D&D 5E monk magic weapon

[nswanson27]

My observation is that magic items in 5E that suit monks are few and far between. I had an idea for a good monk weapon (one that I would love to get).

Gravity Essence
<insert fluff here>
Your nonmagical weapon attacks become magical and deal an additional d4 force damage for every successful attack dealt this turn (including this attack).

I like that this covers a monk's attacks with weapons and unarmed strikes, and it plays to the monks having a lot of attacks per turn. It has the potential to deal a lot of damage, but balanced by the fact that every d4 stack requires a successful hit. Plus, scoring lots of hits in a turn gets more exciting. Thoughts?

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

um... as written, that weapon doesn't seem to do anything except make nonmagical weapon attacks magical, since when it does that it prevents its own second clause of when to add bonus damage.

 

[nswanson27]

um... as written, that weapon doesn't seem to do anything except make nonmagical weapon attacks magical, since when it does that it prevents its own second clause of when to add bonus damage.

Fair enough. I edited post - hopefully that straightened it out.

 

[Jediking]

I like it, even stacking attacks for Monks gives them more of an Martial Arts feel to just swinging their fists.

Until some Cult Leader casts Hold Person on him.
C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!

 

[Illithidbix]

I've always thought part of the appeal of playing a Monk is that you're playing a class that doesn't rely upon mundane or magical items to be effective.

(And this is before the horror that was the "Vow of Poverty" in the 3.5E Book of Exalted deeds)

Weapon wise, Monks still can use short swords and all simple weapons, which is still a fair number of them.
Also of course at 6th Level their Unarmed attacks count as magical.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[nswanson27]

I've always thought part of the appeal of playing a Monk is that you're playing a class that doesn't rely upon mundane or magical items to be effective.

(And this is before the horror that was the "Vow of Poverty" in the 3.5E Book of Exalted deeds)

Weapon wise, Monks still can use short swords and all simple weapons, which is still a fair number of them.
Also of course at 6th Level their Unarmed attacks count as magical.

Not quite. They're considered magical only for the intent and purpose of bypassing nonmagical immunities and resistances. Otherwise, they are still nonmagical. They could have just said unarmed strikes were magical, but they took the care to spell out that specific case instead. Anyways, even if they were magical (in the general sense), a monk should have the ability not "ki-empower" their strikes if they chose not to.
Secondly, existing magical weapons only affect the attack that they are used with. For other classes, this is a non-issue. For monks, that leaves off a significant portion of their offense (unarmed strikes).
Finally, I would say that ALL classes were designed to that they don't rely on magic items to be effective. That's one of the major themes of 5e.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Alright, so this magic weapon would let a monk do the following, at 5th level:

Attack Action: Magic weapon attack for 1d6 + 1d4 damage; Extra Attack with magic weapon for 1d6 + 1d4 (+1d4 if the first attack hit)
Bonus Action: Unarmed attack for 1d6 (+0, 1, 2, or 3d4 depending on hits scored and whether treating unarmed as a weapon for this purpose), (potential flurry of blows unarmed attack for 1d6 +0, 1, 2, 3, or 4d4 depending on hits scored and whether treating unarmed as a weapon for this purpose).

And then at 6th level would completely stop affecting unarmed attacks if it even did so before that point.

Seems like an item that would frustrate my players more than anything.

 

[nswanson27]

Do you know why monks don't need magic weapons?

Take the biggest guy in the world, shatter his knee and he'll drop like a stone.

That's why. Leave the magic spells for the puny wizards. Leave the magic swords for the fighters that are compensating for something. A real monk only needs two weapons- fist, and other fist.

Unfortunately I think the math disagrees with you here, as those puny wizards and fighters out-damage monks in spades. And I'm not seeing the "shatter knee" ability anywhere (though that does sound cool).

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

If you're looking for a magic item that will enhance unarmed strikes, use the Insigna of Claws from Hoard of the Dragon Queen.