| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So I've said on a few occasions that if I were to implement a Monk "fix" it would be to split it into multiple classes. One a pure martial character, one a 6 level caster, and possibly one a 4th level "middle ground class". Got bored recently so I went to work on that.
BaB: 3/4
Hit dice: d8
Skills per level: 6+Int
Weapon Proficiency: Ascetics are proficient with the brass knuckles, cestus, club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shortspear, short sword, shuriken, siangham, sling, spear and temple sword.
Armor and Shield Proficiency: Ascetics are not proficient with any armor or shields. When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, an Ascetic loses his AC bonus. Though they are Divine casters, Armor interferes with an Ascetic's gestures, which can cause his spells with somatic components to fail (see Arcane Spells and Armor).
Spells: An Ascetic casts divine spells drawn from the Inquisitor spell list. He can cast any spell he knows at any time without preparing it ahead of time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.
To learn or cast a spell, an Ascetic must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an Ascetic's spell is 10 + the spell level + the Ascetic’s Wisdom modifier.
An Ascetic can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level each day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Inquisitor. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells).
An Ascetic’s selection of spells is extremely limited. An Ascetic begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of the Ascetic’s choice. At each new Ascetic level, she gains one or more new spells as indicated on Table: Inquisitor Spells Known. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells an Ascetic knows is not affected by his Wisdom score. The numbers on Table: Inquisitor Spells Known are fixed.)
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third Ascetic level thereafter (8th, 11th, and so on), an Ascetic can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the Ascetic “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level Inquisitor spell he can cast. The Ascetic may swap out only a single spell at any given level and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the level.
Ac Bonus (Ex):When unarmored and unencumbered, the Ascetic adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC and his CMD. In addition, an Ascetic gains a +1 bonus to AC and CMD at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four Ascetic levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.
These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load.
Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, an Ascetic gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. An Ascetic's attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that an Ascetic may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for an Ascetic striking unarmed. An Ascetic may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Usually an Ascetic's unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
An Ascetic's unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
An Ascetic also deals more damage with his unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown above on Table: Monk. The unarmed damage values listed on Table: Monk is for Medium Ascetics. A Small Ascetic deals less damage than the amount given there with his unarmed attacks, while a Large Ascetic deals more damage; see Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage.
Still Mind (Ex): An Ascetic of 3rd level or higher gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells and effects.
Ki Pool (Su): At 4th level, an Ascetic gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in an Ascetic's ki pool is equal to his monk level + his Wisdom modifier. As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike.
At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to be treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
At 7th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as cold iron and silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
At 10th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as an Alignment weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. The Alignment is chosen by the Ascetic, and must be one that is opposed by one of his alignment types. For example, a Lawful Good Ascetic may choose to overcome either DR/Chaotic or DR/Evil. Once this has been chosen it may not be changed.
At 16th level, his unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness.
By spending 1 point from his ki pool, an Ascetic can do one of the following:
Gain a bonus to attack rolls equal to his Wisdom modifier for one round, or
Increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round, or
Give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round.
Each of these powers is activated as a swift action.
In addition, an Ascetic can cast spells using his Ki pool provided he spends a number of Ki points equal to double the spell level he is attempting to cast.
The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive.
Purity of Body (Ex): At 5th level, an Ascetic gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.
Wholeness of Body (Su): At 7th level or higher, an Ascetic can heal wounds (his own or others) by touch. He can heal a number of hit points of damage equal to double his Ascetic level by using 2 points from his ki pool. Using this ability is a standard action, unless the Ascetic targets himself, in which case it is a swift action.
Abundant Step (Su): At 12th level or higher, an Ascetic can slip magically between spaces, as if using the spell dimension door. Using this ability is a move action that consumes 2 points from his ki pool. His caster level for this effect is equal to his Ascetic level. He cannot take other creatures with him when he uses this ability.
Diamond Soul (Su): At 13th level, an Ascetic gains spell resistance equal to his current Ascetic level + 10 against enemy spells. In order to affect the Ascetic with a spell, a hostile spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the Ascetic's spell resistance.
Empty Body (Su): At 19th level, an Ascetic gains the ability to assume an ethereal state for 1 minute as though using the spell Etherealness. Using this ability is a move action that consumes 3 points from his ki pool. This ability only affects the Ascetic and cannot be used to make other creatures ethereal.
Perfect Self: At 20th level, an Ascetic becomes a magical creature. He is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the Ascetic's creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the Ascetic gains damage reduction 10/Alignment (Where Alignment is the one chosen for the Ascetic's Ki Strike), which allows him to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a non-chaotic weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn't have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the monk can still be brought back from the dead as if he were a member of his previous creature type.
I posted the Ascetic first because it was the easiest. It is, mostly, the Core Monk with 6 level casting in place of Flurry (and a few other abilities cut out, and some changed).
