Eagle0600
2013-10-16, 01:02 AM
Hi. I'm not sure how to introduce this: Basically I would like critique on this (please be nice), and play-testing if anyone would like to do that, but mostly I just want to get this out there.
I designed this system on the assumption that the core monk doesn't exist, not because it shouldn't, just because it would need to be rewritten to fit with this system.
If you wanted to write your own monk for this system, I would suggest something along the lines of a paladin or ranger, i.e. a fighter with features instead of bonus feats. Replace paladin and ranger spell-casting with either psionics (ala Psionic Warrior), Ki Powers (all over the place, maybe check out the Trissociate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234951)'s Martial Sage association (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12830641#post12830641) for inspiration), or maneuvers (Tome of Battle). The other class features could be replaced with bonus feats pertaining to unarmed combat, such as those in the PHB/Core Rulebook or those described below.
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Characters have a hand-to-hand bonus equal to 3/4 their HD (rounding down).
Unarmed Attacks: At any time you could normally perform an attack, you may choose to perform an unarmed strike instead of attacking with a weapon. Roll this attack using your hand-to-hand bonus in place of your base attack bonus, and using either your Strength bonus or your Dexterity bonus. Characters are treated as nonproficient with this attack, and also get a penalty on their roll equal to their armour check penalty.
An unarmed strike is an attack using one or more hands, and is treated as a light weapon that deals 1d4 nonlethal damage when used by a medium creature or 1d3 nonlethal damage for a small creature. You may deal lethal damage with an unarmed strike at a -4 penalty.
If you use two hands for an unarmed strike, it is treated as a two-handed weapon instead of a light weapon. Alternatively, you may use each hand separately, using the normal rules for fighting using two weapons.
You may also attack using other body parts, such as with your knees or by headbutting, but you may not do so as part of a full attack. Such attacks never count as two-handed, and only receive 1x your Strength bonus to damage.
Attacking unarmed provokes an attack of opportunity from the character you attack, provided they are armed.
The damage for an unarmed strike increases your hand-to-hand bonus increases, according to the following table. Your critical threat range also rises, to a maximum of 18-20.
Table 1: Unarmed Strike Damage
{table=head] Hand-to-Hand Bonus | Damage (small) | Damage (medium) | Damage (large) | Critical
0-5 | 1d3 | 1d4 | 1d6 | x2
6-8 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | x2
9-12 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 2d6 | x2
13-16 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 2d8 | 19-20/x2
17-20 | 1d10 | 2d6 | 3d6 | 19-20/x2
21-24 | 2d6 | 2d8 | 3d8 | 18-20/x2
25+ | 2d8 | 2d10 | 4d8 | 18-20/x2
[/table]
Multiple Attacks: When fighting using unarmed strikes, you use your hand-to-hand bonus instead of your base attack bonus to determine how many attacks you get each round.
Combining Unarmed Strikes and Weapons: When making a full attack that involves both normal weapons and unarmed strikes (such as if you are wielding a weapon in your primary hand and striking with your off hand), you may make as many attacks as the lowest number of attacks you would be granted by either base attack bonus or hand-to-hand bonus. After this many attacks are made, the remainder of your attacks must be made with the attack that grants you the most attacks.
For example, Alhandra, a 11th level paladin, has a base attack bonus of +11 and a hand-to-hand bonus of +8. Normally, she would be able to make three attacks with her longsword, or two unarmed strikes. When using both, she gets one attack with her longsword at +11 base attack bonus and one unarmed strike at +8 hand-to-hand bonus in any order. She then gets another attack, which may be made either with her longsword at +6 or as an unarmed strike at +3. Her last attack can only be made with her longsword, at +1.
Assuming she has Two-Weapon Fighting, all attacks are made with a -2 penalty for dual-wielding.
If she had Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, she could attack both her longsword at +6 and her unarmed strike at +3, in any order, but her final attack would still have to be made with her longsword at +1, even with Greater Two-Weapon Fighting.
Hand-to-Hand Proficiency: Hit Dice from a class which grants this feature grant +1 to your hand-to-hand bonus instead of 3/4. Racial HD that grant +1 base attack bonus also grant +1 hand-to-hand bonus if you have this feature from any class.
Additionally, you may make unarmed strikes without the usual -4 penalty.
This is a class feature for Fighters and Barbarians.
Feats
Hand-to-Hand Proficiency [General]
Benefit: You are counted as having the Hand-to-Hand Proficiency feature for all classes, and even for racial HD. You have a hand-to-hand bonus equal to your HD.
Additionally, you may make unarmed strikes without the usual -4 penalty.
