New Monk Subclass V2

[Name2020]

Hello this is my second version of the Monk I made for my friend who is a JoJo's fan. It is in its second iteration so I would like to see what people think of it. I want to stress that this is a WIP and is not supposed to be directly tied to the JoJo Stands of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Manifest Stand:

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain the ability to form a Stand, allowing you to use you soul as a ally in combat. This thing is your bread and butter ability so read thoroughly. Stand statblock will be finished in a later version of the Subclass.

Upon gaining this feature you can use a minimum 2 Ki points to summon your Stand.

You can also use more Ki points to give your Stand Extra Attacks, more Hit Points, higher AC, and bonuses to Damage and Attack Rolls.

In addition your Stand gains additional abilities and features at levels 6, 11, and 17.

Your Stand:

Your Stand acts as its own entity. Having an initiative and being able to attack or use abilities during its turn. You cannot have more than one Stand out at a time. While your Stand is Manifested it counts as Concentration. If dispelled through a failed concentration save, you restore half the Ki points you spent. Your Concentration Check is versus your Monk’s DC and is Wisdom-based. Your Stand cannot be dispelled by anything except failing a Concentration Check or your Stand dying. Finishing a long rest dispels your Stand and gives you all your Ki points back plus half you used to summon your Stand last time.

Summoning Bonuses:

Summoning your Stand with more Ki Points allows for more bonuses

AC Bonuses: Spend 1 Ki point to bump up your Stand’s AC by 1 up to 5.
Hit Point Bonuses: Spend 2 Ki points to add 15 HP to your Stand up to 75
Attack and Damage Bonuses: Spend 1 Ki Point to add a +1 to all damage and attack rolls up to +10
Extra Attack Bonuses: Spend 2 Ki Points to give your Stand an Extra Attack up to 5

Stand Improvements:

At level 6, 11, and 17 your Stand gets a Stand improvement. Stand Improvements are helpful bonuses that increase your Stand’s effectiveness in combat. Your Stand, at level 6, chooses between the Iron Soul, Combative Soul, and Bound Soul skill line. Each of these skill lines has a different effect on your Stand and changes the way it approaches combat.

Iron Soul:
6th Level: Your Stand is resistant to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage from non-magical weapons.
11th Level: Your Stand becomes resistant to whatever attacked it last. Stacking with its 6th Level ability.
17th Level: Your Stand can teleport up to 30 ft. away to someone whenever they get hit by an attack reducing the damage that person takes by half and takes the other half of the damage. If you get hit your stand can teleport to you and both you and your stand take no damage. It can do this 10 times per time it is summoned.

Combative Soul:
6th Level: Your Stand’s punches become magical to overcome resistances
11th Level: Your Stand can infuse its punches with spiritual essence, doing an extra d12 of force damage
17th Level: Your Stand Crits whenever its goes 10 over the targets AC when it rolls to attack

Bound Soul:
6th Level: You take half damage when your Stand gets hit.
11th Level: When you cast a Ki Ability your Stand can do the same.
17th Level: You can combine with your stand for 10 minutes to gain all its Summoning Bonuses, 50 extra HP (Stacking with Summoning Bonuses), a +5 to damage and attack rolls (stacking with Summoning Bonuses), 5 extra Ki Points, and resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage from non-magical weapons. It can do this 5 times per time it is summoned.

[samcifer]

Ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-ooh-rah-rah!

[Citan]

Hello this is my second version of the Monk I made for my friend who is a JoJo's fan. It is in its second iteration so I would like to see what people think of it. I want to stress that this is a WIP and is not supposed to be directly tied to the JoJo Stands of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Manifest Stand:

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain the ability to form a Stand, allowing you to use you soul as a ally in combat. This thing is your bread and butter ability so read thoroughly. Stand statblock will be finished in a later version of the Subclass.

Upon gaining this feature you can use a minimum 2 Ki points to summon your Stand.

You can also use more Ki points to give your Stand Extra Attacks, more Hit Points, higher AC, and bonuses to Damage and Attack Rolls.

In addition your Stand gains additional abilities and features at levels 6, 11, and 17.

Your Stand:

Your Stand acts as its own entity. Having an initiative and being able to attack or use abilities during its turn. You cannot have more than one Stand out at a time. While your Stand is Manifested it counts as Concentration. If dispelled through a failed concentration save, you restore half the Ki points you spent. Your Concentration Check is versus your Monk’s DC and is Wisdom-based. Your Stand cannot be dispelled by anything except failing a Concentration Check or your Stand dying. Finishing a long rest dispels your Stand and gives you all your Ki points back plus half you used to summon your Stand last time.