The Inquisitor list is just the placeholder until I have the time to make up a unique spell list. You bet your ass I'm gonna figure out a way to work Blood Crow Strike in there. =)
The other two I'm still working on, but here's the gist of them.
Core outline: Full BaB, d10 Hit Die, 4+Int skills per level
Armor: Light armor, and bucklers and light shields
Weapons: All weapons in the Monk and Close weapon groups
Proposed Existing Class Features: Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, AC Bonus (applies in light armor and with a light shield), Fast Movement, Slow Fall, Evasion/Improved, Ki Pool, Purity of Body, Diamond Body, Bonus Feats (change to allow any Combat or Style Feat. May ignore prereqs for Style Feats.), Quivering Palm
Proposed New Class Features: Fuse Styles, “Monastic Training” (+1 bonus to attack and damage with Close and Monk weapons, count as Fighter of half his level for Feats and effects that rely on such), Perfect Style (capstone), “Improved Fast Movement” (increased number of 5 ft. steps at every increase in Fast Movement? May move up to Fast Movement extra speed and still make a full attack?),
(Essentially, a more combat oriented Monk, one that fits the theme of a martial artist much better than the Brawler, without stepping on his toes too much. Still has a mystic flavor, but in a more Wuxia film type of direction than the Ascetic.)
Core Outline: Full BaB, d10 Hit Die, 4+Int skills
Armor: Light armor, bucklers and light shields
Weapons: All Simple and Martial weapons, as well as all weapons in the Monk weapon group
Proposed Existing Class Features: Fast Movement, Purity of Body, Wholeness of Body, Diamond Body, Ki Pool, Flurry of Blows, Timeless Body, Tongue of the Sun and Moon
Proposed New Class Features: 4 level casting (truncated Cleric list until unique list can be made), Qinggong abilities, Touch of Serenity, Ki Weapon (expanded from the Sohei version, more central to the class as a whole)
(Essentially a middle ground between the Martial Artist and the Ascetic, more mysticism than the Martial Artist, less than the Ascetic. Considering making him “Law’s answer to the Paladin”.)
Thoughts? Suggestions for change? Something interesting to give the Enlightened Warrior so he's not so bare as he is currently?
I like your "Ascetic" take on the Monk quite a bit.
Its very interesting to me that you and I seem to have independently selected so many of the same Monk features to cash in.
When you have an opportunity to playtest your creation, I'd be interested in learning what you've concluded. (So far, the Friar in our game is proving to be nicely capable, but certainly not overshadowing of any other characters.)
These look really good, I'm going to show my co-GM this. I think she'll be real interested in the using these.
I like the martial artist including fuse styles, I've been trying to get my GM to allow my character to have access to that ability instead of slow fall and fast movement. Maybe this will sway her.
Great job, this should please just about everyone in regards to what role a monk plays in 'party dynamics'.
Slightly modified monk, I will likely playtest.
Monk
Full BAB, D8
Saves: good F, R, W
skills 4+ int
1st lvl Unarmed Strike does not improve, it stays at 1d6 damage. (modified)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st lvl Flurry of blows, delete this sentence: “For the purpose of these attacks, the monk's base attack bonus from his monk class levels is equal to his monk level. For all other purposes, such as qualifying for a feat or a prestige class, the monk uses his normal base attack bonus.” (modified)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4th Ki pool, the monk can make an extra attack at his highest attack bonus if he spends 1 ki point,
(this does not require him to flurry anymore so it can be activated after a move or charge). The monk an draw from his ki pool to use these actions once per round as a free action. (modified)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4th lvl Ki strike, as a swift action a monk can deal +1 damage, +1 per 5 levels in any class that gives access to a ki pool for 1 round. It also gives the monk the ability to ignore DR/Magic whenever the monk uses Ki Strike. He can use this ability as long as he has at least 1 ki point left in his ki pool.
At 7th level the monk’s attacks also count as cold iron and silver while using ki strike.
At 10th level the monk’s attacks count as lawful when using arcane strike.
At 16th lvl the monk’s attacks are treated as adamantine for the purpose of ignoring DR and hardness, while using ki strike. (modified)*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6th lvl Monastic Training, like fighter weapon training it stacks with weapon training and is for all effects and abilities the same as weapon training but it only improves the monk weapon group.
It increases by +1 every 6 levels after 6th, up to +3 at level 18. (added)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
13th lvl Diamond soul, the monk can spend a ki point as a free action to gain spell resistance equal to 11 + his class level this lasts till the beginning of the monk’s next turn.
The monk can also activate it as an immediate action ending at the end of the monk’s next turn in that case. (modified)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally:
5th wholeness of body, as is
7th purity of body, wholeness of body functions as remove disease.
