What abilities would a good wuxia monk class have, conceptually?

[Aquillion]

All the other monk threads and discussion over what class fits the 'monk' archtype best got me thinking. What abilities should a monk have?

One thing: For this thread, let's pretend the PHB monk doesn't exist. There are enough threads talking about it, arguing over it, etc. Wipe it from our collective memories. It no longer exists; we're not talking about whether it needs to be fixed or how it could be fixed here (though some ideas from here might eventually be used for that.) Let's say what we'd do if we'd never even seen it.

No saying 'Unarmed Swordsage', either. I mean list specific concepts and abilities the class should embody, with ideas on how.

First, let's talk sources. One good place to look is here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxia).

Now, let's see, some ideas...

First, combat. Unarmed capabilities, naturally. This hardly needs to be said. However, not just unarmed capabilities. Note this from that article:
Kung fu. Fighting using a codified sequence of movements known as zhāo (招), based on actual Chinese martial arts.
Fair and good. But also:
Use of objects such as sewing needles, ink brushes, benches, abaci, or musical instruments as weapons with unfailing accuracy. The sword, staff, and spear weapons are still the most commonly used by combatants.They should be proficent with a wide variety of weapons (swords, staves, and spears, at a bare minimum), and able to use their abilities with those. Unlike fighters, who tend to focus on one or two weapons, monks should never focus exclusively on one thing; they should be able to pick up nearly anything and be decent with it.

(This would provide another useful distinction between 'unarmed fighters', who if they focused everything on it could be allowed to be better at purely unarmed fighting than a monk, and monks, who would have reasonably powerful unarmed fighting plus other situational abilities.)

Additionally:

Use of qīnggōng (T: 輕功 S: 轻功), or the ability to move swiftly and lightly, allowing them to scale walls, glide on waters or mount trees. This is based on real Chinese martial art practices. Real life martial art exponents practise qinggong by going through years of attaching heavy weights onto their legs. Its use, however, is greatly exaggerated in wire-fu movies where practioners appear to circumvent gravity.The ability to move quickly, walk on water, run up walls, and even fly in limited bursts is simple enough to implement. It is also worth noting that they should be able to fight while moving, obviously -- represented things similar to pounce or flyby attack when flying, say.


Use of nèijìn (內勁) or nèilì (内力), which is the ability to control mystical inner energy (qi) and direct it for attack, defense, healing, or to attain superhuman stamina.Possibly lay on hands, or something similar to 4th edition's healing. Maybe give them an amount of energy per day that they can use for offense, healing, extra stamina (recovering from exhaused? Running longer?) and so on.


Use of diǎnxué (T: 點穴 S: 点穴) through dim mak (點脈), chin na (擒拿), or other related techniques for killing, paralyzing, poisoning, or controlling opponents by hitting or seizing their acupressure points (xué 穴) with a finger, knuckle, elbow or weapon. Real life martial artists train in these seizing and paralyzing techniques. Their effectiveness is greatly exaggerated in wuxia stories. Poison use would fit well, actually. Special save-or-die attacks.


These skills are usually described as being attainable by those who devote themselves to diligent study and practice. The details of the most powerful skills are often to be found in manuals known as mìjí (秘笈). In some stories, specific techniques can be learned by spending several years either in seclusion with a master or cloistered with the Buddhist monks at a Shaolin temple.This is interesting, and I think it's important. The ability to discover new 'techniques', to develop them yourself or learn them from other people, would be an important part of the class.

For alignment and fluff:

To understand the concept of xia from a Western perspective, consider the Robin Hood mythology: an honourable and generous person who has considerable martial arts skills which he puts to use for the general good rather than towards any personal ends, and someone who does not necessarily obey the authorities.Is this lawful, or chaotic? Good or evil? I would say, in any case, that it's obvious that evil and 'fallen' martial artists appear a great deal, so alignment should be 'any', but possibly leaning towards lawful or good.

[Chronicled]

What's interesting to me is that I see a lot of the PHB Northern Fistbrawler's abilities in your descriptions. Healing? Check. Paralysing others? Stunning fist. Fast movement? Check. Styles of fighting? Bonus feat options (limited, but still...). Talking to squirrels--wait.

I wonder if it is the abilities themselves that are the problem, or in how they were implimented (and I strongly suspect that it's the latter).

[Spiryt]

They should have ability to convice western people that they absolutely badass. :smallwink:

[Aquillion]

I think a good wuxia monk should be able to talk to squirrels.:smallfrown:

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Here's the wishlist of maneuvers:

Gen:
Disarm > Grabbing Items? (Unarmed strike counts as two-handed weapon) (Blitz)
Sunder
Switch stance (Counter)
DR/- = class level (Stance)

Str:
Bull Rush (Strike)
Ignore Hardness (Boost)
Grapple (Blitz)
Overrun (Boost)
Charge (Strike)
Trip (Blitz)
9: x2/x3 Str Mod (Stance?)

Dex:
Up the Walls (Research)
Provoke AoO (Blitz)
Expend an AoO to gain 100% evasion against a rolled attack. (Counter)
Missed attacks against you provoke AoO.
Miss %
Until the end of this turn, movements you make take the form of teleportation. (Boost)
Movement speed. (Stance)

Con:
Remove all Poisons in self (Boost)
Remove all Diseases in self (Boost)
Poison Transferal: give, take, or share (Strike)
Disease Transferal: give, take, or share (Strike)
Increase DC of save against Poison used against you to carry without effect (Counter)
Increase DC of save against Disease used against you to carry without effect (Counter)
Acid damage to those who strike you with nonreach melee attacks. (Stance)
With an unarmed attack, you may grant Fast Healing equal to your Con modifier for a number of rounds equal to the Maneuver lvl (Strike)


Int:
Aid Another > Flat Footed
Critical Hit
Death Attack (Strike)
Silence > Drowning (Blitz)
Sudden Strike (Blitz)

Wis:
Difficult Terrain (Stance)
False Lead (Blitz)
Ignore Miss%
AC
Init
L-Light
D-Vision
Blind Sight
True Sight

Cha:
Shaken > Frightened > Panic > Cower
Ki Blast: PHBII feat
ER
Attack > Prone (Blitz)
Prone > Attack (Blitz)
Extra benefits while prone (Stance)
Extra benefits vs prone creatures (theme)

Unassigned:
Ability Decrease > Ability Damage
Sleep
Dazed > Confusion
Dazzled > Blind
Deafened
Sickened > Nauseated
Fatigued > Exhausted
Walk on Water (Stance)

-and here are a few rough drafts:

Gen:
1: While in this stance, your base land speed increases by 10 feet for every 3 monk levels you have. (Stance)


Str:
1: Maverick Rampage: Your attacks subtract your Strength modifier from the Hardness of objects you attempt to sunder, until the end of your turn. Objects you sunder while this boost in effect are treated as downed creatures for the purpose of effects such as the Cleave feat. (Boost) (Think, literally, a bull in a china shop. For such was the inspiration of the boost AND it's name.)

