UA Monks Introduces the Kensai and Tranquility Traditions

The Kensei was pretty much exactly how I expected/wanted it to be. With the exception of the bludgeoning damage. A d4 that doesn't scale? I hate d4s, and especially at higher levels it's hardly worth anything. Especially since as a monk, I could just use my bonus action to make an unarmed attack and use monk damage dice for that.

I've never been a fan of pacifist PCs, so the tranquil monk isn't my cup of tea. I understand others may feel differently though.

 

[Ansel Darach]

Hello everybody, i guess this UA got me to post so thats kinda neat I guess.
@Sacrosanct, Kensai weapons are not always going to be monk weapons so you will not always get the martial arts bonus action attack and that is why they get the extra 1d4 damage as a bonus action. (forgot to add that i also do not like d4s)

So when attacking with a greatsword its a kensai weapon and not a monk weapon so no martial arts to get the bonus action unarmed attack. Shortswords are another thing though since they are both a monk weapon and a kensai weapon.

Also kensai abilities work with martial weapons so a longbow would work for this as well, and a player would also be able to "pummel" their foe from far far away for the additional 1d4 as that only specifies that you need to hit with your martial weapon.

 

[TwoSix]

The bonus action to pummel for d4 doesn't scale though. So the minute your base martial arts damage goes to d6, this ability is neutered. Why would you spend a bonus action for d4 damage when you could spend a bonus action on an unarmed attack for d6, d8, and then d10 damage? I guess it gives you another opportunity for stunning strike, and an additional attack roll isn't need.

But gawd, d4s? I don't care if mechanically it's better, I loathe d4s lol

True, it doesn't scale, which is why I said it's mostly for low levels. Higher level kenseis will probably be mixing unarmed strikes with weapon attacks to generate the AC bonus. That being said, it is an autohit d4 on every target you hit with your weapon. If you hit two targets with your greatsword, doing an auto d4 to both is pretty competitive with a d6+4 with a miss chance.

 

[Edwin Suijkerbuijk]

If I would play a Path of Tranquility monk the Healing Hands touch might involve acupuncture needles

 

[Leatherhead]

Hold on, pummel works with bows, and has no melee tag?

 

[Patrick McGill]

Hold on, pummel works with bows, and has no melee tag?

Fist shaped arrows, for when someone needs punched over there.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Also kensai abilities work with martial weapons so a longbow would work for this as well, and a player would also be able to "pummel" their foe from far far away for the additional 1d4 as that only specifies that you need to hit with your martial weapon.

It never occurred to me that they could pummel someone from far away, as the description doesn't even specify that it had to be a melee attack, even though they used the word "pummel"...

 

[Lackhand]

I really like the paciFIST. Its souped-up lay on hands might be too good, but it certainly makes a statement, and I like the direction it's heading.

The kensei, though... I definitely want what it's dishing up, I just don't like the way it's phrased. I would rather allow martial weapons as monk weapons. We can already use greatclubs as monk weapons, so going from 1d10 to 2d6 damage dice doesn't worry me too much from a balance point of view. I don't like the finicky "make an unarmed strike as part of your action for +2 AC", because it encourages the monk with multiattack to make different sorts of attacks, blech yuck. Much better to me would be "when you make an attack and are entitled to two attacks, you can make a special attack which consumes them both. This either deals 1d4 extra damage or gives you a +2 AC". Since I want the main weapon to be a monk weapon, this leaves martial arts/flurry of blows on the table, and that secondary action ALREADY has special rules which forces it to be a different attack than this mechanism.

I second the desire for a tattooed monk. I think Way of 4 Elements is a pretty good proxy for a tattooed monk (since it's a straightforward "pick a spell at every archetype feature level; cast them for 1+1 ki point per spell level"), but because I want a fix for Wo4E, I want a fix for my Tattooed Monk hack

 

[ad_hoc]

Path of Tranquility rework - Allow shove, grapple, and disarm attempts while under sanctuary spell. Replace Healing Hands with grapple and shove abilities. The other abilities are unchanged.

Path of Tranquility:
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can become an island of calm in even the most chaotic of situations. With this feature, you can cast the sanctuary spell on yourself, no material component required, it lasts up to 8 hours, and does not end if you make a grapple, shove, or disarm attempt. Its saving throw DC equals 8+ your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier. A creature that succeeds on the save is immune to this effect for 1 hour.
Once you cast the spell in this way, you can’t do so again for 1 minute.

Non-Violent Opposition
You have learned how to subdue an opponent without causing injury. When you attempt to grapple or shove a creature you may make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check instead of a Strength (Athletics) check. In addition, if you make a successful Disarm attempt and you have at least one free hand, you may choose to catch the weapon.
When an opponent misses you with a melee attack, you may spend 1 Ki and use a reaction to make a shove attempt with advantage against that creature. If successful, you may push the creature up to 15 feet in any direction after which they fall prone and their turn immediately ends.


What do you think? My guess is that it is either good enough or could use one more minor ability.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Fist shaped arrows, for when someone needs punched over there.

The idea that Kensai abilties could be used with bows already made me think of the Green Arrow... Though I was thinking more of the TV series and how a lot of people get whacked in the face with a bow all the time.

 

[Jester David]

The kensei as a Strength based archer is weird...

But I love how the managed to fold the zen archer into the weapon using monk.