11th diamond body, wholeness of body also acts as neutralize poison.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Ki strike is also a feat in my campaign, though it doesnt get any of the DR penetration improvements besides magic usually.
EDIT: I posted this in the wrong thread, but I'll leave it here since it is at least related and might be helpful.
BaB: Full
Hit Die: d10
Skills: 4+Int
Saves: Good Fort/Ref/Will
Armor Proficiency: A Martial Artist is proficient with Light Armor and Light Shields.
Weapon Proficiency: A Martial Artist is proficient with all weapons in the Close and Monk weapon groups.
Ac Bonus (Ex): The Martial Artist adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC and his CMD. In addition, a Martial Artist gains a +1 bonus to AC and CMD at 4th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every four Martial Artist levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.
These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor other than Light Armor, when he carries a shield other than a Light Shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load.
Fuse Style (Ex):At 1st level, a Martial Artist can fuse two of the styles he knows into a more perfect style. The Martial Artist can have two style feat stances active at once. Starting a stance provided by a style feat is still a swift action, but when the Martial Artist switches to another style feat, he can choose one style whose stance is already active to persist. He may only have two style feat stances active at a time. At 8th level, the Martial Artist can fuse three styles at once. He can have the stances of three style feats active at the same time. Furthermore, he can enter up to three stances as a swift action.
At 15th level, the Martial Artist can fuse four styles at once. He can have the stances of four style feats active at the same time. Furthermore, he can enter up to four stances as a free action by spending 1 point from his ki pool.
Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a Martial Artist gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A Martial Artist 's attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a Martial Artist may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a Martial Artist striking unarmed. A Martial Artist may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Usually a Martial Artist's unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A Martial Artist's unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
A Martial Artist also deals more damage with his unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown above on Table: Monk. The unarmed damage values listed on Table: Monk is for Medium Martial Artists. A Small Martial Artist deals less damage than the amount given there with his unarmed attacks, while a Large Martial Artist deals more damage; see Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage.
Bonus Feat: At 1st level, 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a Martial Artist may select a Bonus Feat. These Feats must be taken from either the Style or Combat Feat categories.
If the Martial Artist chooses a Style Feat, he may ignore the prerequisites for that Feat, provided he already has the base Style Feat. For example, a Martial Artist who has Snake Style can choose Snake Fang without taking Snake Sidewind (and without meeting the Sense Motive rank prerequisite), but may not take either of those Feats if he is lacking Snake Style.
A Martial Artist may also ignore prerequisites for the Elemental Fist Feat and the ability prerequisites for Two Weapon Fighting Feats (I.E. he does not require Dex 15 to Take Two-Weapon Fighting, but must still have Two-Weapon Fighting to take Improved Two Weapon Fighting).
He may ONLY ignore these prerequisites if he is taking these Feats as Bonus Feats, not for his standard Feat allotment.
Stunning Fist (Ex): At 1st level, the Martial Artist gains Stunning Fist as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. The Martial Artist may attempt a stunning attack a number of times per day equal to his Martial Artist level, plus one more time per day for every four levels he has in classes other than Martial Artist.
At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the Martial Artist gains the ability to apply a new condition to the target of his Stunning Fist. This condition replaces stunning the target for 1 round, and a successful saving throw still negates the effect.
At 4th level, he can choose to make the target fatigued.
At 8th level, he can make the target sickened for 1 minute.
At 12th level, he can make the target staggered for 1d6+1 rounds.
At 16th level, he can permanently blind or deafen the target.
At 20th level, he can paralyze the target for 1d6+1 rounds.
The Martial Artist must choose which condition will apply before the attack roll is made. These effects do not stack with themselves (a creature sickened by Stunning Fist cannot become nauseated if hit by Stunning Fist again), but additional hits do increase the duration.
Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher, a Martial Artist can avoid damage from many area-effect attacks. If a Martial Artist makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a Martial Artist is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless Martial Artist does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a Martial Artist gains an untyped bonus to his land speed, as shown on Table: monk. A Martial Artist in medium or heavy armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.
Ki Pool (Su): At 4th level, a Martial Artist gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in a Martial Artist's ki pool is equal to 1/2 his Martial Artist level + his Wisdom modifier. As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike.
At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to be treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
At 7th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as cold iron and silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
At 10th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as an Alignment weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. The Alignment is chosen by the Martial Artist, and must be one that is opposed by one of his alignment types. For example, a Lawful Good Ascetic may choose to overcome either DR/Chaotic or DR/Evil. Once this has been chosen it may not be changed.
At 16th level, his unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness.
By spending 1 point from his ki pool, a Martial Artist can do one of the following:
Make one additional attack at his highest attack bonus when making a Full Attack, or
Increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round, or
Give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round.
Each of these powers is activated as a swift action.
The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive.
