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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Monk Subclass - Way of the Jedi



Dralnu
2016-05-05, 11:51 AM
http://i.imgur.com/75i2NJs.jpg

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony
There is no death, there is the Force.


WAY OF THE JEDI (PDF) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1pdYIcfHauweWdfcFZNaVF4Zjg/view?usp=sharing)


EXPLANATIONS FOR EVERYTHING:
Spellcasting. Just like AT and EK. While those two are limited by the wizards spell list, requiring most of their choices from 2 schools of magic but still getting options from the entire list (Find Familiar is an easy choice at 3rd lvl for example), the Jedi spell list is a custom one I made up. I'm not happy with the list yet. Please let me know which spells should be removed and which should be added.

Lightsaber. It’s a big section of fluff, mostly. The mechanical payoff is that your attacks do radiant damage, which is one of the best damage sources in the game.

The lightsaber creation veers from official lore so the DM doesn’t have to worry about incorporating the details of building a lightsaber in their story. I’m letting one-handed melee weapons be transformed into lightsabers so it doesn’t feel totally lame when you find a magical weapon that is suddenly better than your iconic jedi weapon, and you’re wondering if you should put away the lightsaber for the +2 club you just found.

Window of Opportunity. The 6th level ability was reworked a bunch of times. First it was Force Push, then that was turned into a spell and replaced with Force Sense, which was like an always-on limited Detect Thoughts (only emotions). Eldritch Knights impose disadvantage on spells when they attack the target, Arcane Tricksters do it when they jump out of hiding; I wanted this subclass to follow this pattern and do it in a Monk way, so here it is. Monks are good at dodging, it’s tied to dodging attacks.

Bladeweaving. I love the idea of mixing “hitting things with your laser sword” with “casting pewpew spells” together into a glorious playstyle. It sounds super fun to me. You’re replacing the bonus action strikes from Martial Arts or Flurry of Blows for a spell by spending ki. This is like the flip side of EK’s Improved War Magic, but it comes earlier and it costs resources to use.

Shatterpoint. It's not really from the movies, though it's a thing in the EU. Your next attack roll (can be weapon or spell) crits. It also ignores resistances, which is exactly what the fluff of Shatterpoint is (learned jedi could destroy “indestructible” materials by hitting it in just the right spot).


Force Blast. A mashup of Cone of Cold, Fireball, and Thunderwave(ish). Less radius than CoC, less damage and 120ft less range than Fireball, but pushes and knocks prone.
Force Choke. Take Hold Person. Downgrade it from paralyzed to stunned (no auto-crits). Add 1d10 force damage. That's the spell.
Force Lightning. I think the consensus here is that Witch Bolt is a bad spell: it suffers from low damage and ends if you lose Concentration, you don't spend your Action maintaining it, the target walks out of your 30ft range, or you lose sight of the target. This is a better version. It suffers the same issues, but you get a bit more out of it, and halving the target's movement speed keeps it honest.
Force Repulse. It's Thunderwave with a worse radius but force instead of thunder and no bang. It's centered on you, not a 15-foot square adjacent to you.
Force Weapon. Reskinned Elemental Weapon.
Saber Throw. Reskinned Aganazzar's Scorcher, but upgrade the damage type from fire to radiant. I think that's okay because the original version is a tad subpar.

Final Hyena
2016-05-05, 12:12 PM
Shatterpoint seems rather weak.
The bonus action costs an attack worth d10+5 damage with a hit chance of say 60ish% (6.3) damage
The improved attack is a guaranteed 2d10+5 (16)
so about 10 extra damage, not considering the lost potential to flurry.

Spell list query
1st
Bane
Force Lightning

2nd
Force Choke

3rd
Call Lightning
Fear
Vampiric Touch

Dralnu
2016-05-05, 12:50 PM
What if Shatterpoint didn't use an action? Would it be fine then?

I also have an alternative: Improved Deflect Missiles, you can now deflect/redirect ranged damaging spell attacks that target you as well. So can deflect Firebolt, can't deflect Sacred Flames / Fireball. EDIT: Can't deflect Force Lightning either, which is a bit of a lore fail, hmm. Would need to fix that somehow.

As for spells, yeah those are "dark side" powers, but I figured those would be good to add since Jedi are still able to use them, even if using them leads them to a dark path. For example, Luke uses Force Choke on some guards right before speaking to Jabba. Let me know what you guys think though. I also would love input if some spells don't fit the theme at all, or if they're considered too strong (is Bless pushing it?).

Final Hyena
2016-05-05, 02:17 PM
What if Shatterpoint didn't use an action? Would it be fine then?
I suppose, always hard to tell with monks as their power curve changes from path to path.


As for spells, yeah those are "dark side" powers, but I figured those would be good to add since Jedi are still able to use them, even if using them leads them to a dark path. For example, Luke uses Force Choke on some guards right before speaking to Jabba.
Would it be possible to have a "dark side" optional rule that comes in to play from using those powers too often. Maybe it gives a buff and debuff to fit your new dark ways?

Also the spells seem fine.

Dathan88
2016-05-06, 08:55 AM
I'd recommend adding Shillelagh to the cantrip list, as a weaker version of Force Weapon.