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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other Mystic Kung Fu (Monk/Warlock hybrid feat) PEACH



KillianHawkeye
2014-08-09, 07:08 AM
Okay, so this is my first attempt at homebrew.

I am trying to create a Feat that combines Monk with Warlock, similar to the ones like Swift Hunter and Ascetic whatever that combine abilities from two classes.


Mystic Kung Fu
You have learned to combine the esoteric powers of a warlock with the disciplined practices of martial arts.

Prerequisites: Still Mind class feature, eldritch blast 1d6, Improved Unarmed Strike

Benefits: Your Warlock and Monk levels stack for determining your Unarmed Strike damage, AC Bonus, and Eldritch Blast damage. In addition, the alignment requirements for the Warlock class are waived as long as you maintain an alignment compatible with the Monk class. You may freely multiclass between the Monk and Warlock classes.



So does this seem relatively balanced? I feel like Monk and Warlock could make an interesting combination if they weren't totally incompatible by the RAW (unless you must be Lawful Evil). I think a martial arts tradition could be founded on the combination of physical prowess and the simple magical arts that are provided by the Warlock's invocations.



I heartily welcome any and all comments and suggestions.

Admiral Squish
2014-08-09, 07:29 AM
Honestly, I definitely like the idea, but I think there should be something that actually lets you combine unarmed strike and eldritch blast, at least in a limited fashion. Maybe when you make a flurry of blows, your attacks deal +1d6 damage. Or maybe a blast shape like horrid blow, but only works with an unarmed strike and provokes no attacks of opportunity.

GameSpawn
2014-08-09, 08:36 AM
Indeed, I don't see this as being too powerful, mainly because you can't eldritch blast and make unarmed strikes together.

As a side note, monks aren't the only ones who get Still Mind (the Archivist, for example, gets the ability).

KillianHawkeye
2014-08-09, 08:37 AM
Honestly, I definitely like the idea, but I think there should be something that actually lets you combine unarmed strike and eldritch blast, at least in a limited fashion. Maybe when you make a flurry of blows, your attacks deal +1d6 damage. Or maybe a blast shape like horrid blow, but only works with an unarmed strike and provokes no attacks of opportunity.

I dunno, I think getting Eldritch Blast damage on all your unarmed strikes seems too powerful to me. I'm pretty sure you can already use Hideous Blow with an unarmed strike if you wanted to. Keep in mind that Hideous Blow only allows a single attack as a Standard Action. Eldritch Glaive is much better than Hideous Blow, but it doesn't include any of your physical weapon damage.

EDIT:

As a side note, monks aren't the only ones who get Still Mind (the Archivist, for example, gets the ability).

Really? Do you think that leaving the feat as written is unbalanced for Archivists? Or would you suggest a different prerequisite? I chose Still Mind because I thought that Monks were the only ones who got it. :smallsigh:


EDIT2:
Does anybody think that 1d6 Eldritch Blast is too little a prerequisite for this, or maybe more levels of Warlock should be required? As written, the prerequisites for this feat can be satisfied by level 4.

P.S. As I said, I am new at homebrewing.

Admiral Squish
2014-08-09, 09:10 AM
I'm not saying apply it to EVERY attack with an unarmed strike. But there should be SOME way to mix the two together.
Hideous blow does work with an unarmed strike, but technically speaking it provokes an attack of opportunity.

Ideas:
'charge' unarmed strikes with eldritch power for 1 round/level, adding +1 damage/eldritch blast die to all unarmed strikes.
As a swift action after a successful unarmed strike make an eldrich blast against the target.
When making a flurry of blows, all attacks deal +1d6 eldrich blast damage.
Use charisma instead of wisdom for monk AC/abilities.
Add wisdom to eldritch blast damage and use wisdom for warlock save DCs.
Add unarmed strike base damage to eldritch blast damage.

GameSpawn
2014-08-09, 09:30 AM
...

EDIT:


Really? Do you think that leaving the feat as written is unbalanced for Archivists? Or would you suggest a different prerequisite? I chose Still Mind because I thought that Monks were the only ones who got it. :smallsigh:


...

Not unbalanced so much as it causes rules weirdness. How does the feat work if you have no monk levels? If the interpretation is Archivist X/Warlock 1 has eldritch blast as a first level warlock, unarmed strike as a first level monk, and wisdom to AC, then the only thing they're really benefiting from is wisdom to AC, and even that's not that amazing since it means the archivist can't wear armor (normally, they are proficient with medium armor and shields, and they're a divine caster).

KillianHawkeye
2014-08-10, 11:24 AM
Okay, it was a little bit of a derp on my part, but I edited the OP to add Improved Unarmed Strike to the prerequisites. That should weed out most of the Archivists, eh?






Not unbalanced so much as it causes rules weirdness. How does the feat work if you have no monk levels? If the interpretation is Archivist X/Warlock 1 has eldritch blast as a first level warlock, unarmed strike as a first level monk, and wisdom to AC, then the only thing they're really benefiting from is wisdom to AC, and even that's not that amazing since it means the archivist can't wear armor (normally, they are proficient with medium armor and shields, and they're a divine caster).

In this case, I think it would work like the other hybrid feats that you can qualify for without being the correct class, like having Sneak Attack from a source other than Rogue levels. The Archivist/Warlock would have 0 Monk levels, so they would only get the benefits of unarmed strike damage and AC bonus of a Monk equal to their Warlock level. As you mention, it's not very appealing for an Archivist, especially after adding IUS to the prerequisites, but I don't think there are any real rules hiccups.



EDIT: I want to repeat my question about whether or not the feat should require more Warlock levels (likely via more eldritch blast damage)? As currently written, a character could qualify for the feat as a Monk 3/Warlock 1. Increasing the requirement to eldritch blast 2d6 would make the ideal entry Monk 3/Warlock 3, and then the feat could be taken straight away at 6th level, but I'm not sure that is necessary.