Slow Fall (Ex): At 4th level or higher, a Martial Artist can slow his descent. When first gaining this ability, he takes damage as if the fall were 20 feet shorter than it actually is. The Martial Artist's ability to slow his fall (that is, to reduce the effective distance of the fall) improves with his Martial Artist level until at 20th level he can fall any distance without harm.
Purity of Body (Ex): At 5th level, a Martial Artist gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.
Monastic Training: At 5th level, a Martial Artist may select either the Monk or Close weapon groups Whenever he attacks with a weapon from this group, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls. Every 5 levels thereafter (10th, 15th, 20th) he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls when using a weapon from this group. This counts as the Fighter class feature Weapon Training for the purpose of prerequisites.
In addition, a Martial Artist counts 1/2 his total Martial Artist level as his fighter level for the purpose of qualifying for feats. If he has levels in fighter, these levels stack.
Improved Fast Movement: Starting at 9th level a Martial Artist can move with blinding speed. As long as he moves less distance than the additional movement granted by the Fast Movement class feature, he may still make full round actions (including the full attack action). For example, a 9th level Monk has Fast Movement +30. As long as he moves less than 30 feet that round, he may still take full round actions.
Diamond Body (Su): At 11th level, a Martial Artist gains immunity to poisons of all kinds.
Quivering Palm (Su): Starting at 15th level, a Martial Artist can set up vibrations within the body of another creature that can thereafter be fatal if the monk so desires. He can use this quivering palm attack once per day, and he must announce his intent before making his attack roll. Creatures immune to critical hits cannot be affected. Otherwise, if the Martial Artist strikes successfully and the target takes damage from the blow, the quivering palm attack succeeds. Thereafter, the monk can try to slay the victim at any later time, as long as the attempt is made within a number of days equal to his Martial Artist level. To make such an attempt, the Martial Artist merely wills the target to die (a free action), and unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the Martial Artist's level + the Martial Artist's Wis modifier), it dies. If the saving throw is successful, the target is no longer in danger from that particular quivering palm attack, but it may still be affected by another one at a later time. A Martial Artist can have no more than 1 quivering palm in effect at one time. If a Martial Artist uses quivering palm while another is still in effect, the previous effect is negated.
Perfect Style (Ex): At 20th level, a Martial Artist can have the stances of five style feats active at once, and can change those stances as a free action.
Voila. Let me know if it's a bit much. I felt a bit iffy about adding some things, but that may be because I thought it kind blew the Fighter away. Stacking up against Ranger, Paladin, and Barbarian it may be pretty balanced, however.
Oh a clarification on the Ascetic's saves. It has good Ref/Will, but poor Fort.
Maybe you could add to the unarmed strike entry of the Martial Artist, the benefits of versatile unarmed strike, where you can as a swift action change the type of damage dealt (slashing, piercing or bludgeoning). Just my opinion. Looks real good, though.
Hm, that's an interesting ability I hadn't thought of.
May toss that in at 7th to get rid of that awkward gap between 5 and 9.
-Ascetics get good Ref/Will, poor Fort saves
-Unique spell list for Ascetic (may take a while)
-Martial Artists gain "Versatile Unarmed Strike" at 7th level, which allows them to change the damage type their unarmed strike deals as a Swift action.
|
1st level fighter:
+1 BAB
+2 to a single save
2 skill points
martial wp's and all armors
one bonus feat
1st level martial artist:
+1 BAB
+2 to every save
4 skill points
monk and close wp's
light armor and shields
Improved Unarmed Strike
Stunning Fist
Fuse Styles
and a bonus feat?
i suggest knocking out one of the saves (will), the proficiency with armor and shields, and the 1st level bonus feat (keep 2/6/10/14/18 - call them 'combat style' feats a la ranger).
Arkady Zelenka i think there is a style feat that already does that.
Also, though i think the martial artist should be able to bypass DR effectively, i don't think he should have a ki pool or supernatural abilities. just me though. maybe allow an ability gained at 4th level to total damage from all attacks combined before subtracting DR (there is a bow and arrow feat that does this already)? to compensate for the lack of an extra ki attack, maybe re-introduce scaling unarmed damage? some ideas... i like most of what you got there!
@rainzax
Boar style is slashing and bludgeoning as a free action. Boar ferocity adds piercing to your options as a free action. But the thing is: does everyone want to burn two feats? Yeah I know someone will just say take the MoMs archetype, but then everyone will end up having the same concept. It's a good ability, in my home campaign I include it as a part of the monks unarmed strike ability.
Ehhh, I think it's more fair to compare to, say, a Ranger or Paladin. Fighter has its own balance problems.
