Enlightened Fist - 5e Feat

[dboxcar]

http://image.ibb.co/mfrBZK/Enlightened_Fist.jpg
Enlightened Fist Feat (http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/HkitK2sRK7)
Enlightened Fist

Prerequisite: Ki feature, some ability to cast spells (through the Spellcasting feature, another class feature, or a racial trait)

You have mastered the ability to blend magic and ki as one continous force. You gain the following benefits:

Increase your Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20.

You can transform spell energy into ki, channeling magic as physical power. As a bonus action on your turn, you can do either of the following:
- Expend one spell slot and gain a number of ki points equal to the slot's level.
- Expend a daily use of a spell you could cast as a racial trait and gain ki points equal to the spell's level. If you can cast the spell at-will due to the racial trait, you cannot use this feat in this way.

You can never have more ki points than shown on your class table for your level.
You can transform unexpended ki points into spell energy, casting a spell you have prepared, know, or can cast via a class feature or racial trait. The Casting Spells with Ki table shows the cost of casting a spell with ki points. You can cast spells at a spell slot level of no higher level than 5th (the spell slot level you cast the spell at must be at least equal to the spell's level). When you cast a spell with ki, you use your Wisdom score as your spellcasting ability. Once you cast a spell using ki, you must wait until you complete a long rest before you can cast using ki again.

Casting Spells with Ki


Spell Slot Level
Ki Point Cost


1st
2


2nd
3


3rd
5


4th
6


5th
7



note: This was created for any magical monk, but especially multiclass monk-spellcasters and my Way of the Avenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?569420-Way-of-the-Avenger-Monk-Subclass&p=23377713#post23377713) (religious assassin) monk subclass. This is my first foray into the idea of so-called "multiclass feats" in 5e, basing around one class with the potential to bridge out to a variety of other ones, but still remaining a viable feat in a few niche cases of single-classed characters. We'll see how it goes :)

[Cynthaer]

At a glance, it seems pretty reasonable. I think the +1 Wis is appropriate, since the feat really just lets you move resources around between ki and spell slots, sorcerer-style. 5e's designers usually regard new uses for existing resources as power-neutral, so I will as well.

Design-wise, it looks to me like this feat has two overlapping purposes. (A) Let Avenger Monks cast from ki instead of just Channel Divinity, and (B) make the Monk/Cleric multiclass smoother. This matches your own description at the bottom of the post, so your design is matching your intentions. Good job. :smallsmile:

I think the templating could be cleaner, and maybe a little less complex.

For one thing, 5e always keeps proper spellcasting and racial traits separate, and I think it's better for it. You've got a lot of words devoted to making spells from racial traits work like normal spells, but only for this one feat. If you want racial spells to interact with normal spellcasting, I'd say just houserule that into your games—it's fundamentally unrelated to what this feat is about, which is Avenger Monks and Monk/Cleric multis.

I'm not a big fan of "a spell you have prepared, know, or can cast", but I get why it's there. You want it to work with any caster or the Avenger Monk, but you can't just turn ki into spell slots because Avengers don't have actual spell slots, so you have to basically say "a spell you could normally use, like, you know, however you use spells". The only way to fix that is to tweak the Avenger so it has an actual spell slot, but that causes a cascade of other changes.

(For the record, I think the whole "spellcasting but using Channel Divinity and not spell slots" thing is a pretty big design problem with the Avenger, but I think it works well enough that it's basically fine for a homebrew class. You're not trying to make it a 1/3 caster like the Arcane Trickster or Eldritch Knight, after all.)

Reusing the Sorcerer's spell slot cost table is good design, especially since ki points per level and sorcery points per level are identical. Good work.


"Once you cast a spell using ki, you cannot do so again until you complete a long rest."

At first I thought this meant you can't cast that spell again using ki, but you can cast a different spell using ki before your next long rest. Maybe something like "Once you cast a spell using ki, you cannot use this feature again until you complete a long rest"?

The whole restriction is a bit clunky, but I guess it's the only way to deal with the fact that ki points recharge on a short rest. I wish there was something more elegant, though.

[dboxcar]

Thanks for commenting!



Design-wise, it looks to me like this feat has two overlapping purposes. (A) Let Avenger Monks cast from ki instead of just Channel Divinity, and (B) make the Monk/Cleric multiclass smoother.
...
For one thing, 5e always keeps proper spellcasting and racial traits separate, and I think it's better for it.
...
—it's fundamentally unrelated to what this feat is about, which is Avenger Monks and Monk/Cleric multis.
...
I'm not a big fan of "a spell you have prepared, know, or can cast", but I get why it's there.
Actually, I chafe at the idea of a 5e feat only being for a specific situation or two. My goal in including racial trait spells and having a broad definition of "spellcasting" was to make this feat applicable in varied situations, such as monk/warlocks, monk/wizards, tiefling monks, etc (bad enough that it's already class-specific!). A tiefling monk, for example, could take this feat at 4th level in any subclass and benefit from it, and could then choose to continue as a monk or explore spellcasting multiclass with their newfound flexibility. So I appreciate your critique, but those aspects are central to my intentions for the feat.
If you think of suggestions for how to streamline this without losing those aspects, please do let me know!


At first I thought this meant you can't cast that spell again using ki, but you can cast a different spell using ki before your next long rest. Maybe something like "Once you cast a spell using ki, you cannot use this feature again until you complete a long rest"?
I had thought that the wording was clear enough that "do so" referred in general to "cast a spell with ki,' not 'cast that particular spell with ki.' I can see how that'd be a potential confusion, I'll err on the side of wordiness for the sake of clarity.


The whole restriction is a bit clunky, but I guess it's the only way to deal with the fact that ki points recharge on a short rest. I wish there was something more elegant, though.
*clunk* *clunk* *clunk*
Here comes the homebrew :P


(For the record, I think the whole "spellcasting but using Channel Divinity and not spell slots" thing is a pretty big design problem with the Avenger, but I think it works well enough that it's basically fine for a homebrew class. You're not trying to make it a 1/3 caster like the Arcane Trickster or Eldritch Knight, after all.)
I flip-flopped on this for a while while working on the Avenger, trying to balance a divine theme, access to a tiny amount of divine casting, and still having the maneuverability feature. I'm actually fairly satisfied with the juggling I've done to squash all those themes in, but if you're unsatisfied I'd love to hear your thoughts on what makes this a "clunky mechanic," and if you have any ideas for implementing these concepts another way.