Force Speed to part of your movement instead of bonus action. Yes.
Force Jump. Yes.
Living Force is how they should have done Quickened Healing in Tashas. I like it.
Force Focus. I would add dex modifier to the damage of this. Compared to what you are getting with Force Speed and Defensive Stance it seems like this feature is an expensive use of ki to add 1d6 damage. Even if the extra damage scales with martial arts die.
I like the term Force points better than discipline points since ki is literally your Life Force. Its a more appropriate term.
FOB is so iconic i am not sure how others would respond to not getting this feature at level 2 but i always thought FOB was too advanced for level 2 so i am fine with the Force Focus as its replacement. However to get similar damage to using FOB in tier one and two it would cost more ki and since lack of ki is kind of an issue for many i am wondering if there is another, more ki friendly way to rework this?
The way your monk is structured requires alot more thought around resource management since you can potentially do your versions of Sotw, Patient defense and Force focus all in the same turn. I am fine with that but it's just food for thought.
Using ki to add a martial arts die to a skill check is an expernsive use of ki. I dont know if would ever use that over asking a group member for a guidance spell, enhance ability or bardic inspiration. Part of the issue with monks skills are some of their opening skills are based on dump stats. They dont even get perception which is odd for a wisdom based class so i think their starting skill list should have some additions. Nonetheless i think Force Knowledge is a decent option to have and some will appreciate it.
What about grapple, push and sweep having their save dc's based on dex instead of strength? Strength is a bit of a dump stat for monks.
Flurry of Strikes. Not sure i understand the wording on the second part. Spending 1ki as an action to get 2 bonus unarmed strikes that are not tied to the attack action seems unusual. Did you mean spend one ki "as a part" of any action that is not the attack action? What about using an action to feed a potion to another player, taking the help action or any other action that i can't add ki expenditure too? I would like to think an 11th level monk could do those things and still make 2 bonus unarmed strikes.
Unlimited Force. Sure. Sounds like Fun.
I would play this monk. Nice job.
Thank you, I'm glad you like it.
Force Focus. As the martial arts die is increased, the monk's damage from 1st to 4th level is slightly increased, when it was already quite high before. Thus I decreased its dpr slightly, but the waste of resources is used more efficiently. FoB wasted resources without even being sure of hitting, while Force Focus is only activated after hitting.
Force Knowledge. Although the enhancement is expensive, these are most often skill checks done outside of combat and where it is easy for there to be a short rest in between.
FOB. This technique is definitely iconic, but even in my opinion it is too advanced for a 2nd level, especially if there are magic items involved that enhance damage based on the number of attacks. That's why I decided to create Force Focus, move FoB to 11th level and make it free.
Structured requires. Absolutely true, this class requires some self-control, as the player might spend 1 to 3 force points per turn. But I think resource management is also part of the game strategy and also an important learning that can serve in many different areas.
Flurry of Strikes. My goal is to assimilate a variant of "Ki-Fueled Attack" into the feature.
From when you quoted my text to now, I made some changes, where I changed the names and added more features. In terms of names I just can't make up my mind, could you tell me if they were better before or is this simplified version better?
i wouldn't reject a jedi reinterpretation of monk origins (although certain multinational companies might). but it doesn't address the question: why monks? why them instead of a class of gladiators or swashbucklers or spell-swords or witches or comic book heros? why would jedi-monks, seemingly another drop-in-the-bucket religion in an already crowded pantheon but minus representation of an "emotion suppression" zeus, plausibly become common enough to be a base class?
...my answer would be those rejecting religion to seek humanoid self-empowerment. atheists with intent. a sort of peaceful guerilla resistance? what's your thought?
Of course, with all the rights acquired by Walt Disney it will be next to impossible to have an official jedi monk. But why not reinterpret the jedi into a monk without calling it a jedi? After all, there are many subclasses that refer to anime, movies, comics, etc., but at the same time they do not claim to be, they simply make it possible for players to dream without being too explicit of the origin of the design.
I don't see monks as a class with a religion, but like you, a class that seeks balance in the Force. Maybe they worship the Force because it is the energy that flows in every living thing and so in a sense they worship life itself. More a philosophical concept than a religious one. In Star Wars they talk about disturbance in the force, and this happens when many lives are extinguished thus creating a sudden void in the force. I see the role of the monk as someone who tries to restore balance by helping these people before the disaster happens or otherwise prevent the disturbance in the force from continuing.
