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View Full Version : Quick and Dirty Monk Fix {{please Critique}}



ngilop
2012-12-31, 07:35 PM
Hey all, I decided to give a try at re-working monks a bit, granted I do not use monks ( at last the crouching tiger, hidden dragon, fist of the noth star type) in my campaign world, so Im not really sure why a monk is rated so low in the 'tier' system, well other than fast movement and flurry of blows does not get along together. SO i sat down and thought ot msyelf... well these monks are supposed to be some kind fo mystic quasi religous fighter who hist things with his hands, head, knees, feet and pelvic region... so why don't I just give them soem neat-o abilities to go along with that POW thats when I thought of the Primal (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14399983&postcount=1)I just made and how i used invocations for thatc lass and thought 'yeah that kinda seems right.. lets do teh same mechanic only call it soemthing different and give quasi religious and martial artsy wu-shu kinda stuff and see what up?

also, the class is for the most part unfinished, i have a date and I need to get ready and all that jazz blah blah hippibibby doo. so just the bare bones are here now.. gives everybody time to think of some cool abilities and tell me what exactly is fail with the monk.


Monk
\n\n\t
[tr]
Level
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Special

Flurry of Blows

Unarmed Damage

AC Bonus

Speed Bonus

Enlightenments


[td]1st
+0
+2
+2
+2
Bonus Feat, Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Strike

-2/-2

1d6

+0

+0 ft.

3


2nd
+1
+3
+3
+3
Bonus Feat, Evasion, Fast Movement

-1/-1

1d6

+0

+0 ft.

4


3rd
+2
+3
+3
+3
Still Mind, Enlightened Fists, Acrobatics

+0/+0

1d6

+0

+10 ft.

4


4th
+3
+4
+4
+4
Ki Strike (magic), Slow Fall 20 ft.

+1/+1

1d8

+0

+10 ft.

5


5th
+3
+4
+4
+4
Purity of Body, Spring Attack

+2/+2

1d8

+1

+10 ft.

5


6th
+4
+5
+5
+5
Bonus Feat, Slow Fall 30 ft.

+3/+3

1d8

+1

+20 ft.

6


7th
+5
+5
+5
+5
Wholeness of Body

+4/+4

1d8

+1

+20 ft.

7


8th
+6/+1
+6
+6
+6
Slow Fall 40 ft. Bonus Ability

+5/+5/+0

1d10

+1

+20 ft.

7


9th
+6/+1
+6
+6
+6
Improved Evasion, Fists of Fury

+6/+6/+1

1d10

+1

+30 ft.

8


10th
+7/+2
+7
+7
+7
Ki Strike(lawful), Slow Fall 50 ft., Unrestrained Combat

+7/+7/+2

1d10

+2

+30 ft.

8


11th
+8/+3
+7
+7
+7
Diamond Body, Greater Flurry

+8/+8/+8/+3

1d10

+2

+30 ft.

9


12th
+9/+4
+8
+8
+8
Abundant Step, Slow Fall 60 ft.

+9/+9/+9/+4

2d6

+2

+40 ft.

10


13th
+9/+4
+8
+8
+8
Diamond Soul

+9/+9/+9/+4

2d6

+2

+40 ft.

10


14th
+10/+5
+9
+9
+9
Slow Fall 70 ft. Bonus Ability

+10/+10/+10+/5

2d6

+2

+40 ft.

11


15th
+11/+6/+1
+9
+9
+9
Quivering Palm

+11/+11/+11/+6/+1

2d6

+3

+50 ft.

11


16th
+12/+7/+2
+10
+10
+10
Ki Strike(adamantine), Slow Fall 80 ft.

+12/+12/+12/+7/+2

2d8

+3

+50 ft.

12


17th
+12/+7/+2
+10
+10
+10
Timeless Body, Tongue of the Sun and Moon

+12/+12/+12/+7/+2

2d8

+3

+50 ft.

13


18th
+13/+8/+3
+11
+11
+11
Slow Fall 90 ft. Bonus ABility

+13/+13/+13/+8/+3

2d8

+3

+60 ft.

13


19th
+14/+9/+4
+11
+11
+11
Empty Body

+14/+14/+14/+9/+4

2d8

+3

+60 ft.

14


20th
+15/+10/+5
+12
+12
+12
Perfect Self, Slow Fall Any Distance

+15/+15/+15/+10/+5

2d10

+4

+60 ft.

14


Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d8

Class Skills:
Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge(arcana) (Int), Knowledge(religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str),and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) × 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Monks are proficient with club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling. Also monks are definately totally proficient with their unarmed strikes.. Monks are not proficient with any armor or shields. When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses her AC bonus, as well as her fast movement and flurry of blows abilities.

AC Bonus (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds her Wisdom bonus (if any) to her AC. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC at 5th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every five monk levels thereafter (+2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, and +4 at 20th level).

These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. She loses these bonuses when she is immobilized or helpless, when she wears any armor, when she carries a shield, or when she carries a medium or heavy load.

Flurry of Blows (Ex): When unarmored, a monk may strike with a flurry of blows at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, she may make one extra attack in a round at her highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a –2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. The resulting modified base attack bonuses are shown in the Flurry of Blows Attack Bonus column on Table: The Monk. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the monk might make before her next action. When a monk reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to –1, and at 9th level it disappears. A monk must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of blows.

When using flurry of blows, a monk may attack only with unarmed strikes or with special monk weapons (kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, and siangham). She may attack with unarmed strikes and special monk weapons interchangeably as desired. When using weapons as part of a flurry of blows, a monk applies her Strength bonus (not Str bonus x 1-1/2 or x 1/2) to her damage rolls for all successful attacks, whether she wields a weapon in one or both hands. The monk can’t use any weapon other than a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows.

In the case of the quarterstaff, each end counts as a separate weapon for the purpose of using the flurry of blows ability. Even though the quarterstaff requires two hands to use, a monk may still intersperse unarmed strikes with quarterstaff strikes, assuming that she has enough attacks in her flurry of blows routine to do so.

When a monk reaches 11th level, her flurry of blows ability improves. In addition to the standard single extra attack she gets from flurry of blows, she gets a second extra attack at her full base attack bonus.

Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with either fist interchangeably or even from elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may even make unarmed strikes with her hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply her full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all her unarmed strikes.

Usually a monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but she can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on her attack roll. She has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.

