How do you make your monk class more potent


Homebrew and House Rules


Hello everyone,

The monk is probably my favorite class in pathfinder and I have played one since I first started with 3.0 when I was 16. My very first character was a monk. Despite not being considered an optimal class I always had fun playing him or her.

With the focus of pathfinder today being pushed toward optimization and potency I was wondering what other DMs out there have done to modify, add, change, rewrite, or any other home game change to enhance the monk.

I know Unchained is coming out but for now I wanted to see what everyone has done to their monk class.

Here is what I have done thus far.

1) Expanded the list of bonus feats a monk can select from
2) Added an additional ki power, (As a swift action the monk can spend 1 ki point to add an insight bonus equal to his wisdom modifier to his attack roles for one round).
3) Allowed gauntlets to be used as weapons that do the monks unarmed damage, so players can enchant like regular weapons.

I look forward to hearing your ideas


Give monks the ability to move and flurry... Treat it as their 5ft adjust, but it increases as they level, or maybe just allow for 1/2 base move in place of a 5ft adjust.

Increase the rate that their AC improves.

Lower cost of Amulet of Mighty fists.

Verdant Wheel

i re-did monk, rogue, fighter here. Click the google-doc link.

Unfortunately my monk PC died last game so this version of the monk only saw playtest levels 1-2...


rainzax wrote:

i re-did monk, rogue, fighter here. Click the google-doc link.

Unfortunately my monk PC died last game so this version of the monk only saw playtest levels 1-2...

There is some good stuff here. Some things like the mystic paths may be better as an archetype but the improvements to the ki strike have potential. It would cut down on magic item expenditures and then players could focus on obtaining items that would really improve their power rather than trying to keep up with other martials

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16

I gave the monk in my campaign a full BAB and a d10 Hit Die. I strongly believe every non-spellcaster should have a full BAB.

I also allowed the monk in my campaign to use material from Path of War. He spent some of his feats on Martial Training to get maneuvers and stances.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Usually by multi-classing cleric or druid.


I buffed up Monks via third party products.

1) Way of Ki: because of other ki using classes boggarding the Monk's groove I also houseruled that the Monks can take the feat that grants a ki pool at first level. RAW he can't. I also houseruled that Ki feats grant a bonus ki point per day because ki points in general are hard to come by for what they do. Overall having a huge arsenal of ki specific feats that a monk can take for it's bonus feats is pretty amazing. The result has been monks that resemble Street Fighter characters. Hadokens have been very popular.

2) The Talented Monk: This I've seen used less often when I allow Way of Ki as no one is terribly willing to use both at once but the results have been good the few times I see it in action. Way of Ki has been more popular because the Kiai feat solves too many monk problems at once but from my reading they eventually achieve the same result meaning that having both can be pretty redundant, but if you are more comfortable with changing the class into a super modular talented class then Talented Monk is better off. I tend to prefer Way of Ki because it allows access to a ton of interesting and cool third party archetypes by not changing the class.

3) I reinstated that Unarmed strike weapons deal unarmed strike damage rather than the listed damage. People like it so I let it stick around. This includes gloves/handwraps so people can easily switch up fist enchantments but no one ever does that really. For the most part Str is dumped and some kind of base damage or status effect is added to the fists and with the ki-based attack booster feats from Way of Ki the Monk Flurries with accuracy near a fighter. Additionally I allowed for enchanted tatoos for armor and natural weapons. They are priced as per Amulet of Mighty Fists but don't eat a slot. The tattoos have been well received.

4) I meantioned earlier that Str gets dumped for monks in my games. Part of that is the genaric dex to damage feat from Path of War. Typically the Monk has to suffer til lvl 3 but at that point flurry damage gets massive with dex to damage and attack. Add to that the before mentioned ki-based accuracy buffs and a highly optimized Monk can be pretty dangerous.


Malwing wrote:

I buffed up Monks via third party products.

1) Way of Ki: because of other ki using classes boggarding the Monk's groove I also houseruled that the Monks can take the feat that grants a ki pool at first level. RAW he can't. I also houseruled that Ki feats grant a bonus ki point per day because ki points in general are hard to come by for what they do. Overall having a huge arsenal of ki specific feats that a monk can take for it's bonus feats is pretty amazing. The result has been monks that resemble Street Fighter characters. Hadokens have been very popular.

2) The Talented Monk: This I've seen used less often when I allow Way of Ki as no one is terribly willing to use both at once but the results have been good the few times I see it in action. Way of Ki has been more popular because the Kiai feat solves too many monk problems at once but from my reading they eventually achieve the same result meaning that having both can be pretty redundant, but if you are more comfortable with changing the class into a super modular talented class then Talented Monk is better off. I tend to prefer Way of Ki because it allows access to a ton of interesting and cool third party archetypes by not changing the class.

3) I reinstated that Unarmed strike weapons deal unarmed strike damage rather than the listed damage. People like it so I let it stick around. This includes gloves/handwraps so people can easily switch up fist enchantments but no one ever does that really. For the most part Str is dumped and some kind of base damage or status effect is added to the fists and with the ki-based attack booster feats from Way of Ki the Monk Flurries with accuracy near a fighter. Additionally I allowed for enchanted tatoos for armor and natural weapons. They are priced as per Amulet of Mighty Fists but don't eat a slot. The tattoos have been well received.

4) I meantioned...

I'm a fan a dex to damage as well, I allow the Deadly Agility feat for my players, this helps the monk in my games a lot. I love street fighter I'll have to look into the way of ki sounds fun. I hope Unchained focuses on the monk's ki abilities, I feel like that is what makes a monk a monk and differentiates him from other classes.


Look as the Sacred Fist Warpriest.


I recommend the changes I have been play-testing here.

Essentially:

  • Allow wisdom-to-hit instead of strength for unarmed strike and monk weapons.
  • Ki-strike is an actual enhancement bonus, +1 at 4th level, an extra +1 every three levels after to +5 at 16th level.
  • The monk's unarmed strike bypasses 1 point of any DR for every level of monk they have.
  • Monk's proficient in all "monk" type weapons.
  • Instead of adding 20 ft of movement, spending a ki-point moves you 20' as a swift action.
  • A ki point can give you an extra attack with any attack you make, flurry of blows or not.

    So far I have play-tested to 14th level in my campaign, and it works well without being over-powered. The monk isn't better than the other combat classes, he does have different options, and he can play on the same field as the big boys now.

  • Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Homebrew and House Rules / How do you make your monk class more potent All Messageboards

    Want to post a reply? Sign in.
    Recent threads in Homebrew and House Rules