Flashy moves, ball on fire, stepbacks, interceptions and power shots. There is nothing which these enigmatic ball handlers seemingly cant do. Switching stances in between combat to protect themselves and their teammates when they are at the most vulnerable or to punish an enemy that did nothing for too long with a quick shot in the head, the Way of the Baller monks rely on their style and flair as much as they do on their strikes and dodges.

Ball is Life

At level 3, when you pick this subclass, you learn to materialize a small bit of your own life force in a form of a Ball of pure energy. As a bonus action, you can summon the Ball, choosing fire, cold, acid or lightning as the Ball's primary element. The Ball you summon remains with you until you finish a short or long rest or dismiss it (no action required).

You can either Dribble the Ball, which requires you to have a free hand, or Kick the Ball. Once per round of combat, at the beginning of your turn, you can switch the way you handle the Ball, either picking it up and starting to Dribble it or dropping it down and starting to Kick it.

The Ball is considered a simple thrown weapon, with which you are proficient and a base damage die equal to your martial arts die. If you have any effects that influence your unarmed strikes or require you to make an unarmed strike, they also affect and are eligible to be used with the Throw or Kick of the Ball. Once per turn, you may substitute one of your normal attacks with the attack with the Ball. This attack can be a Throw (20/60, uses your Dexterity modifier for an attack roll) of the Ball, if you Dribble it, or a Shot (40/120, uses your Wisdom modifier), if you are Kicking it. This attack deals the damage type of the element the Ball is made out of. After the attack, the Ball immediately returns to either your legs or your free hand, depending on how you handle the ball.

Finally, when you Dribble the Ball, you gain resistance to the damage type the Ball is made out of. When you Kick the Ball, each time you shoot it at a hostile creature and your attack does not score a critical hit, your critical hit range for shooting the ball lowers by 1 until you score a critical hit with the shot of the ball, at which point it resets to its normal range. The critical range for shooting the ball also resets to its normal range if you do not shoot or throw the ball at a hostile creature for 1 minute

Skill Moves

Additionally at level 3, and then when you reach levels 6, 11 and 17 in this class, you are able to obtain 2 badges, one for the Dribbling stance and one for the Kicking stance. Consult the badges table below and choose which to add to your character sheet. When you receive new badges, you are also able to replace your previously chosen badges with other ones for the same stance.

 

Dribble Badge: Anchor

While dribbling the ball you gain a bonus of 2 to your AC

Dribble Badge: Ankle Assasin

Whenever you Dribble the Ball and use your Deflect Attacks feature, you can make the creature that made the attack make a Dexterity saving throw against your monk save DC, or fall prone.

Dribble Badge: Energy Drain

When dribbling the ball, if you are using your Deflect Attacks feature, you can spend a focus point to store the kinetic energy of the attack inside your ball. Your next attack with the ball until the end of your next turn gains a penalty to hit equal to half of the damage reduced by your Deflect Attacks feature and a bonus to its damage roll equal to the damage reduced by Deflect Attacks feature.

Dribble Badge: Fancy Fadeaway

When you reduce the damage to 0 by the use of your Deflect Attack feature or Evasion Feature while Dribbling the ball, you gain a "chip" until the end of your next turn, which is represented by a die, equal your martial arts die. When a creature you can see within 30 ft of you makes a d20 test, you can expend the chip and roll the die to add it to the result of the roll.

Dribble Badge: Ingenuitive Interceptor

While dribbling the ball, you can use your Deflect Attacks feature on attacks made against other creatures within 10 ft of you.

Dribble Badge: Physical Finisher

If you already had resistance to the damage type corresponding with the ball's energy at the time of summoning it, you gain immunity to that damage type instead.

Dribble Badge: Shifty Shooter

When you are hit with a melee attack while dribbling the ball, you can walk for 10 ft without provoking opportunity attacks

Dribble Badge: Versatile Visionary

After hitting a creature with your ball throw, you can expend one of your focus points to heal a creature within 30 ft of you that you can see for an amount equal to the roll of your martial arts die + your Wisdom modifier (no action required).

Kicking Badge: Fancy Footwork

Your critical hit shots ignore resistances of the target to the damage types dealt by the shot.

Kicking Badge: Fantastic Finisher

Shots made against Bloodied targets that do not score a critical hit lower your critical hit range with Shots by 2 instead of 1.

Kicking Badge: Finesse Fanatic

You are able to curve your shots like noone else. Your shots ignore half cover and three quarters cover and per DM discretion can even be curved to hit a target behind complete cover. Additionally, you gain advantage on shots of the ball against creatures that do not have a direct line of sight against you.

Kicking Badge: Free Kick Maestro

Shooting the ball no longer gains disadvantage from having to do so at long range. Additionally, by expending a focus point, you can double the range of your shots of the ball for 1d4 rounds.

Kicking Badge: Powershot Punisher

After you score a critical hit with a shot of the ball, the target of your attack has disadvantage on all constitution saving throws until the start of its turn.

Kicking Badge: Streaky Striker

After you score a critical hit on a creature with a shot of the Ball, all attacks on it have a critical hit range for those lowered by one until the start of your next turn. If a creature you score a critical hit with a shot of the Ball on has a Legendary Resistance feature, it can use one charge of it to negate this badge's effects.

Kicking Badge: Tricky Tactician

If you end your turn in a kicking stance and do not concentrate on a spell or any other effect, you start to juggle the ball, concentrating on it as if on a spell. While you concentrate, for every turn that isn't yours, your next Shot with the ball gains a bonus to hit and damage equal to 1. The maximum bonus you can gain via this feature equals your proficiency bonus.

Kicking Badge: Trivela Trooper

You are able to make shots with an outer side of the foot, which have an unpredictable trajectory. Critical strikes with your shots deal an additional martial arts die worth of damage. This feature improves as you gain levels in this subclass, granting your critical hits with shots 2 extra martial arts dice worth of damage at lvl 6, 3 at lvl 11 and three at lvl 17

Teamwork and Trashtalk

Starting at level 6, While you Dribble the ball, you know the Resistance cantrip and once per round of combat, when an allied creature that you can see within 60 ft of you other than you fails a check, a saving throw or misses with an attack, you can immediately cast Resistance with no action required. When you Kick the ball, you instead know the Vicious Mockery cantrip and when a creature within 60 ft of you, which you dealt damage to during the last minute, goes unconscious or dies, you can cast Vicious Mockery once with no action required. 

Additionally, your skills of a ball handler increase, allowing you to focus on your target without distractions. Being within 5 ft of another hostile creature no longer imposes disadvantage on your Throws and Shots of the Ball

Hero Ball

At 11th level, you gain an ability to devote your entire focus to react to what is happening around you to the most precise and swift manner. Once per round of combat, if you do not have a reaction available, you can expend a focus point to gain a reaction. 

Big Baller Brand

A true Baller never dies! If you are Dribbling or Kicking the Ball, When you would be reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can spend a focus point to make the Ball disappear and you to drop to 1 hp instead. Additionally, you can now replace two of your attacks with a Shot or a Kick of the Ball.

Way of the Baller Badge Table

Name of the Badge	Stance	Badge Description
Anchor	Dribble	While Dribbling the Ball you gain a bonus of 2 to your AC
Shifty Shooter	Dribble	When you are hit with a melee attack while Dribbling the Ball, you can walk for 10 ft without provoking opportunity attacks
Energy Drain	Dribble	While dribbling the ball, if you are using your Deflect Attacks feature, you can store the kinetic energy of the attack inside your ball. Your next attack with the ball until the end of your next turn gains a penalty to hit equal to half of the damage reduced by your Deflect Attacks feature and a bonus to its damage roll equal to the damage reduced by Deflect Attacks feature
Ingenuitive Interceptor	Dribble	While dribbling the ball, you can use your Deflect Attacks feature on attacks made against other creatures within 10 ft of you.
Ankle Assasin	Dribble	Whenever you Dribble the Ball and use your Deflect Attacks feature, you can make the creature that made the attack make a Dexterity saving throw against your monk save DC, or fall prone.
Fancy Fadeaway	Dribble	When you reduce the damage to 0 by the use of your Deflect Attack feature or Evasion Feature while Dribbling the ball, you gain a "chip" until the end of your next turn, which is represented by a die, equal your martial arts die. When a creature you can see within 30 ft of you makes a d20 test, you can expend the chip and roll the die to add it to the result of the roll.
Physical Finisher	Dribble	If you already had resistance to the damage type corresponding with the ball's energy at the time of summoning it, you gain immunity to that damage type instead
Versatile Visionary	Dribble	After hitting a creature with the Throw of the Ball, you can expend one of your focus points to heal a creature within 30 ft of you that you can see for an amount equal to the roll of your martial arts die + your Wisdom modifier (no action required)
Free Kick Maestro	Kicking	Shooting the ball no longer gains disadvantage from having to do so at long range. Additionally, by expending a focus point, you can double the range of your shots of the ball for 1d4 rounds.
Powershot Punisher	Kicking	After you score a critical hit with a shot of the ball, the target of your attack has disadvantage on all constitution saving throws until the start of its turn.
Tricky Tactician	Kicking	If you end your turn in a kicking stance and do not concentrate on a spell or any other effect, you start to juggle the ball, concentrating on it as if on a spell. While you concentrate, for every turn that isn't yours, your next Shot with the ball gains a bonus to hit and damage equal to 1. The maximum bonus you can gain via this feature equals your proficiency bonus.
Streaky Striker	Kicking	After you score a critical hit on a creature with a shot of the Ball, all attacks on it have a critical hit range for those lowered by one until the start of your next turn. If a creature you score a critical hit with a shot of the Ball on has a Legendary Resistance feature, it can use one charge of it to negate this badge's effects.
Fantastic Finisher	Kicking	Shots made against Bloodied targets that do not score a critical hit lower your critical hit range with Shots by 2 instead of 1.
Fancy Footwork	Kicking	Your critical hit shots ignore resistances of the target to the damage types dealt by the shot.
Finesse Fanatic	Kicking	You are able to curve your shots like noone else. Your shots ignore half cover and three quarters cover and per DM discretion can even be curved to hit a target behind complete cover. Additionally, you gain advantage on shots of the ball against creatures that do not have a direct line of sight against you.
Trivela Trooper	Kicking	You are able to make shots with an outer side of the foot, which have an unpredictable trajectory. Critical strikes with your shots deal an additional martial arts die worth of damage. This feature improves as you gain levels in this subclass, granting your critical hits with shots 2 extra martial arts dice worth of damage at lvl 6, 3 at lvl 11 and three at lvl 17