I'm going to be starting playing in a 5e campaign starting at level 5 soon. I've come up upon a concept - a "sword sage", an old wandering scholar who has studied the way of the blade.
(Some of you may note, and I wouldn't argue with them, that a kensei monk would be perfect for this concept, and I would not disagree. However, I played a monk in the last game, so I decided not to repeat that. )
So I made him a fighter, psi knight to be exact. He's going to be the party tank, so I'm going with a dex build (a "hulking" sage doesn't fit my mental image), with a fast slim blade (ah la jian, so an "alt rapier") and a "shield" which is a heavy iron pipe (similar to the japanese kiseru).
All the "psi powers" are reflavored as "ancient mystical techniques". Things like "Twin River strike!" or "Cloud conceals the cunning cobra!" can "explain" his powered psi-strikes. Others (like the protective field acting at a distance) are "inner strenght" powers, where with a wave of his hand the sage causes a cloud of dust that partially fouls the blow of a foe upon an ally.
I think there is potential humor in some of the limitations of the powers - like he can "boost up" an ally to throw them up on a wall... but then has to ask them to lower a rope - he can't jump that high, he's old!
For the sage specialty, I will take alchemist. To give this more "substance", and because the party is a bit low on support, I'm going to take the Chef feat to boost my con and heal the party a bit - but instead of treats and meals, it's going to be tonics and ointments (and gain the alchemical tool proficiency).
Those are my ideas so far, but I'm sure you have some too!
Just a thought, but what about a Ranger? Some of the ranger spells scream Kung-Fu--absorb elements, zephyr strike--and others--goodberry, or even lesser restoration--fit the alchemy theme pretty well.
horizon walker is probably the best match
planar warrior is comparable to to Psi Warrior's
psionic strike
blink and haste are on the spell list--sudden, lightning movement
ethereal step is reskinnable as a mystic discipline
and
distant strike, well, just read it:
"At 11th level, you gain the ability to pass between the planes in the blink of an eye. When you take the Attack action, you can teleport up to 10 feet before each attack to an unoccupied space you can see. If you attack at least two different creatures with the action, you can make one additional attack with it against a third creature."
And, another thought, wouldn't blind fighting be the thematic way to go with the fighting style? Ranger's have fog cloud to make it brokenly good too.
I should mention that this was not an attempt to duplicate an earlier edition class, but bringing a concept to life (not trying to start edition wars here haha).
I haven't spoken to the GM yet, but I think I'll ask if this can be the main weapon instead of a rapier:
https://lkchensword.com/magnificent-chu-jian
One thing about jian,
they always have tassels. And, though this might be a bridge too far for your DM, some jian use an extra long tassel in a way sort of like a
chain whip (something between
this and
this, i think). If you were feelin' it, you might be able to pitch that as your shield-equivalent.
How many Wis based weapon users to do we have?
/snark
Druids, nature clerics, all post-TCE rangers, and any PC that picks shillelagh with the magic initiate feat... so, 3... or all of them.
/endsnark
[...] Also, one thing that D&D has not done well at all is the "one handed style" - with no shield, off hand weapon etc. It's "fixed" easily with a reflavor, but I'm not super thrilled about it.
You just gotta have something to do that it's worth keeping that hand free for--spellcasting (pre/sans-warcaster), grappling, interacting with objects (with a thief's
fast hands), etc.
But ya, could be better.