2: Stunning Blow (Ex): On a successful hit, target creature makes a Fort save (DC = 10 + class level + 1/2 non-monk levels + Str mod) or be stunned for 1 round. (Blitz) (Stunning Fist, only names so that it makes sense to stun with a kick.)

4: Stunning Blow, Improved (Ex): On a successful hit, target creature and all creatures adjacent to the target creature (you are immune to this effect) make a Fort save (DC = 10 + class level + ½ non-monk levels + Str mod) or be stunned for 1 round. (Blitz) (Essentially the advanced Stunning Fist feat from Sandstorm. I think it was called Fist of the Pharoh or some tripe.)


Dex:
1: Kinetic Transfer (Ex): Fall damage negated by 1d6/rank in Jump. You make a free attack roll against the surface or creature landed on. Target takes attack damage + unmodified fall damage and (if a creature) makes a Fort save (DC = 10 + class level + 1/2 non-monk levels + Dex mod) or is knocked prone. (Stance) (Rough concept) (Based upon the idea of freerunning as one of the themes for the Dex Dex school. Also, the idea of monks jumping off of an airship en masse as part of a "bombing run" amused the heck out of me.)


Int:
1: False Lead (Ex): Regardless of whether or not you hit, target creature makes a Spot check opposed by a special Slight of Hand (that uses Int instead of Dex as it’s modifying attribute) or takes a penalty in their Dex modifier equal to your Int modifier until the end of this turn. If this penalty reduces the target’s Dex modifier to 0 or lower, it is treated as flat-footed until the end of this turn. (Blitz) (Where the Str school is about using brute force to deal damage, the Int school takes a sudden strike approach. This Blitz is the core of that philosophy.)

4: Fatal Onset (Ex): Make a single attack as a standard action that, if successful, makes target creature denied their Dex bonus to AC roll a Fort save (10 + class level + 1/2 non-monk levels + Int mod) or die. Creatures immune to critical attacks are immune to this effect. (Strike) (A sudden strike themed Death Attack as a standard action against foes caught with their guard down.)

7: Blindside (Ex): As a standard action, make a single attack against target creature that is flanked or denied it's Dex bonus to AC. If this attack is successful, the target creature makes a Fort save (DC = 10 + class level + 1/2 non-monk levels + Int mod) or take bonus subdual damage equal to it's current hit points and be rendered unconscious. Creatures immune to critical attacks are immune to this effected. (Strike) (A sneak attack themed version of the Overwhlem spell. It's that Hollywood thing where a person slinks up on another and knocks them out cold with a hard object to the noggin.)

?: Death’s Passing (Ex): Your melee attacks count as coup de grace attempts, that do not provoke attacks of opportunity, on helpless creatures until the end of your turn. (Boost) (I figured, what the hell? It's a neat idea.)


Wis:
7: ? (Su)?: While in this stance you gain the effects of True Seeing (as the spell) with a range of 5 feet x your Wis modifier. (Stance) (Yeah... I think this idea was birthed months ago after being subjected to a Naruto marathon.)

9: Brush of the Void: Make a touch attack as a standard action. If this attack is successful, target makes a Will save (DC = 10 + class level + Wis) or is placed under the effect of an anti-magic field, with a range of personal, for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. (Strike) (The pride and joy of near epic monks, designed to lock casters down.)


Cha:
5: Fierce Assault (Su): On a successful hit, target prone creature makes a Will save (10 + class level + 1/2 non-monk levels + Cha mod) or be shaken for (Cha mod) rounds. Creatures cower for the duration if they Panic under the effects of this maneuver. (Mind-Affecting) (Strike) (I got the idea in my head of those villians that savagely kick the hades out someone on the ground in order to cow them.

[Chronicled]

:smallfrown:

All right, all right, I edited the post into something a bit more serious.

[Aquillion]

Well, since it's already been brought in...

What's interesting to me is that I see a lot of the PHB Northern Fistbrawler's abilities in your descriptions. Healing? Check. Paralysing others? Stunning fist. Fast movement? Check. Styles of fighting? Bonus feat options (limited, but still...). Talking to squirrels--wait.

I wonder if it is the abilities themselves that are the problem, or in how they were implimented (and I strongly suspect that it's the latter).Sorta. To be serious for a moment, I don't question that it was intended to approximate a Wuxia monk. But I think they missed a few vital features.

Their fast movement, as others have noted, fails to actually translate into Wuxia-style fighting because they can't fight while moving. They also lack the near-flight abilities generally associated with it... slow falling doesn't cut it. Which is strange, because flight is something important and yet not overpowering (since it can be gotten from items or teammates); it's a perfectly logical ability to give a mobility-based fighting class 5th level or lower. Just say they can fly during their turn as long as they're landing or holding onto something at the beginning or end, within some limits, and maybe give them flyby attack as a feat / optional feat at some point.

They have healing, but most of the time the ability in question is shown as being able to heal others, too, and as having offensive uses. I would fold many of their immunities (poison, say) into this, giving them the ability to heal or delay it (possibly even as a swift action for themselves.)

They also seriously lack the broad weapon selections typically associated with Wuxia. I mean, monks should be the class least worried about whether the enemy has immunity to all but a certain kind of weapon, not the most worried. I would give them proficiency with all martial weapons, and make most of their abilities apply to all weapons, but limit their ability to benefit from magic weapons or apply their skills when using them -- it throws them off or whatever. This allows for the power to come from them and not their sword, without the absurdly draconian restrictions they have now. (They'd eventually get the ability to make any weapon they wield count as magic for piercing DR.) They should be able to grab a reach weapon when it would help, say, then drop it when the enemies get close; or to grab whatever hurts what they're fighting at the moment, or fight bare-handed. This fits the typical Wuxia monk much better than just 'mystical barehanded fighter guy'.

