Monk bonus feat?

[lotofsnow]

A buddy of mine who is just starting D&D (starting tonight in fact) wants to take a Vow of Silence on his monk. I suggested he talk to the DM to see if he could get some benefit from it, since what's the point of taking a hit like that if it doesn't improve your character in some way? He isn't really familiar with all the rules and such yet, so I wrote up something for both him and the DM to look at. Let me know what you think. I've never tried to make up something like this before, but my intent is to handle some of the issues with Monks not really having a great BAB and any enhancement bonuses to their unarmed attacks.

Here is the feat as I originally wrote it.

Spoiler

Show

Vow of Silence
“Have you any last words, little monk, before I impale you on my spear?”
-- last words of Jultus, ogre-knight of the Black Ford

From his many hours of meditation, a monk learns that there is great power in maintaining silence. By holding a Vow of Silence, a monk becomes a focused and efficient combatant.

Prerequisite: 1st-level Monk. Character must abstain from all verbal communication.

Benefits: +1 on attack and damage rolls plus an enhancement bonus equal to ¼ of the monk's class level to unarmed attacks as long as the monk is unarmored and maintains their Vow of Silence.

At 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level, the monk has the ability to add an effect to their unarmed attack from the following lists:

No list created yet. I'll probably go with something similar to the Soulknife's list

If the Vow of Silence is broken, the monk loses all benefits of this feat until he meditates to achieve focus, abstaining from both food and sleep for 48 hours.

A monk can be forced to break his vow while under a charm person spell or similar effect. A monk under the effects of a compulsion spell or effect can be made to speak, and therefore break his vow, but he receives an additional will save modified by his total monk level to resist the effect. If he succeeds on the save, the monk is not required to speak and the compulsion is broken.

A monk can be forced to break his vow by taking extreme damage. A single attack that does more than half of the monk's maximum hit points in damage requires a will save (DC is equal to the amount of damage done beyond ½ the monk's total hit points) to resist shouting out in pain.

Special: This feat must be used as the monk's 1st-level bonus feat.

After the enlightening critique immediately below, here is how I have reconstructed it:

Spoiler

Show

Vow of Silence
“Have you any last words, little monk, before I impale you on my spear?”
-- last words of Jultus, ogre-knight of the Black Ford

From his many hours of meditation, a monk learns that there is great power in maintaining silence. By holding a Vow of Silence, a monk becomes a focused and efficient combatant.

Prerequisite: 1st-level Monk.

Benefits: +2 on attack rolls for unarmed attacks as long as the monk is unarmored and maintains his Vow of Silence.

If the Vow of Silence is broken, the monk loses all benefits of this feat until he meditates to achieve focus, abstaining from both food and sleep for 48 hours.

A monk can be forced to break his vow while under a charm person spell or similar effect. A monk under the effects of a compulsion spell or effect can be made to speak, and therefore break his vow, but he receives an additional will save modified by his total monk level to resist the effect. If he succeeds on the save, the monk is not required to speak and the compulsion is broken.

A monk can be forced to break his vow by taking extreme damage. A single attack that does more than half of the monk's maximum hit points in damage requires a will save (DC is equal to the amount of damage done beyond ½ the monk's total hit points) to resist shouting out in pain.

Special: This feat can be used as the monk's 1st-level bonus feat.

[Baron Corm]

every single monk would take this. monks don't cast spells with verbal components; speaking is therefore something they would gladly give up for such high bonuses. if you think it fixes problems with the monk class, give them the 1 enhancement bonus per 4 levels as a class feature.

i think a fair thing to give someone for taking this feat is the 1 to attack and damage rolls (maybe even changing it to +2 to attack rolls would make more sense... focus doesn't let you hit harder really). most monks would still take it, as they could easily break their vow if they really needed to and 1 to attack and damage rolls isn't a huge thing to lose, but not all monks would. i don't think it should have to be taken at first level.

[lotofsnow]

Hm, I see what you are saying. I think I was maybe trying to do too much all with one feat. Now that I look at my description again, I totally see your point. Maybe just a +2 bonus would be better. Thank you for looking at it.

[Baron Corm]

you're welcome!

[Cybren]

Technicly you never state what the "Vow of Silence" is. That's inviting abuse in my opinion.

[lotofsnow]

Technicly you never state what the "Vow of Silence" is. That's inviting abuse in my opinion.

Ah! Good point. How's "abstaining from verbal communication?"

[ArmorArmadillo]

every single monk would take this. monks don't cast spells with verbal components; speaking is therefore something they would gladly give up for such high bonuses. if you think it fixes problems with the monk class, give them the 1 enhancement bonus per 4 levels as a class feature.

i think a fair thing to give someone for taking this feat is the 1 to attack and damage rolls (maybe even changing it to +2 to attack rolls would make more sense... focus doesn't let you hit harder really). most monks would still take it, as they could easily break their vow if they really needed to and 1 to attack and damage rolls isn't a huge thing to lose, but not all monks would. i don't think it should have to be taken at first level.

Every monk would take this? What about people who'd like to speak? Not everyone is so concerned with minmaxing that they're willing to give up their characters just for stat reasons. I mean, some characters have this concept but it's no foregone conclusion.

[Baron Corm]

feat: sorcerous
benefit: grants you progression in sorceror equal to your BaB
prerequisites: none

it doesn't fit everyone's character idea. probably few people would take it. i think we should allow this feat?

sorry for the sarcasm but it was helping to illustrate the point

[ArmorArmadillo]

feat: sorcerous
benefit: grants you progression in sorceror equal to your BaB
prerequisites: none

it doesn't fit everyone's character idea. probably few people would take it. i think we should allow this feat?

sorry for the sarcasm but it was helping to illustrate the point

How does this compare? The ability to speak in a roleplaying game is pretty basic, and giving it up is a pretty big deal for most characters. If you think a feat is overpowered, say that. Saying "every monk would take this" is different. Usually, it works the same, but in this situation it didn't.

[JackMage666]

This is a natural choice for a Buomen monk. That's the main problem I see.

I would say it was good the first way, if you Reduce it to +1 at first level, then +1 per five levels afterwards. As an enhancement bonus, it's good, considering it won't stack with Amulet of Natural Weapons or Amulet of Mighty Fists (which is overpriced anyway). Should put the monk in a better light. Still won't be great, and the Enhancement bonus doesn't apply to other weapons. I don't see a problem with it.

[Dryad]

If you want a character with a vow of silence: Take one. Why get a benefit from it? Isn't it the roleplay that's important? This way, roleplay threatens to become rollplay. And that would be a shame.
(I've got a 1st lvl monk with longbow proficiency... She's quite insane, and is barely capable of normal communication because of that. I just took that as a roleplay thingy; it's cool. Don't need any benefits because of that. Also, she's physically weak. Extremely weak. So she won't be an effective combat character, either, until she enters clergy of wee-jas. And even then, combat won't be her first thing; not even second. I keep her for the roleplay. As I do all my characters.)
It's about character concepts, not about dice-rolls.

[Matthew]

Have to agree with you there, Dryad. It's a symptom of the Flaws = Bonuses trend.