lotofsnow
2007-05-22, 10:44 AM
A buddy of mine who is just starting D&D (starting tonight in fact) wants to take a Vow of Silence on his monk. I suggested he talk to the DM to see if he could get some benefit from it, since what's the point of taking a hit like that if it doesn't improve your character in some way? He isn't really familiar with all the rules and such yet, so I wrote up something for both him and the DM to look at. Let me know what you think. I've never tried to make up something like this before, but my intent is to handle some of the issues with Monks not really having a great BAB and any enhancement bonuses to their unarmed attacks.
Here is the feat as I originally wrote it.
Vow of Silence
“Have you any last words, little monk, before I impale you on my spear?”
-- last words of Jultus, ogre-knight of the Black Ford
From his many hours of meditation, a monk learns that there is great power in maintaining silence. By holding a Vow of Silence, a monk becomes a focused and efficient combatant.
Prerequisite: 1st-level Monk. Character must abstain from all verbal communication.
Benefits: +1 on attack and damage rolls plus an enhancement bonus equal to ¼ of the monk's class level to unarmed attacks as long as the monk is unarmored and maintains their Vow of Silence.
At 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level, the monk has the ability to add an effect to their unarmed attack from the following lists:
No list created yet. I'll probably go with something similar to the Soulknife's list
If the Vow of Silence is broken, the monk loses all benefits of this feat until he meditates to achieve focus, abstaining from both food and sleep for 48 hours.
A monk can be forced to break his vow while under a charm person spell or similar effect. A monk under the effects of a compulsion spell or effect can be made to speak, and therefore break his vow, but he receives an additional will save modified by his total monk level to resist the effect. If he succeeds on the save, the monk is not required to speak and the compulsion is broken.
A monk can be forced to break his vow by taking extreme damage. A single attack that does more than half of the monk's maximum hit points in damage requires a will save (DC is equal to the amount of damage done beyond ½ the monk's total hit points) to resist shouting out in pain.
Special: This feat must be used as the monk's 1st-level bonus feat.
After the enlightening critique immediately below, here is how I have reconstructed it:
Vow of Silence
“Have you any last words, little monk, before I impale you on my spear?”
-- last words of Jultus, ogre-knight of the Black Ford
From his many hours of meditation, a monk learns that there is great power in maintaining silence. By holding a Vow of Silence, a monk becomes a focused and efficient combatant.
Prerequisite: 1st-level Monk.
Benefits: +2 on attack rolls for unarmed attacks as long as the monk is unarmored and maintains his Vow of Silence.
If the Vow of Silence is broken, the monk loses all benefits of this feat until he meditates to achieve focus, abstaining from both food and sleep for 48 hours.
A monk can be forced to break his vow while under a charm person spell or similar effect. A monk under the effects of a compulsion spell or effect can be made to speak, and therefore break his vow, but he receives an additional will save modified by his total monk level to resist the effect. If he succeeds on the save, the monk is not required to speak and the compulsion is broken.
A monk can be forced to break his vow by taking extreme damage. A single attack that does more than half of the monk's maximum hit points in damage requires a will save (DC is equal to the amount of damage done beyond ½ the monk's total hit points) to resist shouting out in pain.
Special: This feat can be used as the monk's 1st-level bonus feat.
Here is the feat as I originally wrote it.
Vow of Silence
“Have you any last words, little monk, before I impale you on my spear?”
-- last words of Jultus, ogre-knight of the Black Ford
From his many hours of meditation, a monk learns that there is great power in maintaining silence. By holding a Vow of Silence, a monk becomes a focused and efficient combatant.
Prerequisite: 1st-level Monk. Character must abstain from all verbal communication.
Benefits: +1 on attack and damage rolls plus an enhancement bonus equal to ¼ of the monk's class level to unarmed attacks as long as the monk is unarmored and maintains their Vow of Silence.
At 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level, the monk has the ability to add an effect to their unarmed attack from the following lists:
No list created yet. I'll probably go with something similar to the Soulknife's list
If the Vow of Silence is broken, the monk loses all benefits of this feat until he meditates to achieve focus, abstaining from both food and sleep for 48 hours.
A monk can be forced to break his vow while under a charm person spell or similar effect. A monk under the effects of a compulsion spell or effect can be made to speak, and therefore break his vow, but he receives an additional will save modified by his total monk level to resist the effect. If he succeeds on the save, the monk is not required to speak and the compulsion is broken.
A monk can be forced to break his vow by taking extreme damage. A single attack that does more than half of the monk's maximum hit points in damage requires a will save (DC is equal to the amount of damage done beyond ½ the monk's total hit points) to resist shouting out in pain.
Special: This feat must be used as the monk's 1st-level bonus feat.
After the enlightening critique immediately below, here is how I have reconstructed it:
Vow of Silence
“Have you any last words, little monk, before I impale you on my spear?”
-- last words of Jultus, ogre-knight of the Black Ford
From his many hours of meditation, a monk learns that there is great power in maintaining silence. By holding a Vow of Silence, a monk becomes a focused and efficient combatant.
Prerequisite: 1st-level Monk.
Benefits: +2 on attack rolls for unarmed attacks as long as the monk is unarmored and maintains his Vow of Silence.
If the Vow of Silence is broken, the monk loses all benefits of this feat until he meditates to achieve focus, abstaining from both food and sleep for 48 hours.
A monk can be forced to break his vow while under a charm person spell or similar effect. A monk under the effects of a compulsion spell or effect can be made to speak, and therefore break his vow, but he receives an additional will save modified by his total monk level to resist the effect. If he succeeds on the save, the monk is not required to speak and the compulsion is broken.
A monk can be forced to break his vow by taking extreme damage. A single attack that does more than half of the monk's maximum hit points in damage requires a will save (DC is equal to the amount of damage done beyond ½ the monk's total hit points) to resist shouting out in pain.
Special: This feat can be used as the monk's 1st-level bonus feat.