[AslanCross]

The ability to speak out of sync with lip movement? :D

[Hadrian_Emrys]

The ability to speak out of sync with lip movement? :D

HAHAHA, my favorite Welchism outside of weapon proficiency with cat.

[Aquila]

Aquillon: It seems that the similarity of our names draws us to the same posts! :smallsmile:

I've thought for a while that a wuxia monk might be best done by taking off from the psion/psychic warrior base, using power points as a shorthand for qi energy. In that way, many of the abilities seen are powered by expending qi, and are replenished through rest and meditation. Fast movement? spend qi. Glide from roof to roof? spend qi. Heal? again, spend the qi.

The amount of alteration from the "norm" would determine the amount of qi spent. Running across thin ice, for example, might cost a couple of points, while running up a waterfall would be rather expensive - prohibitively so for lower-level wuxia monks.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Aquillon: It seems that the similarity of our names draws us to the same posts! :smallsmile:

I've thought for a while that a wuxia monk might be best done by taking off from the psion/psychic warrior base, using power points as a shorthand for qi energy. In that way, many of the abilities seen are powered by expending qi, and are replenished through rest and meditation. Fast movement? spend qi. Glide from roof to roof? spend qi. Heal? again, spend the qi.

The amount of alteration from the "norm" would determine the amount of qi spent. Running across thin ice, for example, might cost a couple of points, while running up a waterfall would be rather expensive - prohibitively so for lower-level wuxia monks.

It's a nice idea. Would it even be feasible to merge the two, along with a healthy dash of the Zerth Cenobite class? I mean, the psychic warrior's got precious little background than 'I AM WARRIOR WITH MY MIND' - perhaps combine the psychic warrior with monk fluff, and make him able to infuse/use weapons/fists like a soulknife, thus amalgamating two sucky classes and one cool one into a cool one with Wuxia flavour.

[Telonius]

Regarding proficiencies ... If you're going by that description, I would either decrease or remove the penalties for using improvised weapons.

[Indon]

But also:They should be proficent with a wide variety of weapons (swords, staves, and spears, at a bare minimum), and able to use their abilities with those.
Easy enough - the Monk doesn't need many weapon specializations with this: Simple weapons include swords, staves, and spears, if I recall. But at the same time we can borrow a page from the Drunken Master PrC and lower the penalty for using improvised/nonproficient weapons (Say, to -3 at level 4, -2 at level 8, -1 at level 12, and no penalty at level 16). Explicitly allowing any weapon (including improvised weapons) to work with Monk abilities would also be a good idea.


It is also worth noting that they should be able to fight while moving, obviously -- represented things similar to pounce or flyby attack when flying, say.
I think a better model would ultimately be to allow the Monk to make a full-attack equivalent as a standard action, then give them things like Spring Attack for free. Not at low levels, mind you - we don't want people dipping into our Monk for even _more_ power for their Barbarian. I think this would be a good ability around level 10 or so.


Possibly lay on hands, or something similar to 4th edition's healing. Maybe give them an amount of energy per day that they can use for offense, healing, extra stamina (recovering from exhaused? Running longer?) and so on.
I think the quick and easy way to do this would be with simple static bonuses, though a psion-like power point system would probably do it better.


Poison use would fit well, actually. Special save-or-die attacks.
Mind that the key to a powerful array of save abilities is to not base everything on the same save - make a mix of Fortitude, Reflex, and even Will effects. This can be integrated with the improvised weapon system, allowing some Monk abilities to be used with tiny weapons to raise the save DC, for example.


The ability to discover new 'techniques', to develop them yourself or learn them from other people, would be an important part of the class.
In 3'rd edition D&D? I'm somewhat doubtful. Any caster class can make new spells - how often do you hear about that feature of the system being utilized?


For alignment and fluff:
Is this lawful, or chaotic? Good or evil? I would say, in any case, that it's obvious that evil and 'fallen' martial artists appear a great deal, so alignment should be 'any', but possibly leaning towards lawful or good.

I would borrow from the Warlock in this, and say "any Lawful or Good". Of course, as you note, there are 'fallen' martial artists - suggesting a system of alignment similar to the Paladin (for which multiple types exist with different abilities based on alignment).

[GammaPaladin]

I vote for "any". There are always evil schools of martial artists in Wuxia. I'm also not a fan of alignment requirements for classes. Also not a fan of the interpretation of lawful/chaotic that says lawful people are disciplined and rigid and chaotic people are undisciplined/crazy. Chaotics can be very disciplined, it's simply that they don't accept discipline imposed from without.

Many chaotics are paragons of self-discipline, however.

[Aquillion]

In 3'rd edition D&D? I'm somewhat doubtful. Any caster class can make new spells - how often do you hear about that feature of the system being utilized?Well, you don't actually have to have the players make them. Instead, provide a decent list of abilities; then, the player can "research" ability XYZ from that, or learn it from a master, or whatever. As far as their gameworld is concerned, they invented it (although other NPCs may have invented other techniques that are mechanically identical, or might copy it, or perhaps the PC is copying another technique they heard of, etc...)

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I loathe alignment restrictions as well as the monk name itself. A temple trained melee fighter as well as a street hardened one can exist in the same world.

[streakster]

Here is a monk rebuild that may have some usable ideas.

http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=9483486&postcount=3

[TheThan]

Aquillon: It seems that the similarity of our names draws us to the same posts! :smallsmile:

I've thought for a while that a wuxia monk might be best done by taking off from the psion/psychic warrior base, using power points as a shorthand for qi energy. In that way, many of the abilities seen are powered by expending qi, and are replenished through rest and meditation. Fast movement? spend qi. Glide from roof to roof? spend qi. Heal? again, spend the qi.

The amount of alteration from the "norm" would determine the amount of qi spent. Running across thin ice, for example, might cost a couple of points, while running up a waterfall would be rather expensive - prohibitively so for lower-level wuxia monks.

I worked on this, though i wanted to open it up for the rest of the classes (partiuclarly the asian classes i was planning on using).

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I'm sorry, I took the class seriously until they provided a means to officially name your fighting style the "Naked Monkey Stance". I have no idea what that would even be. Now I can't keep my expression from being a silly grin.

