Monk Abilities [3.5] Yay!

[Teapot Salty]

Hey guys. Here are a few monk abilities that I'm thinking of introducing into my games, they are somewhat incomplete and I could use some help:

(Monks now have full base attack bonus.)

Spoiler: Ki pool

Show

Ki pool: You have a Ki pool equal to you wisdom modifier x your monk level.

At first level you may spend any number of points from your ki pool to gain an equal bonus to a attack roll, combat maneuver or save.

At fourth level, you may spend three points from your ki pool to do +1d6 fire, electricity or shock damage on a sucsessful melee attack, you must decide to use this ability before making the attack. You can use this ability multiple times on a single attack.

At seventh level, you may spend 5 points from your ki pool to move your movement speed as a swift action.

I need help coming up with new abilities.

Slow fall: You don't need a wall now!

At third level chose between these three abilities:

Way of the empty mind: Add wisdom bonus, as an insight bonus, to attack rolls, damage rolls and combat maneuvers.
At tenth level ad 20 points to your ki pool.

Way of the swift: You add a competence bonus to all jump, tumble, balance and escape artist checks equal to your monk level.
At tenth level, once per day, you may, for a number of round equal to you wisdom modifier, gain an additional competence bonus bonus that stacks with all other effects equal to your monk level times 10 to all jump, tumble, balance and escape artist checks.

Way of the crashing wave: Whenever you make a successful attack against an opponent, you may chose for the attack to do an additional 1d6 damage, or move 5 ft, or attempt a combat maneuver. The combat maneuver provokes an attack of opportunity, unless you posses a feat which negates such an effect. (I'll need help wording that) The movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
At 10th level, increase to +2d6, move 5 or 10 ft, or you gain a +4 bonus to the maneuver.

I'm toying with some other ideas, but those are what I have right now. What needs changing? Any ideas for new abilities? Thanks, and as always, go nuts.

[GGambrel]

It seems to me most of the alterations you've made for the monk are thematically similar to the abilities of the Pathfinder Monk: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/monk. It might be easier to balance your new monk against other classes if you base it on that.

I do like the notion of using the Ki Pool to effectively add a magical weapon property to a monk's attacks for a limited time though. Depending on how many Ki Points the monk is given per level, it might be appropriate to allow a single Ki Point to affect all attacks in a single round, or even multiple rounds.

Way of the Empty Mind: I would limit this to grow at a rate commensurate with the expected enhancement bonus on weapons (ex. +1 per every 4 monk levels), and maybe make it an enhancement bonus so that it didn't stack with Greater Magic Fang (though an insight bonus does make more sense when comparing it with the AC bonus).

Way of the Swift: A +200 bonus to a check (even at level 20) seems ridiculous to me. Obviously casters can accomplish some impressive things at a corresponding level, but I don't think anything else in the game can grant a similar bonus to a check. (Maybe I just don't like 1/day things.) I find the ability prior to level 10 to be much more palatable (though I'd probably make it 1/2 the monk's level).

Way of the Crashing Wave: This seems over-powered to me. A monk using flurry of blows with improved disarm and improved trip could seemingly knock an opponent prone (with a +8 bonus to the Str check after level 10), take his/her weapon (with a +8 effective bonus if >LV10 and the target is prone), and then lay a serious beat-down on the target (whose AC is now 4 less) all in the same turn. (This becomes especially damaging if Way of the Empty Mind applies to combat maneuvers and the Ki Pool is used to bolster the likelihood of the first attack and/or combat maneuvers. Though admittedly this would only work particularly well against medium and smaller creatures. Also at higher levels it might cause individual turns to take a bit long.)

I'm a fan of making the monk able to compete with other melee/skill classes, but the changes you've suggested seem to allow the monk to surpass most (if not all) of them. If my suggestions seem to nerf the class too much, it's probably because I primarily DM and am very leery of allowing homebrew into any campaign that I run. If all the players are monks (or gestalt monk+something), this isn't nearly as much of a concern. Best of luck!

[nonsi]

See if you can draw inspiration from this.

[Andion Isurand]

Here's some revised abilities you could give the monk in addition to your Ki system. The benefit of revising the Purity of Body + Diamond Body ability in this way, is that the monk can still use alchemical substances to alter his state, and you can add another class ability to the class where Diamond body used to reside.

You could also extend this version of Purity of Body to other status effects similar to what nonsi did for Diamond Body in his write up, but without offering flat out immunity.

-------------------------------------------

Slow Fall (Ex): A monk gains a bonus equal to four times her class level on Tumble checks made to treat a fall as being shorter than it really is for the purpose of determining damage, but only when unencumbered or wearing light or no armor.

Mastery of Self (Ex): A monk may add her Wisdom bonus (if any) to all strength-based and dexterity-based checks (skill and ability checks), to a maximum bonus equal to her class level, but only when unencumbered and wearing light or no armor.

At 3rd level monk:

Purity of Body (Ex): For every 2 class levels beyond the first, a monk gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against poison and disease.

At 5th level monk:

Still Mind (Ex): For every 4 class levels beyond the first, a monk gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting spells and effects.

[SinsI]

How do you add points to Ki Pool? DO you refill it each round/ as a (type of )action / per encounter / per day / per level/ one-time/ using items/ using skills?

[Teapot Salty]

I should have mentioned that. The ki pool is replenished by 10 minutes meditation.