Special: You may select this feat as a fighter bonus feat.
Pathfinder: This feat is a combat feat.
Improved Unarmed Strike
This feat is unchanged, except that you can apply your full strength bonus to damage when making an unarmed strike using your off hand.
In addition, your effective hand-to-hand bonus improves by +5 for the purpose of calculating damage dealt on table 1.
For reference, you can use your actual hand-to-hand bonus (without the +5 benefit from this feat) with the following table.
Table 2: Unarmed Strike Damage with Improved Unarmed Strike
{table=head] Hand-to-Hand Bonus | Damage (small) | Damage (medium) | Damage (large) | Critical
0 | 1d3 | 1d4 | 1d6 | x2
1-3 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | x2
4-7 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 2d6 | x2
8-11 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 2d8 | 19-20/x2
12-15 | 1d10 | 2d6 | 3d6 | 19-20/x2
16-19 | 2d6 | 2d8 | 3d8 | 18-20/x2
20+ | 2d8 | 2d10 | 4d8 | 18-20/x2
[/table]
Defensive Grab [General]
Prerequisites: Dex 13, hand-to-hand bonus +3.
Benefit: When an opponent attacks you in melee, after you know whether they have hit but before the results are announced, you may attempt to nullify the attack by grabbing their wrist, the shaft of their weapon, etc. as an attack of opportunity that deals no damage.
You do so by making an attack roll as an unarmed strike. If your attack roll exceeds your opponent's attack roll, whether or not it equals or exceeds their armour class, their attack misses, and you may attempt to disarm, grapple, or trip them without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the result of your attempt prevents them from making further attacks, those attacks are not made.
You may only attempt to use a defensive grab only once per round, unless you used total defense this round. Each defensive grab consumes one attack of opportunity.
Special: You may select this feat as a fighter bonus feat.
Pathfinder: This feat is a combat feat.
Deft Grab [General]
Prerequisites: Dex 15, hand-to-hand bonus +6.
Benefit: When making a grapple check, you may substitute your hand-to-hand bonus in place of your base attack bonus, and use the best of your Strength or Dexterity modifiers in place of the usual Strength modifier.
When making a trip attempt without the aid of a weapon, you may roll your Strength or Dexterity bonus in place of the usual Strength bonus.
All other modifiers apply as normal.
Special: You may select this feat as a fighter bonus feat.
Pathfinder: This feat is a combat feat.
I designed this system on the assumption that the core monk doesn't exist, not because it shouldn't, just because it would need to be rewritten to fit with this system.
If you wanted to write your own monk for this system, I would suggest something along the lines of a paladin or ranger, i.e. a fighter with features instead of bonus feats. Replace paladin and ranger spell-casting with either psionics (ala Psionic Warrior), Ki Powers (all over the place, maybe check out the Trissociate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234951)'s Martial Sage association (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12830641#post12830641) for inspiration), or maneuvers (Tome of Battle). The other class features could be replaced with bonus feats pertaining to unarmed combat, such as those in the PHB/Core Rulebook or those described below.
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Characters have a hand-to-hand bonus equal to 3/4 their HD (rounding down).
Unarmed Attacks: At any time you could normally perform an attack, you may choose to perform an unarmed strike instead of attacking with a weapon. Roll this attack using your hand-to-hand bonus in place of your base attack bonus, and using either your Strength bonus or your Dexterity bonus. Characters are treated as nonproficient with this attack, and also get a penalty on their roll equal to their armour check penalty.
An unarmed strike is an attack using one or more hands, and is treated as a light weapon that deals 1d4 nonlethal damage when used by a medium creature or 1d3 nonlethal damage for a small creature. You may deal lethal damage with an unarmed strike at a -4 penalty.
If you use two hands for an unarmed strike, it is treated as a two-handed weapon instead of a light weapon. Alternatively, you may use each hand separately, using the normal rules for fighting using two weapons.
You may also attack using other body parts, such as with your knees or by headbutting, but you may not do so as part of a full attack. Such attacks never count as two-handed, and only receive 1x your Strength bonus to damage.
Attacking unarmed provokes an attack of opportunity from the character you attack, provided they are armed.
The damage for an unarmed strike increases your hand-to-hand bonus increases, according to the following table. Your critical threat range also rises, to a maximum of 18-20.
Table 1: Unarmed Strike Damage
{table=head] Hand-to-Hand Bonus | Damage (small) | Damage (medium) | Damage (large) | Critical
0-5 | 1d3 | 1d4 | 1d6 | x2
6-8 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | x2
9-12 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 2d6 | x2
13-16 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 2d8 | 19-20/x2
17-20 | 1d10 | 2d6 | 3d6 | 19-20/x2
21-24 | 2d6 | 2d8 | 3d8 | 18-20/x2
25+ | 2d8 | 2d10 | 4d8 | 18-20/x2
[/table]
Multiple Attacks: When fighting using unarmed strikes, you use your hand-to-hand bonus instead of your base attack bonus to determine how many attacks you get each round.
Combining Unarmed Strikes and Weapons: When making a full attack that involves both normal weapons and unarmed strikes (such as if you are wielding a weapon in your primary hand and striking with your off hand), you may make as many attacks as the lowest number of attacks you would be granted by either base attack bonus or hand-to-hand bonus. After this many attacks are made, the remainder of your attacks must be made with the attack that grants you the most attacks.
For example, Alhandra, a 11th level paladin, has a base attack bonus of +11 and a hand-to-hand bonus of +8. Normally, she would be able to make three attacks with her longsword, or two unarmed strikes. When using both, she gets one attack with her longsword at +11 base attack bonus and one unarmed strike at +8 hand-to-hand bonus in any order. She then gets another attack, which may be made either with her longsword at +6 or as an unarmed strike at +3. Her last attack can only be made with her longsword, at +1.
Assuming she has Two-Weapon Fighting, all attacks are made with a -2 penalty for dual-wielding.
If she had Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, she could attack both her longsword at +6 and her unarmed strike at +3, in any order, but her final attack would still have to be made with her longsword at +1, even with Greater Two-Weapon Fighting.
Hand-to-Hand Proficiency: Hit Dice from a class which grants this feature grant +1 to your hand-to-hand bonus instead of 3/4. Racial HD that grant +1 base attack bonus also grant +1 hand-to-hand bonus if you have this feature from any class.
Additionally, you may make unarmed strikes without the usual -4 penalty.
This is a class feature for Fighters and Barbarians.
Feats
Hand-to-Hand Proficiency [General]
Benefit: You are counted as having the Hand-to-Hand Proficiency feature for all classes, and even for racial HD. You have a hand-to-hand bonus equal to your HD.
Additionally, you may make unarmed strikes without the usual -4 penalty.
Special: You may select this feat as a fighter bonus feat.
Pathfinder: This feat is a combat feat.
Improved Unarmed Strike
This feat is unchanged, except that you can apply your full strength bonus to damage when making an unarmed strike using your off hand.
In addition, your effective hand-to-hand bonus improves by +5 for the purpose of calculating damage dealt on table 1.
For reference, you can use your actual hand-to-hand bonus (without the +5 benefit from this feat) with the following table.
Table 2: Unarmed Strike Damage with Improved Unarmed Strike
{table=head] Hand-to-Hand Bonus | Damage (small) | Damage (medium) | Damage (large) | Critical
0 | 1d3 | 1d4 | 1d6 | x2
1-3 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | x2
4-7 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 2d6 | x2
8-11 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 2d8 | 19-20/x2
12-15 | 1d10 | 2d6 | 3d6 | 19-20/x2
16-19 | 2d6 | 2d8 | 3d8 | 18-20/x2
20+ | 2d8 | 2d10 | 4d8 | 18-20/x2
[/table]
Defensive Grab [General]
Prerequisites: Dex 13, hand-to-hand bonus +3.
Benefit: When an opponent attacks you in melee, after you know whether they have hit but before the results are announced, you may attempt to nullify the attack by grabbing their wrist, the shaft of their weapon, etc. as an attack of opportunity that deals no damage.
You do so by making an attack roll as an unarmed strike. If your attack roll exceeds your opponent's attack roll, whether or not it equals or exceeds their armour class, their attack misses, and you may attempt to disarm, grapple, or trip them without provoking an attack of opportunity. If the result of your attempt prevents them from making further attacks, those attacks are not made.
You may only attempt to use a defensive grab only once per round, unless you used total defense this round. Each defensive grab consumes one attack of opportunity.
Special: You may select this feat as a fighter bonus feat.
Pathfinder: This feat is a combat feat.
Deft Grab [General]
Prerequisites: Dex 15, hand-to-hand bonus +6.
Benefit: When making a grapple check, you may substitute your hand-to-hand bonus in place of your base attack bonus, and use the best of your Strength or Dexterity modifiers in place of the usual Strength modifier.
When making a trip attempt without the aid of a weapon, you may roll your Strength or Dexterity bonus in place of the usual Strength bonus.
All other modifiers apply as normal.
Special: You may select this feat as a fighter bonus feat.
Pathfinder: This feat is a combat feat.