Monk - Way of the Predator - PEACH

[nickl_2000]

A monk class designed around learning the ways of the hunters and predators. After I wrote it, I realized that it really seems pretty appropriate for the Spiderman villain Kraven the Hunter. Let me know what you think. Is it boring? Is it overpowered? Underpowered? Thank you!

Home brewery link http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rJcjvze_X


Text for anyone not wanting to go to Home brewery.

Monk - Way of the Predator
Monks of that Way of the Predator do not have a monastic building. They survive in the wilds, meeting twice a year at conclaves to elect new leaders, settle disputes, and decide the direction of the order.

A new initiate is assigned to a master in the Way of the Predator, who acts as their mentor and teacher. The relationship between the master and learner is one that last the rest of their lives, both being able to call on the other for assistance and help in times of troubles.

The order requires that all member learn to be self-sufficient and survive outdoors in the harshest conditions. For a member to become a Master, they must survive a trial where they are left naked, unprepared, and alone in a harsh environment (this is often deserts, frozen tundras, mountain tops, or infested marshland). After surviving on their own for 6 months, they must make their way to the next conclave. When they do, they are welcomed into the order as a master with full voting rights.

Form of the Hunter
At level 3, you learn the form of the hunter. Members of the Way of the Predator are skilled at improvisation. They gain proficiency with the use of improvised weapons and they are considered monk weapons. Improvised weapons also gain the thrown property with a range of 25/50.

Additionally, they are able to create clothing and attire to protect them from the harshest natural conditions. A Monk of the Way of the Predator, can use plants, animals skins, and other things in nature to create environmentally appropriate clothing (winter gear in cold weather, protection from the sun and heat in deserts, etc).

Finally, You may now spend 2 Ki points to be able to cast Ensnaring Strike, Hunter’s Mark, Snare, or Zephyr Strike. These are cast as spells, require concentration, and use wisdom as your casting stat. Ensnaring Strike and Hunter's Mark abilities are applied to unarmed strikes as well as melee attacks for the purpose of this subclass.


Mastery of the Form of the Hunter
At level 6, you master the form of the hunter. You gain proficiency in nature and survival. You may also spend 1 ki to give yourself advantage on a skill check from one of these skills.

Additionally, you may now spend 4 ki to Hunter’s Mark or Ensnaring Strike as a 3rd level spell instead.


Mastery of the Form of the Panther
At level 11, your have mastered the form of the panther. In addition to your ability to run up walls and over water, you gain the ability to leap between trees like a panther. You are considered always under the effect of the jump spell (without needing to maintain concentration).

Your inner focus on the form of the panther focuses your senses, giving you advantage on Wisdom (perception) checks that rely on smell.

Additionally, when you move 20 feet towards a target and hit with a monk weapon or unarmed strike you may choose to make them make a strength save or be knocked prone.


Mastery of the Form of the Wolf
At level 17, you have mastered the form of the wolf. You gain the pack tactics feature, giving you advantage on an attack rolls against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 ft. of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.







Monk - Way of the Predator
Monks of that Way of the Predator do not have a monastery building. They survive in the wilds, meeting twice a year at conclaves to elect new leaders, settle disputes, and decide the direction of the order.
A new initiate is assigned to a master in the Way of the Predator, who acts as their mentor and teacher. The relationship between the master and learner in one that last the rest of their lives, both being able to call on the other for assistance and help in times of troubles.
The order requires that all member learn to be self-sufficient and survive outdoors in the harshest conditions. For a member to become a Master, they must survive a trial where they are left naked, unprepared, and alone in a desert or snow covered mountain. After surviving on their own for 6 months, they must make their way to the next conclave. When they do, they are welcomed into the order as a master.


Form of the Hunter
At level 3, you learn the form of the hunter. Members of the Way of the Predator are skilled at improvisation in nature. Any improvised weapons found in nature are considered monk weapons for you (this includes thrown rocks and acorns, improvised clubs and spears, whips made of vine and thorns, and other weapons at DM discretion).
Additionally, they are able to create clothing and attire to protect them from the harshest natural conditions. A monk of the Way of the Predator, can use plants, animals skins, and other things in nature to create environmentally appropriate conditions (winter gear in cold weather, protection from the sun and heat in deserts, etc).
Finally, You may now spend 2 Ki points to be able to cast Ensnaring Strike, Hunter’s Mark, or Snare.


Form of the Hunter Mastery
At level 6, you master the form of the hunter. You gain proficiency in nature and survival. You may also spend 1 ki to give yourself advantage on a skill check from one of these skills.
Additionally, you may now spend 4 ki to Hunter’s Mark or Ensnaring Strike as a 3rd level spell instead.


Form of the Panther Mastery
At level 11, your have mastered the form of the panther. In addition to your ability to run up walls and over water, you gain the ability to leap between trees like a panther. You are considered always under the effect of the jump spell (without needing to maintain concentration).
Additionally, when you move 20 feet towards a target and hit with a monk weapon, you may choose to make them make a strength save or be knocked prone.


Form of the Wolf Mastery
At level 17, you have mastered the form of the wolf. You gain the pack tactics feature, giving you advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 ft. of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.

[Man_Over_Game]

I really enjoy the flavor of this homebrew. Mechanically, it's very well done. There are a few things that I think need to be tweaked, though.