The monk can be many things, but then you would go into the background:
A guardian of a temple, a sacred place, a forest,
A sage of a community, group, conclave
A pilgrim seeking enlightenment
A survivor
A master of a school of martial arts
An heir of a martial arts style
A masked hero
A gladiator
A hermit
A dancer
An artist
A peacemaker
A renegade
An explorer or adventurer
...
Then one has to adapt a little bit to the character's philosophy and so backgraund, and also to one's alignment. The monk could be one who seeks peace and balance in the force or one who seeks the force to dominate and subdue.
suddenly I'm imagining a council of monks coming together to govern an empire and bring order. I can't decide if it's be more fun to run with that light / dark balance or to see it all come crumbling down under a tidal wave of unanticipated modrons. either way, there's our next spelljammer book. hop to it, devs!
We could come with another term for Force, one that's leagues better than Discipline (which is annoying to bring into sentences with universal or extracorporeal meaning). Ki was a good choice, because it was defined as a supernatural energy that existed in every being, whether they could harness it or not was irrelevant; but Discipline cannot be used in the same way, in fact, in the UA, Discipline is never used as a proper noun or to define the supernatural energy inside the body, it's only mention is within the mechanic description of DPs and Martial Disciplines.
What other concept could we use? I'd like to use Souls, but that's too generic and not every creature in DnD has a soul, so a slight variation like Unisoul? (Universal/Unison Soul?) It could work to define the supernatural well of energy and its connection and effects on the rest of the universe, which allows it to affect soulless beings, and fluctuations on the Unisoul would be analog to disturbances in the Force
Well I think as a fighter is master of armed combat monk should be master of unarmed combat .I think mystic and super moves could be added in but that might best be done with subclass. If they properly boost the base class it will allow for more ideas of what monk people can play
We could come with another term for Force, one that's leagues better than Discipline (which is annoying to bring into sentences with universal or extracorporeal meaning). Ki was a good choice, because it was defined as a supernatural energy that existed in every being, whether they could harness it or not was irrelevant; but Discipline cannot be used in the same way, in fact, in the UA, Discipline is never used as a proper noun or to define the supernatural energy inside the body, it's only mention is within the mechanic description of DPs and Martial Disciplines.
What other concept could we use? I'd like to use Souls, but that's too generic and not every creature in DnD has a soul, so a slight variation like Unisoul? (Universal/Unison Soul?) It could work to define the supernatural well of energy and its connection and effects on the rest of the universe, which allows it to affect soulless beings, and fluctuations on the Unisoul would be analog to disturbances in the Force
They very intentionally only used it to describe the mechanical part. The extraordinary energy within a monks body is meant to be interpreted by each monk. Onr monk might use Ki, another might channel spiritual energy, and another might consider it mana. They don’t want to make it clearly defined so those players who want to avoid mysticism can just call it adrenaline or focus. Do I like it, no. Do I understand it, yes.
In martial arts Discipline relates to what type of martial arts you are doing so its not my favorite replacement term for ki as it means something completely different.
Ki means life force or life energy so any term that describes that would be a better fit then discipline points.
Force points
Energy Points
Spirit points (i think they tried that one but it did not work out)
Vitality points
Soul points
Life Energy points
Essence points
Breath of Life Points
All of those somewhat relate to the meaning of ki. I am sure there are others.
In martial arts Discipline relates to what type of martial arts you are doing so its not my favorite replacement term for ki as it means something completely different.
Ki means life force or life energy so any term that describes that would be a better fit then discipline points.
Force points
Energy Points
Spirit points (i think they tried that one but it did not work out)
Vitality points
Soul points
Life Energy points
Essence points
Breath of Life Points
All of those somewhat relate to the meaning of ki. I am sure there are others.
But they don’t want to attach it solely to just life /soul energy any more. It’s suppose to be similar to superiority dice and spell slots. It’s a mechanical only term. Not to be used by the characters in game. You can flavor the Monks source of power as you want.
They could always go with spirit energy like in yuyu hakusho. Yuske is basically what a monk should be , he kicks butt without energy but when he has it he can perform spirit gun or spirit shotgun.
