Ki Straps - Classic Monk magic item back in 5e

[Carlos Barreto]

https://s21.postimg.org/fig442nrb/Ki_straps.jpg
Image Source: D&D 3.5 - Magic Item Compendium, p. 113


Greetings, buddies.

I found out there many topics asking about good magic items for Monks (here is an example (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?387872-Where-are-the-unarmed-boosting-magic-items)). One of these items is the Insignia of the Claws, presented in the Hoard of the Dragon Queen (p.94). It's a Uncommon item, increases your attack and damage rolls with natural weapons and unarmed attacks by +1 and they are magical.

Well, not bad... But I think it's a little bit lackluster when compared with all the goodies from DMG. Also, it's not very monk thematic, IMHO.

So what if we could bring back a classic monk magic item from the D&D 3.5e, while respecting the spirit and philosophy of the D&D 5e? I think the best way to do that is by analogy with other items in the DMG 5e.

I think it could be something like this:


Ki Straps
Wondrous item, rarity varies (requires attunement by a monk)

When wrapped around both hands, these straps grants a bonus to attack and damage rolls of your unarmed attacks and to the saving throw DCs of your Monk special abilities (like Stunning Strike, Martial Arts Techniques, Shadow and Elemental Spells and so on). The bonus is determined by the item's rarity.

Ki Straps (Uncommon): +1 bonus
Ki Straps of the Master (Rare): +2 bonus
Ki Straps of the Grandmaster (Very Rare): +3 bonus

In addition, you can regain ki points equals to twice the item's bonus as an action while wearing these straps. You can't use this property again until you finish a long rest.

This item was based on items like Rod of the Pact Keeper (DMG 197) and Staff of Power (DMG 202).

Unlike the Insignia of the Claws, this item does NOT make your attacks magical (which is not relevant if you have 6+ Monk levels).

Ok, buddies. So what do you think about it? Does it sounds fair? Underpower? Overpower?
As a DM, would you give this item for your Monk player on christmas?

I hope you enjoy the idea. Any suggestions, ideas or criticism? Let me know.

EDIT: Thanks to Joe the Rat for the suggestion to add to all the Monk special abilities instead of just adding to Stunning Strike.

[Gwendol]

Nice. Not sure how the DC increase will play out, especially for the +3, which is a significant boost.

[Carlos Barreto]

Nice. Not sure how the DC increase will play out, especially for the +3, which is a significant boost.

I'd say that probably it's not worse than a Warlock with a Rod of the Pact Keeper +3 (+3 to all the Warlock spell's DCs) casting Hold Person/Monster, which inflicts the Paralyzed status, a much more dangerous bad status than Stunned. Hold Person/Monster has a continous effect (it last for 1 minute or until you save in the subsequent turns) and targets Wisdom, while Stunning Strike targets Constitution and last 1 turn.

[JellyPooga]

I'd lose the "regain Ki points" feature. It seems a bit superfluous, given that Ki restores on a short rest anyway and the +1 to hit/damage/DC is powerful enough IMO.

[Joe the Rat]

The Ki refresh is what really makes it "Wraps of the Punch Keeper" rather than just "magic punch-booster which somehow augments your head-butts." So this depends a lot on what you are after.

Instead of an action refresh, just give it a Ki reserve. Instead of giving you ki, the item has 2/4/6 ki "charges" which can be used to fuel your powers, and recovers at dawn.

Some other possible tweaks (may need to drop ki booster):
Adds to DC of all monk abilities: Open hand maneuvers, ki-spell disciplines gain a boost. Four Elements needs all the love it can get.
Adds to attack/damage of unarmed attacks and monk abilities: benders and laserfists would appreciate this boost. Might apply to deflect arrows.

[Carlos Barreto]

I'd lose the "regain Ki points" feature. It seems a bit superfluous, given that Ki restores on a short rest anyway and the +1 to hit/damage/DC is powerful enough IMO.

I did that in the spirit of the Rod of the Pact Keeper, that recover one Warlock spell for long rest. And since Warlock recover spells per short rest, I think it's basically the same.


Instead of an action refresh, just give it a Ki reserve. Instead of giving you ki, the item has 2/4/6 ki "charges" which can be used to fuel your powers, and recovers at dawn.

Some other possible tweaks (may need to drop ki booster):
Adds to DC of all monk abilities: Open hand maneuvers, ki-spell disciplines gain a boost. Four Elements needs all the love it can get.
Adds to attack/damage of unarmed attacks and monk abilities: benders and laserfists would appreciate this boost. Might apply to deflect arrows.


Thanks for the suggestion. I added your DC suggestion.

About the extra Ki points, I did it similar to the Rod of the Pact Keeper; it also requires a an action to recover one Warlock slot.
That said, I think it's a nice small bonus; it's a meaningful bonus that requires some trade-off.

[Foxhound438]

seems good, but I'd maybe upshift it by one rarity for all of them. It is pretty close in power level to a RotPK, but that's already leagues above the wand of the war mage. With upcast hold persons it's reasonable to say that the rod is possibly stronger, but that's one case that only applies to humanoids. Stunning blow is pretty much a go-to since it's applicable to anything, and you get to do damage regardless of whether or not the effect applies.