[elliott20]

The wuxia genre is pretty big to do with just one class though. In fact, if you want to run a Wuxia campaign, the fastest way to do it would be to just get rid of the monk class, and everybody else is treated as martial artists instead.

anyway

The concept of Qi: this is integral as it basically powers everything in Wuxia. Some people build it over time with years and years of training. Some build it by literally draining other people's power. some get it by having it passed onto them by their masters.

The expression of Qi: this could come in a variety of ways, ranging from ability to strike at someone from a distance, ability to leap through the air almost like flight, the ability to run on water, resist poison, heal other people, cause harm to other people, screw up people's internal organs, body manipulation, increased strength, agility, life, etc. There are just too many to name.

another thing is the choice of weapons. wuxia characters use more than just their fists. often, their fists, unless specially trained, are just their secondary weapon when they lost their primary. In many ways, they are far more like a more agile fighter than the D&D monk.

[elliott20]

The wuxia genre is pretty big to do with just one class though. In fact, if you want to run a Wuxia campaign, the fastest way to do it would be to just get rid of the monk class, and everybody else is treated as martial artists instead.

anyway

The concept of Qi: this is integral as it basically powers everything in Wuxia. Some people build it over time with years and years of training. Some build it by literally draining other people's power. some get it by having it passed onto them by their masters.

The expression of Qi: this could come in a variety of ways, ranging from ability to strike at someone from a distance, ability to leap through the air almost like flight, the ability to run on water, resist poison, heal other people, cause harm to other people, screw up people's internal organs, body manipulation, increased strength, agility, life, etc. There are just too many to name.

another thing is the choice of weapons. wuxia characters use more than just their fists. often, their fists, unless specially trained, are just their secondary weapon when they lost their primary. In many ways, they are far more like a more agile fighter than the D&D monk.

[elliott20]

The wuxia genre is pretty big to do with just one class though. In fact, if you want to run a Wuxia campaign, the fastest way to do it would be to just get rid of the monk class, and everybody else is treated as martial artists instead.

anyway

The concept of Qi: this is integral as it basically powers everything in Wuxia. Some people build it over time with years and years of training. Some build it by literally draining other people's power. some get it by having it passed onto them by their masters.

The expression of Qi: this could come in a variety of ways, ranging from ability to strike at someone from a distance, ability to leap through the air almost like flight, the ability to run on water, resist poison, heal other people, cause harm to other people, screw up people's internal organs, body manipulation, increased strength, agility, life, etc. There are just too many to name.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Not so much. The trick is to rename the class, and make it really flexable in order to allows for all those crazy differences.

[Aquillion]

I think a better model would ultimately be to allow the Monk to make a full-attack equivalent as a standard action, then give them things like Spring Attack for free. Not at low levels, mind you - we don't want people dipping into our Monk for even _more_ power for their Barbarian. I think this would be a good ability around level 10 or so.That would work to some extent, but I think that they should still have the ability to almost fly; 'high-level' Wuxia characters are almost always shown as having a jumping ability that nearly approaches flight.

They should be able to do 'treetop fights' leaping from branch to branch or between the roofs of buildings, attacking in the air without having to make jump checks, and so on. The existing jump rules are, I think, too cumbersome to represent this kind of mobility, even if they're given high movement bonuses and bonuses to jump... a high-level monk shouldn't have to worry about running starts or the exact path of their jump, they should be able to just say "I leap from here, hit the evil bird, and land there."

Oh. That reminds me of something else: Rather than making flurry (or anything similar) work on a standard action, or letting them full attack on a standard action, I would also want to give wuxia characters the ability to make single attacks hit hard. They'd also get seperate abilities for good full attacks, of course, but conceptually the 'flying kick of death' or 'one punch kill' is common enough to be worth having.

One big thing, really: The class should be more flexable. This is a problem that almost all melee classes have... they focus on one thing in combat and are good at only that. A wuxia monk-style class should be different... they're all about flexability, usually. They should be the MacGyver of fighting classes.

[Chronicled]

That would work to some extent, but I think that they should still have the ability to almost fly; 'high-level' Wuxia characters are almost always shown as having a jumping ability that nearly approaches flight.

They should be able to do 'treetop fights' leaping from branch to branch or between the roofs of buildings, attacking in the air without having to make jump checks, and so on. The existing jump rules are, I think, too cumbersome to represent this kind of mobility, even if they're given high movement bonuses and bonuses to jump... a high-level monk shouldn't have to worry about running starts or the exact path of their jump, they should be able to just say "I leap from here, hit the evil bird, and land there."

Oh. That reminds me of something else: Rather than making flurry (or anything similar) work on a standard action, or letting them full attack on a standard action, I would also want to give wuxia characters the ability to make single attacks hit hard. They'd also get seperate abilities for good full attacks, of course, but conceptually the 'flying kick of death' or 'one punch kill' is common enough to be worth having.

One big thing, really: The class should be more flexable. This is a problem that almost all melee classes have... they focus on one thing in combat and are good at only that. A wuxia monk-style class should be different... they're all about flexability, usually. They should be the MacGyver of fighting classes.

The only melee classes I can think of offhandedly that fit your description of flexibility are the Factotum and the ToB trio (mostly the swordsage). The Factotum most of all; maybe renaming inspiration points to ki points, and altering a few of the abilities, would be in order?

Lessee... make it Wis-based instead of Int, tone down the skills to 4+Int, give it more ki points (which prevents it from being weak in melee like the Factotum often is), create a few ki-dependent abilities that make it more wuxia, give unarmed proficiency and monk scaling damage, and swap out the arcane spellcasting/turn undead with something else. Maybe give all the combat special attack feats (Trip/Disarm/Bull Rush/Sunder/Grapple) for free, or limited swordsage maneuver choices?

It could work, but I think that using ki points and building a class from the ground up would work better.

[Indon]

create a few ki-dependent abilities that make it more wuxia,
As I noted in an earlier Monk thread, there are a number of Warlock invocations that would make for excellent Monk abilities with a bit of reflavoring. You could make them ki-dependent relatively easy, methinks.

Other than that, I kinda like using the Factotum's mechanics - they're pretty dynamic, and relatively novel and creative.

Edit: I found the post I was referring to.


In fact, lemme just page through the Invocation list in Complete Arcane and pick out the ones that would be perfect for Monks, possibly with reflavoring and definitely with renaming.

