Monk as martial warlock?

[Halfandhalf]

So, one of the best things about warlock imho is customizability. You get a patron, then a pact boon, some spells, cantrips, and incantations, making for a ton of options.

I think a martial version of this would work really well for the monk class. Making oneÂ’s own unique branch of fighting a la classic king fu movies should be a goal for the monk class (imho of course) and I think a similar design to the warlock could be used to allow for a unique fighting style. Want to make drunken monkey? How about the toad style from kung fu hustle? Or 5 elements style, wing chun, ninjutsu? I think allowing for a mix and match amongst different techniques could be a great way to make monks really interesting.

Just kicking around ideas here; when I homebrewed a 3e monk way back when I had different “domains” the monk could select, like a 3e cleric. So, I had punches, kicks, vital strikes, locks, weapons, along with things like stealth (enhanced shurikens and rogue abilities, poisons), elemental ki use, body hardening, mobility etc. the monk could pick a couple of domains and get some minor fluff along with minor combat bonuses.

For 5e I think it would be cool to have monks be like a martial warlock. So, at first level you might select a primary “method” or “philosophy”. This would be the offensive backbone of your fighting style. Maybe it’s weapons. Or maybe it’s kicks, punches, grapples, pushes/repositioning techniques etc.

Pact boons could correspond to some enhancement to your basic style. So the monk could add drunken techniques, or stealth abilities, maybe an exotic weapon, extra mobility, or flexibility, or learns how to attack with strikes aimed at the vital organs. Maybe animal techniques could fit here.

Incantations could be “special techniques” which enhance and interact with the chosen offensive or enhancement techniques. These could be powerful but limited to burning Ki points, or less powerful but always active.

Finally, just as warlocks have limited spell slots per day we could keep Ki points as a limited resource for monks. They could be used as now or to power spell like abilities.

If there is any interest at all I may post more. Arguably the current model works well enough, but I think to really capture the essence of the wuxia fighters of cinema (and literature even) that a more customizable chassis could be of benefit; since warlocks have I believe the most customizability I think it would make a good place to start for a monk home brew.

I think some “domains” I used in my 3e homebrew for monks were punches, kicks, weapons, pushes, vital strikes, stealth, yin, yang, metal, wood, fire, water, earth, meditation techniques, mobility, body hardening, drunken, flexibility (like dhalsim from street fighter lol) and maybe some others.

If you read this, thanks!

[Garfunion]

Well seeing as how there is a patron of weapons then we can assume that there’s also a patron of martial arts.
So what kind of elements from the monk do you want ported over to the warlock?

[GentlemanVoodoo]

Well what your saying could work though personally I think it is a bit to complicated for the current class builds.

Already the monk itself has the kung fu, wuxia aspect going via the Kensai and Open Hand Subclasses. If you are wanting to have more of the warrior flavor with some yin-yang aspects why not just make a variant of the Way of Four Elements and allow them to get some cleric spells from such as those from the War Domain? Or throw in some smite spells?

In that same aspect, the warlock would need some consideration on how the tome and chain pact boons would play into this if your building a martial patron from scratch. If all you are wanting is more martial aspects of the monk then a simpler approach could be to allow the blade pact boon to be a 1d8 unarmed strike with an invocation or two to grant some similar abilities of the monk.

Not trying to knock what your going after but again I think there might be more simpler ways to get what your wanting.

[BerzerkerUnit]

New Monk

1 Martials Arts, Mystic Defense
2 Ki Manipulation
3 Discipline

Martial Arts: as book

Mystic Defense: incorporates Unarmored defense as one of a set of options: Choose 1.
Madogu Mastery- While wearing light armor you gain a bonus to your AC based on the number of magic items you have on your person to the limit of 1/2 your Proficiency bonus. Potions, Scrolls, and other consumable items count for this bonus. While wearing no armor the cap is raised to your proficiency bonus. You can use a shield and retain this bonus

Unarmored Defense- As book

Iron Body- you can choose any two of your Str Dex or Con modifiers to determine AC bonus.

Ki Manipulation: You have Ki Points Level+Proficiency bonus. You gain Flurry of Blows, Step of the Wind (expanded to include 3d movement during turns its used), and one other of your choice-
Patient Defense- as book
Tongue of Sun and Moon- Telepathy
Tongue of Wind and Mountain- Speak with Plants
Song of Blood- Speak with Animals
Sea Spanning Leap- Jump Spell self
Hadouken- cast Eldritch Blast as a bonus action

You gain another of these Ki Techniques every few levels.

Disciplines- This is your Eagle Style, Red Lion Style, etc. One of these is a Life Gate style that grants bonus HP, bigger punching dice than normal and the ability to sacrifice HP, take levels of exhaustion, etc for significant short term bonuses.

4 ASI
5 Extra Attack,
6 Magical Strikes, Discipline Feature (Stunning Strike goes to Open Hand, other styles get analogs at this level)
7 Evasion, Stillness of Mind (change to, at the end of your turn you can choose to end any charm or frighten condition)
8 ASI
9 Song of Wind and Sea- cast the Clairvoyance spell
10 Purity of Body- as book

Generally I try not to rework the core classes, but I thought the idea of trying to cross-polinate the two seemed fun and gave me some ideas. My Life Gate Monastic Tradition will probably hit DM's Guild sometime this year.

Thanks!