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MisterGunpowder
2016-10-24, 11:55 AM
Before we start, let's get some context for what this is about. A good while ago, Keith Baker would post articles of WotC's dedicated Eberron subsection on their website concerning additional setting information that hadn't quite made it into books. These were (mostly) referred to as Dragonshards. One of these articles was called Monastic Orders, which contained descriptions and details for building monks that belonged to these orders. Of these orders, there were three: The Order of the Broken Blade, the Flayed Hand, and the Shaarat'khesh.
As a big fan of Eberron and monks, I liked that Baker decided to make his own variations of monks for his setting. Something that bothered me, though, is that they never seemed to leave this particular article despite being very flavorful. I didn't see them in 4th Edition, and of course haven't seen them in 5th yet. So, I decided "Hey, maybe I could port them over to 5th Edition's rules using that nifty article they made for creating new class options?"
Imagine my horror when I quickly realized that two of these builds were already covered by the rules; The Flayed Hand is just a Way of the Long Death monk that mutilates themselves, and the Shaarat'khesh is just a Goblin Way of Shadow monk with Rogue levels. Well, fine. It was the third one that I liked most, anyways.
The Order of the Broken Blade is definitely not covered by the rules already. A 5th Ed. monk can't use a longsword; even if they gain proficiency with it, it'd still be less effective by virtue of not being a monk weapon. Not to mention that I feel there isn't a Monastic Tradition that truly conveys a monk that lives for and seeks out combat. Thus, here we are, with a topic about Eberron monks that's really only about one type. Included are my thoughts with each feature.

Way of the Broken Blade


Some consider combat merely a necessity; and means to a bloody end. For others, it's for the glory, in the afterlife or not. But for monks of the Order of the Broken Blade, combat is both meditation and an art. Through battle, they believe it brings them closer to Dol Dorn, the Sovereign of Strength and Steel. After achieving and being initiated into the rank of Swordbrother (or Swordsister), the monk begins to travel the world, searching for conflict and battles wherever they may find them. Many may protect the weak, while others will gladly join in on any fight they find, regardless of motivations. It is not uncommon to find members of the order fighting on both sides of the same battle. The ultimate goal of a member of the order is to attain enlightenment through conflict. Therefore, the cause of the battle and its ultimate outcome are not of any concern to them.

Level 3: Whirling Steel Strike
You gain proficiency with the longsword, and may use it as though it were a monk weapon.
This is, of course, the core part of the tradition. I like the idea of a monk using a longsword, and it's always bothered me that one of the longest-lasting symbols or martial conflict is not something the monk uses.

Level 3: Monastic Superiority
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn new ki features, developed specifically to enhance their prowess in combat, called ki maneuvers.
Ki Maneuvers. You learn four ki maneuvers of your choice, which are detailed under "Ki Maneuvers" below. They follow the same rules as your ki features. You cannot use more than one ki maneuver on a single attack.
You learn one additional ki maneuver of your choice at 6th, 11th, and 17th level. Each time you learn new ki maneuvers, you can also replace one ki maneuver you know with a different one.
I elected to clip down Combat Superiority into something that fit more neatly into the Monk was a good idea, based of Grod_The_Giant's suggestions. Thus, I thought it'd be best to just outright no longer call it Combat Superiority, and instead make it something more monk-y.

Level 6: Strength Through Conflict
If you have participated in a battle in the last 24 hours against an equal or stronger foe and emerged victorious, you gain one of the following benefits:
You have advantage on Charisma checks against anyone who participated in or witnessed the battle. You have this benefit until you choose another benefit.
You gain a +10 bonus to the first attack roll you make in your next battle, and a +5 bonus to the damage roll if you hit. You do not gain these benefits if your target does not know you are attacking them.
You cannot to be surprised while you are conscious, and creatures may not gain advantage against you as a result of being hidden from you. These benefits last until the first turn you take in another combat.
Gain advantage on all Strength (Athletics) checks. You have this benefit until you roll for initiative.
The first maneuver you use in your next battle may be performed entirely without expending ki points.
You lose the benefit you chose if you lose a fight to an equal or stronger foe.
I decided that a feature that gave benefits for getting into fights was something truly suited to the tradition, as they're a tradition that goes out looking for fights that tested their skill as combatants rather than their power as warriors. Dol Dorn disdains those that fight for power, after all. I wanted some mechanics that reflected that.

