Concept Help

[Easy_Lee]

Thinking of a monk homebrew (will post it In the other forum when done). I have an idea for a custom mechanic and was hoping for feedback on how to value hit vs. damage.

So let's say you take a swing at someone. You're a monk with 20 Dex, 20 Wis, and a 1d8 fist. You roll 1d20 + prof + 5(Dex) for attack and deal 1d8 + 5(Dex) damage on hit.

What if there was a way to add Wis to the attack modifier for unarmed strikes? Concept is the monk extending a finger to strike a particularly vulnerable spot, or injecting Ki with the touch, so armor wouldn't matter. I think it's a fun concept, since it would make it easier to land stunning blows and other types of strikes I would design for the class.

For a potential +5 to hit, I'm thinking the attack should do much less damage. We have an example of the reverse with sharpshooter and GWM: 10 damage for -5 hit, suggesting a value of 1 hit = 2 damage. This would be an archetype features, but I don't want it to be much stronger. With that in mind, which of the following makes the most sense:

Attack always deals 1 damage, regardless of any bonuses
Attack deals 1 damage and does not add modifier, but counts as an unarmed strike
Subtract 10 from the damage dealt, to a minimum of 0 damage for the attack

In addition, should this be something that must be declared before the attack roll, or would it be better to allow it after the roll but before the player knows if the attack landed?

[Kornaki]

Are you planning on charging them Ki points to do this?

[Jlooney]

I'd say always before the roll. If thy see they rolled a 17 then they could opt to do it but rolling a 9 they wouldn't.

[Easy_Lee]

Are you planning on charging them Ki points to do this?

Depends on the exact specifications. If the attack does one damage, no mod no d-die, and must be decided ahead of time (the direction I'm currently leaning), then probably not.

[Feldarove]

I think I'd rather see a feature that was Spend a Ki point and add your wisdom modifier to attack rolls for x amount of time

x = round, next attack, minute ....the balance of that would have to be worked out.

[Easy_Lee]

I think I'd rather see a feature that was Spend a Ki point and add your wisdom modifier to attack rolls for x amount of time

x = round, next attack, minute ....the balance of that would have to be worked out.

Ahh, but +5 to hit is a really big deal. A straight +5 is the equivalent of adding advantage, except that it can stack with advantage and can't be taken away by disadvantage. Let's say you're hitting AC 18, a boss target, with your 1d8 fist at 20 Dex and +4 prof. Your bonus is 4+5 = 9, you hit on a 9 and up, meaning you hit 55% of the time. With +5, you hit on a 4 and up, 80% of the time.
(1d8 + 5)*.55 = 5.225 DPA (damage per attack).
(1d8 + 5)*.8 = 7.6DPA, a 45% increase in damage

I don't think that kind of bonus should be given away for just ki. Rather, I intended it so the only reason you use the technique is when you want to land a stunning fist or similar (which costs ki already). I hope that helps to explain my reasoning.

[Feldarove]

Ahh, but +5 to hit is a really big deal. A straight +5 is the equivalent of adding advantage, except that it can stack with advantage and can't be taken away by disadvantage. Let's say you're hitting AC 18, a boss target, with your 1d8 fist at 20 Dex and +4 prof. Your bonus is 4+5 = 9, you hit on a 9 and up, meaning you hit 55% of the time. With +5, you hit on a 4 and up, 80% of the time.
(1d8 + 5)*.55 = 5.225 DPA (damage per attack).
(1d8 + 5)*.8 = 7.6DPA, a 45% increase in damage

I don't think that kind of bonus should be given away for just ki. Rather, I intended it so the only reason you use the technique is when you want to land a stunning fist or similar (which costs ki already). I hope that helps to explain my reasoning.

well...the + wisdom modifier (+5 at some point) is really awesome. I think I saw the math somewhere that Advantage is like a 2.5% increase in chance. Also, the bonus stacking with advantage is awesome.

I like the idea of adding wisdom to an attack. I dunno why...sure its part of a monk that they can kick all over the place a whole bunch, but also the flavor of a monk is that they can connect when they need to. I am thinking of Bruce Lee catching flies with chopsticks sort of stuff.

Maybe its just a whole new feature.

You spend a ki point and as a bonus attack you make a single unarmed strike, adding your wisdom modifier as a bonus to the attack roll.

[Louro]

Just numbers. I wouldn't change a class to just add more numbers into it. If you like to add some extra flavour add features instead.

Have you seen The fist of the north star?
Spend your ki to finger touch your enemies forehead. If they fail a con save they get stunned and after a short while their head will explode. Well, this might be a little too much, let's say their head is heavily shaken and they get disadvantage for X rounds. Still too much? Their arms star bleeding getting disadvantage on things done with the hands.
You know, sort of blood pressure manipulation.

You want something related to wis?
Allow him to reposition himself within 5 or 10 fleets of his enemy if he succeeds a wis check related to the monster weirdness. Easy for humanoids, impossible with a gelatinous cube.

Bruce Lee wannabe?
Speed. He was all about speed. Allow him to spend ki points to make reaction attacks that might stop charges, spell casts...
Oh wait, spend ki points to fly kick. Powerful devastating charge flying kick. But I would only allow this if the player shouts as Bruce Lee.
- No no no, you already know how this skill works: shout or failure against the wall.

[Easy_Lee]

Just numbers. I wouldn't change a class to just add more numbers into it. If you like to add some extra flavour add features instead.

Have you seen The fist of the north star?
Spend your ki to finger touch your enemies forehead. If they fail a con save they get stunned and after a short while their head will explode. Well, this might be a little too much, let's say their head is heavily shaken and they get disadvantage for X rounds. Still too much? Their arms star bleeding getting disadvantage on things done with the hands.
You know, sort of blood pressure manipulation.

This is sort of what I'm going for. The archetype would have various strikes, possibly fixed or possibly a list of choose from. Each strike would be make a save, not necessarily constitution, or suffer some effect such as restrained, poisoned, etc.