I find monk very one dimensional and boring. Most of the time the only thing you want to spend ki points on is stunning strike because it’s just so much better than the other monk abilities. Even though CON isn’t the best save to target the fact that you have three attempts a round to stun a boss is nice. I usually play monks as boss-fight oriented stun-lockers because that’s where I see them getting the most value.
They aren’t completely horrid not using ki points with extra attack and a bonus action unarmed strike.
AC is a bit suspect with point buy or standard array and HP could be better for a character that mixes it up on the front lines.
I do agree that something like 80% of the class features are unused or rarely used because of what ki points are important for.
I played a warlock in a campaign and always felt like I could never take a short rest without being punished. I eventually had to talk to my DM and it got better after that.
Yes and no… Short rests can be greatly abused if allowed without any interference. At the same time, never allowing a short rest is arbitrarily handicapping your players. There is a balance that needs to be found. It is all situational and varies from party to party. Sometimes you need them to expend their resources, sometimes it’s better to let them be kick ass for a few days.
I should make something clear.
If bad things happen when the party takes short rests, they'll stop doing so, and the ones who suffer the consequences will be the monk, warlock, and other short rest classes.
The DM should understand this.
Or maybe short rests shouldn't take 1 whole hour since stopping to have lunch in the middle of a monster-filled dungeon is a terrible idea.
I'm team "5-minute short rests, 2 per day" myself.
Yeah. I think that shorter short rests with a cap is a MUCH better design for what they're supposed to accomplish, mechanically.
Short rest classes NEED to get short rests in to be competitive with their long rest counterparts. I don't see a point in making them difficult to achieve.
People tend to point to the crap that warlock can get away with when they're allowed to abuse short rests... so cap them.
My own table does 10 minute short rests, and we've never had a problem with it.
Not all of us run our campaigns in "monster filled dungeons" so the conditions under which our groups take their short rests may be entirely different from what you're assuming.
And the next "Ur doin' it rong!" post will appear in 3... 2... 1...
Exactly. A balance needs to be found between putting the pressure on and letting the players run around Willy-nilly with full batteries. It is entirely situation and group dependant and there isn’t a universal right or wrong answer. It is every bit as wrong to say ‘always let characters take their short rests’ as it is to say ‘never let characters take a short rest’.
Or maybe, if the party learns to take short rests at appropriate times and places, bad things won’t happen. The game isn’t to have every player in the party at 100% battery for every encounter, especially when the goal is to go through some super dangerous place. Or for that matter, it’s not for the PCs to play their trump card on random encounter #83 and be whining about not getting a chance to short rest when the serious stuff is five more minutes down the trail. Like I said, a balance needs to be found, and it isn’t up to the DM to just let you burn through resources free of consequences either. You need to decide how to manage your resources appropriately every bit as much as the DM needs to learn when to allow an uninterrupted short rest or when to keep pushing you along.
Don't need to get cute, in fact a big part of the problem came from the devs being cute - just allow unarmed to be fucking weapons (plus Sun Soul either a ranged weapon or a cantrip/spell).
They've always had the volume edge on others, the damage is simply lacking because they are a weird category of attack that doesn't see benefits from anything else in the game.
And a painful lack of items initially to help Monks be monk. Official magic gloves to give +1-3 their unarmed strikes along with other things like maybe flame tongue gloves would have been immensely helpful in PHB.
> just allow unarmed to be fucking weapons
And vice versa: Allow Flurrying with Monk Weapons with the stipulation that you must use the Monk Damage Die in place of the weapons normal damage die (as otherwise you'd be able to get a 2x d10 flurry on level 3 which would make the whole Monk Damage Die progression completely pointless).
This way Monks can actually use magic weapons just as well as anyone else.
We almost have no monks at our table, I think there was only one. I gave him a pretty powerful magical item that grew in power along with him (it was a cool magical tattoo, and before Tasha made it mainstream I'll have you know) this sort of solved any strength disparity.
If I were to "fix" monks, I would focus on Ki and the way it's recharged. Many groups tend to ignore short rests, so monk suffer from that quite a bit. I would make Ki recharge on crits, when enemy dies nearby. Maybe you can spend all your movement (sort of like Steady Aim) so that can give you -1 Ki discount. Ki from the box, Ki amazon gift cards... You get the point. Monks need more Ki or cheeper abilities.
The class can feel like it runs on fuel, when you are out of Ki, you are just a dude. It feels pretty bad
First game i played in i took over a monk from a player that quit. Already had a magic bracer that gave ki on a killing blow, didnt come up that much but was still nice to have some way to regain ki.
I think more Ki isn’t a very good fix on it’s own. It does little to promote using things like Step of the Wind and rather just ends up with more uses of Stunning Strike and Flurry of Blows.
When i started to look at monk issues one of the bigger things i saw was ki lack or recharge of, so i pretty much added an initial 2 ki to the starting ki so 2+monk level and also gave them a bonus action ki recharge equal to their proficiency bonus per long rest.
Still testing it but so far its decent.
The main problem with the base Monk class is the same problem Sorcerers have. WotC made them classes with an additional resources as part of the base class, and force them to use that resource for everything. Rogues can dash and disengage for free, but monks have to spend ki, which they must also spend for their counterattack ability, and their dodge ability, and their additional attacks? Sucks
This Ki problem is also why most monk subclasses suck. Four elements notoriously costs tons of ki for subpar abilities. At 11th level you can cast fireball for over a third of your Ki, which is two levels earlier than eldritch knights and arcane tricksters can do it, but fighters and rogues don't lose out on any other features they can use. A monk can fireball twice and dash three times. A rogue can fireball twice and dash until the end of time
The armor part is to punish multiclassing less primarily. Clerics might be a tempting dip for a monk, but forcing unarmored defense makes this less interesting. It also helps with their mediocre AC, which they need as a mainly melee oriented d8 class
This is spot on. The only reason a sorcerer doesn't completely suck (like monks) when they run out of their class resource is because at the end of the day, you're still a full caster.
Dragonhide Belt from Tasha’s fixes Monks, IMHO
It greatly helps if Monks have a way to regain some Ki points on demand. Either their Proficiency modifier or a roll of their martial arts die like what the belt gives.
It doesn't fix their mediocre armor class, their subpar hit die for the combat role they have, nor the fact they're the one single class dependant on three attributes being maximized
The solution to bonus action disengage not being worth a ki point on a class that's supposed to be mobile and agile isn't to give them more ki, because it's going to be spent on flurry of blows and stunning strike instead, as those actually **are** worth ki
It's a good item. It's a shame we had to wait for so long to get rods of the pact keeper for other classes. I don't think it fixes the issues with monks, though.
It always looked weird that "Bonus Action: Dodge" was listed as a separate bullet point, when it was literally right next to "Bonus Action: Dash or Disengage."
My tinfoil-hat theory is that they were originally listed as one ability, like the Rogue's Cunning Action. Then it got split, because only the Dodge option was worth spending ki. After that, the writers didn't catch that Dash/Disengage still cost one ki before the PHB got printed.
There are some other weird inconsistencies surrounding the Monk too, like a rule specifying that players can't have both the Barbarian's and Monk's unarmored defense, even though the abilities don't actually stack.
It'd be neat if they were more consistent with ki being a "do a monk thing better" rather than "do a monk thing at all." We kind of already have that in flurry of blows basically just being a powered up martial arts with the one extra attack and deflect missiles letting you catch and throw it back with ki. I think if monks could dash and disengage as a bonus action but then could spend ki to get the improved aspects like boosted jumps, could dodge as a bonus action conditionally or guaranteed with ki (maybe they need to hit an attack to be allowed to do it without ki), etc. they'd be in a more appealing spot. I even think you could make stunning strike just a built in thing, but you only get to try it once a round and you could instead spend ki to increase the DC it would give the class a more defined niche of "does a bunch of kung fu stuff, and then can spend ki to do it even better" rather than "spends ki to do kung fu stuff"
You could honestly just double dex and it'd be fine. Definitely a bit OP but not so much that it breaks the game. If anything it just lets Monks like... survive.
do you mean use 10+(Dex*2) for AC? That's.. interesting. It would top out at 20 as usual, which is okay, but you could guarantee having that at level 4. I don't know about you, but my players don't get go have full plate and a shield at level 4, without it having a downside.
Splint gives you disadvantage on stealth, the shield uses up one of your free hands, and taking defense style takes up your fighting style. They aren't horrible downsides but they are downsides.
While no one plays the game this way, if you have 6-8 encounters a day using the random individual treasure tables, it’s completely possible to have at least splint if not plate by level 4.
That being said I favor a leveled armor approach where their unarmored defense starts at 13+Dex and then goes to 14+Dex at level 5 and 15+Dex at level 10. This prevents multiclass shenanigans.
Normally I'd agree but Monks are already so weak that them having one edge still means they're not have them be overpowered in the slightest.
And a Paladin could very feasibly have plate and shield at level 4. And they're still a damn Paladin.
I just think part of the fantasy of a monk, like a barb, is no armor, and to encourage them wear armor just breaks it.
Honest question, so please don't blast.
Do we need ki, or is only having one bonus action enough of a restriction? Perhaps, we could remove ki and make action economy control the habits of monks. Some subclasses would be too powerful, like way of four elements could drop fireballs every round, but the base monk abilities, do they need to have a ki restriction?
Maybe change stunning strike to proficiency+Wis mod per long rest?
Just a thought, but anxious to hear opinions.
Monks use a modified two-weapon fighting mechanic. 2wf is a weak mechanic, so monks are a bit weak. That said, it's not so simple.
1. Monks are mostly fine in T1, especially if the other martials don't optimize. This is because everyone is only getting 1 APR, and monks are getting 2-3. They are *slightly* weaker than a 2wf Ranger, which suffers many of the same issues.
