[Homebrew] Monk Archetype: Way of the Demon Arts - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 WanderingBard Mar 23, 2015 16:58:59	The concept centers around a more destructive and primal type of martial art, rather than the traditional controlled type of monk archetypes. I was partly inspired by wanting to create a "primal" martial artist, and by the villian classes, such as the oathbreaker and death domain cleric. I'm thinking at least for my campaign that this could fill the position of at for the monk. It could also be extended to the Scarlet Brotherhood of Greyhawk, which the PHB mentions are a evil group of monks that are dedicated to their nation and race. etc. EDIT: Version 2, changed level 11th and 17th feature Version 3, changed 17th level feature on ki poisoning penalties Version 4, tried to make the 17th level feature text more concise. Way of the Demon Arts "When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." Monks of the demon arts practice long forbidden techniques that have them wrestle with the primal nature of ones body. In exchange for superhuman strength and beast-like reflexes, they trade their sanity and control over their most primal emotions. They value strength of self over any philosophical drivel, and strive to perfect ones destructive potential through the use of dark ki. Demon Fist Technique Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can use 2 ki point to add your wisdom modifier on top of your dex modifier to your attack's damage roll for one attack, when you do this you can choose to knock an enemy back 10ft if they fail a strength save, however on a miss the enemy you attacked is granted an advantage on their attack rolls against you for one turn. Primal Reflexes Starting at 6th level you tap into your primal instincts and become able to punish missed attacks whenever you take the Patient Defense as an action on your turn. If an enemy misses an attack against you, you may choose to use your reaction against the target to retaliate. You can also enhance this attack, with your wisdom modifier, and knockback potential following the ki usage outlined in the Demon Fist Technique. Demonic Body At 11th level, when reduced to 0 hp, roll a DC Wis save of 10, increasing by 5 per success. If you succeed you return back to 1 hp. You can utilize your ki to increase your roll modifier, i.e 1 Ki increases the roll count by 1. You can also exude a terrifying aura in a 20 ft radius, causing everyone who fails a WIS save to be feared as a bonus action using 1 ki point, this aura lasts for an hour and cannot be used again till a short rest is completed. Demon Ki Threshold At 17th level you may use your bonus action to achieve the epitome of fighting spirit. Your movement speed is doubled, you gain resistance to all damage types, you gain an additional action, and gain 10 ki points at the start of your turn. However, any damage you take while in this state cannot be recovered by any means until you take a long rest, and if you have a surplus of ki greater than your ki maximum you take 1d10 poison damage per ki point, ignoring resistances and saves. At the beginning of each of your turns, you may use a bonus action to make a Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 10 + 2 for each consecutive round) to attempt to exit the state. You may only exit this state if you succeed in your wisdom save, or if you are reduced to 0 hit points. Furthermore, upon exiting the state, you have 0 ki points and unable to move or take an action until your subsequent turn. If you are incapacitated while ki poisoned (you have more ki then you can hold) then you cannot use the Demon Body feature. Once you exit this state you cannot use it until a long rest. I want the theme to be raw power created by tapping into the dark primal ki within. So explosive power with drawbacks to the body when used to the extreme. Any critique will be great. I want this to be relatively balanced, and in line with other classes.
#2 transcendantviewer Mar 23, 2015 18:31:02	The level 11 and 17 abilities are, simply put, too strong. There's too much happening for too little investment. Spend 6 Ki Points for an unlimited supply in exchange for going into a Barbarian Rage? Yeah, sign me up. There isn't a strong enough drawback to that. The only thing that would make that balanced would be if you changed it to "You go into a Berserk, similar to a deranged golem, attacking anything within sight but prioritizing anything that damages you. You will remain in this berserk for up to 1 minute. All damage you take while in this berserk is treated as Life Drain and you have Resistance to all damage types. While berserking, you regain ki points at a rate of 1 per turn. Your Movement speed is doubled for the duration of this berserk. At the end of each of your turns, you are allowed a Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 8+2 for each consecutive round you berserked)" This means you go into a crazy blood-fueled rampage, like a Barbarian, but you'll have a pretty strong drawback when you come out of it.
(Reply to #2) WanderingBard	transcendantviewer wrote:
#4 transcendantviewer Mar 23, 2015 21:30:06	Life Drain is a monster ability that says "The damage dealt by this ability functions as a reduction of the target's maximum hit points. This reduction lasts until the afflicted target finishes a Long Rest." or something along those lines. You could do away with the "Losing Control" effect of the berserk, but the Life Drain is a good balance to the steady ki regeneration otherwise, they'll just keep getting weaker and weaker until dead.
#5 Macv12 Mar 23, 2015 22:14:20	I'm not sure if the level 17 feature is broken, or just impossible to be fixed. Spending ki to get an unlimited amount isn't really a cost at all; you get ki back after a short rest, so even if you happen to end Crazy Killsalot Mode (meaning you die) and get revived, and the combat is still going, you have plenty of ki left to finish it. On the other hand, the potential to die and start bleeding out after a round or two is an extreme risk. Hence why I'm not sure if the benefits outweigh the risks or not, but I don't want either one. Instead, maybe they can control their demonic powerup, but only as long as they "feed" the primal ki. As in, if they don't hit with at least one attack each turn the mode is active, they take a cumulative penalty to saves that lasts until they complete a rest, and if they don't even make an attack, they're immediately overwhelmed with pent-up ki and have to make some sort of save or start dying. (Hopefully you didn't accrue too many penalties!) This would make attacking allies a risk, but only as a last resort to keep yourself alive, and still basically under your control. Beyond that, Life Drain, ki regen, good stuff. Reducing your max HP for the day prevents you from using it every combat as a matter of course. Also, I agree that getting DR and a fear aura for the price of one is a bit much. I'd probably make them separate features.
