Man_Over_Game
2018-12-27, 05:00 PM
At 3rd level, when you take the Way of the Savage Heart, you learn the ancient ways of combat by mimicking the ways that beasts establish their dominance in the wilds. You can now utilize a special attack in place of an attack from the Attack action, called your Primal Strike. Primal Strike is considered the same as an unarmed strike, however you can choose for it to deal bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage by using various strikes, bites, or claws, and you are considered using a natural weapon when attacking with it. Also, natural weapons now count as Monk weapons for you.
Additionally, you choose a beast aspect and gain its benefit to your Primal Strike feature. Your body physically shifts to reflect these changes in a minor way that incorporates the beast aspect.
Monkey- Your hair grows more, either on your body, from your head, or both. After hitting a creature with Primal Strike, you move up to 10 feet to another location adjacent to that target without provoking attacks of opportunity. You gain 1 Temporary HP for every enemy you're adjacent to when you end that movement, which lasts until the start of your next turn.
Crow- Your pupils become larger and your hair turns much darker. Creatures you hit with Primal Strike have disadvantage to attack you until the end of your turn, and they have disadvantage to attack creatures other than you until the start of your next turn.
Elephant- Your nose and ears seem more pronounced. Your Primal Strike can shove a Large creature back 5 feet when it hits, or you can instead move the creature 5 feet in any direction if they are Medium or smaller. Also, you have advantage to hit with your Opportunity Attacks made with an unarmed strike.
At level 6, you can spend 4 Ki points to cast Alter Self. The spellcasting modifier for this spell is your Wisdom modifier, and you have advantage on Concentration saving throws made to maintain it. (Possible edit to double the duration to 2 hours, but may cause conflict with monks' short rest Ki recharging)
Also, you gain Proficiency in the Survival skill. If you already had Proficiency, you now have Expertise in the Survival skill.
At level 11, your bestial survival instincts come into focus. If you are at equal or less than half of your HP after attacking with your Primal Strike feature, your Patient Defense feature costs 0 Ki points until the end of your turn.
At level 17, your beast aspect evolves into a physical aspect upon your body, granting you additional abilities and enhancing your Primal Strike. You receive additional benefits based off of the choice you made at level 3.
Monkey- You grow a tail, which can be used as an extra arm. When you hit a creature with Primal Strike, you can make an additional Primal Strike when you use your Flurry of Blows feature in the same turn. Additionally, temporary hitpoints gained by your Primal Strike feature can stack, up to your Monk level.
Crow- Your hair grows into thin feathers, as do the undersides of your arms. When you use Step of the Wind, you gain a Flying speed equal to your Unarmored Movement bonus until the end of your next turn, but doing so requires you to not use your Action for anything other than to Attack with Primal Strike this turn. Additionally, you can choose to make your Opportunity Attacks as a Primal Strike.
Elephant- You grow moderately large tusks that extend from the sides of your mouth. When using your Primal Strike feature on a creature, and there are no enemies adjacent to them, they must make a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
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Notes about the design:
My goal was to implement a monk that utilized a beast-like way of reckless combat, while also being something that naturally worked with the two existing beast-esc characters: The Moon Druid and the Barbarian.
The Moon Druid can continue to use their natural Wild shape attacks while activating features like Flurry of Blows without any mechanical problems. Due to the fact that they cannot use the Wild Shape Multiattacks and Primal Strike in the same turn, I don't see too many unbalancing issues. Monk simply becomes a choice of melee versatility rather than a strictly power increase. You can choose to do more damage attacking with Wild Shape, or you can have some versatile combination moves provided by the Savage Soul Primal Strike.
Barbarian has a lot of versatility in this build, especially since it doesn't scale off of Wisdom too much.
There are also a number of synergies with Fighter and Action Surge, due to how Primal Strike is limited to Attack actions.
The beasts follow this design scheme:
Monkey- Reckless damage dealer, who's incentivized to fight in the thick of combat, and does so with relative safety.
Crow- Uses trickery to annoy enemies and to protect their allies using wits and high mobility.
Elephant- Forcefully manipulates enemies into being isolated and easy to dispatch with shear power.