Level 11: Longsword Duelist
You gain the Duelist Fighting Style option from the list under the Fighter class feature. You may only benefit from it while wielding a longsword. Additionally, you may treat any longsword you wield as though it has the reach property.
This was my way of giving this tradition access to something like Weapon Focus, which is why I limited its use to when the monk is wielding a longsword. After bumping this up to level 11, I felt it needed a little buff befitting a level 11 feature, so I let the monk treat longswords as though they had the reach property. I like this because it strongly implies the 'extension of self' idea that's strongly held in a lot of martial traditions.

Level 17: Sovereign of Battle
Choose one ki feature or ki maneuver that you know. You may use that feature or maneuver without expending ki points as long as you have 1 ki point and have participated in a battle in the last 72 hours. Additionally, you may choose two benefits from Strength Through Conflict instead of one.
This is the new level 17 feature. I wanted to make it something that truly reflected the spirit of the tradition, and felt that having the character internalize a single ki feature or ki maneuver did just that. I also felt that improving Strength Through Conflict at this point was warranted.

Maneuvers
I elected not to put my thoughts under all of the maneuvers, as most of them are merely the same maneuvers the Fighter path got with additional text to let it play with this tradition more. I did, however, put them under the ones I did make. You will also note I removed some to make room for the oens I made; I will explain my reasoning for them after the list.

Disarming Attack. You may spend 1 ki point to strike the arm, wrist, or hand of an opponent to force them to drop the item they're holding. They must make a Strength saving throw, and if they fail they immediately drop the item at their feet.

Feinting Attack. You may expend 1 ki points on your turn to make a feinting motion against one creature within 5 feat of you, granting you advantage on your next attack roll against that creature.

Goading Attack. You may spend 1 ki points to strike one creature within 6 feet of you in such a way that you force it to fight you. You make an attack against the creature. The creature must then make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, all attack rolls it makes against any target other than you has disadvantage.

Lunging Attack. You may expend 1 ki point to increase the reach of your attack by 5 feet, lunging forward with your attack to attempt to reach an opponent further from you.

Menacing Attack. You choose to scare a target after you inflict a wound upon them. You may expend 1 ki points to attempt to frighten the target after a successful attack. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it is frightened of you until the end of your next turn.

Parry. When another creature damages you with a melee attack, you may expend 2 ki point to reduce the damage, equal to 2d10 + your Wisdom modifier + your monk level. If you reduce the damage to 0, you gain advantage on your next attack roll against it.

Powerful Strike. You may expend 2 ki points to increase the damage die of a melee weapon you are wielding by one size until the end of your turn.

Precision Attack. You measure your attack to make sure it hits with utmost precision. You may expend 3 ki points to gain a +10 bonus on an attack roll. You may use this ki maneuver before or after an attack roll.

Riposte. You punish a clumsy foe for not taking care when attacking you. When a creature misses you with an attack roll, you may expend 1 ki point to expend your reaction and make a melee attack against that creature.

Trip Attack. You may expend 1 ki point when you hit one creature with an attack to attempt to knock it to the ground. The target must make a Strength saving throw or fall prone.

Windcutter. You may expend 2 ki points while wielding a melee slashing weapon to slash your weapon in the air, and send a wave of razor sharp wind to reach a foe that thought it was beyond it. You make a ranged spell attack against a creature within 30 feet of you. It takes damage equal to the damge of the weapon plus your Wisdom modifier.

Why did I remove the maneuvers that I did? Well, because those maneuvers were centered on helping and aiding allies, rather than hurting enemies. That honestly didn't feel true to the idea behind the Broken Blade monk, especially since they're very often fighting the ones they'd probably call their closest allies. They're on the battlefield to hit people, not help their allies hit people.
Also, I did not reproduce the text of the original abilities so that I was in compliance with copyright. Some additional maneuvers were removed for being redundant with monk abilities, or unfitting for monks.


Old Design


Some consider combat merely a necessity; and means to a bloody end. For others, it's for the glory, in the afterlife or not. But for monks of the Order of the Broken Blade, combat is both meditation and an art. Through battle, they believe it brings them closer to Dol Dorn, the Sovereign of Strength and Steel. After achieving and being initiated into the rank of Swordbrother (or Swordsister), the monk begins to travel the world, searching for conflict and battles wherever they may find them. Many may protect the weak, while others will gladly join in on any fight they find, regardless of motivations. It is not uncommon to find members of the order fighting on both sides of the same battle. The ultimate goal of a member of the order is to attain enlightenment through conflict. Therefore, the cause of the battle and its ultimate outcome are not of any concern to them.

