D&D 5E Monk Shadow Step: How are you running it as a DM?

[Uller]

You could say that but I wouldn't rule it that way.

Okay but I've found that if you nerf a PC ability away from RAW you either need player buy-in in advance or you better have a really good criteria for when and how they can use the ability so they don't feel like they are playing "DM may I". You seem to be keying off of flavor text ("...step from one shadow to another.") and ignoring crunch (When you are in dim-light or darkness..."). That's fine....sometimes RAI and balance can be found in flavor text. So you just need to be very clear what constitutes a shadow. Generally any area of dim-light or darkness is a shadow of some sort.

I stick to the "dim-light or darkness" rule because it makes the ability generally useless in a lot of situations. If there is not a specific area of dim-light the monk can't use it. The monk in my party is a wood-elf so she has dark vision to 60' but a human shadow monk would not be able to shadow step to an area of complete darkness because of that pesky "that you can see" clause.

 

[Azurewraith]

Okay but I've found that if you nerf a PC ability away from RAW you either need player buy-in in advance or you better have a really good criteria for when and how they can use the ability so they don't feel like they are playing "DM may I". You seem to be keying off of flavor text ("...step from one shadow to another.") and ignoring crunch (When you are in dim-light or darkness..."). That's fine....sometimes RAI and balance can be found in flavor text. So you just need to be very clear what constitutes a shadow. Generally any area of dim-light or darkness is a shadow of some sort.

I stick to the "dim-light or darkness" rule because it makes the ability generally useless in a lot of situations. If there is not a specific area of dim-light the monk can't use it. The monk in my party is a wood-elf so she has dark vision to 60' but a human shadow monk would not be able to shadow step to an area of complete darkness because of that pesky "that you can see" clause.

Never looked at it like that, no one mentioned it definitely something I will have to keep in mind though.

 

[Mirtek]

but a human shadow monk would not be able to shadow step to an area of complete darkness because of that pesky "that you can see" clause.

Except there almost no reason why a human shadow monk is not giving himself darkvision all the time. He'll have the points back hours bevor the casting runs out

A shadow monk simply i nightcrawler 99% of the time. Nothing wrong with that

 

[koga305]

For the Shadow Monk in my game it functions as basically at will teleportation. The only time it really doesn't work is outdoors in the daytime, and even then there are often large terrain features (boulders, trees) that allow the user a set of restricted targets. At night or indoors, she can go almost anywhere with a decent degree of precision. It's just a strong ability.

We have decided to flavor the ability as temporarily traveling through the Shadowfell, which in my game is horrifically creepy and in general not somewhere you want to spend lots of time. So my shadow monk has an in game reason not to want to use the ability unless she needs to. This does mean that the ability's justification gets a little weird when she's IN the Shadowfell (she's also a Ritual Caster with a homebrew ritual that gives her access to that plane), but I guess in that case she's using her superior mastery of and connection to the shadow plane to speed travel there.

 

[Uller]

A good example of how it works, iirc is the movie Dragonheart 3 (yes, it's pretty cheesy). The dragon can step from shadow to shadow at will.

 

[Jester David]

My player asks if there's a shadow (or where the source of light is) and teleports accordingly.

 

[dagger]

My player asks if there's a shadow (or where the source of light is) and teleports accordingly.

That is the problem for me, constant questions and judgement calls.

 

[Jester David]

That is the problem for me, constant questions and judgement calls.

My players are regularly asking about lighting. It's a pretty big factor in dungeons: where is the illumination coming from? Do we need torches?
If the dungeons aren't lit then the only source of light is coming from the players, which generally answer's the monk's question, since the range of bright light is set, as would be any shadows cast by blocking objects or creatures.

 

[Uller]

Which in a dungeon with torches would be almost all the time right with constant shadows all over the place (including next to people)? It sounds like the DM is going to be answering a lot of questions about lighting in all the time.

Not really. Players learn pretty quickly how to figure out where dim-light/darkness is on their own and the DM can just veto it when they are incorrect. "You can't shadowstep from there....there is a torch." "You can't shadowstep next to the cleric. He's got a light spell going."

Monks in melee want to use flurry of blows or other kewl abilities that are bonus actions. Shadow Step is a bonus action. That's what limits its use. Out of combat it just means the monk can bampf around with abandon in the right conditions but it's really not much more than a flavor thing. Sometimes it is very very useful for getting around obstacles like locked gates and the like so that can be kind of annoying (but they still have to be able to see where they are going!). If you find you really need it limited, make it cost a ki point but then make it part of their move action or something. Then the can bamf and still flurry of blows but at a cost of a resource.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Even outside in the day there are plenty of shadows though, so does it require the DM to constantly say make a judgement call?

But do those shadows qualify as dim light? The DM needs to make a call but I'd say dim light in daytime conditions is more than just any simple shadow.