D&D 5E One Punch Monk

[Yes]

Hello everyone.

I'm probably not the first to toy with a monk subclass inspired by the anime "One Punch Man" ( and Kioku Chin Karate), but I thought I'd share my take on it with you.


One Punch Monk Subclass



"Some monasteries teach their students that the only right path to victory in combat is to fell you opponent with one perfect blow. Their discipline is focused on the art of one lightning fast, precise and deadly attack that musters all the monk's focus and strength. The true philosophy behind this practice is to end a fight before it even starts, either by disabling your enemy before it even moves, or by instilling fear in the hearts of your foes."



A monk following the "One Punch" path gains the following benefits


Lv3


Combat Readiness
-You learn the "true strike" cantrip. It's range extends to match your speed.




End the fight before it is started
-Your formidable focus and your training as a living weapon gives pause to your enemies. You gain proficiency in the intimidation skill.


-Whenever you succeed on an intimidation check and avoid a fight as a result, you can regain 1 ki point or 1hit dice, at your DM's discretion


-Whenever one of your melee attacks reduces an opponent to 0HP you can spend 1ki point and force every other hostile creature in a 30 ft radius of the downed enemy to make a wisdom saving throw. Every creature who fails is frightened by you. It can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of it's turn. A creature who succeeds becomes immune to this effect for 24h.



Lv6



One Strike
- When you take the attack action on your turn, you can renounce one or more extra attack and spend 1ki point per attack renounced to add 3 martial art dices to your attack's damage.


Inescapable death
-If you make a melee attack roll against a creature who has 21 AC or more, consider it's AC is 20.




Lv 11


Deadly Strike
-When you attack an undamaged creature, you can spend 1ki point to have your martial art dices deal maximum damage.




LV 17

Lightning fast
-Right after initiative is rolled, you can choose to move up to your speed and take the attack action. This doesn't count as your turn and you act normally at your initiative count later in the turn. If you choose to do so, you gain one exhaustion point at the end of the fight.



Thanks for reading. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Satyrn]

I really like Lightning Fast.

I'm guessing the ki cost of Deadly Strike is too low. It should be at least 1 ki per die maximized, and probably a couple per die.

I simply don't like the mechanics of Inescapable Death. Its effectiveness varies wildly depending on the target, reducing the AC of the most heavily armoured foes far more than the more "lightly" armored foes with just a 21 or 22 AC.

One Strike looks fine, though the ki cost looks a little low to me.

The 3rd level stuff is cool, and the ki regeneration bit seems fun and flavorful.

 

[jgsugden]

Honestly, you can do most of this just with 'fluff', rather than mechanics.

For example, let's say you have a Way of the Open Hand monk. When you roll your attacks and damage, just describe them as a single hit. So, if you take four attacks and deal 4 times 1d8+5 damage, just say it was a single punch for 4d8+20 damage. You technically hit it with 2 Flurry Blows, so you also knock it prone and send it flying back 15 feet.

 

[ClaytonCross]

I simply don't like the mechanics of Inescapable Death. Its effectiveness varies wildly depending on the target, reducing the AC of the most heavily armoured foes far more than the more "lightly" armored foes with just a 21 or 22 AC.

I would say just a flat "All your attacks a gains a single target of your choice are +2 to hit" Which would be the same thing as AC -2 but easier to explain and does not make other players think they can now target a lower AC. Also, because it is flat rate your target is easier no matter its CR/level however it does not trivialize you bosses that are scary because they have a 26AC etc.

 

[Yunru]

True Strike is yuck. Expanding the range only leaves it with two or three things wrong with it. Plus, it's a spell. Just spell out (heh, get it) the ability as an ability.

 

[Guest 6801328]

The equivalent of a Fear spell is too powerful. I'd either make it 2 Ki, or only allow it to be used after you bring a creature from max health to 0 HP with a single blow (after all, this is One Punch, right?).

And, like others said, I think you need to tweak the mechanic for One Strike.

 

[Yunru]

I'm not sure on one strike's balance. It's not as bad as it seems at first glance.

At level 6 you give up 1 ki point and 1d6+4 for 3d6. 1 ki point and a loss of a chance to stunning strike for +3 damage?

At high levels you give up 1d10+5 for 3d10. That's +6 damage.

Now if you didn't have to decide until after you attack hit, that would be a different story.

Sent from my [device_name] using EN World mobile app

 

[g4m3kn1ght]

There should be requirements for restoring your Ki pool based around doing large numbers of sit-ups, push ups, and a little light jogging. Also, all characters that take this path lose their hair.