That said, it's strictly a maybe up rarity. Honestly it's probably close to an uncommon and a half, same with RotPK.

[Carlos Barreto]

seems good, but I'd maybe upshift it by one rarity for all of them. It is pretty close in power level to a RotPK, but that's already leagues above the wand of the war mage. With upcast hold persons it's reasonable to say that the rod is possibly stronger, but that's one case that only applies to humanoids. Stunning blow is pretty much a go-to since it's applicable to anything, and you get to do damage regardless of whether or not the effect applies.

That said, it's strictly a maybe up rarity. Honestly it's probably close to an uncommon and a half, same with RotPK.

I considered that possibility, but I just dropped when I saw other items presented in the DMG.

There are other (even more powerful) items in the DMG that does that (and much more), like the Staff of Power, dedicated to spellcasters.

Staff of Power
very rare (requires attunement by a sorcerer, warlock, or wizard)

"This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff that grants a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. While holding it, you gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class, saving throws, and spell attack rolls."

And the Staff has other effects as well.

And as far as I'm aware, nothing prevents you from combining the Staff of Power with a Robe of Archmagi for a total of +5 to ALL your spell's DCs, provide you have both. Please, correct me if I'm missing something.

So do you still think that the Ki Straps presented here is too much strong that what is already there in the DMG?

Another important thing is that Hold Person/Monster is just a single example (and Paralyzed is much worse than Stunned, right?). There're many other powerful spells that we could analyze here.

I honestly don't see what I monk could do that would be so much better than all the amazing stuff that spells can do, once you have them.

[Foxhound438]

(snip)

I'm not saying it's overpowered for its rarity range, just that it's at the borderline of power level

BTW the staff of power does not increase your spell save DC, only your saving throws, while the robe only gives +2 to your spell save DC.

[Carlos Barreto]

Indeed. It gives +2 to your saving throws, not to your spell's DCs. Thanks for the correction.

In any case, with so many wonderful magic items for casters, I think it sounds reasonable to have a monk-oriented item as the iconic Ki Straps.

[Quintessence]

The DC increase is going to be scary at higher levels... I think it will be way too powerful and extremely frontloaded.

[Seruvius]

This is quite powerful, but simple and thematic. Rarity is an imperfect measure of a weapons power anyway. Sure a +3 to the save DC of stunning fist is going to be rather insane, but stunning fist needs a bit of rebalancing imo anyway. There are plenty of +x to dc for spellcasters, the monk deserves some love as well.

[Giant2005]

You really should increase the rarity a step. You can't have a +1 weapon with a bunch of extra powers be equivalent to a +1 weapon. Either that or ditch some of those powers so it better reflects the rarity.

[Shining Wrath]

Another option for monks: footwear!
Sandals that allow the monk to treat non-magical difficult terrain like normal terrain: Very Rare.
Sandals that add elemental damage to the monk's unarmed strikes (acid, cold, fire, electrical, or poison): Rare=1d6, V. Rare=1d8, L=1d10. Come decorated with an appropriate dragon motif, of course.

[gkathellar]

The DC boost should be fine, but the issue arises from Stunning Fist, which is just usable so often and so cheaply that it bumps the value way up. The optimal strategy for a level 10+ monk is just to spam stunning fist. This just aggravates said issue.


I'd lose the "regain Ki points" feature. It seems a bit superfluous, given that Ki restores on a short rest anyway and the +1 to hit/damage/DC is powerful enough IMO.

If you house-rule short rests to 5 minutes (like they should be), sure. But if you go with the default, it's more useful.

[Carlos Barreto]

The DC increase is going to be scary at higher levels... I think it will be way too powerful and extremely frontloaded.

Sure. But the DC increasement for spells like Hold Person/Monster, that cause the Paralyzed status (Target Wisdom, Incapacitated, advantage on attack rolls, any hit is a critical, and it may last for more than one turn) seems much worse! And if the Warlock use higher spell slot, he can affect more than one target at once. All that while being 60 feet away from danger.

A Warlock using the Rod of the Pact Keeper (DMG 197) and a Robe of the Archmagi (DMG 194) could add up to +5 to the DCs of their spells. So we are not only talking about the Hold Person/Monster spells, but also about spells like Banishment, Blight, Fireball (Fiend), Flash to Stone, Finger of Death, Forcecage, just to mention some few examples.

Or we can talk about a Wizard with the Robe of the Archmagi and +2 to the DC of all his wizardy spells as well. You name it.

Isn't that way too powerful and extremely frontloaded?


This is quite powerful, but simple and thematic. Rarity is an imperfect measure of a weapons power anyway. Sure a +3 to the save DC of stunning fist is going to be rather insane, but stunning fist needs a bit of rebalancing imo anyway. There are plenty of +x to dc for spellcasters, the monk deserves some love as well.

I think the same.


You really should increase the rarity a step. You can't have a +1 weapon with a bunch of extra powers be equivalent to a +1 weapon. Either that or ditch some of those powers so it better reflects the rarity.