Baleful Utterance (I recommend renaming it to 'Kiai')
Dark Foresight
Devil's Sight
Entropic Warding (This one's _very_ anime-styled)
Flee the Scene
Leaps and Bounds
See the Unseen
Spiderwalk
Voidsense

And if you make the simple houserule that after obtaining Ki Strike, the Monk's unarmed attack is a magical weapon similar to an Eldritch Blast (giving it an effective spell level - and a save DC for associated effects - in addition to its' exceptional damage), these additional invocations become applicable towards affecting the Monk's unarmed attack (with appropriate reflavoring and renaming, of course):

Bewitching Blast
Brimstone Blast
Hellrime Blast
Noxous Blast
Repelling Blast (I really like this one)
Sickening Blast
Utterdark Blast (evil monks, at least)
Vitriolic Blast (...maybe. Eh)

Edit: Save DC's would be Wisdom-based, of course.

[elliott20]

to be quite frank, ToB *IS* probably one of the better books to go to for Wuxia purposes.

But the OP is asking for what we think should be essential traits that a wuxia character would have. Me? I like the idea of certain wuxia characters being able to leap from tree to tree with little effort.

I also think building a class up using Ki points would be a better solution for a full Wuxia character. But like I said, Wuxia is a genre, and trying to cram it all into one class is just not going to work. I don't care what you say, it's not going to work.

besides, who is to say that a high level fighter/paladin/cleric/wizard is not in some way in tune with their Ki? maybe they just manifest it in different ways.

but then if we start pulling on that thread, we find ourselves rebuilding the entire system from the ground up.

[Squash Monster]

Going by the wikipedia article, the class features I would give the monk:

Kung Fu
The monk gets an unarmed attack progression as the original class, although probably slower. If the monk attacks with a weapon he adds half his unarmed strike damage.

Freedom of Weaponry
The monk's penalty for using a weapon he's not proficient in gradually lowers over the course of his career, eventually reaching 0. This effects improvised weapons as well.

Qīnggōng
The monk's base speed increases gradually as he gains levels. He eventually gains the ability to take 10 on climb checks up walls and later ceilings (along with appropriate check bonuses), and the ability to run on water. The monk gets a scaling bonus to jump and tumble checks. At some level (when his jumps are expected to take multiple turns) he gains the ability to change directions mid-jump: at first just straight down, then one right angle turn per jump. Eventually his midair maneuverability is great enough that he's considered flying. When he jumps the jump check determines his range and he is considered flying until he has moved that far: once he has, he falls. The flight-like jump's maneuverability rating starts at clumsy and goes up over levels, eventually reaching good.

Mèijìn
The monk gets an amount of qi per day that increases as he levels. He can spend a number of points of qi up to his class level at once to do one of the following: during an attack get a hit bonus equal to qi spent, during an attack get a damage bonus equal to qi spent, when attacked get an AC bonus equal to qi spent, as a move action heal HP equal to qi spent, or when making a save gain a bonus equal to qi spent.

Diǎnxué
As a standard action the monk can make a single attack against a pressure point. If the attack does damage, the opponent makes a fortitude save (DC 10 + half class level + monk's wisdom modifier) or is effected by the strike's effect. These abilities take a small amount of qi to use. The monk gains different effects as he gains levels:
Paralysis - the opponent is stunned for one round. The duration increases over levels
Crippling - the opponent takes strength damage. The amount increases as the monk levels. Additionally, the Monk gains the abilities to target the other stats as he gains levels
Killing - the opponent dies
Control - the opponent acts as if under the effect of a Dominate Person spell. The duration increases as the monk gains levels

[Lairship]

All I really need to get that wuxia vibe is if the class granted abilities like kicking a dude in the face will punching another, the monk should be all over the place in combat.
While a fighter takes on a foe and kills him, defending something, a monk should flip around combat, being defensive and offensive, capable of changing his plan in battle.
Something no class can really do. :smallsmile:

[Chronicled]

Qīnggōng
The monk's base speed increases gradually as he gains levels. He eventually gains the ability to take 10 on climb checks up walls and later ceilings (along with appropriate check bonuses), and the ability to run on water. The monk gets a scaling bonus to jump and tumble checks. At some level (when his jumps are expected to take multiple turns) he gains the ability to change directions mid-jump: at first just straight down, then one right angle turn per jump. Eventually his midair maneuverability is great enough that he's considered flying. When he jumps the jump check determines his range and he is considered flying until he has moved that far: once he has, he falls. The flight-like jump's maneuverability rating starts at clumsy and goes up over levels, eventually reaching good.


I really like this idea in particular.

[elliott20]

once again, I will say that I think building a monk class with all of the staple wuxia abilities jammed into it is a huge mistake in my opinion. For one thing, the wuxia genre contains far too many different things to make any self-proclaimed representative class actually possible. If such a class is to be built, then you need to allow it a huge amount of flexibility such as how their BAB progresses, their acrobatic abilities, how much damage they do, what kind of powers they get, what kind of maneuvers they might receive, etc.

After you're done with all that, you might as well just use ToB.

[Squash Monster]

Actual progression based on earlier post. Will be revised based on criticism. Balance-wise, the goal is to be useful at all levels, even against well-played casters. It should, however, be weaker than those classes from an overall power perspective.

Wuxia Monk

Hit Die: d8

Skills: 4 + int mod
Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Escape Artist, Heal, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Religion), Knowledge (Nature), Listen, Move Silently, Perform, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim, Tumble

{table=header]Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Unarmed Damage | Qi
1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Qi, Movement Bonus +10ft, Unarmed Strike, Decisive Strike | 1d6 | 11
2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Powerful Blow, Freedom of Weaponry, AC Bonus | 1d6 | 13
3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Qi Shield, Fleet of Foot | 1d6 | 16
4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Qi Protection, Movement Bonus +20ft| 1d6 | 20
5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Kung Fu, Wall Climbing | 2d4 | 25
6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Walk on Water, Qi Healing | 2d4| 31
7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Freedom of Weaponry 2, Movement Bonus +30ft| 2d4 | 38
8 | 6/1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Paralyzing Strike, Ceiling Climbing | 2d4 | 46
9 | 6/1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Crippling Strike (Strength), Unburdened Step | 2d6 | 55
10 | 7/2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Movement Bonus +40ft, Soaring Leap (clumsy) | 2d6 | 65
11 | 8/3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Crippling Strike (Dexterity), Jump Bonus +10 | 2d6| 76
12 | 9/4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Freedom of Weaponry 3| 2d6 | 88
13 | 9/4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Crippling Strike (mental), Movement Bonus +50ft | 2d8| 101
14 | 10/5 | 9 | 9 | 9 | Soaring Leap (poor) | 2d8 | 115
15 | 11/6/1 | 9 | 9 | 9 | Crippling Strike (Constitution), Jump Bonus +20 | 2d8 | 130
16 | 12/7/2 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Death Strike, Movement Bonus +60ft | 2d8 | 146
17 | 12/7/2 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Soaring Leap (average), Freedom of Weaponry 4 | 2d10 | 163
18 | 13/8/3 | 11 | 11 | 11 | Controlling Strike, Jump Bonus +30| 2d10 | 181
19 | 14/9/4 | 11 | 11 | 11 | Movement Bonus +70ft | 2d10 | 200
20 | 15/10/5 | 12 | 12 | 12 | Soaring Leap (good) | 2d10 | 220
[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Monks are proficient with all simple weapons and the kama, nunchaku, sai, shuriken, siangham, bastard sword (exotic and martial), flail, rapier, glaive, and guisarme. Monks are not proficient with any armor or shields. When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses his movement bonus, jump bonus, and AC bonus.

Qi
Monks have access to an inner force called qi, which they use this force to supplement their abilities. Qi is measured in points, which are spent using various monk abilities. A monk can only use so much qi per day: to regain qi points he must receive a day's rest. The amount of qi a monk has available in a day is shown in the monk's class table. Qi-based abilities allow the monk to decide how much qi to spend on them as he uses them. However, the monk cannot spend more qi in a single use than his class level.

Decisive Strike
Starting at level one, the monk can spend qi when making an attack to increase his chance to hit. For any attack the monk gains a bonus to hit equal to twice the amount of qi spent on that attack.

Unarmed Strike
At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with either fist interchangeably or even from elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may even make unarmed strikes with her hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed: a monk may thus apply her full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all her unarmed strikes. A monk’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons. A monk also deals more damage with her unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown on the monk's class table.

Movement Bonus
At level one, the monk gains a +10ft competence bonus to his base land speed. Every three levels thereafter, the bonus increases by another 10ft. Additionally, the monk gains a competence bonus to Balance, Climb, Swim, and Tumble checks equal to his class level, and a competence bonus to Jump checks equal to three times his class level.

Powerful Blow
Starting at level two, the monk can spend qi when making an attack to increase the damage he deals to his opponent. For any attack the monk gains a bonus to damage equal to twice the amount of qi spent on that attack. When using Decisive Strike and Powerful Blow at the same time, the Monk must spend qi for them separately.

Freedom of Weaponry
Starting at level two, the monk's penalty for using improvised weapons and weapons he is not proficient with is reduced. At level two, the penalty is reduced by 1 (for a -3 penalty). Every five levels thereafter, the penalty is reduced by one more, to a maximum of 4 (no penalty) at level seventeen.

AC Bonus
Starting at level two, the monk gains a bonus to AC equal to his wisdom score. This bonus applies to both the monk's touch AC and the monk's flatfooted AC. The monk only loses this bonus when immobilized or helpless.

Qi Shield
Starting at level three, the monk can spend qi when being attacked to deflect the incoming attack. Whenever attacked the monk gains a deflection bonus to AC equal to twice the amount of qi he spends deflecting that attack. To use this ability, the monk must be aware of the incoming attack.

Fleet of Foot
Starting at level three, the monk can ignore the effects of difficult terrain on movement.

Qi Protection
Starting at level four, the monk can spend qi to protect himself from danger. Whenever the monk makes a save, he gains a bonus on that save equal to the amount of qi he spends on that save.

Kung Fu
At level five, the monk can apply a portion of his mastery of unarmed fighting to the use of weaponry. When using a weapon he is proficient with, the monk can add half his unarmed damage dice to his damage roll. For example, a tenth level monk's unarmed damage is 2d6. When making weapon attacks, he adds 1d6 to his damage roll.

Wall Climbing
At level five, the monk can take 10 on climb checks made to climb any slope that is less than 90 degrees from straight up (all slopes that are not overhangs).

Qi Healing
Starting at level six, the monk can spend qi to heal his wounds. As a move action, the monk can spend an amount of qi to heal himself and heal an equal number of hitpoints.

Walk on Water
Starting at level six, the monk can walk on water as if it was normal ground.

Paralyzing Strike
Starting at level eight, the monk can use a pressure point strike to paralyze an opponent. As a standard action using at least 8 qi points, the monk can make a single attack. If this attack hits, the opponent must make a Fortitude save (Save DC 10 + half the monk's class level + the monk's wisdom modifier + the number of qi points spent beyond 8) or be stunned for one round. For every 4 qi points spent beyond 8, the stun duration increases by one round.

Ceiling Climbing
Starting at level eight, the monk can take 10 on all climb checks.

Crippling Strike
Starting at level eight, the monk can use a pressure point strike to cripple an opponent. As a standard action using at least 12 qi points, the monk can make a single attack. If this attack hits, the opponent must make a Fortitude save (Save DC 10 + half the monk's class level + the monk's wisdom modifier + the number of qi points spent beyond 12) or take ability damage. The amount of damage done is equal to the number of qi points spent minus 8. The monk chooses which ability to target when he makes the strike: at level 8 the monk can only choose Strength. At level 11, the monk can also choose to target Dexterity. At level 13, the monk can also choose to target Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. At level 15, the monk can choose to target Constitution.

Unburdened Step
Starting at level nine, the monk can use qi to escape magical entrapment. Each round the monk can spend up to nine qi on unburdened step. Each round he does so, the monk ignores magical impediments as if under a Freedom of Movement spell. However, unlike the spell, Unburdened Step only works to counter spells of whose level is equal to or less than the amount of qi the monk spent that round, and does not effect grapple checks. For example, a monk can ignore the spell Grease by spending one qi per round, but would still be effected by Web unless he increased his qi spending to two per round or more.

