D&D 5E Buffing monks: with simple changes.

[Garthanos]

This makes me wonder what eats up that power budget that they couldn’t do the same?

arbitrarily different mechanics.

 

[TheOneGargoyle]

I would add to that their healing and ability to cure serious conditions also adds to their non-combat utility. They furthermore receive skill proficiencies that align with their main stats (Dexterity and Wisdom).

Agreed, although IMHO those are bonus items, icing on the cake as it were, rather than just bringing it up to par.

Question for the community: Would more accessibility on Patient Defense (as I mentioned previously perhaps the option to pay 1 ki, or use a bonus action, but not require both for example) roughly make up for having lower HD & AC than most other melee combatants ? Or be too OP ?

 

[kapars]

Agreed, although IMHO those are bonus items, icing on the cake as it were, rather than just bringing it up to par.

Question for the community: Would more accessibility on Patient Defense (as I mentioned previously perhaps the option to pay 1 ki, or use a bonus action, but not require both for example) roughly make up for having lower HD & AC than most other melee combatants ? Or be too OP ?

It would be incredibly powerful defensively, it’s close to the +5 of Shield and it reduces the chance of getting a critical hit. You’d not do much offensively but you would be a very good dodge tank.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Agreed, although IMHO those are bonus items, icing on the cake as it were, rather than just bringing it up to par.

Question for the community: Would more accessibility on Patient Defense (as I mentioned previously perhaps the option to pay 1 ki, or use a bonus action, but not require both for example) roughly make up for having lower HD & AC than most other melee combatants ? Or be too OP ?

I’d rather add more oomph to Patient Defense, personally. Bonus damage on the next turn, THP until the next turn, etc

 

[kapars]

One of the things I’ll do going forward is to replace the Elemental Attunement ability of the Four Elements Monk with the Elemental Touched feat of the new Giants Unearthed Arcana. I would also let them attune to an additional element per day at each level they gain an elemental discipline, in addition to what they choose normally.They’ve been saying in interviews recently that feats are class features outside of class so shouldn’t we just use them as optional/variant class features ?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

One of the things I’ll do going forward is to replace the Elemental Attunement ability of the Four Elements Monk with the Elemental Touched feat of the new Giants Unearthed Arcana. I would also let them attune to an additional element per day at each level they gain an elemental discipline, in addition to what they choose normally.They’ve been saying in interviews recently that feats are class features outside of class so shouldn’t we just use them as optional/variant class features ?

Yeah, I had a player use the basic elemental disciplines of the Wu Jen Mystic from UA in place of the elemental attunement, couple years ago. Worked really well. I also reduced the ki cost by 1 for each discipline.

Now, I’d probably let them choose an element to attune to, with this feat plus the elemental cantrips, and still reduce the cost as befor.

 

[Raduin711]

What if on rounds where the monk does a Flurry of Blows, the monk gets a AC bonus AND any melee attacks which miss the monk provoke a retaliatory strike. This ability would be dependent on being unarmored. This benefit might even replace the monk's static AC bonus.

The threat of the attack + the extra potential damage (to end the fight earlier) would provide a sort of invisible layer of protection for the monk that might be a little hard to quantify.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

What if on rounds where the monk does a Flurry of Blows, the monk gets a AC bonus AND any melee attacks which miss the monk provoke a retaliatory strike. This ability would be dependent on being unarmored. This benefit might even replace the monk's static AC bonus.

The threat of the attack + the extra potential damage (to end the fight earlier) would provide a sort of invisible layer of protection for the monk that might be a little hard to quantify.

I think that perhaps what the monk needs is something more at low level that doesn't require ki.

This is why I’m trying out replacing Deflect Missiles with Deflect Attacks. Any attack, even spell attacks.

Maybe eventually an ability to add your martial arts die+wisdom mod to a saving throw as a reaction.

 

[kapars]

Something else that can help right now is ensuring the player gets the right magic items at the right times. I’d say level 4 is a good time for the Dragonhide Belt and level 6 for the Eldritch Claw tattoo. If you then scale these at 11 and 17 you’ve fixed the base class issues bar AC calculation. If you are generous you could give 2 extra attunement slots.

 

[Bill Zebub]

How about a "stance" model (except named "style"), where you get to pick a couple of styles, and add to your repertoire throughout your career. Each style has a benefit and a penalty.

E.g. "Tiger Style": bonus to jump, bonus to flurry of blows damage, penalty to AC. Or whatever.

(...and whenever you switch styles mid-combat, a disembodied voice announces the change to the whole battlefield.)