I would agree with you if this item was a weapon, but it's NOT a weapon, it's a wondrous item.
Ok, I know, it may sound as a irrelevant observation and you may be thinking "But it works essentialy as a weapon!", but please, stay with me. A weapon works fine for everybody, provide the wielder has the right proficiency (A good ability modifier helps too). This item, on the other hands, is a wondrous item that boosts the "natural weaponry" of a monk's body, namely his unarmed attacks, which are similar to weapons.

So it works similar to a weapon, but again, it's NOT a weapon. If you think about it, this "weapon" is not only pretty much useless to everybody but monks, but it's not that great for characters who just dip some few monk levels. It will start being effective only for those who dedicated a great part of their life experiences as a monk (basically, Monk lvl 5+), and it will only shine as a "weapon" (but not outshine other martial classes) after Monk 11+.

Given such extremely narrow niche, I hardly believe that the initial suggested rarity could be considered gamebreaking or overpower, specially considering the awesome items that spellcasters might enjoy.

About the other "bunch of extra powers": The DCs increasement is the secondary benefit here, balanced by all the things that I've been saying in this thread, IMHO. The Ki replenishment is somewhat a fluff effect, just adding some extra reason for it's "Ki Straps" name; It's very useful if you're desesperate for Ki points and need them right now, but the usage of an Action in combat is not something trivial. It's a hard calling for such trade-off. That's why I suggested twice the item bonus; one would be too irrelevant to bother, while three would sound too powerful.


The DC boost should be fine, but the issue arises from Stunning Fist, which is just usable so often and so cheaply that it bumps the value way up. The optimal strategy for a level 10+ monk is just to spam stunning fist. This just aggravates said issue.

Yes, that was a concern I had in the first moment: Multiple uses of a boosted ability.
All in all, I think it's acceptable. Monks aren't nova damage dealers. They usually don't cause AoE effect/status, unless we are talking about the Way of the Four Elements, but the entire monastic tradition is so screwed that I think giving to them an extra hand (I think the same can be said about the Sun Soul Monks) is more than deserved. In the end, I think the final result would be that monks would save some Ki points from Stuning Strike (and some other Way of the Four Elements spells) because in theory it would work more effectively. So while I totally agree that this item has a potent effect, I think it won't make monks outshine other classes like the heavy hitters, let alone the casters, all with their beloved toys.

[Giant2005]

Are you aware that the Rod of the Pact Keeper doesn't increase damage?

[Carlos Barreto]

Are you aware that the Rod of the Pact Keeper doesn't increase damage?

Yes. It increases the chance to hit with all the Warlock spells that makes a Spell Attack roll, both Melee Spell Attack rolls and Ranged Spell attack rolls.

It would be insanely good if it also increased the damage.

The item I'm suggesting here take the Rod of the Pact Keeper as a base. It's not a Copy/Paste.

[GodofThunder]

Well hopefully this thread isn't permanently dead. Just jumping back into D&D and it looks like WOC kinda screwed the monk class ... again. There's gear targeting pretty much everyone else, but a monk who wants to fight unarmed has very few decent options without a DM willing to go deep into Homebrewing it.

There's also the old Monk's Belt idea from 3rd Edition. It would need to be modified obviously and they'd have to be incredibly rare, but it's a great bit of loot.

"Belt, Monk’s: This simple rope belt, when wrapped around a character’s waist, confers great ability in unarmed combat. The wearer’s AC and unarmed damage is treated as a monk of five levels higher. If donned by a character with the Stunning Fist feat, the belt lets her make one additional stunning attack per day. If the character is not a monk, she gains the AC and unarmed damage of a 5th-level monk. This AC bonus functions just like the monk’s AC bonus."

I could have sworn there were rings and items that added electricity, fire, cold and things like that to unarmed strikes. If the warrior types can get a sword that does X, there should be a way to grant an unarmed monk the same benefit. They are fighting on the front lines right beside the warrior types after all, so why can't they have nice things too? If there is armor that grants benefit X to a warrior, then the unarmored monk needs access to the same benefit


I like the Ki Wraps idea well enough. Would it prevent the monk in question from wearing magical rings or bracers? Also, I'd flesh it out quite a bit more. Have a lesser version that only works like a +1-3 magical weapon. (I guess they killed off +4-5 for good?) Have a greater version that, as you said, give you bonuses to DC, Saving Throws, and all that stuff.

Like I said, a monk should have access to the same quality of loot as any warrior. But rather than creating "Handwraps of Thunderbolts", my idea was to have a version of the monk that simply absorbs the enchantments from magical weapons and applies those enchantments to their unarmed strikes. I can't really make sense out of this idea without making it a psionic focuses monk that functions much like a SoulKnife but using unarmed strikes. There should be more justification for it besides, "Cuz I'm a monk. Duh!" That doesn't make any sense really. But that isn't much help for the monk who would rather play Way of the Open Hand.

[Sariel Vailo]

Yay i like

[SkylarkR6]

I like the ki straps but they might be a little potent. Honestly I just want them to make Gloves of the Hin Fist/yellow rose etc from nwn into one of the books. Nice and simple.

