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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Int based Monk archetype.



Gydian
2019-06-02, 04:13 PM
Ive been thinking about monk. The combination of physical and mental discipline. In 5e that mental focus is represented with wisdom. But does it have to be?

Im thinking about making a homebrew which switches wis with int. It's not that involved in the main class ki point save DC and unarmored defense are the only things involving wis.

Has anyone seen a writeup of a homebrew of an int based monk?

Im thinking of making it a psionics type of class (but NO psi points!). All I have so far is changing the wis stuff for int and giving the monk an invisible mage hand at 3rd level also introducing psychic damage somewhere.

Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

JNAProductions
2019-06-02, 04:37 PM
Ive been thinking about monk. The combination of physical and mental discipline. In 5e that mental focus is represented with wisdom. But does it have to be?

Im thinking about making a homebrew which switches wis with int. It's not that involved in the main class ki point save DC and unarmored defense are the only things involving wis.

Has anyone seen a writeup of a homebrew of an int based monk?

Im thinking of making it a psionics type of class (but NO psi points!). All I have so far is changing the wis stuff for int and giving the monk an invisible mage hand at 3rd level.

Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

You don't need a whole archetype for it. Just switch Ki DCs and Unarmored Defense from Wis to Int, and pick whatever subclass strikes your fancy. If you wanted to make a more involved subclass, you could, but nothing stops you from running an Int-based Sun Soul (with DM permission, of course).

In fact, I'd dare-say it's a downgrade. Int is generally less useful than Wis.

Gydian
2019-06-03, 04:21 PM
I have been looking at the gith and taking inspiration there.

Man_Over_Game
2019-06-03, 05:24 PM
You don't need a whole archetype for it. Just switch Ki DCs and Unarmored Defense from Wis to Int, and pick whatever subclass strikes your fancy. If you wanted to make a more involved subclass, you could, but nothing stops you from running an Int-based Sun Soul (with DM permission, of course).

In fact, I'd dare-say it's a downgrade. Int is generally less useful than Wis.

I actually did exactly that in my Prestige Options, which is an exhaustive list of primary ability swaps for each class, with restrictions tacked on for narrative and balance concerns. Each one has a spoiler for analysis, to use as supporting evidence for any skeptical DM.

Like this:

Way of the Disciplined Eye
You can take the Monk, using your Intelligence modifier in place of your Wisdom modifier for your Monk features.
Requirement: You cannot have more Wizard levels than you have Monk levels.
[Example: A reclusive student learns the forbidden arts of his temple after much time spent in the library, and seeks to hone his newfound knowledge with practice.]


Spoiler: Make sure to not allow a Wizard to cheat his way into high AC without some kind of cost. In this case, we're talking about Unarmored Defense, which can completely go out of hand when considering something like Bladesinger's AC bonus.

It can be a concern of a Monk dipping a few levels into Wizard, which provides things like Shield and Absorb Elements, but this does mean a smaller HP pool. The War Mage is a solid choice, but the Reaction benefit really competes with the Monk's existing Reaction uses (Deflect Missiles, Slowfall) which are already very powerful choices. You are not gaining the ability to Deflect Missiles AND gain +2 AC AND gain Shield, only the option to do one of the three, and that's perfectly reasonable.

A Monk built this way cannot go fully Intelligence and abuse Bladesinger or Wizard levels, due to the fact that effects like Shillelagh are only possible using Charisma (via Tome Warlock) or Wisdom. Intelligence has no method to attack with a weapon, and so a Dexterity-less Monk will have VERY weak attacks compared to a balanced one. A fair trade, considering the spellcasting and AC benefits.

This does mean there is a direct synergy with Arcane Tricksters with this Option, but the Arcane Trickster will provide few combat benefits, and isn't much better than the default Monk+AT multiclass.

The problem with implementing an Intelligence-based Monk is that Monks get their subclasses at level 3, and they're already requiring 3 different ability scores. Most Monks won't be able to afford a 4th dependent stat by level 3, and going those first few levels with suboptimal stats (to afford a 4th one you're not using yet) feels bad.

It's similar to how the Berserker has a feature that uses Charisma that doesn't become relevant until mid-game. So I think the best solution is one that's implemented immediately, which requires a new class or an immediate change to the Monk formula.

Sariel Vailo
2019-06-06, 01:07 PM
Isn't Bo's critical role monk archetype kind of int like.