with Mind Blank, since you are invisible and can't be targeted by effects that would read your mind since they would require you to be seen. If you are "passing through a crowd" and you get in a fight, do all these abilities go away? After all, you are no longer passing through a crowd, you are fighting. Why would you ever repress the invisibility, since the entire point of this is to be unseen, why would you want to be seen? If you sit in a cafe, or shop, or do anything in a city at all, do you lose these effects? Does this work for passing through a warzone? It is ill-defined to the point of being nearly useless, and the only RAI I can get from this applies to situations that a 17th level monk shouldn't even be dealing with anymore, since being tailed in a city is a low-level adventure, not a high-level one, and while you are invisible, none of the rest of the party is, so it doesn't even prevent you from being tailed unless you are going it solo.
Legally and rules based, a crowd is defined as small a cluster of 4-9 people surrounding you. This subclass is meant be a magical assassin based monk. given the inherent speed of the class and combined with the rest of the subclass features its a real threat from the shadows and deadly character both in a solo and party setup.
Not quite sure how to break up your post for replying, so I'll be numbering responses to make it easier for future referencing, until I can figure this site out a little better.
1) Ok. Personally, I would just say that then. Just let them 1/day make a grapple check at a maximum of 60 ft and if successful pull the target 30 ft. That makes the intent of the ability far more clear and prevents any sort of confusion on what exactly you can do with it. A philosophy of mine, if you don't need to use a spell, don't.
2) They are both meant for combat use, and I indicated that same concept in my response. 90% of their usage is to add a d6 to every attack. They both have riders, one gives advantage on tracking if the enemy escapes you, one can give disadvantage on an entire subset of ability checks. Like stealth if they are trying to hide from you. That's why I said you should just pick one. Is it more important to make the caster better at tracking the target or is it more important to curse the target in disadvantage on something. Having both... it is too much overlap I think.
3) Glad we have some points of agreement. Yeah, long rest and concentration would help a lot. Note also, if you are basing this off of Phantasmal Killer, that Phantasmal Killer ends completely the first time your target makes the save, and only targets one creature. Even with concentration and long rest, it is far more powerful than the 4th level spell it is based on, and the monk gets it at 6th level which is even before classes would get 4th level spells.
4) I have no idea why the site mods would kick you for having this ability work like deathward or half-orc ability. I don't see why True Ressurection would be too powerful for this, the only thing that might come up is restoring missing body parts. Think about it, this ability brings someone back to life six seconds after they died. The more powerful resurrection spells can bring back people who died longer and longer ago, but you will always be getting this benefit 6 seconds after death. The reason I suggest Revivify or deathward is simply because the other spells give a massive penalty to being revived, and since you will still be in combat when this ability activates, -4 to all attacks and saves is incredibly harsh.
5) Can you give me a quote for those rules saying a crowd is 4--9 people? It could be an interesting supplement to read. Now, telling me what the subclass is meant for doesn't really change things. Now, if you meant this ability to read that if you are surrounded by at least 4 other people and then are invisible with a +10 to stealth and affected by Mind Blank... that is incredibly powerful, because that could be interpreted as working just by staying near your party, and that means you just being nearby your party gives them a +10 stealth and prevents all magical tracking. Permanently. But, it also is... completely useless if you aren't around other people, which a magical assassin generally wants to be alone with their target, not amongst a crowd of people. The theming is still a bit weird for me
1) Ok. Personally, I would just say that then. Just let them 1/day make a grapple check at a maximum of 60 ft and if successful pull the target 30 ft. That makes the intent of the ability far more clear and prevents any sort of confusion on what exactly you can do with it. A philosophy of mine, if you don't need to use a spell, don't.
I'll look into making that sort of change later today when I have time between work projects.
2) They are both meant for combat use, and I indicated that same concept in my response. 90% of their usage is to add a d6 to every attack. They both have riders, one gives advantage on tracking if the enemy escapes you, one can give disadvantage on an entire subset of ability checks. Like stealth if they are trying to hide from you. That's why I said you should just pick one. Is it more important to make the caster better at tracking the target or is it more important to curse the target in disadvantage on something. Having both... it is too much overlap I think.