Notably, the level 3 feature might as well be "You are proficient in improvised weapons", "You get some RP abilities", "You get some low-level spells". There's a few issues here. First, the improvised weapons don't help in almost any regard. There's not much reason I wouldn't still be using a quarterstaff and my fists. I would say that you are proficient in improvised weapons, and improvised weapons are now included as monk weapons and can be used any time you could make an unarmed strike. You can handle improvised weapons in a way so they can have either the Reach or Thrown (20/40 range) property, but doing so causes the item to break after use. You can spend an action to find three items in this manner, but the DM may choose what traits they have.

The other issue I saw was that the 3 spells you included require bonus actions to utilize, and some require concentration to maintain. This might be intentional, and with my suggestion above, I would say they should be, but with how they are right now with the lesser improvised weapon rules that you have listed, the cost of the bonus action is pretty hefty for the Monk.

The level 17 feature seems fairly balanced compared to what other subclasses get. The perma-jump is cool, but I'd ditch the knocking-prone feature without a resource associated with it.

The one main thing I see is that it doesn't get any kind of defensive bonuses to stay in combat, doubled with the fact that it has concentration spells. Maybe there can be a clause in there where using the Dodge action might be doable (such as, when you take the Dodge or Disengage action, you may use your Bonus action to make an unarmed strike [which would mean it's also eligible for an improvised weapon attack with my suggestion])

[nickl_2000]

I really enjoy the flavor of this homebrew. Mechanically, it's very well done. There are a few things that I think need to be tweaked, though.


First, thanks for digging through the archives to give some comments on this. I really liked the idea of the class and appreciate the feedback.




Notably, the level 3 feature might as well be "You are proficient in improvised weapons", "You get some RP abilities", "You get some low-level spells".


This was actually the intent. The improvised weapons and the RP abilities are mostly fluff. The main thing you get is Hunters Mark and Ensnaring strike. For a Monk to be able to add 1d6 to each attack they make can be a huge boon. On that second round you can easily drop 4 attacks, each one doing 2d6+dex. I didn't really want to give a hug



There's a few issues here. First, the improvised weapons don't help in almost any regard. There's not much reason I wouldn't still be using a quarterstaff and my fists. I would say that you are proficient in improvised weapons, and improvised weapons are now included as monk weapons and can be used any time you could make an unarmed strike. You can handle improvised weapons in a way so they can have either the Reach or Thrown (20/40 range) property, but doing so causes the item to break after use. You can spend an action to find three items in this manner, but the DM may choose what traits they have.
The improvised weapons were an intended to be more fluff than anything else. A survivalist has the ability to pick up anything in the woods and use it to it's best ability, hence why you have it. However, I like the idea of giving them the thrown ability. That does add something that a monk doesn't get as much.




The other issue I saw was that the 3 spells you included require bonus actions to utilize, and some require concentration to maintain. This might be intentional, and with my suggestion above, I would say they should be, but with how they are right now with the lesser improvised weapon rules that you have listed, the cost of the bonus action is pretty hefty for the Monk.


Of the three spells that you get, both hunter's mark and ensnaring strike require concentration and use a bonus action. I agree that this is a hefty price to pay, however that is the intent. Hunter's Mark make a huge difference in the amount of damage a monk can drop over an encounter. Especially if you start using flurry of blows in that second round. Against enemies that are bag of HP you can drop that down in a hurry. Also, Hunter's Mark's secondary tracking ability is to flavorful not to have in this subclass.




The level 17 feature seems fairly balanced compared to what other subclasses get. The perma-jump is cool, but I'd ditch the knocking-prone feature without a resource associated with it.

I made it require 1 ki to do it. That puts it as significantly less powerful than the open hand ability though, so I will add another fluff type ability in there to add a little more power.





The one main thing I see is that it doesn't get any kind of defensive bonuses to stay in combat, doubled with the fact that it has concentration spells. Maybe there can be a clause in there where using the Dodge action might be doable (such as, when you take the Dodge or Disengage action, you may use your Bonus action to make an unarmed strike [which would mean it's also eligible for an improvised weapon attack with my suggestion])

This is partially intentional due to the fluff of the class. It makes sense in my mind canon that a forest predator would be striking, then getting out. Especially when it is a pack hunter like a wolf. However, I did add the Zephyr strike spell to the third level list. That fits into the predator style of the class, getting in an out of combat quickly, getting additional movement, and adds some extra damage while you are at it.




Thanks for everything. I've update the homebrewery page and the initial post with some touch up and modifications based on your comments.

[Man_Over_Game]

I can definitely dig these changes. Very well done. I especially like the use of Zephyr Strike. It's a cool spell that rarely gets notice. I also kinda take back what I said about the jumping-prone effect. 20 feet of movement, spammed, is pretty hard to pull off consistently. You could probably make it resourceless, and it'd either require the player to create an attack of opportunity (to move far enough away) or some kind of resource to increase movement enough to pull it off multiple times.

After thinking about it, I think the key thing to take from this is to think about why someone would pick this monk archetype rather than multiclassing into Ranger. I think this does a good enough job of keeping them separate, though.

[nickl_2000]

After thinking about it, I think the key thing to take from this is to think about why someone would pick this monk archetype rather than multiclassing into Ranger. I think this does a good enough job of keeping them separate, though.

Yup, there is always some worry about that when you are borrowing other class concepts for a different class. There is a reason I completely avoid favored terrain, favored enemies, and fighting styles as those as pretty sacred to rangers.