D&D 5E Way of the Four Elements in actual play?

[kbrakke]

The class is fine if you goal is to do spell like things or be a monk, however to do both it's hugely draining. If you can reliably take short rests after every deadly fight it is probably workable. However over a prolonged adventuring day they have to make the choice between using their spells or being a monk, and frankly stunning fist is so good that it's usually better for survival to just always use that.

I had a player that wanted to be a stone bender. We started with the way of the 4 elements as the chassis and I made a few changes. These changes came after several months of playing to the point where I am satisfied with it, around the time she was level fourteen or so. #1 change was give them more disciplines, in the book I think you get 5 at most + the cantrip, not really amazing as far as versatility or really feeling like a master of elements. I upped that to 7 and added an on-theme cantrip for each element. Part of my problem with it was that it's hard to be a bender without Ki, so the cantrip alleviated it.

The other major thing I did was let the character use unarmed strike or flurry of blows after casting a spell. This way they can feel like the martial arts and elemental bending are working together. Frankly giving the player an extra ~6 - 15 damage and a chance to spend more ki isn't unbalanced and it plays in to the fiction of being an elemental monk.

If you want to try the base class, just go in to it knowing you will be able to be a bender or a monk for any given fight unless you short rest a lot. If you can make quick edits to it, giving an extra two disciplines, reducing the ki cost by 1, and letting using a discipline trigger martial arts/flurry of blows really help the class feel better.

If you have the ability to make even more changes the linked fixes are pretty good, and for me personally I made up my own archetypes for the elements with some extra abilities. For earth I gave limited tremmorsense with the ability to spend ki to extend it for some time, and the ability to pass through earth like an earth elemental by spending ki. Also because I really like it I will share an extra discipline I made.

Split the Stream’s Flow (13^th Level Required). When you or an ally within 60 feet of you is the target of a ranged attack or is subject to an effect that allows them to make a dexterity saving throw, you can spend 5 ki points and use your reaction to interpose a 5 foot wide stone wall between them and the effect. If the effect is a ranged attack the attack misses. If the effect is a spell that allows for a dexterity saving throw, any creature behind the wall takes no damage on a successful saving throw and half damage on an unsuccessful one. This wall lasts until the beginning of your turn and provides complete cover.

The imagery of course being the monk pulling up a small wall of stone to use as cover.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I think a fairly easy solution to the issues of the 4 element monk is to greatly widen the spells available. In short, if your monk player wants a specific spell at the same level a half caster would get access to it, let him have it. The ki costs are easy to work out.

That will allow a 4 element monk to pick up more utility spells instead of being stuck with a ton of combat spells.

 

[Lanliss]

Quick question, just spit balling ideas. Would it be OP to allow the monk to always cast these disciplines at max level, for the base Ki cost?

 

[Xohar17]

It burns through Ki points like nobody's business for mostly sub-par results and lacks a real capstone ability.

This. I played one for 7 levels, and although it was fun using their abilities ( I love me some avatar the last airbender), they spend so much ki using them, for really not that great of a benefit, and compared to the other subclasses which can do some other things that dont need ki points or that activate when you use ki points for other effects, it feels very lacking. In our game we gave them some of the cantrips from the elemental players handbook for free and reducde the cost of their elemental abilities, which we feel made the sunclass more on par with the other ones.

 

[Ancalagon]

It seems a class that needs the smallest of tweak to fix: More ki. Is this impression correct?

 

[jaelis]

It seems a class that needs the smallest of tweak to fix: More ki. Is this impression correct?

I would reduce the ki cost for the disciplines instead, otherwise you're still generally better off using your ki for other things.

 

[Xeviat]

I would reduce the ki cost for the disciplines instead, otherwise you're still generally better off using your ki for other things.

Based on Sun and shadow monks, the elements spells should either cost ki equal to spell level, or ki equal to spell level +1 and be a bonus action cast. I prefer the latter (like the sun monk's burning hands). Sun monk's fireball costs 3 ki for 8d6, same as a fireball. Their burning hands costs 2, but is a bonus action. Shadow's spells all cost 2.

My elements fix: spells are bonus action to cast, so they can gish it up, and cost spell level + 1. They also get some elemental cantrips and can still use flurry of blows for unarmed attacks on those rounds starting at 6th level (near when the fighter can attack after a cantrip).


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[Blue]

In the SKT group we have someone playing one. She joined the group after we had been playing for a bit so I've only seen at 6th.

Compared to the highly optimized characters that everyone else was playing, she seemed underwhelming especially since she was more reasonably built. The dodge-for-a-ki-point was pretty cool but that's for all monks. Then last week for the first time she pulled out Fangs of the Fire Snake. Went through all of her Ki in one round, but was more bonus damage delivered in 1-round then the paladin could due to more attacks, and she gets back Ki on short rest, not long rest. Paladin still out-damages her because of greatsword, GWM, and Oath of Enmity to hit with GWM, but that's a particular build.

Still waiting to see more, not sure what other disciplines she has.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

I'm playing one IRL right now.

Halfling 4E monk.

I find ins it great for RP but the elemental attributes are too ki-burny to be much use regularly - I focus on hand to hand, and at 6th level I have magic hands which is all kinds of fun.

thinking about the character the best bit is the RP side; mechanically it's the Halfling lucky trait. The number of times I've rolled the perfect 1/20 reroll...

i I sometimes wish I'd gone open hand but I actually love love love elemental attunement for RP purposes.

its fun!

 

[RCanine]

The problem is that fury of blows and stunning strike are such good as a uses of ki that most of the four elemental disciplines don't match them in power.