[Eunostus]

It's a shame you're not fond of any handwraps of thunder, GodofThunder. I recently homebrewed an item I wabt to introduce in my own campaign:

"Hero's Handwraps
Requires attunement
Legendary Origins: These hand wraps were once used by a renowned hero, whose thunderous fists turned the tides of several wars.
Strikes of Lightning: Whenever you expend one or more Ki points on your turn, the residual energy of your Ki manifests as potent sparks on your fists. Until the end of your turn, you deal an additional 1d4 lightning damage on each hit with an unarmed strike."

Any thoughts? I'd love some feedback (not an experienced homebrewer yet)

[GodofThunder]

It's a shame you're not fond of any handwraps of thunder, GodofThunder.Oh to the contrary, I absolutely adore thunder and lightning effects. Long ago when 3.5 rules were the latest greatest thing I rolled a Githzerai Monk who was stupidly overpowered. If you recall, the Githzerai race had +4 to Dex and +2 to Wis in 3.5e. I rolled a natural 18 on Dex and something very good for Wis, moved points around to max that too, and ended up with a monk with 22 Dex and 20 Wis. I took 4 or 5 levels of Psion, making sure to pick up enough power points and making absolutely sure to pick up Concussive Blow as well as a Kinetic force field that I can't remember the name of. From there I took 10 levels of monk. Somewhere along the way, I found a Monk's Belt, a Ring of Electrical Strikes, and Something of Speed that doubled my attacks per round. With an impressive stack of AC boosting gear added in, that guy looked something like this:

AC 33 + a kinetic force field providing some hefty damage reduction.
HP 100? Something close to that.
Unarmed Strikes Per Round: 10
Damage:
First strike damage = (2d6+2magical+6Dex) + (6d6 Concussive Blow) + (3d6 electrical)
The remaining nine strikes = (2d6+8) + (3d6 electrical)
Movement:100 feet per round.

There were other adds to damage too, I just can't remember them all. Everything in front of me just died. Frequently it exploded from being knocked too far into negative hit points. I was always the first to the next target. I almost never got hit and when I did I took almost no damage. It was a absolutely beautiful carnage. And hell yeah I was the real God of Thunder. I never even got to Quivering Palm with that guy, and I kinda didn't need it.

So ... every time I think of an item of thunder or electrical strikes, I stop and ask myself, "How is this likely to be abused?" I wouldn't mind being that overpowered guy again. It's fun! A little less challenging mind you, but absolutely awesome fun. But thinking like a DM, I'm hesitant to allow that kind of thing to ever happen on my watch.

So with that in mind, let's look at your handwrap concept:

I recently homebrewed an item I want to introduce in my own campaign:

"Hero's Handwraps
Requires attunement
Legendary Origins: These hand wraps were once used by a renowned hero, whose thunderous fists turned the tides of several wars.
Strikes of Lightning: Whenever you expend one or more Ki points on your turn, the residual energy of your Ki manifests as potent sparks on your fists. Until the end of your turn, you deal an additional 1d4 lightning damage on each hit with an unarmed strike."

Any thoughts? I'd love some feedback (not an experienced homebrewer yet)I think that 1d4 electrical is just about perfect balance between enough and not too much. With flurry of blows under 5e, that means four attacks adding 1d4 damage each on a hit. Doing an extra 4d4 damage? Not outrageous at all. I might change the name to something referencing what they do. "Handwraps of the Thunder Lord" or "The Master of Thunder's Handwraps" or something like that. And for a legendary item, I think adding a +2 magical weapon enchantment wouldn't be unheard of. Hey if the legendary Hammer of Thunderbolts can be ridiculous then why not your legendary item? I'd even consider throwing in Resistance to Electricity in for good measure. It's your Homebrew and it really depends on the level of the players. Just be aware that whatever monk gets them, especially if they can find something to double their attacks per round, is likely to get just a tad overpowered. If they manage to dish out 10 strikes per round, that's 10d10 blunt damage + 10d4 electrical damage. I do like the fact that d4's contrain the damage considerably.

If it's okay with you, I'll add your idea to my other thread.

Another version on a less-than-legendary level might look like this:
Very Rare
Handwraps of the Thunderfist+1: Whenever you expend one or more Ki points on your turn, the residual energy of your Ki manifests as potent sparks on your fists, charging these handwraps. Until the end of your turn, you deal an additional 1d4 lightning damage on a maximum of two hits per round. Example: If you hit four or more times in a round, then the 1d4 electrical only applies to the first to successful strikes. While wearing these handwraps, all unarmed strikes are treated as +1 magical weapons.

[Vaz]

I think this has been the first time I've ever seen a Majority Monk 3.5 classed as Overpowered.

In 5e, Swords are incredibly well represented for no reason other than 'X person thinks Y weapon is best presented as Z'

Dwarven Thrower is a stereotypical dwarf weapon - the hammer. There is no reason why the Thrower has to be a Hammer. In a game I'm running, the dwarf steretotypical weapon is a spear of some variant, and thus Dwarf Thrower is now a Spear. Or Pike.

