Way of Precision

Monks of the Way of Precision believe that using raw strength is a disgraceful, fruitless endeavor, and reject any show of brutality. For them, even other monks have fallen into the trap of pointless pain, and have lost their ability to dance through combat, following the flow of your own movements, and of those in front of you. 

They are perfectionists of combat. They aspire for exactitude, and reject any unnecessary movement, both in attack and defense. They indulge in the perfection of a battle, and find immense beauty in rightly sneaking a blow, or dodging at the very last moment.

Monks following this tradition see fights as a performance, and their enemies as partners, and through tireless training, have mastered to read their movement, and understand precisely how to follow it, to avoid their strengths, and precisely how to hit, to exploit their vulnerabilities

 

(Table talk moment ahead, feel free to ignore if you want)

Way of Precision comes from a general dislike of the less specific Monk subclasses, as they feel bland and without much impact over gameplay. I have also felt like, while playing monks, you have too many possible uses for your Bonus Action, and, of course, only one each turn. I think it could be very interesting to partially break that rule, and allow players to get an extra Bonus Action under specific conditions.

To offer a different game experience, this subclass takes the martial art mastery fantasy monks offer, and brings it to the front, focusing on a mechanic of attacks being exactly good enough. It obviously takes inspiration in the grace of movement in most fighting shows and movies, trying to translate their choreography into game mechanics.

I also hope the mechanic feels different not just from most Monk subclasses, but also from most subclasses in general in the game, adding a big component of high risk / high reward to combat, to have players constantly taking minor decisions through their turn. Because of the mechanic requiring exact rolls to function, I think it would also boost the Focussed Aim feature, often overlooked because Monks rarely have enough Ki points to spend on “fixing” an attack, and if they do, they can simply spend it on more attacks instead.

Two little warnings/disclaimers: First, this is just a subclass. Most people (me included) consider the Monk class to be a few steps below what it should be in terms of damage output, but I am not trying to fix monks through a subclass (discuss it with your DM if the class’s damage output is a problem for you). Second, this subclass has not been properly tested through a campaign, so, play at your own risk, and tweak any value you notice being off (and would highly appreciate feedback if you do !).

Flow Read

At 3rd level, you learn to read your opponent’s movements, and only need to cross a few blows to recognize their moments of security, and when they’re wide open.

When you miss an attack roll against any creature, you learn their AC

Controlled Hit

Also at 3rd level, you are empowered by the precision of your movements. When you manage to place a perfect hit, you gain control over the flow of battle, and earn the opportunity to effortlessly follow up.

When you make an attack roll, you can choose to roll your martial art die, and reduce that amount from the attack roll. If you decide to roll, you must reduce the attack roll.

Moreover, when you have advantage on an attack roll, you can pick either die rolled, not just the highest.

If an attack, reduced or not, hits the exact AC of the target, you gain the next benefits:

• An extra Bonus Action
• Advantage or your next attack

You can gain the benefits of this feature up to half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down) per round.

Graceful Dodge

Starting at 6th level, you learn to incorporate the flow of your opponent’s attack into your performance by waiting until the very last moment to avoid them.

When an attack roll against you hits your exact AC, you can use your reaction to spend 2 Ki points and increase your AC by 1, causing the attack to miss.

The AC increase lasts until the start of your next turn.

Master of Flow Read

Starting at 11th level, your knowledge of combat flow allows you to read creatures' movement without needing to be involved with them in combat.

When an ally misses an attack roll against a creature you can see, you learn their AC.

Perfected Hit

Also at 11th level, you have mastered the art of the perfect hit, and can reliably achieve such prowess. By achieving impossible precision on your attacks, you are also able to find the hidden Ki in the body of your targets, and extract it for your own benefit.

When you use your Focused Aim feature, you can choose to add or remove between 1 and 3 points to your attack roll.

Your Controlled Hit feature gains the next benefit:

• 1 Ki point

Switching Battle Partners

At 17th level, you have mastered the flow of the battlefield, and learnt to move around it, to exploit many creatures' weaknesses at will.

When you make an attack roll, you can spend 1 Ki point to move up to 20 feet without provoking any Opportunity of Attack, and use the roll against another creature within range.