I'm working on a new subclass for monks that will make them able to function a little more in a tank-like fashion by increasing their AC.
But, I feel like the subclass, as I've designed it, is particularly weak. The capstone is somewhat powerful (temporarily increase AC by up to 10, with an average of increase of 6), but underpowered when compared with the Hand of Ultimate Mercy, Touch of the Long Death, or Quivering Palm.
I've kept the abilities consistent with a training method that focuses upon defense rather than offense.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. The blue comments are some of my concerns/questions about the abilities. Red comments are based (or influenced) upon suggestions made by others.
History of the Way of the Mystic Defense
The monks of the House of the Mystic Arts had an agreement with King Sandell I. In exchange for land where their monastery was located, they would provide support for the army and would never take up arms against the royal family or the army. The monks were a very useful force, functioning as a guerrilla force. Their high mobility and stealthy movement allowed the monks to come in behind the enemy lines attack and then disappear again. Through several kings, this relationship held strong, but, when King Sandell IV ascended the throne, his younger brother, Prince Annyl, decided he wanted the land adjacent to the monastery for his summer retreat.
But, the monks had a long history with that village. The founder of the House of Mystic Arts, Cai Cheng, was badly wounded following a fight, and wandered into the village, with the villagers healing him. When he established his monastery, he vowed that him and his monks would protect the villagers from harm.
Prince Annyl went to move against the villagers, with 100 knights. The monks were caught between two oaths, one to the King and a second one to the villagers. The monks decided they would prevent the knights from attacking the villagers, but, would not, in turn attack the knights. For 30 days a battle raged, with the knights trying to get past the monks to remove the villagers. But, they were unable to get past the monks, whose defense held strong. The knights only sustained minor injuries, most of them amounting to sprains of the ankles or knees. After 30 days, the knights finally gave up and returned to the capital. The King, upon finding out about this event, disciplined his brother and the knights.
From this event, the House developed the Way of the Mystic Defense. The teaching of this discipline eventually spread across the world.
Abilities:
3rd Level:
At 3 level, when this subclass is chosen, the monk gets a bonus to the AC that is half of the proficiency bonus.
Deflect melee attacks: The monk can use a reaction to deflect a melee attack and reduce the damage. The damage is reduced by 1d10 + the proficiency modifier + the monk level. If the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to redirect the attack against any enemy within five feet of the attacker. This is patterned after the deflect missile weapons, but, at higher levels the reduction in melee damage will be relatively minor.
Neighborly defense: The monk can spend 2 ki point as a bonus action to protect up to 2 allies that are within 5 feet of them. The allies will receive a +2 bonus to their AC until the end of the monk’s next turn.
6th Level
Dizzying Strike: When the monk makes a hit with an unarmed attack, they can spend 1 ki point to disrupt the equilibrium of an opponent. The target must succeed on a dexterity saving throw or they will be dizzy until the end of the monk’s next turn. While dizzy, they will have disadvantage on all attacks, and any attacks against them will be at advantage. The afflicted will also move 2d10 feet away from the monk in a random direction. This movement will occur before the creature takes any other action. If their movement takes them into another creature’s space, they must make one melee attack against that creature, regardless of whether it is an ally or enemy.
11th Level
The ability to deflect melee attacks and missile attacks can be expanded to be used on attacks against allies within 5 feet of the monk. For missile attacks, if the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged attack, identical to the deflect missiles ability. For melee attacks, if the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to redirect the attack against any enemy within five feet of the attacker.
The monk is immune to attack from non-magical weapons. The monk can spend 2 ki points to gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. This effect will last for one minute unless the monk is knocked unconscious or stunned.
17th Level
The monk can choose what direction an enemy will move following a successful dizzying strike. Perhaps the ability should be gained at 11th level?
Mystic Defense:The monk can can spend 2 ki points to raise their AC by the roll of a monk die for 30 seconds. up to 5 ki points to raise their AC by 1 point for each ki point spent. This effect will last for 30 seconds.
I can't really judge how it will play, but if the melee redirect is weak, perhaps it should be easier to use; perhaps power it with ki instead of the reaction?
Dizzying strike: "they will attack" is ambiguous. What you probably want is "must make one melee attack against that creature". You also need to clarify who chooses if there are multiple available targets.
And yeah, the 17th-level AC boost is uninspiring. Why have it be a die roll? It's more appealing to the player if it's a known quantity.
(Also, duration should be in rounds, not seconds.)
Since you're doing a lot with redirection already, an ability to consider is redirection of spell attacks.
Dizzying strike is ridiculously overpowered. First of all, Dex save makes no sense (should be Con, like Stunning Strike) second, being able to use it on ALL attacks for free makes you able to cause huge amounts of damage when the enemy/-ies moves away. Having the target attack their allies, even with the disadvantage, is quite unbalanced.
Being permanently immune to all non-magic weapons is also incredibly over-powered. Especially at level 11.
Mystic defence is ridiculously cheap for what it does. Basically it will give you an AC of about 25 for an entire combat for a negligent cost.
Deflect melee is fine but neighbourly defence should either be 1 ki to protect one ally or 1 ki for each ally.
I agree Dizzying Strikes should have a Ki cost to it and CON save. But I also feel that it is too similar to Stunning Strike that they get 1 level earlier.
I’m fine with Neighborly Defense but could see it 1 Ki per person. You are giving up your Bonus Action so that is a significant cost since monks have BA features they are not using. Or I could see it like the Interception or Protection (but with Monk weapon instead of shield) fighting styles.
Immunity is huge. And it’s against all non-magical attacks. Should be bumped down to Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing damage (not just non-magical B,P,S) and maybe PB times per long rest or by expending 3 Ki afterwards
Redirecting the melee attack should cost a Ki just like redirecting a range attack for Deflect Missiles.
Thanks for the comments. Yes, the dizzying strikes should have a ki cost to them. When I wrote, "they can use their ki" I should have put "they can spend 1 ki . . ."
I chose dexterity as the saving throw type to differentiate it from stunning strike. If dizzying strike and stunning strike have the same exact saving throw, the dizzying strike might not get used as much. Stunning strike prevents the opponent from attacking and all attacks are at advantage against them. With dizzying strike, the opponent still gets to attack (admittedly, at disadvantage). Although the potential is there for an opportunity attack with dizzying strike, it is not guaranteed. I would argue that equilibrium is closely tied into your dexterity.
ThriKreen Warrior, you are right, the redirect melee attack should cost a point of Ki, just like throwing back a caught missile. I missed that one.
Would immunity to non-magical weapons be better as a 17th level ability? I'll have to think about the mechanics of resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage in place of the immunity to non-magical weapons, but, that might be a more realistic ability. And, that is an ability that would need to come with a cost, either ki or a limit to the number of times it can be used, similar to barbarians limited in how many times they can rage (which has a similar impact).
I'll raise the ki on neighborly defense to 2 ki.
The mystic defense thing still clearly needs some work. I may change it to spending up to 5 ki, with the AC getting raised by 1 for each ki spent.
Thanks for the wording suggestions jl8e. I'll make those clarifications.
Thanks for the comments. Yes, the dizzying strikes should have a ki cost to them. When I wrote, "they can use their ki" I should have put "they can spend 1 ki . . ."
I chose dexterity as the saving throw type to differentiate it from stunning strike. If dizzying strike and stunning strike have the same exact saving throw, the dizzying strike might not get used as much. Stunning strike prevents the opponent from attacking and all attacks are at advantage against them. With dizzying strike, the opponent still gets to attack (admittedly, at disadvantage). Although the potential is there for an opportunity attack with dizzying strike, it is not guaranteed. I would argue that equilibrium is closely tied into your dexterity.
First of all, makes no sense to arbitrarily have Dex as the saving throw (other than that monster usually have better Con saves). Second of all, 1 ki point for all those effects is way too cheap and it's still completely overpowered.
ThriKreen Warrior, you are right, the redirect melee attack should cost a point of Ki, just like throwing back a caught missile. I missed that one.
Would immunity to non-magical weapons be better as a 17th level ability?
It will be less over-powered but still overpowered.