Summoning Bonuses:

Summoning your Stand with more Ki Points allows for more bonuses

AC Bonuses: Spend 1 Ki point to bump up your Stand’s AC by 1 up to 5.
Hit Point Bonuses: Spend 2 Ki points to add 15 HP to your Stand up to 75
Attack and Damage Bonuses: Spend 1 Ki Point to add a +1 to all damage and attack rolls up to +10
Extra Attack Bonuses: Spend 2 Ki Points to give your Stand an Extra Attack up to 5

Stand Improvements:

At level 6, 11, and 17 your Stand gets a Stand improvement. Stand Improvements are helpful bonuses that increase your Stand’s effectiveness in combat. Your Stand, at level 6, chooses between the Iron Soul, Combative Soul, and Bound Soul skill line. Each of these skill lines has a different effect on your Stand and changes the way it approaches combat.

Iron Soul:
6th Level: Your Stand is resistant to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage from non-magical weapons.
11th Level: Your Stand becomes resistant to whatever attacked it last. Stacking with its 6th Level ability.
17th Level: Your Stand can teleport up to 30 ft. away to someone whenever they get hit by an attack reducing the damage that person takes by half and takes the other half of the damage. If you get hit your stand can teleport to you and both you and your stand take no damage. It can do this 10 times per time it is summoned.

Combative Soul:
6th Level: Your Stand’s punches become magical to overcome resistances
11th Level: Your Stand can infuse its punches with spiritual essence, doing an extra d12 of force damage
17th Level: Your Stand Crits whenever its goes 10 over the targets AC when it rolls to attack

Bound Soul:
6th Level: You take half damage when your Stand gets hit.
11th Level: When you cast a Ki Ability your Stand can do the same.
17th Level: You can combine with your stand for 10 minutes to gain all its Summoning Bonuses, 50 extra HP (Stacking with Summoning Bonuses), a +5 to damage and attack rolls (stacking with Summoning Bonuses), 5 extra Ki Points, and resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage from non-magical weapons. It can do this 5 times per time it is summoned.
Hey again ;)
First, small note: not sure that you needed a new thread, you could also have edited your other to "spoiler" the v1 (if you end doing that, don't worry about my post I can copy/paste it ;)). Anyways...

Before I start, small but essential disclaimer: any and everything I write here are critics in the context of "making homebrew work nicely in a standard game" (or be at least reusable without too much hassle). If this homebrew is just for a one-shot, or just for your personal use only (not even friends), and you trust your players to be smart and constructive (I do hope otherwise you may have problems sometimes ^^)...
You can safely skip my own post if you don't care about balance (although it would be a shame imo, obviously ^^). It's your game, so you can always adjust and adapt on the fly if experience proves something is overpowered.

I find this overall much better: easier to understand, not too much bookkeeping.
I'm just not sure I understand as intended the "regain all ki + half spent on long rest": is it supposed to allow Monk to have above 20 ki when starting his day?
(Not necessarily a problem, just want to be clear).

My other question is that "concentration check" notion: I just didn't get my head around the idea behind.

Other possible ambiguities and rewrite suggestion, as well as balance concern.
Iron Soul 11
"in addition to the previous resistance, whenever your Stand suffers some damage, it gains resistance against that type of damage. That resistance lasts until your Stand suffers damage from another type or is dispelled. In case a particular damage instance mixes several types, you can choose the type triggering that feature."
-> IMO clearer on the concept, anticipates spells or abilities that deal several kind of damage, while giving player option to either keep "active" one or change in that particular situation.

Iron Soul 17
My understanding is that Stand can be used as a cushion to help allies (or yourself).
I'll be honest: this goes from slightly above curve to plain overpowered.
"help ally":
this is pretty honest, but it should cost something: especially since, unless I'm mistaken, Stand acts on own turn but does not have a conscience, it's still "main char" giving orders.
It should at the very least use your reaction.
Also, 10 times may be too much imo, although you did restrict to "attacks" some big nasty spells are attacks: consider Cleric's Light "disadvantage", only WIS mod. Nature Cleric works "for free" but only on one kind of elemental damage. Yours can affect any mix of damage.
I'd suggest...
"when a creature within 30 feet of your Stand is hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to interpose your Stand: it immediately teleports between that creature and its attacker, into a free space within 5 feet of the creature you protect. If the creature is willing, Stand can take its place and push it back 5 feet away from the attacker. If neither of those options is possible, your Stand immediately comes back to its original position.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier, and you regain all uses when you finish a long rest.
-> Still good since you can decide once hit (so keep for crits ;)) and can affect any kind of damage.
-> Uses toned down to WIS to make its use a thoughtful choice.
-> Added utility to compensate while credibilizing the move and ensuring it's clear on positioning mechanics: you can now "force a Disengage" from a melee attacker while also creating threat on him if it's only a 5feet guy, or you can keep Stand in front to create cover against ranged ones. However, you still cannot do anything for the friend that is completely surrounded or trap into a pit corner.