No reason as to why a handwrap shouldn't be an option to buff a character.

[GodofThunder]

I think this has been the first time I've ever seen a Majority Monk 3.5 classed as Overpowered.Okay didn't quite understand that. What were you saying??


In 5e, Swords are incredibly well represented for no reason other than 'X person thinks Y weapon is best presented as Z'

Dwarven Thrower is a stereotypical dwarf weapon - the hammer. There is no reason why the Thrower has to be a Hammer. In a game I'm running, the dwarf steretotypical weapon is a spear of some variant, and thus Dwarf Thrower is now a Spear. Or Pike.

No reason as to why a handwrap shouldn't be an option to buff a character.Agreed. I think that WOC just wanted to get back to the basics after that disaster named 4th edition. So I think they were playing it safe and are continuing to do so. Hence the move to drop maximum enchantment from +5 to +3.

It's a little annoying having to rewrite rules, tables and things, but I don't think we have much choice. Some things are just broken and WOC doesn't seem interested in fixing them anytime soon. Just because a Sun Blade is a thing doesn't mean a Sun Quarterstaff can't also be a thing. Just because they didn't write a Gi +3 into the rules doesn't mean it doesn't exist. But it is a little tedious coming up with monk friendly gear that WOC should have created in the first place.

[Arkhios]

Not sure if 3.X counts as "classic" yet, but otherwise this looks great :P

[Lombra]

Hmmm... increasing the DC is too powerful IMO. You can stunlock anything for a couple turns already, I would instead replace that and the Ki refresh with "while wearing these straps you gain x extra Ki points where x is the straps' bonus"

[GodofThunder]

It's a shame you're not fond of any handwraps of thunder, GodofThunder. I recently homebrewed an item I wabt to introduce in my own campaign:

"Hero's Handwraps
Requires attunement
Legendary Origins: These hand wraps were once used by a renowned hero, whose thunderous fists turned the tides of several wars.
Strikes of Lightning: Whenever you expend one or more Ki points on your turn, the residual energy of your Ki manifests as potent sparks on your fists. Until the end of your turn, you deal an additional 1d4 lightning damage on each hit with an unarmed strike."

Any thoughts? I'd love some feedback (not an experienced homebrewer yet)

Let me know what you think of my modified version of your idea. I do think that adding electrical resistance just makes sense. Otherwise, the monk might get shocked by their own stuff, right? Hope you like what I did with them.


The Thunderlord's Handwraps +3
Requires attunement
Legendary
Origins: These hand wraps were once used by a renowned ancient elemental monk master, whose thunderous fists turned the tides of several long forgotten wars. He is remembered only as Thunderlord. His actual name and story have long since been lost to history, but his handwraps have been passed down survived. They are striking blue with lightning bolts enscribed all over them, with scorch marks all along their length. Legend has it that the Thunderlord's spirit still continues to empower them.

When worn by a monk that has attuned them, the Thunderlord's Handwraps empower all unarmed strikes, making them +3 magical weapons. The handwraps are infused with electrical power that manifests when the wearer uses their ki. Whenever you expend one or more Ki points on your turn, the residual energy of your Ki manifests as potent sparks on your fists. Until the end of your turn, you deal an additional 1d4 lightning damage on each successful hit with an unarmed strike in that round. The wearer of the handwraps gains resistance to all electrical attacks.


The existence of these legendary and unique handwraps has led to a number of attempts to copy them -- resulting in a lesser but more attainable item called Handwraps of the Thundering Fist.

Handwraps of the Thundering Fists +1
Requires Attunment
Very Rare
The Handwraps of the Thundering Fists universally try to copy the Thunderlord's Handwraps in appearance, minus the scorchmarks out of respect for the original. All of the wearer's unarmed attacks become +1 magical weapons. If the wearer uses ki in the round then the residual energy of their ki manifests as potent electrical sparks. The monk's next successful unarmed strike will deal and additional 1d4 electrial damage. This electrical damage will only ever happen once per round. The wearer also gains resistance to electricity.

[Eunostus]

I think that 1d4 electrical is just about perfect balance between enough and not too much. With flurry of blows under 5e, that means four attacks adding 1d4 damage each on a hit. Doing an extra 4d4 damage? Not outrageous at all. I might change the name to something referencing what they do. "Handwraps of the Thunder Lord" or "The Master of Thunder's Handwraps" or something like that. And for a legendary item, I think adding a +2 magical weapon enchantment wouldn't be unheard of. Hey if the legendary Hammer of Thunderbolts can be ridiculous then why not your legendary item? I'd even consider throwing in Resistance to Electricity in for good measure. It's your Homebrew and it really depends on the level of the players. Just be aware that whatever monk gets them, especially if they can find something to double their attacks per round, is likely to get just a tad overpowered. If they manage to dish out 10 strikes per round, that's 10d10 blunt damage + 10d4 electrical damage. I do like the fact that d4's contrain the damage considerably.

If it's okay with you, I'll add your idea to my other thread.