We could come with another term for Force, one that's leagues better than Discipline (which is annoying to bring into sentences with universal or extracorporeal meaning). Ki was a good choice, because it was defined as a supernatural energy that existed in every being, whether they could harness it or not was irrelevant; but Discipline cannot be used in the same way, in fact, in the UA, Discipline is never used as a proper noun or to define the supernatural energy inside the body, it's only mention is within the mechanic description of DPs and Martial Disciplines.
What other concept could we use? I'd like to use Souls, but that's too generic and not every creature in DnD has a soul, so a slight variation like Unisoul? (Universal/Unison Soul?) It could work to define the supernatural well of energy and its connection and effects on the rest of the universe, which allows it to affect soulless beings, and fluctuations on the Unisoul would be analog to disturbances in the Force
They very intentionally only used it to describe the mechanical part. The extraordinary energy within a monks body is meant to be interpreted by each monk. Onr monk might use Ki, another might channel spiritual energy, and another might consider it mana. They don’t want to make it clearly defined so those players who want to avoid mysticism can just call it adrenaline or focus. Do I like it, no. Do I understand it, yes.
Hmm, I undestand, though I wonder how many players actually liked the renaming of Ki and being that conceptually detached from the mystic side of things. It's like asking the player to choose a class for its mechanics and then fill in the blanks for fluff description, I feel like that would be a bit too much for a player's creativity. Having Ki as a default description and then changing it felt easier to do. Well, I guess flavour description is only ever used to catch the reader's attention at first and then, during session, only the mechanical part is used. So it's not much of a problem, but just a concern regarding the background of the class.
We could come with another term for Force, one that's leagues better than Discipline (which is annoying to bring into sentences with universal or extracorporeal meaning). Ki was a good choice, because it was defined as a supernatural energy that existed in every being, whether they could harness it or not was irrelevant; but Discipline cannot be used in the same way, in fact, in the UA, Discipline is never used as a proper noun or to define the supernatural energy inside the body, it's only mention is within the mechanic description of DPs and Martial Disciplines.
What other concept could we use? I'd like to use Souls, but that's too generic and not every creature in DnD has a soul, so a slight variation like Unisoul? (Universal/Unison Soul?) It could work to define the supernatural well of energy and its connection and effects on the rest of the universe, which allows it to affect soulless beings, and fluctuations on the Unisoul would be analog to disturbances in the Force
They very intentionally only used it to describe the mechanical part. The extraordinary energy within a monks body is meant to be interpreted by each monk. Onr monk might use Ki, another might channel spiritual energy, and another might consider it mana. They don’t want to make it clearly defined so those players who want to avoid mysticism can just call it adrenaline or focus. Do I like it, no. Do I understand it, yes.
Hmm, I undestand, though I wonder how many players actually liked the renaming of Ki and being that conceptually detached from the mystic side of things. It's like asking the player to choose a class for its mechanics and then fill in the blanks for fluff description, I feel like that would be a bit too much for a player's creativity. Having Ki as a default description and then changing it felt easier to do. Well, I guess flavour description is only ever used to catch the reader's attention at first and then, during session, only the mechanical part is used. So it's not much of a problem, but just a concern regarding the background of the class.
I think the majority of players probably think Ki is fine, but I understand moving away from a term. It is singular in cultural identity and unlike other terms that have been used in fantasy, so much over the last 40 years they barely mean the same thing Ki is still singularly Asian. Players don’t have a problem accepting spell slots are just the way you count magic. Discipline points are just the way you count, Ki, spirit energy, life energy, prana, focus, inner power, flow, or whatever then player wants to call it.
In martial arts Discipline relates to what type of martial arts you are doing so its not my favorite replacement term for ki as it means something completely different.
Ki means life force or life energy so any term that describes that would be a better fit then discipline points.
Force points
Energy Points
Spirit points (i think they tried that one but it did not work out)
Vitality points
Soul points
Life Energy points
Essence points
Breath of Life Points
All of those somewhat relate to the meaning of ki. I am sure there are others.
But they don’t want to attach it solely to just life /soul energy any more. It’s suppose to be similar to superiority dice and spell slots. It’s a mechanical only term. Not to be used by the characters in game. You can flavor the Monks source of power as you want.
problem is discipline clashes rhythmically, verbally, and conceptually. Its just a bad choice. They could have called wizard's 'arcane recovery' , 'study recovery' because they learn things, but that would be awkward and weird. Every time I write or think of saying 'discipline points' it feels bad.
problem is discipline clashes rhythmically, verbally, and conceptually. Its just a bad choice. They could have called wizard's 'arcane recovery' , 'study recovery' because they learn things, but that would be awkward and weird. Every time I write or think of saying 'discipline points' it feels bad.