Overall, it's very similar to the Open Hand monk, but this is more consistent, deals less damage, but only gains versatility by spending Ki points or by forcing situations to occur via good strategy. The Open Hand monk has more tools, but can't always afford to use them.
Please let me know of any balance or thematic concerns you may have! It's still a work in progress.
Additionally, you choose a beast aspect and gain its benefit to your Primal Strike feature. Your body physically shifts to reflect these changes in a minor way that incorporates the beast aspect.
Monkey- Your hair grows more, either on your body, from your head, or both. After hitting a creature with Primal Strike, you move up to 10 feet to another location adjacent to that target without provoking attacks of opportunity. You gain 1 Temporary HP for every enemy you're adjacent to when you end that movement, which lasts until the start of your next turn.
Crow- Your pupils become larger and your hair turns much darker. Creatures you hit with Primal Strike have disadvantage to attack you until the end of your turn, and they have disadvantage to attack creatures other than you until the start of your next turn.
Elephant- Your nose and ears seem more pronounced. Your Primal Strike can shove a Large creature back 5 feet when it hits, or you can instead move the creature 5 feet in any direction if they are Medium or smaller. Also, you have advantage to hit with your Opportunity Attacks made with an unarmed strike.
At level 6, you can spend 4 Ki points to cast Alter Self. The spellcasting modifier for this spell is your Wisdom modifier, and you have advantage on Concentration saving throws made to maintain it. (Possible edit to double the duration to 2 hours, but may cause conflict with monks' short rest Ki recharging)
Also, you gain Proficiency in the Survival skill. If you already had Proficiency, you now have Expertise in the Survival skill.
At level 11, your bestial survival instincts come into focus. If you are at equal or less than half of your HP after attacking with your Primal Strike feature, your Patient Defense feature costs 0 Ki points until the end of your turn.
At level 17, your beast aspect evolves into a physical aspect upon your body, granting you additional abilities and enhancing your Primal Strike. You receive additional benefits based off of the choice you made at level 3.
Monkey- You grow a tail, which can be used as an extra arm. When you hit a creature with Primal Strike, you can make an additional Primal Strike when you use your Flurry of Blows feature in the same turn. Additionally, temporary hitpoints gained by your Primal Strike feature can stack, up to your Monk level.
Crow- Your hair grows into thin feathers, as do the undersides of your arms. When you use Step of the Wind, you gain a Flying speed equal to your Unarmored Movement bonus until the end of your next turn, but doing so requires you to not use your Action for anything other than to Attack with Primal Strike this turn. Additionally, you can choose to make your Opportunity Attacks as a Primal Strike.
Elephant- You grow moderately large tusks that extend from the sides of your mouth. When using your Primal Strike feature on a creature, and there are no enemies adjacent to them, they must make a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
-----
Notes about the design:
My goal was to implement a monk that utilized a beast-like way of reckless combat, while also being something that naturally worked with the two existing beast-esc characters: The Moon Druid and the Barbarian.
The Moon Druid can continue to use their natural Wild shape attacks while activating features like Flurry of Blows without any mechanical problems. Due to the fact that they cannot use the Wild Shape Multiattacks and Primal Strike in the same turn, I don't see too many unbalancing issues. Monk simply becomes a choice of melee versatility rather than a strictly power increase. You can choose to do more damage attacking with Wild Shape, or you can have some versatile combination moves provided by the Savage Soul Primal Strike.
Barbarian has a lot of versatility in this build, especially since it doesn't scale off of Wisdom too much.
There are also a number of synergies with Fighter and Action Surge, due to how Primal Strike is limited to Attack actions.
The beasts follow this design scheme:
Monkey- Reckless damage dealer, who's incentivized to fight in the thick of combat, and does so with relative safety.
Crow- Uses trickery to annoy enemies and to protect their allies using wits and high mobility.
Elephant- Forcefully manipulates enemies into being isolated and easy to dispatch with shear power.
Overall, it's very similar to the Open Hand monk, but this is more consistent, deals less damage, but only gains versatility by spending Ki points or by forcing situations to occur via good strategy. The Open Hand monk has more tools, but can't always afford to use them.
Please let me know of any balance or thematic concerns you may have! It's still a work in progress.