Soaring Leap
At level ten, the monk's aerial maneuverability becomes so great that it begins to resemble flight. To activate Soaring Leap, make a jump check. The monk gains a fly speed equal to his land speed, which lasts until he has moved a number of feet equal to the result of his initial jump check. Once he has moved this far, the monk begins to fall straight downwards. If the monk moves less than the minimum speed to stay airborne, Soaring Leap ends and he cannot regain lift. Soaring Leap can only be started while touching a solid surface. At level ten, the monk's flight speed is clumsy. This improves to poor at level 14, average at level 17, and good at level 20. Soaring leap qualifies a monk for the feat Flyby Attack, even though the monk does not always have a fly speed. Finally, at level 14 you can make a special version of a trip attack against other airborne enemies while using Soaring Leap. If this trip attack succeeds, you may make a new jump check to replenish your range, and your target begins to fall. Creatures that fly naturally merely stall, and can regain speed after falling for one round. If the creature is flying through the use of spells, however, all the creature's flight spells end abruptly.

Jump Bonus
At level eleven, the monk gains a +10 enhancement bonus to jump checks. This bonus improves by 10 at level 15 and 18.

Death Strike
Starting at level sixteen, the monk can use a pressure point strike to kill an opponent outright. As a standard action using at least 16 qi points, the monk can make a single attack. If this attack hits, the opponent must make a Fortitude save (Save DC 10 + half the monk's class level + the monk's wisdom modifier + the number of qi points spent beyond 16) or die.

Controlling Strike
Starting at level eighteen, the monk can use a pressure point strike to force an opponent to obey his will. As a standard action using at least 18 qi points, the monk can make a single attack. If this attack hits, the opponent must make a Fortitude save (Save DC 10 + half the monk's class level + the monk's wisdom modifier + the number of qi points spent beyond 18) or be put under the monk's control as if under the effects of a Dominate spell. The effect's duration is equal to the number of qi points spent.

[Indon]

I love it, but it needs an AC bonus.

Edit: I would propose Wisdom + 1/2 Class Level?

[Squash Monster]

Well, it gets Qi Shield at level 3, which is similar. I rather like how Qi Shield works, as it makes big heavy blows less likely to hit, but the monk is still subject to being chipped away at.

However, it does require Qi. I'm not sure they get quite enough. Getting some from a high wisdom score is probably needed.

And thanks!:smallsmile:

[Indon]

Well, it gets Qi Shield at level 3, which is similar. I rather like how Qi Shield works, as it makes big heavy blows less likely to hit, but the monk is still subject to being chipped away at.

However, it does require Qi. I'm not sure they get quite enough. Getting some from a high wisdom score is probably needed.

And thanks!:smallsmile:

Well, at level 3 that gives your 16 Dex Monk the ability to give himself 16 AC when swung at, for 4 times a day.

It's a good ability, but way too expensive to be relied upon even with more Qi points from a stat ala Psionic power points... Though, I guess if it was tweaked into being 1 Qi point for multiple points of AC, that might make it managable.

Edit: Also... that class gets over +100 to jump eventually. Hmm... I guess it doesn't sound so insane since it fuels the Monk's temporary flight powers, but still.

[Squash Monster]

Ah. That is a good point.

I think they need more that relies on wisdom, so I'll give them Wisdom to AC at level two. Should I also give them light armor proficiency?

[Indon]

Ah. That is a good point.

I think they need more that relies on wisdom, so I'll give them Wisdom to AC at level two. Should I also give them light armor proficiency?

You could just give them a +4 class bonus to AC at some point - that's effectively light armor proficiency (i.e. Chain Shirt) for AC purposes.

Or, alternately, you could give them both - light armor proficiency, and then later on a +4 class bonus to AC that they can't use with light armor...

[Squash Monster]

What if I doubled the AC granted by Qi Shield?

That'd give a 16 wis, 16 dex monk...
16 AC normal
22 AC shielded at level 3
26 AC shielded at level 5
36 AC shielded at level 10

And so on. Does that seem bad?

[elliott20]

no comments on the class abilities itself yet, as I'm still trying to digest it.

But one TINY nitpick. can we not call it "Monk"? I mean, yeah, a lot of Wuxia characters are monks. but most of them are not monks, they're martial artists. just thought a different name might be more appropriate, not to mention it won't confine the image that it brings to mine all the time.

[Indon]

What if I doubled the AC granted by Qi Shield?

That'd give a 16 wis, 16 dex monk...
16 AC normal
22 AC shielded at level 3
26 AC shielded at level 5
36 AC shielded at level 10

And so on. Does that seem bad?

Hmm. I don't think it's the max AC so much as the cost of that AC that's critical. You could still only get the 22 AC a handful of times a day.

I'd say you could leave the normal cap (19 AC at level 3 isn't _that_ bad), but drop the Qi cost to maybe... 1 point per 4 AC, extra AC is lost. That means that being swung at 2 times per encounter is handleable by our level 3 Monk and even gives him some discretionary Qi.

[Squash Monster]

Alright. Increased the amount of qi slightly, buffed the first three Qi abilities to have 2x ratios. The first two are because I ran through the numbers and they seemed needed. The last is more complicated: I feel that the monk should be able to avoid pretty much any attack if he really needs to, but doing this on a regular basis should drain him.

I think something like what Indon suggests might be needed, but I want to get more feedback on this version before I fiddle with it much more.

Elliot - I'm leaving it as monk for now, but think of Xiake as its alternate name.

[Indon]

Alright. Increased the amount of qi slightly, buffed the first three Qi abilities to have 2x ratios. The first two are because I ran through the numbers and they seemed needed. The last is more complicated: I feel that the monk should be able to avoid pretty much any attack if he really needs to, but doing this on a regular basis should drain him.

Well, that's nifty. Powerful Blow is essentially 2-h Power Attack damage using qi rather than a to-hit penalty, Decisive Strike... well, that's a pretty mechanically unique ability, and Qi shield is substancially more powerful with both the x2 payoff, and the cap.

Do you mean for all the abilities to still be capped at Class Level in Qi used, I might ask? I don't necessarily see any problem with doing it that way, but clarification of intent is good.

[Squash Monster]

Yeah, that is intentional. It allows scaling abilities without tons of wording.

It stops the monk from novaing everything in one attack, among other things. However, the class is still very nova-capable, which means it'd be overpowered in some campaigns.