I'm not against changing the name from Ki, but I'd definitely prefer "Focus points" personally as it feels a bit more unique, and it works well both for a purely physical Monk, as well as one that is more mystical or spiritual IMO.
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The monk does focus life energy to whatever effect they are trying to generate so Focus points is a really good term.
Focus is certainly a good term, but since it is already used for Spellcasting Focus I do not find it so suitable. This also applies to Force since it is used to define a type of damage. So I thought of making a list and for the moment the ones I prefer are:
Just call them "Monk points" if they want to remove the culturally-specific flavour, just like Sorcerers get Sorcery Points. Though I'd personally prefer "Mystic points" but then I'm one of the few who seem to like the mystical flavour of the monk, rather than it being a Rogue x Fighter hybrid class.
Focus is certainly a good term, but since it is already used for Spellcasting Focus I do not find it so suitable.
I don't think anyone's likely to confuse the usages; 5th edition is riddled with words that are used for multiple purposes, "attack" being probably one of the worst (it has like three different mechanical meanings, and is used outside of these many, many times). Plus casting focuses are usually referred to as such ("spellcasting focus" rather than just "focus").
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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.
Simplified names for sure.
Of course, with all the rights acquired by Walt Disney it will be next to impossible to have an official jedi monk. But why not reinterpret the jedi into a monk without calling it a jedi? After all, there are many subclasses that refer to anime, movies, comics, etc., but at the same time they do not claim to be, they simply make it possible for players to dream without being too explicit of the origin of the design.
I don't see monks as a class with a religion, but like you, a class that seeks balance in the Force. Maybe they worship the Force because it is the energy that flows in every living thing and so in a sense they worship life itself. More a philosophical concept than a religious one. In Star Wars they talk about disturbance in the force, and this happens when many lives are extinguished thus creating a sudden void in the force. I see the role of the monk as someone who tries to restore balance by helping these people before the disaster happens or otherwise prevent the disturbance in the force from continuing.
The monk can be many things, but then you would go into the background:
Then one has to adapt a little bit to the character's philosophy and so backgraund, and also to one's alignment. The monk could be one who seeks peace and balance in the force or one who seeks the force to dominate and subdue.
suddenly I'm imagining a council of monks coming together to govern an empire and bring order. I can't decide if it's be more fun to run with that light / dark balance or to see it all come crumbling down under a tidal wave of unanticipated modrons. either way, there's our next spelljammer book. hop to it, devs!
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
We could come with another term for Force, one that's leagues better than Discipline (which is annoying to bring into sentences with universal or extracorporeal meaning). Ki was a good choice, because it was defined as a supernatural energy that existed in every being, whether they could harness it or not was irrelevant; but Discipline cannot be used in the same way, in fact, in the UA, Discipline is never used as a proper noun or to define the supernatural energy inside the body, it's only mention is within the mechanic description of DPs and Martial Disciplines.
What other concept could we use? I'd like to use Souls, but that's too generic and not every creature in DnD has a soul, so a slight variation like Unisoul? (Universal/Unison Soul?) It could work to define the supernatural well of energy and its connection and effects on the rest of the universe, which allows it to affect soulless beings, and fluctuations on the Unisoul would be analog to disturbances in the Force
Well I think as a fighter is master of armed combat monk should be master of unarmed combat .I think mystic and super moves could be added in but that might best be done with subclass. If they properly boost the base class it will allow for more ideas of what monk people can play
They very intentionally only used it to describe the mechanical part. The extraordinary energy within a monks body is meant to be interpreted by each monk. Onr monk might use Ki, another might channel spiritual energy, and another might consider it mana. They don’t want to make it clearly defined so those players who want to avoid mysticism can just call it adrenaline or focus. Do I like it, no. Do I understand it, yes.
In martial arts Discipline relates to what type of martial arts you are doing so its not my favorite replacement term for ki as it means something completely different.
Ki means life force or life energy so any term that describes that would be a better fit then discipline points.