#6 WanderingBard Mar 23, 2015 23:23:01	Changed the level 11 and 17 features a bit. I removed the resistances and moved them to the 17th feature, while keeping the fear aura. Furthermore, I changed the concept from infinite ki to ki regen, added the life drain, movement speed buff, and resistances. I added what I think is an intresting mechanic, where the longer you stay in the state, the harder it is to leave, until a certain point of no return. Also it gets to a point if there is no longer any enemies, you are overloaded by ki which will eventually kill you with ki posioning if you can't use your ki up. I.E No more enemies, no place to release ki, gaining 10 ki per turn, say your lvl 18 monk, you have a cap of 18 ki. At max you would have 2 turns of not using any offensive ki before you start taking massive damage. So turn 2, you take 2d10, turn 3 you would take a full 12d10, b/c you would be 12 ki points over the cap of 18. The the numbers probably need to be tweaked. I also made sure that this isint a cheap way to recover ki, by making sure that once you leave the state you have no ki, and your disabled for a bit. This is slightly rememdied by taking the lvl 20 Monk Capstone that helps you recover ki when at 0, but until then it disables you, making this a skill you would only use at the most desperate time and not just a easy option for quick damages. Demonic Body At 11th level, when reduced to 0 hp, roll a DC Wis save of 10, increasing by 5 per success. If you succeed you return back to 1 hp. You can utilize your ki to increase your roll modifier, i.e 1 Ki increases the roll count by 1. You can also exude a terrifying aura in a 20 ft radius, causing everyone who fails a WIS save to be feared. Demon Ki Threshold At 17th level you may use your bonus action to achieve the epitome of fighting spirit. You all damage you take while in this state is treated as Life Drain but you have resistance to all damage types. Your Movement speed is doubled for the duration of this state, and you gain an additional action (can only attack once with this action). Furthermore you gain 10 ki per turn, however, at the start of every turn, each ki point above your level maximum you have not used by the end of your turn inflicts ki poisoning on you a deals 1d10 poison damage per ki point over your limit, ignoring resistances, no save. At the beginning of each of your turns, you may use a bonus action to make a Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 10 + 2 for each consecutive round) to attempt to exit the state. You may only exit this state if you succeed in your wisdom save, or if you are incapacitated. Furthermore, upon exiting the state, you have 0 ki points and unable to move or take an action until your subsequent turn. If you are incapacitated while ki poisoned (you have more ki then you can hold) then you can not use the Demon Body feature. You can recover all hp lost due to the lifedrain effect after a long rest/ meditation. (or a short rest/ meditation?)
#7 Macv12 Mar 23, 2015 23:40:32	Okay, actually, I really like that. It's 11 ki to attack 3 times and Flurry for 2 more, while adding Demon Fist to each hit. So the growth is easily kept under control. But when it's time to stop hulking out, you have to use up your bonus action to do so, meaning you can only make 3 attacks and spend 6 ki. (Unless the fear aura is a free action and unlimited in use; it should be specified if that's true). But assuming no fear aura, even if you go punch rocks while trying to calm down, you can't keep your ki under control forever. Nice. However, if you use your action for anything other than attacking, you suddenly end up with a huge ki surplus. I guess that's kind of the point, but limits on how much ki you can use per turn mean you are stuck taking damage from over-ki probably for several turns, while you spend 1 more ki than you get back at best. Kind of a pain to be in that position with no "purge ki" option. Maybe only 8 ki each turn? So you can still only drain it by attacking, but you're not trapped when your ki gets too high. And/or you could provide an ability that spends ki very quickly, but is a sharply double-edged sword. Spends your HD, plant life dies around you, nearby vending machines won't accept your change, etc. EDIT: whoops! Stunning Strike! Better ki draining as long as you hit with it. and it has to be a creature even, so punching trees isn't nearly as good as punching faces. Maybe it's not a problem.
(Reply to #7) WanderingBard	Macv12 wrote:
#9 DMStevenH Mar 24, 2015 2:04:56	THE SATSUI NO HADO! I love it.
#10 Macv12 Mar 24, 2015 7:12:06	Yeah. I'm actually no thinking it's a problem anymore. Use it, try to kick the habit before you end up face down in a gutter 60 seconds later. Sounds cool. And actually, 10d10 is an average of 55 damage, and probably won't KO a level 17 monk in one go; and that's the maximum surplus if you're not even trying. You won't last long if you don't mitigate it, but it's not like it's "WHOA surplus k-- he's gone." EDIT: whoa, somehow missed this. This will likely incapacitate the player, which while ki poisoned prevents them from being stabilized with any normal means other than their death saving throws, which they take with 1 failure already marked.
(Reply to #10) WanderingBard	Macv12 wrote:
#12 transcendantviewer Mar 24, 2015 11:22:13	Personally, I think it's just giving too much. The overall benefits are outweighed, but there's just too much going on. What you should do is, instead of accomodating for a player min/maxing Ki expendatures to resist the ki backflow, instead just give them a slowly regenerating ki pool and let the life drain outweigh the benefits as a whole. It's simple, effective, and will make a good trade of power/weakness. Maybe increase the Ki regen to around 6 or 7per round so it's more attractive, but at the same time, that HP Max reduction from the fireball you just took is a pretty rough drawback to that extra Ki. That looming penalty becomes the balancing factor, damage resistance or not.
(Reply to #12) WanderingBard	transcendantviewer wrote:
#14 transcendantviewer Mar 24, 2015 14:50:51	Alright, I just don't think I like the fact that there's such a wall of text to it.
(Reply to #14) WanderingBard	transcendantviewer wrote:

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

WanderingBard

Mar 23, 2015 16:58:59

The concept centers around a more destructive and primal type of martial art, rather than the traditional controlled type of monk archetypes. I was partly inspired by wanting to create a "primal" martial artist, and by the villian classes, such as the oathbreaker and death domain cleric. I'm thinking at least for my campaign that this could fill the position of at for the monk. It could also be extended to the Scarlet Brotherhood of Greyhawk, which the PHB mentions are a evil group of monks that are dedicated to their nation and race. etc.

EDIT: Version 2, changed level 11th and 17th feature

Version 3, changed 17th level feature on ki poisoning penalties

Version 4, tried to make the 17th level feature text more concise.

Way of the Demon Arts

"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

Monks of the demon arts practice long forbidden techniques that have them wrestle with the primal nature of ones body. In exchange for superhuman strength and beast-like reflexes, they trade their sanity and control over their most primal emotions. They value strength of self over any philosophical drivel, and strive to perfect ones destructive potential through the use of dark ki.

Demon Fist Technique

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can use 2 ki point to add your wisdom modifier on top of your dex modifier to your attack's damage roll for one attack, when you do this you can choose to knock an enemy back 10ft if they fail a strength save, however on a miss the enemy you attacked is granted an advantage on their attack rolls against you for one turn.

Primal Reflexes

Starting at 6th level you tap into your primal instincts and become able to punish missed attacks whenever you take the Patient Defense as an action on your turn. If an enemy misses an attack against you, you may choose to use your reaction against the target to retaliate. You can also enhance this attack, with your wisdom modifier, and knockback potential following the ki usage outlined in the Demon Fist Technique.

Demonic Body

At 11th level, when reduced to 0 hp, roll a DC Wis save of 10, increasing by 5 per success. If you succeed you return back to 1 hp. You can utilize your ki to increase your roll modifier, i.e 1 Ki increases the roll count by 1. You can also exude a terrifying aura in a 20 ft radius, causing everyone who fails a WIS save to be feared as a bonus action using 1 ki point, this aura lasts for an hour and cannot be used again till a short rest is completed.