[Kalirren]

I have a few notes regarding the OP's request for alignment and fluff:

1) Keep in mind that the entire wuxia genre is built upon the fabric of Chinese society. Alignment is not measured along the axes of Law and Evil, but instead along the axes of "Confucian," "Buddhist", and "Other," where "other" is well approximated by "Power" in any form, whether economic, political, or personal. It's best to look at martial artists not as adventurers, but literally as "artists," whose medium is their own bodies; they pursue self-perfection through the practice of their art, and when they spar with others, it's primarily an instructive exercise. It's when power or hierarchy or competition gets in that situations turn messy.

2) Don't forget the whole yin-yang thing. In wuxia, male martial artists naturally channel yang energy, while female martial artists naturally channel yin. These are diametrically opposed, and in the literature, this is a -substantial- barrier to the mastery of certain forms and techniques. While it can be slowly overcome by extensive training, or the actions of certain medicines that act upon a person's qi flow, either of which has to occur before puberty to be effective, the majority of intermediate and almost all higher techniques using yang will still never be available to female martial artists and vice versa. Yes, most of the time you can wave around your sword or your hand in the same way, but the way the qi is channeled by the stroke typically fails.

3) On the whole "falling" thing, in the context that martial artists can be corrupted; "falling" is not viewed on a moral ground, and no martial artist can "fall" the way a paladin falls. Rather, there is a distinction between "dark magical energy", or múogong, and "inner energy," or nèigong. The immediate point of martial art is to be in control of one's body, one's reactions, one's mind, and thereby achieve enhanced command over one's interactions with the world by channeling the "inner energy." Those who "fall" are the ones who take the quick road to power, whose techniques are founded upon the channeling of power they cannot contain or control, and who consequently command a raw power that is much more dangerous to the practitioner than any technique that any true artist would ever be willing to use.

Anyone who uses such "dark magical energy" often become mentally unstable over time, and overchanneling "dark magical energy" risks the equivalent of ripping a qi nerve, which would render him paralyzed and unable to ever access qi powers, or practice martial maneuvers without further harm to himself. Such people are also very bad to spar against, since they can't pull punches easily - this tends to get them into trouble, since they are generally incapable of stopping any cycle of violence in which they become involved by martial means. Which brings me to my final point:

4) The idea of wu xia itself has layered meanings, as does everything in Chinese. The character "wu", meaning martial prowess, endeavor, etc., is etymologically derived from "stopping the spear." That is to say, the idea that martial strength has the purpose of bringing a halt to violence is literally contained within the character itself. "xia" itself merely means "hero," but is associated with the idea of "wu" in that a hero's basic purpose is to influence the world positively by bringing peace, resolving debts and feuds, and ending strife. The concept of Xia is thus both very Buddhist (duty to society at large) and very Confucian (duty to hierarchy.)

Just my two cents. Hope it was useful.

[elliott20]

Kalirren: It's been a while since I last really thought about all the stuff you said about Wuxia but I think we can pretty much sum up all your points with this example: "The Sunflower Manual".

[Squash Monster]

I think the class I wrote as an example is a good approximation of wuxia on a superficial level, but I didn't feel up to tackling most of the deeper aspects.

The biggest error is the fact that in my version, qi is spent. Really, it should be a constant number that you shift between a few different uses, only used up when you go beyond your normal limits. You'd have points, uses, and a cap like my version, but you'd move qi around between uses instead of spending it on them. You could also go over the cap by some amount but lose qi until the next day in the process. I don't think I'm up to making this concept work in D&D without a lot of testing.

The yin/yang distinction between male and female martial artists is something I'm not sure about tackling within the scope of D&D, as gender equality is an important part of the game. If I were to change the class to handle these, I would make the various strikes act as counters for female monks, and add a light/darkness ability based on gender.

I didn't include an alignment restriction in the class because, although artists are supposed to be good, it doesn't work the way such things work in D&D. A martial artist that turns to evil is still a martial artist, and the only thing that lets good prevail is the same "good always prevails" trope that we have in the west. We could, however, say that good monks are always the "end violence" end of good instead of the "smite evildoers" one.

Even though using magic is always bad in wuxia, I would be hesitant to include a restriction on using it, as that would really cripple a class in D&D. However, what if the monk had an ability like this:

A monk can supplement his qi abilities with magic. The monk can instruct a caster to spend a spell slot to give the monk magical energies, giving the monk five qi points per spell level spent. Additionally, the monk can get qi from magical items: by spending five minutes with an item he can render it useless for a day and gain qi equal to twice the item's caster level. However, every time the monk performs one of these acts, he must make a will save (DC = qi gained) or lose control of his qi powers. A monk who has lost control must spend his maximum amount of qi every time he uses it. This can only be fixed through an Atonement spell. If the monk uses more qi than he actually has because of this effect, he loses the ability to use qi for a week, and must make a will save (DC = twice amount spent beyond amount available) or permanently lose his ability to use qi. Qi use can only be restored through a Wish or Miracle spell.

[jamroar]

All the other monk threads and discussion over what class fits the 'monk' archtype best got me thinking. What abilities should a monk have?


They should be Psychic Warriors, with the monk abilities deconstructed into optional feats/powers, along with an entire splatbook's worth of new powers and feats.

[elliott20]

I think a lot of the ying/yang distinction really would just come down to fluff for the most part. While ying can be more about receptive, defensive forces, it's not necessarily the ONLY way that it works and it can manifest in different ways.

Take the "sunflower manual" I mentioned above. (which is a big name in a lot of Jin Yong martial arts novels) The manual itself is clearly a more ying focused martial art, as it requires a man to either castrate himself prior to practitioning, or a woman to learn it. But in it's manifestation, the only thing you can really say about it is that it makes the user FAST. Like, blinding fast. It does so by just building the tremendous amount of Qi a person has and using that to power a person's movements.

So, I wouldn't worry too much about making ying/yang mechanical and more about just making it a fluff thing with maybe some recommended styles to go with it.

Another problem with trying to create an actual Qi system is that the whole martial arts trope believes that EVERYONE has Qi, regardless of who they are. they just train it in different ways. A martial art that focuses on strength training like karate or Muai Thai? Yang. So whose to say that a level 10 fighter is not an accomplished martial artist with Yang qi? On the same token, what about a thief whose good at sneak attacks? or even worse, what about psychic warriors and psions? The difference is that normal people might be cultivating without realizing it while Wuxia characters knowing cultivate it and focus on it with greater precision.

And then you also have the problem with how does Qi interact with psionics/arcane/divine energy? That's a tough subject to tackle and a lot of that depends on the flavor of your setting and how you want to handle the different energies.