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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 479259" data-attributes="member: 3051">I know, there's been way too many of these lately, it's almost as bad as the whole Alt.Ranger thing.  But, I wanted to get some feedback while people were still thinking about it.Anyway, I don't like classes where the player has no choice in the development.  A Monk 15 has the same abilities as every other Monk 15 in the game; only the allocation of skill points and the base stats differ.  You can't even customize your armor/weapons like most other classes can.  So, for my campaign (actually for the NEXT one) I rebuilt the Monk, Barbarian, Paladin, and Ranger to be a bit more flexible.The new Monk follows the PHB except as explained below.> Saves, speed, HP, BAB, AC bonus (both inherent and WIS), and unarmed damage are unchanged, except that at level 16-20 the monk's fists only do 2d8 damage (2d6 small) instead of 1d20> A Monk may multiclass to and from his racial Favored Class without halting his Monk advancement, as long as Monk remains his highest class.  If his Favored Class is "Any", then only one class may be treated this way, even if that class does not remain the highest non-Monk class.> Remove everything in the "Special" column.At levels 1-5, all Monks gain the following special abilities:1> Improved Unarmed Strike2> Lethal Unarmed Strike, Evasion3> Stunning Fist, Empty Mind (psychic defense mode, at will)4> Wholeness of Body, Slow Fall 20'5> Ki Strike +1, Flurry of BlowsBeginning at level 6, the Monk gains levels along six paths, each tied to a different base attribute.  Each path contains five levels, or 'circles', which must be taken sequentially; you cannot take Hand 3 unless you already know Hand 2 and 1, although you don't have to take them consecutively.  Each level requires a base attribute of 9 + 2 per circle in the attribute corresponding to that path, so Hand 1 requires a STR of 11, Hand 2 a STR of 13, and so on up to Hand 5 at 19.  Foot has the same progression but uses DEX instead of STR, and so on.Any spell-like ability the Monk gains has caster level equal to half the Monk's class level and can only affect the Monk himself.Hand (STR)1    Deflect Arrows (as Feat)2    Ki Power3    Ki Mode, Critical Fists (x3)4    Quivering Palm (see PHB, usable 1/week), Ki Power5    Ki Mode, Critical Fists (x4)Foot (DEX)1    Improved Trip (as Feat)2    Leap of the Clouds (jumping distance not limited by height), Safe Fall 40'3    Improved Evasion4    Perfect Fall (feather fall, at will), Ki Power5    Abundant Step (dimension door 3/day)Body (CON)1    Purity of Body (immune to nonmagical diseases)2    Diamond Body (immune to all poisons)3    Sustenance, Ki Mode4    Timeless Body (do not age), Ki Power5    Empty Body (etherealness 1/day)Mind (INT)1    Still Mind (+2 saves vs. Enchantment or Telepathy)2    Hardness3    Quiet Mind (nondetection, continuous)4    Manifester5    Solid MindEye (WIS)1    Blind-Fight (as Feat)2    Insight (combat prescience 2/day)3    Eyes of the Bat (see invisibility 2/day)4    Diamond Eye (aura sight 2/day)5    Meditation (precognition 1/day)Soul (CHA)1    Psychoanalyst (as Feat)2    Tongue of the Sun and Moon (speak with any living creature)3    Quick Ki, Ki Mode4    Diamond Soul (Spell Resistance 5+CHA mod+level)5    Perfect Self (Native Outsider, Damage Reduction 20/magic)New abilities not listed in core books (all are Supernatural or Spell-Like unless specified otherwise):Lethal Unarmed Strike(Monk 2): The monk may choose to deal lethal damage instead of subdual when using his fists.  This also applies to damage done during a grapple.Psionic(Monk 3): The Monk is treated as a psionic creature.  He can select Psionic Feats, and can gain Psionic Focus as if he was a Psion.Ki Strike (Monk 5): The monk's fists act as if they had a +1 enhancement bonus.  Like weapon enhancements, this increases the monk's unarmed attack bonus, damage, and their ability to sunder or bypass damage reduction.  This is a supernatural ability.Activating or deactivating Ki is a Standard Action that does not draw an Attack of Opportunity.  There is a noticeable magical aura around the Monk's hands when this ability is active, and it prevents him from holding items or weapons.Ki Mode (Hand 3, Hand 5, Body 3, Soul 3): The monk has a new option for his Ki.  He may create, using standard weapon enchantments, a new "mode" for his attacks; this new mode has the same total Market Price as the enhancement bonus of his original Ki Strike (which increases through the Ki Power ability, below).  Unlike weapons, the Ki Mode does not have to include any enhancement bonus.  The Monk may not choose any enchantment that conflicts with his alignment (Chaotic, or Holy/Unholy for Good/Evil Monks), that cannot be applied to a bludgeoning melee weapon, or that simply doesn't make sense (Dancing, Brilliant Energy, Throwing).Only one Ki Mode may be active at any time.  Switching Ki Modes is a Standard Action that does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity.Ki Power (Hand 2, Hand 4, Foot 4, Body 4): The enhancement bonus of all existing Ki Modes increases by 1.  You cannot choose to replace this increase with a different enchantment.Example: a Monk 13 (Fist 5, Foot 3) has three options for his Ki attacks: a simple +3 attack (+1 for Ki Strike plus two Ki Power upgrades), and two other modes.  In our example the first is a +2 Flaming (+1 Flaming when he chose it at Fist 3, then increased the next level), the second is Shocking Lawful.  If he now adds another Foot level, he gains a Ki Power upgrade, increasing his modes to +4, +3 Flaming, and +1 Shocking Lawful.  If he added a new Ki Mode (from Body 3 or Soul 3), he could pick any combination of abilities with a +4 price.Critical Fists (Hand 3,5) (Ex): The critical multiplier on a Monk's unarmed attacks increases by one, to x3 at Hand 3 and x4 at Hand 5.Sustenance (Body 3): The Monk no longer needs to eat or drink to survive.Hardness (Mind 2): All ability damage dealt to the Monk by spells, spell-like abilities, or psionics is reduced by 1 point.Manifester (Mind 4): Once per day, the Monk may use one of his spell-like abilities one extra time as a Free Action without counting against his totals for the day.  This counts as a quickened spell-like ability.Solid Mind(Mind 5): The Monk becomes entirely immune to all mind-affecting spells or effects, such as charm person or sleep.Quick Ki(Soul 3): The Monk may switch to a new Ki Mode as a Free Action a number of times per day equal to his CHA modifier.(The PHB Monk would be like taking Body, Foot, part of Soul, and the first level of Hand and Mind).  You lose a slight bit of power at the top end (since you can't take more than 3 fifth-circle abilities, and that's only if you had 19 in three stats) but you gain in flexibility.Feedback is appreciated.  I'm still shuffling the abilities a bit, but the idea is the first circle are weaker Feats, the second are weak to normal Feats, the third are somewhat strong Feats, the fourth are powerful or very useful abilities, and the fifth are the sort of things you only get near level 20.  Some paths go weaker at 2-3 to give better abilities at 4-5.</blockquote>

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