Monk's Belt

[Segev]

The Monk's Belt was a staple of earlier editions, typified in my mind by 3.5 and PF wherein it gave a +5 to your effective Monk level for unarmed strike and AC, as well as more uses of stunning fist. Obviously, direct translation doesn't work, but we can come close, I think. Instead of AC, we'll look to unarmored movement, and we can give +1 ki point.
Monk's Belt
Very Rare (requires atunement)
This simple rope belt confers upon the attuned wearer skill in unarmed combat. His unarmed strikes deal 1d4 damage and count as magical for purposes of overcoming resistances, and as long as he is wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, he may add his Wisdom to his armor class.

If the attuned wearer is a monk, he instead increases his martial arts die to the next size up on the Monk table (with a d10 becoming a d12), adds +5 to his Unarmored Movement speed, and gains +1 ki. His unarmed strikes count as magical for purposes of overcoming resistances, and have +1 to hit and damage if he has Ki-Infused Strikes.
I am unsure about the rarity, and am open to suggestions. Does this hit the right notes for a "monk's belt," or should it do more, less, or different things? I am particularly fond of the increasing martial arts die size, myself.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I'd maybe bump it up to 1d6 unarmed damage and 2 ki, but you need to change the AC calculation--right now it's a flat addition, meaning it'll stack with things like Mage Armor, Barrier Tattoos, and race-based armor.

Otherwise, pretty nice!

[Kuulvheysoon]

Probably be easier to specify that attuning to the belt changes your AC to 10 + Wis + Dex straight up. That'll make it clear that stuff like mage armor won't stack with it, as it's its own AC calculation method.

If the attuned wearer is a monk, he instead increases his martial arts die to the next size up on the Monk table (with a d10 becoming a d12), adds +5 to his Unarmored Movement speed, and gains +1 ki. His unarmed strikes count as magical for purposes of overcoming resistances, and have +1 to hit and damage if he has Ki-Infused Strikes.
I don't like the last sentence here. The first half assumes that you'll get a Very Rare item before 6th level (I'm ignoring multiclass characters for a minute here) while the second half just feels awkward? Dunno.

I'd honestly be tempted to let it add to speed, improved unarmed strikes and grant you extra ki equal to your Wisdom modifier. It'll come late enough that that's not character-defining, and it feels impactful. Heck, you could probably get away with letting it set your Wisdom to 22, or something, à la belts of strength.

[Segev]

I'd maybe bump it up to 1d6 unarmed damage and 2 ki, but you need to change the AC calculation--right now it's a flat addition, meaning it'll stack with things like Mage Armor, Barrier Tattoos, and race-based armor.

Otherwise, pretty nice!Thanks! I'll consider that. Would bumping it down to Rare be a good alternative, if the ki and unarmed damage are left as-is? I am hesitant to give a non-monk with this belt better unarmed damage than a monk without it, though admittedly even at Rare it wouldn't be falling on a character whose contemporary monk buddy is below level 5.


Probably be easier to specify that attuning to the belt changes your AC to 10 + Wis + Dex straight up. That'll make it clear that stuff like mage armor won't stack with it, as it's its own AC calculation method.Excellent point. That is what I was aiming for, anyway; I just worded it very badly and missed the mark.


I don't like the last sentence here. The first half assumes that you'll get a Very Rare item before 6th level (I'm ignoring multiclass characters for a minute here) while the second half just feels awkward? Dunno.

I'd honestly be tempted to let it add to speed, improved unarmed strikes and grant you extra ki equal to your Wisdom modifier. It'll come late enough that that's not character-defining, and it feels impactful. Heck, you could probably get away with letting it set your Wisdom to 22, or something, à la belts of strength.Technically, a multiclass character could be leveled enough to have a very rare item but not be a 6th level monk yet. That said, one of the things I'm not sure about is whether it SHOULD BE "very rare." Would reducing its powers a bit and putting it at rare be cleaner?

I am not wedded to the idea that it gets better when you have ki-infused strikes; that's just a bugaboo of mine over the fact that ki-infused strikes kind of wears out its welcome if you ever manage to get your unarmed damage to have a +1 or better to it.