The overlap is fine, and yes the tracking is ideal when first following the intended target and then switching when in combat to further ensure the target's elimination.
3) Glad we have some points of agreement. Yeah, long rest and concentration would help a lot. Note also, if you are basing this off of Phantasmal Killer, that Phantasmal Killer ends completely the first time your target makes the save, and only targets one creature. Even with concentration and long rest, it is far more powerful than the 4th level spell it is based on, and the monk gets it at 6th level which is even before classes would get 4th level spells.
I might even change it to a reaction as well so it could be done in response to someone other than the intended target attacking the Reaper Monk.
4) I have no idea why the site mods would kick you for having this ability work like deathward or half-orc ability. I don't see why True Resurrection would be too powerful for this, the only thing that might come up is restoring missing body parts. Think about it, this ability brings someone back to life six seconds after they died. The more powerful resurrection spells can bring back people who died longer and longer ago, but you will always be getting this benefit 6 seconds after death. The reason I suggest Revivify or deathward is simply because the other spells give a massive penalty to being revived, and since you will still be in combat when this ability activates, -4 to all attacks and saves is incredibly harsh.
The original ability was based on deathward, as for why I went with the weaker resurrection is due to the fact hardly any anyone would felt dandy after just dying and suddenly return to life. I could have the ability upgrade to True Resurrection at a later level showing they have overcome the mental/physical shock of the experience.
5) Can you give me a quote for those rules saying a crowd is 4--9 people? It could be an interesting supplement to read. Now, telling me what the subclass is meant for doesn't really change things. Now, if you meant this ability to read that if you are surrounded by at least 4 other people and then are invisible with a +10 to stealth and affected by Mind Blank... that is incredibly powerful, because that could be interpreted as working just by staying near your party, and that means you just being nearby your party gives them a +10 stealth and prevents all magical tracking. Permanently. But, it also is... completely useless if you aren't around other people, which a magical assassin generally wants to be alone with their target, not amongst a crowd of people. The theming is still a bit weird for me.
Consider this logic: you are surrounded by four flanking people then 4 more work their way into the corners of that flanking to completely cut you off from escape. That is a gang-up/pack tactic within the rules, also a rogue's most ideal setup.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
" The Shadow Monarch is the ultimate expression of a "One Man Army" even in a team Setting his minions would act as meat shields for the allies while going on the Offensive, maybe in future version I will develop tactics and formations for the minions so the minions and party won't easily be decimated by random monsters or even the character's current enemies."
" The Shadow Monarch is the ultimate expression of a "One Man Army" even in a team Setting his minions would act as meat shields for the allies while going on the Offensive, maybe in future version I will develop tactics and formations for the minions so the minions and party won't easily be decimated by random monsters or even the character's current enemies."
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The Way of The Grim Reaper is an assassin type build for the Monk who enjoys courting death and the macabre. This is a better organized and sorted version of the original. and like the Eldritch Fist I think the best way to improve it more is by expanding the ki pool size. I would love to hear feedback on this subclass of death.
This subclass is the Way of the Long Death with spellcasting on top. If we say that Way of the Long Death is a perfectly balanced subclass, with spellcasting, it becomes unbalanced. As an example, at 18th level, you can cast an incredibly potent 7th level spell 3 times. A 20th level wizard can do that twice.
If you are worried about resource management, I would hasten to agree. The Way of the Four Elements is infamous for giving players too many options for their ki points. The magic arts does a similar thing. It might be worth replacing it with a spellcasting ability in the style of the arcane trickster and the eldritch knight.
No matter what you do, you should definitely change the features so they are not direct copies of the Way of the Long Death.
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Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
Its been fixed, and like the Eldritch Fist subclass it does just fine with the selected spells.
Ok... wow. I was linked to this after seeing your Eldritch Fist, and... you have such an odd mix of overpowered and underpowered abilities.
