Seems to be basically Battle Master for a Monk? It should be fun to play, though I have some concerns about balance:
Specifically, in place of a Battle Master's Relentless ability (recover one superiority die if you have none when rolling Initiative) you're giving the monk the ability to recover half of theirs at will using an action. This is much stronger, you also don't specify if half is the maximum, i.e- could they just do this twice to get all of their die back? If you want to allow more replenishment, I think it would make a lot more sense to maybe tie it to Ki, e.g- Bonus Action plus three Ki to get one die back? I think three is probably the sweet spot where it's enough Ki that it isn't a no-brainer, as while manoeuvres are generally quite strong, three Ki is three rounds of Patient Defence or Flurry of Blows, so you wouldn't use it except in situations where the extra manoeuvre(s) are more useful (e.g- disarming against a foe you might struggle to stun).
Uncanny Dodge is also a stronger alternative to Know Your Enemy (and available sooner); while Know Your Enemy can be a very, very useful ability to have, it's also situational, as it's no use if you're ambushed for example, whereas Uncanny Dodge is rarely useless (you can potentially use it every turn). It also stacks really well with other Monk abilities, as while Uncanny Dodge doesn't help a Rogue much against multiple attacks, a Monk also has Patient Defence so you could end up dodging every attack that hits you, one way or another. You might consider having it cost a Ki point?
Now I'm just going by gut reaction here as balance in D&D is really tricky as classes behave very differently and similar or even identical abilities can have very different impacts for different classes, and I'm by no means an expert; I'd say definitely change Focus, either making it just Relentless, or use some other limiting factor (i.e- Ki), and if you want to keep Uncanny Dodge I'd say either charge a Ki point for it, or maybe give the Way of the Wanderer fewer superiority die than a Battle Master (as Monks are actually quite strong at 3rd level already)?
I like the idea overall; multi-classing into Fighter is not uncommon, and manoeuvres/superiority stack really well with Ki even when doing it that way, especially as you get four out of a three level dip (so three less Ki for four superiority die), and while a dedicated Battle Master mashup sub-class loses some of the range of options for multi-classing, it means your superiority die are on top of a full bank of Ki, so it should be fun to play just with the manoeuvres added.
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Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Been working on a new version of monk to more closely fit my idea of what I've been looking for myself. Feedback is always appreciated.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/608073-way-of-the-wanderer
Seems to be basically Battle Master for a Monk? It should be fun to play, though I have some concerns about balance:
Specifically, in place of a Battle Master's Relentless ability (recover one superiority die if you have none when rolling Initiative) you're giving the monk the ability to recover half of theirs at will using an action. This is much stronger, you also don't specify if half is the maximum, i.e- could they just do this twice to get all of their die back? If you want to allow more replenishment, I think it would make a lot more sense to maybe tie it to Ki, e.g- Bonus Action plus three Ki to get one die back? I think three is probably the sweet spot where it's enough Ki that it isn't a no-brainer, as while manoeuvres are generally quite strong, three Ki is three rounds of Patient Defence or Flurry of Blows, so you wouldn't use it except in situations where the extra manoeuvre(s) are more useful (e.g- disarming against a foe you might struggle to stun).
Uncanny Dodge is also a stronger alternative to Know Your Enemy (and available sooner); while Know Your Enemy can be a very, very useful ability to have, it's also situational, as it's no use if you're ambushed for example, whereas Uncanny Dodge is rarely useless (you can potentially use it every turn). It also stacks really well with other Monk abilities, as while Uncanny Dodge doesn't help a Rogue much against multiple attacks, a Monk also has Patient Defence so you could end up dodging every attack that hits you, one way or another. You might consider having it cost a Ki point?
Now I'm just going by gut reaction here as balance in D&D is really tricky as classes behave very differently and similar or even identical abilities can have very different impacts for different classes, and I'm by no means an expert; I'd say definitely change Focus, either making it just Relentless, or use some other limiting factor (i.e- Ki), and if you want to keep Uncanny Dodge I'd say either charge a Ki point for it, or maybe give the Way of the Wanderer fewer superiority die than a Battle Master (as Monks are actually quite strong at 3rd level already)?
I like the idea overall; multi-classing into Fighter is not uncommon, and manoeuvres/superiority stack really well with Ki even when doing it that way, especially as you get four out of a three level dip (so three less Ki for four superiority die), and while a dedicated Battle Master mashup sub-class loses some of the range of options for multi-classing, it means your superiority die are on top of a full bank of Ki, so it should be fun to play just with the manoeuvres added.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Excellent suggestions, appreciate the feedback. Balance is always something I struggle with so help in that regard is great.