Yeah, I know, these threads are a dime a dozen, but fixing the game's most maligned class doesn't need to be too difficult. In fact, we already have the models of how to do it, in the existing rules.
This has been done before by any number of people, but to summarize, I propose two types of monks: one a primary melee combatant; one a secondary combatant with more "Weaboo" or whatever it is.
1. Model this monk after the Paladin or Ranger: both of them reasonably useful, well-designed classes. He gets full BAB. Replace his ki pool and random mishmash of abilities with spontaneous half-casting: slow fall gets replaced by feather fall, fast movement by expeditious retreat, etc.
2. Model this monk after the Magus: again, a popular combat class, but with more magic. 3/4 BAB, 2/3 casting, so he gets higher-level "ki powers" and ends up looking a lot like the old Psychic Warrior.
Again, I know people have proposed these before; I just always wonder what happens to the ideas. Felt like they needed to be brought up again.
I prefer Ki Pool to spellcasting. I'd rather have all the neat abilities that make the Monk a Monk with the Ki Pool for combat advantages and amazing feats of awesomeness when needed. The only issue with the Monk is the Amulet of Mighty Fists i.e. in order to be good at unarmed combat, you have to pay for inferior magic gear to do what your class is intended to do. This is never properly addressed however and the Monk continues to be one of the red headed step children. Bodywrap of Mighty Strikes? A joke.
I'm not asking for a class ability, just a magic item that is competitive with every other martial combatant who can get a +10 weapon to fight with.
. . . to summarize, I propose two types of monks: one a primary melee combatant; one a secondary combatant with more "Weaboo" or whatever it is.
1. Model this monk after the Paladin or Ranger: both of them reasonably useful, well-designed classes. He gets full BAB. Replace his ki pool and random mishmash of abilities with spontaneous half-casting: slow fall gets replaced by feather fall, fast movement by expeditious retreat, etc.
2. Model this monk after the Magus: again, a popular combat class, but with more magic. 3/4 BAB, 2/3 casting, so he gets higher-level "ki powers" and ends up looking a lot like the old Psychic Warrior. . . .
Well, the DSP conversion of the psychic warrior has a brawler path and an ascetic path in addition to a few others that could emulate different aspects of an unarmed mystic combatant with power selection handling the rest. There's even a soulknife variant that focuses the power into his unarmed strikes, making it very much a martial monk.
However, I like tinkering and options. Making a magical version would be fun. I'd almost suggest arcane casting for a martial version and clerical casting for a mystic version. This could be from my inaccurate perception of the spell lists, though. I'd make sure that whichever one has enhanced movement has some way to use that enhanced movement during multiple attacks.
I prefer Ki Pool to spellcasting. I'd rather have all the neat abilities that make the Monk a Monk with the Ki Pool for combat advantages and amazing feats of awesomeness when needed. . . .
As much as I hate to phrase it this way, Ki Pool is spellcasting. You just have a few spells baked in, like a limited haste or expeditious retreat, and even more spells if you take quiggong archetype. (Yeah, I know chi pool is SU, but I think you follow my meaning.) It's just a slightly different resource management paradigm. I could easily convert the spell slots of a sorcerer to a chi pool and have an 'internal alchemist.' Then again, there are places where the mechanic and the flavor disconnect, and that could be the case for you, so... ignore me.
I wouldn't make the martial monk a traditional caster. If you're going to turn ki into a full psionics-like system for the ki monk you should use the same system at reduced progression for the martial monk.
Tomato/tomahto. You call it psionics, I call it casting, the monk calls it ki, but it would all boil down to the same thing.
I am not sure spell casting as it exists is a good way to represent the monk. I imagine ki powers being far more basic, and limited abilities. I think part of hte problem is the monk to me is a genre, not a class. And the bigest problem with the current class is it tries to do everything and ends up doing very little.