It take on the monk Kensei

[Gfrobbin84]

Hey I originally posted this in the 5e forum but someone pointed out it belongs here so I'm reposting it here in an updated form based on feedback in the other post. Let me know what you think.


Way of the Kensai

You have devoted your martial training to the mastery of one weapon above all others. This has allowed you to accomplish feats that most others only dream off with your chosen weapon but your skill in others has suffered.

Disciples Form:
At 3rd level you must pick one simple or martial melee weapon you gain proficiency in this chosen weapon(if you didn't already) but you now have a -1 to attack rolls with all other weapons. You now treat this as a monk weapon for all purposes. Also pick one fighting style from below.

Defense: While you are wielding your chosen weapon, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Dueling: When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting: When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new
roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

Dual Weapon Fighting: Wielding two versions of your chosen weapon, one in each hand, you can make attacks with your chosen weapon in place of the bonus unarmed attacks granted by your Martial Arts or Flurry of Blows class feature. Also you can use your chosen weapon to deflect missiles using your deflect missiles class feature but you can't catch or throw the missile back if you do.

Ki Weapon:

At 6th level you can meditate over your weapon during a short or long rest. Afterward as long as you have at least 1 ki point you can score a critical with your chosen weapon on a 19 or 20. Also at the end of a short or long rest where you meditated over your weapon you can invest your ki into your weapon increasing its effectiveness. At 6th level you can invest 1 ki point to give your weapon a +1 magical bonus until your next short rest provided it doesn't already have a magic bonus. At 11th level you can invest 3 ki points to give it a +2 bonus and at 16th you can invest 5 ki points to give it a +3 bonus. In the case of practitioners of the dual wield style this effects both of their weapons for no increase in ki points.

Perfect Defense:

At 11th level while wielding your chosen weapon and struck by a melee attack you can use your reaction to parry the attack and reduces it's damage the same as if it was a missile attack and you used your deflect missiles feature. If you reduce the damage to 0 or less you can redirect it to target another creature within 5 ft of you.

Perfect Form:

At 17th level while wielding your chosen weapon you can spend 4 ki points to make all your attacks that hit this turn do maximum damage. You have to spend the ki points at the start of your turn before making any attacks.

[Foxhound438]

looks a lot better now. Having to spend ki for crits seems a bit lackluster, considering the fact that a simple Hold Person does the same thing (save dependant). I liked the maximize damage idea more, that way actually rolling a crit is still better than not.

[Gfrobbin84]

I liked max damage to but felt it was maybe OP but I guess it is level 17 and fairly costly.