The Monastic - A monk-like cleric

[Sir Brennen]

Domain Energy Channeling Techniques

Updated All techinques are listed for the PHB domains; please critique if you think anything looks whack.

Air Domain – Channeled Strike: Shock
Animal Domain – Channeled Strike: Claws of the Tiger
Chaos Domain – Channeled Strike: Anarchic*
Death Domain – Channeled Strike: Channeled Strike: Ghost Touch or Empty Hand
Destruction Domain – Channeled Strike: Fist of Ruby
Earth Domain – Channeled Strike: Acid
Evil Domain – Channeled Strike: Unholy*
Fire Domain – Channeled Strike: Flaming
Good Domain – Channeled Strike: Holy*
Healing Domain – Healing Breeze
Knowledge Domain – Body of Knowledge
Law Domain – Channeled Strike: Axiomatic*
Luck Domain – Evasion
Magic Domain – Channeled Strike: Dispelling
Plant Domain – Body of Wood
Protection Domain – Body of Stone
Strength Domain – Heart of the Lion
Sun Domain – Body of Light
Travel Domain – Feet of Mercury
Trickery Domain – Body of Crystal
War Domain – Channeled Weapon
Water Domain – Channeled Strike: Frost

* Damage from these properties is only +1d6

Technique Descriptions

Channeled Strike
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: Monastics are able to empower their unarmed attacks with channeled energy. The exact effects of this depend on the type of channeled strike selected. The primary technique of this type known to all monastics is Channeled Strike: Magic, and is gained at 4th level. All other channel strikes are either Domain techniques (usually gained at 3rd level), or techniques acquired through feats.

• Magic: The monastic’s unarmed attacks are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. The monastic also gains a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls for his unarmed attacks per four caster levels (maximum +5).
  
• Corrosive, Flaming, Frost, Shocking: These channelings are functionally identical to the magical weapon properties listed in the DMG and DMG II, adding +1d6 of the appropriate elemental damage to the monastic’s unarmed attacks.
  
• Holy, Unholy, Anarchic, Axiomatic: These channelings are functionally identical to the magical weapon properties listed in the DMG, with the exception that they only add +1d6 of the appropriate aligned damage to the monastic’s unarmed attacks.
  
• Dispelling: While this channeling is in effect, a successful unarmed strike on an opponent triggers a targeted dispel magic. Once triggered, the current energy channeling ends immediately.
  
• Fist of Ruby: With this channeling, the monastic’s critical threat range for unarmed attacks increases by one. She may also ignore 1 point per 2 caster levels of hardness when striking objects or constructs while this channeling is in effect.
  
• Claws of the Tiger: With this channeling, monastic’s critical threat range for unarmed attacks increase by one. She can also choose to inflict either bludgeoning or slashing damage at will while the channeling is in effect.
  
• Ghost Touch: This channeling functions identically to the magic weapon property of the same name.
  
• Empty Hand: With a successful unarmed strike against a target, the monastic heals up to 1d6 hit points, but the amount healed cannot exceed the total damage inflicted. If the monastic normally channels positive energy, this ability only affects unliving creatures (creatures of the Construct, Elemental or Undead type) and is considered a positive energy effect. If she normally channels negative energy, this ability only affects living creatures and is considered a negative energy effect.

Channeled Weapon
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: Choose one Channeled Strike technique. The monastic may use this technique as normal, except the effects only apply to a weapon for which she has the Weapon Focus feat, rather than her unarmed attack. If the monastic already knows a Channeled Strike technique, it applies to both unarmed and weapon attacks with a single energy channeling use. The chosen technique should not run counter to the monastic’s deity in alignment or area of focus. The restrictions on simultaneous techniques with regard to opposing alignments, elements or energies also hold true to techniques applied to an enchanted weapon.

Healing Breeze
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: For the duration of this channeling, all cure spells cast by the monastic have a range of Close. This does not include spells cast from an item, such as a wand or scroll. This is a postitive energy effect.