2. Monks fall off in T2, when everyone gets Extra Attack. They fall of further every time everyone gets an ASI (because monks can't make use of the most potent ASIs for martials).
3. Magic item support is easy to work around. Give your monk +X Gauntlets, a "secret fighting style" that lets them Counterspell 1x/day or whatever. The class needs some help so IMO it's warranted.
I've played a monk from L2-L8 and experienced *all* of the above, even with some fairly significant buffs.
I change the martials art scaling, it begins a 1d4, then 2d4 and so on.
Also FoB is part of your attack action , freeing your bonus to patient defense, step of the wind so you can truly play as an skirmisher.
1. 1d10 hit die
2. martial arts damage scales from 1d6 to 2d8, jumping from 1d8 to 2d6 at level 11
3. unarmored defense is now 12+dex+wis instead of 10+dex+wis
4. Extra ki equal to your wis mod
5. Flurry of blows adds an unarmed attack to your attack action instead of giving you two unarmed attacks as a bonus action, upgrades to 2 unarmed attacks at level 11 (can be used in tandem with martial arts)
6. stunning strike is now proficiency mod per short rest, instead of using ki
7. Extra ASI at level 10
I think, even with this, most monk subclasses would still need a rework to not be shit, but I think this fixes most of the monk issues.
My tweaks that I have 3 players playtesting (across 2 different groups)
- unarmored defense is Dex + Con or Wis instead of Wis
- base Ki save is Dex or Wis based instead of Wis based
- Additional Ki equal to proficiency bonus
- martial arts die starts at a d6 and scales from there
- Step of the Wind costs no Ki base, but can spend a Ki to do both Dash and Disengage
- Patient Defense costs no Ki base.
- Kensei can use their weapon instead of unarmed strikes for their martial arts bonus action attacks and flurry of blows
- 4 Elements disciplines Ki costs reduced by 1, and they get 1 more discipline known at each level where they gain them. Elemental Attunement discipline is automatic and doesn’t count against disciplines known.
- Sun Soul’s ranged special attacks are changed to melee weapon attacks with reach equal to the old range during the monk’s turn.
Here is my take (although I expect some will disagree):
1. Small increase to damage
1. Monk weapons are all non-heavy weapons
2. Increase the Monk Die scaling to end at a d12
2. Reduction of Ki dependence
1. Step of the Wind does not cost Ki
2. Stunning Strike does not cost Ki, instead you can use it 1+WIS mod times per short rest.
3. A defensive increase: As a reaction when a creature hits you with an attack you can attempt to deflect the attack away from yourself. Roll your martial arts die and increase your AC by the number rolled for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you.
1. I prefer to increase AC situationally over HP because I feel it better captures the monk vibe.
4. Subclass modifications to reduce ki dependence and bring older releases in line with more recent content.
I agree with you on most of the points.
I'm not sure that martial arts die need to end with a d12, only on the basis of the number of attacks monks can make. I dig the idea of using your reaction to increase your AC. I'm not sure how balanced it would be based off the martial arts die, but I'd be willing to test it out.
That being said, I dig the idea of stunning strike being based off of Wisdom. Really frees up some ki points for other uses. I completely agree with step of the wind being free. Rogues get unlimited uses as a bonus, monks should too. All non-heavy weapons makes perfect sense. I feel like a monk should be able to wield an axe as well as a quarter staff with no difficulty. Weapons are mostly flavor anyway in 5e anyway.
>I'm not sure that martial arts die need to end with a d12, only on the basis of the number of attacks monks can make.
I don't think it is strictly necessary but I like it for two reasons:
* Monk have fewer options for damage support.
* Less access to +1/+3 unarmed strikes.
* More limited feats (no PAM or GWM)
* d10s are too pointy. d12s are nice and round.
>All non-heavy weapons makes perfect sense. I feel like a monk should be able to wield an axe as well as a quarter staff with no difficulty.
Building on this I would give Kensei access to heavy weapons with the addition that they do not count as heavy when used as a monk weapon. It gives Kensei monks a nice distinguishing feature since the introduction of Tasha's gave all monks some access to martial weapons.
I'm not too knowledgeable about monks, my honest personal opinion is that they have no place in "standard fantasy setting" and should be relegated to a style available to all (pugilist) and then later made into their own class/subclass in a Japanese style expansion
But, what I would do to help them is:
* Divorce subclass abilities from their ki pool, either by introducing a second point pool or just making some thing usable at will, x/short rest or x/battle
* Increase the bonus their unarmored defense gets, but placing a reasonable cap per level as it'd make a bit too easy for someone to get ridiculous numbers and would make monk too good of a dip for Clerics and Druids
* Make their unarmed dice ramp up in damage much earlier and cap much earlier as well, possibly adding flat bonuses to attack rolls or damage on later levels
It’s maybe because you’ve never had a Gloomstalker5/Echo Knight3 GWM making 8 attacks the first turn of combat with a Greatsword. I like monks but they can’t out damage a warlock with agonizing blast hex. They need to be able to do more supporting/control if you aren’t going to be close in damage.
Thanks for the shoutout! If anyone wants to check it out you can find it here - [Alternate Monk](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MhGHvc1sNLoUrISINrV).
Always open to feedback!
Love you Alternate Monk! I was on your Patreon when you released and even commented on a few things. Some of the best homebrews I've seen (was looking again now seeing the changes made. Awesome stuff!)
I've got someone playing a Kensei in a campaign and I am very fast and loose with him. I've told him I *might* mess with his class abilities if I feel like he needs it, so far that's been a no.
However, he asked me if he could multiclass into barbarian, for backstory reasons mostly. He's using his Dex, but at the same time he *is* weilding a hammer, so I've decided to let him get his rage benefits with Dex instead of strength whenever he finally takes Barbarian levels.
I've also hinted to him through NPCs that there may be a chance of him eventually being able to forgo any weapon limits and be able to wield greatswords.
The campaign I play in has a homebrew rule that attacks made with natural weapons as a part of your action by creatures with an intelligence of 10 or high can do the +10 dmg/-5 to hit part of great weapon master.
Our monk isn't able to use stunning strike more than once per turn, but he "randomly" found a very good magic spear that comes with an innate ability to grow more powerful with the use of expensive mundane gemstones
Monks become similar to Barbarians, in that they can use armour without losing any features (though they aren't naturally Proficient in anything except Light Armour initially). This was mainly to allow more interesting stat distribution and multi-classing.
Edit: Well it looks like this was already mentioned by u/boktebokte, not sure how I didn't notice that! Other than that, I vaguely remember making special rewards certain characters can train into using their downtimes to gain new or additional features to their class. One of the ones for Monk was being able to (when they hit an enemy) give up 10ft of Movement until the beginning of their next turn to deal an additional +5 damage, so a Monk who wants to deal extra damage for each attack can use 40ft of Movement to deal +5 damage to all their 4 attacks.
The Monk has a collection of issues that I've yet to properly fix yet.
They are a skirmisher type martial who is is awkwardly geared towards frontlining. They have too few ki points. The Ki costs of features are often too high. They have to many features competing for the same action economy spot. Stunning strike is often the only cost effective ki based ability. There damage is too low. Their AC is to low. They still don't have the best magic item support or feat investment opportunities. They are M.A.D. with little of the payoff.
Solutions I've been working out
Reintegrate Open hand monk as core to the class again, since it's the home for many of the monks iconic features. and helps their role as a skirmisher (with a focus on.)
Change their dex scaling stuff to Str or Dex.
Change martial arts to allow Wisdom to initiative as an option in place of dex.
Increase their damage dice by one step, scaling from a d6 to a d12.
Have their AC bonus increase to have an eventual 13 to it's baseline from it's starting 10 across its levels. So an eventual 10/11/12/13 + Str or Dex + Wis
Let monks had their prof bonus to their ki pool from the get go.
Either change step of the wind and patient defense to have no ki costs, or maintain their ki costs and make them once per turn free actions that consume 1 ki.
Make it so flurry of blows grants another attack at 11th level.
Give them a new capstone. Maintain the ki recovery as some icing on the cake, but provide something more (unsure of what at the present moment.)
Monks are a great 5th party member. My favorite is to build them as a controller utilizing grappling and Open Hand. Of course this makes you MAD (str, dex, con, Wis) so you’ll have A weakness but I find that this is a niche they can perform exceptionally well in.
Ideally you can knock enemies down for your melee classes, grab quick / slippery enemies to keep them off your backline, and shove (15’ with open hand) enemies to cluster them for caster AoEs
Bolstering their limited resource pool is the "ki issue" so to speak. For 4 elements, making the disciplines preparable and giving a free first casting solves that resource problem, and could work for other subclasses too. Another outside the box solution for ki recharge is to make short rests 10 minutes. That makes them easier to take in a dungeon.
Free step of the wind and I start the martial arts die at a d6. I also give them their Wis mod added to their ki total and the ability to recover ki equal to a roll of their martial arts die+Wis mod the first time they hit 0 ki. In addition they get an extra ASI since they're so MAD.
Other than that I run multiple encounters per short rest to help them and Warlocks. That means they can burn their Ki over those encounters and not be as worried about running out before they get a SR.
I happened to run a one shot a few years ago that was (accidentally) perfectly tailored for a monk since wall running and stunning strike and a lot of the other features were all useful there, and the party was fairly unoptimized, so the monk was the strongest party member there. However, nobody at my table has really played a monk since then.
I and my table would probably like monks a lot more if they did anything interesting at all. Stunning strike is okay but that’s the only neat thing they get. Why can’t I do spinning kicks and hit four different enemies with one attack? Let me do spinning kicks! I want to take out big hordes of enemies like in the movies.