A monk’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.

A monk also deals more damage with her unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown on Table: The Monk. The unarmed damage on Table: The Monk is for Medium monks. A Small monk deals less damage than the amount given there with her unarmed attacks, while a Large monk deals more damage; see Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage.

Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage
{table]Level|Damage (Small Monk)|Damage (Large Monk)

1st–3rd|1d4|1d8

4th–7th|1d6|2d6

8th–11th|1d8|2d8

12th–15th|1d10|3d6

16th–19th|2d6|3d8

20th|2d8|4d8

[/table]

Bonus Feat: At 1st level, a monk may select either Improved Grapple or Stunning Fist as a bonus feat. At 2nd level, she may select either Combat Reflexes or Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat. At 6th level, she may select either Improved Disarm or Improved Trip as a bonus feat. A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.

Enlightenments (Su): A Monk in their desire for self perfection and wholeness of mind, body and soul learn to tap into a reserve of strength and power that few are able to accomplish. A monk possesses a repertoire of attacks, defenses, and abilities that require her to focus the mystical energies that suffuses her mind, body, and soul. The monk can use any Enlightment she knows at-will, with the following qualifications: Enlightenments are supernatural abilities; using an Enlightment is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity unless otherwise indicated in it’s description. The monk's caster level with her Enlightments are equal to her monk level. The monk may dismiss an Enlightment as a standard action, just as a wizard can dismiss a spell. At any level above 1st a monk may learn a new Enlightment to replace one already known.


Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher if a monk makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a monk is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a monk gains an enhancement bonus to her speed, as shown on Table: The Monk. A monk in armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.

Still Mind (Ex): A monk of 3rd level or higher gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against spells and effects from the school of enchantment.

Enlightened Fists {Ex}: At 3rd level a monk gains her wisdom modifier to attacks. At 10th level her Wisdom modifier also applies to unarmed attack damage.

Acrobatics {Ex}: At 3rd level a monk gains a +2 competence bonus on Balance, Jump, and Tumble checks. This bonus increases by +1 every 3 levels afterwards. In addition, at 10th level a monk can always choose to take 10 on a Balance, Jump, or Tumble check. In addition a monk may stand up from prone as a free action that still provokes an attack of oppurtiny, or as a move action that does not provoke an attack of oppurtunity.

Ki Strike (Su): At 4th level, a monk’s unarmed attacks are empowered with ki. Her unarmed attacks gain a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls and are treated as magic weapons and cold-iron for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. Ki strike improves with the character’s monk level. At 10th level, her unarmed attacks are also treated as lawful and silver weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. At 16th level, her unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction and bypassing hardness. Every 4th level thereafter a monks unarmed attacks gains an additional +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls with her unarmed strikes. In addition at 7th level and every 4th level thereafter the monk can select one of the following weapon enchants to effect her unarmed strike. Bane, Ghost Touch, Keen, Disruption, Merciful, Mighty Cleaving, or Speed.

Slow Fall (Ex): At 4th level or higher, a monk within arm’s reach of a wall can use it to slow her descent. When first using this ability, she takes damage as if the fall were 20 feet shorter than it actually is. The monk’s ability to slow her fall (that is, to reduce the effective distance of the fall when next to a wall) improves with her monk level until at 20th level she can use a nearby wall to slow her descent and fall any distance without harm.

Purity of Body (Ex): At 5th level, a monk gains immunity to all diseases except for supernatural and magical diseases. In addition at 5th level monk gains a +2 competance bonus to saves against supernatural and magical diseases, this bonuses increases by +1 every 5th level afterwards. In addition the monk is immune to exhaustion, and recovers form fatigue in minutes not hours as normal.

Spring Attack At 5th level a monk gains Spring Attack as a bonus feat even if she does not meet the requirements

Wholeness of Body (Su): At 7th level or higher, a monk can heal her own wounds. She can heal a number of hit points of damage equal to twice her wisdom modifier times her current monk level each day, and she can spread this healing out among several uses.


Bonus Ability (Su/Ex): A monk gains additional abilities at 8th, 14th and 18th levels chosen from the groups below.
8th
Touch of Serenity: As a standard action the monk makes 1 unarmed attack, dealing unarmed damage as well as forcing the target successfully damage to make a Will save vs DC 10+1/2 monk level+Wisdom modifier or be unable to take any offensive action for 1 round. This effect lasts 1 round and increases to 2 rounds at 16th level.
Ancient Advice: As a full round action the monk gives allies who listen to him within 20 feet a +2 competance bonus on attacks and skills, and a +1 competance bonus to will saves. These bonuses last 1 minute plus an additional minute at 14th and 20th levels. The bonuses to attacks and skills increases by 1 for every 4th level after 8th and the bonus to saves increases by 1 every 6th level after 8th. A monk cna use this ability a number of times per day equal to her wisdom modifier.
Elusive target: A monk may move 5 feet after she is the target of an attack that misses. The maximim distance the monk can move is equal to her base movement speed.
Snake Style: Feinting in combat is a swift action and the monk gets a bonus of 2+ her dexterity modifier to her bluff check for this action.
See the Beyond: The monk gains the ability to cast clairvoyance as a spell like ability a number of times equal to her Wisdom modifier

14th
Unarmed Precision: A monk's unarmed strikes now threaten a critical on an 18-20.
Wisdom: As a full round action, a monk can give a willing ally one of his non-enlightenment class abilities, for a number of rounds equal to the monks wisdom modifier.
Skirmisher: If the monk moves her full bonus speed and makes an attack she gets +1 dodge bonus to AC and refelx saves. these bonuses increase by 1 for every 5th level.
Stance of Denial: When a monk successfully lands an attack of opportunity, the creature struck must make a concentration check (DC 10+1/2 damage dealt) or lose the action that provoked the attack of opportunity.
Touch of Harmony: As a standard action, which provokes an attack of opportuniy, the monk makes 1 unarmed attack, dealing non-lethal damage equal to his target's hit point total. Creatures made unconcious with this ability remain that way for 1 day, or if the monk awakes it, which ever comes first.
alternatively the monk can select any one power from the 8th level list.
18th
Touch of Peace: As a standard action the monk makes 1 unarmed attack. On a successful hit, the target is charmed as if the monk had cast charm monster with a caster level equal to the monk’s level. The target does not get a saving throw against this effect. If the monk or her allies attack the charmed creature, or if the monk asks or commands the charmed creature to take hostile actions, the effect ends.
Knowledge of the Ancients: the monk gains a bonus equal to her wisdom modifier to any knowledge checks she might make. this bonus increases by +1 for every 6th level. In addition the monk may take 20 on a knowledge check, using this ability foregoes the bonus for 1 hour.
Greater Wisdom: As a full round action, a monk can give a willing ally one of his enlightenments, for a number of rounds equal to the monks wisdom modifier.
alternatively the monk can select any one power from the 14th level list.

