Egeslean
2018-08-04, 09:47 AM
Hello everyone! So I've lurked around this site quite often, looking at various 3.x and Pathfinder threads on numerous topics, and ya'll seem quite helpful and knowledgeable. I'm hoping you guys can help with with a few feats I've come up with for monk's (built with Unchained Monks in mind, but should work with both versions).
Since the UMonk cannot use most of the monk archetypes, it cannot take MoMS (while other classes are free to do so), and the only other way to use two styles at once is pretty annoying and limiting ( 1) Martial Focus, 2) Weapon Style Mastery, (optional but useful 3) Combat Style Mastery), I wanted to make it a bit easier and more useful for a monk.
Martial Focus (Combat)
You have honed your skills with a group of related weapons.
Prerequisite(s): Base attack bonus +5.
Benefit(s): Choose one fighter weapon group. While wielding a weapon from this group with which you are proficient, you gain a +1 bonus on damage rolls.
Special: The Martial Focus feat counts as the weapon training class feature with the chosen fighter weapon group for the purpose of weapon mastery feat prerequisites and what weapons you can use with weapon mastery feats.
Weapon Style Mastery (Style, Weapon Mastery)
You can combine multiple fighting styles together.
Prerequisite(s): Any two style feats from different styles, base attack bonus +6, weapon training class feature with a melee weapon.
Benefit(s): Choose one weapon style (a style feat that lists Weapon Focus as a prerequisite) that you have.
You can have the chosen style and a second style active at once. Starting a stance provided by a style feat is still a swift action, but you can assume both the chosen weapon style’s stance and another style’s stance simultaneously using this action.
This ability doesn’t stack with other abilities that allow you to have multiple styles active at the same time.
Normal: You can have only one style active at once.
Combat Style Master (Combat)
You shift between combat styles, combining them to increased effect.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, two or more style feats, base attack bonus +6 or monk level 5th.
Benefit: You can switch your style as a free action. At the start of combat, pick one of your styles. You start the combat in that style, even in the surprise round.
Normal: It takes a swift action to begin or switch your styles.
Style Adept
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, two or more style feats, Monk level 4th.
Benefits: You can switch your styles as a free action. At the start of combat, pick one of your styles. You start the combat in that style, even in a surprise round.
Normal: It takes a swift action to begin or switch styles.
Special: Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat. A monk may select this as a bonus feat at 6th level.
Style Mastery
Prerequisites: Style Adept, Monk level 6th.
Benefits: Choose one style that you have. You can have the chosen style and a second style active at once. At the start of combat, you start the combat in your chosen style and one other style, even in a surprise round.
Normal: You can only have one style active at once.
Special: At monk level 12th, you can have your chosen style and two other styles, for a total of three, active at once. Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat. A monk may select this as a bonus feat at 10th level.
As for the Style, it only affects unarmed monks, it doesn't increase damage die or add damage dice (in face it reduces damage die), but it does address another issue that unarmed monks face: The lack of criticals and flurry of misses.
Black-Foot Style
(Why this name? Because Black-footed cats are one of the most successful hunters, and I like them XD )
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Flurry of Blows, Monk level 4th.
Benefit: While in this style, you gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls while using an unarmed strike. This bonus increases by +1 at Monk level 8th and every four Monk levels thereafter, to a maximum of +5 at Monk level 20th. You deal unarmed damage as if you were 2 Monk levels lower than you are.
Special: A monk may select this as a bonus feat. Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat.
Black-Foot Strikes
Prerequisites: Black-Foot Style, Weapon Focus (unarmed), Monk level 8th.
Benefits: When you successfully hit a foe on your turn with an unarmed strike, your next unarmed strike has its critical threat range increased by +1 (19-20). Each additional successful unarmed strike during your round further increases the threat range by +1, to a maximum threat range of 15-20. This increased threat range lasts until the beginning of your next turn. If one of your attacks misses, you lose any threat range increase from this feat until you make another successful hit against a foe, at which point it begins increasing as normal.
Special: If you have a feat or ability that increases the threat range of your unarmed strike, these do not stack, you use the highest bonus. A monk may select this as a bonus feat at 6th level. Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat.