Another version on a less-than-legendary level might look like this:
Very Rare
Handwraps of the Thunderfist+1: Whenever you expend one or more Ki points on your turn, the residual energy of your Ki manifests as potent sparks on your fists, charging these handwraps. Until the end of your turn, you deal an additional 1d4 lightning damage on a maximum of two hits per round. Example: If you hit four or more times in a round, then the 1d4 electrical only applies to the first to successful strikes. While wearing these handwraps, all unarmed strikes are treated as +1 magical weapons.
This item is meant for 1 level 5 monk in my campaign, so legendary level might be a bit much. ;) But if I were to homebrew a legendary version, I'd probably also make it a +2 weapon and maybe add in another effect the user could employ, like blinding flashes of light or deafening thunder. In regards to it only affecting only two attacks, that seems rather fiddly. I'd be more inclined to let it either affect all attacks, or give a single boost to the next hit higher damage like 1d4+Wis, to reflect that the damage originates from the user's ki.
Thanks for the feedback, by the way. I love it!

[Eunostus]

Let me know what you think of my modified version of your idea. I do think that adding electrical resistance just makes sense. Otherwise, the monk might get shocked by their own stuff, right? Hope you like what I did with them.
Resistance to lightning is a very nice ribbon on the Hand Wraps, especially since PCs get way too few elemental resistances and weaknesses for my taste. I might even add it to my uncommon variant. Maybe the Legendary item can even give resistance to both lightning and thunder damage. Perhaps even immunity. I do feel that, on a legendary item, 1d4 is a little low for additional damage and seems low next to its +3 bonus. Maybe give it some range, by having it chain to up to two enemies within 10 feet of the target? That would compliment the monk quite will, with its lack of crowd control. Just spitting ideas here.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Is it just me or are there not many magic items for monks?

[Vaz]

There are dozens. Hundreds posibly. Shortsword proficiency goes along way, more if Kensei.

[furby076]

I would agree with you if this item was a weapon, but it's NOT a weapon, it's a wondrous item.
Ok, I know, it may sound as a irrelevant observation and you may be thinking "But it works essentialy as a weapon!", but please, stay with me. A weapon works fine for everybody, provide the wielder has the right proficiency (A good ability modifier helps too). This item, on the other hands, is a wondrous item that boosts the "natural weaponry" of a monk's body, namely his unarmed attacks, which are similar to weapons.

So it works similar to a weapon, but again, it's NOT a weapon. If you think about it, this "weapon" is not only pretty much useless to everybody but monks, but it's not that great for characters who just dip some few monk levels. It will start being effective only for those who dedicated a great part of their life experiences as a monk (basically, Monk lvl 5+), and it will only shine as a "weapon" (but not outshine other martial classes) after Monk 11+.

Given such extremely narrow niche, I hardly believe that the initial suggested rarity could be considered gamebreaking or overpower, specially considering the awesome items that spellcasters might enjoy.


The narrow focus/niche is not a way of reducing an items rarity. Thats a way for a player to try and get a powerful item and say "but it only works for gno,es who took their 1st 2 levels in rogue, and the rest of their levels in monk, and whose name is johnny....look, thats me. This is so niche, its uncommon"....and nope. Its also a way foe the player to ensure nobody else wants it. Cause nobody else can use it. Look at holy avenger as an example. I tried to use this argument, once, on a DM of mine. He laughed and said nope too.

+x atk,+x dmg, +x to dc of monk abilities is combining many powerful abilities. Plus, you want it to be "wonderous", which means slotless.

This item qualifies for atunement
This item qualifies to be at LEAST 1 rarity step above equiv sword, with the +3 version being legendary
This item is considered gloves, in the event there are magic gloves that state they cannot be worn with other magic hand gear

Look at:
Dagger of venom is rare and way less powerful then your +1 version.
Defender sword is closest, i think, and at +3 is legendary and you have to choose between offense or defense. The straps are +3 to atk, dmg plus the dc bonus... how is that not at least legendary?

You are right, this is not a weapon, its much stronger...its a weapon enhancer. If you asked this to be just +x atk/dmg, id still rate the +3 as legendary. Also, it would ONLY kick in for special ability dcs when you were making unarmed attacks. Using nunchaka to smack around your enemy? No bonus to the DC of special abilities.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

There are dozens. Hundreds posibly. Shortsword proficiency goes along way, more if Kensei.
My monk uses a quarter staff and when i look through the DMG i don't see many items specifically for a monk. their are staves and wants for casters and armor and weapons for fighters but not much for a monk (I know that there are plenty of items that a monk can use)

[furby076]

Reskin weapons and you have way more options. If you are looking for tons of monk SPECIFIC items, then ask this.... how many items are specific to other classes? Paladin has holy avenger. What does ranger, barb, rogue, bard, etc have?

[GodofThunder]

Resistance to lightning is a very nice ribbon on the Hand Wraps, especially since PCs get way too few elemental resistances and weaknesses for my taste. I might even add it to my uncommon variant. Maybe the Legendary item can even give resistance to both lightning and thunder damage. Perhaps even immunity. I do feel that, on a legendary item, 1d4 is a little low for additional damage and seems low next to its +3 bonus. Maybe give it some range, by having it chain to up to two enemies within 10 feet of the target? That would compliment the monk quite will, with its lack of crowd control. Just spitting ideas here.Yeah, as I thought about it, I like the idea of having the legendary version grant immunity to Thunder and Lightning.

There's also another idea I saw somewhere that sounded interesting. It was a ring that dealt out 1 point of electrical damage per strike, and charged up per hit. After 5 successful hits, it released a full Lightning Bolt. So borrowing from that concept, and at risk of overdoing it a bit, have your 1d4 electrical charge up to a bigger kaboom: A simultaneous Thunder Step and Chain Lightning spell. So the monk teleports to a safe distance leaving a big kaboom in his wake. That's definitely crowd control and laying the smack down on multiple targets. And the combination of Thunder Step and Chain Lightning just offers a framework. You can tweak the damage, effects and AOE from there to make it fit however you like. I'd be inclined to bust the Chain Lightning damage down a bit, but that's just me. Or you could dump the Thunder Step piece of it and just have it unleash the Chain Lightning.

A completely different idea I had that might apply here is a 1 ki effect I homebrewed called "Touch of of the Thunder God": The monk's unarmed strike is infused with electricity. The target must make a Strength save against the monk's DC or take 2d10 electrical damage, be knocked back 15 feet and be knocked prone. Damage increases to 3d10 at level 17. Successful save to take half damage and not be knocked back or knocked prone. I kinda liked the idea of having the target thrown backwards by an electrical attack. Something like that might work for what you have in mind.

[GodofThunder]

Is it just me or are there not many magic items for monks?


There are dozens. Hundreds posibly. Shortsword proficiency goes along way, more if Kensei.Items usable by the monk? Sure, there's loads. Items that are meant for the monk the same way that a Holy Avenger +3 is meant for a paladin or a Staff of the Magi was meant for Wizard types or the Rod of The Pact Keeper is specifically for Warlocks? In that sense, there are exactly zero items for monks. I think you know that's what people are talking about.

[Vaz]

Items usable by the monk? Sure, there's loads. Items that are meant for the monk the same way that a Holy Avenger +3 is meant for a paladin or a Staff of the Magi was meant for Wizard types or the Rod of The Pact Keeper is specifically for Warlocks? In that sense, there are exactly zero items for monks. I think you know that's what people are talking about.
We do. And you chose what amounts to the only 3 items in the game. There are exactly zero for Barbarian too. Zero for Sorcerer. Zero for Fighter. There are more classes without a unique item than there are with.

Mountain, molehill.

There is no problem with creating magic items, and using that as the reason, but it's not exactly as unique a problem as that.

[BobZan]

That's waaaay overpowered.

Pick one:
1) +x Atk/Dmg
2) +x DCs
3) Ki recharge.

[GodofThunder]

We do. And you chose what amounts to the only 3 items in the game. There are exactly zero for Barbarian too. Zero for Sorcerer. Zero for Fighter. There are more classes without a unique item than there are with.

Mountain, molehill.

There is no problem with creating magic items, and using that as the reason, but it's not exactly as unique a problem as that.True and my take on it would be to actually create a few. Every class is unique in some way. The ways that they are unique opens the door for the creation of items to enhance what they're uniquely good at. Wizards, Warlocks and Sorcerers all function very similarly. Clerics and Druids function very similarly. Barbarians, Rangers and Fighters all function very similarly. In each case, they were all spin-offs of the same original class. There's a lot of loot out there that is specific to their groups. Monks are entirely their own animal. When the dragon is dead and a Sun Blade +2 is found in the treasure hoard, sure the monk can use it but they lose some significant unarmed strikes benefits for their trouble. It's much more useful for the barbarian or the rogue or the bard or the fighter or the ranger or the paladin in the group, all of whom lose absolutely nothing for wielding it. And the magical armor in the dragon's hoard? And magic shields? Most of your magic weapons and armor make a lot more sense to give to somebody else. And yes every class but monk is extremely well represented in the magic items lists in the DMG.

Therein lies the problem for the Dungeon Master: Handing out goodies, but having nothing much to give the monk in the group. Spread that over campaigns from level 1 to 20 and at makes you feel like a complete jerk. This is exactly why so many threads like this exist. DM's wanna have something that is really and truly useful to monks and helps them do what they do best: Unarmed combat.

[GodofThunder]

That's waaaay overpowered.

Pick one:
1) +x Atk/Dmg
2) +x DCs
3) Ki recharge.Wait wait, I can make it better!

All strikes now add the effect of Quivering Palm that triggers instantly in the same round and does not count against the monk's one-off Quivering Palm. All strikes all round every round are affected.

Now that's seriously overpowered!! :smallbiggrin:

But being serious, I'd say create a base version that does nothing but +x to Attack and Damage only. Have a rarer version that adds the Ki Recharge. And if you wanna do a legendary that also adds +x to DCS, then that's fine. Just make it incredibly difficult to get a pair. At level 15-20 +3 atk/dmg, +3 DC and a 6 ki recharge once a day really ain't that outrageous. Take a look at Staff of the Magi or Holy Avenger or Hammer of Thunderbolts for examples. As long as it's a legendary, then I'd say it's fine.