1st level martial artist:
+1 BAB
+2 to every save
4 skill points
monk and close wp's
light armor and shields
Improved Unarmed Strike
Stunning Fist
Fuse Styles
and a bonus feat
1st level Ranger:
+1 BaB
+2 to two saves (Fort/Ref)
6 skill points
Simple and Martial weapons
Light armor, medium armor, and all shields besides Tower (not just light shields and bucklers)
Favored Enemy
Track
Wild Empathy
1st level Paladin:
+1 BaB
+2 to two saves (Fort/Will)
2 skill points
Simple and Martial weapons
All armor and shields (except Tower shields)
Aura of Good
Detect Evil
Smite Evil
Hell comparing the Core Monk to the Fighter yields pretty much the same allotment of things you listed, minus the BaB and armor.
1st level Monk:
+2 to every save
4 skill points
Assortment of weapons
Improved Unarmed Strike
Stunning Fist
Flurry of Blows
and a bonus feat
Fighters don't get much as a matter of course. Maybe I should take a crack at replacing the Fighter too for my next game.
I considered leaving a lot of the Su stuff out of it, but it really doesn't FEEL right without it. The Brawler will have the non-magical unarmed fighter covered when the ACG comes out, this is something a bit different. It obviously has mystic roots, but is more focused on harnessing Ki to hit shit really hard and improve other physical capabilities rather than the Ascetic's path of using Ki to do magic things.
As for a "Clustered Shots" thing, I considered it, and still am a little bit. Ki Strike is the simplest path around DR entirely, however, so I stuck with that at least for V1.
And in case it wasn't clear, scaling unarmed damage never went away. It's still part of the Unarmed Strike ability. May take Ascetic the Sohei route (unarmed stops scaling after 4th level).
I find it a problem that anything has Diamond Soul. It's a terrible ability that is frequently worse than nothing.
Perhaps you missed the change I made to it. =)
fair enough, but even all other class abilities split about even, Full BAB plus All Good Saves is still damn good.
maybe push Fuse Styles back one level (to 2@2nd/3@8th/4@14th/5@20th?) and shunt Stunning Fist onto list of bonus feats (instead of giving it for 'free')?
That sounds fair. Fuse Styles starting at 2nd.
I honestly think Stunning Fist is a small enough boon that it doesn't really matter (much like on the core Monk). The Martial Artist has even less of a reason to pump Wis than the Monk (since he can wear armor) so the DC is likely to be fairly low.
BaB: Full
Hit Die: d10
Skills: 4+Int
Saves:Good Fort/Will, Poor Ref
Armor Proficiency: An Enlightened Warrior is proficient with Light Armor, Medium Armor, and Light Shields.
Weapon Proficiency: An Enlightened Warrior is proficient with all weapons in the Monk weapon group, as well as the Longbow, Shortbow, Naginata, Meteor Hammer, Chakram, and Scythe.
Unarmed Strike:At 1st level, an Enlightened Warrior gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. An Enlightened Warrior's attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that an Enlightened Warrior may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for an Enlightened Warrior striking unarmed. An Enlightened Warrior may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Usually an Enlightened Warrior's unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
An Enlightened Warrior's unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
An Enlightened Warrior also deals more damage with his unarmed strikes than a normal person would, dealing 1d6 damage at 1st level and advancing to 1d8 damage at 4th.
Touch of Serenity (Su): At 1st level, an Enlightened Warrior gains Touch of Serenity as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. At 6th level, and every six levels thereafter, the duration of Touch of Serenity increases by 1 round. Each round on its turn, the target may attempt a new Will save to end the effect. This duration does not stack; only the longest remaining duration applies.
Flurry of Blows (Ex): Starting at 1st level, an Enlightened Warrior can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action.
When doing so, he may make one additional attack, taking a –2 penalty on all of his attack rolls, as if using the Two-Weapon Fighting feat. These attacks can be made with any combination of unarmed strikes and weapons listed in his "Weapons Proficiency" section. He does not need to use two weapons to utilize this ability.
At 8th level, the Enlightened Warrior can make two additional attacks when he uses flurry of blows, as if using Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (even if the Enlightened Warrior does not meet the prerequisites for the feat).
At 15th level, the Enlightened Warrior can make three additional attacks using flurry of blows, as if using Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (even if the Enlightened Warrior does not meet the prerequisites for the feat).
An Enlightened Warrior applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands. An Enlightened Warrior may substitute disarm, sunder, and trip combat maneuvers for unarmed attacks as part of a flurry of blows. An Enlightened Warrior cannot use any weapon other than an unarmed strike or the weapons listed in his "Weapons Proficiency" section as part of a flurry of blows. An Enlightened Warrior with natural weapons cannot use such weapons as part of a flurry of blows, nor can he make natural attacks in addition to his flurry of blows attacks.
Fast Movement (Ex) An Enlightened Warrior's land speed is faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor, and not carrying a heavy load. Apply this bonus before modifying the Enlightened Warrior's speed because of any load carried or armor worn. This bonus stacks with any other bonuses to the Enlightened Warrior's land speed.
