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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class [PF] A monk fix I have been trying for some months now



ProudGrognard
2014-04-26, 12:48 PM
Yes, yes I know. There are many many monk fixes out there, to suit every style and need.

As an idealistic fool, I have also created one of my own nevertheless and I have found an excellent DM (hail Maggie McKnife!) who has let me try it through the RotR AP. I would like to share it, and also post my own observations.

In what follows, I have added * next to abilities I have changed or altered. Everything else is unchanged. Commentary and explanations are below, in the ability descriptions.


Class abilities per level
1st) Zen combat*, Martial arts training*, Bonus feat*, Flurry of blows, Stunning fist
2nd) Bonus feat, Evasion
3rd) Fast movement, Still mind
4th) Ki pool*, slow fall 20 ft*.
5th) Zen acrobatics*, Purity of body.
6th) Bonus feat, slow fall 30 ft.
7th) Wholeness of body*.
8th) Improved blind fight*, Slow fall 40 ft.
9th) Improved evasion
10th) Bonus feat, slow fall 50 ft.
11th) Diamond soul*
12th)Abundant step, slow fall 60 ft.
13th) Elemental fist*
14th) Bonus feat, slow fall 70 ft.
16th) Slow fall 80 ft.
17th) Timeless body, Greater blind fight*
18th) Bonus feat, slow fall 90 ft.
19th) Empty body
20th) Perfect self, slow fall any distance

Altered class abilities
Zen Combat (Ex)
The monk is trained to use his opponent's force against him and to act at the exact appropriate time necessary. The monk uses his Dex mod instead of his Str mod to calculate his AB, and his Wis mod instead of his Str mod to calculate damage. These apply only to the use of all weapons with the 'monk' descriptor, to unarmed combat (including flurry of blows) and to calculating his CMD and CMB. It also applies to any and all feats that affect those stats.
The monk's path is, however, a demanding one. For every level in a class other than the monk's, the Wis mod that he or she adds to his damage is reduced by one, up to 1.

(This is perhaps the biggest change. This addresses directly the MAD that monk is suffering, and in a way that is very much in line with the archetypical Hong Kong-ish monk we have in mind. The 'demanding path' thing is to discourage one class dipping.)

Martial arts training (Ex)
Due to intensive training, the monk 's BAB is equal to a fighter 's of the same level when using simple weapons, monk weapons, unarmed combat attacks (including Flurry of Blows) or combat maneuvers.

(Also a change, but not as significant on its own. Combined with the above, it enables the monk to aim at being a maneuver master - and monster- which is just fine in my book).


Bonus feats (Ex)

At 1st level, 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a monk may select a bonus feat. These feats must be taken from the following list:

Catch Off-Guard, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Drag, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, Improved Reposition, Improved Sunder, Scorpion Style, Mobility, Stand Still and Throw Anything.

At 6th level, the following feats are added to the list:

Gorgon's Fist, Greater Disarm, Greater Drag, Greater Feint, Greater Grapple, Greater Reposition, Greater Sunder, Greater Trip, Sidestep, Spring Attack, Combat Patrol, Lunge,Landing Roll, Passing Trick, Steady engagement.

At 10th level, the following feats are added to the list:

Improved Critical, Medusa's Wrath, Monkey Lunge, Snatch Arrows, Improved sidestep, Whirlwind attack.

At 14th level, the following are added: Cockatrice strike.

For the purpose of qualifying for feats other than the above, the monk is considered to gain all prerequisite feats of the bonus feat he chooses.

(This more or less adds feats for the monk to choose. Please not how the 'Improved' feats have been moved down, as it should be. The 'qualify for feats' thingy is meant to enable the monk to continue up a feat chain, without paying a feat tax. This also means that bonus feats characterize a monk more than regular feats, which I think adds to his style.)

Slow fall (Ex)
At 4th level or higher, a monk takes damage from a fall as if the fall were 20 feet shorter than it actually is (notice the absence of walls here!). The monk's ability improves with his monk level until, at 20th level, he can fall from any distance without harm.

(This is the same ability without the need for walls, which I always found hinders thing a bit unnecessarily.)

Ki pool (Su)
At 4th level, a monk gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in a monk's ki pool is equal to 1/2 his monk level + his Wisdom modifier. As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike. Ki strike improves with the character's monk level.

At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to be treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. His hands and feet can also be enchanted as weapons. This usually takes the form of magical tattoos.
At 7th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as cold iron and silver weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
At 10th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as lawful weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
At 16th level, his unarmed attacks are treated as adamantite weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness.

The monk also learns a number of ways to harness his ki. At fourth level, he selects a number of possible effects equal to his Wis Mod. He also learns a new one in 5th level, 7th, 9th etc.