Black-Foot Mastery
Prerequisites: Black-Foot Style, Black-Foot Strikes, Weapon Focus (unarmed), Monk level 12th.
Benefits: The critical multiplier for your unarmed strikes increases to x3. When you confirm a critical hit against an enemy or reduce an enemy to 0 or fewer hit points, immediately after the attack is resolved, you may move up to your speed or half of your fast movement bonus, whichever is higher. This movement does not require an additional action. If the critically hit enemy is not incapacitated or dead when the monk moves, it cannot make an attack of opportunity against the monk for this movement. This movement can be in any direction available, including upwards even if the monk does not have an ability or item that grants a fly speed.
Special: If you have a feat or ability that increases the critical multiplier of your unarmed strike, these abilities do not stack, you use the highest bonus. A monk may select this as a bonus feat at 10th level. Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat.
All other characters can take a 1 level dip into MoMS and gain Weapon Style Mastery (worth 1-2 feats). That's something the Unchained Monk cannot do (well, no monk can dip into another version of itself).
'I'd just allow an Unchained Monk to take the archetype'
I would to, but the problem with that is that it leaves them with a now useless class ability: Style Strike. Everyman Unchained Monk Archetypes does rework the MoMS to fix this though, so that is an option. I personally have issues with the archetype (any version of it).
Specifically you're giving up flurry and all other bonus feats to gain the ability to fuse up to 5 styles, BUT you don't gain any more bonus feats and to make a lot of those styles worth it, you have to invest 2-3 feat in each. So in the end you'll be spending upwards of 15 feats just to make the archetype really worth it. To me that is to high a price to give up Flurry and doesn't really seem balanced.
Which is why I made the two monk only feats which allow the fusing of up to 3, which would be a possible investment of 9 feats (which you aren't giving up anything besides those feat slots), and you get the free action style switching capstone ability of the MoMS archetype. 20th level for being able to switch styles as a free action is stupid late when the same thing could be gained from the Combat Style Master at level 5/6.
To me, the two monk only feats seem balanced enough.
The style feats I created don't give extra damage die like Jabbing Style or Boar Style and aren't as dynamic as Crane Style, I do want them to be balanced compared to the (good) Styles.
What about you guys? Is there confusing wording or parts that could be cleared up? Balance issues?
Since the UMonk cannot use most of the monk archetypes, it cannot take MoMS (while other classes are free to do so), and the only other way to use two styles at once is pretty annoying and limiting ( 1) Martial Focus, 2) Weapon Style Mastery, (optional but useful 3) Combat Style Mastery), I wanted to make it a bit easier and more useful for a monk.
Martial Focus (Combat)
You have honed your skills with a group of related weapons.
Prerequisite(s): Base attack bonus +5.
Benefit(s): Choose one fighter weapon group. While wielding a weapon from this group with which you are proficient, you gain a +1 bonus on damage rolls.
Special: The Martial Focus feat counts as the weapon training class feature with the chosen fighter weapon group for the purpose of weapon mastery feat prerequisites and what weapons you can use with weapon mastery feats.
Weapon Style Mastery (Style, Weapon Mastery)
You can combine multiple fighting styles together.
Prerequisite(s): Any two style feats from different styles, base attack bonus +6, weapon training class feature with a melee weapon.
Benefit(s): Choose one weapon style (a style feat that lists Weapon Focus as a prerequisite) that you have.
You can have the chosen style and a second style active at once. Starting a stance provided by a style feat is still a swift action, but you can assume both the chosen weapon style’s stance and another style’s stance simultaneously using this action.
This ability doesn’t stack with other abilities that allow you to have multiple styles active at the same time.
Normal: You can have only one style active at once.
Combat Style Master (Combat)
You shift between combat styles, combining them to increased effect.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, two or more style feats, base attack bonus +6 or monk level 5th.
Benefit: You can switch your style as a free action. At the start of combat, pick one of your styles. You start the combat in that style, even in the surprise round.
Normal: It takes a swift action to begin or switch your styles.
Style Adept
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, two or more style feats, Monk level 4th.
Benefits: You can switch your styles as a free action. At the start of combat, pick one of your styles. You start the combat in that style, even in a surprise round.
Normal: It takes a swift action to begin or switch styles.