Level 3: Whirling Steel Strike
You gain proficiency with the longsword, and may use it as though it were a monk weapon.
This is, of course, the core part of the tradition. I like the idea of a monk using a longsword, and it's always bothered me that one of the longest-lasting symbols or martial conflict is not something the monk uses.

Level 3: Combat Superiority
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn maneuvers that are fueled by special dice called superiority dice.
Maneuvers. You learn three maneuvers of your choice, which are detailed under "Maneuvers" below. You must choose your maneuvers from this list or another list which states that you may. You cannot choose maneuvers from another source if it does not say you may, and others that gain combat maneuvers may not choose from this list. Many maneuvers enhance an attack in some way. You can use only one maneuver per attack.
You learn one additional maneuver of your choice at 6th, 11th, and 17th level. Each time you learn new maneuvers, you can also replace one maneuver you know with a different one.
Superiority Dice. You have five superiority dice, which are d4s. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain all of your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest.
You gain one more superiority die at 6th level and one more at 11th level and 17th level.
Saving Throws. Some of your maneuvers require your target to make a saving throw to resist the maneuver's effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:
Maneuver save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice)
This was probably one of the many strange things I did with this tradition. However, upon reading over their description carefully, it made sense that the tradition that defined itself by combat and being superior at it would, of course, gain Combat Superiority. I decided to make their Superiority Dice significantly smaller than the dice used by the Fighter path because I wanted them to use them differently, not because I didn't want them to be worse at it. More on this when I define their maneuvers and when I talk about a couple other features lower on the list.

Level 6: Duelist
You gain the Duelist Fighting Style option from the list under the Fighter class feature. You may only benefit from it while wielding a longsword.
This was my way of giving this tradition access to something like Weapon Focus, which is why I limited its use to when the monk is wielding a longsword.

Level 11: Superior Flexibility
You may expend a superiority die to regain four spent ki points. You may also expend four ki points to regain a spent superiority die. Your Superiority dice increase to d6s.
This is one of the features I mentioned earlier. This is one of the ways I wanted them to use superiority dice differently; I wanted them to be more flexible in their use. This was also purposefully designed to play well with Perfect Self, hence why this build doesn't gain the Relentless feature.

Level 17: Superior Flurry
When you use a maneuver to enhance an attack’s damage roll and spend ki points to enhance it, it applies to all damage rolls you make in a round unless you choose to use another maneuver.
This is the other feature I mentioned earlier. I made their dice smaller because, if they were larger, they would quickly break because of this feature. I decided to add this feature because, once again, I wanted this tradition to be more flexible with its maneuvers. You could decide to aim your flurry attacks at one creature to make them hurt more, or you could spread the maneuver out across more enemies.

Maneuvers
I elected not to put my thoughts under all of the maneuvers, as most of them are merely the same maneuvers the Fighter path got with additional text to let it play with this tradition more. I did, however, put them under the ones I did make. You will also note I removed some to make room for the oens I made; I will explain my reasoning for them after the list.

Disarming Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 2 ki points to expend another superiority die. If you do, you add what you roll on it to the save DC of the saving throw.

Evasive Footwork. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may spend 2 ki points to impose disadvantage on all attacks made against you during this move.

Feinting Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 3 ki points to add an additional superiority die to the damage roll.

Goading Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 2 ki points to expend another superiority die. If you do, you add what you roll on it to the save DC of the saving throw.

Graceful Fall (4th level required). When you use your reaction to slow your fall, you may expend a superiority die to further reduce the damage you take. You add the number you roll on your superiority die to your total Monk levels when determining how much you reduce the damage you would take upon landing. You may expend 2 ki points to add an additional die to the roll.
This is the first in the list to have a level requirement, which I personally saw no way around. I elected to have these abilities I added play with the features of the monk more than anything, as it's a monk, not a fighter. This was one I decided to have play with Slow Fall, allowing the character to expend resources to survive a particularly deadly fall, which a monk involved in a lot of combat might develop.

Hail of Blows. When you make an unarmed attack on your turn, you may expend a superiority die. You may make an additional number of unarmed attacks equal to half your Strength or Dexterity modifier, rounded up. They each deal damage equal to the number your rolled on your superiority die, and benefit from no other bonuses. You may expend 5 ki points to add an additional superiority die to the damage roll.
This was one I wasn't sure about initially, but ultimately decided that having its damage limited to what the superiority dice say balanced it enough to allow it.

