D&D 5E - Patient Defense / Deflect Missiles Buff

Publish date: 2024-08-24
Ok, so this is based on my own experience, but I have rarely seen a monk use either A) Patient Defense or B) Deflect Missiles. I've also seen discussions on these boards regarding Patient Defense. And honestly, I get it. Defensive abilities are rarely "sexy," especially when they require action economy that would prevent you from making an attack. Patient Defense prevents you from using Marital Arts or Flurry of Blows, and using Deflect Missiles may prevent you from making an Opportunity Attack. These attacks are especially valuable once a Monk has access to Stunning Strike.

Now, this wasn't something I was actively looking to solve. But rather, it kinda just came to me while I was working on something completely different. I wondered what it would be like to link Patient Defense and Deflect Missiles together. So I reworked that ability as below. Once again, I have no idea if this is balanced, or good idea, or even a problem that needs to be solved. It was just a cool thought to make two underutilized (IMO) monk abilities more relevant. Also, it reminds me of Po from Kung Fu Panda tossing cannonballs, which I would love to replicate in D&D.

Deflect Missiles
Starting at 3rd Level, you can use your Reaction to deflect or catch the missile when you are hit by a ranged weapon Attack. When you do so, the damage you take from the Attack is reduced by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.

If you reduce the damage to 0, you can catch the missile if it is small enough for you to hold in one hand and you have at least one hand free. If you catch a missile in this way, you can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged Attack (range 20 feet/60 feet) with the weapon or piece of Ammunition you just caught, as part of the same Reaction. You make this Attack with proficiency, regardless of your weapon Proficiencies, and the missile counts as a monk weapon for the Attack.

If you use this ability while you have taken the Dodge action or using Patient Defense, then deflecting missiles does not require a reaction, the damage from a ranged weapon attack is reduced by an additional 1d10, and the missile can be redirected as long as it is something you could hold in two hands.

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