Ki Pool: At 4th level, an Enlightened Warrior gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in an Enlightened Warrior's ki pool is equal to his Enlightened Warrior level + his Wisdom modifier. As long as he has at least 1 point in his ki pool, he can make a ki strike.
At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to be treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
At 7th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as cold iron and silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
At 10th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as an Alignment weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. The Alignment is chosen by the Ascetic, and must be one that is opposed by one of his alignment types. For example, a Lawful Good Ascetic may choose to overcome either DR/Chaotic or DR/Evil. Once this has been chosen it may not be changed.
At 16th level, his unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness.
By spending 1 point from his ki pool, an Ascetic can do one of the following:
Make one additional attack at his highest attack bonus when making a flurry of blows attack, or
Increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round, or
Give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round.
Each of these powers is activated as a swift action.
In addition, an Enlightened Warrior can cast one of his spells or Qinggong Powers as a Swift action by spending 3 points from his Ki Pool at the time of use.
The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive.
Ki Powers (Su): Starting at 4th level, an Enlightened Warrior can draw on his Ki reserves to perform feats of skill and magic. At 4th level and every 2 levels thereafter, an Enlightened Warrior may choose a power from the Ki Powers list (found here). An Enlightened Warrior must meet the minimum level requirements to choose one of these powers, but is otherwise unrestricted in which powers he chooses (an 8th level Enlightened Warrior may still choose from the 4th and 6th level Ki Powers lists, for example).
Each of these powers requires that the Enlightened Warrior spend a number of Ki points (listed next to the power's name). In the event that this Ki Power grants a Feat, the Feat lasts for a duration equal to the Enlightened Warrior's Wisdom modifier. All Ki Powers take a Standard action to activate unless otherwise noted (either in the spell description or in the case of Ki Powers marked with a dagger).
Spells: Beginning at 4th level, an Enlightened Warrior gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells which are drawn from the paladin spell list. An Enlightened Warrior must choose and prepare her spells in advance.
To prepare or cast a spell, an Enlightened Warrior must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an Enlightened Warrior's spell is 10 + the spell level + the Enlightened Warrior's Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, an Enlightened Warrior can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Paladin. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells). When Table: Paladin indicates that the Enlightened Warrior gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Wisdom score for that spell level.
An Enlightened Warrior must spend 1 hour each day in quiet prayer and meditation to regain his daily allotment of spells. An Enlightened Warrior may prepare and cast any spell on the paladin spell list, provided that he can cast spells of that level, but he must choose which spells to prepare during his daily meditation.
Through 3rd level, an Enlightened Warrior has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, his caster level is equal to his Enlightened Warrior level – 3.
Purity of Body (Ex): At 5th level, an Enlightened Warrior gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.
Wholeness of Body (Su)At 7th level or higher, an Enlightened Warrior can heal wounds (his own or others) by touch. He can heal a number of hit points of damage equal to double his Enlightened Warrior level by using 2 points from his ki pool. Using this ability is a standard action, unless the Enlightened Warrior targets himself, in which case it is a swift action.
Tongue of the Sun and Moon (Ex): An Enlightened Warrior of 9th level or higher can speak with any living creature.
Timeless Body (Su): At 11th level, an Enlightened Warrior no longer takes penalties to his ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that he has already taken, however, remain in place. Age bonuses still accrue, and the Enlightened Warrior still dies of old age when his time is up.
Ki Mastery (Su): At 20th level an Enlightened Warrior becomes a master of Ki energy. The Ki usage of all Ki Powers and other abilities that utilize Ki (such as Wholeness of Body) are reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0). In addition, an Enlightened Warrior can replenish his Ki Energy by meditating for no less than 10 minutes. At the end of this duration, he regains a number of Ki points equal to double his Wisdom modifier. He may perform this meditation as many times as he chooses, but any disturbance or interruption necessitates that he begin again from the start of the duration.
Hm. This is the one I had the least clear idea of going in, but I think it turned out alright. Tell me what y'all think of it. It feels slightly...off but I'm not sure how or why.
Need to get to work on them spell lists tomorrow.
|
|
how about:
Enlightened Warrior
1 - Unarmed Strike (1d6), Touch of Serenity, Fast Movement
2 - Flurry of Blows
3 - Tongue of the Sun and Moon
4 - Spell-casting, Ki Pool, Ki Strike (magic)
5 - Ki Power
6 - Purity of Body
7 - Ki Strike (cold iron/silver)
8 - Ki Power
9 - Unarmed Strike (1d8)
10- Ki Strike (lawful)
11- Ki Power
12- Timeless Body
13-
14- Ki Power
15-
16- Ki Strike (adamantine)
17- Ki Power
18- Empty Body
19- Unarmed Strike (1d10)
20- Ki Power, Ki Mastery
I don't like the way the Ki Powers are staggered like that. I toyed with a "4, 5, every 3 levels thereafter" bit but it resulted in the main peeve of mine with the Qinggong Monk as-is coming to the fore, the abilities being staggered to levels where the Monk cannot possibly take them at the level they become available.
