New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. - Top - End - #1
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

    Join Date
    Sep 2020

    Post Opinions on Monk Sub-class: The Blessed

    Long time lurker, first time poster.

    Confession time: I actively dislike homebrewed classes, subclasses and items, because I find they are generally unbalanced and slow games down. As a result, I don’t allow them in games I DM, and avoid playing in games that allow them.

    However!

    The talk about Tasha’s CoE and the recent thread on unused subclasses got me thinking about subclasses that I would want to see, and my creative juices started flowing, and needed an outlet.

    In particular, I got intrigued by the ideas several posters raised of a Divine Monk subclass, and mocked the following up. I’d appreciate your thoughts.

    The context for my goals and inspiration is the following: I have tried to closely follow the Four Elements chassis, both for balance reasons and also to make obvious my perspective on what sort of changes would make the Four Elements monk more satisfying in the first two Tiers.

    My choices on the spell-list and abilities have been made to lean into the potential of the monk as a controller/debuffer, while maintaining its martial arts oriented play-style, which I see as core to the class concept and “feeling” like a monk.

    While I think this build has the potential to be ki hungry at all levels, I think that with this subclass it will feel more like a choice and less like a necessity.

    The key mechanical distinctions I introduce are that your first use of each “Divine Blessing” (spell) per day is free, but subsequent uses cost ki, and that you can use a bonus action after casting a spell to make an unarmed attack.

    But enough talk, here’s the subclass:

    Spoiler: The Blessed
    Show

    Level 3

    When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your deep meditations on the divine unlock a font of inner Divine Blessings that manifest as the ability to cast certain divine spells.

    You may use each of these abilities once per day. Subsequent uses require you to expend ki in order to fuel their divine power. WIS is your spellcasting modifier for your divine spells.

    When you choose this tradition you are blessed with Divine Discipline, and you may prepare two Blessings from the list below. You can change these prepared Blessings after completing a long rest.

    You can prepare one additional Blessing at 6, 11 and 17 level.

    The Blessings allow you to cast spells. To cast one of these spells, you use its casting time and other rules, but you don’t need to provide material components for it.

    Once you reach 5th level in this class, you can spend additional ki points to increase the level of a Blessing spell that you cast, provided that the spell has an enhanced effect at a higher level. The spell’s level increases by 1 for each additional ki point you spend.

    The maximum number of ki points you can spend to cast a spell in this way (including its base ki point cost and any additional ki points you spend to increase its level) is determined by your monk level, as shown in the Spells and Ki Points table.

    If you use your Divine Discipline, or a Blessing that requires an action, you may make one unarmed attack as a bonus action.

    Spells and Ki Points

    Monk Levels 5-8, max Ki Points for a Blessing: 3
    Monk Levels 9-12, max Ki Points for a Blessing: 4
    Monk Levels 13-16, max Ki Points for a Blessing: 5
    Monk Levels 17-18, max Ki Points for a Blessing: 6

    Divine Discipline: You learn either the Word of Radiance or Toll the Dead cantrip. You may change this choice when you gain a level in this class.

    Level 6
    Divine Strikes: The damage done by your unarmed attacks becomes radiant or necrotic. You choose which when you receive this feature.

    Level 11
    Inner Calm: When making a saving throw to maintain concentration, after seeing the result of your roll, you may roll your martial arts die and add it to the result. Once you do this, you may not do so again until you complete a short rest.

    Level 17
    Avatar of Holiness: You may now use each of your Blessings once per short rest without paying any ki.

    Divine Blessings (rather than write out a bunch of flavor text, I’m just listing the spells, including their ki cost for subsequent castings, under the heading of the monk level at which you can access them. That is, a 3rd level you could choose two of the spells listed in the 3rd level row, and cast each of them as an action for free once per day, but that subsequent castings of either would cost you 2 ki).

    3rd level (2 ki): Bane, Bless, Cure Wounds, Detect Evil/Good, Guiding Bolt, Inflict Wounds, Protection from Evil/Good.

    6th level (3 ki): Aid, Blindness/Deafness, Hold Person, Lesser Restoration, Silence, Zone of Truth

    11th level (4 ki): Beacon of Hope, Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic, Sending, Spirit Guardians

    17th level (5 ki): Banishment, Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Guardian of Faith


  2. - Top - End - #2
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    GnomeWizardGuy

    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    MN, US
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Opinions on Monk Sub-class: The Blessed

    I like it!