For example, Reaper's Fated Grasp. As written, it allows you to once per day pull a creature 30 ft closer to you as an action, maybe restraining them until the start of your next turn. Now, if you are adding the restrain, it is a nice little once per day ability. But, it isn't anything great. Especially since, you have Eldritch blast.
Now, you do not mention your casting stat for these spells, but I am going to assume Wisdom, based of ki abilities. So, I have a wisdom cantrip that can hit 120 ft away, and I'm a monk who prefers hit and run.... why am I pulling someone closer to me with my action instead of just blasting them?
The spells at 3rd are really wonky too. Why both Hex and Hunter's Mark, they are nearly identical and you can't stack them, plus they take your entire ki pool at 3rd level. Now, at higher levels, these become really good, but I would say to pick one, either hunter or cursing hex, not both.
And, much like with the Eldritch fist, you block spells of multiple levels under the same cost, at least this one is a ladder that makes more sense, but you again go all the way to 9th level. The spells aren't that bad balance wise, a lot of them are poorer spells that are more for flavor than actual use, but then you throw in things like Danse Macabre for minions and Holy Weapon, which is very powerful on a monk with their 4 attacks.
Then we look at actual class abilities, and I'm stunned.
Reaper of Nightmares is crazy powerful. It is a 30 ft aura that lasts about 7 rounds (average monk has a +4 wisdom, and this one is certainly buffing that stat) with no concentration, versus 4d10 damage. Now, grant, it is save vs nothing, but still I can't think of a single 30 ft aura in the game until you start getting to high levels. One of the best Cleric spells in the game is Spirit Guardians, 3rd level so it comes online at 5th level. That is 15 ft, and deals 3d8, and costs a spell slot. This doesn't cost anything, just an action to do it, once per short rest, and the enemies only recourse is to either hide from you or kill you. This ability is way too powerful as written. At a minimum, it should be concentration. At a minimum.
Earth Bound Rapture is... really weak. First of all, why Ressurection? It doesn't do anything, and it should take an hour to cast. You just do it in a round? Then, you have a -4 penalty to every die roll, plus it costs 6 ki, which you have to have when you died. That is half your pool you didn't use before dying, which is unrealistic to be honest. And, you could instead just add Deathward to the Second Rondo. Then, pre-planning is to your advantage, it costs only 4 ki, and instead of having penalties for days you just prevent yourself from dying once. OR just make it Revivify.
Then, the granddaddy of confusing abilities. Spectre's Passing.
You can pas through a crowd as though you were under the effects of Mind Blank, Greater Invisibility and Pass Without a Trace.
What qualifies as a crowd? Can you walk past a door with two guards on it? Why bother with Mind Blank, since you are invisible and can't be targeted by effects that would read your mind since they would require you to be seen. If you are "passing through a crowd" and you get in a fight, do all these abilities go away? After all, you are no longer passing through a crowd, you are fighting. Why would you ever repress the invisibility, since the entire point of this is to be unseen, why would you want to be seen? If you sit in a cafe, or shop, or do anything in a city at all, do you lose these effects? Does this work for passing through a warzone?
It is ill-defined to the point of being nearly useless, and the only RAI I can get from this applies to situations that a 17th level monk shouldn't even be dealing with anymore, since being tailed in a city is a low-level adventure, not a high-level one, and while you are invisible, none of the rest of the party is, so it doesn't even prevent you from being tailed unless you are going it solo.
So, end of the day, you have a monk with cleric, wizard, paladin and ranger spells, with best cantrip in the game, a god-like AOE once per short rest, a crappy ability not to die if he wasn't really trying in the first place, and the ability not to be tailed or mind read while walking through the townsquare.
It doesn't even feel like a monk. I don't see the theme here or what kind of strategies you would even want to implement. It just feels like a mash-up of a bunch of spells and some abilities
Taran Cragshollow (Summit Road)
The feature was meant to be a grapple check at a max of 60ft range, the subclass is a monk version of a magical assassin. Those marked for death tend to want to flee when they can't fight or don't think they can win.