Force points
Energy Points
Spirit points (i think they tried that one but it did not work out)
Vitality points
Soul points
Life Energy points
Essence points
Breath of Life Points
All of those somewhat relate to the meaning of ki. I am sure there are others.
But they don’t want to attach it solely to just life /soul energy any more. It’s suppose to be similar to superiority dice and spell slots. It’s a mechanical only term. Not to be used by the characters in game. You can flavor the Monks source of power as you want.
They could always go with spirit energy like in yuyu hakusho. Yuske is basically what a monk should be , he kicks butt without energy but when he has it he can perform spirit gun or spirit shotgun.
Hmm, I undestand, though I wonder how many players actually liked the renaming of Ki and being that conceptually detached from the mystic side of things. It's like asking the player to choose a class for its mechanics and then fill in the blanks for fluff description, I feel like that would be a bit too much for a player's creativity. Having Ki as a default description and then changing it felt easier to do. Well, I guess flavour description is only ever used to catch the reader's attention at first and then, during session, only the mechanical part is used. So it's not much of a problem, but just a concern regarding the background of the class.
I think the majority of players probably think Ki is fine, but I understand moving away from a term. It is singular in cultural identity and unlike other terms that have been used in fantasy, so much over the last 40 years they barely mean the same thing Ki is still singularly Asian. Players don’t have a problem accepting spell slots are just the way you count magic. Discipline points are just the way you count, Ki, spirit energy, life energy, prana, focus, inner power, flow, or whatever then player wants to call it.
Perhaps observing other classes might give us some inspiration?
Sorcerer - Sorcery Points
Warlock - Invocations
Paladin - Channel Divinity
Artificer - Infusions
Bard - Inspiration
Blood Hunter - Hemocraft
Druid - Beast Shapes
Cleric - Divine Domain
Ranger - Primal Awareness
Rogue - Sneak Attack ???
Fighter - Second Wind
Barbarian - Rage
Wizard - Arcane or Spellbook ???
Monk - Ki / Discipline / Force / Spirit / Martial / Focus / Psychic or Psionic / Mystery / Mantra / Mind / Wisdom / Power / Energie / Mana / Prana / Life / Monk / Qi / Inner / Master / Gi / π / Ω / cosmic / transcendental / otherworldly / beyonder / essence / core / enlightenment / existence / intent / ... ???
problem is discipline clashes rhythmically, verbally, and conceptually. Its just a bad choice. They could have called wizard's 'arcane recovery' , 'study recovery' because they learn things, but that would be awkward and weird. Every time I write or think of saying 'discipline points' it feels bad.
I'm not against changing the name from Ki, but I'd definitely prefer "Focus points" personally as it feels a bit more unique, and it works well both for a purely physical Monk, as well as one that is more mystical or spiritual IMO.
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.
The monk does focus life energy to whatever effect they are trying to generate so Focus points is a really good term.
Focus is certainly a good term, but since it is already used for Spellcasting Focus I do not find it so suitable. This also applies to Force since it is used to define a type of damage. So I thought of making a list and for the moment the ones I prefer are:
Core points
Spirit points
Power points
Essence points
Origin points
Meditation points
Inner points
Energie points
Depth points
Ki / Discipline / Force / Spirit / Martial / Focus / Psychic or Psionic / Mystic / Mantra / Mind / Wisdom / Power / Energie / Mana / Prana / vitality / Monk / Qi / Inner / Master / Gi / π / Ω / cosmic / transcendental / otherworldly / beyonder / essence / core / enlightenment / existence / intent / meditation / origin /principle / ego / impulse / pulse / wawe / depth / hiden / universe / balace / harmony / willpower / will / zenith / vigor / extreme / vortex / vertex / ... ???
Just call them "Monk points" if they want to remove the culturally-specific flavour, just like Sorcerers get Sorcery Points. Though I'd personally prefer "Mystic points" but then I'm one of the few who seem to like the mystical flavour of the monk, rather than it being a Rogue x Fighter hybrid class.
I don't think anyone's likely to confuse the usages; 5th edition is riddled with words that are used for multiple purposes, "attack" being probably one of the worst (it has like three different mechanical meanings, and is used outside of these many, many times). Plus casting focuses are usually referred to as such ("spellcasting focus" rather than just "focus").
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.
Focus points is what i told them to rename it to in my survey feedback
Does anyone have any news about when 1DnD Playtest 8 is coming out?