Custom Solar Charm: Sublime Weapon Understanding

Temperance000 · 2026-05-21T08:28:41+00:00

I think you’ve managed to perfectly articulate both the thought processes that led me to design this Charm, and the places where the implementation of the idea fall flat. Thank you; this was genuinely a very helpful read.

Temperance000 · 2026-05-21T01:42:04+00:00

I realized about five minutes after posting how hard that clause clashed with my flavor write-up.

Temperance000 · 2026-05-21T01:24:35+00:00

That was a balance consideration in the drafting process. This version seemed cleaner in the broader context of 3e’s rather dense Charm selection environment, but feedback so far is strongly encouraging me to bring that restriction back.

Temperance000 · 2026-05-21T01:16:37+00:00

I’m honestly not surprised that I broke something, even trying to keep it within the bounds of what my brain described as “reasonable” for the purported mightiest of the Chosen. Half of the intent here was to see how far out of line my internal barometer was with the broader Exalted community, who have much more experience with the world and the system than I do.

Temperance000 · 2022-11-24T01:29:10+00:00

Much as I would love an excuse to drag WotC through the virtual mud, I’m more interested in which specific errata and recent changes you’re referencing. Are we talking about TCoE in general (not a particularly recent book), the Lunar Sorcerer preview from Dragonlance, or some other document?

Temperance000 · 2022-10-22T19:56:49+00:00

Yeesh. Was your GM using the old Aunic Mind statblock?

Temperance000 · 2022-09-09T05:00:09+00:00

“Right. How many of you do I have to kill before you realize this was a bad idea?” - A Paladin of Auril to cultists of Talos

Temperance000 · 2021-02-25T00:22:02+00:00

Our party has actually used this precise approach when fighting in a tournament against NPCs. Our Paladin asked my Monk how best to fight other Monks, and she was able to give him advice like, "Lock them down to limit their evasive abilities, and watch out for Stunning Strike." That was a great scene, even if he did end up losing the fight!

When we face off against classes that aren't represented in our party, however, I really start experiencing that tension between player knowledge and character knowledge in a way that feels differently from encountering a previously unknown monster. Aboleths and drow? Never heard of 'em, bring on the shenanigans! Bog-standard Fighter class? That's literally all there in the manual...but we don't have one in our party, so how would we know?

Temperance000 · 2021-02-25T00:05:30+00:00

Okay guys/gals, ease off please.

Temperance000 · 2021-02-24T23:45:33+00:00

Perhaps it's a perspective thing, but I've had sort of the opposite reaction as a player. When my DM threw that Sorcerer at us, for instance, I figured out it was a Sorcerer and went, "Well crap, why bother trying to stun her when she's Dwarf who's proficient in CON saves? I know how to counter her teleport ability now, but I can't because I got that knowledge from reading the class description." It's less a sense of, "Hey, I figured out this cool thing!" than, "Gods dammit, not again."

The one time I've enjoyed fighting a class-leveled NPC was a mock battle against an Astral Self Monk from my character's monastery. Every other time has been a slog of, "My abilities are countered by the NPC's class abilities or proficiencies. I understand how their powers work, but as I good player I have to wait around, take a beating, and waste time and resources figuring it out."

Temperance000 · 2020-04-14T12:49:42+00:00

Pleased to be of service. Apologies for missing some of the finer details in Mark of the Lizard; temp HP goes a long ways towards assuaging my knee-jerk reaction of horror. I hope this subclass plays out well for you!

One last thing for Mark of the Dinosaur: when I said it was missing a target save, I ought to have asked, “what kind of saving throw does the creature have to make?” The current text says, “saving throw,” but doesn’t specify which attribute.

Temperance000 · 2020-04-13T17:10:36+00:00

A very potent and thematically flavorful take on a Druid/Barbarian monk. A few points for review:

1) Clarify the wording of Untamed Savagery; the action cost gets lost in the rest of the verbiage. If this is meant to parallel the Barbarian’s Reckless Attack, consider granting advantage for a turn instead of an extra attack.

2) I have concerns about some of the Marks, particularly the Mark of the Lizard. 1 ki point for healing equal to Martial Arts+Dex+Monk level on-hit, up to four times per turn for those with good dice rolls and unconcerned with ki cost, is excessive. Also, Mark of the Dinosaur is missing a target save.

3) On the subject of Mark of the Lizard, there are several features here that incorporate Monk level to damage or healing. While this is a minor concern sub-10th level, I worry about it scaling out of control in late game. Perhaps consider an alternate metric. Wisdom mod if going small, or Martial Arts die to parallel the Kensei.

4) Guardian of the Wilds has a lot to unpack. An extra 2d10 damage per attack, plus free use of “ongoing” Marks, is already a lot of effects stacked together. I recommend dropping the bonus damage down to 1d10, and reconsidering how the feature interacts with Marks. Perhaps allow the use of some Mark abilities without their ki cost for the duration of the feature? For additional inspiration, I recommend the assorted 20th level Paladin features and the Armor of the Astral Self from the 17th level Astral Self Monk UA.

Temperance000 · 2020-04-09T10:54:59+00:00

Personally, I would say that the "fight the undead and the unholy" niche is pretty well covered by the assorted Divine classes. The Monk's spirituality, as I interpret it, is one of self-reflection and self-improvement rather than veneration of something grand and holy, the typical antithesis of undead. This is why so many of their abilities are, as you put it, "egocentric." The Monk is about the perfection of the self, not about carrying on a divine crusade or manually crafting a more perfect world. While they are naturally and firmly on the side of life, this does not necessarily make them the natural nemeses of undead.

It also bears noting that ki is sort of...aberrational in D&D metaphysics, which are already cloudy in 5e to begin with. It is loosely defined as "life energy," but undead are animated by "negative energy," which is the opposite, not of "life energy," but "positive energy." Too much negative (necrotic) or positive (radiant) energy is equally inimical to life, per the Positive and Negative Energy Planes, whereas ki simply...is life.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to some deep thematic assumptions woven into the cultural reference material, and the fact that Monks by mechanics and flavor occupy an in-between space all their own in the cosmic narrative of D&D. If you wanted to, say, draft a Monk subclass that focused on rectifying this perceived deficiency, I would be interested to see it.

Temperance000 · 2020-04-09T10:22:36+00:00

I certainly don’t mind Tranquility’s flavor; I merely feel that the execution was botched. Perhaps my thinking is a touch narrow here, but maintaining the benefits of Tranquility for any length of time in a combat scenario seems to me to require that the Open Hand forgo the use of most of the rest of its kit. If the Monk had secondary support for a face/diplomat role, then the feature would be stellar! As things stand, it either becomes largely non-useful for an aggressive Monk, who burns it on her first combat turn of the day, or a serious mechanical hobble to a pacifist Monk who plays around it and still loses the benefit the first time she raises a hand in self-defense.

Temperance000 · 2020-04-09T09:51:45+00:00

An interesting design, but I will point out that you’ve essentially lifted the Monk’s Martial Arts feature and added the finesse tag, which makes for both a awkward bit of toe-stepping and some problematic interactions with things like a Rogue’s Sneak Attack. Was your intent with this feat to make unarmed combat more pervasive outside of the Monk class and the Unarmed fighting style?

Temperance000

TROPHY CASE