Hex and Hunter's Mark are varying spells on the same concept, one is meant for tracking while the other is meant for in combat use.
Reaper of Nightmares is a class feature variant of Phantasmal Killer with a few twists though I am considering making its once per long rest instead of short and adding the concentration roll each round it persists or when they pass the saving throw against it. That I can agree on.
Originally it was a deathward based ability but the site mods kept kicking me out and forcing changes most around this feature. I hate revivify and true resurrection is op for this setup so I went with its ginger cousin instead.
Legally and rules based, a crowd is defined as small a cluster of 4-9 people surrounding you. This subclass is meant be a magical assassin based monk. given the inherent speed of the class and combined with the rest of the subclass features its a real threat from the shadows and deadly character both in a solo and party setup.
Not quite sure how to break up your post for replying, so I'll be numbering responses to make it easier for future referencing, until I can figure this site out a little better.
1) Ok. Personally, I would just say that then. Just let them 1/day make a grapple check at a maximum of 60 ft and if successful pull the target 30 ft. That makes the intent of the ability far more clear and prevents any sort of confusion on what exactly you can do with it. A philosophy of mine, if you don't need to use a spell, don't.
2) They are both meant for combat use, and I indicated that same concept in my response. 90% of their usage is to add a d6 to every attack. They both have riders, one gives advantage on tracking if the enemy escapes you, one can give disadvantage on an entire subset of ability checks. Like stealth if they are trying to hide from you. That's why I said you should just pick one. Is it more important to make the caster better at tracking the target or is it more important to curse the target in disadvantage on something. Having both... it is too much overlap I think.
3) Glad we have some points of agreement. Yeah, long rest and concentration would help a lot. Note also, if you are basing this off of Phantasmal Killer, that Phantasmal Killer ends completely the first time your target makes the save, and only targets one creature. Even with concentration and long rest, it is far more powerful than the 4th level spell it is based on, and the monk gets it at 6th level which is even before classes would get 4th level spells.
4) I have no idea why the site mods would kick you for having this ability work like deathward or half-orc ability. I don't see why True Ressurection would be too powerful for this, the only thing that might come up is restoring missing body parts. Think about it, this ability brings someone back to life six seconds after they died. The more powerful resurrection spells can bring back people who died longer and longer ago, but you will always be getting this benefit 6 seconds after death. The reason I suggest Revivify or deathward is simply because the other spells give a massive penalty to being revived, and since you will still be in combat when this ability activates, -4 to all attacks and saves is incredibly harsh.
5) Can you give me a quote for those rules saying a crowd is 4--9 people? It could be an interesting supplement to read. Now, telling me what the subclass is meant for doesn't really change things. Now, if you meant this ability to read that if you are surrounded by at least 4 other people and then are invisible with a +10 to stealth and affected by Mind Blank... that is incredibly powerful, because that could be interpreted as working just by staying near your party, and that means you just being nearby your party gives them a +10 stealth and prevents all magical tracking. Permanently. But, it also is... completely useless if you aren't around other people, which a magical assassin generally wants to be alone with their target, not amongst a crowd of people. The theming is still a bit weird for me
Taran Cragshollow (Summit Road)
I'll look into making that sort of change later today when I have time between work projects.
The overlap is fine, and yes the tracking is ideal when first following the intended target and then switching when in combat to further ensure the target's elimination.
I might even change it to a reaction as well so it could be done in response to someone other than the intended target attacking the Reaper Monk.
The original ability was based on deathward, as for why I went with the weaker resurrection is due to the fact hardly any anyone would felt dandy after just dying and suddenly return to life. I could have the ability upgrade to True Resurrection at a later level showing they have overcome the mental/physical shock of the experience.
Consider this logic: you are surrounded by four flanking people then 4 more work their way into the corners of that flanking to completely cut you off from escape. That is a gang-up/pack tactic within the rules, also a rogue's most ideal setup.
Subclass has been updated.