Body of Crystal
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: While this energy channeling is in effect, the monastic becomes almost entirely transparent, gaining concealment (20% miss chance.) They also receive a +5 circumstance bonus to Hide checks.

Body of Wood
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: While this energy channeling is in effect, the monastic’s flesh becomes like wood, granting a +1 enhancement bonus to natural armor. This bonus increases by +1 for every additional four caster levels, to a maximum of +5.

Body of Stone
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: When this energy channeling is activated, the monastic aquires +1/adamantine damage resistance for evey two caster levels.

Body of Light
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: For the duration of this energy channeling, the monastic’s body glows with a bright aura, illuminating a 30-foot radius with shadowy illumination out to a 60-foot radius. In addition, the aura provides cold resistance 1 for evey two caster levels, and any undead striking the monastic with a melee weapon or natural attack takes 1d8 positive energy damage.

Body of Knowledge
Action: Immediate
Duration: Instantaneous
Effect: When a creature’s attack you to make a saving throw, and you have 1 or more ranks in the Knowledge skill pertinent to the creature’s type, you may use an energy channeling to substitute [ranks in knowledge skill + Int bonus] for your normal save bonus. This save can only be used against a creature’s extraordinary, spell-like and supernatural attacks, and does not apply to spells and abilities due to class levels the creature may have. Other effects which enhance saving throws, such as a prayer spell, modify the saving throw as normal.

Heart of the Lion
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: When this energy channeling is activated, the monastic gains a +1 enhancement bonus per two caster levesl on all skills, checks and special combat actions involving a STR modifier, such as Jump checks, opening doors, and actions such as bull rush, grapple and sunder. This bonus does not apply to normal combat attack or damage rolls.

Lives of the Cat
Action: Immediate
Duration: Instantaneous
Effect: This energy channeling functions exactly like the Luck domain’s granted power, except it only applies to saving throws. In addition, the monastic must spend two energy channeling daily uses to activate this ability.

Feet of Mercury
Action: Swift
Duration: 1 + Wis Bonus rounds
Effect: For the duration of this energy channeling, the monastic receives a +10 enhancement bonus to her base speed. This bonus stacks with the monastic’s Fast Movement channeling.

 

[Sir Brennen]

I've updated the domain "energy channeling" techniques up above in the thread. Take a look at and critique. I'm also looking for a better name for the Knowledge Domain ability than "Body of Knowledge" (my brain just couldn't escape the pun's gravitational pull.)

Related to the links Starwed posted, and comments I've heard and read that the monk is a bit underpowered, I was thinking, to bump their combat effectiveness up just a bit, what does everyone think of this modification to Flurry of Blows:

For each successful hit during a flurry of blows, the monk deals his base damage + STR (whether unarmed or monk weapons), plus an additional damage equal to 1d6 times x, where x is the number of previous successful hits in the current flurry of blows.

So a 14th level monk (base 2d6 unarmed damage) would do 2d6 on the first hit, 3d6 on his second, 4d6 on his third, and 5d6 on his fourth (if he gets that lucky.)

The extra damage would be treated like sneak attack damage with regard to multipyling for crits, but wouldn't be considered "precision damage", so it would work against all corporeal opponents (hey, these guys practice by breaking boards and bricks, right?)

Or would this be too overpowered in combination with Stunning Fist?

Another option presented in Starwed's article is to drop the unnamed AC Bonus (but keep the Wis-based one), and give the monk the Skirmish ability as the CA Scout class. Essentially, +1d6 damage and +1 AC bonus alternating every 2 levels which the monk would gain whenever they move more than 10' in a round (+5d6 and +5 AC by 20th.) So one round they could rush an opponent, doing a flying kick for lots of damage, then stand and deliver a flurry of blows the next round.

Then only thing I don't like about that is, the AC bonus would go away on the round they do the flurry. What about just the bonus damage portion of Skirmish, and keep the regular AC bonus?