Talk:Way of the Disdainful Stroke (5e Subclass)

Improving?

Hey, I’m the person that put the stub on this thing, and since I actually wanna see it improve, I have a few ideas.

The old stub, which I feel like still carries some weight, reads like so, “The only fluff provided is basically just all monk material restated. Even with that, mechanically it just seems like a more number-y open hand“. Essentially, monks are warriors who hone their bodies and souls, that are capable of releasing devastating attacks with just their hands by channeling their soul, or Ki, into their attacks. If this seems familiar, you’ve read the fluff for this class. However, I have a few ideas.

The most interesting part of this subclass, I feel, is the name. Disdainful Stroke conjures up the same sorta ideas as the Oath of Conquest, a feeling of kinda evil superiority, which is completely untouched by the current fluff! In my opinion, there are so many interesting ideas that come just from the name, which desperately need deliberation. If you want to go about improving the fluff, I highly suggest this. If you do this, some features may need redo-ing, which I’m about to get into.

Currently, the features are just a bit lame. Focus of Soul just seems way too video game-y, where it either deals more damage, heals you, or increases your movement speed, none of which are very interesting. Focus Shield kinda makes sense for the current fluff, less so. Regardless, a Wisdom based parry also just feels a little lame. Honestly, I have no issues with Fearful Stike, but the title feature, the capstone, is just the Open Hand thing but done slightly differently. Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen the sorta “hit dude, spend ki, they take boatloads of damage/die” a few too many times, but it just isn’t very interesting. However, I have some ideas to deal with these potential issues.

So here’s an idea, why not go all in on that “slightly evil superiority”? Potentially the 3rd level feature could grant you a benefit if you have X higher than the opponent, for example:

Example. If your walking speed is higher than your targets, they cannot make opportunity attacks against you until the start of your next turn.

Second Example If your Armor Class is higher than your targets, they must subtract your Wisdom modifier from attacks made against you until the start of your next turn.

Things like that. I’ve only really got a good idea for the 3rd level feature right now, but I could come up with more.

I’d really like to see this thing in a better state, and hope you take some of my ideas. --SwankyPants (talk) 09:52, 23 March 2021 (MDT)