And I don't see any real reason why they should be that small in number. Ki Powers are, for the most part, not very powerful (though nice to have), so I figured having a good selection of them would help more than hurt.
Interesting that you put Tongue at 3rd...any real reason why? I don't object to it out of hand, but I figured it should come no earlier than 5th (when a Wizard would get Tongues), and probably not until at least 7th (when a Cleric or Sorcerer would get it).
Why drop Wholeness of Body?
|
|
1st and especially 4th level were crowded, full BAB plus spells at 4th/7th/10th/13th cued me to slow down ki powers, placing them at 5th/8th/11th/14th/17th/20th, then i added 'body' things at 6th/12th/18th (including empty body - thematic to me), and modest increase in unarmed damage at 9th/19th - tongues just kind of fell into that position. wholeness of body not needed if there are cure spells - it could also just be another ki power. also, mechanically, i think the capstone needs work: maybe double ki pool (to full level plus WIS) and all ki powers that are swift actions become free actions?
btw i like the concept. my ocd compels me to make it into a table to 'see' it. tempted to do your other ones...
As far as unique spell lists goes, how about you borrow from my insightful mind multiclass archetype.
Insightful minds gain access to the following spells.
0-Level Insightful Mind Spells—arcane mark, bleed, dancing lights, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, ghost sound, light, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic, resistance.
1st-Level Insightful Mind Spells—air bubble, alarm, animate rope, anticipate peril, cause fear, color spray, comprehend languages, detect secret doors, detect undead, disguise self, ear-piercing scream, endure elements, enlarge person, erase, expeditious excavation, expeditious retreat, feather fall, hold portal, identify, jump, ki arrow, magic aura, magic weapon, protection from chaos/evil/good/law, ray of enfeeblement, reduce person, see alignment, shield, silent image, sleep, true strike, ventriloquism.
2nd-Level Insightful Mind Spells—alter self, arcane lock, bear's endurance, blindness/deafness, blood transcription, blur, bull's strength, cat's grace, command undead, create treasure map, darkvision, detect thoughts, eagle's splendour, elemental speech, false life, fiery shuriken, fox's cunning, glitterdust, knock, levitate, locate object, magic mouth, make whole, minor image, mirror image, misdirection, obscure object, owl's wisdom, protection from arrows, pyrotechnics, resist energy, rope trick, scare, see invisibility, share language, share memory, snapdragon fireworks, spectral hand, spider climb, steal breath, whispering wind.
3rd-Level Insightful Mind Spells—aqueous orb, arcane sight, blink, blood biography, clairaudience/clairvoyance, cloak of winds, cloak of winds, deep slumber, dispel magic, displacement, flame arrow, fly, gaseous form, gentle repose, halt undead, haste, hold person, illusory script, keen edge, locate weakness, magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law, magic weapon (greater), major image, nondetection, protection from energy, ray of exhaustion, secret page, seek thoughts, shrink item, slow, tongues, water breathing.
4th-Level Insightful Mind Spells—animate dead, contagion, dimensional anchor, enlarge person (mass), false life (greater), fear, ghost wolf, globe of invulnerability (lesser), illusory wall, mnemonic enhancer, phantasmal killer, rainbow pattern, reduce person (mass), remove curse, scrying, stone shape, stoneskin, wall of fire, wall of ice.
5th-Level Insightful Mind Spells—animal growth, blight, break enchantment, dismissal, fabricate, hold monster, icy prison, interposing hand, magic jar, overland flight, passwall, permanency, planar adaptation, sending, shadow conjuration, telekinesis, transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud, wall of force, wall of stone.
6th-Level Insightful Mind Spells—antimagic field, circle of death, contagion (greater), control water, create undead, curse (major, ), disintegrate, dispel magic (greater), enemy hammer, eyebite, flesh to stone, globe of invulnerability, guards and wards, mage's lucubration, move earth, rampart, scrying (greater), shadow evocation, shadow walk, sirocco, stone to flesh, transformation, undeath to death, wall of iron.
1st and especially 4th level were crowded, full BAB plus spells at 4th/7th/10th/13th cued me to slow down ki powers, placing them at 5th/8th/11th/14th/17th/20th
Ah, yeah, 4th is a bit crowded.
Maybe 5th/6th, then every two levels? Keeps the same number I wanted (9) but reduces crowding.
then i added 'body' things at 6th/12th/18th (including empty body - thematic to me), and modest increase in unarmed damage at 9th/19th - tongues just kind of fell into that position.