I'll have to think about the mechanics of resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage in place of the immunity to non-magical weapons, but, that might be a more realistic ability. And, that is an ability that would need to come with a cost, either ki or a limit to the number of times it can be used, similar to barbarians limited in how many times they can rage (which has a similar impact).
Resistance to PBS at a Ki cost (or PBx/day) is much more realistic.
I'll raise the ki on neighborly defense to 2 ki.
The mystic defense thing still clearly needs some work. I may change it to spending up to 5 ki, with the AC getting raised by 1 for each ki spent.
Limit the duration to "until the end of your next turn" or something similar and it will start to become balanced.
Deflect melee attacks: The monk can use a reaction to deflect a melee attack and reduce the damage. The damage is reduced by 1d10 + the proficiency modifier + the monk level. If the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to redirect the attack against any enemy within five feet of the attacker. This is patterned after the deflect missile weapons, but, at higher levels the reduction in melee damage will be relatively minor.
I'm not sure what you're considering "relatively minor" here?
I've been playing a modified version of Way of the Kensei which has an ability very much like this as an alternative for the vanilla Agile Parry, and it's a very strong ability, it just has certain limitations; if you can minimise the attacks that hit you (which Patient Defence is great for) then the amount of damage you can ignore is significant, usually greater than most attacks that are going to hit you, on average. The limitation is that it's only once per round, so anything that can hit you more than once will overwhelm it, so either a single creature with multiattack, multiple weaker enemies, or even both (as creatures start getting multiattack a lot sooner than most people think). This doesn't make it a weak ability, as used properly it can make you extremely durable, and while using proficiency in place of +DEX will make a tiny bit weaker than Deflect Missiles initially, it's also potentially stronger overall (tops out at +6, whereas DEX can only go that high with special bonuses).
In the case of Keen Edge, the parry requires the use of a certain melee weapon, and it only works against non-magical melee attacks at first (though it scales to include more later on, so I'd maybe consider having some kind of further limitations as currently you have no description of what is required for it to work so could use it while tied up in rope hanging upside from the underside of an airship. 😂
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.
Six abilities provide a quick description of every creature’s physical and mental characteristics:
Strength, measuring physical power
Dexterity, measuring agility
Constitution, measuring endurance
Intelligence, measuring reasoning and memory
Wisdom, measuring perception and insight
Charisma, measuring force of personality
Not perfect descriptions but the ability to take a punch and not be dizzied falls under CON. Each saving throw corresponds to what is happening to the character. Dizzying Strike would fall under CON.
And, again, immunity is huge. They took away immunity to poison from Yuan-Ti in MMM and reduced it to resistance, if I’m not mistaken, because even that was too much. Even at 17th level it would mean your monk is immune to a high CR creature’s claw, bite, etc. attacks as they are not magical. Not sure if dragons claw/bite is considered magical but if not you could climb in a dragons mouth and let them naw on you like a chew toy and be completely safe.
At 3 level, when this subclass is chosen, the monk gets a bonus to the AC that is half of the proficiency bonus.
This is grossly overpowered; one example problem is that it stacks with magic armor. Specific suggestion to follow below, so I can bundle all of the L3 benefits.
Deflect melee attacks: The monk can use a reaction to deflect a melee attack and reduce the damage. The damage is reduced by 1d10 + the proficiency modifier + the monk level. If the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to redirect the attack against any enemy within five feet of the attacker. This is patterned after the deflect missile weapons, but, at higher levels the reduction in melee damage will be relatively minor.
Weirdly different from deflect missiles in terms of using pb rather than Dex and also bizarre in that it both works on spell attacks and redirects to 5', not reach. Again, specific suggestions below. This is baseline incredibly powerful, easily worth being an L3 ability all by itself.
Neighborly defense: The monk can spend 2 ki point as a bonus action to protect up to 2 allies that are within 5 feet of them. The allies will receive a +2 bonus to their AC until the end of the monk’s next turn.
This would be completely fine except for interactions with the other two benefits.
Specific suggestion for level 3 abilities:
Battle Dance: Provided you aren't wearing armor or wielding a shield, when you use Patient Defense you can also begin a Battle Dance, which lasts 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you don armor or a shield, or if you make an attack with a weapon which is not a monk weapon. You can also dismiss the Battle Dance at any time (no action required). While your Battle Dance is active, you gain the following benefits:
You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your proficiency bonus which does not stack with cover.
You gain a bonus to your Dexterity saving throws equal to your Wisdom modifier which does not stack with cover.
You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) and Charisma (Performance) checks.
You can use Deflect Missiles when any creature within your reach is hit by a ranged weapon attack, not just yourself. It also works on spell attacks, but if you make an attack as a result of it, make a spell attack, not a weapon attack, and use your Wisdom modifier for both the reduction and the resulting attack.
You gain Deflect Melee:
You can use your reaction to deflect or catch the blow when a creature within your reach is hit by a melee attack. When you do so, the damage the creature takes from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your monk level + (your Dexterity modifier (for a weapon attack) or your Wisdom modifier (for a spell attack)).
If you reduce the damage to 0, you can catch the blow if your attacker is no more than 1 size category larger than you and you have at least one hand free. If you catch a blow in this way, you can spend 1 ki point to force the attacker to make a Strength saving throw. If it fails the save, you may push the target up to 15 feet away from you, you may knock the target prone, and if the target is within your reach, you may render the target grappled by you.
6th Level
Dizzying Strike: When the monk makes a hit with an unarmed attack, they can spend 1 ki point to disrupt the equilibrium of an opponent. The target must succeed on a dexterity saving throw or they will be dizzy until the end of the monk’s next turn. While dizzy, they will have disadvantage on all attacks, and any attacks against them will be at advantage. The afflicted will also move 2d10 feet away from the monk in a random direction. This movement will occur before the creature takes any other action. If their movement takes them into another creature’s space, they must make one melee attack against that creature, regardless of whether it is an ally or enemy.
There's no excuse at all for this being a Dexterity save, movement that isn't a multiple of 5 feet is a huge no-no, and other problems abound, like how this has to compete with Stunning Strike.
Try this:
Confusing Strike: When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike or monk weapon, you can spend 1 ki point to force the target to make a Wisdom saving throw; if it fails, it is charmed by you and all creatures of your choice you can see. While charmed in this way, it considers all of your enemies to be its enemies and it considers all targets it is charmed by due to this effect to be an ally. The charm ends at the end of your next turn.
11th Level
The ability to deflect melee attacks and missile attacks can be expanded to be used on attacks against allies within 5 feet of the monk. For missile attacks, if the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged attack, identical to the deflect missiles ability. For melee attacks, if the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to redirect the attack against any enemy within five feet of the attacker.
The monk is immune to attack from non-magical weapons. The monk can spend 2 ki points to gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. This effect will last for one minute unless the monk is knocked unconscious or stunned.
Due to serious overlap with features provided above, replacing wholesale:
While Battle Dancing, you now have resistance to damage suffered due to attacks and failed Dexterity saving throws.
When you use Patient Defense, including when you enter your Battle Dance, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.
You can use Deflect Missiles and Deflect Melee in response to the relevant creature being missed by the attack, not just hit. When you do so, you automatically catch the blow or missile without needing to worry about reducing damage (all other requirements still apply).
17th Level
The monk can choose what direction an enemy will move following a successful dizzying strike. Perhaps the ability should be gained at 11th level?
Mystic Defense:The monk can can spend 2 ki points to raise their AC by the roll of a monk die for 30 seconds. up to 5 ki points to raise their AC by 1 point for each ki point spent. This effect will last for 30 seconds.
Just replacing:
You can spend 5 ki points to cast Dominate Monster without any components. When you do so, the duration is Concentration, up to 1 minute, the range is Touch, and the casting time is 1 action or 1 bonus action, your choice.
If you want to make a tank monk, why not take a reference from the Twilight Domain Cleric. You could make a monk in the style of Fox's Sin of Greed Ban.
