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A monk who follows the Way of the Astral Self believes their body is an illusion. They see their ki as a representation of their true form, an astral self. This astral self has the capacity to be a force of order or disorder, with some monasteries training students to use their power to protect the weak and other instructing aspirants in how to manifest their true selves in service to the mighty.

Arms of the Astral Self

At 3rd level, your mastery of your ki allows you to summon a portion of your astral self. As a bonus action, you can spend 1 ki point to summon the arms of your astral self. When you do so, each creature of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take force damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die.

For 10 minutes, these spectral arms hover near your shoulders or surround your arms (your choice). You determine the arms' appearance, and they vanish early if you are incapacitated or die.

While the spectral arms are present, you gain the following benefits:

• You can use your Wisdom modifier in place of your Strength modifier when making Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• You can use the spectral arms to make unarmed strikes.
• When you make an unarmed strike with the arms on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.
• The unarmed strikes you make with the arms can use your Wisdom modifier in place of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls, and their damage type is force.

Visage of the Astral Self

When you reach 6th level, you can summon the visage of your astral self. As a bonus action, or as part of the bonus action you take to activate Arms of the Astral Self, you can spend 1 ki point to summon this visage for 10 minutes. It vanishes early if you are incapacitated or die.

The spectral visage covers your face like a helmet or mask. You determine its appearance.

While the spectral visage is present, you gain the following benefits:

• Astral Sight. You can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 120 feet.
• Wisdom of the Spirit. You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Charisma (Intimidation) checks.
• Word of the Spirit. When you speak, you can direct your words to a creature of your choice that you can see within 60 feet of you, making it so only that creature can hear you. Alternatively, you can amplify your voice so that all creatures within 600 feet can hear you.

Body of the Astral Self

Starting at 11th level, when you have both your astral arms and visage summoned, you can cause the body of your astral self to appear (no action required). This spectral body covers your physical form like a suit of armor, connecting with the arms and visage. You determine its appearance.

While the spectral body is present, you gain the following benefits:

• Deflect Energy. When you take acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, or thunder damage, you can use your reaction to deflect it. When you do so, the damage you take is reduced by 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier (minimum reduction of 1).
• Empowered Arms. Once on each of your turns when you hit a target with the Arms of the Astral Self, you can deal extra damage to the target equal to your Martial Arts die.

Awakened Astral Self

Starting at 17th level, your connection to your astral self is complete, allowing you to unleash its full potential. As a bonus action, you can spend 5 ki points to summon the arms, visage, and body of your astral self and awaken it for 10 minutes. This awakening ends early if you are incapacitated or die.

While your astral self is awakened, you gain the following benefits:

• Armor of the Spirit. You gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class.
• Astral Barrage. Whenever you use the Extra Attack feature to attack twice, you can instead attack three times if all the attacks are made with your astral arms.

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The fundamental teaching of this tradition holds that by emulating dragons, a monk becomes a more integrated part of the world and its magic. By altering their spirit to resonate with draconic might, monks who follow this tradition augment their prowess in battle, bolster their allies, and can even soar through the air on draconic wings. But all this power is in service of a greater goal: achieving a spiritual unity with the essence of the Material Plane.

Draconic Disciple

At 3rd level, you can channel draconic power to magnify your presence and imbue your unarmed strikes with the essence of a dragon’s breath. You gain the following benefits:

• Draconic Presence. If you fail a Charisma (Intimidation) or Charisma (Persuasion) check, you can use your reaction to reroll the check, as you tap into the mighty presence of dragons. Once this feature turns a failure into a success, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.
• Draconic Strike. When you damage a target with an unarmed strike, you can change the damage type to acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison.
• Tongue of Dragons. You learn to speak, read, and write Draconic or one other language of your choice.

Breath of the Dragon

At 3rd level you can channel destructive waves of energy, like those created by the dragons you emulate. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of the attacks with an exhalation of draconic energy in either a 20-foot cone or a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide (your choice). Choose a damage type: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw against your ki save DC, taking damage of the chosen type equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

At 11th level, the damage of this feature increases to three rolls of your Martial Arts die.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. While you have no uses available, you can spend 2 ki points to use this feature again.

