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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Take on "Drunken Fist" Monastic tradition.



NaitoCorvo
2016-03-27, 09:51 PM
I've seen a few drunken fist here and there and honestly are good but as well feel like they miss on the point that the style in itself is not just about getting drunk and fight, hell, apprentices of the style are not even allowed to touch alcohol until they have mastered the basics and even then they still have to improve on the style which is in its own a whole performing of "being drunk" more than actually being drunk.

here's my take on the Way of the Drunken Fist:

Monastic Tradition: Way of the Drunken Fist

Those who choose this path, are those who have found enlightment on the bliss of drunkness, yet desire to fight the less and instead approach it on a very solitary way. Very few monks stay on this path as it requires far much discipline to remain loyal to your traditions yet being able to enjoy the mundane joy of drinking. As such, many of the monks who follow this discipline turn into Hermits, seeking solitude and peace, until it's time to re-fill the bottle.

Drunken fist style

Starting at 3rd level, when you choose this tradition, you gain a level of mastery over your own movements, acting as impredictable as a drunkard does. Erratic and hard-to-read steps are a way to open into enemy's defenses as well as your own way of escape. You gain the following features:

You gain proficency with the Performance skill and Improvised Weapons.
Improvised Weapons count as Monk Weapons for the purposes of attacking.
When a hostile being attacks you and misses, you can spend 2 Ki-points and use your reaction to make a single melee weapon attack against that hostile.


Elixir of Might

At 6th level, as an Action you can drink alcohol from a source you may have at hand. you recover Ki-points equal to your monk level divided by 3 (rounded down). At level 17th this recovery is equal to half your monk level (rounded down).

Combative Performance

At 11th level, you've honed your fighting skills so much, moving even umpredictable and erratic while under attack. You no longer cause attack of oportunity. When an attack hits you, you can spend 3 ki-points and as a reaction, you may reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dex Modifier + your monk level

Drunken Fist Mastery

At 17th level you reach the peak of your fighting skills while moving in unexpected ways even beyond understanding, taking your body to the limits. Your Extra Attack increaces to 2.


so..any ideas, criticism, glaring mistakes?, this is an untested homebrew and I still feel deeply doubtful about it, specially about lvl 3 features.

EDIT UPDATE 2:

-Changed the value for damage reduction of Combative performance.

PoeticDwarf
2016-03-28, 02:11 PM
OP. Just way too strong. Elixer of might is in-combat just decent but out if combat you get all your ki back. The capstone but ten times better

But every single feature is too much. Just every turn ignoring 55-100 dmg without ki. Extra attack etc.

NaitoCorvo
2016-03-28, 02:47 PM
and you are right in many things :C

the fact that I gave it "spending ki" as an optional to reactions is actually too unbalanced. the idea of elixir of might being combat effective is what I was aiming for actually, but then it depends on the DM to rule how many times you can use it before you start getting hammered by alcohol (all before level 10 because poison inmunity and even then the DM can rule that Alcohol doesn't apply to poisoning rules the same way as actual poison). Probably as a DM rule you can use the feat an amount of times of 1+con modifier (minimum of 1).

I am definitelly taking away the re-rolling damage dice, making the ki-spending a mandatory for the "riposte"-like feature and the 11th level feature. other than that, you may see it as "OP", but it would be then skimming and actually ignoring how the Drunken Fist should be. now, I can move the "AoO avoidance" to the level 11th (making a run thru this monk path a bit more work-worthy), but I fail to see how gaining 1 extra attack at level 17th does affect anything.

EDIT: UPDATE

Changed features on:

Drunken Fist Style: "Damage re-roll" taken off, moved the no AoO to 11th level feature and spending ki-point for riposte is mandatory now.
Elixir of might: Unarmed strike/Flurry of Blows as bonus attack is taken off.
Combative Performance: Ki spending is now mandatory and AoO evasion is added to this feature.
Drunk Fist Mastery stays the same

JNAProductions
2016-03-28, 08:51 PM
Still OP.

3rd level is okay now.

6th level is, again, 100% Ki restoration out of combat. That's way too powerful.

11th level is a little too much (never causing AoOs) and WAY TOO MUCH (Slow fall damage reduction). Making it cost Ki is a good first step, reducing it to 1d10+Dex+Monk level is a good second step.

Drunken Fist Mastery isn't necessarily bad or overpowered, but it's lame. It doesn't fit the theme at all.

PoeticDwarf
2016-03-29, 02:56 AM
Still OP.

3rd level is okay now.

6th level is, again, 100% Ki restoration out of combat. That's way too powerful.

11th level is a little too much (never causing AoOs) and WAY TOO MUCH (Slow fall damage reduction). Making it cost Ki is a good first step, reducing it to 1d10+Dex+Monk level is a good second step.

Drunken Fist Mastery isn't necessarily bad or overpowered, but it's lame. It doesn't fit the theme at all.

I agree with JNA, and I think Drunken Fist Mastery is a bit too strong. Compared to other subclasses.

NaitoCorvo
2016-03-29, 11:52 AM
again, how is 6th level "100% ki recovery out of combat"? is not jut taking a short rest as well? you recover all your ki-points on a short rest. now if your DM doesn't tell you anything for drinking like a madman, I say the DM is letting a glaring thing get away between their fingers. The idea of making the subclass is to actually make the whole class an interesting run ( even if its just up to some level before dropping the class and go MC).


Way of the shadows makes the class interesting up to 6th level (the shadow teleporting) and nobody is gonna keep going the class from there, they will probably go rogue assasin or fighter or something way better.

Way of the open palm literally forces you to go up to 17th level to get the real deal of a skill that is the quivering palm of DEATH-OR-HIGH DAMAGE.

Nobody likes way of the 4 elements unless it has been fixed by another person because of the High Ki-point dependence.

Way of the long death is really cool up to 11th level because you get the ability to outright not-die, period, at the cost of a single ki-point.

Way of the Sun Soul...we know...every DBZ fanboy's dream.

and again, if your dm let's you get away with drinking freely without consequences, that's your DM's fault for not noticing, not mine. Like I said before, a DM can perfectly fix the Alcohol abuse by making it work differently from regular poisoning or simiply allowing you to drink just as much as 1 + Con Mod times before you get fully hammered and your notions begin to fail slowly.

I do agree that reducing the damage equal to that of the slowfall is indeed a lot, so I will take the advice and apply it (making it a deflect missile damage reduction instead).

Swashbuckler Rogues & and anyone with the mobile feat get the "no causing attack of opportunity" and can easily be gotten at any lower levels. I moved it to 11th because is already hard to get to 11th level from 1st, and unless you begin with a monk on level 5, it will be harder to move around.

I don't see how getting a single extra attack at level 17th and literally nothing else, makes the Drunken Fist Mastery OP, EnderDwarf, is at this point that you just get the upgrade on elixir of might. A fighter gets it's 3rd extra attack around the same level and even then they can still inflict far more damage

let's accept something real, NOBODY IS EVERY GONNA GO 20 FULL LEVELS OF MONK out of liking the class because 18th to 20th level features of the class are all the suckiest.