What was the inspiration behind this class, was the stereotype seen in a lot of martial arts movies where someone attacks the protagonist and throws everything they can at them, and fail to hit. I can't think of any martial arts films off the top of my head as examples, but, the first Tobey Maguire Spider-Man provides examples of this, both in his fight with Flash right over he gains his spider senses, and at the end of the battle with Green Goblin. Neo, in the Matrix, also provides examples of this ability. And, thinking of Spider-Man and Neo, one ability that I could add is some sort of sense that is ki-powered, allows the monk to anticipate the moves someone is making, giving the monk the ability to force a rerolls on successful hits. I'll have to think on that idea a little more to come up with something that would work.
I'm not too familiar with the mechanics of the twilight cleric, but, a quick scan over gave me on idea. Something akin to the Twilight Sanctuary would fit in with the theme though. I'll have to think of how that might work and where it would fit in. Thanks for that suggestion.
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I'm working on a new subclass for monks that will make them able to function a little more in a tank-like fashion by increasing their AC.
But, I feel like the subclass, as I've designed it, is particularly weak. The capstone is somewhat powerful (temporarily increase AC by up to 10, with an average of increase of 6), but underpowered when compared with the Hand of Ultimate Mercy, Touch of the Long Death, or Quivering Palm.
I've kept the abilities consistent with a training method that focuses upon defense rather than offense.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. The blue comments are some of my concerns/questions about the abilities. Red comments are based (or influenced) upon suggestions made by others.
History of the Way of the Mystic Defense
The monks of the House of the Mystic Arts had an agreement with King Sandell I. In exchange for land where their monastery was located, they would provide support for the army and would never take up arms against the royal family or the army. The monks were a very useful force, functioning as a guerrilla force. Their high mobility and stealthy movement allowed the monks to come in behind the enemy lines attack and then disappear again. Through several kings, this relationship held strong, but, when King Sandell IV ascended the throne, his younger brother, Prince Annyl, decided he wanted the land adjacent to the monastery for his summer retreat.
But, the monks had a long history with that village. The founder of the House of Mystic Arts, Cai Cheng, was badly wounded following a fight, and wandered into the village, with the villagers healing him. When he established his monastery, he vowed that him and his monks would protect the villagers from harm.
Prince Annyl went to move against the villagers, with 100 knights. The monks were caught between two oaths, one to the King and a second one to the villagers. The monks decided they would prevent the knights from attacking the villagers, but, would not, in turn attack the knights. For 30 days a battle raged, with the knights trying to get past the monks to remove the villagers. But, they were unable to get past the monks, whose defense held strong. The knights only sustained minor injuries, most of them amounting to sprains of the ankles or knees. After 30 days, the knights finally gave up and returned to the capital. The King, upon finding out about this event, disciplined his brother and the knights.
From this event, the House developed the Way of the Mystic Defense. The teaching of this discipline eventually spread across the world.
Abilities:
3rd Level:
At 3 level, when this subclass is chosen, the monk gets a bonus to the AC that is half of the proficiency bonus.
Deflect melee attacks: The monk can use a reaction to deflect a melee attack and reduce the damage. The damage is reduced by 1d10 + the proficiency modifier + the monk level. If the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to redirect the attack against any enemy within five feet of the attacker. This is patterned after the deflect missile weapons, but, at higher levels the reduction in melee damage will be relatively minor.
Neighborly defense: The monk can spend 2 ki point as a bonus action to protect up to 2 allies that are within 5 feet of them. The allies will receive a +2 bonus to their AC until the end of the monk’s next turn.
6th Level
Dizzying Strike: When the monk makes a hit with an unarmed attack, they can spend 1 ki point to disrupt the equilibrium of an opponent. The target must succeed on a dexterity saving throw or they will be dizzy until the end of the monk’s next turn. While dizzy, they will have disadvantage on all attacks, and any attacks against them will be at advantage. The afflicted will also move 2d10 feet away from the monk in a random direction. This movement will occur before the creature takes any other action. If their movement takes them into another creature’s space, they must make one melee attack against that creature, regardless of whether it is an ally or enemy.
11th Level
The ability to deflect melee attacks and missile attacks can be expanded to be used on attacks against allies within 5 feet of the monk. For missile attacks, if the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged attack, identical to the deflect missiles ability. For melee attacks, if the damage is reduced to zero, the monk can spend 1 ki point to redirect the attack against any enemy within five feet of the attacker.