    Rules notes/questions:
    * Material components for casting? (Oops, nevermind)
    * Free castings: limited to *prepared* blessings, I assume? What slot/spell level are they cast at? (If anything but "the highest level available right now", there's an incentive to only prepare high-level spells.)

    I would happily play this, and would happily let someone else test it at my table as a DM (but I don't have anyone who likes to Monk as much as I do).

    Edits: oops, you already answered about material components.

    More notes on second reading:
    Aid and Death Ward seem really strong under these conditions (refresh on short rest with 8hr non-concentration duration), but that might be fine at the levels they are unlocked.
    Command looks good and is fun with Tongue of Sun and Moon.
    Sanctuary seems fine too.

    Are the cantrip restrictions intended to avoid Guidance spam? Light, Sacred Flame, and Thaumaturgy all seem fine and flavorful.

    Can the ribbon at 6 be optional? Under some circumstances, you may well prefer magical bludgeoning to either radiant or necrotic.
    Last edited by x3n0n; 2020-09-25 at 10:02 PM.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

    Join Date
    Sep 2020

    Default Re: Opinions on Monk Sub-class: The Blessed

    Thanks!

    Good point about Aid and Death Ward, but i agree, I think the level that they recharge on a short rest at prevents them from getting ridiculous.

    As for level you cast for free at, I definitely think of this as “the lowest level” available. That does provide an incentive to prep only the higher level Blessings as the levels accumulate, but the benefits of the low level cleric spells (bane, bless, having a healing ability) I hope prevent the high level Blessings from just being an auto-pick.

    To my way of playing I think Bane would be very popular with this sub-class at all levels, in order to combo with Stunning Strike off of your bonus action attack on the same turn you cast Bane. Similarly with Bestow Curse at higher levels.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

    Join Date
    Sep 2020

    Default Re: Opinions on Monk Sub-class: The Blessed

    As for cantrips, I mostly wanted to keep things simple and reflective of the Four Elements sub class. The “default” elemental ability just feels like a cantrip to me (a la Prestidigitation) so i thought a cantrip option (but combat) would be fair and occasionally useful. I didn’t want to load up just to prevent this from treading too heavily into Cleric space. I want to keep the martial arts feel as much as possible.

    As for the L6 ability, I was feeling a Zealot vibe when I wrote that, but it could be optional I suppose. I wanted to encourage the player to lean into a holy-light/holy-darkness element there, but it isn’t really necessary :-).

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    GnomeWizardGuy

    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    MN, US
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Opinions on Monk Sub-class: The Blessed

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeb_by_Proxy View Post
    As for cantrips, I mostly wanted to keep things simple and reflective of the Four Elements sub class. The “default” elemental ability just feels like a cantrip to me (a la Prestidigitation) so i thought a cantrip option (but combat) would be fair and occasionally useful. I didn’t want to load up just to prevent this from treading too heavily into Cleric space. I want to keep the martial arts feel as much as possible.

    As for the L6 ability, I was feeling a Zealot vibe when I wrote that, but it could be optional I suppose. I wanted to encourage the player to lean into a holy-light/holy-darkness element there, but it isn’t really necessary :-).
    In that case, I would be tempted to make lv6 even more like Zealot, then: once per turn when you (deal damage? hit with a melee attack?), you may deal an additional Martial Arts die worth of damage to one target; this damage is radiant or necrotic, chosen when you gain this feature. People already remark on how Monk's damage falls off in tier 3: maybe make that lv11 and move the Con save buff to lv6, giving an improved save before Diamond Soul?

    The cantrip gets pretty strong as your main action as it scales up: it might even bypass the Attack action depending on situation and ability scores (and Bane/Curse, which buff the save cantrips). I don't know if that's desirable.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    ClericGuy

    Join Date
    Sep 2020

    Default Re: Opinions on Monk Sub-class: The Blessed

    That's a good point re: adding a damage rider at 6th level. Something like, "the first unarmed strike you hit on your turn you can add radiant/necrotic damage equal to half your monk level" or similar.

    I do like the scaling cantrip for this build - I think it gives a nice option depending on the scenario, but that it isn't just an auto-pick. Depending on your attack modifier, vs your spell save DC, vs your evaluation of the opponent's save modifier, whether you're hoping to trigger a stunning strike, etc, etc, it adds more options without clearly indicating "option X is always the best one".

    Thanks again for your comments!

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    GnomeWizardGuy

    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    MN, US
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Opinions on Monk Sub-class: The Blessed

    For consideration, a Paladin spell instead of a Cleric spell, but on flavor and encouraging a different play style: Divine Favor.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •