Monk Stance Suggestions

[Talir]

Claws of the Deep Prowler
VFX_IMP_SUPER_HEROISM

If your gloves do not already have a damage bonus, gain 1d4 slashing damage.

[Blue41]

Ignore the names, they're not important.

Fungus Fist

VFX Barkskin
1d4 Acid dmg added to gloves
Immunity: Poison
Immunity: Disease
10% Fire Vulnerability
10% Cold Immunity

Leaf on the Wind

On activation, Gust of Wind activates centered on you
+15% movement speed
+3 Tumble
-2 AB
1d4 Sonic dmg

Empty Mind/Thrall Fist

Feat: Slippery Mind
-25% movement speed
+2 AB vs Aberrations

Sunshard

White Light 20m
Feat: Blindfight
-10 Hide/MS

Iron Sundering Fist

5 DR vs bludgeoning
+2 AB vs Construct
-2 Reflex
-10% Movement Speed

Red Starkissed Fist

Onhit: Wild Magic effect
Summons two hostile Magic Eaters

[Zango_Unchained]

The effects of a lot of these are not buffs in the least bit, with things such as -5 to saves/ac, I doubt people would use a stance if it made them hyper vulnerable without something to make up for it.

Califax's rock rattles
Using aged rites of the famed grumbarian rock thrower and miner, you manage to shake your fists at break neck speeds which causes you to hammer your foes with brutal if hard to aim blows.

+1d6 bludgeoning damage
5% physical Di
-1 ab
movement speed -20%

Killers keen fist
A stance developed and used by countless killers, it includes seeking out nerve clusters and brutally striking. When one enters this killers state of mind, you feel inable of striking without intent to kill.

+1d6 sneak attack
+1d4 negative against humans
+2 ab against humans
-2 damage
-1 ab

Sliding stride
With a twist and shimmy, you slide your way along the ground. Your feet never leaving the floor as clouds of dust and debris are tossed up around you, as you whip and twirl, without lifting your feet of course.

-4 discipline
+4 tumble
+10% movement speed
15% concealment
-15% Physical DI

Rador's Radiant Rhythms
Like a light beating in your soul, you feel imbuned by the chants of a Lathanderite Cantor, as you sing your body thrums with power of your spirit reacting like a plant to the sun, your body blossoms and glows. But using this against your fellow peaceful and kind following may end poorly.

+1 divine damage
+1 sonic damage
+1 ab against evil
5% Di to divine

50% Vuln to Sonic
-2 ac against good
-1 ab against good.


Oozing Undulations
A shake and wobble, your limbs flap and weave. Saying aged and mono-syllabic chants you call forth the primordial ooze to fill your manner, the chanting and mantra rumbling sounds like the sucking of a ooze within a small contain, but who are you to care if you look ridiculous when something is effective, you may move slightly slower with all your flailing.

+3 acid damage
-1 damage
15% DI physical
+1 ab against vermin/animal

Flies
-2 charisma
50% von cold
25% movement speed debuff


The call of the under'n tide

From the very abyss it calls forth, luckily you lent a hearing ear. From the darkness a style akin to the barbaric intonations of shark-kin but more familiar to a deep and mind numbing meditation, you have managed to mimic the deep serenity of sharks, killer instinct with purity of thought mannaging to slow your heat beat and breath, so you can last a great deal longer under the waves on your blood hunt.

[Must be underwater to use.]

+1 ab
+2 piercing
+1 slashing
5% Di slashing piercing
+2 saves against cold
25% faster underwater
Underwater breath for as long as it is active

-1 bludgeoning
-15% Di bludgeoning
-50% movement speed above water, if you are out of  the water for an entire minute the stance ends.
25% fire voln
-2 saves against fire

[Canzah]

Dark Dance

+5 hide/ms
+5 Tumble
+10% Movement Speed
-5 AB and Damage
-4 CON

[granny]

Focus of the Void

Evards VFX
Immunity to Mind Effecting Spells
-2 Cha
Dazzle on Hit

[Bearic]

Flow of Free Spirit:
 
This monk has taken time to adhere to certain principles usually foreign to a man of such concept, but permissible as he is driven by the ethos of his deity. In return for his most strict rectitude to certain rules, he grants himself with a period of rest and representation of the absolute form he is attending to transcend to.
 
(only useable by monks of deities that are not strictly lawful; examples: Kossuth, Chauntea, Oghma, Selune, Shar, ect.)
 
 
The monk relaxes, losing 5 discipline, 5 concentration, and 2 will points
 
A visual effect of a cool blue glow, or red glow surrounds him, perhaps related to alignment or dogma if possible.
 
His senses heighten, giving him + 2 listen, spot, and search, and + 2 reflex.
 
 
 
Karmic
 
Some Monks attempt to achieve a complete balance of body, mind, soul, and even actions they take. In these attempts, they may even focus their intent so vividly that their very strengths are swayed by this fundamental rule.
 
 
 The Monk has the masochism spell effect placed on him for a number of rounds equal to this stance.
 
 The Monk is (lesser) dispelled everytime he hits a target. [to effectively turn back the count on masochism]

[rolld20]

Martyr
Cure minor wounds when the monk is hit.
+10 healing
-10 Discipline
-10 concentration
Mass heal when monk dies

[Lannister]

Zephyr of Fists Stance

Flavour:
The wind is lethal in it's unrelenting torrent.

Abilities:
Gain an extra attack per round
+10% movement speed
-2ab
-2 damage

Crushing Wave Stance

Flavour:
The wave crushes all in it's path, with each great roll of it's form.

Abilities:
-1 AC
+1d4 Bludgeon to fists
On hit: Knock

Mortal Golem Stance

Flavour:
The machine is ordered, be as the machine is.

Abilities:
+2 Lore
+1 ab vs Chaotic
+2 vs Disease/Poison/Mind Affecting
35% Electrical Immunity
20% Blugeoning vulnerability

[Bearic]

(For Ascentic)
 
Art of Fission:
 
After extensive training, the monk devoted to non-magical aid and support, learns to work his movements, inner focus, and perhaps divine support, in a way that sacrifices the physical for a moment of spiritual awakening. The art, however, is incredibly painful, and costly, but has some reward to it.
 
The monk is damaged for 50% of his HP
 
They gain Ghostly Visage (as cast as a level 3 spell; 40 % of time), Invisibility (as level 3 spell; 30 % of time), both 20 % of time, or nothing 10 % of time. (40/30/20/10% chance).
 
During cooldown, the monk receives a -1 ab and reflex save due to strain.
 
 
 
Wander of the Dark:
 
Having taken to excluding himself from the machine and its perceived evils, often twisted into false law and order, the hermit excludes himself from society and has learned a few tricks to deal with the caves of the underdark and their environments.
 
+5 to climb checks, while active.
+3 to efuss fishing, while active.
+3 to wilderness survival, while active.
Ultravision, while active.
Light sensitivity, while active and on cooldown [-1ab, -1 to saves]
 
A random chance (25% or something) the monk will glow a faint orange to represent the fungal material he may be exposed to.
 
 
For Regular or both:
 
Pride of Death's Command:
 
This Monk has trained to bring death to those sought by his dogma, and trained to bring back evidence and exact measure to his deed. Whether an avenger of Hoar, an enforcer of Bhaal, or even a fist of Torm, seeking to bring justice in the form of last resort; the art demands the same command.
 
 
Receive a grim trophy when you kill a PC during activation.
 
Receive a blank sheet of paper, to use as a notary.
 
Activates an on-hit daze effect, DC10 or something low, during the effect.
 
- 4 AC, due to focusing on the task at hand, and not their own safety.
 
 
Demotivated Scribe:
 
Many monks are bound to face rigors in their life, to go through great trials and tests to prove their worth, and become beacons of hope, light, and understanding for their Deities. Others, however, past through hurdles and toils, only to be rewarded with superiors with ulterior methods, lack of focus, or just plain incompetence. Rectitude demands the Monk continue to assist his Dogma's following, to exist within the institution orderly and never swaying, but some times even the most stubborn man can be chipped away at until he loses some of his focus.
 
 
+ 3 lore, Persuade, and Listen while active.
+ 1 cha, while active, to represent his familiarity with social situations.
- 2 ab, 2 ac, 2 will, and reduce movement speed to that of a normal class.
A random chance the Monk may be slowed during cooldown (10%).

[Kotenku]

At the risk of reiterating a few, a collection of themed stances with an aim greater than "get elemental damage"

[INDENT]Aspect of Stone
-70% movement speed
10/+2 Damage Reduction for 5 minutes or Character level squared points of damage (so 25 at 5, 81 at 9)

[/INDENT]Certainly I recognize that having an effectively unlimited daily use of what amounts to a slightly nerfed Stoneskin is very strong - as written it actually seems considerably weaker than EFU's stoneskin. At any level, it lasts 5 minutes, but it only catches up with EFU-Normal Stoneskin's reduction points at Level 10. Arguably below level 5 it's not even worth using, because the movement speed is so damningly slow. All told, it would probably be entirely more reasonable to just convey 10/+1 for 5 minutes, or 10/+2 at 10 points per level (ie, Stoneskin with Monk level as caster level)

[INDENT]Aspect of Fire
-5 AC
Damage Shield: 2d4 fire damage dealt to attackers
[/INDENT]This one is pretty self-explanatory, I think. The difficult is in finding an appropriate balance of weakness to strength, which unfortunately I don't feel I've succeeded at here. Certainly the Damage Shield can stack with other damage shields, creating a pretty formidable ability in very particular circumstances. As it is, I feel like this is the weakest offering here, both in creativity, and in mechanical utility.

[INDENT]Aspect of Wind
Haste/Slow (10) cast on the monk at the beginning of each minute that the style is active.

