D&D 5E Unearthed Arcana: Travelers of the Multiverse

New free content from WotC - the latest 4-page Unearthed Arcana introduces six new races: astral elf, autognome, giff, hadozee, plasmoid, and thri-kreen.

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dnd.wizards.com

Looks like Spelljammer and/or Planescape is back on the menu!

 

[overgeeked]

Without reading the last 10 pages, can anyone tell me how the Spelljammer multiverse traveller races UA thread morphed into a discussion of whether the 4 element monk playtesting was adequate?

Conversation about plasmoid monks morphed into talk of monks which morphed into a persistent tangent about the efficacy of four element monks.

 

[Chaosmancer]

The Ki values are very much correct, it is an exact match on a Spell Slot to Ki point buy rate of exchange. They do push out other Monk Ki abilities, but as a full fighting class getting those spells on a short rest basis...that is worth something, and the math is right. If the playstyle matches the design, it works fine. The problem is that unlike most other options in the game other than the Beastmaster, the intended playstyle is mismatched with player desires.

Here's where you lose me. What are the player desires in this situation? The desire to be a monk and use their subclass abilities? Because that is what we are talking about. This isn't based on something like "the player's want to use this monk as a tank" or something else, the literal desire we are talking about is the desire to play the subclass and use the abilities.

Maybe you are right that the math works in theory, but in practice it doesn't actually work.

Here, let's just show this at a very very very basic level. You get the subclass at level 3. At Level three, monks have 3 ki per short rest. To use an actual ability costs 2 ki.

Fist of Unbroken air is two ki, for a strength save that does 3d10 bludgeoning damage. That sounds very powerful, right? You can do it once per short rest, but that's an average damage of 16.5 damage if the enemy fails the save, and it is the strongest damage for these abilities. Fangs of the Fire Snake has shorter range and 2 ki lets them only deal 1d10 damage, for an example.

What else can you do with 2 ki as a base class monk? You can make 4 unarmed attacks. That is 4d4+12 damage, or an average of 22 damage if they hit.

So, already, very beginning, I can spend 2 ki in a single action, and do less damage than if I spent that ki using non-subclass features. But it gets worse. Fist of Unbroken Air is an action, but it isn't an attack. So... you can't use your bonus action for anything after doing it. It also doesn't work with monk abilities like Ki-Empowered strikes, or Stunning Strike

So, that's 3d10 damage for the entire turn. IF you were using your bonus action with ki for flurry instead, you could still attack with your main weapon, which will likely be a staff for an additional 2d8+6 or 15 damage.

So, 2 ki in one turn for 16.5 or 2 ki over two turns for 37 which is 18.5 per turn.

So, every single target ability (which is three of your six options) is only useful if the monk, one of the fastest classes in the game, can't close into melee range. In terms of pure damage, they are a downgrade of your abilities. But the other two are AOEs, so does that help? Not really, both of them are close range AOEs, and to do better than the damage of just punching the enemies, you need at least three enemies to be next to the monk. Which is a big risk, especially since... that's it. You don't get a second shot. So, in a single turn of a single combat, you blow all of your subclass abilities.

Or, over three turns, you just act as a normal monk. Which is generally getting you better results anyways.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I mean, such is the life of a half-caster. Ranger and Paladin spells are also pretty bad for the levels you get them at, Paladins just don’t care because they spend their slots on Smite instead.

I agree, and I consider that a problem for those classes as well.

You should only need the expected two short rests, actually, provided you’re spending all of your Ki between each rest (which you should be). 17 points at the beginning of the day + 17 more after the first short rest, + 17 more after the second = 51. That is a little under the half-caster’s 57, but a third short rest would put them well above it. As it stands they’re short two 2nd level spells per day instead of ahead the two 3rd level spells they would be ahead by with three short rests.

You also picked a level where the difference is at its greatest - at even-numbered levels the gap closes because monks gain Ki every level while half-casters only gain spell points every other level. And at lower levels the difference is less significant. Heck, at 6th level the monk effectively has 18 Ki per day while a half-caster only has 14 spell points.

I was picking it for the same level of where they got their "capstone" abilities. And I did realize I messed up the math by not accounting for the 1st set of ki from the long rest before.

But even if you want to look at 6th level, using one of their newest abilities costs... 3 ki. So, you might be getting the equivalent of two 2nd level spells per short rest. So, three rests is 6 spells, so that should be good... but doing this the monk is not using the majority of their MONK abilities. If I wanted to just cast a few hold persons and shatters... why am I not just playing a full caster instead? The Ranger might only have six spells per day, but they also get other abilities that allow them to use their subclass all day, without costing spell slots.

 

[Undrave]

Plasmoid Monks are gonna be sweet I think...No need to get rid of armor to fit into any space.