Lunging Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 3 ki points to add an additional superiority die to the damage roll.

Menacing Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 2 ki points to expend another superiority die. If you do, you add what you roll on it to the save DC of the saving throw.

Parry. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 3 ki points to roll an additional superiority die to reduce the damage further.

Precision Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 4 ki points to add an additional superiority die to the attack roll.

Pushing Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 2 ki points to expend another superiority die. If you do, you add what you roll on it to the save DC of the saving throw.

Riposte. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 3 ki points to add an additional superiority die to the damage roll.

Saving Grace (14th level required). When you reroll a saving throw, you may expend one superiority die. You add the number rolled on the superiority die to your result. You may expend 3 ki points to roll an additional superiority die.
This is the ability with the highest level requirement, and once again traces its presence to the Broken Blade monks probably wanting to be a little more resilient than others.

Sweeping Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 3 ki points to add an additional superiority die to the damage roll.

Trip Attack. As the ability under the Fighter path, except: You may expend 2 ki points to expend another superiority die. If you do, you add what you roll on it to the save DC of the saving throw.

Why did I remove the maneuvers that I did? Well, because those maneuvers were centered on helping and aiding allies, rather than hurting enemies. That honestly didn't feel true to the idea behind the Broken Blade monk, especially since they're very often fighting the ones they'd probably call their closest allies. They're on the battlefield to hit people, not help their allies hit people.
Also, I did not reproduce the text of the original abilities so that I was in compliance with copyright.


Your thoughts? Any suggestions?

GandalfTheWhite
2016-10-24, 02:40 PM
Eh...a battlemaster monk is just about the least interesting thing you could do with them. Especially in Eberron.

PapaQuackers
2016-10-24, 02:48 PM
I really have to second that, this is like the 3rd "Sword-Saint, Virtuoso, Sublime-Way" whatever you want to call it monk. Adding Battle Master Maneuvers, even if modified, just isn't that interesting.

MisterGunpowder
2016-10-24, 03:40 PM
Eh...a battlemaster monk is just about the least interesting thing you could do with them. Especially in Eberron.


I really have to second that, this is like the 3rd "Sword-Saint, Virtuoso, Sublime-Way" whatever you want to call it monk. Adding Battle Master Maneuvers, even if modified, just isn't that interesting.

Hrrn. Well, that's concerning. I'd honestly thought that was the best way to go with expressing the idea behind the Order of the Broken Blade. Perhaps the Battle Master was the wrong place to take ideas from. The core idea I was going for here was a monk that focused entirely on combat and conflict, as per the fluff. Looking at it now, perhaps taking more inspiration from the Cleric (particularly the War domain, as would befit Dol Dorn) would've been a better idea, considering the importance of Dol Dorn to the Order. What do you think?

Grod_The_Giant
2016-10-24, 04:06 PM
I mean, I think there are a lot of Battle-Master Monk archetypes out there because it's a fitting pairing-- the focused master combatant and the closest thing 5e offers to an interesting set of options for martial characters. So it's a common idea, but not a bad one-- don't let that stop you from making your own version.

That being said, I think you can integrate them a little bit better. Monks, after all, have short-rest resources in the form of ki; I don't think there's too much need for a second resource in the form of superiority dice. It seems like the best bet would be to simply give them all ki costs, and use Wisdom . I'd remove the random bonus damage on things like Disarming Attack, though, or maybe only make it available for a second ki. And... maybe mention that they can't be combined with Flurry or Stunning Strike-- say that those two count as maneuvers, and you can only use one maneuver/attack action.

(Also note that Monk features make some of these unnecessary. Evasive Footwork is inferior in every way to Step of the Wind, for instance.)

MisterGunpowder
2016-10-24, 05:45 PM
I mean, I think there are a lot of Battle-Master Monk archetypes out there because it's a fitting pairing-- the focused master combatant and the closest thing 5e offers to an interesting set of options for martial characters. So it's a common idea, but not a bad one-- don't let that stop you from making your own version.

That being said, I think you can integrate them a little bit better. Monks, after all, have short-rest resources in the form of ki; I don't think there's too much need for a second resource in the form of superiority dice. It seems like the best bet would be to simply give them all ki costs, and use Wisdom . I'd remove the random bonus damage on things like Disarming Attack, though, or maybe only make it available for a second ki. And... maybe mention that they can't be combined with Flurry or Stunning Strike-- say that those two count as maneuvers, and you can only use one maneuver/attack action.

