Base Class: Monk
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
— Robert Frost
Ki of Ice and Fire
At the 3rd level, you learn two cantrips: Produce Flame and Frostbite. When using one of them, you can spend 1 ki point to use the other as part of the same action.
After using Twin Elements Discipline, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Twin Elements Discipline
Starting at 6th level, you have mastered the properties of ice and fire that flow through your ki.
You have resistance to cold and fire damage, and your Ki-Empowered Strikes can apply cold or fire damage and you can choose to use Wisdom for the attack and damage rolls.
Frostfire Protection
At 11th level, as a bonus action, you can spend 1 ki point to create a protective layer of thin and wispy frostfire flakes that wreaths your body for the duration of 1 minute.
Gain temporary hit points equal to your monk level. If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these hit points, the creature takes cold and fire damage equals your Wisdom modifier.
Whenever you take this bonus action, you can spend one Hit Die to heal yourself. Roll the die, add your Constitution modifier, and regain a number of hit points equal to the total (minimum of 1).
Dichotomous Soul
As an action, you can control them in any order you choose in two consecutive turns right after the end of your turn.
- The duplicates last for 1 minute and have Hit Points equal to half of your maximum Hit Points. If either one dies, the other dies too.
- Duplicates have the same attributes and feats you have but cannot spend ki points.
- You must finish a short or long rest before you can use this feature again unless you use a bonus action to dismiss both duplicates before they die.
Any time the duplicates are in melee range of each other you can use your reaction to fuse them, causing a big explosion.
The duplicates sacrifice themselves by fusing into a sphere of spiraling fire and cold energy, causing an explosion. Each creature in a 20-foot radius Sphere around the fusion point must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a target takes 4d8 fire damage, 4d6 cold damage, and has disadvantage on the next weapon attack roll it makes before the end of its next turn. On a successful save, the target takes half as much damage and is unaffected by the disadvantage.
Thank you for taking the time to read and understand the subclass!
And yes, you're correct, that level 11 ability is OP.
I have a much more balanced version of this subclass, but the problem is that if I update it here on the site, all the 20k views will reset to zero. That's why I end up using the comments to keep more information about the subclass.
Here’s one of the most recent versions: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ECpzPJl-PkOT
But now I’m really waiting for the official release of the new PHB to redo this subclass with the new base book.
But the essence won’t change, being:
LVL 3 - First talent related to fire and ice.
LVL 6 - Twin Elements Discipline - This one remains perfect and simple as it is, gaining resistance to fire and ice and being able to apply fire and ice to your unarmed attacks.
LVL 11 - Now that the new monk has more defensive options, this ability needs to be reviewed. The intent is for the monk to have a solid defensive option while using their actions to control their copies from the LVL 17 talent.
LVL 17 - Same thing, creating two copies and using your action to control them.
Now that the new PHB has a good class with the Warrior of the Elements, it might be more interesting to rethink the theme of my subclass. Perhaps the duality could be with the classic light and shadow, like radiant and necrotic.
And about "btw, what does 'abandom' mean?"
It’s just a typo, haha—it was meant to be "abandon."
P.S.: If you open the link, you’ll see that I did a rework on all the monk subclasses, including the base class, and I admit that some turned out really well.
But I know they'll be even better when I use the new monk as the foundation. One thing I did that Wizards of the Coast doesn't seem to understand is that monks are happiest when performing multiple attacks, like a combo in fighting games. That’s why I believe my unique version of Martial Arts + Relentless Assault is something that would make the monk stand out even more from other melee classes.
Amazing subclass, I would even say it looks better than most official ones and im definitely going to use it soon,
just one thing - the 11th feature "Frostfire Protection" still seems a bit overpowered (even after the debuffing), as it allows you to heal ~8 hit points AND cast a better version of Armour of Agathys as a bonus action for 1 ki point, for comparison, the optional "Quickened Healing" (ik it's bad roll with me) costs 2 ki and heals slightly more with no AoA, and so does Way of Mercy's "Hands of Healing" but for 1 ki and an action, I know these are lower level features, but the difference in ki per feature cost is visible, and i think halving the temp hp gained from this feature would make it much more balanced
(to further my point, an average build 11th level monk can pretty much double their hp in a fight with just 4 ki points, and deal a shit ton of passive damage)
btw, what does "abandom" mean?
Hey! I'm really happy that you took the time to understand all the changes and mechanics that I proposed.
I did this rework before ONE D&D showed its new monk.
I'll wait for them to make the official final version to adapt these changes, perhaps in the form of a subclass.
This is in response to the latest version of the subclass found here: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ECpzPJl-PkOT
Maybe I'm confused here, but wouldn't I be better off just using my Ki point to use Flurry of Blows as a Bonus Action instead of using Produce Flame as a BA?At level 7 (with +4 WIS mod):FoB : 1d6 + 4 + 1d6 + 4 = Avg of 14Produce Flame: 2d8 = Avg of 8EDIT: Never mind! I see that in your full Monk Rework, you've completely changed FoB, which makes the above choice make a LOT more sense!
EDIT 2: Holy shit, after looking at the Monk Rework, I have to say...EXCELLENT WORK my friend! This are exactly the buffs the monk needs. I especially like the Focused Aim ability - it's really original, and has perfect synergy with the reworked Martial Arts and new Relentless Assault abilities!
There are several things that I will update, but I'm waiting for the new version of the monk to be made official in these UNEARTHED ARCANA that are coming out.
It's interesting but very backloaded. wis cantrips aren't a huge deal on a monk.
i cant get the spells to work with the monk
I'd would be interested in testing it, however, again, I'm not subscribed
For those interested, the latest version of this subclass is on page 15: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ECpzPJl-PkOT
This. Is. Dope. Thanks for all the work you put into this.
I also created this cantrip for this subclass to replace Frostbite, in case you're interested in testing it.
Glacial Globe: https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/802868-glacial-globe
So you can hold a flame in one hand and a globe of ice in the other. :D
I'm glad you liked it, and please try it out and come back here to let us know how it went!
I still think I can make some improvements to this subclass in the future, and it would be nice if there was an ice cantrip more similar to Produce Flame
I may not be subscribed, but I really like this subclass. If I could, I would certainly add it. I would also like to ask your permission to use it when playing the game with my friends.
Just a typo, I'll fix this when I update this subclass to a new version.
This person was likely trying to say abandon but typed and "m" instead of an "N".
This is an impressive build for a monk. They level up and gain the abilities which represent how much power they should have and when they should receive it.
Can anybody tell me what "Abandom" means?
Nice poem at the start! I've heard it before just the other day. Yes great idea in all!
I think there is a distinct advantage views wise with your title starting with A
I might see if the monk in my group wants to play one of these