Alt Monk based on the Book of Nine Swords

[Achan hiArusa]

I got the Book of Nine Swords and its made me more excited about a D&D game than I've been in a long time. I don't really like the classes in there though. Somebody came up with level substitutions for fighters and barbarians so that they could gain maneuvers (http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=174415), but what about the real martial artists in the game, the monk. This is my solution:

The Monk as a Martial Adept

Level: 1st

Lose: Lose bonus feats at 1st, 2nd, and 6th level. Lose the Still Mind, Wholeness of Body, Abundant Step, Quivering Palm, Empty Body, and Perfect Self Class features.

Gain: Swordsage progress for Manuevers Known, Readied, and Stances Known. Can learn disciplines from Desert Wind, Devoted Spirit, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon, and Tiger Claw. Recover maneuvers as a Sword Sage. You gain Intimidate as a class skill.

 

[Kmart Kommando]

So, you basically just have a Swordsage with an extra feat and enhanced movement.

 

[Masquerade]

What about the swordsage as-is do you think does not fit properly with the monk archetype?

 

[Kmart Kommando]

A swordsage who burns feats on monk-ish damage is still playable, and will still kick the crap out of a regular monk.

So, at the higher levels, your base unarmed damage might be a little lower, but the maneuvers more than make up for it, and single strike maneuvers are often times better than a flurry of misses fanning your opponent with a cool breeze.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Actually, the dirty little secret is that all the class features this monk loses are done more easily and better with martial maneuvers. As for the swordsage, without the flavor text to me he comes out a little bland. The thing that makes him "monkish" is not the mechanics. Just a SRD version of him would not scream "monk" to me.

And, yes, I am partial to the monk having played since the era of 1st edition. But I don't like the idea of playing a 1976 idea of a monk created by Gary Gygax after reading the destroyer novels. I've read those novels and I think that this fusion would serve better than either class alone. The monk really does fail in the customization area, three feats aren't enough. Plus I am planning on uppowering all the character classes for my next campaign and this is a start.

This was just an academic exercise for me to complement Gargoyle's Martial Fighter and Barbarian.

 

[Kmart Kommando]

Shadow Hand for your 'big step', Desert Wind for your 'Hadoken!', Stone Dragon for that punching through walls fun, Diamond Mind for uber saves, Swordsage has it all.

Even the monk doesn't really scream "monk" to me. It's more like Power Rangers than Jet Li.