(Also note that Monk features make some of these unnecessary. Evasive Footwork is inferior in every way to Step of the Wind, for instance.)

Thank you for your thoughts! I decided to take them to heart and quickly put together something I feel makes use of your suggestions. Tell me what you think!

Grod_The_Giant
2016-10-24, 07:25 PM
Thank you for your thoughts! I decided to take them to heart and quickly put together something I feel makes use of your suggestions. Tell me what you think!

Strength Through Conflict worries me. None of the benefits are too strong, I don't think, but it seems tempting to pick tiny fights to prepare for the big ones, which seems wrong. It also feels more Barbarian-y than Monk-y.
Feinting attack doesn't need to cost 2 ki, I don't think; you can spend 1 ki to flurry and make a whole extra attack, after all.
Goading Attack is prohibitively expensive at 3 ki. I'd stick to the Fighter's version and drop the cost to 1.
Graceful Fall will never be worth taking.
Menacing attack could get away with costing 1 ki
Parry is... more complicated than it needs to be. Just keep it equal to Deflect Arrows, for 1 ki. (I mean, Resistance against one attack is fine at-will, as per the Rogue)
Powerful Stun is... no. It's both contrary to the core ideals of 5e, and inefficient-- you'd be better off making attempts on each attack that round. Maybe +1 ki to impose Disadvantage on the save? That works out pretty similarly to just stunning a second time.
Precision Attack seems overpriced? How about 1ki for Advantage?
Riposte... it's only 1 ki to do this with a ranged attack, seems like it shouldn't be more expensive to do with melee.
Saving Grace... well... you seem to have an idea throughout that Broken Blade Monks are "like normal Monks, but better," which I don't think is what an archetype should be. They're normal Monks with more weapon training.

MisterGunpowder
2016-10-25, 12:07 AM
Strength Through Conflict worries me. None of the benefits are too strong, I don't think, but it seems tempting to pick tiny fights to prepare for the big ones, which seems wrong. It also feels more Barbarian-y than Monk-y.
Feinting attack doesn't need to cost 2 ki, I don't think; you can spend 1 ki to flurry and make a whole extra attack, after all.
Goading Attack is prohibitively expensive at 3 ki. I'd stick to the Fighter's version and drop the cost to 1.
Graceful Fall will never be worth taking.
Menacing attack could get away with costing 1 ki
Parry is... more complicated than it needs to be. Just keep it equal to Deflect Arrows, for 1 ki. (I mean, Resistance against one attack is fine at-will, as per the Rogue)
Powerful Stun is... no. It's both contrary to the core ideals of 5e, and inefficient-- you'd be better off making attempts on each attack that round. Maybe +1 ki to impose Disadvantage on the save? That works out pretty similarly to just stunning a second time.
Precision Attack seems overpriced? How about 1ki for Advantage?
Riposte... it's only 1 ki to do this with a ranged attack, seems like it shouldn't be more expensive to do with melee.
Saving Grace... well... you seem to have an idea throughout that Broken Blade Monks are "like normal Monks, but better," which I don't think is what an archetype should be. They're normal Monks with more weapon training.


Oops. I actually meant to remove Powerful Stun, Graceful Fall, and Saving Grace in the last edit. I thought I'd replaced them with new stuff. Sorry! I realized that was a mistake after looking over it more, and realized that I'd made those maneuvers simply because I was stripping some out.
I decided to adjust ki costs accordingly, as the things pointed out made sense. However, one thing I elected merely to tweak a little was Precision Attack, as making it a 1 ki maneuver that just granted advantage was just Feinting Attack, which I didn't want as that would've basically meant stripping it out. Instead, I just bumped its cost down to 3 for a +10 to an attack roll. Will probably adjust more.
Most importantly, I elected to add an additional restriction to Strength Through Conflict by having its benefits only granted when the battle was against an equal or stronger foe, which I felt more strongly represented their desire to display their skill rather than their power, and prevents them from picking tiny fights to prepare for big ones. The idea was for those benefits to help in the smaller fights after a big one, not the other way around.
Additionally, I decided to add more unique maneuvers to replace the ones that were taken out, and elected to go for two maneuvers centered around using a weapon. Tell me what you think.