Improved Evasion (Ex): At 9th level, a monk’s evasion ability improves. She still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth she takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Fists of Fury {Su}: At 9th level a monk can for a number of minutes equal to twice her monk level have her unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d12 points of elemental damage, this ability must be spent in 1 minute increments. The monk must choose Acid, Cold, Electricity, or Fire for the duration.

Unrestrained Combat {Ex}: At 10th level a Monk can move up to her full bonus speed movement and make a flurry of blows as a full round action.

Diamond Body (Su): At 11th level, a monk gains immunity to poisons of all kinds. The monk also gains DR 10/chaotic and becomes immune to stunning, being deafened, blinded and petrified.

Abundant Step (Su): At 12th level or higher, a monk can slip magically between spaces, as if using the spell dimension door, once per day. Her caster level for this effect is one-half her monk level (rounded down). The monk can perform this ability an additional time per day every 4th level after 12th.

Diamond Soul (Ex): At 13th level, a monk gains spell resistance equal to her current monk level + 10 plus her Wisdom modifier against detrimental effects. In order to affect the monk with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the monk’s spell resistance.

Quivering Palm (Su): Starting at 15th level, a monk can set up vibrations within the body of another creature that can thereafter be fatal if the monk so desires. She can use this quivering palm attack once a day, and she must announce her intent before making her attack roll. Constructs, oozes, plants, undead, incorporeal creatures, and creatures immune to critical hits cannot be affected. Otherwise, if the monk strikes successfully and the target takes damage from the blow, the quivering palm attack succeeds. Thereafter the monk can try to slay the victim at any later time, as long as the attempt is made within a number of days equal to her monk level. To make such an attempt, the monk merely wills the target to die (a free action), and unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the monk’s level + the monk’s Wis modifier), it dies. If the saving throw is successful, the target is no longer in danger from that particular quivering palm attack, but it may still be affected by another one at a later time.

Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 17th level, a monk no longer takes penalties to her ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that she has already taken, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and the monk still dies of old age when her time is up.

Tongue of the Sun and Moon (Ex): A monk of 17th level or higher can speak as though under the effects of the Tongues spell.

Empty Body (Su): At 19th level, a monk gains the ability to assume an ethereal state for 2 rounds per monk level per day, as though using the spell etherealness. She may go ethereal on a number of different occasions during any single day, as long as the total number of rounds spent in an ethereal state does not exceed twice her monk level.

Perfect Self: At 20th level, a monk becomes a magical creature. She is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the monk’s creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects if beneficial to the monk. Additionally, the monk's damage reduction increases to 15/chaotic. Unlike other outsiders, the monk can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.

Ex-Monks
A monk who becomes nonlawful cannot gain new levels as a monk but retains all monk abilities.

Like a member of any other class, a monk may be a multiclass character, but multiclass monks face a special restriction. A monk who gains a new class or (if already multiclass) raises another class by a level may never again raise her monk level, though she retains all her monk abilities.

Enlightenments
The monk can learn the following Enlightenments. Each has a required level that must be attained before being chosen. if no level is listed the Enlightenment is obtainable at first level.

Air Walk: As the spell Air Walk. Except the duration is 1 minute per level. A monk must be 10th level to select this Enlightenment.

Ancestral Memory: A monk gains a +2 insight bonus on any Knowledge check, as well as any intelligence check. This bonus increases by +1 every 5th level. This Enlightenment lasts 2 rounds per level.

Armored Skin: The monk gains a +2 bonus to Natural AC. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 4th level and every 4th level thereafter. This enlightement last 2 rounds per level.

Blurry Movements: The monks gaisn the benefit of a Blur spell. Though this only last 1 round per monk level and is not an illusion effect. A monk must be 5th level to select this Enlightenment

Burst of speed: The monk can move 10 feet immediately. The speed increases to 15 feet at 7th level and again to 20 feet at 14th level. Activating this Enlightenment is a swift action as last only the round it was activated in.

Calm Emotion: As the spell, but the duration is 1 round plsu 1 round per 2 levels.

Cat-Sight: A monk gains darkvision 60 feet for 5 minutes per level. A monk must be 5th level to select this Enlightenment.

Circumvent Time: Places the monk in suspended animation similar to the Temporal Stasis spell, except the duration is 1 minute per level. A monk must be 12th level to select this Enlightenment.

Clarity: A monk can use a Will save in place of a reflex or Fortitude save with a +4 bonus, but only once an encounter. Using this Enlightenment is an immediate action. A monk must be 8th level to select this Enlightenment.

Crippling wave: A monk makes one attack if successful the attack deals unarmed damage in a 15 foot cone, plus an additional amount equal to monk levels. All those damage by Crippling Wave must succeed on an opposed Bull rush or suffer -2 to attacks and reflex saves. A monk must be 11th level to select this Enlightenment.

Defiance: A monk gains a +4 perfection bonus to Constituion for 3 rounds per level. A monk must be 6th level to select this Enlightenment.

Delay Poison: As the spell, except the duration is 10 minutes per level. A monk must be 5th level to select this Enlightenment.

Detect Thoughts: As the spell but the duration in 3 rounds per level.

Elemental Endurance: A monk gains a +2 bonus to saves as well as resistance (3) to a specific elemental type for 1 round per level. The resistance increases to 8 at 6th, 12 at 12th, and finally 18 and 18th level. This Enlightenemnt last 1 minute per level.

Flash Step: A monk can teleport as with Greater Teleport 60 feet. This Enlightenment is a full round action. A monk must be 15th level to select this Enlightenment.

Ghost Step: A monk becomes invisible as the spell Greater Invisibility, except the duration is 1 round plus an additional round per every 6th level. A monk must be 10th level to select this Enlightenment.