Wings Unfurled

At 6th level when you use your Step of the Wind, you can unfurl spectral draconic wings from your back that vanish at the end of your turn. While the wings exist, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Aspect of the Wyrm

At 11th level the power of your draconic spirit now radiates from you, warding your allies or inspiring fear in your enemies. As a bonus action, you can create an aura of draconic power that radiates 10 feet from you for 1 minute. For the duration, you gain one of the following effects of your choice:

• Frightful Presence. When you create this aura, and as a bonus action on subsequent turns, you can choose a creature within the aura. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your ki save DC or become frightened of you for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a successful save.
• Resistance. Choose a damage type when you activate this aura: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. You and your allies within the aura have resistance to that damage.

Once you create this aura, you can’t create it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend 3 ki points to create it again.

Ascendant Aspect

At 17th level, your draconic spirit reaches its peak. You gain the following benefits:

• Augment Breath. When you use your Breath of the Dragon, you can spend 1 ki point to augment its shape and power. The exhalation of draconic energy becomes either a 60-foot cone or a 90-foot line that is 5 feet wide (your choice), and each creature in that area takes damage equal to four rolls of your Martial Arts die on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• Blindsight. You gain blindsight out to 10 feet. Within that range, you can effectively see anything that isn’t behind total cover, even if you’re blinded or in darkness. Moreover, you can see an invisible creature within that range, unless the creature successfully hides from you.
• Explosive Fury. When you activate your Aspect of the Wyrm, draconic fury explodes from you. Choose any number of creatures you can see in your aura. Each of those creatures must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw against your ki save DC or take 3d10 acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison damage (your choice).

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The Way of the Drunken Master teaches its students to move with the jerky, unpredictable movements of a drunkard. A drunken master sways, tottering on unsteady feet, to present what seems like an incompetent combatant who proves frustrating to engage. The drunken master’s erratic stumbles conceal a carefully executed dance of blocks, parries, advances, attacks, and retreats.

A drunken master often enjoys playing the fool to bring gladness to the despondent or to demonstrate humility to the arrogant, but when battle is joined, the drunken master can be a maddening, masterful foe.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Performance skill if you don't already have it. Your martial arts technique mixes combat training with the precision of a dancer and the antics of a jester. You also gain proficiency with brewer's supplies if you don't already have it.

Drunken Technique

At 3rd level, you learn how to twist and turn quickly as part of your Flurry of Blows. Whenever you use Flurry of Blows, you gain the benefit of the Disengage action, and your walking speed increases by 10 feet until the end of the current turn.

Tipsy Sway

Starting at 6th level, you can move in sudden, swaying ways. You gain the following benefits.

• Leap to Your Feet. When you're prone, you can stand up by spending 5 feet of movement, rather than half your speed.
• Redirect Attack. When a creature misses you with a melee attack roll, you can spend 1 ki point as a reaction to cause that attack to hit one creature of your choice, other than the attacker, that you can see within 5 feet of you.

Drunkard's Luck

Starting at 11th level, you always seem to get a lucky bounce at the right moment. When you make an ability check, an attack roll, or a saving throw and have disadvantage, you can spend 2 ki points to cancel the disadvantage for that roll.

Intoxicated Frenzy

At 17th level, you gain the ability to make an overwhelming number of attacks against a group of enemies. When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can make up to three additional attacks with it (up to a total of five Flurry of Blows attacks), provided that each Flurry of Blows attack targets a different creature this turn.

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You follow a monastic tradition that teaches you to harness the elements. When you focus your ki, you can align yourself with the forces of creation and bend the four elements to your will, using them as an extension of your body. Some members of this tradition dedicate themselves to a single element, but others weave the elements together.

Many monks of this tradition tattoo their bodies with representations of their ki powers, commonly imagined as coiling dragons, but also as phoenixes, fish, plants, mountains, and cresting waves.

Disciple of the Elements

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn magical disciplines that harness the power of the four elements. A discipline requires you to spend ki points each time you use it.

You know the Elemental Attunement discipline and one other elemental discipline of your choice. You learn one additional elemental discipline of your choice at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.

Whenever you learn a new elemental discipline, you can also replace one elemental discipline that you already know with a different discipline.

Casting Elemental Spells. Some elemental disciplines allow you to cast spells. See chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting. To cast one of these spells, you use its casting time and other rules, but you don't need to provide material components for it.

Once you reach 5th level in this class, you can spend additional ki points to increase the level of an elemental discipline spell that you cast, provided that the spell has an enhanced effect at a higher level, as Burning Hands does. The spell's level increases by 1 for each additional ki point you spend. For example, if you are a 5th-level monk and use Sweeping Cinder Strike to cast Burning Hands, you can spend 3 ki points to cast it as a 2nd-level spell (the discipline's base cost of 2 ki points plus 1).

The maximum number of ki points you can spend to cast a spell in this way (including its base ki point cost and any additional ki points you spend to increase its level) is determined by your monk level, as shown in the Spells and Ki Points table.

 

Spells and Ki Points
Monk Levels	Maximum Ki Points for a Spell
5th-8th	3
9th-12th	4
13th-16th	5
17th-20th	6

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Monks of the Way of the Kensei train relentlessly with their weapons, to the point that the weapon becomes like an extension of the body. Founded on a mastery of sword fighting, the tradition has expanded to include many different weapons.

A kensei sees a weapon much in the same way a calligrapher or a painter regards a pen or brush. Whatever the weapon, the kensei views it as a tool used to express the beauty and precision of the martial arts. That such mastery makes a kensei a peerless warrior is but a side effect of intense devotion, practice, and study.

Path of the Kensei

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your special martial arts training leads you to master the use of certain weapons. This path also includes instruction in the deft strokes of calligraphy or painting. You gain the following benefits:

• Kensei Weapons. Choose two types of weapons to be your kensei weapons: one melee weapon and one ranged weapon. Each of these weapons can be any simple or martial weapon that lacks the heavy and special properties. The longbow is also a valid choice. You gain proficiency with these weapons if you don't already have it. Weapons of the chosen types are monk weapons for you. Many of this tradition's features work only with your kensei weapons. When you reach 6th, 11th, and 17th level in this class, you can choose another type of weapon – either melee or ranged – to be a kensei weapon for you, following the criteria above.
• Agile Parry. If you make an unarmed strike as part of the Attack action on your turn and are holding a kensei weapon, you can use it to defend yourself if it is a melee weapon. You gain a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn, while the weapon is in your hand and you aren’t incapacitated.
• Kensei's Shot. You can use a bonus action on your turn to make your ranged attacks with a kensei weapon more deadly. When you do so, any target you hit with a ranged attack using a kensei weapon takes an extra 1d4 damage of the weapon’s type. You retain this benefit until the end of the current turn.
• Way of the Brush. You gain proficiency with your choice of calligrapher's supplies or painter's supplies.

One with the Blade

At 6th level, you extend your ki into your kensei weapons, granting you the following benefits.

• Magic Kensei Weapons. Your attacks with your kensei weapons count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
• Deft Strike. When you hit a target with a kensei weapon, you can spend 1 ki point to cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target equal to your Martial Arts die. You can use this feature only once on each of your turns.

Sharpen the Blade

At 11th level, you gain the ability to augment your weapons further with your ki. As a bonus action, you can expend up to 3 ki points to grant one kensei weapon you touch a bonus to attack and damage rolls when you attack with it. The bonus equals the number of ki points you spent. This bonus lasts for 1 minute or until you use this feature again. This feature has no effect on a magic weapon that already has a bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Unerring Accuracy

At 17th level, your mastery of weapons grants you extraordinary accuracy. If you miss with an attack roll using a monk weapon on your turn, you can reroll it. You can use this feature only once on each of your turns.

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Monks of the Way of the Long Death are obsessed with the meaning and mechanics of dying. They capture creatures and prepare elaborate experiments to capture, record, and understand the moments of their demise. They then use this knowledge to guide their understanding of martial arts, yielding a deadly fighting style.

Touch of Death

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your study of death allows you to extract vitality from another creature as it nears its demise. When you reduce a creature within 5 feet of you to 0 hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier + your monk level (minimum of 1 temporary hit point).

Hour of Reaping

At 6th level, you gain the ability to unsettle or terrify those around you as an action, for your soul has been touched by the shadow of death. When you take this action, each creature within 30 feet of you that can see you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn.

Mastery of Death

Beginning at 11th level, you use your familiarity with death to escape its grasp. When you are reduced to 0 hit points, you can expend 1 ki point (no action required) to have 1 hit point instead.

Touch of the Long Death

Starting at 17th level, your touch can channel the energy of death into a creature. As an action, you touch one creature within 5 feet of you, and you expend 1 to 10 ki points. The target must make a Constitution saving throw, and it takes 2d10 necrotic damage per ki point spent on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

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Monks of the Way of Mercy learn to manipulate the life force of others to bring aid to those in need. They are wandering physicians to the poor and hurt. However, to those beyond their help, they bring a swift end as an act of mercy.

Those who follow the Way of Mercy might be members of a religious order, administering to the needy and making grim choices rooted in reality rather than idealism. Some might be gentle-voiced healers, beloved by their communities, while others might be masked bringers of macabre mercies.

The walkers of this way usually don robes with deep cowls, and they often conceal their faces with masks, presenting themselves as the faceless bringers of life and death.

Implements of Mercy

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Insight and Medicine skills, and you gain proficiency with the herbalism kit.

You also gain a special mask, which you often wear when using the features of this subclass. You determine its appearance, or generate it randomly by rolling on the Merciful Mask table.

 

Merciful Mask
d6	Mask Appearance
1	Raven
2	Blank and white
3	Crying visage
4	Laughing visage
5	Skull
6	Butterfly

Hands of Healing

At 3rd level, your mystical touch can mend wounds. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to touch a creature and restore a number of hit points equal to a roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.

When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can replace one of the unarmed strikes with a use of this feature without spending a ki point for the healing.

Hands of Harm

At 3rd level, you use your ki to inflict wounds. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to deal extra necrotic damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier. You can use this feature only once per turn.

Physician's Touch

Starting at 6th level, you can administer even greater cures with a touch, and if you feel it's necessary, you can use your knowledge to cause harm.

When you use Hands of Healing on a creature, you can also end one disease or one of the following conditions affecting the creature: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, poisoned, or stunned.

When you use Hands of Harm on a creature, you can subject that creature to the poisoned condition until the end of your next turn.

Flurry of Healing and Harm

Starting at 11th level, you can now mete out a flurry of comfort and hurt. When you use Flurry of Blows, you can now replace each of the unarmed strikes with a use of your Hands of Healing, without spending ki points for the healing.

In addition, when you make an unarmed strike with Flurry of Blows, you can use Hand of Harm with that strike without spending the ki point for Hands of Harm. You can still use Hands of Harm only once per turn.

Hand of Ultimate Mercy

By 17th level, your mastery of life energy opens the door to the ultimate mercy. As an action, you can touch the corpse of a creature that died within the past 24 hours and expend 5 ki points. The creature then returns to life, regaining a number of hit points equal to 4d10 + your Wisdom modifier. If the creature died while subject to any of the following conditions, it revives with them removed: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, poisoned, and stunned.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

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Monks of the Way of the Open Hand are the ultimate masters of martial arts combat, whether armed or unarmed. They learn techniques to push and trip their opponents, manipulate ki to heal damage to their bodies, and practice advanced meditation that can protect them from harm.

Open Hand Technique

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can manipulate your enemy's ki when you harness your own. Whenever you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows, you can impose one of the following effects on that target:

• It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
• It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
• It can't take reactions until the end of your next turn.
  
  

Wholeness of Body

At 6th level, you gain the ability to heal yourself. As an action, you can regain hit points equal to three times your monk level. You must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.

Tranquility

Beginning at 11th level, you can enter a special meditation that surrounds you with an aura of peace. At the end of a long rest, you gain the effect of a Sanctuary spell that lasts until the start of your next long rest (the spell can end early as normal). The saving throw DC for the spell equals 8 + your Wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus.

Quivering Palm

At 17th level, you gain the ability to set up lethal vibrations in someone's body. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 3 ki points to start these imperceptible vibrations, which last for a number of days equal to your monk level. The vibrations are harmless unless you use your action to end them. To do so, you and the target must be on the same plane of existence. When you use this action, the creature must make a Constitution saving throw. If it fails, it is reduced to 0 hit points. If it succeeds, it takes 10d10 necrotic damage.

You can have only one creature under the effect of this feature at a time. You can choose to end the vibrations harmlessly without using an action.

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Monks of the Way of Shadow follow a tradition that values stealth and subterfuge. These monks might be called ninjas or shadowdancers, and they serve as spies and assassins. Sometimes the members of a ninja monastery are family members, forming a clan sworn to secrecy about their arts and missions. Other monasteries are more like thieves' guilds, hiring out their services to nobles, rich merchants, or anyone else who can pay their fees. Regardless of their methods, the heads of these monasteries expect the unquestioning obedience of their students.

Shadow Arts

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can use your ki to duplicate the effects of certain spells. As an action, you can spend 2 ki points to cast darkness, darkvision, pass without trace, or silence, without providing material components. Additionally, you gain the minor illusion cantrip if you don't already know it.

Shadow Step

At 6th level, you gain the ability to step from one shadow into another. When you are in dim light or darkness, as a bonus action you can teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in dim light or darkness. You then have advantage on the first melee attack you make before the end of the turn.

Cloak of Shadows

By 11th level, you have learned to become one with the shadows. When you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use your action to become invisible. You remain invisible until you make an attack, cast a spell, or are in an area of bright light.

Opportunist

At 17th level, you can exploit a creature's momentary distraction when it is hit by an attack. Whenever a creature within 5 feet of you is hit by an attack made by a creature other than you, you can use your reaction to make a melee attack against that creature.

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Monks of the Way of the Sun Soul learn to channel their own life energy into searing bolts of light. They teach that meditation can unlock the ability to unleash the indomitable light shed by the soul of every living creature.

Radiant Sun Bolt

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can hurl searing bolts of magical radiance.

You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack action. This special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Dexterity modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is radiant, and its damage die is a d4. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.

When you take the Attack action on your turn and use this special attack as part of it, you can spend 1 ki point to make the special attack twice as a bonus action.

When you gain the Extra Attack feature, this special attack can be used for any of the attacks you make as part of the Attack action.

Searing Arc Strike

At 6th level, you gain the ability to channel your ki into searing waves of energy. Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 2 ki points to cast the Burning Hands spell as a bonus action.

You can spend additional ki points to cast Burning Hands as a higher level spell. Each additional ki point you spend increases the spell's level by 1. The maximum number of ki points (2 plus any additional points) that you can spend on the spell equals half your monk level.

Searing Sunburst

At 11th level, you gain the ability to create an orb of light that erupts into a devastating explosion. As an action, you magically create an orb and hurl it at a point you choose within 150 feet, where it erupts into a sphere of radiant light for a brief but deadly instant.

Each creature in that 20-foot-radius sphere must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 2d6 radiant damage. A creature doesn't need to make the save if the creature is behind total cover that is opaque.

You can increase the sphere's damage by spending ki points. Each point you spend, up to a maximum of 3, increases the damage by 2d6.

Sun Shield

At 17th level, you become wreathed in a luminous, magical aura. You shed bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. You can extinguish or restore the light as a bonus action.

If a creature hits you with a melee attack while this light shines, you can use your reaction to deal radiant damage to the creature. The radiant damage equals 5 + your Wisdom modifier.

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A monk following the Way of the Living Weapon pursues physical perfection, honing their body as a smith sharpens a sword. Its traditions are drawn from cultures of shapeshifters and creatures who fight with tooth and claw. These are a few of the martial techniques that have evolved into the Way of the Living Weapon.

• The Forged Heart is a recent path, developed by warforged exploring the potential of their constructed frames. This involves both the physical evolution of the body and harnessing the strength of steel and stone.
• The Nightmare Shroud is a kalashtar tradition. Rather than physically transforming, nightmare monks generate ectoplasmic projections, manifesting claws of shadow. Blending physical blows with psychic attacks, they strike fear into the mind of their enemies. A kalashtar typically surrounds themselves with the image of their quori spirit, but the shroud can take any shape.
• The Traveler’s Blade was developed by tribal changelings, providing the practitioner with versatile weapons that can’t be taken away. A practitioner can grow bone blades or knuckle ridges, or stretch their limbs to strike a distant foe.
• The Weretouched techniques were developed by shifter champions of Olarune, honing the natural weapons and strengths of the shifter.

Fists of Bone and Steel

At 3rd level, when you choose this tradition, your Martial Arts damage die increases for unarmed strikes. You can roll a d6 in place of the normal damage for your unarmed strike. This die changes to a d8 at 5th level; a d10 at 11th level; and a d12 at 17th level. This increased damage can only be applied to an unarmed strike, and not to a monk weapon.

Martial Discipline

Starting at 3rd level, when you adopt this tradition, choose a discipline and gain its feature.

• Forged Heart. Your unarmed strikes are considered adamantine weapons. In addition, when you hit a creature with an unarmed attack, you can spend 1 ki point to cause it to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 2d6 additional damage of the same type as the unarmed strike and can be pushed up to 15 feet away from you. On a successful save, the creature only takes 1d6 points of additional damage and is not pushed back.
• Nightmare Shroud. When you hit a creature with an unarmed attack, you can spend 1 ki point to assail it with fear, causing it to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 1d6 points of psychic damage and becomes frightened of you until the end of your next turn. If a creature succeeds on this save, they are immune to the fear effect of this ability for 24 hours.
• Traveler’s Blade. Your reach extends by 5 feet. Additionally, at the start of your turn you can expend up to 4 ki points to extend your reach further. For every point of ki you spend, your reach extends by an additional 5 feet until the end of your turn.
• Weretouched. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an unarmed attack, you can spend 1 ki point to rend your target and inflict deep bleeding wounds. At the start of each of the creature’s turns for the next minute, it takes 1d4 points of slashing damage from this effect. The effect ends early if the creature has one or more hit points restored, if any creature uses its action to expend one use of a healer’s kit, or makes a successful Wisdom (Medicine) check with a DC equal to your ki save DC.

When you reach 6th level, this slashing damage counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Mutable Strike

You have the power to alter your natural weapons, growing claws or reinforcing your fists. Starting at 3rd level, when you use Martial Arts to make an unarmed strike, you can choose whether you inflict slashing, bludgeoning, or piercing damage with the attack.

Manifest Blow

Starting at 6th level, choose one of the following damage types when you finish a long rest: bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, cold, lightning, necrotic, psychic, or thunder. On your turn, the first creature you hit with an unarmed strike takes an additional 1d6 points of damage of that type. If you select bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, it benefits from your Ki-Empowered Strikes class feature and counts as magical damage. Nightmare Shroud monks typically inflict psychic damage with this ability, Forged Heart monks enhance their bludgeoning damage, and Weretouched grow sharper claws. However, you can choose any damage type, regardless of your discipline(s).

Reflexive Adaptation

Starting at 11th level, when you make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, you can spend 1 ki point to roll an additional d20. You can choose to use this ability after you roll the check, but before the outcome is determined. You choose which of the d20s is used for the ability check, omitting the highest if this check was rolled with disadvantage.

In addition, the extra damage dealt by the Manifest Blow class feature increases to 2d6.

Perfect Form

At 17th level, you transform your body to become a weapon of war. You gain a feature based on a discipline of your choice. You can choose the same discipline you selected at 3rd level or a different one.

• Forged Heart. When you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to add your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1) to your AC, including against the triggering attack. This effect lasts until the start of your next turn.
• Nightmare Shroud. When you damage a creature with your Manifest Blow, excess psionic energy ripples to up to 3 different creatures of your choice within 30 feet. Those creatures take an amount of psychic damage equal to half of your monk level.
• Traveler’s Blade. When you deal piercing or slashing damage to a creature with an unarmed strike, it takes an additional 1d8 poison damage and must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your ki save DC or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.
• Weretouched. When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can make three unarmed strikes as a bonus action instead of two. You have advantage on these attacks.

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Monks of the Way of the Soul Knife are deadly assassins and bounty hunters. They use their psionic talents to manifest psychic blades that tear through their enemies’ bodies and auras. Their talents extend beyond combat, as their ability to perceive auras allows them to track down foes and see through their deceptions.

Soul Knives

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can use your psionic energy to manifest blades that disrupt your foes’ minds.

Your unarmed strikes deal your choice of psychic, piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning damage each time you hit.

In addition, you can use a bonus action to increase the reach of your unarmed strikes by 30 feet until the end of your turn.

Psychic Slash

At 3rd level, when you channel ki into your attacks you augment your soul knives to inflict devastating psionic blows.

Whenever you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows and that attack inflicts psychic damage, you can impose one of the following effects on the target:

• Life Drain. You gain temporary hit points equal to half the damage your attack deals.
• Invoke Terror. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn.
• Invoke Wrath. The target suffers disadvantage on all attack rolls against targets other than you until the end of your next turn.
• Astral Slide. You teleport the target up to 10 feet to a destination you can see.
• Synaptic Overload. The target gains vulnerability to psychic damage until the end of your next turn.

Aura Sight

At 6th level, you gain the ability to perceive the auras of other creatures.

As an action, select a creature that you can see. That creature makes a Wisdom saving throw, though it has no knowledge that you forced it to attempt this saving throw. On a failed save, you learn if the creature shares any aspects of its alignment with you, its current hit points, and its current attitude and intentions toward you or one other creature, object, or location of your choice. In addition, for the next 24 hours or until you use this ability again, you can use an action to determine the creature’s distance and direction from you.

If a creature succeeds on its saving throw against this ability, you cannot use this ability against that creature again until you complete a long rest.

Spectral Blades

At 11th level, you can cause your blades to phase through physical objects and defenses.

Once during your turn, you can choose to forego one unarmed strike in place of forcing a creature within the reach of that attack to make a Dexterity saving throw against your ki save DC. On a failed saving throw, the creature takes psychic damage equal to that of your unarmed strike, or half that damage if it succeeds.

Psychic Form

At 17th level, you can transform your physical body into the same psychic energy that comprises your soul knives. As a bonus action, you assume a psychic form, which grants the following benefits:

• You have resistance to all damage.
• You have a fly speed of 30 feet.
• You can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take 5 force damage if you end your turn inside an object.

This benefit lasts for 1 minute. You cannot use it again until you complete a long rest.

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Driven by the pursuit of knowledge and its scholars' worship of the Knowing Mentor, the Library of the Cobalt Soul is one of the best-respected and most heavily guarded repositories of tomes, history and information in all of Exandria. People from all lands come to the library to seek knowledge, and those particularly dedicated to the virtues of truth often pledge their minds and bodies to the Cobalt Soul's cause. To become a member of the Cobalt Soul is to give oneself over to a quest dedicated to unveiling life's mysteries, bringing light to the secrets of concealed evil, and guarding the most powerful and dangerous of truth from those whose unwholesome thirst for knowledge might bring death and suffering to others.

The monks of the Cobalt Soul are the embodiment of the maxim: "Know your enemy." Through tireless research, they steel themselves against the unrelenting tides of evil. Through rigorous training, they learn to break through their foes' mental and physical defenses. Then, once the fight is done, they record their findings for future generations of monks to study.

Extract Aspects

Starting at 3rd level, you can strike pressure points to intuit crucial information about a foe. When you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows, you can analyze it. Whenever an analyzed creature misses you with an attack, you can immediately use your reaction to make an unarmed strike against that creature if it's within your reach. This benefit lasts until you finish a short or long rest.

Additionally, when you analyze a creature, you learn all of its damage vulnerabilities, damage resistances, damage immunities, and condition immunities.

Extort Truth

Starting at 6th level, you can precisely strike a hidden cluster of nerves on a creature, temporarily preventing it from masking its true thoughts and intent. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to force it to make a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is unable to speak a deliberate lie, and all Charisma checks directed at the creature are made with advantage for up to 10 minutes. You know if it succeeded or failed on its saving throw.

And affected creature is aware of the effect and can thus avoid answering questions to which it would normally respond with a lie. Such a creature can be evasive in its answers as long as the effect lasts.

If you wish to impose this effect on a creature without injuring it, you can attack the creature to simply touch it, dealing no damage on a hit.

Mystical Erudition

Also at 6th level, you have extensively studied the history and lore within the archives of the Cobalt Soul. You learn one language of your choice, and you gain proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, or Religion. If you already have proficiency in one of the listed skills, you can instead choose to double your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make that uses the chosen skill.

You gain an additional language and an additional skill proficiency from the above list (or you can double the bonus of an existing proficiency from the list) at 11th and 17th level.

Mind of Mercury

Starting at 11th level, you've honed your awareness and reflexes through mental aptitude and pattern recognition. Once per turn, if you've already taken your reaction, you may spend 1 ki point to take an additional reaction. You can use only one reaction per triggering effect.

Debilitating Barrage

Upon reaching 17th level, you've gained the knowledge to manipulate a creature's ki to undermine their fortitude. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 3 ki points to cause the creature to gain vulnerability to one damage type of your choice for 1 minute, or until the end of a turn in which it has taken damage of that type.

If a creature has resistance to the damage type you choose, this resistance is suppressed for 1 minute, rather than gaining vulnerability. A creature that is immune to the damage type you choose is unaffected. A creature who is affected by this feature cannot be affected by it again for 24 hours.

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The way of the flesh is rarely considered a true monastic tradition by other monks.

This might be because it often doesn’t start as one, many “monks” that follow this way find themselves set on it by chance. Arcane experiments gone wrong, torture through magic, irrevocable change to the body through plane hopping, these are just a few of the reasons why start their journey through this way. There are, however, monasteries, families, and clans where the way of the flesh is taught as a tradition, but the unsightly and uncanny results of the practice are often looked down upon as barbaric and unnatural by other monks that follow what are considered more “noble” ways.

Monks of the Flesh find common ground with other monastic traditions in that they focus their life energy, their ki as some call it, to use their bodies as weapons, but the similarities end there. The way of the flesh takes this approach to its most literal extreme, calling its disciples to push through the pain and dislocate their limbs, manipulate their blood flow, and even wield their own bones as blades to dominate the battlefield. Mastery of the body does not end within the bounds of what the body can do in its natural state for those that follow the way of the flesh, but rather into twisting it to one’s needs.

Monks of the flesh disregard control over their body, seeking instead complete and total body subjugation.

Flesh and Bone

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you have unnatural command over your body and can use it as a tool and a weapon.

You can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.

You are also able to quickly grow bone, extricate it from your body, and use it as a weapon against your foes. You gain the following ki features.

• As a bonus action, you can spend 1 ki point to produce a melee monk weapon. This can take the shape of any weapon that can count as a monk weapon for you.
• As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to eject a small piece of bone, such as a phalange, to make a ranged attack. This ranged attack counts as an unarmed strike for you and has a range of 30/120.

Body Virtuosity

Starting at 6th level, you have control not only over your body, but also its movements, allowing you to twist it in seemingly impossible ways to give you an edge on the battlefield. When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach is 5 feet greater than normal.

Additionally, you cannot be grappled, and standing up from the prone condition does not cost you any extra movement.

Blood Flow Mastery

Starting at 11th level, your control over your body extends to being able to increase blood flow to any wound, allowing you to heal yourself unnaturally fast.

When you receive any healing, you can spend one ki point as a free action to receive the maximum amount of healing instead of rolling a die.

For example, when you consume a Potion of Healing, you can spend one ki point to receive a total of 10 hit points, instead of rolling 2d4+2. This extends to any source of healing, including spells and hit dice.

House of Bone

At 17th level, you have attained mastery over your body, turning it into a deadly weapon against all who dare come near it. Whenever a creature enters the reach you have with your unarmed strikes or makes a melee attack against you, you can spend 1 ki point as a reaction to make an unarmed strike against them by producing bone spikes out of your body. When you do so, your AC increases by one until the end of your next turn.

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