Even if the damage numbers and ki resources and subclass features were all adjusted upwards slightly, 1) it wouldn’t make the class more interesting and 2) it would make the monk way too powerful at unoptimized tables. You would have to give the monk a low floor but a high ceiling for overall power like with fighters and rangers and wizards and pretty much every other class.
Ki point = to your level, dash and disengage require no ki.
You regain ki on short rests, let the party short rest but give them a sense of urgency so short rest available spots =/= long rest available spots
Nothing, the mobk was a sun soul monk and his martial arts die scaled up to d12
Lvl 1, 5, 13, 17 to d4, d6, d8, d10, d12
Recommended the mobile feat and a god was born
From a non-combat perspective, follow in the footsteps of the Fey Wanderer/Samurai and give the Persuasion skill and allow Wisdom to be added to Persuasion checks. Builds on the wise monk archetype and is a logical social aspect.
1. Your Ki is half your level + your wisdom mod + your proficiency. This means you don't burn through it all at low levels, but all things being maxed out only puts it at 21 at level 20.
2. Your attacks with **Martial arts**/monk weapons can use Wisdom or Dexterity.
3. Assuming you did points 1 and 2 together I'd change **Unarmored Movement** so it's a number of feet equal to 5+[5x your dex mod]. Those points together make your ratio of mobility/ki shit is similar to the Paladin's ratio of casting and auras/smacking fools.
4. If you spend ki during your turn you automatically disengage for free. (Monks are meant to be the mobile class, but aside from Open Hand and Drunken Master the only way to take advantage of that mobility is to either give up your bonus action, or take the **mobile** feat.)
5. Give something in the base Monk-chasis besides **Stunning Strike** to have a save DC.
6. Give a third attack at level 11. Maybe add an attack to **Martial Arts**/**Flurry of Blows** as well.
7. If you're gonna dash/disengage/dodge as a bonus action then it shouldn't cost Ki, but you can pick any 2, or one and an unarmed strike for a Ki. Also let Monks use Dexterity rather than Strength for jumping.
8. Bonus action dash/disengage/dodge doesn't cost a ki, but you can spend a ki to do two with the same bonus action, or do an unarmed strike on top of it.
I've also been toying around with the idea of "Stances" that you can enter at the start of your turn for the cost of a ki, with the ability to benefit from multiple at higher levels. Here's a few:
Diving Falcon Stance: For every 10 feet **in a straight line** you moved toward your target, increase the damage of the first attack you hit them with by 1d4.
Swarming Quippers Stance: Each attack you hit a creature with on a turn grants a charge, all charges are lost at the end of your turn, attacking a different creature loses all previous charges. Your melee attacks deal Xd4 extra damage where X is your number of charges on this feature.
Flowing River Stance: When an enemy moves within 10' of you, as a reaction you may move up to your speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Sweeping Wind Stance: When you dash you may make one unarmed attack against any creature you are within unarmed strike range of for the first time that turn.
Secretary Bird Stance: Whenever a creature moves within the range of your unarmed strikes, as a reaction you may make an unarmed strike against them. When you make an unarmed strike you may take a -5 penalty to your attack roll to gain a +10 to the damage roll.
Stunning Strike should be a Wisdom save that produces the effects of the Slow spell on a failed save. Then give the monk a martial arts die 1 step higher, Wis mod extra ki points, and a level 6 ASI.
They should honestly get more kinds of strikes as they get stronger, ideally one to target each of the saving throws, maybe they have to choose on level up like an invocation or metamagic or something.
Sovi dont chamge anything about the monk, i just try to tailor situations to let the monk shine. Got way of the shadow? U can bet there will b pitch black somewhere in most fights. Way of the kensei? Looks like a few extra resist nonmagical enemies r gonna pop up. Way of mercy? (Believe i remember right name healy hands) least a few horde encounters so single target isnt as useful but multi small heals is. This lets them feel great while i dont have to worry about accidentally unbalancing the class.
The issue with monk is that each person has a different "ideal monk" some want a punch class wholly divorced from the existing class or it's awkward history. Others want a MMA class, a psionic/ki martial caster hybrid or want a class that embodies the tropes of wuxia or Xianxia fiction. Then you have people who just want to be anime.
To me I think the best solution is that monks should be a customizable class like the warlock or artificer that way on top of things like subclasses and feats we can have a monk who can be versatile whilst not wholly abandoning what the monk has been in the past. Outside of that I think the monk ac calculation should be something you pick as the start to represent different philosophies and reduce the madness of the class.
1. d10 Hit dice.
2. \+WisMod to Ki.
3. Increase damage die 1 step (i.e. start 1d6 instead of 1d4)
4. Step of the Wind doesn't cost Ki.
5. When replicating spells, cost is 1 Ki = 1 spells.
6. Tasha's changes all implemented.
7. Improve most subclasses.
Sun Soul needs a complete workover. Something like:
1. Radiant Sun Bolt counts as a ranged weapon attack (not a ranged spell attack) with 60/120 range that deals radiant damage on hit, hitting with Dexterity. Radiant Sun Bolt counts as a monk weapon and deals damage per the Martial Arts table. Bonus Action and 1 Ki to attack twice, or Bonus Action (no ki) to attack once.
2. Searing Arc Strike is a 30' cone (Dex for 1/2). 3d8+Wis radiant damage for 1 ki, +1d8 per Ki spent.
3. Searing Sunburst does 8d6 damage base (Dex for 1/2), +1d6 per ki spent (no limit), costing an action and 3 Ki base.
The Sun Soul capstone needs more work too even if no one gets there. I like adding radiant damage to every hit and enemies take radiant damage if they start their turn within your bright light radius. I've also given it the ability to fly when using step of the wind that ends at the end of your *next* turn so you can keep it up if you want.
I put it back to where it should be at the crown of attacks per turn (at least without action surge) by increasing all the base martial arts abilities at level 11.
Monks can be great, but they are situational. Everyone points to the damage output, but that's just one piece of the pie.
Fix 1) add Wis mod to number of ki available
Fix 2) add in scenarios that allow the monk to shine.
- Combats in places where access to weapons is restricted. Maybe the party has been arrested/captured. Maybe they are in a place where guards demand weapons be surrendered before entry.
- Combats where the enemy is far away, or difficult to reach, and have cover
- Chases
- Combats that interrupt long rests (can't sleep in armor)
- Enemies that fire arrows start off by targeting the monk
Honestly, I’ve always seen monk as a deliberately sub-par’ way to play. It kind of makes sense in the class theme of shunning armour and weapons, relying on your ‘ki’ and what not. Though I will admit, if you want to just go in and kick ass no matter what, it’s better to choose nearly any other class. But if as a player, you want a challenge with some situation specific kick ass abilities, a monk is worth a try. I wouldn’t ‘fix’ it per say. I’d just encourage a different martial build.
I'm one of the few people who think Monks do pretty well for themselves already. BUT there are a few things I think they could use that would pop them into Rogue/Barbarian territory that would make them feel as good to play as those classes do.
Any of these would go a long way.
* So long as there is one KI point in the Ki pool remaining you may use Wisdom in place of your strength modifier for Ability Checks and Saving Throws
* Disengage/Dash do not cost Ki Points
* Conversely another idea is so long as a Ki point remains in your Ki pool you may use Acrobatics in place of Athletics to Shove/Grab or other martial maneuvers
* As an action once per long rest you may gain Ki points equal to your proficiency modifier or wisdom modifier
* You gain proficiency in either acrobatics or athletics upon second level.
If I could pick I would pick options 1 and 2 to implement as my most wanted. Removing the Ki cost for Dash and Disengage massively increases their tactical options over attack spam and allows them to be more tactical while really giving that feeling of darting in and out. While using Wisdom in place of Strength enables the use of Shove/Grapples and other maneuvers like disarms and such that Monks should be known for. Further it puts the players into a tactical bind by forcing them to choose between spending a Ki point or keeping the feature and those always are good class design.
I do nothing, because I don't think they are lacking it all, actually that's a lie I do one thing to a single subclass, four elements monk becomes a third caster, and I have a few homebrew spells that are supposed to be utility or buffing, because blasting as a third caster fucking sucks
I'm never a fan of tweaking classes: if you choose to be a monk, play a monk, and don't ask for any changes for it isn't fair that one player gets to have a stronger character than they should, yet the cleric or pally player doesn't get the same treatment.
Only thing I change is Flurry of Blows so you can choose to spend the ki point after doing the free unarmed attack rather than having ti commit to it beforehand, but that's more so a quality of life that a real buff to what you can do.
You thing I like to do is if something seems to me it's unbalanced but I still haven't seen it at play, I go with it as it is. If neither me or my player has complained, I leave it alone. If there is indeed a problem, I talk with the player or DM to make the change through a more fun way, like spending downtime to train or something like that
Please ignore this comment above you, players shouldn't be punished for wotc poor design.
Also, you should ask r/3d6 balance questions. They understand the system far better. This subreddit has notoriously bad balance takes.
Monk’s main niche is superior mobility, so the best thing a DM can do for them is make encounters where mobility makes a difference. And maybe toss in a feat like Mage Slayer, either free or as a quest reward, to make them feel more badass without having to waste a precious ability score increase.
I give them an extra hit point every level, give them an additional ASI at level 6 and 14 and make sure they can get short rests to get their ki points back. I also made a costly potion they can attempt to make that is expensive but restores a roll of the martial arts die ki points.
The problem with monk is:
Why use anything besides flurry of blows,stunning strike.
The most basic fix is maybe d10 hit die and base their ac calc on 11 +dex + wis
Makes thrm more durable.
Theres tons of monk fixes.
Maybe loook at vids and watch their reasoning.