Greater Insight: The monk gains a +2 Insight bonus to her next attack, save, or skill roll. The bonus increases by +1 for every 5th level. This Enlightenment may be used as a swift or immediate action. A monk must be 12th level to select this Enlightenment

Greater Mantra of Conviction: The monk gains a +4 perfection bonus to Strength and Dexterity for 3 rounds per level. A monk must be 7th level to select this Enlightenment.

Greater Perfected Body: The monk gains a +4 perfection bonus to her Strength, Dexterity, Constitition, and Wisdom for 1 minute per level. A monk must be 14th level to select this Enlightenment.

Hadoken: The monk can make a range touch attack that deals 1d4 points of damage, plus an additional 1d4 points of damage every 3rd level. This Enlightenment has a 30 foot range, this increases to a 40 foot range at 10th level.

Hardened Body: The monk gains DR 2/-. The Damage reduction increases by 1 at 5th level and every 5th level thereafter. This Enlightenment last 1 round per level. A monk must be 3rd level to select this Enlightenment.

Inner Sanctuary: The Monk gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC and well as a +1 bonus to saves. These bonuses lasts 3 rounds per level. The deflection bonus to AC increases by 1 every 3rd level. A monk must be 2nd level to select this Enlightenment.

Insight: The monk gains a +1 Insight bonus to her next attack, save, or skill roll increasing to +2 at 8th and to +3 at 15th levels. This Enlightenment may be used as a swift or immediate action.

Intuitive Sight: The monk gains a +2 bonus to search and spot checks increasing by +1 every 4th level.In additon at 12th level a monk can take 10 on search or spot checks. This Enlightenment lasts 1 minute per level. A monk mustbe 4th level to select this Enlightenment.

Mantra of Conviction: The monk gains a +2 perfection bonus to Strength and Dexterity for 3 rounds per level.

Mantra of Life: As the spell Regeneration, but only afffecting the monk. A monk must be 16th level to select this Enlightenment.

Mental Barrier: A Monk gains the Mind Blank spell for herself, except only detrimental effects are blocked and the duration is 2 minutes per level. A monk must be 15th level to select this Enlightenment.

Mystic Visions A monk gains the ability to receive mystic visions. These visions are similar to a divination spell, except the castin time is 1 minute. A monk must be 11th level to select this Enlightenment.

Peaceful Rythms: A monk becomes aware of the presence of any creatures with hostile intent within 30 feet, and their direction from her (but not their specific location). This Enlightenment detects active aggression, as opposed to vigilance. In addition, while under the effect of this Enlightenment, a monk can make Sense Motive checks as a free action against anyone within 30 feet of her and cannot be suprised. This Enlightenment lasts 1 minute per level. A monk must be 8th level to select this Enlightenment.

Perception: A monk gaisn True Seeingt as the spell. except the duration is 1 round per level. A Monk must be 13th level to select this Enlightenment.

Perfected Mantra of Conviction: The monk gains a +6 perfection bonus to Strength and Dexterity for 3 rounds per level. A monk must be 15th level to select this Enlightenment.

Perfected Body: The monk gains a +2 perfection bonus to her Strength, Dexterity, Constitition, and Wisdom for 1 minute per level. A monk must be 6th level to select this Enlightenment.

See the Unseen: As the spell See Invisibility, except the duration is 1 rounds per every 2nd level. A monk must be 7th level to select this Enlightenment.

Serenity: As the spell Death Ward except the duration is 3 rounds per level. A monk must be 9th level to select this Enlightenment.

Spider Step: A monk can move across walls and ceilings as if under the effects of a spider climb spell, except his movement in a round this way is equal to his bonus movement speed. This Enlightenment last 3 rounds per level.

Spiritual Sustenance: A monk can go without food and water for one day for every 3rd level. A monk must be 7th level to select this Enlightenment.

Step of Wind: As the spell Levitate, except the monk may move forwards, sideways and backwards as well. the movement for non up and down direction is 20 feet. The Monk must be 4th level to select his Enlightenment

True Defiance: A monk gains a +6 perfection bonus to Constitution for 1 minute per level. A monk must be 14th level to select this Enlightenment.

Unburdened Path: As the spell Freedom of Movement, except the monk may still be grappled by a creature that has a higher base attack bonus that she does. A monk gains a +2 bonus to resist grapple attempts during this Enlightenment. This Enlightenment last 3 rounds per level. The Monk must be 9th level to selectt his Enlightenment

Vigorous Rush: As the spell Haste but only affecting the monk. A monk must be 7th level to select this Enlightenment.

ngilop
2013-01-01, 09:43 PM
Ok finsished the actual class upgrades (fingers crossed) I'll work on the Enlightenments tomorrow morning.

My goal is to bump the monk up at least to where he is is very capable of bieng all wushu kindafighting master. but when not using his eastern inspired martial arts he is still relevant outside of combat. and in just about every other situation you can think of.

Yitzi
2013-01-01, 09:56 PM
Ok, the standard problems with the monk are:
1. Flurry of Blows requires a full attack (hence immobility), the speed bonus and general focus on a light fighter type requires mobility. You do nothing to deal with this.
2. Monks have low attack bonus; this would not be a problem if there were a common "soft" enemy type with low AC and without other defenses, but there isn't. You do nothing to deal with this.
3. You did do something to make the capstone decent.
4. You did nothing to address the monk's MAD woes.

Also, you probably should list the available enlightenments.

Overall, it has some decent points, but doesn't address the fact that the abilities don't work together well, that the monk's apparent intended target (squishy wizards) doesn't actually exist, or the fact that MAD classes such as the monk are underpowered (I blame the existence of ability increases and inherent bonuses which can be applied to your strongest ability as easily as to your weakest one).

PEACH
2013-01-01, 09:58 PM
It's a lot easier to quickly judge fixes to certain things when you highlight what, particularly, has been changed compared to the original.

ngilop
2013-01-01, 10:27 PM
Ok first off I gave the monk teh ability to move and make a flurry of blows as a full round action (contrary to what yitzi belives)

I upped their usages and power on certain abilities such as abundant step being used more oftne and diamond body now giving more immunities.

I gave them wisdomt o attack and damage, which aactually helps with the low attack bomsu (contrary to yitzi belief)

The monk still remains MAD, yes but to a lesser degree as i gave them wisdomt o a couple of things. to make that pretty nice.

ki strike now actually grnants enchantent bonuses

Deepbluediver
2013-01-01, 11:22 PM
I also recently posted a monk fix (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266147), I'll be happy to trade critiques, if you wish. My fixes tend to be fairly extensive, so if you simply wish to scan it for ideas instead, be my guest.