[/INDENT]The intent here is to symbolize the capricious nature of the winds, that they can help or hinder entirely at Akadi's whims. As portrayed, it would appear almost entirely as a magical ability, rather than an extraordinary ability as we would expect of monk styles. Conversely, it might be portrayed as the monk reading the mysterious and subtle air-currents or the flow of battle, and "knowing" when the time is right to strike.[INDENT]Aspect of Water
+5 attack bonus
-10 damage
[/INDENT]
The intent with the aspect of water is to have a stance specifically tailored to executing combat maneuvers - Knockdowns, disarm attempts, and called shots - while doing little or no physical damage at all. The implementation as suggested falls rather short because it carries the implicit ability to pierce damage resistances that should perhaps not be possible to pierce in the EFU setting. I can't seem to come up with a great way around this. Is it feasible to make the monk unable to deal damage at all while Water Style is active?

[Valo56]

Swordbreaker
The monk focuses entirely on thwarting his adversary's attacks, and almost seems to know what his opponent will do before he does. However this stance leaves much to be desired in terms of offense.

+10 Parry
+4 AC (Essentially Mage Armor)
-5 Attack

Bull's Charge
The monk abandons his usual finesse, and leaps at his foe with a deadly ferocity.

Hasted for 2 or 3 rounds (maybe 1 round/3 levels?)
+2 AB
-2 AC
+2 Damage (Bludgeoning)
-2 Will
-4 Reflex

Exorcist (Ascetic Only)
The Ascetic's hatred, distrust, or simple apathy toward magic reaches a new level, and he becomes far more adept at defeating creatures that embody the mysterious forces he has chosen to eschew.

-2 AB
-2 AC
-2 Damage
-2 Fortitude
-2 Reflex
-2 Will
+4 AB, AC, Damage, and Universal Saves vs Outsiders, Elementals, Magical Beasts and Undead

[VanillaPudding]

Outer Limits:
Limbo
-2 AB
-2 AC (dodge)
-20% movement speed
- A random effect is applied twice / round to either nearby allies (and self) or nearby enemies (sort of like rogue swashbuckler effect with less direction) for two turn. Upon the end of Limbo, Monks will enter Nirvana for the remaining duration of the stance->

Nirvana- For 3 turns, the Monk will gain increased potential
+2 AB
+2 AC (dodge)
+20% movement speed


Karma
-8 DEX
-4 Con
-4 dodge AC
-70% movement speed
Chaos shield 50%
Energy Buffer
Premonition (100 damage absorption)
On Subdual / dropped below zero HP - Monk is restored to 50% health, effect of stance removed.


Red Drake
+10/2 DR
-50% movement
+6 CON
-10AB
40/- Fire resist
On Subdual / Dropped to zero / 4 turns, Monk is reborn in a fiery shell >
Monk stunned for 3 rounds / immune to all damage
Flame Twin emerges and ends in a fiery bath for all nearby
Monk restored to full health, effect ends

[scrappayeti]

I agree with The Old Hack, a drunken stance is an excellent idea.

If monks cannot have this fight scene by level 10, I will be disappointed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Df0SiV4PbI

The general idea of reduced damage/AB, and increased concealment is all good. But I would really like to see a chance of the monk falling prone each round, and an on-hit chance of an opponent falling prone (to represent trips etc).

Another way to do this would be chaos shield:
Possible melee effects-
    slow for 1d4 rounds
    prone for 6 seconds
    2d4 fire damage
    immobility for 1d3 rounds (no immunity) with 50% melee miss chance

This is a pretty neat looking list for drunken stance, and the % on hit can be modified on the fly if it is too weak or too powerful. The 2d4 fire damage could represent igniting alcohol vapour. The only down side to this is the ranged chaos hit effects, which probably arn't right, and knowing NwNs, probably not able to be turned off.

[scrappayeti]

Also:

Counter attack stance:
By meeting attacking limbs with the hard edges of knuckles, elbows and knees, this style represents offence over defence.  

AC - 2
When struck, 1d3 blunt damage to attacker.

Dim Mak (pressure point) Stance:
Striking the pressure points is never easy, but by mastering this stance, the monk gains the chance to hit the opponent in the weakest places, for devastating effect.  

- 2 AB
- 1 Dam
Monk gains Improved Crit: Unarmed (moving crit to 19-20)
Monk gains Devastating Critical: Unarmed  (which is +1d6 damage on crit)

Lock and Trap Stance:
Like jujitsu in our own world, this focuses on incapacitating locks, seeking to immobilise the opponent.

-1 attack/round (min 1)
-1 AB
-3 Dam
25% chance on hit of casting 'Heart Clutch' (DC 13?) effect. (This represents a joint lock, applying pain until your opponent can fight their way out).

Stance of the Hook Horror:
Just as in our own world, people looked to cats, monkeys and mantis for inspiration about our attacking movements, monks of Faerun might imitate the creatures around them. This was a style one of my old characters used to emote (arms up high, fingers curled, striking downwards, and long raking kicks etc).

Melee damage changed to slashing/piercing.
5% chance of DC 14 fear on hit.
Player may not speak, but may emote, during the stance (hook horrors cannot make noises!).

[Stranger]

Squirrel Underfoot (Halfling Only)

+6 Tumble
+4 AB
Expeditious Retreat
No damage

I imagine a pint-sized acrobat, tripping enemies and darting between legs...