D&D 5E Magic Items for Monks!

[NotActuallyTim]

Ki-sight goggles
Uncommon

These goggles permit the wearer to see the life force flowing through living things, and the world itself. Using these, all living things and otherworldly entities become visible. In addition, the wearer knows how many Ki points, if any, a creature has remaining.

 

[Lanliss]

Shaded spectacles of the One
Wonderous Item, rare

These shaded spectacle allow the wearer increased combat capabilities. When using Flurry of Blows you can expend an additional Ki point to gain an additional strike, up to a maximum of Five. They also negate sunlight sensitivity.

 

[procproc]

Or I could just change 'may' to 'must.'

The force damage represents the body tearing itself apart uncontrollably. More blood and guts than lightshow.

I don't think this really fixes the problem. The monk still knows how many ki points she has, so can be careful not to kill anything to avoid going over her limit. Especially since any time you get a "killing blow" with a melee weapon, you can choose to simply knock the creature unconscious.

Even if you make the Dragon tattoo unable to simply knock a creature out (which works well thematically), you can generally figure out the maximum number of things you're going to kill with each attack, and it's almost always 1. (Barring the sack of rats/flaming anthill scenario.) So after your ki recharges for the day, you spend one or two ki points flurrying against a tree or whatever, and the drawback almost never kicks in.

If you're fine with that, then that's great. Personally, I'd rather it have a drawback that has a decent chance of kicking in, even if it had a much lower cost. If I were going to use this, I'd probably give it something like this:

"On killing a living creature with a melee attack, the wearer of the Dragon tattoo may devour that being's Ki. If the wearer chooses to do so, he recovers d20 Ki. If the amount rolled would put the wearer above his maximum Ki, his Ki becomes its maximum and he takes d10 force damage for each additional point of Ki as the excess energy tears its way out of his body."

This doesn't capture the idea of an ongoing "Ki imbalance" the way yours does -- but realistically, 10d10 damage per round isn't going to last very long before it kills the character anyway, so it's not going to be "ongoing" for very long anyway.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[NotActuallyTim]

I don't think this really fixes the problem. The monk still knows how many ki points she has, so can be careful not to kill anything to avoid going over her limit. Especially since any time you get a "killing blow" with a melee weapon, you can choose to simply knock the creature unconscious.

Even if you make the Dragon tattoo unable to simply knock a creature out (which works well thematically), you can generally figure out the maximum number of things you're going to kill with each attack, and it's almost always 1. (Barring the sack of rats/flaming anthill scenario.) So after your ki recharges for the day, you spend one or two ki points flurrying against a tree or whatever, and the drawback almost never kicks in.

If you're fine with that, then that's great. Personally, I'd rather it have a drawback that has a decent chance of kicking in, even if it had a much lower cost. If I were going to use this, I'd probably give it something like this:

"On killing a living creature with a melee attack, the wearer of the Dragon tattoo may devour that being's Ki. If the wearer chooses to do so, he recovers d20 Ki. If the amount rolled would put the wearer above his maximum Ki, his Ki becomes its maximum and he takes d10 force damage for each additional point of Ki as the excess energy tears its way out of his body."

This doesn't capture the idea of an ongoing "Ki imbalance" the way yours does -- but realistically, 10d10 damage per round isn't going to last very long before it kills the character anyway, so it's not going to be "ongoing" for very long anyway.

I'm aware of all that, I assure you. It's not meant to be a cursed tattoo, it's meant to be helpful. Since Monks recover Ki on a short rest anyways, there's little point in those restrictions.

The real reason for the tattoos drawback is so that Elemental Monks, who spend Ki like it's going out of style, have to more careful when using AoE damage. Otherwise they'd beat every other class in the game into the ground DPR wise.

 

[77IM]

Amulet of the Moon
Legendary wondrous item (requires attunement by a monk)

This polished silver amulet can serve as a focus for mental and physical discipline. As an action, you can spend up to 1/5 of your total ki points (minimum 1 point), and gain a bonus to AC equal to the number of ki points you spent. This bonus lasts for 8 hours.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

Prayer Wheel of the Penitent
Rare, Requires attunement by a Monk

This Prayer Wheel is carried on a penitent travelers back, and is kept spinning the air moving past the traveler as they walk. Though it seems quite light, when worn it weighs 200 pounds.

As long as the Wheel is spinning, the bearer cannot be attacked for any reason (including things that are technically not attacks, such as Dragon Breath or A Beholders Eye Rays). However, if the bearer is asked for aid, they must grant it in a non violent manner, or the Wheel will increase its weight 3 fold, and from then on can only be removed by either the spell Remove curse or a truly enlightened being.

The Wheel is typically used to train young Monks in discipline, often by grumpy old masters who feel as though they haven't been given sufficient respect. They are often accompanied by another Monk, who isn't being punished, that helpfully informs travelers of the details on how the Prayer Wheel works.

 

[Tormyr]

Monk Wraps of DM's Curse.
These wraps appear to have a +1 enchantment, but they actually block the ability to stun other creatures.

 

[Eltab]

Aid of the Oceans

This vest appears to be made of sharkskin.
A Monk who wears this vest may convert his Unarmored Movement (but not his base movement) into a Swim speed at will.
If the wearer is unconscious and underwater, the vest moves him straight up at his full Unarmored Movement rate. He will surface flat on his back and float in place thereafter.

 

[Sean Marquet]

Master Lu Shen’s Defender: Legendary Item

Master Lu Shen’s Defender: Legendary Item

This Magical Weapon has the following abilities:

• +3 Magical Weapon - Bo Stick
• In the Hands of a Monk the + 3 Bonus can be distributed (divided up) at the beginning of each of the Monks combat turns among the following effects:
• + to Hit and Damage
• + to Armor Class
• + to an additional number of Flurry of Blows attacks per round
• * In the case of a surprise or sneak attack the bonus defaults to the Monks Armor Class as long as it is within reach.

The Weapon also has the following Properties:

• While using this weapon opponents provoke opportunity attacks when entering the wielders reach.
• The Bo stick can shrink in length down to 3 inches or grow up to 21 feet.
• The Bow Stick can transform into a Short Bow and back again into a Bo Stick.