By spending 1 point from his ki pool, a monk can do one of the following:
Make one additional attack at his highest attack bonus when making a flurry of blows attack.
Increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round.
Give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round.
Add his Wis mod to his SR, if he has any.
Add +2 to any skill roll that is based on Dex, Str or Con, for a minute.
Forfeit any of his extra attacks to do an extra die of damage in one of his main attacks, as if using the Vital Strike feat, for one minute. For anyone attack he forfeits, he adds one die to one of his main attacks (not all of them).
Add 1 plus 1 for every five levels he has, to his attack and damage rolls for a minute. (5th level)
Add +2 to his CMB for 1 round per level. (6th level)
Add +2 to his AC for 1 round per level. (7th level)


By spending 2 point from his ki pool, a monk can do one of the following
Make an additional Stunning Fist, or equivalent, attack (5th level)
Change the saving throw needed to resist his Stunning Fist and Quivering Palm attacks from Fort to Will. (9th level)
Make an additional Quivering Palm attack. (15th level)
Make an additional Elemental Fist attack. (13th level)
Add his level to all his attack rolls for the next round. ( 8th level)

Each of these powers is activated as a swift action.
The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive.

(I have expanded the possible effects quite a bit. Now the ki pool means something. Also, the monk can enchant his hands without needing extra equipment.)

Zen acrobatics (Ex)
At 5th level, a monk adds his level to all Acrobatics checks (not only jumps). In addition, he always counts as having a running start when making jump checks using Acrobatics. By spending 1 point from his ki pool as a swift action, a monk gains a +20 bonus on Acrobatics checks for 1 round.

(I never understood why the original monk insisted on jumps. What about balancing on tree limbs, running on walls and such? It is definitely not a game breaking ability, but synergizes well with the monk 's mobility)


Wholeness of Body (Su)
At 7th level or higher, a monk can heal his own wounds as a standard action. He can heal a number of hit points of damage equal to twice his monk level by using 2 points from his ki pool. Also, if he spends a whole day meditating and if he has at least one ki point, he or she doubles the recovery rate of hit points and ability damage.
The monk also gains immunity to all poisons.

(This has been merged with Diamond Body and expanded a bit, to make it more relevant. Immunity to poisons now is marginally useful.)

Improved blind fight
As per the feat.

(This is a feat that I added to cover the gap. Also, able to fight blind is a staple of monks in all literature. A good ability which, at this level, is not game breaking.)

Diamond Soul (Ex)
At 11th level, a monk gains spell resistance equal to his current monk level + 10. 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. The monk can lower his SR as an immediate action.

(I have added a way for the monk to benefit from healing, if he has SR.)

Elemental fist (Su)
At 13 level, a monk picks one of the following energy types: acid, cold, electricity, or fire. On a successful hit, the attack deals damage normally plus 1d6 points of damage of the chosen type. The monk must declare that he is using this feat before he makes the attack roll (thus a failed attack roll ruins the attempt). He may attempt an Elemental Fist attack once per day for every four levels he has attained , and no more than once per round.

Special: A monk who had picked Elemental Fist as a feat earlier, can attack a number of times per day equal to his monk level, plus one more time per day for every four levels he has in classes other than monk. In that case, at level 13, the damage of Elemental Fist becomes 2d6.

(This is a feat that I added to cover the gap, since Diamond Soul went earlier. I am not entirely satisfied with it.)

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. He can use this quivering palm attack once per day plus once more per day at levels 16th, 18th and 20th. He must announce his intent before making his attack roll. 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 his 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. A monk can 1 quivering palm in effect at levels 16th, 18th and 20th.

(This is mostly the same, with the addition of some more uses per day)

Greater blind fight
As per the feat.

(This is a feat that I added to cover the gap. It is by now rather obsolete.)

Observations from playing so far

What I was aiming to do with this fix, is to give the monk a power boost that would not steal any other class' thunder, while making the monk itself able to fill a specific niche. I think that this fix sort of does this. The monk becomes a maneuver expert, with great saves and greater mobility. It can dish some respectable damage, mostly because he is not dependent in four abilities to do so.

Well, if anything, my fifth level half orc tripper is not underpowered by any stretch. Having access to the Improved trip feat early on plus a respectable Dex and Wis means that humanoids around him usually fall down. He does not dish the damage that our tank does, but he controls the battlefield by tripping and mobility. High Dex and Wis plus access to Mage armor means that he has an AC in the middle 20s. Not bad at all.

All in all, one of my favorite characters.

ngilop
2014-04-26, 01:19 PM
I might be stepping out of bounds here.

But i have never liked the X instead of Y stat modifiers.. I alwasy think that X in addition to Y
is much better. so for Zen Combat, i just thinks it better if you add wisdom to both instead of
having Dex replace Str melee attack bonus and wisdom replace str for damage.

ProudGrognard
2014-04-26, 11:35 PM
The problem is that it can get ugly fast at higher levels. Strength enhancements are quite prevalent, so later on, monks will start to outshine fighters in AB.

BWR
2014-04-27, 06:11 AM
Looks fun, but then I'm biased because I've been working on something very similar.

ngilop
2014-04-27, 02:29 PM
The problem is that it can get ugly fast at higher levels. Strength enhancements are quite prevalent, so later on, monks will start to outshine fighters in AB.



Well I hope that with this re-work for the monk you tossed some love to the poor fighter :)

other than that, I do not see the big deal as I would think the monk would want to focus more on wisdom that strength but that's just me :)

ProudGrognard
2014-04-27, 03:06 PM
Well I hope that with this re-work for the monk you tossed some love to the poor fighter :)

other than that, I do not see the big deal as I would think the monk would want to focus more on wisdom that strength but that's just me :)

Now that you mention it, I have also proposed a fighter fix some time ago, in these forms. Enjoy! (http://tinyurl.com/bfg95kf)