With regards to your fix, first question is: what are you aiming for? Who does the monk have to compare himself too? Just another fighter? A class from TOB? A (god forbid) wizard or cleric?
I'm waiting to see what the "Enlightenments" look like. If they are versatile and scale decently, they could easily bump the monk up a bit.


I HAVE played a monk, in one long campaign (levels 3-9), in one short adventure (levels 6-8) and one one-shot (level 14, was multiclass monk-paladin). Our group was not a strict bunch of optimizers, and I always managed to have fun with the monk. Past level 10 though is where the monk really starts to suffer.

The monk's biggest issue, IMO, is that it lacks focus. What exactly is the monk supposed to be? If it a front-line fighter? It's hard to compete with other melee-heavy classes without a full BAB, mediocre HD, and no armor. Unlike other medium BAB classes (Cleric, Bard) the monk does not have spells to fall back on.
Is the monk supposed to be a skill monkey? He doesn't really get enough skill points for that, especially since there is no other benefit for the monk who stacks Intellect. (cross-class skills also suck, but if you're homebrewing it's easy enough to fix that problem)
Is the monk supposed to be a caster or ranged melee-damage dealer? Obviously no to the first, and he doesn't really have the proficencies or feats to really make good use of the latter.

The monk appears to get lots of class abilities, but many of them come in much later than equivalent abilities for other classes, making them weak on a by-the-level comparison. Also, most of them don't work well together, and don't scale very much.

For example, slow fall is strictly worse than the low-level spell Feather Fall. It covers less distance, and requires you to be close to a solid structure to use. It's not uncommon to see monk fixes that strip out the wall requirement and just refluff it as the monk landing and tumbling in such a way that they don't get hurt (parkour style).
Another ability is Tongue of the Sun and Moon. Yes, it's very nice to be able to speak to any creature anywhere, but it's not that spectacular for a 17th level ability, when the rest of your party is gearing up to kill ancient dragons and battle demon princes.


Your monk seems pretty close to the RAW version; if you want to really have a good fix, first decide what you want the monk to be. If he's going to be a melee-tank, he needs some better way to shrug off damage. If a skill monkey, more skill points or more uses for Intellect. If a caster or healer, more options and spell-like abilities.

As is, a monk need Dex and Con to survive in melee, Strength for damage, and Wisdom to power his abilities. And he can't dump Intellect if he wants any skill points at all. No matter what system of build you use, no character can get decent scores in all of those at once.

To respond to a few things directly:
Weapon Proficiencies and Unarmed Damage - if the monk is going to use weapons, it should have more options. If he isn't then the unarmed damage needs to be boosted. The monk is too Multi-Attribute Dependent to go straight Strength like a Barbarian, and at level 20 an average of 11 damage per attack (5.5x2) does not cut it.

AC Bonus - This comes into play to slowly and stays to low to really make a difference. It does not compensate for the monk's inability to wear armor.

Bonus Feats - There should be more options. Maybe not the entire Fighter Bonus Feat list, but since the monk doesn't get that many extra feats anyway, more than the 6 listed.

Enlightend Fists - Why do you have to wait until 10th level to get this bonus to unarmed attacks? This should come online at 1st level, and preferably apply to any weapon the monk is proficient with.

Slow Fall - see above

Ki Strike - this isn't bad, but it's kind of bland. The +5 to attack rolls is good, but damage does not scale so linearly, and a +5 bonus at level 20 without being able to further enhance the weapon is kind of "meh" at best.

Wholeness of Body - what kind of action is this?

Unrestrained Combat - this is nice, but again, it comes into play kind of late for what it does, and it still leaves the monk stranded where it's tough to survive. Also, it still doesn't help the monk make use of FoB if he can't commit a full-round action.

Diamond Body - the DR is nice, but it appears all at once, in a chunk, and than doesn't improve further. I would recomend smaller, incremental improvements.

Diamond Soul - SR as a class feature is nice, certainly, but there are an almost obscene number of ways to boost caster level. This isn't a monk-exclusive problem, but if your concern is balancing against min-maxers (or matching the higher tiers in combat) then this bonus is not more than a moderate improvement.

Quivering Palm - I don't like SoD affects, for the most part. That's just a personal opinion, I admit, but you should ask yourself what the point of this ability is. How many times do you need the option to leave some one alive and then kill them later instead of just killing them now? Also, since the monk is not a caster, the delayed reaction, unlimited range at-will death-touch feels out-of-fluff (again, I admit this is 99% just my opinion).
Also, from what I've heard, most high level enemies have so many more Hit Dice than your character that the save is trivially easy in most cases.

Timeless Body - this is a nice bit of fluff, but how often does a campaign span decades? This really only seems to count if you are creating a high-level monk to start with, and as I said the highest levels are the ones where the monk suffers the most. It's not bad, but ideally pair it with something else, or this just feels like a dead level.

Empty Body - this is nice for scouting and fighting ethereal enemies, but again (again) it comes into play kind of late compared to casters who can plane-shift or use force spells, or other melee-types decked out in magic weapons and armor.

Perfect Self - My response to this is mostly just "what?" There aren't that many situations where being an outsider is better than a humanoid (or other creature type), mostly pertaining to spell-targetability, and the monk already has SR. Plus, it raises some questions that need interpreting.
Outsiders get a full BAB (like a fighter); does the monk? It would be nice but not, I think, good enough to wait 19 levels for.
Outsiders get armor and weapon proficiencies; does the monk?
What it seems you really get is darkvision, and an immunity to drowning and starvation. Not worth suffering through 20 levels of monk, in most people's opinion.


To conclude, it doesn't seem like you've changed a lot, but as I said, I want to see the Enlightenments before passing final judgment. I don't want to come across as mean, but you asked for a critique, and since you mentioned a lack of personal experience, I tried to hit as many of the sticking points as I could.

Generally, a "quick and dirty" fix with the monk get's you what you pay for; either not very much, or some easily-breakable stuff (yes, you CAN in fact go overboard with at-will abilities). IMO, if you want the class to have widespread player appeal, it's worth putting in the time and effort to address each individual issue in a way that is effective. The monk problem is complex; it demands a complex soution.