[furby076]

Monk is also a class that relies the least on equipment.

Make unique magic items (boxing gloves, ki straps, sandals of x, blindfold, etc) but careful of the power level. Some of the items proposed are ridiculous, even for legendary

[furby076]

But being serious, I'd say create a base version that does nothing but +x to Attack and Damage only. Have a rarer version that adds the Ki Recharge. And if you wanna do a legendary that also adds +x to DCS, then that's fine. Just make it incredibly difficult to get a pair. At level 15-20 +3 atk/dmg, +3 DC and a 6 ki recharge once a day really ain't that outrageous. Take a look at Staff of the Magi or Holy Avenger or Hammer of Thunderbolts for examples. As long as it's a legendary, then I'd say it's fine.

Making it rare to get one is a silly argument for homebrew. Either your dm will OK the item (and you will get it) or he will not ok them item.

The legendary version nof your ki straps are more powerful, by a lot, then those other named items. Not even close to the same. In all of those items, you lose the ability to use something else (another weapon, and an atunement slot). The ki straps require no atunement and you get to use a monks best weapon....unarmed strikes. Plus those ki straps increase atk/dmg, dc, recharge abilities. Isn't holy avenger recommended for level 17 to 20? Your suggesting legendary ki straps for 15?

[GodofThunder]

Making it rare to get one is a silly argument for homebrew. Either your dm will OK the item (and you will get it) or he will not ok them item.

The legendary version nof your ki straps are more powerful, by a lot, then those other named items. Not even close to the same. In all of those items, you lose the ability to use something else (another weapon, and an atunement slot). The ki straps require no atunement and you get to use a monks best weapon....unarmed strikes. Plus those ki straps increase atk/dmg, dc, recharge abilities. Isn't holy avenger recommended for level 17 to 20? Your suggesting legendary ki straps for 15?TBH I have been struggling with the OP's idea of +DCS from the start. As I am the DM the big reason for me to come on here is to look for ideas and toss my ideas out there and have other DM's tell me why any and all ideas are bad idea. So thank you very much.

My group is nowhere near even level 10, much less 15-20. Much of my posting is future planning. I've been out of the loop on all things D&D for most of a decade. I like what I'm seeing in 5e, but there are gaps in my knowledge. I just tend to always be the most knowledgeable and experienced person in the group, so I tend to be DM by default. I'm not suggesting legendary anything for level 15. Just completely off the top of my head, levels 15-20 is where I might start handing out legendary loot. If the DMG says that a Holy Avenger is recommended for 17-20 then I'll certainly take into consideration. If any of my ideas are too overpowered, well that's what I'm here to find out.

Can you offer up better versions of the things? I'd be curious to know how you would design them.

[furby076]

I appreciate the candor, and keep in mind we all have a learning curve, and we all make mistakes and learn. If you are making this for a player then let him know you are testing it out and may need to tweak it.

The difference between 3.x/pf and 5e is the power curve. Things are much weaker in 5e. Weapons only go to +3. +3 full plate is considered legendary!

Keep it simple. Ki straps that give +1, 2 or 3 to atk/dmg. Their rarity should be 1 step higher than a weapon +. Requires attunement. This does not make the monks attack magical...just improves atk and dmg

Alternatively, you can make them increase the DC of monks power by 1, 2 or 3. Just not both.

Monks regain ki on short rest, so they dont need that ability.

If i were a monk, i would want either of the above versions....a LOT. They are still powerful.

[Vaz]

Bearing is mind, is everyone is OP, nobody is. Giving everyone acces to powerful items isnt game breaking, especially when it is just numbers.

[Azgeroth]

ok, so people agree elemental monks need love.. but we want options for others, and dont want to create a stun lock item.

so, why not create a couple of base lines, and scale with rarity?

wraps of the elements. (uncommon - requires attunement, Four Elements monk only)
these wraps once attuned act as a conduit for your elemental powers, fueled by your own ki. once attuned to these wraps wisps of elemental energy can be seen ebbing and flowwing through the wraps, with light hints of blue's, red's, and grey's.

when you use an ability from your monastic tradition add +1 to the save DC

additionally, if you use your action to perform an elemental ability, you gain half the ki points spent rounded down, in d4 damage of that elemental type for a number of attacks equal to that same number until the end of that turn.

(example, you 'cast' water whip, spending 3 ki points, if you use your bonus action to make an unarmed strike you add 1d4 water(bludgeoning?) damage to the damage dice of that strike (so it also doubles on a crit) or if you spent 4 points, its 2d4, for 2 attacks, but you also then have to spend the ki points for flurry of blows.)

higher rarities only increase the bonus to DC, max of +3 at legendary, i might also give resistance to that same damage type untill the end of the next turn, not super overpowered, but its nice flavour and situational useful. (but only for the legendary variant)

[Vaz]

If it's Four Elemental Monks you're exclusively fixing, don't bother with a magic item, just drop the Ki cost by 1.