Combative Soul
lvl 6: just copy the wording of Monk's level 6. Less work for you, More intuitivity for everyone. :)
lvl 17: clear enough for understanding but possibly not precise enough.
I'd suggest:
"Whenever the attack roll of your Stand is at least 10 points above its target's AC, this attack becomes a critical hit."
Also... As is, it's already very good: it's basically "kill creatures you would be crushing anyways twice as fast". Seems not a big deal, and in some cases it would not be. But in the long run, it will make a huge difference very often because of action economy.
So pair that with the "spend Ki to add attack bonuses up to +10"? Obviously it depends on final base stat blocks, but I'd expect your Stand to at least follow proficiency. With a +10 it could mean 16 *before roll*. It's not a Stand it's Superman. Barbarians will put their hammers on hold and watch you from afar.
And pair that with Extra Attack (which is another matter in itself)? Fighter will join Barbarian in drinking bear while comfortably laying their feets on the skull of the first enemy you slayed.
It's really those "Ki-buffs" that are the problem though. Within normal power curve, this feature should be fine balance wise. Just making you the "über small fry cleaner". XD


Bound Soul

lvl 6: you probably didn't notice, but as written it's a plain curse: you just take half damage in addition to Stand taking full damage. XD
It's obvious you wanted to replicate a benefit similar to Warding Bond. So I'd say something like "you and your Stand are permanently subjects of effects identical to a Warding Bond spell."
Or copy/paste WB text and adapt simply to say that it's permanent as long as you and Stand are within 60 feet of each other.
-> Easier for you, more intuitive for everyone, and you also embrace limitations made by people that have thought about balance something like 100* times longer than you and me combined. :)

lvl 11: wording is crude, but I have to admit I have no suggestion for alternative on this one. Since it's clear enough (in short you can mentally order Stand to replicate whatever Ki-based ability you used on your turn... Oh wait! This is the alternative ^^)

lvl 17:... ... Ahem, is it Christmas already? Yikes, this is broken as is, and you could do this 5 times per long rest? Paladins and Barbarians are gonna cry in their home.
Seriously. Either gain Summoning bonuses, are flat bonus, not *both*. And make it once per long rest (if you're wondering why I'm so adamant on nerfing, go read Paladin's capstones then compare with "best case" of your current writing). ^^
Or make it dispel Stand automatically when fusion ends, which is less restrictive but may be enough.

Summoning bonuses

I now understand why you talked about a "refund +" on a long rest. XD
As an exception to what I said above, I really think you should take this piece of advice and heavily tone down everything.
Not only with that high scale can the Stand completely overshadow every martial (including yourself which is the funniest part) if you pour every ki into it at any level, but the fact you regain half ki used on previous summon means, in practice, you can get "maximum power Stand" every day.

Example with a lvl 5 Monk: you started with a 3 Ki, bumping HP. Next day, you regain Ki + "1/2*3 so you have 4. Now you can summon it with 30 HP, take a short rest and start your day.
Next day you regain 3+(4/2) = 5. Now you can summon it with 15HP and Extra Attack, take a short rest and start your day.
Etc etc...
So basically a lvl 3 Monk just spending a month meditating on his Stand can have an ally with 4*attacks in an action, more HP than the sum of an average lvl 3 party, and twice the offensive stats of the most optimized martial.

Well, Monks are enough to save the world now. XD

I would strongly suggest the following.
First, the obvious: put a hard cap on points you can spend on Stand: equal to Monk level (very permissive), or half Monk level rounded up (possibly a bit too much on the other scale).
Second, while AC and HP are perfectly fine, attack bonuses and Extra Attacks are plain middle fingers in the face of every other martial.
You simply cannot have, at level 10, a guy that has more attacks than a level 20 Fighter. Any decent player with roll eyes and admonest to switch whatever martial he played so far to your Monk.
You simply cannot have, at level 20, a guy that deals more damage than a Fighter and Barbarian combined. It will simply frustrate every other player.
And the Stand can also mimick Ki uses (for free apparently)? Just... NO.
-> Make two separate improvements for Extra Attack: "regular" for 3 ki. "Improved" for 5. Or keep it an even 3 for both but add level requirement (5th and 11th obviously). Forget about more, or make it a separate feature that costs Ki on use much like Drunken Master's 17th but for a cost.
-> Cap the +attack/damage at 5. Confer every similar feature (Sacred Weapon relying on secondary attribute and hard capped at 5, Elemental Weapon max +3 as a 6th level spell, Kensei max +3 at 11th level).

----
Aaaaand that's the end for me.
Please ensure you take this with a grain of salt. Overall your archetype is very interesting and fluffy, this is good work. :) It's just easy when you're in your own inspiration to get the balances concern lost on the way... Real easy. XD

[Bjarkmundur]

tl;Dr? Main sources of uncertainty? Design goals?

Is there any reason the stand doesn't cost a set number of ki?
Also, is there any reason you can't simply upcast it, instead of this modular build-a-soul? Meaning that "it gains stats based on the number of ki expended, as per your Stand Table"

Option within options, is this normal for a subclass? Doesn't a Monk subclass usually have just 4 or so features?

Suggestions:
Make a ki/stand table that makes creating a stand quicker.
Condense the three types into one.
Do some preliminary calculations and comparisons, just to make sure the class doesn't overshadow fellow players.
Read the essay the other guy posted, I'm still working through it, piece by piece.

Sounds really fun to play, and is quite creative . :)