I would recomend checking out my monk fix, for possible inspiration if nothing else.

ngilop
2013-01-02, 08:42 PM
Ok added in the Enlightenments.



WHat I think of when I think of the monk is a skirmisher. Hitting hard fastand not sticking around to get retaliated against as well, they are not build for a toe to toe fight. I guess Glass Cannon is that reference makes more sense.

also since a D&D monk is supposed to repreent the hollywood style version of martial arts with its semi-religous undertones, I tried to incorporate that 'feel' into the class via enlightenments and other class abilities.

I will NOT give the MONk 'skirmish' damage as that crap is just beyond my suspension of disbeleif, so i move 10 feet and now i deal a crap ton fo damage with my short bow/short sowrd/lasso..?

That make sense if Skirmish was chanegd to something liek CHARGE POWAH!!! and put on a cavaliar chassis.. but no its on some scout kinda guy...

have you ever wanted to just slap the WOTC guys who worked on 3rd ed with a herring 3 or more times..? I have... actually a lot.

Yitzi
2013-01-02, 10:47 PM
Ok first off I gave the monk teh ability to move and make a flurry of blows as a full round action (contrary to what yitzi belives)

At 10th level. Before that, the monk is still unable to use FoB in the same turn as moving.


I gave them wisdomt o attack and damage, which aactually helps with the low attack bomsu (contrary to yitzi belief)

Ah, missed that. Yes, WIS to attacks will help quite a bit.

Zman
2013-01-02, 11:52 PM
At 10th level. Before that, the monk is still unable to use FoB in the same turn as moving.



Ah, missed that. Yes, WIS to attacks will help quite a bit.

I agree, 10th level is far to late. I'd do it stock.


As to the enlightenments, they seem ok, nothing too drastic but it looks like they are all untyped bonuses.

Looks like a Tier 4 Monk to me.

ngilop
2013-01-03, 09:02 PM
well, I think that giving the monk the abilityt o move and make a flurry of blows at 1st level is a bit, crazy.

TO me the fighter is the master of fighting.

and although attack rolls are an abstract or actualy combat proficnecy. the fighter should be the single best class at it.


a Fighter (in my games) has to wait utnill BAB 7 to get the move+full attack action ability.

It defenats the purpose of the fighter if the monk gets it so much sooner.

also, I think I would enjoy a few ( several..?) more Enlightenments.. but alas.. I cannot think of much more. so if anybody would care to help, id appreciate it.

ngilop
2013-01-06, 04:07 PM
Ok my plan is to watch a lot and i mean A LOT of kung fu movies over the next couple of days and randomly play some martial art inspired games..

hopefully some ideas will pop into my mind and i can bring them to 'paper'

Yitzi
2013-01-06, 06:22 PM
well, I think that giving the monk the abilityt o move and make a flurry of blows at 1st level is a bit, crazy.

TO me the fighter is the master of fighting.

and although attack rolls are an abstract or actualy combat proficnecy. the fighter should be the single best class at it.

That makes sense, but if so then you'll need to find a different role for the monk, and make him effective at that. If the fighter is better at combat than the monk, then the monk had better have some worthwhile abilities outside combat.

ngilop
2013-01-07, 10:15 PM
Ok, i added in some new Enlightenments as well as claeifiied a few things previous written.

Also I gave them a cool weapon enchant featuref or their unarmed strikes.

I love the idea of bonus feast every so oftne.. but I need help in what bonus feats should be acquired at what level.

ngilop
2013-01-09, 09:01 PM
O M G!!

i am soo happy with this homebrew.

Since i really don't know about monks, ive asked other people who i play with on other forums and in real life

and so far the UNANIMOUS consensus is they love the my version of the monk!

the really enjoy the Enlightenment aspect of the monk and that it really does bring it full swing into the whole 'mystical martial artist ' that D&D was 'trying' to capture.

ngilop
2013-01-27, 09:42 PM
Ok ive decided to give the monk a group of abilities they cna select from at 8th, 14th and 18th level.


the question is, shoudl i do one large group they can select from for all 3 levels or should i do some abilities at each level?

nonsi
2013-01-28, 02:08 AM
I will NOT give the MONk 'skirmish' damage as that crap is just beyond my suspension of disbeleif, so i move 10 feet and now i deal a crap ton fo damage with my short bow/short sowrd/lasso..?

That make sense if Skirmish was chanegd to something liek CHARGE POWAH!!! and put on a cavaliar chassis.. but no its on some scout kinda guy...

have you ever wanted to just slap the WOTC guys who worked on 3rd ed with a herring 3 or more times..? I have... actually a lot.


I couldn't agree more.



Ok ive decided to give the monk a group of abilities they cna select from at 8th, 14th and 18th level.


the question is, shoudl i do one large group they can select from for all 3 levels or should i do some abilities at each level?

More details would help the evaluation.

Yitzi
2013-01-28, 09:27 AM
WHat I think of when I think of the monk is a skirmisher. Hitting hard fastand not sticking around to get retaliated against as well, they are not build for a toe to toe fight. I guess Glass Cannon is that reference makes more sense.

Not really. Glass Cannon is more about having high attack, low defense, and fairly low mobility, relying on either teammates or on first-strike tactics to stay alive. A skirmisher is more about high mobility, without particularly high attack.


I will NOT give the MONk 'skirmish' damage as that crap is just beyond my suspension of disbeleif, so i move 10 feet and now i deal a crap ton fo damage with my short bow/short sowrd/lasso..?

That make sense if Skirmish was chanegd to something liek CHARGE POWAH!!! and put on a cavaliar chassis.. but no its on some scout kinda guy...

Agreed. A bonus to AC when moving (plus not provoking AoOs on movement) might make sense, though.

Deepbluediver
2013-01-28, 10:26 AM
the question is, shoudl i do one large group they can select from for all 3 levels or should i do some abilities at each level?

That depends entirely on if you can make abilities that are equally desirable and not broken at both levels 4 and 18. If you check my monk fix, you'll see that this is what I did, but each ability scales seperately, and some of them get quite complex. If you want to keep it simple, then I would have different abilities at each level, and you can also pick anything from a previous level if you don't like the current options.


I will NOT give the MONk 'skirmish' damage as that crap is just beyond my suspension of disbeleif, so i move 10 feet and now i deal a crap ton fo damage with my short bow/short sowrd/lasso..?