The monk is immune to attack from non-magical weapons.
The monk can spend 2 ki points to gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. This effect will last for one minute unless the monk is knocked unconscious or stunned.17th Level
The monk can choose what direction an enemy will move following a successful dizzying strike. Perhaps the ability should be gained at 11th level?
Mystic Defense: The monk can can spend
2 ki points to raise their AC by the roll of a monk die for 30 seconds.up to 5 ki points to raise their AC by 1 point for each ki point spent. This effect will last for 30 seconds.I can't really judge how it will play, but if the melee redirect is weak, perhaps it should be easier to use; perhaps power it with ki instead of the reaction?
Dizzying strike: "they will attack" is ambiguous. What you probably want is "must make one melee attack against that creature". You also need to clarify who chooses if there are multiple available targets.
And yeah, the 17th-level AC boost is uninspiring. Why have it be a die roll? It's more appealing to the player if it's a known quantity.
(Also, duration should be in rounds, not seconds.)
Since you're doing a lot with redirection already, an ability to consider is redirection of spell attacks.
Dizzying strike is ridiculously overpowered. First of all, Dex save makes no sense (should be Con, like Stunning Strike) second, being able to use it on ALL attacks for free makes you able to cause huge amounts of damage when the enemy/-ies moves away. Having the target attack their allies, even with the disadvantage, is quite unbalanced.
Being permanently immune to all non-magic weapons is also incredibly over-powered. Especially at level 11.
Mystic defence is ridiculously cheap for what it does. Basically it will give you an AC of about 25 for an entire combat for a negligent cost.
Deflect melee is fine but neighbourly defence should either be 1 ki to protect one ally or 1 ki for each ally.
I agree Dizzying Strikes should have a Ki cost to it and CON save. But I also feel that it is too similar to Stunning Strike that they get 1 level earlier.
I’m fine with Neighborly Defense but could see it 1 Ki per person. You are giving up your Bonus Action so that is a significant cost since monks have BA features they are not using. Or I could see it like the Interception or Protection (but with Monk weapon instead of shield) fighting styles.
Immunity is huge. And it’s against all non-magical attacks. Should be bumped down to Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing damage (not just non-magical B,P,S) and maybe PB times per long rest or by expending 3 Ki afterwards
Redirecting the melee attack should cost a Ki just like redirecting a range attack for Deflect Missiles.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Thanks for the comments. Yes, the dizzying strikes should have a ki cost to them. When I wrote, "they can use their ki" I should have put "they can spend 1 ki . . ."
I chose dexterity as the saving throw type to differentiate it from stunning strike. If dizzying strike and stunning strike have the same exact saving throw, the dizzying strike might not get used as much. Stunning strike prevents the opponent from attacking and all attacks are at advantage against them. With dizzying strike, the opponent still gets to attack (admittedly, at disadvantage). Although the potential is there for an opportunity attack with dizzying strike, it is not guaranteed. I would argue that equilibrium is closely tied into your dexterity.
ThriKreen Warrior, you are right, the redirect melee attack should cost a point of Ki, just like throwing back a caught missile. I missed that one.
Would immunity to non-magical weapons be better as a 17th level ability? I'll have to think about the mechanics of resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage in place of the immunity to non-magical weapons, but, that might be a more realistic ability. And, that is an ability that would need to come with a cost, either ki or a limit to the number of times it can be used, similar to barbarians limited in how many times they can rage (which has a similar impact).
I'll raise the ki on neighborly defense to 2 ki.
The mystic defense thing still clearly needs some work. I may change it to spending up to 5 ki, with the AC getting raised by 1 for each ki spent.
Thanks for the wording suggestions jl8e. I'll make those clarifications.
First of all, makes no sense to arbitrarily have Dex as the saving throw (other than that monster usually have better Con saves). Second of all, 1 ki point for all those effects is way too cheap and it's still completely overpowered.
It will be less over-powered but still overpowered.
Resistance to PBS at a Ki cost (or PBx/day) is much more realistic.
Limit the duration to "until the end of your next turn" or something similar and it will start to become balanced.
