Talk:Brother Superior (5e Class)

I was asked to move feature commentary from the article to the DISCUSSION page, so here it is:

Monk Re-balance Overview

The classic kung fu genre features powerful fighters, armed only with their fists, tearing through the battlefield, shattering weapons and sending their enemies flying with mystical strikes powered by their understanding of how energy flows through and around them. I accept that, with other classes getting spell slots, superiority dice, and the like, it stands to reason that the 5e Monk class needs some sort of exhaustible energy pool to maintain balance and prevent them from littering the ground with stunned and broken opponents (we’re talking about qi/ch'i, or its Japanese misnomer ki, here). What I don’t entirely accept is WotC’s vision of what class features a monk should have.

There are a LOT of homebrew monk subclass variants out there, and even some complete class rebuilds, created for a variety of reasons. Why so many? Likely because so many players have their own ideas of how monks should operate that deviate from the publisher’s. Some add an interesting facet to adventuring while retaining the essence of the unarmed warrior, while others explore the limits of...weird. Personally, I think some monk class rebuilds detract from the martial flavor monks add to a D&D campaign, and veer too far away from their Tao.

The Brother Superior monk class variant is how I envision a monk: fast, hard-hitting, capable of performing superhuman feats and surviving incredible perils…all without resorting to weapons or armor. As written, the WotC monk meets a lot of this archetype…but there’s some fluff (IMO) that reduces the AWESOMENESS a monk can achieve. Following are details regarding seven suggested changes/deviations (The Seven Deviant Disciplines - six for the class, and one for the Way of the Open Hand Monastic Tradition) – tweaks, really – to fix and re-balance your monk:

Tweak #0, Martial Arts Monk Weapons: OK, this was ALMOST a tweak, and I'll leave it to a matter between player and DM to consider. I write this because...*mounts soapbox*...what is currently considered a "monk weapon" is rife with contradiction. For example, a Quarterstaff is a classic monk weapon, with the Versatile property, and as long as a monk only uses it one-handed, it receives monk weapon bonuses, but used 2-handed, it mystically loses said bonuses....or does it? Technically, there's a difference between a weapon with the two-handed property and a weapon that can be used with two hands, so I would argue that the versatile quarterstaff is a monk weapon no matter how it's wielded; seems straightforward, but I've encountered contrary opinions. Furthermore, the monk receives ten darts as starting gear, which aren't even monk weapons! But the real kicker...and here it comes...is when a monk applies the Deflect Missiles feature to catch an incoming missile and uses it to make a reactionary ranged attack, NOW that missile becomes a monk weapon! And with proficiency to boot! Illogical and inconsistent? You bet! Now lemme bake yer noodle a bit more: five simple melee weapons (daggers, handaxes, javelins, light hammers and spears) have the THROWN property. Are they still monk weapons when thrown (I tend to say YES)? Discussions here and here. Resolving this quandary involves redefining "monk weapons" with the omission of a single word: melee. Redefine as "shortswords and any simple weapons that don't have the two-handed or heavy property" and those ten darts become monk weapons (think: shuriken), as do slings (but not shortbows or light crossbows, which the monk is still proficient in, but have the two-handed property). A monk holding a crossbow or bow has his hands "full" with a two-handed weapon anyhow, so he doesn't have a hand free (technically - don't get stupid on me) to catch that incoming bolt or arrow. Problem solved. *dismounts soapbox*

Tweak #1, Martial Arts Damage Progression: Damage progression is slightly different, reflecting advanced expertise and balancing a monk's damage output to match the five tiers of proficiency bonuses and unarmored movement enhancements a monk receives.

Tweak #2 and Tweak #3, Ability Score Improvements: The class is really well-balanced overall, but Stillness of Mind (for a high-WIS class that is fairly resistant to charm and fright already) seems redundant, so replace with an Ability Score Improvement at 7th level. Likewise, replace Tongue of the Sun and Moon with another Ability Score Improvement at 13th level to reflect intensive training, putting monks on par with fighters, who have seven total ASIs as well. Let those bards talk to the chatty fauna, you’re there to trash bozos. Alternately, feats could replace one or both ability score increases (Alert, Mobile or Tough all come to mind).

Tweak #4, Ki-Empowered Strikes: If a monk’s strikes are truly ki-empowered, he should be able to not only enhance his blows to a magical equivalent at 6th level, but also customize how destructive ki flows into his target, whether it’s a bludgeoning fist, a slashing chop or a piercing spear-hand strike. Otherwise, whenever the party faces an opponent that is resistant (or immune!) to bludgeoning damage, they’re all like: “Hey, Monkey-boy! Why don’t you stand in the back and practice your katas or something? We got this.” Because resorting to monk “weapons” is not the answer.

Tweak #5, Spiritshift: This replaces/modifies the Empty Body feature. Due to the monk’s increasing awareness of the Spirit Realm, the monk can “Spiritshift” to the ethereal plane at 18th level (per the Etherealness spell) for 8 ki points, rather than astrally project. Think "Kung Fu Panda...."

Tweak #6, True Enlightenment: At 20th level, when a monk reaches the very pinnacle of his training and supposedly unravels Mysteries of the Universe, he would have gotten…four lousy ki points. Puh-leez. Druids get UNLIMITED Wild Shapes, rogues get so lucky they can DICTATE the die roll and just say it’s a 20, clerics automatically summon frickin’ DIVINE ASSISTANCE, but monks get…the six-foot shaft. This fixes a phoned-in oversight into something more resembling a capstone feature.

Tweak #7, Way of the Open Hand's Redirect Energy: Although the Way of the Open Hand is such a classic Monastic Tradition, and I love most of it, the Tranquility feature at 11th level is just lame. Replace with Redirect Energy, similar to a rogue's Uncanny Dodge feature or a battle master's Parry maneuver as a way to reduce damage via reaction.