Kerrick, your monk class build is quite elegant. You have a real Knack for eying the required balances.
Thanks! Though I've had quite a bit of help with this thing.
Are these fighting styles / learned or inherent to a character who chooses this class? Does he study them and learn them, or does he just manifest them automatically?
Definitely learned. Players should RP learning them from a master instead of just gaining the knowledge automatically; I would assume that most PCs starting as monks would have it in their backstory, and others would acquire the knowledge in the course of their training to gain monk levels later in life. Since it's a base class, I won't make it a hard requirement like I would for a PrC.
There's no real way to learn multiple styles, as yet... I suppose I
could allow the monk to start learning a new style once he reaches Initiate level in his existing style, if he wants to suffer MAD syndrome.
While both present interesting options, I will have to weigh in for wisdom in this case. I think that intuition and understanding suits the nature of marital arts better than charisma. Also to compound my opinion I have some experience (though limited) with martial arts, and it seems to me that perception is perhaps the biggest component of any martial art.
I'm not sure which martial art you practice(d), but I played judo in college (I had to quit my senior year because I'd racked up too many injuries). Not all martial arts are created equal - judo, for example, is called "the gentle way" - it centers around throws, pins, chokeholds, and joint locks. There is no punching or kicking at all. Judo is very much a Dex-based martial art - it's all about balance and leverage, with a little Strength thrown in if you get into a grappling situation (it borrows a lot from wrestling too). Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that strongly resembles a dance, is also Dex-based. Kung fu? Charisma. Sumo? Strength all the way. (I'm not exactly sure if sumo wresting is a martial art, but it's good example.) Tai chi is the only thing I can think of, off the top of my head, that's Wis-based. It's very self-centered (as in, focused on the body and its location and position in space), and very slow and precise.
3: It opens an option that might forge interesting in game combinations, the base monk class abilities based on wisdom and perception, but the fighting styles based on other attributes to flesh out what a given monk chooses to do with the world he perceives.
See, that's exactly why I went with differing abilities for each style - to present different RP opportunities for each individual monk.
Martial arts are indeed based on perception and intuition rather than how good your smile looks.
Charisma is not just good looks. Charisma is also sense of self and strength of personality - it's why constructs (and mindless undead) have 1 Charisma, and objects have 0.
1. Do they get all the abilities for their rank? or do they have to pick. If they are expected to pick, some of them are better than others.
They have to choose. And yes, I know some are better - I'm working on that. As long as they aren't must-have abilities (like the Wind Style fast movement, before I removed it), I'm okay with it, by and large - you can choose lower-level abilities at higher levels, if you want.
2. Compass Points: West - most abilities are non-duration abilities, so this is kindof useless. except with wind, and even then it's not useful until youre a grandmaster.
Hmph. Any suggestions?
3. Awareness of Self: Do they get this while unconscious? its a result of their training, and they can't use it, so I would think other than Mountain's DR they would not.
No, and Mountain loses the DR too - it's as much a function of being able to ignore pain and shrug off damage as anything, and being unconscious doesn't enable you to do that.
4. Not all the schools presently have a default ability that they get. Mountain does, and maybe sea, but that's it.
I know. I'd like to add default abilities to all the schools, but I'll probably just drop Mountain's ability instead.
Iron Fist: So this ability does NOTHING to non constructs/objects?
Yes... it just bypasses hardness if used against a construct or object. I'll fix the wording.
???: Does this damage the first object, or just the distanced object? What if your first object is a creature (which I see no real reason it should not be)
Have you ever seen someone strike a stack of blocks and break ONE block 3/4 of the way down the stack? That's what this is. (I've seen it, and it's really incredible, BTW.) I suppose you could channel the force through a living being.... I hadn't really thought about it.
Rooted in the Earth: stack with the Awareness of Self DR? because it should, and by default it doesn't.
DR always overlaps.
A permanent Earthsense would be a totally awesome ability - just throwing that out there. Maybe asa higher up ability or something.
Maybe as a PrC ability - not for the base monk.
Earthquake strike: should add the Monk's STR to the damage.
Good idea.
Defensive Roll: making it a reflex save is kindof wind-like. maybe it would be better to make it wis-based (experience, and prediction instead of speed) and revolve around redirecting the attack as the explanation on how they take less damage.