I'm not sure what you're considering "relatively minor" here?
I've been playing a modified version of Way of the Kensei which has an ability very much like this as an alternative for the vanilla Agile Parry, and it's a very strong ability, it just has certain limitations; if you can minimise the attacks that hit you (which Patient Defence is great for) then the amount of damage you can ignore is significant, usually greater than most attacks that are going to hit you, on average. The limitation is that it's only once per round, so anything that can hit you more than once will overwhelm it, so either a single creature with multiattack, multiple weaker enemies, or even both (as creatures start getting multiattack a lot sooner than most people think). This doesn't make it a weak ability, as used properly it can make you extremely durable, and while using proficiency in place of +DEX will make a tiny bit weaker than Deflect Missiles initially, it's also potentially stronger overall (tops out at +6, whereas DEX can only go that high with special bonuses).
In the case of Keen Edge, the parry requires the use of a certain melee weapon, and it only works against non-magical melee attacks at first (though it scales to include more later on, so I'd maybe consider having some kind of further limitations as currently you have no description of what is required for it to work so could use it while tied up in rope hanging upside from the underside of an airship. 😂
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.
From the PHB:
Not perfect descriptions but the ability to take a punch and not be dizzied falls under CON. Each saving throw corresponds to what is happening to the character. Dizzying Strike would fall under CON.
And, again, immunity is huge. They took away immunity to poison from Yuan-Ti in MMM and reduced it to resistance, if I’m not mistaken, because even that was too much. Even at 17th level it would mean your monk is immune to a high CR creature’s claw, bite, etc. attacks as they are not magical. Not sure if dragons claw/bite is considered magical but if not you could climb in a dragons mouth and let them naw on you like a chew toy and be completely safe.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
This is grossly overpowered; one example problem is that it stacks with magic armor. Specific suggestion to follow below, so I can bundle all of the L3 benefits.
Weirdly different from deflect missiles in terms of using pb rather than Dex and also bizarre in that it both works on spell attacks and redirects to 5', not reach. Again, specific suggestions below. This is baseline incredibly powerful, easily worth being an L3 ability all by itself.
This would be completely fine except for interactions with the other two benefits.
Specific suggestion for level 3 abilities:
You can use your reaction to deflect or catch the blow when a creature within your reach is hit by a melee attack. When you do so, the damage the creature takes from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your monk level + (your Dexterity modifier (for a weapon attack) or your Wisdom modifier (for a spell attack)).
If you reduce the damage to 0, you can catch the blow if your attacker is no more than 1 size category larger than you and you have at least one hand free. If you catch a blow in this way, you can spend 1 ki point to force the attacker to make a Strength saving throw. If it fails the save, you may push the target up to 15 feet away from you, you may knock the target prone, and if the target is within your reach, you may render the target grappled by you.
There's no excuse at all for this being a Dexterity save, movement that isn't a multiple of 5 feet is a huge no-no, and other problems abound, like how this has to compete with Stunning Strike.
Try this:
Due to serious overlap with features provided above, replacing wholesale:
Just replacing:
Where did I say that deflect melee attacks works against spells?
If you want to make a tank monk, why not take a reference from the Twilight Domain Cleric. You could make a monk in the style of Fox's Sin of Greed Ban.
What was the inspiration behind this class, was the stereotype seen in a lot of martial arts movies where someone attacks the protagonist and throws everything they can at them, and fail to hit. I can't think of any martial arts films off the top of my head as examples, but, the first Tobey Maguire Spider-Man provides examples of this, both in his fight with Flash right over he gains his spider senses, and at the end of the battle with Green Goblin. Neo, in the Matrix, also provides examples of this ability. And, thinking of Spider-Man and Neo, one ability that I could add is some sort of sense that is ki-powered, allows the monk to anticipate the moves someone is making, giving the monk the ability to force a rerolls on successful hits. I'll have to think on that idea a little more to come up with something that would work.
I'm not too familiar with the mechanics of the twilight cleric, but, a quick scan over gave me on idea. Something akin to the Twilight Sanctuary would fit in with the theme though. I'll have to think of how that might work and where it would fit in. Thanks for that suggestion.