Special: Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat. A monk may select this as a bonus feat at 6th level.
Style Mastery
Prerequisites: Style Adept, Monk level 6th.
Benefits: Choose one style that you have. You can have the chosen style and a second style active at once. At the start of combat, you start the combat in your chosen style and one other style, even in a surprise round.
Normal: You can only have one style active at once.
Special: At monk level 12th, you can have your chosen style and two other styles, for a total of three, active at once. Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat. A monk may select this as a bonus feat at 10th level.
As for the Style, it only affects unarmed monks, it doesn't increase damage die or add damage dice (in face it reduces damage die), but it does address another issue that unarmed monks face: The lack of criticals and flurry of misses.
Black-Foot Style
(Why this name? Because Black-footed cats are one of the most successful hunters, and I like them XD )
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Flurry of Blows, Monk level 4th.
Benefit: While in this style, you gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls while using an unarmed strike. This bonus increases by +1 at Monk level 8th and every four Monk levels thereafter, to a maximum of +5 at Monk level 20th. You deal unarmed damage as if you were 2 Monk levels lower than you are.
Special: A monk may select this as a bonus feat. Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat.
Black-Foot Strikes
Prerequisites: Black-Foot Style, Weapon Focus (unarmed), Monk level 8th.
Benefits: When you successfully hit a foe on your turn with an unarmed strike, your next unarmed strike has its critical threat range increased by +1 (19-20). Each additional successful unarmed strike during your round further increases the threat range by +1, to a maximum threat range of 15-20. This increased threat range lasts until the beginning of your next turn. If one of your attacks misses, you lose any threat range increase from this feat until you make another successful hit against a foe, at which point it begins increasing as normal.
Special: If you have a feat or ability that increases the threat range of your unarmed strike, these do not stack, you use the highest bonus. A monk may select this as a bonus feat at 6th level. Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat.
Black-Foot Mastery
Prerequisites: Black-Foot Style, Black-Foot Strikes, Weapon Focus (unarmed), Monk level 12th.
Benefits: The critical multiplier for your unarmed strikes increases to x3. When you confirm a critical hit against an enemy or reduce an enemy to 0 or fewer hit points, immediately after the attack is resolved, you may move up to your speed or half of your fast movement bonus, whichever is higher. This movement does not require an additional action. If the critically hit enemy is not incapacitated or dead when the monk moves, it cannot make an attack of opportunity against the monk for this movement. This movement can be in any direction available, including upwards even if the monk does not have an ability or item that grants a fly speed.
Special: If you have a feat or ability that increases the critical multiplier of your unarmed strike, these abilities do not stack, you use the highest bonus. A monk may select this as a bonus feat at 10th level. Only monks may select this feat, sudo-monk or ‘as a monk of your level’ classes or abilities do not qualify for this feat.
All other characters can take a 1 level dip into MoMS and gain Weapon Style Mastery (worth 1-2 feats). That's something the Unchained Monk cannot do (well, no monk can dip into another version of itself).
'I'd just allow an Unchained Monk to take the archetype'
I would to, but the problem with that is that it leaves them with a now useless class ability: Style Strike. Everyman Unchained Monk Archetypes does rework the MoMS to fix this though, so that is an option. I personally have issues with the archetype (any version of it).
Specifically you're giving up flurry and all other bonus feats to gain the ability to fuse up to 5 styles, BUT you don't gain any more bonus feats and to make a lot of those styles worth it, you have to invest 2-3 feat in each. So in the end you'll be spending upwards of 15 feats just to make the archetype really worth it. To me that is to high a price to give up Flurry and doesn't really seem balanced.
Which is why I made the two monk only feats which allow the fusing of up to 3, which would be a possible investment of 9 feats (which you aren't giving up anything besides those feat slots), and you get the free action style switching capstone ability of the MoMS archetype. 20th level for being able to switch styles as a free action is stupid late when the same thing could be gained from the Combat Style Master at level 5/6.
To me, the two monk only feats seem balanced enough.
The style feats I created don't give extra damage die like Jabbing Style or Boar Style and aren't as dynamic as Crane Style, I do want them to be balanced compared to the (good) Styles.
What about you guys? Is there confusing wording or parts that could be cleared up? Balance issues?