New Class: Monk [Revised]

[Vanguard]

As I gear up for my next campaign, I'm looking to introduce a few "new" classes to the campaign - one of them being Monk. There are a few versions of DCC Monks floating around the internet, but I felt they strayed too far from the core of DCC so I took a stab at my own and I'm looking for feedback before it hits the gaming table. Link to class here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wyW ... 0dBdE/edit.

A few notes as you review the revised version:

The intention of this class was to offer players a more Melee-oriented Divine class option that doesn't outclass Warriors as the damage dealers of the grop.

Flurry of Blows has been streamlined to grant a number of hits per single action die rolled.

Blessings were removed and replaced with a custom spell list cobbled from both Wizard and Clerics. The spells chosen were selected to align with abilities typically seen in later edition. Feather Fall for Slow Fall, Paralysis for Stunning Fist, etc. However, the number of spells a Monk receives is much more limited and I also limited their affects to only apply to the Monk. While self sufficient, they are not there to buff the party.

Disapproval reworked to be consistent with Clerics.

Overall this feels a lot less fiddly than the previous version and, more importantly, seems like a whole lot of fun.

Thoughts?

[BanjoJohn]

Mechanically its a little clunky. Flurry of blows dice, halfling agility of two weapon fighting, acrobatics die. These all feel like they could be simplified under one mechanic somehow.

I'm not a big fan of the blessing. I'm just not sure they'd be buffing their allies.

Edit: I would have one die rolled. Call it whatever you will, but maybe it starts as 1d3 and goes up every 2 levels.

What this single die roll does:
#1 it adds to your AC
#2 it determines how many unarmed attacks 'hit' for each action die you use to attack.

this way, you get a number of additional attacks that does vary each round, but its easy to deal with because its just a multiplier on your one action die that you roll in the beginning. If you still don't think this is fair...

Maybe take a look at your action die result for making an attack. For every 1, or maybe 2, points above the enemies AC, you land another flurry of blows attack, up to the d3 result you rolled.

This adds math but keeps the number of dice rolled down.

I would also allow monks choose to do subdual or lethal damage if they want at no penalty. Still doing 1d3+strength damage for each unarmed attack they hit with.

[Vanguard]

Mechanically its a little clunky. Flurry of blows dice, halfling agility of two weapon fighting, acrobatics die. These all feel like they could be simplified under one mechanic somehow.

I'm not a big fan of the blessing. I'm just not sure they'd be buffing their allies.

Edit: I would have one die rolled. Call it whatever you will, but maybe it starts as 1d3 and goes up every 2 levels.

What this single die roll does:
#1 it adds to your AC
#2 it determines how many unarmed attacks 'hit' for each action die you use to attack.

this way, you get a number of additional attacks that does vary each round, but its easy to deal with because its just a multiplier on your one action die that you roll in the beginning. If you still don't think this is fair...

Maybe take a look at your action die result for making an attack. For every 1, or maybe 2, points above the enemies AC, you land another flurry of blows attack, up to the d3 result you rolled.

This adds math but keeps the number of dice rolled down.

I would also allow monks choose to do subdual or lethal damage if they want at no penalty. Still doing 1d3+strength damage for each unarmed attack they hit with.

I love the idea of the single die and it is very much how I imagined it. It feels more elegant to make that the number of attacks rather than combining Warrior deeds die, halfling two weapon fighting, etc. I'll need to add an attack bonus table.

For Blessing, can you clarify? Are you saying you don't see them actually using this or that buffing allies feels outside the class?

[BanjoJohn]

It just feels outside of the monk class.

Edit:
But that's just how I feel about it. If it works for you and your group, then go for it.


For the flurry of blow dice... I had another thought. Getting a high # of attacks and high AC at the same time might be too much. Maybe the AC bonus is the reverse of the # of attacks.

Example. say you have a d3 for the flurry of blows. You roll a 3, so you get 3 attacks, but you get a 1 for the bonus to your AC.

Or you roll a 1 for your # of attacks, so you get a 3 for your bonus to AC. I guess if you have a die that has an odd #, ala, d3, getting a 2 would mean you get 2 attacks and a bonus of 2 to your AC.

This way maybe it represents your monk switching between offense and defense mode.

[Vanguard]

It just feels outside of the monk class.

Edit:
But that's just how I feel about it. If it works for you and your group, then go for it.


For the flurry of blow dice... I had another thought. Getting a high # of attacks and high AC at the same time might be too much. Maybe the AC bonus is the reverse of the # of attacks.

Example. say you have a d3 for the flurry of blows. You roll a 3, so you get 3 attacks, but you get a 1 for the bonus to your AC.

Or you roll a 1 for your # of attacks, so you get a 3 for your bonus to AC. I guess if you have a die that has an odd #, ala, d3, getting a 2 would mean you get 2 attacks and a bonus of 2 to your AC.

This way maybe it represents your monk switching between offense and defense mode.

I’m here for feedback so if it doesn’t feel “Monk-y” I can redesign. I guess they could get a custom spell list, likely combining the most flavorful of each (Feather Fall, Force Manipulation).

I like the thought of the offense/defense but it might be too much to track. I’m also not sure it would t under power the class. D3s, even a lot of them, aren’t going to be hitting harder than weapons most times.

Trading that to sacrifice AC seems like it might make them too squishy.

Going to tinker some more tonight.