That make sense if Skirmish was chanegd to something liek CHARGE POWAH!!! and put on a cavaliar chassis.. but no its on some scout kinda guy...

I always assumed that skirmish WAS a mini-charge attack of some sort. :smallconfused:
Your speed and momentum adds to the power you can normally swing a sword/axe/mace with, and makes it harder to defend against.


have you ever wanted to just slap the WOTC guys who worked on 3rd ed with a herring 3 or more times..? I have... actually a lot.

Yes, my biggest personal peeve is Toughness. I want to know who cooked that up and thought to themselves "yeah, this is totally worth a feat; in fact, it's so awesome people will want to take it more than once".

nonsi
2013-01-28, 10:56 AM
Yes, my biggest personal peeve is Toughness. I want to know who cooked that up and thought to themselves "yeah, this is totally worth a feat; in fact, it's so awesome people will want to take it more than once".


I could think of a few others:
- Animal Affinity
- Endurance
- Snatch Arrows
- Weapon Finesse (I mean, why on earth does this cost a feat ?!)
But yes, Toughness definitely takes the cake as far as feats go.

Cidolfas
2013-01-28, 01:23 PM
Tl;dr = Moderate BAB, I'm out. Plus, enlightenments aren't good enough on the whole.

If a proposed monk fix still has Moderate BAB, I pretty much walk right there. Those extra attacks don't really mean anything if you can't hit anything, and for the most part any attack roll made with a BAB of less than 3/4 of your HD has a pretty piss-poor chance to hit anything with an AC bonus worth its salt. Flurry actually becomes somewhat close to viable if you make it full BAB from the start, especially if Flurry also gave the ability to make a regular full attack as a standard action. That still doesn't give it any differentiation in how it operates (i.e. its only option every turn is still "punch the crap out of X"), but it at least makes it not terrible at that one thing.

The Enlightenments, which are what I figure I should focus on since they seem to be the primary addition, are also rather weak. I kinda assumed (for good or ill) that the idea of fixing a monk would be to put into Tier 3 territory. And most of those enlightenments don't give anywhere near enough stuff to that. Not to mention that gobs of them are passive bonuses meant to make you only survive a little bit longer so you can punch more things in the face. Having a martial artist schtick is one thing, but flurry and such pretty much covers that and the enlightenments are a good chance to give the monk things that don't involve becoming slightly less concerned about your own well-being while face-punching.

ngilop
2013-01-28, 02:29 PM
Well I would make them scaling bonuses as I have alway been of teh side that thinks that more than just casters should get scaling goodies. I'l post my new abilities later as right now lunch is cooking.

@Cidolfas Im guessing youve never actually played D&D before becuase what you say about AC bieng better than attack is so completely wrong, AC is actaulyl the worse stat to have in D&D becuase of how it fails to scale to level unlike attack bonus and mostly beucase AC was based off of the poor BAB hitting on a 10....

lets look at a Balor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/demon.htm#balor) the big guy has an AC of 35, yeah whne you think that the only bonus to attack a monk gets his his 3/4 BAB then of course you are probabyl going to cry alot and whine about how everything in the game should come with a full BAB.

but you have to look at a 20th level monk WOOP! he gets a +5 enhancement bonus to attakc and damage due to Ki Strike. has a 20 wisdom for a +5 to attack and damage, with perfect mantra of conviction up for (with his 14 str) another +5 to attack and damage now we are going to slap on weapon focus for a +1 to attack and whats that oh yeha the monk is not a front line fighter so he is flanking for an addtional +2 to attack


so at level 20 the monk gets a total Attack Bonus of 15+5+5+5+1+2=33, so really as long as the monk don't roll a 1 he hits CR equivalent monsters.

and I am not even that great of an optimizer. Im pretty sure that one could get another 12+ to his attack bonus.

You should look at what all enlightenments give a monk as accordng to what JaronK says the monk is lacking I put those in for the monk, mobility he cna move as a swift action, teleport, walk on air, and freedom of movement.

the monk while still MAD is not so much as I mad Wisdom go to a lot of things.

they have a bunhc of out of combat utility now with spiritual sustenance, ancestrla memory, intuitive sight, and the insight line of goodies.

while I am not JaronK and so don't really know the inner workings of the 'tier' system accoridng to what he has posted on his what tiers are and why class is in X teir, and my interpretation of his explanations. this monk seems to be very firmily in 'tier' 3.

but really JaronK is the only person that cna actually put a definitive on that.

Deepbluediver
2013-01-28, 02:46 PM
The thing to remember about Tier rankings is that they are dependent on both power and versatility (or maybe options, is a better way to say it).
A tier 3 and tier 4 can both be very good at their speciality, but to classify as a tier 3, the class has to be able to contribute outside of it's speciality. Giving a fighter an invincible AC and a +1000 bonus on damage won't push him above tier 4.

Your monk seems heavily combat related; and most of the enlightenments seem to boost combat-stats (ability scores, skill checks, movement, AC, etc) or target creatures with crippling effects. If you think your monk is tier 3, then maybe should explain a little better what it contributes outside of it's specialty, which you have said is a lightly-armored melee skirmisher.


Being tier 4 isn't a bad thing, especially if most of the other classes in the game are around that same power level; you shouldn't try to force a class to be a certain tier if you don't like it and don't feel it fits the theme.
There was a recent essay in the homebrew section by RoC that explained it very well. It's here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=267818) if you haven't read it yet.

ngilop
2013-01-28, 06:28 PM
Indeed, but then again.

the ToB classes are very much so combat focused with a handful of none combat things tossed in. but they are rated as 'tier' 3 and i think that just about everybody agrees. If you look at more of the elightenemtns that the stats boosting ones, you see teh out of combat ones are very useful.

Im not saying that being 'tier' 4 is a bad thing. I just want the monk to do more than own face

Zman
2013-01-28, 08:43 PM
@cidolfas. I think you need to reexamine the relationship between AC and BAB as well as your idea that this Monk won't be able to hit CR appropriate AC.

@ngilop. I like your Monk fix, I honk it is a vast improvement over the Core Monk. I think he needs more skill points, 6+ Int as Int won't be a high priority and giving the Monk things to do outside of combat is critical.

I think you've done well and have reached High Tier 4, probably not low Tier 3. I think it is the perfect spot for the monk, but if you want to bump him up more that is your prerogative.

Deepbluediver
2013-01-28, 08:59 PM
Indeed, but then again.

the ToB classes are very much so combat focused with a handful of none combat things tossed in. but they are rated as 'tier' 3 and i think that just about everybody agrees.

No, actually, not everyone agrees. The definition of tier 3 is that it can contribute outside it's specialty, and AFAIK this really only applies to the ToB classes if you define one kind of combat as a "specialty". Yes, compared to the core classes they are a lot more versatile in a fight, and yes combat makes up a large portion of the game in terms of time and memorability.

That doesn't make them tier 3.

JaronK listed them as tier 3, but they don't really fit the definition that he gave. If you go and read the "why each class is in it's tier" all they really talk about is their combat benefits. Not being so MAD that you can afford to spare a few points for Intellect (skills) or Charisma is the dividing line between tiers 4 and 5, but the higher tiers need more.

Many of the complaints about the tier rankings come from people misunderstanding that it is not supposed to be "one size fits all" system, and that even within one tier their can be significant differences.


If you look at more of the elightenemtns that the stats boosting ones, you see teh out of combat ones are very useful.

Your version of enlightenments are basically reflavored warlock invocations: at will abilities that you can learn a certain number of. Many of them have short time limits, but they can be used as often as you like.
Let's go through them.


Air Walk: Flight, at level 10, 5 levels after the wizard and a fair number of other classes get it. Usefull in a fight, if you can attack at range, and transportation.
Ancestral Memory: knowledge bonus
Armored Skin: combat bonus
Blurry Movements: combat bonus
Burst of speed: speed bonus
Calm Emotion: spell to prevent combat
Cat-Sight: no need for torches
Circumvent Time: this is sort odd; I guess if the monk is alone and trappped somewhere he can just wait for a rescue, but what else is this good for?
Clarity: combat bonus
Crippling wave: one attack on whom? A creature normally in range? And reflex save to prevent what? Once I know what this actually does (AOE bullrush, I think?), I'm pretty sure it will still be combat related.
Defiance: stat bonus
Delay Poison: FYI, I can't think of a signal instance where anyone ever thought it worthwhile to learn or prepare Delay Poison. This would only be helpful because you can use it at-will, and then you still need to expend an enlightenment picking it up.
Detect Thoughts: Ok, this ability doesn't have any in-combat use, so I guess it counts.
Elemental Endurance: self-buff, mostly combat bonus, unless it also applies to survival situations.
Flash Step: movement bonus
Ghost Step: Since a monk can use these at will, the short duration really seems like it only exists to eat up turn actions. Scouting ability.
Greater Insight: combat bonus and skill bonus. Since you can use it as an immediate action, when WOULDN'T you use it? Might as well be permenant.
Greater Mantra of Conviction: stat bonus
Greater Perfected Body: stat bonus
Hadoken: ranged attack
Hardened Body: combat bonus
Inner Sanctuary: combat bonus/save bonus
Insight: combat bonus, see above
Intuitive Sight: skill bonus
Mantra of Conviction: stat bonus
Mantra of Life: self-only healing
Mental Barrier: self-only anti-enchantment buff; again, why the limited duration when the monk will pretty much have this on at all times?
Mystic Visions: at will divination; other than being a bit of a headache for the DM, I guess this also counts as out-of combat
Peaceful Rythms: combat bonus, largely
Perception: self-only anti-illusion buff
Perfected Mantra of Conviction: stat buff
Perfected Body: stat buff
See the Unseen: perception buff
Serenity: combat buff
Spider Step: movement buff
Spiritual Sustenance: if you only need to use this occasionally and you never need to eat of drink again, why the limited duration?
Step of Wind: pre-flight flight
True Defiance: stat buff
Unburdened Path: combat buff
Vigorous Rush: combat buff


So the majority of these are directly combat related, and/or boost your Str, Dex, and Con.
You have a few things for movement (again, most noticeably useful in combat) and some self-only healing or defensive spell like abilities.

So as far as actual non-combat abilities go, we've got some scouting and a divination or two; I guess that technically pushed the monk into tier 3...low tier 3, IMO. Nothing you can do really helps anyone else in the party, which seems to confirm my earlier opinion that your monk seems like he really just wants to be all on his own. Yes it's stuff the RAW monk didn't do, but it reads like a laundry list of the blandest fixes imaginable for fighter issues (can't fight flying, too MAD, can get mind-controlled, etc).

I give it a resounding "meh".


Im not saying that being 'tier' 4 is a bad thing. I just want the monk to do more than own face

Again, I ask you, what SPECIFICALLY are you thinking of?

Is the monk a tank? With moderate HD, no armor, and MAD, you might be able to build it that way, but only at the exclusion of most other things.

It the monk a ranged damage dealer? Again, only if you are willing to sacrifice pretty much all of your leveling-feats to learn proficiencies and feats.

Is he a skill-monkey? Not with 4 points per level and that MAD.

Is he a healer and buffer? Nope, his abilities only work on himself.

And he's definitly not a spellcaster of any kind.

So basically your monk, and just about every monk, in fact, will be a lightly armored spring-attacking skirmisher, plinking away at enemies and trying not to eat a stray fireball to the face or get in anyone else's way.


It's not bad, in fact it looks a lot like my first monk fix. You've patched up the worst of the holes in the original class, but I don't really see anthing to get excited about. No one is ever gonna say "this will mesh great with my dragon-shaman/beguiler/crusader/etc!" or "I can't WAIT to get my next level of monk!"

ngilop
2013-01-28, 11:31 PM
upped the SKill points to 6 as per Zman suggestion

and with the enlightenments that give deflection and natural armor boosts
so +7 natural AC bonus +7 defelction bonus to AC, hardened body giving you DR 6/- and blurry movments giving you 20% miss chance I think a monk can be pretty tanky.

but if you had read any of my earlier posts I already stated that i wanted the monk to be a skirmisher.

and I meant to add in an ability that lets him use an enligthenemt on others at 18th level.. LOL forgot that.

ngilop
2013-01-31, 12:43 AM
Ok, so I did some fixes to my monk and I see that the similar take on monk fixes here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269680) by Xaoitq1 is getting some rave reviews and im hoping to hop on the bandwagon ( that mine somehow was able to complete ninja stealth past and be ignored) and maybe get some addition critiques on the class.

Zale
2013-01-31, 01:11 AM
Your class feels really.. busy.

Loads and loads of abilities. The other fix feels more polished and elegant.