Demon Ki Threshold

At 17th level you may use your bonus action to achieve the epitome of fighting spirit. Your movement speed is doubled, you gain resistance to all damage types, you gain an additional action, and gain 10 ki points at the start of your turn. However, any damage you take while in this state cannot be recovered by any means until you take a long rest, and if you have a surplus of ki greater than your ki maximum you take 1d10 poison damage per ki point, ignoring resistances and saves. At the beginning of each of your turns, you may use a bonus action to make a Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 10 + 2 for each consecutive round) to attempt to exit the state. You may only exit this state if you succeed in your wisdom save, or if you are reduced to 0 hit points. Furthermore, upon exiting the state, you have 0 ki points and unable to move or take an action until your subsequent turn. If you are incapacitated while ki poisoned (you have more ki then you can hold) then you cannot use the Demon Body feature. Once you exit this state you cannot use it until a long rest.

I want the theme to be raw power created by tapping into the dark primal ki within. So explosive power with drawbacks to the body when used to the extreme.

Any critique will be great. I want this to be relatively balanced, and in line with other classes.

transcendantviewer

Mar 23, 2015 18:31:02

The level 11 and 17 abilities are, simply put, too strong. There's too much happening for too little investment. Spend 6 Ki Points for an unlimited supply in exchange for going into a Barbarian Rage? Yeah, sign me up. There isn't a strong enough drawback to that. The only thing that would make that balanced would be if you changed it to "You go into a Berserk, similar to a deranged golem, attacking anything within sight but prioritizing anything that damages you. You will remain in this berserk for up to 1 minute. All damage you take while in this berserk is treated as Life Drain and you have Resistance to all damage types. While berserking, you regain ki points at a rate of 1 per turn. Your Movement speed is doubled for the duration of this berserk. At the end of each of your turns, you are allowed a Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 8+2 for each consecutive round you berserked)"

This means you go into a crazy blood-fueled rampage, like a Barbarian, but you'll have a pretty strong drawback when you come out of it.

(Reply to #2)

WanderingBard

transcendantviewer wrote:

transcendantviewer

Mar 23, 2015 21:30:06

Life Drain is a monster ability that says "The damage dealt by this ability functions as a reduction of the target's maximum hit points. This reduction lasts until the afflicted target finishes a Long Rest." or something along those lines. You could do away with the "Losing Control" effect of the berserk, but the Life Drain is a good balance to the steady ki regeneration otherwise, they'll just keep getting weaker and weaker until dead.

Macv12

Mar 23, 2015 22:14:20

I'm not sure if the level 17 feature is broken, or just impossible to be fixed. Spending ki to get an unlimited amount isn't really a cost at all; you get ki back after a short rest, so even if you happen to end Crazy Killsalot Mode (meaning you die) and get revived, and the combat is still going, you have plenty of ki left to finish it.

On the other hand, the potential to die and start bleeding out after a round or two is an extreme risk. Hence why I'm not sure if the benefits outweigh the risks or not, but I don't want either one.

Instead, maybe they can control their demonic powerup, but only as long as they "feed" the primal ki. As in, if they don't hit with at least one attack each turn the mode is active, they take a cumulative penalty to saves that lasts until they complete a rest, and if they don't even make an attack, they're immediately overwhelmed with pent-up ki and have to make some sort of save or start dying. (Hopefully you didn't accrue too many penalties!) This would make attacking allies a risk, but only as a last resort to keep yourself alive, and still basically under your control. Beyond that, Life Drain, ki regen, good stuff. Reducing your max HP for the day prevents you from using it every combat as a matter of course.

Also, I agree that getting DR and a fear aura for the price of one is a bit much. I'd probably make them separate features.

WanderingBard

Mar 23, 2015 23:23:01

Changed the level 11 and 17 features a bit. I removed the resistances and moved them to the 17th feature, while keeping the fear aura. Furthermore, I changed the concept from infinite ki to ki regen, added the life drain, movement speed buff, and resistances. I added what I think is an intresting mechanic, where the longer you stay in the state, the harder it is to leave, until a certain point of no return. Also it gets to a point if there is no longer any enemies, you are overloaded by ki which will eventually kill you with ki posioning if you can't use your ki up. I.E No more enemies, no place to release ki, gaining 10 ki per turn, say your lvl 18 monk, you have a cap of 18 ki. At max you would have 2 turns of not using any offensive ki before you start taking massive damage. So turn 2, you take 2d10, turn 3 you would take a full 12d10, b/c you would be 12 ki points over the cap of 18.