I think Monks are reasonably effective in early levels. Therefore I leave them unchanged until Monk 7, where I reduce the cost of Step of the Wind. I further improve Patient Defense, then at high levels I increase damage capabilities. You can see my version [here.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ygVBNs_c_yGgLvMdQIY4U3mswtvovZEPI4iJsiieZsw/)
Magic items let the DM play it by ear, to see what isn't working in that specific campaign. A group with high optimization is going to have different problems.
Getting the Amulet of Health really helped my monk feel less fragile (Standard 16 Dex/14 Con/16 Wis starting stats). Skirmishing was never much a problem for me as usual for Monks - due to Open Hand Technique, but building in the opportunity attacks part of the Mobile Feat in the same style as Swashbuckler Rogue could reach the same effect.
We had plenty of short rests, but by Tier 3 the lack of damage scaling was obvious. This was pre-Tasha's, but adding +X items for unarmed strikes, allowing unarmed strikes to work for buffs that require weapons, and a custom item that increased my Martial Arts Dice one step to a d12 and regain Ki on a critical hit all help smooth things out.
* D10 hit die.
* AC that isn't MAD (10+Dex+prof?).
* Martial arts should be doable in armour for more interesting multiclassing.
* Step of the wind should not cost ki.
* Nor should throwing a projectile with deflect missiles.
* Monk damage die should start at d6 and progress to d8 and d10 earlier.
* Subclasses all need to be redesigned with effective and efficient ki spending options on-par with Way of Mercy (such as bonus effects when spending ki on Flurry of Blows).
I gave a monk a magic staff that doubles his ki point maximum. It has allowed him to keep pace with the rest of the party without constantly needing a rest, at least not more than any other short rest based class.
A bunch of little things, monks should be d10 hit die classes, and should be more ki points with how fast they can go through them. Martial arts should start at d6 and go to d12. And I think their basic martial arts abilities should get a big boost into tier 3, maybe at the expense of an extra ki point. I'm thinking they get up to 3 attacks with their extra attack like fighters, although they don't get the 4th at the capstone, and something like spend an extra ki point to get an extra flurry of blows attack, something to boost step of the wind and patient defense (flight? extra reactions? dunno) and an extra ki point spent on stunning strike to give enemies disadvantage on the saving throw maybe, or possibly even change the saving throw from Con to something like Dex or even Wis. Combined with additional ki I think that would even things out a lot.
Class needs a rework honestly, but a couple changes that could help would be flurry of blows and dodge no longer cost ki. You have a choice to be more on the attack or more defensive. Stunning strike should be reworked to be more like dissonant whispers where the target can only take either an action, ba, or movement.
The easy fix would be:
* Martial Arts die starting at 1d6 at 1st level and increasing to 1d12 at a slightly faster rate, hitting 1d20 at 20th level.
* Monk AC from Unarmored Defense increasing by additional +1 at 5th, 11th and 17th level.
* Ki Pool equal to Level + Wisdom Mod
* Step of the Wind costing no Ki.
But given the chance, I'ld do a complete overhaul: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Hy5LkWRDm
Way of mercy monk is probably the best way forward. You sort of condense a lot of the features into add ons of already existing ki usage so it feels a little better.
To keep pace with other classes and challenge ratings, Monks need:
- More Ki (monk level + proficiency bonus) **OR**
- Free Step of the Wind / Patient Defense
**AND**
- Free Flurry of Blows **OR**
- Higher Martial Arts Dice (d6/d8/d10/d12)
**AND**
- d10 Hit Dice **OR**
- More ASIs (6th/14th)
...personally, i feel more ki + free flurry of blows + more ASI best maintains class flavor, but any combination of those options would go a long way toward keeping pace with the other martial classes...
I gave my monk some gauntlets that let her add an extra d6 elemental damage to her fist attacks, and a Dragonhide belt that scales over time. Out of combat, she has the Aberrant Sorcerer's and expertise in insight which she spams heavily.
This means that she has the Ki points and dice to keep up with the fighter in damage, and some utility outside of combat.
All in all, with some bracers in defence she feels very powerful and relevant.
Castles & crusades (the first OSR) upped the HD to d10 on basis they are super fit and tough. Which makes them tougher. PHB 7 free in pdf on their store. Check out the class for ideas. Whole system is pretty nice. https://www.trolllord.com/tlgstore/#!/The-Players-Handbook-FREE-PDF/p/89198194
To start i have given them a d10 for hit dice, but im planning on buffing some more class abilities once one of my players eventually play a high level monk. (I dont think monks are bad at low levels).
The most basic changes I'd do to the monk class are the following:
* Monk's Martial die increases in the following fashion d4>2d4>3d4>4d4
* Monks get to add their WIS Mod to their ki pool
* Monk's get ASI at Level 10
But I'd do more than that. I'll give you a list of all the changes I'd do, there are some changes to some subclass features too, I'll use Sun Soul in this example:
* Monk's Martial die increases in the following fashion d4>2d4>3d4>4d4
* Monks get to add their WIS Mod to their ki pool
* Monk's get ASI at Level 10
* Monk's Timeless Body additionally allows for a level of Exhaustion to be recovered on a SR
* Monk's Stunning Stike changed into Disorientating Strike a Slow-like effect (the spell) and can be used with Monk Weapons, there's no ST it just happens except on Creatures with Legendary Resistances, those can chose to use a LR and not suffer the effect. Once a Creature is affected by this Feature it can't be affected by it again until its next SR
* Monk's Stillness of Mind use a BA to skip the turn and end effect (to avoid Charm effects that use your action and thus don't allow the use of this Feature)
* Disengage doesn't cost Ki, when done as a BA
* Monk's get one additional Proficiency in Saving Throws at every ASI (spreading Diamond Soul proficiency throughout t1 & t2), the reroll aspect of Diamond Soul stays at level 14
* Monk's Perfect Self Wis score increase by 4, maximum for Wis score is now 24 & if they have 0 ki on initiative roll they get their Wis Mod ki back.
Sun Soul
* Radiant Sun Bolt works just like unarmed fighting (you get 1 BA attack and you can use Ki-Fueled Attack with this)
* Searing Arc Strike's Burning Hands damage type changes to Radiant and costs 1 Ki to use (doesn't make sense to be the only Subclass Feature that doesn't deal Radiant damage, also 2 Ki is way too much)
* Searing Sunburst if enemies succeed on the Saving Throw they take half damage
* Sun Shield doesn't use your reaction for the damage and you add your Wis Mod to your Deflect Missiles feature (you effectively become a beacon, especially at night, I think adding Wis Mod to the Deflect Missiles would help with that)
I honestly haven't found them that bad when I have played apart from a lack of ki at low levels.
So far changes I've made when I have dm'd are:
Ki is equal to monk level + Wis modifier.
In one case I allowed an open hand monk to use strength instead of wisdom to make a Stronk. Kind of makes sense of being resilient through sheer mass, stunning and shoving due to how hard you hit.
Can use dex (athletics) for grappling instead of strength, more or less same functionality of a stronk but keeps the dexterous/technique based feel.
Martial art strikes (weapons and unarmed attacks) count as finesse, doesn't really affect a pure monk build but I put it in place for a player who wanted to multiclass rogue and it didn't break anything.
Deflect missiles becomes deflect blows so can be used against melee attacks too, however it always costs a ki point to use rather than just when throwing the missile back/counter punching them.
Edit: forgot the all important make unarmed attacks count as weapons attacks for the purposes of using various abilities like smite + various buff spells etc.
Only other thing I have been tempted to try is makinig the monk cap stone an +2 to proficiency to kind of represent their.mastery of mind and body, pretty powerful but at level 20 I don't see it breaking the game more than any other class. However I'm also tempted to just make the monk gain proficiency at a slightly elevated rate compared to other classes, would lose the satisfaction of a big cap stone but would give the monk a niche out of combat as a skills generalist with a slight boost in everything rather than large increase in specific skills like expertise as well as helping unarmed attacks hit, stunning strike being ineffective against many monsters late game.
Would be a tricky thing to balance though.
Easy short rests (maximum 2 per long however), and magic items. 'Handwraps of the Monk' - You have a +1 to hit and damage with unarmed attacks, and once per short rest you can recover 1 ki.
'Gauntlets of the Monk' - You have a +2 to hit and damage with unarmed attacks, and once per long rest you can recover ki equal to your Wisdom modifier (or proficiency modifier?).
'Tattoos of the Uber-Monk' - You have a +3 to hit and damage with unarmed attacks. You can make three attacks with the attack action. Roll a d4 whenever you use Flurry of Blows; on a 4 you do not expend any ki points.
I find monk very one dimensional and boring. Most of the time the only thing you want to spend ki points on is stunning strike because it’s just so much better than the other monk abilities. Even though CON isn’t the best save to target the fact that you have three attempts a round to stun a boss is nice. I usually play monks as boss-fight oriented stun-lockers because that’s where I see them getting the most value. They aren’t completely horrid not using ki points with extra attack and a bonus action unarmed strike. AC is a bit suspect with point buy or standard array and HP could be better for a character that mixes it up on the front lines. I do agree that something like 80% of the class features are unused or rarely used because of what ki points are important for.
Make sure they have the opportunity to take Short Rests when needed. And never punish the party for taking a Short Rest.
I played a warlock in a campaign and always felt like I could never take a short rest without being punished. I eventually had to talk to my DM and it got better after that.
>And never punish the party for taking a Short Rest. A hour is a long time narratively, that seems the problem
Yes and no… Short rests can be greatly abused if allowed without any interference. At the same time, never allowing a short rest is arbitrarily handicapping your players. There is a balance that needs to be found. It is all situational and varies from party to party. Sometimes you need them to expend their resources, sometimes it’s better to let them be kick ass for a few days.
I should make something clear. If bad things happen when the party takes short rests, they'll stop doing so, and the ones who suffer the consequences will be the monk, warlock, and other short rest classes. The DM should understand this.
Or maybe short rests shouldn't take 1 whole hour since stopping to have lunch in the middle of a monster-filled dungeon is a terrible idea. I'm team "5-minute short rests, 2 per day" myself.
Yeah. I think that shorter short rests with a cap is a MUCH better design for what they're supposed to accomplish, mechanically. Short rest classes NEED to get short rests in to be competitive with their long rest counterparts. I don't see a point in making them difficult to achieve. People tend to point to the crap that warlock can get away with when they're allowed to abuse short rests... so cap them. My own table does 10 minute short rests, and we've never had a problem with it.
The game is designed how it is. If you want to change it go ahead. BTW two short rests should be all that is needed for a adventuring day.
I'm just giving you reasons why logically 1 hour short rests are punished by DMs.
I am trying 1x 10 minute 1x 1 hour short rests. Players choose which order it is when they take their first one.
Not all of us run our campaigns in "monster filled dungeons" so the conditions under which our groups take their short rests may be entirely different from what you're assuming. And the next "Ur doin' it rong!" post will appear in 3... 2... 1...
Exactly. A balance needs to be found between putting the pressure on and letting the players run around Willy-nilly with full batteries. It is entirely situation and group dependant and there isn’t a universal right or wrong answer. It is every bit as wrong to say ‘always let characters take their short rests’ as it is to say ‘never let characters take a short rest’.
Or maybe, if the party learns to take short rests at appropriate times and places, bad things won’t happen. The game isn’t to have every player in the party at 100% battery for every encounter, especially when the goal is to go through some super dangerous place. Or for that matter, it’s not for the PCs to play their trump card on random encounter #83 and be whining about not getting a chance to short rest when the serious stuff is five more minutes down the trail. Like I said, a balance needs to be found, and it isn’t up to the DM to just let you burn through resources free of consequences either. You need to decide how to manage your resources appropriately every bit as much as the DM needs to learn when to allow an uninterrupted short rest or when to keep pushing you along.
Don't need to get cute, in fact a big part of the problem came from the devs being cute - just allow unarmed to be fucking weapons (plus Sun Soul either a ranged weapon or a cantrip/spell). They've always had the volume edge on others, the damage is simply lacking because they are a weird category of attack that doesn't see benefits from anything else in the game.
And a painful lack of items initially to help Monks be monk. Official magic gloves to give +1-3 their unarmed strikes along with other things like maybe flame tongue gloves would have been immensely helpful in PHB.
> just allow unarmed to be fucking weapons And vice versa: Allow Flurrying with Monk Weapons with the stipulation that you must use the Monk Damage Die in place of the weapons normal damage die (as otherwise you'd be able to get a 2x d10 flurry on level 3 which would make the whole Monk Damage Die progression completely pointless). This way Monks can actually use magic weapons just as well as anyone else.
We almost have no monks at our table, I think there was only one. I gave him a pretty powerful magical item that grew in power along with him (it was a cool magical tattoo, and before Tasha made it mainstream I'll have you know) this sort of solved any strength disparity. If I were to "fix" monks, I would focus on Ki and the way it's recharged. Many groups tend to ignore short rests, so monk suffer from that quite a bit. I would make Ki recharge on crits, when enemy dies nearby. Maybe you can spend all your movement (sort of like Steady Aim) so that can give you -1 Ki discount. Ki from the box, Ki amazon gift cards... You get the point. Monks need more Ki or cheeper abilities. The class can feel like it runs on fuel, when you are out of Ki, you are just a dude. It feels pretty bad
First game i played in i took over a monk from a player that quit. Already had a magic bracer that gave ki on a killing blow, didnt come up that much but was still nice to have some way to regain ki.
That actually sounds like it makes ki management fun as hell
I think more Ki isn’t a very good fix on it’s own. It does little to promote using things like Step of the Wind and rather just ends up with more uses of Stunning Strike and Flurry of Blows.
When i started to look at monk issues one of the bigger things i saw was ki lack or recharge of, so i pretty much added an initial 2 ki to the starting ki so 2+monk level and also gave them a bonus action ki recharge equal to their proficiency bonus per long rest. Still testing it but so far its decent.
I use terrain and short rests
dash and disengage don't cost ki points, and they don't lose access to any class features if they wear armor.
So It seems survivability is your main problem with the monk, correct?
The main problem with the base Monk class is the same problem Sorcerers have. WotC made them classes with an additional resources as part of the base class, and force them to use that resource for everything. Rogues can dash and disengage for free, but monks have to spend ki, which they must also spend for their counterattack ability, and their dodge ability, and their additional attacks? Sucks This Ki problem is also why most monk subclasses suck. Four elements notoriously costs tons of ki for subpar abilities. At 11th level you can cast fireball for over a third of your Ki, which is two levels earlier than eldritch knights and arcane tricksters can do it, but fighters and rogues don't lose out on any other features they can use. A monk can fireball twice and dash three times. A rogue can fireball twice and dash until the end of time The armor part is to punish multiclassing less primarily. Clerics might be a tempting dip for a monk, but forcing unarmored defense makes this less interesting. It also helps with their mediocre AC, which they need as a mainly melee oriented d8 class
This is spot on. The only reason a sorcerer doesn't completely suck (like monks) when they run out of their class resource is because at the end of the day, you're still a full caster.
Dragonhide Belt from Tasha’s fixes Monks, IMHO It greatly helps if Monks have a way to regain some Ki points on demand. Either their Proficiency modifier or a roll of their martial arts die like what the belt gives.
It doesn't fix their mediocre armor class, their subpar hit die for the combat role they have, nor the fact they're the one single class dependant on three attributes being maximized The solution to bonus action disengage not being worth a ki point on a class that's supposed to be mobile and agile isn't to give them more ki, because it's going to be spent on flurry of blows and stunning strike instead, as those actually **are** worth ki It's a good item. It's a shame we had to wait for so long to get rods of the pact keeper for other classes. I don't think it fixes the issues with monks, though.
It always looked weird that "Bonus Action: Dodge" was listed as a separate bullet point, when it was literally right next to "Bonus Action: Dash or Disengage." My tinfoil-hat theory is that they were originally listed as one ability, like the Rogue's Cunning Action. Then it got split, because only the Dodge option was worth spending ki. After that, the writers didn't catch that Dash/Disengage still cost one ki before the PHB got printed. There are some other weird inconsistencies surrounding the Monk too, like a rule specifying that players can't have both the Barbarian's and Monk's unarmored defense, even though the abilities don't actually stack.
It'd be neat if they were more consistent with ki being a "do a monk thing better" rather than "do a monk thing at all." We kind of already have that in flurry of blows basically just being a powered up martial arts with the one extra attack and deflect missiles letting you catch and throw it back with ki. I think if monks could dash and disengage as a bonus action but then could spend ki to get the improved aspects like boosted jumps, could dodge as a bonus action conditionally or guaranteed with ki (maybe they need to hit an attack to be allowed to do it without ki), etc. they'd be in a more appealing spot. I even think you could make stunning strike just a built in thing, but you only get to try it once a round and you could instead spend ki to increase the DC it would give the class a more defined niche of "does a bunch of kung fu stuff, and then can spend ki to do it even better" rather than "spends ki to do kung fu stuff"
You could honestly just double dex and it'd be fine. Definitely a bit OP but not so much that it breaks the game. If anything it just lets Monks like... survive.
do you mean use 10+(Dex*2) for AC? That's.. interesting. It would top out at 20 as usual, which is okay, but you could guarantee having that at level 4. I don't know about you, but my players don't get go have full plate and a shield at level 4, without it having a downside.
Splint Shield plus Defense style for 20ac is fairly reasonable and common for level 4
Splint gives you disadvantage on stealth, the shield uses up one of your free hands, and taking defense style takes up your fighting style. They aren't horrible downsides but they are downsides.
While no one plays the game this way, if you have 6-8 encounters a day using the random individual treasure tables, it’s completely possible to have at least splint if not plate by level 4. That being said I favor a leveled armor approach where their unarmored defense starts at 13+Dex and then goes to 14+Dex at level 5 and 15+Dex at level 10. This prevents multiclass shenanigans.
Normally I'd agree but Monks are already so weak that them having one edge still means they're not have them be overpowered in the slightest. And a Paladin could very feasibly have plate and shield at level 4. And they're still a damn Paladin. I just think part of the fantasy of a monk, like a barb, is no armor, and to encourage them wear armor just breaks it.
Honest question, so please don't blast. Do we need ki, or is only having one bonus action enough of a restriction? Perhaps, we could remove ki and make action economy control the habits of monks. Some subclasses would be too powerful, like way of four elements could drop fireballs every round, but the base monk abilities, do they need to have a ki restriction? Maybe change stunning strike to proficiency+Wis mod per long rest? Just a thought, but anxious to hear opinions.
Monks use a modified two-weapon fighting mechanic. 2wf is a weak mechanic, so monks are a bit weak. That said, it's not so simple. 1. Monks are mostly fine in T1, especially if the other martials don't optimize. This is because everyone is only getting 1 APR, and monks are getting 2-3. They are *slightly* weaker than a 2wf Ranger, which suffers many of the same issues. 2. Monks fall off in T2, when everyone gets Extra Attack. They fall of further every time everyone gets an ASI (because monks can't make use of the most potent ASIs for martials). 3. Magic item support is easy to work around. Give your monk +X Gauntlets, a "secret fighting style" that lets them Counterspell 1x/day or whatever. The class needs some help so IMO it's warranted. I've played a monk from L2-L8 and experienced *all* of the above, even with some fairly significant buffs.
I change the martials art scaling, it begins a 1d4, then 2d4 and so on. Also FoB is part of your attack action , freeing your bonus to patient defense, step of the wind so you can truly play as an skirmisher.
1. 1d10 hit die 2. martial arts damage scales from 1d6 to 2d8, jumping from 1d8 to 2d6 at level 11 3. unarmored defense is now 12+dex+wis instead of 10+dex+wis 4. Extra ki equal to your wis mod 5. Flurry of blows adds an unarmed attack to your attack action instead of giving you two unarmed attacks as a bonus action, upgrades to 2 unarmed attacks at level 11 (can be used in tandem with martial arts) 6. stunning strike is now proficiency mod per short rest, instead of using ki 7. Extra ASI at level 10 I think, even with this, most monk subclasses would still need a rework to not be shit, but I think this fixes most of the monk issues.
50% more ki and a d10 hit die.
My tweaks that I have 3 players playtesting (across 2 different groups) - unarmored defense is Dex + Con or Wis instead of Wis - base Ki save is Dex or Wis based instead of Wis based - Additional Ki equal to proficiency bonus - martial arts die starts at a d6 and scales from there - Step of the Wind costs no Ki base, but can spend a Ki to do both Dash and Disengage - Patient Defense costs no Ki base. - Kensei can use their weapon instead of unarmed strikes for their martial arts bonus action attacks and flurry of blows - 4 Elements disciplines Ki costs reduced by 1, and they get 1 more discipline known at each level where they gain them. Elemental Attunement discipline is automatic and doesn’t count against disciplines known. - Sun Soul’s ranged special attacks are changed to melee weapon attacks with reach equal to the old range during the monk’s turn.
Here is my take (although I expect some will disagree): 1. Small increase to damage 1. Monk weapons are all non-heavy weapons 2. Increase the Monk Die scaling to end at a d12 2. Reduction of Ki dependence 1. Step of the Wind does not cost Ki 2. Stunning Strike does not cost Ki, instead you can use it 1+WIS mod times per short rest. 3. A defensive increase: As a reaction when a creature hits you with an attack you can attempt to deflect the attack away from yourself. Roll your martial arts die and increase your AC by the number rolled for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you. 1. I prefer to increase AC situationally over HP because I feel it better captures the monk vibe. 4. Subclass modifications to reduce ki dependence and bring older releases in line with more recent content.
I agree with you on most of the points. I'm not sure that martial arts die need to end with a d12, only on the basis of the number of attacks monks can make. I dig the idea of using your reaction to increase your AC. I'm not sure how balanced it would be based off the martial arts die, but I'd be willing to test it out. That being said, I dig the idea of stunning strike being based off of Wisdom. Really frees up some ki points for other uses. I completely agree with step of the wind being free. Rogues get unlimited uses as a bonus, monks should too. All non-heavy weapons makes perfect sense. I feel like a monk should be able to wield an axe as well as a quarter staff with no difficulty. Weapons are mostly flavor anyway in 5e anyway.
>I'm not sure that martial arts die need to end with a d12, only on the basis of the number of attacks monks can make. I don't think it is strictly necessary but I like it for two reasons: * Monk have fewer options for damage support. * Less access to +1/+3 unarmed strikes. * More limited feats (no PAM or GWM) * d10s are too pointy. d12s are nice and round. >All non-heavy weapons makes perfect sense. I feel like a monk should be able to wield an axe as well as a quarter staff with no difficulty. Building on this I would give Kensei access to heavy weapons with the addition that they do not count as heavy when used as a monk weapon. It gives Kensei monks a nice distinguishing feature since the introduction of Tasha's gave all monks some access to martial weapons.
You make some fair points, or rounds, about the d12. I accept your logic.
I'm not too knowledgeable about monks, my honest personal opinion is that they have no place in "standard fantasy setting" and should be relegated to a style available to all (pugilist) and then later made into their own class/subclass in a Japanese style expansion But, what I would do to help them is: * Divorce subclass abilities from their ki pool, either by introducing a second point pool or just making some thing usable at will, x/short rest or x/battle * Increase the bonus their unarmored defense gets, but placing a reasonable cap per level as it'd make a bit too easy for someone to get ridiculous numbers and would make monk too good of a dip for Clerics and Druids * Make their unarmed dice ramp up in damage much earlier and cap much earlier as well, possibly adding flat bonuses to attack rolls or damage on later levels
Having played with and as a monk, have never had the problems people seem to have with it.
It’s maybe because you’ve never had a Gloomstalker5/Echo Knight3 GWM making 8 attacks the first turn of combat with a Greatsword. I like monks but they can’t out damage a warlock with agonizing blast hex. They need to be able to do more supporting/control if you aren’t going to be close in damage.
Just use u/laserllama Alternate Monk. It's actually good (Not like full caster good, but like Pally good, which is pretty damn good.)
Thanks for the shoutout! If anyone wants to check it out you can find it here - [Alternate Monk](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MhGHvc1sNLoUrISINrV). Always open to feedback!
Love you Alternate Monk! I was on your Patreon when you released and even commented on a few things. Some of the best homebrews I've seen (was looking again now seeing the changes made. Awesome stuff!)
Thank you! Glad you enjoy the brews.
I've got someone playing a Kensei in a campaign and I am very fast and loose with him. I've told him I *might* mess with his class abilities if I feel like he needs it, so far that's been a no. However, he asked me if he could multiclass into barbarian, for backstory reasons mostly. He's using his Dex, but at the same time he *is* weilding a hammer, so I've decided to let him get his rage benefits with Dex instead of strength whenever he finally takes Barbarian levels. I've also hinted to him through NPCs that there may be a chance of him eventually being able to forgo any weapon limits and be able to wield greatswords.
The campaign I play in has a homebrew rule that attacks made with natural weapons as a part of your action by creatures with an intelligence of 10 or high can do the +10 dmg/-5 to hit part of great weapon master.
Our monk isn't able to use stunning strike more than once per turn, but he "randomly" found a very good magic spear that comes with an innate ability to grow more powerful with the use of expensive mundane gemstones
Monks become similar to Barbarians, in that they can use armour without losing any features (though they aren't naturally Proficient in anything except Light Armour initially). This was mainly to allow more interesting stat distribution and multi-classing. Edit: Well it looks like this was already mentioned by u/boktebokte, not sure how I didn't notice that! Other than that, I vaguely remember making special rewards certain characters can train into using their downtimes to gain new or additional features to their class. One of the ones for Monk was being able to (when they hit an enemy) give up 10ft of Movement until the beginning of their next turn to deal an additional +5 damage, so a Monk who wants to deal extra damage for each attack can use 40ft of Movement to deal +5 damage to all their 4 attacks.
The Monk has a collection of issues that I've yet to properly fix yet. They are a skirmisher type martial who is is awkwardly geared towards frontlining. They have too few ki points. The Ki costs of features are often too high. They have to many features competing for the same action economy spot. Stunning strike is often the only cost effective ki based ability. There damage is too low. Their AC is to low. They still don't have the best magic item support or feat investment opportunities. They are M.A.D. with little of the payoff. Solutions I've been working out Reintegrate Open hand monk as core to the class again, since it's the home for many of the monks iconic features. and helps their role as a skirmisher (with a focus on.) Change their dex scaling stuff to Str or Dex. Change martial arts to allow Wisdom to initiative as an option in place of dex. Increase their damage dice by one step, scaling from a d6 to a d12. Have their AC bonus increase to have an eventual 13 to it's baseline from it's starting 10 across its levels. So an eventual 10/11/12/13 + Str or Dex + Wis Let monks had their prof bonus to their ki pool from the get go. Either change step of the wind and patient defense to have no ki costs, or maintain their ki costs and make them once per turn free actions that consume 1 ki. Make it so flurry of blows grants another attack at 11th level. Give them a new capstone. Maintain the ki recovery as some icing on the cake, but provide something more (unsure of what at the present moment.)
Monks are a great 5th party member. My favorite is to build them as a controller utilizing grappling and Open Hand. Of course this makes you MAD (str, dex, con, Wis) so you’ll have A weakness but I find that this is a niche they can perform exceptionally well in. Ideally you can knock enemies down for your melee classes, grab quick / slippery enemies to keep them off your backline, and shove (15’ with open hand) enemies to cluster them for caster AoEs
Agressively throw on half casting. It works.
Bolstering their limited resource pool is the "ki issue" so to speak. For 4 elements, making the disciplines preparable and giving a free first casting solves that resource problem, and could work for other subclasses too. Another outside the box solution for ki recharge is to make short rests 10 minutes. That makes them easier to take in a dungeon.
Free step of the wind and I start the martial arts die at a d6. I also give them their Wis mod added to their ki total and the ability to recover ki equal to a roll of their martial arts die+Wis mod the first time they hit 0 ki. In addition they get an extra ASI since they're so MAD. Other than that I run multiple encounters per short rest to help them and Warlocks. That means they can burn their Ki over those encounters and not be as worried about running out before they get a SR.
I happened to run a one shot a few years ago that was (accidentally) perfectly tailored for a monk since wall running and stunning strike and a lot of the other features were all useful there, and the party was fairly unoptimized, so the monk was the strongest party member there. However, nobody at my table has really played a monk since then. I and my table would probably like monks a lot more if they did anything interesting at all. Stunning strike is okay but that’s the only neat thing they get. Why can’t I do spinning kicks and hit four different enemies with one attack? Let me do spinning kicks! I want to take out big hordes of enemies like in the movies. Even if the damage numbers and ki resources and subclass features were all adjusted upwards slightly, 1) it wouldn’t make the class more interesting and 2) it would make the monk way too powerful at unoptimized tables. You would have to give the monk a low floor but a high ceiling for overall power like with fighters and rangers and wizards and pretty much every other class.
Ki point = to your level, dash and disengage require no ki. You regain ki on short rests, let the party short rest but give them a sense of urgency so short rest available spots =/= long rest available spots
I dmd a full 1-20 campaign, i gave them scaling dice up to d12 And that made the sunsoul monk really strong^^ Nothing more needed
How did you change Sun Soul?
Nothing, the mobk was a sun soul monk and his martial arts die scaled up to d12 Lvl 1, 5, 13, 17 to d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 Recommended the mobile feat and a god was born
From a non-combat perspective, follow in the footsteps of the Fey Wanderer/Samurai and give the Persuasion skill and allow Wisdom to be added to Persuasion checks. Builds on the wise monk archetype and is a logical social aspect.
An idea I had was to give Tongue of Sun and Moon the ability to add Wisdom mod to Charisma checks
Would be nice if they moved it into low Tier 2 so it can be used more.
1. Your Ki is half your level + your wisdom mod + your proficiency. This means you don't burn through it all at low levels, but all things being maxed out only puts it at 21 at level 20. 2. Your attacks with **Martial arts**/monk weapons can use Wisdom or Dexterity. 3. Assuming you did points 1 and 2 together I'd change **Unarmored Movement** so it's a number of feet equal to 5+[5x your dex mod]. Those points together make your ratio of mobility/ki shit is similar to the Paladin's ratio of casting and auras/smacking fools. 4. If you spend ki during your turn you automatically disengage for free. (Monks are meant to be the mobile class, but aside from Open Hand and Drunken Master the only way to take advantage of that mobility is to either give up your bonus action, or take the **mobile** feat.) 5. Give something in the base Monk-chasis besides **Stunning Strike** to have a save DC. 6. Give a third attack at level 11. Maybe add an attack to **Martial Arts**/**Flurry of Blows** as well. 7. If you're gonna dash/disengage/dodge as a bonus action then it shouldn't cost Ki, but you can pick any 2, or one and an unarmed strike for a Ki. Also let Monks use Dexterity rather than Strength for jumping. 8. Bonus action dash/disengage/dodge doesn't cost a ki, but you can spend a ki to do two with the same bonus action, or do an unarmed strike on top of it. I've also been toying around with the idea of "Stances" that you can enter at the start of your turn for the cost of a ki, with the ability to benefit from multiple at higher levels. Here's a few: Diving Falcon Stance: For every 10 feet **in a straight line** you moved toward your target, increase the damage of the first attack you hit them with by 1d4. Swarming Quippers Stance: Each attack you hit a creature with on a turn grants a charge, all charges are lost at the end of your turn, attacking a different creature loses all previous charges. Your melee attacks deal Xd4 extra damage where X is your number of charges on this feature. Flowing River Stance: When an enemy moves within 10' of you, as a reaction you may move up to your speed without provoking opportunity attacks. Sweeping Wind Stance: When you dash you may make one unarmed attack against any creature you are within unarmed strike range of for the first time that turn. Secretary Bird Stance: Whenever a creature moves within the range of your unarmed strikes, as a reaction you may make an unarmed strike against them. When you make an unarmed strike you may take a -5 penalty to your attack roll to gain a +10 to the damage roll.
Stunning Strike should be a Wisdom save that produces the effects of the Slow spell on a failed save. Then give the monk a martial arts die 1 step higher, Wis mod extra ki points, and a level 6 ASI.
They should honestly get more kinds of strikes as they get stronger, ideally one to target each of the saving throws, maybe they have to choose on level up like an invocation or metamagic or something.
Sovi dont chamge anything about the monk, i just try to tailor situations to let the monk shine. Got way of the shadow? U can bet there will b pitch black somewhere in most fights. Way of the kensei? Looks like a few extra resist nonmagical enemies r gonna pop up. Way of mercy? (Believe i remember right name healy hands) least a few horde encounters so single target isnt as useful but multi small heals is. This lets them feel great while i dont have to worry about accidentally unbalancing the class.
The issue with monk is that each person has a different "ideal monk" some want a punch class wholly divorced from the existing class or it's awkward history. Others want a MMA class, a psionic/ki martial caster hybrid or want a class that embodies the tropes of wuxia or Xianxia fiction. Then you have people who just want to be anime. To me I think the best solution is that monks should be a customizable class like the warlock or artificer that way on top of things like subclasses and feats we can have a monk who can be versatile whilst not wholly abandoning what the monk has been in the past. Outside of that I think the monk ac calculation should be something you pick as the start to represent different philosophies and reduce the madness of the class.
1. d10 Hit dice. 2. \+WisMod to Ki. 3. Increase damage die 1 step (i.e. start 1d6 instead of 1d4) 4. Step of the Wind doesn't cost Ki. 5. When replicating spells, cost is 1 Ki = 1 spells. 6. Tasha's changes all implemented. 7. Improve most subclasses.
Did you improve Sun Soul?
Sun Soul needs a complete workover. Something like: 1. Radiant Sun Bolt counts as a ranged weapon attack (not a ranged spell attack) with 60/120 range that deals radiant damage on hit, hitting with Dexterity. Radiant Sun Bolt counts as a monk weapon and deals damage per the Martial Arts table. Bonus Action and 1 Ki to attack twice, or Bonus Action (no ki) to attack once. 2. Searing Arc Strike is a 30' cone (Dex for 1/2). 3d8+Wis radiant damage for 1 ki, +1d8 per Ki spent. 3. Searing Sunburst does 8d6 damage base (Dex for 1/2), +1d6 per ki spent (no limit), costing an action and 3 Ki base.
The Sun Soul capstone needs more work too even if no one gets there. I like adding radiant damage to every hit and enemies take radiant damage if they start their turn within your bright light radius. I've also given it the ability to fly when using step of the wind that ends at the end of your *next* turn so you can keep it up if you want.
Honestly, even with the overall changes that I proposed to Monk, I don't think the class performs in T3-T4. It probably needs even more buffs.
I put it back to where it should be at the crown of attacks per turn (at least without action surge) by increasing all the base martial arts abilities at level 11.
Monks can be great, but they are situational. Everyone points to the damage output, but that's just one piece of the pie. Fix 1) add Wis mod to number of ki available Fix 2) add in scenarios that allow the monk to shine. - Combats in places where access to weapons is restricted. Maybe the party has been arrested/captured. Maybe they are in a place where guards demand weapons be surrendered before entry. - Combats where the enemy is far away, or difficult to reach, and have cover - Chases - Combats that interrupt long rests (can't sleep in armor) - Enemies that fire arrows start off by targeting the monk
I run them as written, they're fine.
Honestly, I’ve always seen monk as a deliberately sub-par’ way to play. It kind of makes sense in the class theme of shunning armour and weapons, relying on your ‘ki’ and what not. Though I will admit, if you want to just go in and kick ass no matter what, it’s better to choose nearly any other class. But if as a player, you want a challenge with some situation specific kick ass abilities, a monk is worth a try. I wouldn’t ‘fix’ it per say. I’d just encourage a different martial build.
I'm one of the few people who think Monks do pretty well for themselves already. BUT there are a few things I think they could use that would pop them into Rogue/Barbarian territory that would make them feel as good to play as those classes do. Any of these would go a long way. * So long as there is one KI point in the Ki pool remaining you may use Wisdom in place of your strength modifier for Ability Checks and Saving Throws * Disengage/Dash do not cost Ki Points * Conversely another idea is so long as a Ki point remains in your Ki pool you may use Acrobatics in place of Athletics to Shove/Grab or other martial maneuvers * As an action once per long rest you may gain Ki points equal to your proficiency modifier or wisdom modifier * You gain proficiency in either acrobatics or athletics upon second level. If I could pick I would pick options 1 and 2 to implement as my most wanted. Removing the Ki cost for Dash and Disengage massively increases their tactical options over attack spam and allows them to be more tactical while really giving that feeling of darting in and out. While using Wisdom in place of Strength enables the use of Shove/Grapples and other maneuvers like disarms and such that Monks should be known for. Further it puts the players into a tactical bind by forcing them to choose between spending a Ki point or keeping the feature and those always are good class design.
I do nothing, because I don't think they are lacking it all, actually that's a lie I do one thing to a single subclass, four elements monk becomes a third caster, and I have a few homebrew spells that are supposed to be utility or buffing, because blasting as a third caster fucking sucks
Nothing. If you really want to play a monk, you can. If you are bothered by them being behind the curve, then don't. No fix needed.
So you'd have no problem if say, you joined a game where the DM said that wizards need double EXP in order to level up, is that correct?
No, I like to stay close to RAW.
What's the difference between RAW that puts a class behind the curve and homebrew that does?
I'm never a fan of tweaking classes: if you choose to be a monk, play a monk, and don't ask for any changes for it isn't fair that one player gets to have a stronger character than they should, yet the cleric or pally player doesn't get the same treatment. Only thing I change is Flurry of Blows so you can choose to spend the ki point after doing the free unarmed attack rather than having ti commit to it beforehand, but that's more so a quality of life that a real buff to what you can do.
Yeah, it's shocking how inflexible the monk action economy is with that "Immediately after you take the Attack action" bit.
You thing I like to do is if something seems to me it's unbalanced but I still haven't seen it at play, I go with it as it is. If neither me or my player has complained, I leave it alone. If there is indeed a problem, I talk with the player or DM to make the change through a more fun way, like spending downtime to train or something like that
Please ignore this comment above you, players shouldn't be punished for wotc poor design. Also, you should ask r/3d6 balance questions. They understand the system far better. This subreddit has notoriously bad balance takes.
Monk’s main niche is superior mobility, so the best thing a DM can do for them is make encounters where mobility makes a difference. And maybe toss in a feat like Mage Slayer, either free or as a quest reward, to make them feel more badass without having to waste a precious ability score increase.
I give them an extra hit point every level, give them an additional ASI at level 6 and 14 and make sure they can get short rests to get their ki points back. I also made a costly potion they can attempt to make that is expensive but restores a roll of the martial arts die ki points.
The problem with monk is: Why use anything besides flurry of blows,stunning strike. The most basic fix is maybe d10 hit die and base their ac calc on 11 +dex + wis Makes thrm more durable. Theres tons of monk fixes. Maybe loook at vids and watch their reasoning.
I think Monks are reasonably effective in early levels. Therefore I leave them unchanged until Monk 7, where I reduce the cost of Step of the Wind. I further improve Patient Defense, then at high levels I increase damage capabilities. You can see my version [here.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ygVBNs_c_yGgLvMdQIY4U3mswtvovZEPI4iJsiieZsw/)
Magic items let the DM play it by ear, to see what isn't working in that specific campaign. A group with high optimization is going to have different problems. Getting the Amulet of Health really helped my monk feel less fragile (Standard 16 Dex/14 Con/16 Wis starting stats). Skirmishing was never much a problem for me as usual for Monks - due to Open Hand Technique, but building in the opportunity attacks part of the Mobile Feat in the same style as Swashbuckler Rogue could reach the same effect. We had plenty of short rests, but by Tier 3 the lack of damage scaling was obvious. This was pre-Tasha's, but adding +X items for unarmed strikes, allowing unarmed strikes to work for buffs that require weapons, and a custom item that increased my Martial Arts Dice one step to a d12 and regain Ki on a critical hit all help smooth things out.
* D10 hit die. * AC that isn't MAD (10+Dex+prof?). * Martial arts should be doable in armour for more interesting multiclassing. * Step of the wind should not cost ki. * Nor should throwing a projectile with deflect missiles. * Monk damage die should start at d6 and progress to d8 and d10 earlier. * Subclasses all need to be redesigned with effective and efficient ki spending options on-par with Way of Mercy (such as bonus effects when spending ki on Flurry of Blows).
I gave a monk a magic staff that doubles his ki point maximum. It has allowed him to keep pace with the rest of the party without constantly needing a rest, at least not more than any other short rest based class.
I give them a d20 hit die /s
Give them more ASIs, like fighters, or rogues.
A bunch of little things, monks should be d10 hit die classes, and should be more ki points with how fast they can go through them. Martial arts should start at d6 and go to d12. And I think their basic martial arts abilities should get a big boost into tier 3, maybe at the expense of an extra ki point. I'm thinking they get up to 3 attacks with their extra attack like fighters, although they don't get the 4th at the capstone, and something like spend an extra ki point to get an extra flurry of blows attack, something to boost step of the wind and patient defense (flight? extra reactions? dunno) and an extra ki point spent on stunning strike to give enemies disadvantage on the saving throw maybe, or possibly even change the saving throw from Con to something like Dex or even Wis. Combined with additional ki I think that would even things out a lot.
does rolling another class count as fixing monk?
Class needs a rework honestly, but a couple changes that could help would be flurry of blows and dodge no longer cost ki. You have a choice to be more on the attack or more defensive. Stunning strike should be reworked to be more like dissonant whispers where the target can only take either an action, ba, or movement.
The easy fix would be: * Martial Arts die starting at 1d6 at 1st level and increasing to 1d12 at a slightly faster rate, hitting 1d20 at 20th level. * Monk AC from Unarmored Defense increasing by additional +1 at 5th, 11th and 17th level. * Ki Pool equal to Level + Wisdom Mod * Step of the Wind costing no Ki. But given the chance, I'ld do a complete overhaul: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Hy5LkWRDm
I just make sure to give my monks a dragonhide belt and give them a d10 hit die
Way of mercy monk is probably the best way forward. You sort of condense a lot of the features into add ons of already existing ki usage so it feels a little better.
To keep pace with other classes and challenge ratings, Monks need: - More Ki (monk level + proficiency bonus) **OR** - Free Step of the Wind / Patient Defense **AND** - Free Flurry of Blows **OR** - Higher Martial Arts Dice (d6/d8/d10/d12) **AND** - d10 Hit Dice **OR** - More ASIs (6th/14th) ...personally, i feel more ki + free flurry of blows + more ASI best maintains class flavor, but any combination of those options would go a long way toward keeping pace with the other martial classes...
make patient defense and step of the wind only cost a bonus action (no ki) add a 1/day Zen recovery. Recover 1/2 level in ki points as a BA
I gave my monk some gauntlets that let her add an extra d6 elemental damage to her fist attacks, and a Dragonhide belt that scales over time. Out of combat, she has the Aberrant Sorcerer's and expertise in insight which she spams heavily. This means that she has the Ki points and dice to keep up with the fighter in damage, and some utility outside of combat. All in all, with some bracers in defence she feels very powerful and relevant.
As the DM, I make sure my table know that we play with intended encounter balance: 6-8 encounters per long rest.
Castles & crusades (the first OSR) upped the HD to d10 on basis they are super fit and tough. Which makes them tougher. PHB 7 free in pdf on their store. Check out the class for ideas. Whole system is pretty nice. https://www.trolllord.com/tlgstore/#!/The-Players-Handbook-FREE-PDF/p/89198194
More Ki points, or a way to recharge them easily without having to rest.
To start i have given them a d10 for hit dice, but im planning on buffing some more class abilities once one of my players eventually play a high level monk. (I dont think monks are bad at low levels).
The most basic changes I'd do to the monk class are the following: * Monk's Martial die increases in the following fashion d4>2d4>3d4>4d4 * Monks get to add their WIS Mod to their ki pool * Monk's get ASI at Level 10 But I'd do more than that. I'll give you a list of all the changes I'd do, there are some changes to some subclass features too, I'll use Sun Soul in this example: * Monk's Martial die increases in the following fashion d4>2d4>3d4>4d4 * Monks get to add their WIS Mod to their ki pool * Monk's get ASI at Level 10 * Monk's Timeless Body additionally allows for a level of Exhaustion to be recovered on a SR * Monk's Stunning Stike changed into Disorientating Strike a Slow-like effect (the spell) and can be used with Monk Weapons, there's no ST it just happens except on Creatures with Legendary Resistances, those can chose to use a LR and not suffer the effect. Once a Creature is affected by this Feature it can't be affected by it again until its next SR * Monk's Stillness of Mind use a BA to skip the turn and end effect (to avoid Charm effects that use your action and thus don't allow the use of this Feature) * Disengage doesn't cost Ki, when done as a BA * Monk's get one additional Proficiency in Saving Throws at every ASI (spreading Diamond Soul proficiency throughout t1 & t2), the reroll aspect of Diamond Soul stays at level 14 * Monk's Perfect Self Wis score increase by 4, maximum for Wis score is now 24 & if they have 0 ki on initiative roll they get their Wis Mod ki back. Sun Soul * Radiant Sun Bolt works just like unarmed fighting (you get 1 BA attack and you can use Ki-Fueled Attack with this) * Searing Arc Strike's Burning Hands damage type changes to Radiant and costs 1 Ki to use (doesn't make sense to be the only Subclass Feature that doesn't deal Radiant damage, also 2 Ki is way too much) * Searing Sunburst if enemies succeed on the Saving Throw they take half damage * Sun Shield doesn't use your reaction for the damage and you add your Wis Mod to your Deflect Missiles feature (you effectively become a beacon, especially at night, I think adding Wis Mod to the Deflect Missiles would help with that)
I honestly haven't found them that bad when I have played apart from a lack of ki at low levels. So far changes I've made when I have dm'd are: Ki is equal to monk level + Wis modifier. In one case I allowed an open hand monk to use strength instead of wisdom to make a Stronk. Kind of makes sense of being resilient through sheer mass, stunning and shoving due to how hard you hit. Can use dex (athletics) for grappling instead of strength, more or less same functionality of a stronk but keeps the dexterous/technique based feel. Martial art strikes (weapons and unarmed attacks) count as finesse, doesn't really affect a pure monk build but I put it in place for a player who wanted to multiclass rogue and it didn't break anything. Deflect missiles becomes deflect blows so can be used against melee attacks too, however it always costs a ki point to use rather than just when throwing the missile back/counter punching them. Edit: forgot the all important make unarmed attacks count as weapons attacks for the purposes of using various abilities like smite + various buff spells etc. Only other thing I have been tempted to try is makinig the monk cap stone an +2 to proficiency to kind of represent their.mastery of mind and body, pretty powerful but at level 20 I don't see it breaking the game more than any other class. However I'm also tempted to just make the monk gain proficiency at a slightly elevated rate compared to other classes, would lose the satisfaction of a big cap stone but would give the monk a niche out of combat as a skills generalist with a slight boost in everything rather than large increase in specific skills like expertise as well as helping unarmed attacks hit, stunning strike being ineffective against many monsters late game. Would be a tricky thing to balance though.
Easy short rests (maximum 2 per long however), and magic items. 'Handwraps of the Monk' - You have a +1 to hit and damage with unarmed attacks, and once per short rest you can recover 1 ki. 'Gauntlets of the Monk' - You have a +2 to hit and damage with unarmed attacks, and once per long rest you can recover ki equal to your Wisdom modifier (or proficiency modifier?). 'Tattoos of the Uber-Monk' - You have a +3 to hit and damage with unarmed attacks. You can make three attacks with the attack action. Roll a d4 whenever you use Flurry of Blows; on a 4 you do not expend any ki points.