Good call. I think I just C&P'ed the text without thinking about it.
Fatiguing Strike: uses CHA right now, and that is probably an oversight.
Yeah.
Relentless Waves: maybe you should specify the size of the object. if someone is using it on a wall, for example, it shouldnt be the whole wall, just a section.
Yeah. Let's say... an object up to one size larger per rank (a section of wall 10 feet square and 6 inches thick is Large; each foot of thickness increases the size by one.)
???: specify that the 5 feet to redirect should allow "through" the monk's square, but to 5 ft behind them. The monk and the attacker should effectively switch squares in that case.
The monk sidesteps the attack, forcing the attacker to lunge forward and skewer his friend standing behind the monk? Nice.
I'm not familiar with Ki Rage or Stunning Fist so I'll look them up later.
Ki rage is identical to the barbarian's rage, except that the bonuses are Str and Dex instead of Str/Con. Stunning Fist is just the feat from the PHB. Now that I think about it, I might just take that out. Your comment about an Int-based style got me thinking... I could take Pain touch, Scorpion Fist, and Quivering Palm, along with Stunning Fist and maybe a couple other abilities (death attack?), and make them into an advanced style (a PrC), the Shadow Style. This would focus around disabling/crippling the opponent through precision strikes.
Fireburst: This should be allowed to be worked into a flurry attack (though obviously would have to be the last attack for that to work)
Definitely. I could see someone delivering a quick series of blows followed by a powerful uppercut.
Improvised Weapon: This makes fire come off as a bit of a drunken brawler instead of a martial artist, and I don't think it really fits.
Neither did I, really - I just tossed it in to fill a slot. I got the idea from the movie Iron Monkey (good movie, BTW), which is fairly wuxia. The protagonists (who are kung-fu experts) use various improvised weapons, like an umbrella, to beat their enemies silly. I'll drop it.
The extra attacks should maybe be a defensive speed ability. Also they're not well defined as to how many extra attacks give what penalties and whatnot.
Which? The unarmed attacks from the flurry?
???: it shouldnt be 3x per day, I think this is the defining characteristic of the school. it should be limited in a non-use way, or the school should lack something else to compensate. the 3x per day should be more like once per round or so. Maybe make it eat up a move action as the limit, so while evading attacks they cant do a flurry.
A move action works. It'd be like the dodge action from Rifts - you can attempt to dodge an incoming attack, but you lose one of your actions to do so. Don't forget, though, that a 15th level monk can flurry as a standard action - this would make Wind monks especially dangerous.
Rushing Wind: The size needs to vary depending on the monk's size, because they aren't all going to be medium creatures. do like a double/half thing depending, etc.
The size of the wind doesn't really matter, because the bullrush bonus is based on the monk's size. A 5-foot-wide corridor is easiest, because it conforms to the standard size of a square.
Aspect of the Wind: How does one determine if they stop moving? I know players who would assume that means at the end of the round, so it needs to be more clearly defined. I can guess how you want it to work, but it would be better if you actually said. Change the wording of can't fly to 'doesn't gain the ability to fly', because if the monk has another means of flight, your raw would take it away.
Mm, good point. It should be "as long as the monk is in motion", with the implication that if he was moving at the end of his turn, he remains in that state unless he chooses not to move (or to stop moving) on his next turn. I'll fix it. And I'll fix the second part too.
BTW, I took this ability away with the plan to give it to the PrC Wind Style; I've bumped Cloudwalk to Grandmaster (with the ability to run on water) and put this one in its place:
Whirlwind (Ex): 3 + Dex bonus times per day, the monk can make a single attack at her highest base attack bonus against all opponents within her reach. She can make a 5-foot step before or during this attack. She does not gain the benefit of extra attacks from feats like Cleave or spells like haste.
Basically it's a greater whirlwind attack, but it fits the Wind Style to a T.
Thanks for all the feedback - I'll post the changes later tonight or tomorrow.
No suggestions as to with what yet, though.
Put in something that gives you free attacks of opportunity against them somehow instead. And when I say free, I mean have it not count towards the standard attack of opportunity. And be triggered by somethign that wouldnt normally trigger it.
