Segev
2020-04-14, 05:55 PM
In another thread, somebody mentioned how they wished the Way of the Four Elements worked more directly with base monk features, and had the cool idea of Step of the Wind having an associated technique that let you cast shatter when you land, around your location, with you immune to the effects.
Way of the Four Elements is, along with the Battle Master, one of the few subclasses with an expandable subsystem of its own. Like spells, you can just keep adding options to pick up to improve on it, rather than having to scrap it and make a new subclass that does what you wished it did.
This is just brainstorming more ideas along the lines of working with monk features (and a few other random ones that came to me). No balance is promised at this stage, just ideas to give rough form. Balance commentary is welcome, as is others' brainstorming.
Element Bender. You learn the control flames, gust, mold earth, and shape water cantrips. You may cast them using only somatic components.
Earthen Stoicism. Some monks have rock and dust rise from the groud to hover around them as a barrier. Others become coated in a skin-tight layer of rock. However it manifests for you, as long as you are wearing no armor and not carrying a shield, you gain +2 to AC and Constitution saves when you use Patient Defense.
Flowing Redirection. Tapping the currents of ki within, you channel others' aggression to more effective uses. For you. When you use Patient Defense, and somebody suffers Disadvantage on an attack roll against you, if they miss, you may redirect their attack to another valid target within range or reach, using the HIGHER of the two dice they rolled as the attack roll.
Step of Thunder. Your legs have grown powerful enough to kick off of the very air itself. When you use Step of the Wind, you may, once during your movement, jump with no support other than the air beneath your feet. When you do so, you kick the air so hard that it thunders in a crack that can be heard for 100 feet.
Breakfall. When you use your Slow Fall ability to reduce the damage from a landing, you may choose, instead of landing softly, to land as hard as normal but force the earth to redirect the impact. Spend one point of ki when using your reaction to Slow Fall. You land hard, but reduce the damage the same way. Choose a creature or object within ten feet; the earth ripples and cracks and sends the jolt of your landing through them. They must make a Constitution save or suffer the amount of damage your slow fall negated, taking half if they succeed.
Ki Burn. When you use Stunning Strike, you not only interfere with the flow of ki in the target's body, you cause it to burn. The target takes an additional 1d6 fire damage from the attack, whether they succeed or fail at the Constitution save.
Way of the Four Elements is, along with the Battle Master, one of the few subclasses with an expandable subsystem of its own. Like spells, you can just keep adding options to pick up to improve on it, rather than having to scrap it and make a new subclass that does what you wished it did.
This is just brainstorming more ideas along the lines of working with monk features (and a few other random ones that came to me). No balance is promised at this stage, just ideas to give rough form. Balance commentary is welcome, as is others' brainstorming.
Element Bender. You learn the control flames, gust, mold earth, and shape water cantrips. You may cast them using only somatic components.
Earthen Stoicism. Some monks have rock and dust rise from the groud to hover around them as a barrier. Others become coated in a skin-tight layer of rock. However it manifests for you, as long as you are wearing no armor and not carrying a shield, you gain +2 to AC and Constitution saves when you use Patient Defense.
Flowing Redirection. Tapping the currents of ki within, you channel others' aggression to more effective uses. For you. When you use Patient Defense, and somebody suffers Disadvantage on an attack roll against you, if they miss, you may redirect their attack to another valid target within range or reach, using the HIGHER of the two dice they rolled as the attack roll.
Step of Thunder. Your legs have grown powerful enough to kick off of the very air itself. When you use Step of the Wind, you may, once during your movement, jump with no support other than the air beneath your feet. When you do so, you kick the air so hard that it thunders in a crack that can be heard for 100 feet.
Breakfall. When you use your Slow Fall ability to reduce the damage from a landing, you may choose, instead of landing softly, to land as hard as normal but force the earth to redirect the impact. Spend one point of ki when using your reaction to Slow Fall. You land hard, but reduce the damage the same way. Choose a creature or object within ten feet; the earth ripples and cracks and sends the jolt of your landing through them. They must make a Constitution save or suffer the amount of damage your slow fall negated, taking half if they succeed.
Ki Burn. When you use Stunning Strike, you not only interfere with the flow of ki in the target's body, you cause it to burn. The target takes an additional 1d6 fire damage from the attack, whether they succeed or fail at the Constitution save.