 

[Charlaquin]

Plasmoid Monks are gonna be sweet I think...No need to get rid of armor to fit into any space.

Though you will still have to drop your backpack and any other gear you might have on you. Not much of a problem if you have a Powerful Build character in the party though.

 

[Parmandur]

Here's where you lose me. What are the player desires in this situation? The desire to be a monk and use their subclass abilities? Because that is what we are talking about. This isn't based on something like "the player's want to use this monk as a tank" or something else, the literal desire we are talking about is the desire to play the subclass and use the abilities.

Maybe you are right that the math works in theory, but in practice it doesn't actually work.

Here, let's just show this at a very very very basic level. You get the subclass at level 3. At Level three, monks have 3 ki per short rest. To use an actual ability costs 2 ki.

Fist of Unbroken air is two ki, for a strength save that does 3d10 bludgeoning damage. That sounds very powerful, right? You can do it once per short rest, but that's an average damage of 16.5 damage if the enemy fails the save, and it is the strongest damage for these abilities. Fangs of the Fire Snake has shorter range and 2 ki lets them only deal 1d10 damage, for an example.

What else can you do with 2 ki as a base class monk? You can make 4 unarmed attacks. That is 4d4+12 damage, or an average of 22 damage if they hit.

So, already, very beginning, I can spend 2 ki in a single action, and do less damage than if I spent that ki using non-subclass features. But it gets worse. Fist of Unbroken Air is an action, but it isn't an attack. So... you can't use your bonus action for anything after doing it. It also doesn't work with monk abilities like Ki-Empowered strikes, or Stunning Strike

So, that's 3d10 damage for the entire turn. IF you were using your bonus action with ki for flurry instead, you could still attack with your main weapon, which will likely be a staff for an additional 2d8+6 or 15 damage.

So, 2 ki in one turn for 16.5 or 2 ki over two turns for 37 which is 18.5 per turn.

So, every single target ability (which is three of your six options) is only useful if the monk, one of the fastest classes in the game, can't close into melee range. In terms of pure damage, they are a downgrade of your abilities. But the other two are AOEs, so does that help? Not really, both of them are close range AOEs, and to do better than the damage of just punching the enemies, you need at least three enemies to be next to the monk. Which is a big risk, especially since... that's it. You don't get a second shot. So, in a single turn of a single combat, you blow all of your subclass abilities.

Or, over three turns, you just act as a normal monk. Which is generally getting you better results anyways.

The intended design is to cast Spells instead of doing things like Flurry of Blows. The Ki value of each Spell is identical to their Spell Point value using the DMG variant rule, because the Monk is always a Spell Point 1/2 Caster. The normal Monk abilities are costed out like Spells.

 

[Charlaquin]

I agree, and I consider that a problem for those classes as well.

Well at least we’re in agreement on that.

I was picking it for the same level of where they got their "capstone" abilities. And I did realize I messed up the math by not accounting for the 1st set of ki from the long rest before.

But even if you want to look at 6th level, using one of their newest abilities costs... 3 ki. So, you might be getting the equivalent of two 2nd level spells per short rest. So, three rests is 6 spells, so that should be good… but doing this the monk is not using the majority of their MONK abilities.

You mean like how at 6th level a paladin can cast 6 spells per day (4 1st level and 2 2nd) but can’t smite if they do so? Sounds about equivalent to me.

If I wanted to just cast a few hold persons and shatters... why am I not just playing a full caster instead? The Ranger might only have six spells per day, but they also get other abilities that allow them to use their subclass all day, without costing spell slots.

Monks also have abilities that don’t require spending Ki.

I think we can both agree that half-casting is kinda bad.

 

[overgeeked]

Though you will still have to drop your backpack and any other gear you might have on you. Not much of a problem if you have a Powerful Build character in the party though.

That’s the point of playing a monk. You don’t need any gear. No weapons to worry about other than a staff. No clothes to worry about. You can forage for food and water and most DMs don’t bother reinforcing that anyway. Have someone carry your coin until the party gets a bag of holding.

 

[Mecheon]

Planewalkers Handbook

Yup. Bariaur, Githzerai and Tieflings were the other three main ones, with rogue modrons coming later

Now, Bariaur's a race I have no idea if they'll bring back or not, given we have full on centaur...

 

[humble minion]

Now, Bariaur's a race I have no idea if they'll bring back or not, given we have full on centaur...

I honestly never understood the creative process there.

"What new race can we put in our shiny new Planescape boxed set? What race screams the wonder and majesty of the furthest and wildest regions of the multiverse, what race best embodies the titanic clash of eternal philosophical and ethical forces that we're weaving into every strand of this gameline?"
"I know - goat centaurs!"
"GIVE THAT MAN A PAY RISE!!!"