Gotcher.
wholeness of body not needed if there are cure spells - it could also just be another ki power.
Gotta disagree here. It was meant to fill the space of a Paladin's LoH (they ALSO have Cure spells, y'know), healing double your level as a Swift action if you use it on yourself. It worked out pretty perfect when I ran the math too...double your level comes out to the average (give or take one or two) HP a Lay on Hands of a similar level heals.
also, mechanically, i think the capstone needs work: maybe double ki pool (to full level plus WIS) and all ki powers that are swift actions become free actions?
Ki Pool is already at full level + Wis (maybe I should put a disclaimer at the end of each one "I changed how a lot of the abilities work, please read over all of them instead of assuming they work as the Monk ability"...).
I thought about the idea of making all the Swift ones become free, but I wasn't sure if that would be nova-tastic or not, especially given I really want to keep the "meditate and recharge" thing. I just got an image of the Enlightened Warrior casting all of his Ki Powers in a single round and then asking his party to wait up for about an hour while he recharged. Barkskin plus like 12 Cold Ice Strikes...brrrr.
btw i like the concept. my ocd compels me to make it into a table to 'see' it. tempted to do your other ones...
Thanks. I like your feedback, even if I disagree with some of it. A table for each would be very helpful, good visual aid for picking out possible problems, if you don't mind doing it.
@Christos: Your list is interesting, and would be pretty cool for something more Magus-like. It seems to be mostly an Arcane blast spell list, however, which isn't really what I was going for. Want the list to be kind of similar to the Paladin (or Inquisitor for Ascetic), mostly buff spells but with a few that let you throw down some flashy magic every now and again.
Well the mca was a wizard hybrid int based deal, so there's that. Although it would be a poor blaster list.
|
|
Rynjin, when you adopt 4-level spell-casting (4/7/10/13), not to mention the Ki Strike line (4/7/10/16), you have already inherited a pattern of 'every three levels' ability schemas, thus why i propose that your Ki Powers (and others) conform thus.
bearing that in mind, i propose Wholeness of Body + Purities (new!) to work parellel to (but 'selfish' in comparison to) Lay on Hands + Mercies. so, in addition to HP damage, other conditions are also self-cured upon using WoB, as denotated parenthetically in table below.
in order to accomodate the above, as WoB is powered by Ki, it is necessary to move the Ki Pool down to 2nd (like the ninja). this subsequently opened up another Ki Power slot within the 'per-3' paradigm (upping the total to 7 Ki Powers over 20 levels).
also, i think moving 'quickly' is mostly out of theme for this class - i am proposing the removal of Fast Movement and Flurry of Blows. to compensate, i propose an increase in base unarmed damage (to 1d8), which is hereafter immutable. they already have full BAB, mind, as well as a second 'ki attack' suddenly kicking in at second level.
i added the Aura of Serenity (new!) as a fusion ability of monk/paladin - it should function as a Still Mind for all allies in radius.
finally, 13th level became the natural spot to put the Timeless Body + Tongue of the Sun and Moon combo, following the flow of abilites presented.
Enlightened Warrior
1 - Unarmed Strike (1d8), Touch of Serenity
2 - Ki Pool, Ki Power, Wholeness of Body
3 - Aura of Serenity, Purity (poison/disease)
4 - Spell-casting, Ki Strike (magic)
5 - Ki Power
6 - Purity (ability damage)
7 - Ki Strike (cold iron/silver)
8 - Ki Power
9 - Purity (blindness/deafness/curse)
10- Ki Strike (law)
11- Ki Power
12- Purity (ability drain)
13- Timeless Body, Tongue of the Sun and Moon
14- Ki Power
15- Purity (temporary negative levels)
16- Ki Strike (adamantine)
17- Ki Power
18- Purity (permanent negative levels)
19- Empty Body
20- Ki Power, Ki Mastery
...
whaddya think?
Hrm.
Aura of Serenity is interesting. Kinda like Purities, it seems a bit TOO like a "Mercies" analogue though. Still, good ability.
I don't like removing Flurry. I added it to the Enlightened Warrior because the image in my head when making it was the somewhat armored Chinese warrior that can swing a Spear/Polearm (Naginata especially) with lightning speed. Added the Fast Movement ability so they aren't slowed in Medium armor, and it's a little boost for those who choose to wear light (rather than adding a pseudo-Armor Training that lets them move normal in Medium, which I suppose is also an option).
I like the overall, but I really would like to at least add Flurry back.
If I'm putting Ki Powers at odd levels I'd want to rewrite the progression so it's not once every 2 levels on when they become available. Having new abilities become unlocked at 6th and 8th level when your i Powers come in at 5 and 8 is just...weird (much like it's weird in the current way they're obtained).