Monastic Tradition: Way of the Cosmic Chord (PEACH, naturally)

[lodger]

I'm looking for feedback and balancing help here:

This is a monk tradition that I started thinking about after reading the Zhuangzi. I was inspired by the philosophical take on music and harmony, and thought it would be a cool idea to build a tradition around. My major complaint about most Monk traditions is that they rarely provide room for variation within each subclass. I wanted this tradition to offer more flexibility without replicating the problems with the 4 Elements subclass. So, I built it on the Totem Warrior chassis, giving options at each benchmark that would hopefully be flavorful while either making the monk better at their core functions or expanding their noncombat abilities.

Biggest concern: Is the central feature (Resonant Perception) balanced? I'm a bit worried about scaling and duration. Would a flat duration (until the end of your next turn) be better than increasing with levels (either per level or per 2 levels)?

In any case, and without further ado: The Way of the Cosmic Chord

homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rJWFYJjP8f

[JNAProductions]

Rensheng is way too good for 4 Ki. For reference, a level 20 Monk can dish out 44d10 damage, requiring only one turn of prep.

Overall, seems mostly okay, though. A little finicky for my tastes, but not unbalanced.

[lodger]

Hmm... That's a good point. Two potential options to rein in the power level.


1. Make the 17th level powers require a Short Rest between uses? Or a Long Rest, for that matter?

2. Rephrase the first sentence: "When you hit the living target of your Resonant Perception with an unarmed strike, you can spend 4 Ki Points and end the Perception to overwhelm your target's mind with the secret of universal harmony."

Would one of those work?

[lodger]

The Actual Version 2.0:

Not the half-finished one I posted 15 minutes ago.

Now featuring:

More Exciting 6th Level Choices
Limits on use for the 17th Level powers.
Formatting Fixes



http homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/By4PmjxDG