D20 Martial Monk Base Class

[Senevri]

d20 martial monk base class
In progress, not done, unfinished!


Not a monk fix, a different class.
Not sure why I wouldn't just use the Tome one. :-/
I also find Pathfinder's implementation to be rather okay, albeit they could've done better.

Anyway, the point is, a D&D martial monk has little to do with actual martial monks, or martial artists who go through all that incredible training, or even the tropes they're involved with or...

You get the point.
Still in progress. I don't like the 72 arts name, and I need to write up all the different arts (hopefully less than 72, actually.) Training from Hell is a key feature. I think the initial push was "Fix MAD by giving more stat points".
'Kenji' manga was one additional source of inspiration.

 

[veekie]

Hard to say more without seeing what the arts do yet.
Why keep the lawful btw?

[Senevri]

Hard to say more without seeing what the arts do yet.
Why keep the lawful btw?

Well... a Neutral might pull it off, but if you're a chaotic flake, you can't handle the training without goofing off. Because it's hard and boring, and surely there's an easier way of doing it and why do I have to run around wearing lead weights anyway. Lawfuls are most likely to stick to the training.

[veekie]

False stereotyping I'm afraid. Discipline has more to do with Wis than L vs C.
And in the original literature for these monk types, the lawful ones train at the monastaries, the chaotic ones are more likely to retreat to some cave, island or mountaintop to train their unorthodox but nonetheless effective self improvement.

Quite a few have a strong streak against authority in fact. Please, don't let the Chaotic Stupids have their way.

[Senevri]

False stereotyping I'm afraid. Discipline has more to do with Wis than L vs C.
And in the original literature for these monk types, the lawful ones train at the monastaries, the chaotic ones are more likely to retreat to some cave, island or mountaintop to train their unorthodox but nonetheless effective self improvement.

Quite a few have a strong streak against authority in fact. Please, don't let the Chaotic Stupids have their way.

Well... I view alignment differently. It's probably not worth the hassle to keep it there, just mention in fluff that martial monks must be both disciplined and diligent.

*edit*

would 'Secret Arts' be a good replacement for 72 arts? Need to differentiate from the actual arts a bit, and allow for DM flexibility.

[veekie]

Alright, now on to more fun matters.
Which famed skills are you basing the special arts off?
The known eastern martial arts extended to mystical level? Ba Gua, Tai Chi, etc etc
The semi mythical arts of Iron Cloth Vest and Qing Gong? They do exist, but reports are greatly exaggerated IRL of course(since it's just endurance and acrobatics/athletics training really)
Or more wholly fictional stuff like the Eighteen Dragon-Slaying Palm Strikes.

[Senevri]

Oh, I'll start with the Shaolin ones; not sure where I go with them, as it comes to mind, training techniques may go in trees - without a certain base training, you can't do a more advanced one, after all.

Ideally, I'd like a mixture of soft and hard techniques, but I want to base them on stuff that has been rumored to exist, at least, at some point. Basically, no over-the-top anime or wuxia stuff. That's... more of a Mage than Mystic thing, on the Hero / Adventurer / Mage / Mystic scale, and Monk is definitely a Mystic type.

The idea for Grandmastery is synergy combos - for an example, if you have the poison hand and something that allows you to, say, use combat maneuvers at range, you could do poison hand hits at range, or if you have damage absorption training done and you take some internal manipulation style, you could throw opponent's attacks back at them.

Not sure what to do with Great Grandmastery yet.

[veekie]

Well, if you're going for T3(rather than a good T4), you're going to have to start working with weird shit like poisonous ki(the myth) inspired by secret recipes of poisons, antidotes and hidden weapons(the reality), gliding around, etc.

[Senevri]

Well, even RL Poison hands training sounds pretty hardcore, and possibly lethal, just to gain a secret weapon...

Style  benefits should probably be along the lines, Novice being equal to abilities of creatures with no more than CR 4, or 2nd level spells, Advanced CR 6 / 3rd spells and Master CR 10 / 6th 5th spells.

So, some sort of a lightning fist style, could allow adding 1/2 your level in d6 dice as lightning damage to your attacks, Haste, and eventually the ability to teleport as a line effect on material plane, while dealing lightning damage on the area you pass.

This, however, wouldn't be nearly enough. First level should also grant some sort of actual skill - say, K:Arcana, and maybe lightning resistance 5, upped to 10 at Master level.

Advanced level should grant some further variance, say Evasion, and Master level could allow your blows to deal damage in 5ft. bursts on each blow.

Or somesuch 

[Senevri]

I simplified the structure, although it broke the Incarnum-derived order of advancement.

Hey, feats:
- Novice Training: choose a secret art; you gain Novice training in the art.
- Advanced Training: prereq: BAB +6 or Monk level 6.
- Master Training: prereq: BAB +11, or Monk level 11.

I still have trouble coming up with the training-thingies.