The the numbers probably need to be tweaked. I also made sure that this isint a cheap way to recover ki, by making sure that once you leave the state you have no ki, and your disabled for a bit. This is slightly rememdied by taking the lvl 20 Monk Capstone that helps you recover ki when at 0, but until then it disables you, making this a skill you would only use at the most desperate time and not just a easy option for quick damages.

Demonic Body

At 17th level you may use your bonus action to achieve the epitome of fighting spirit. You all damage you take while in this state is treated as Life Drain but you have resistance to all damage types. Your Movement speed is doubled for the duration of this state, and you gain an additional action (can only attack once with this action). Furthermore you gain 10 ki per turn, however, at the start of every turn, each ki point above your level maximum you have not used by the end of your turn inflicts ki poisoning on you a deals 1d10 poison damage per ki point over your limit, ignoring resistances, no save. At the beginning of each of your turns, you may use a bonus action to make a Wisdom Saving Throw (DC 10 + 2 for each consecutive round) to attempt to exit the state. You may only exit this state if you succeed in your wisdom save, or if you are incapacitated. Furthermore, upon exiting the state, you have 0 ki points and unable to move or take an action until your subsequent turn. If you are incapacitated while ki poisoned (you have more ki then you can hold) then you can not use the Demon Body feature. You can recover all hp lost due to the lifedrain effect after a long rest/ meditation. (or a short rest/ meditation?)

Macv12

Mar 23, 2015 23:40:32

Okay, actually, I really like that. It's 11 ki to attack 3 times and Flurry for 2 more, while adding Demon Fist to each hit. So the growth is easily kept under control. But when it's time to stop hulking out, you have to use up your bonus action to do so, meaning you can only make 3 attacks and spend 6 ki. (Unless the fear aura is a free action and unlimited in use; it should be specified if that's true). But assuming no fear aura, even if you go punch rocks while trying to calm down, you can't keep your ki under control forever. Nice.

However, if you use your action for anything other than attacking, you suddenly end up with a huge ki surplus. I guess that's kind of the point, but limits on how much ki you can use per turn mean you are stuck taking damage from over-ki probably for several turns, while you spend 1 more ki than you get back at best. Kind of a pain to be in that position with no "purge ki" option. Maybe only 8 ki each turn? So you can still only drain it by attacking, but you're not trapped when your ki gets too high. And/or you could provide an ability that spends ki very quickly, but is a sharply double-edged sword. Spends your HD, plant life dies around you, nearby vending machines won't accept your change, etc.

EDIT: whoops! Stunning Strike! Better ki draining as long as you hit with it. and it has to be a creature even, so punching trees isn't nearly as good as punching faces. Maybe it's not a problem.

(Reply to #7)

WanderingBard

Macv12 wrote:

DMStevenH

Mar 24, 2015 2:04:56

THE SATSUI NO HADO!

I love it.

#10

Macv12

Mar 24, 2015 7:12:06

Yeah. I'm actually no thinking it's a problem anymore. Use it, try to kick the habit before you end up face down in a gutter 60 seconds later. Sounds cool.

And actually, 10d10 is an average of 55 damage, and probably won't KO a level 17 monk in one go; and that's the maximum surplus if you're not even trying. You won't last long if you don't mitigate it, but it's not like it's "WHOA surplus k-- he's gone."

EDIT: whoa, somehow missed this.

This will likely incapacitate the player, which while ki poisoned prevents them from being stabilized with any normal means other than their death saving throws, which they take with 1 failure already marked.

(Reply to #10)

WanderingBard

Macv12 wrote:

#12

transcendantviewer

Mar 24, 2015 11:22:13

Personally, I think it's just giving too much. The overall benefits are outweighed, but there's just too much going on. What you should do is, instead of accomodating for a player min/maxing Ki expendatures to resist the ki backflow, instead just give them a slowly regenerating ki pool and let the life drain outweigh the benefits as a whole. It's simple, effective, and will make a good trade of power/weakness. Maybe increase the Ki regen to around 6 or 7per round so it's more attractive, but at the same time, that HP Max reduction from the fireball you just took is a pretty rough drawback to that extra Ki. That looming penalty becomes the balancing factor, damage resistance or not.

(Reply to #12)

WanderingBard

transcendantviewer wrote:

#14

transcendantviewer

Mar 24, 2015 14:50:51

Alright, I just don't think I like the fact that there's such a wall of text to it.

(Reply to #14)

WanderingBard

transcendantviewer wrote: