I recently decided I wanted to homebrew a monk subclass that encourages an aggressive spending of Ki points by granting some benefits while they are low on or entirely out of Ki points. I've always felt that Monks are generally behind the damage per round baseline, especially for a dedicated damage dealing martial class, and was hoping an increased chance to hit would help raise their sustained DPR when Flurry of Blows is off the table.
I would greatly appreciate any input on whether this would be a good ability for a monk when they are out of Ki points, as well as any suggestions for other benefits when out of Ki.
Definitely too powerful IMO; you're looking at probably a minimum bonus of +3, equivalent to the hit bonus on a very rare magic weapon (and stackable with magic weapons) and most Monks will aim for +5 eventually, so you could be rocking around with +8 bonus to hit if you get a +3 magic weapon as well, for a total of +19 to hit, which is CR 30 monster levels of hit bonus.
While I like the idea of abilities that kick in when you run out of Ki, I do wonder if it's the right approach; you'd risk encouraging players to drain their Ki as fast as possible, which would actually get harder to do at higher levels (more Ki points to spend).
It might make more sense to create abilities that are normally powered by Ki, but can still function even once you run out. Not sure what to call them, but you could for example allow any number to be used per turn if you have the Ki to spend them, or one per turn for free if you run out? Or some kind of passive bonuses/options that's actually a bit weaker while you have Ki (for some reason) and gets stronger when you run out. I definitely wouldn't add a feature that does nothing until you run out, as it feels like incentivising the wrong thing IMO.
It is kind powerful, but could be balanced if you added some caveats. For example, only apply this to the first Unarmed strike against a target that you successfully landed a weapon attack on your attack action. If you target two different targets with your Attack Action, you may gain this bonus against both targets when using Flurry of Blows and using an unarmed strike against each target.
This bonus would be far too powerful if it applied to every attack without a condition. Not having Ki shouldn't be a benifit, as casters dont gain have an advantage for having used up their spell slots. ... again though, if you're home brewing, it really depends on what if you're giving other classes some kind of benifit as well.
When your ki points reach zero, you can add your proficiency bonus to martial arts attack damage until the current combat ends. You then take a level of exhaustion until your next short rest.
As a monk you should avoid running out of ki as much as possible. From my point of view it would be more interesting to have a skill that allowed you to recover some ki. like:
Wholeness of Soul
At 6th level, you gain the ability to recharge your inner energy. As an action, you can regain all your ki. You must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.
Life Force Exchange
At 4th level, you can spend 1 ki as an action and roll a Martial Arts die. You or one willing creature that you touch regain a number of hit points equal to the number rolled plus your proficiency bonus. Additionally, you can do the reverse operation to recover 1 ki.
Powerful Ki
At 6d level, the amount of your ki increases equal to your proficiency bonus as you gain levels in this class. Additionally, when you make a critical attack you recover an amount of ki equal to your wisdom modifier.
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I recently decided I wanted to homebrew a monk subclass that encourages an aggressive spending of Ki points by granting some benefits while they are low on or entirely out of Ki points. I've always felt that Monks are generally behind the damage per round baseline, especially for a dedicated damage dealing martial class, and was hoping an increased chance to hit would help raise their sustained DPR when Flurry of Blows is off the table.
I would greatly appreciate any input on whether this would be a good ability for a monk when they are out of Ki points, as well as any suggestions for other benefits when out of Ki.
Definitely too powerful IMO; you're looking at probably a minimum bonus of +3, equivalent to the hit bonus on a very rare magic weapon (and stackable with magic weapons) and most Monks will aim for +5 eventually, so you could be rocking around with +8 bonus to hit if you get a +3 magic weapon as well, for a total of +19 to hit, which is CR 30 monster levels of hit bonus.
While I like the idea of abilities that kick in when you run out of Ki, I do wonder if it's the right approach; you'd risk encouraging players to drain their Ki as fast as possible, which would actually get harder to do at higher levels (more Ki points to spend).
It might make more sense to create abilities that are normally powered by Ki, but can still function even once you run out. Not sure what to call them, but you could for example allow any number to be used per turn if you have the Ki to spend them, or one per turn for free if you run out? Or some kind of passive bonuses/options that's actually a bit weaker while you have Ki (for some reason) and gets stronger when you run out. I definitely wouldn't add a feature that does nothing until you run out, as it feels like incentivising the wrong thing IMO.
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
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It is kind powerful, but could be balanced if you added some caveats. For example, only apply this to the first Unarmed strike against a target that you successfully landed a weapon attack on your attack action. If you target two different targets with your Attack Action, you may gain this bonus against both targets when using Flurry of Blows and using an unarmed strike against each target.
This bonus would be far too powerful if it applied to every attack without a condition. Not having Ki shouldn't be a benifit, as casters dont gain have an advantage for having used up their spell slots. ... again though, if you're home brewing, it really depends on what if you're giving other classes some kind of benifit as well.
Furious Focus
When your ki points reach zero, you can add your proficiency bonus to martial arts attack damage until the current combat ends. You then take a level of exhaustion until your next short rest.
As a monk you should avoid running out of ki as much as possible. From my point of view it would be more interesting to have a skill that allowed you to recover some ki. like:
Wholeness of Soul
At 6th level, you gain the ability to recharge your inner energy. As an action, you can regain all your ki. You must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.
Life Force Exchange
At 4th level, you can spend 1 ki as an action and roll a Martial Arts die. You or one willing creature that you touch regain a number of hit points equal to the number rolled plus your proficiency bonus. Additionally, you can do the reverse operation to recover 1 ki.
Powerful Ki
At 6d level, the amount of your ki increases equal to your proficiency bonus as you gain levels in this class. Additionally, when you make a critical attack you recover an amount of ki equal to your wisdom modifier.