Monks are pretty starved for unique magic items. I came up with this special type of magic tattoo based on the flavor text for the 4 Elements Monk and figured this could be useful to that subclass as well as monks as a whole. Let me know what you think. 

(I apologize for the huge table. I copy and pasted this from a google doc I had)

Elemental Tattoo

Wondrous Item, rare (requires attunement by a Monk)

Produced by a special needle, this magic tattoo features wondrous symbols and figures that evoke the images of nature and the primordial planes. 

 

Tattoo Attunement

To attune to this item, you hold the needle to your skin where you want the tattoo to appear, pressing the needle through the attunement process. When the attunement is complete, the needle turns into ink that becomes the tattoo, which appears on the skin. 

If your attunement to the tattoo ends, the tattoo vanishes, and the needle reappears in your space. 

 

Elemental Effects

Different patterns can appear on your skin depending on which tattoo is held by the needle, with each one having a different effect while attuned. This can either be chosen by the DM or determined at random by rolling on the table below

 

d6	Pattern	Effect
1	Mountain	When you use Patient Defense, you gain resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage until the start of your next turn.
2	Cresting Waves	Once per turn when you hit with a melee weapon attack, you can choose to push the target 5 feet horizontally in a direction of your choice. When you make an Athletics check to shove another creature, you can use Wisdom in place of Strength.
3	Flying Fish	You gain a swim speed equal to your walking speed. When you use Step of Wind, you gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed until the end of your turn.
4	Phoenix	Once per turn when you hit with an unarmed strike, you can choose to deal extra fire damage equal to a roll of your Martial Arts die as part of the attack.
5	Tree of Life	You can cast the Shillelagh and Spare the Dying cantrips. Wisdom is your spellcasting modifier for these spells.
6	Coiling Dragons	Choose two cantrips of your choice from any spell list. Each of these cantrips must deal one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. Wisdom is your spellcasting modifier for these spells. Each time you cast one of these cantrips on your turn, you can make a single unarmed strike as a bonus action.

For the most part, i like this Tattoo but i think few may need some revision: 

1- Mountain: The ability being mixed in with patient defense is weird since patient defense gives you the dodge action which makes it harder for you to be hit. Giving it reduction to physical attacks feels (redundant? over doing it? not sure which is more proper). I'd say maybe instead, you can choose to have resistance to non-magical piercing, bludgeoning and slashing damage. (though i'd say just make it apply to magical attacks too to make it more appealing)

2- Cresting wave: Seems fun to use (first part might be too powerful without a save, though i guess warlocks have something similar so it might be okay) 

3-  I love this one. 

4- What 4 Elements monk should have been Pretty cool. 

5-  Hmmm doesn't seem like a compelling choice for a monk even with the spare the dying. Shillelagh doesn't feel good on a monk but i could be wrong. 

6- I can't remember all cantrips but this might be good. 

Will it fix the elemental monk? probably not. But i find this items seem fun to use though! 

Note: You might want to post it in the homebrew item section too, where it also belongs. 

Yeah. I actually had posted it there first, but it never got any responses so I figured it might fare better in the Monk-focused forum 

Looks good initially, but I'd suggest:

1. Cresting Waves:  Too weak; why does it apply to Shove but not Being Shoved?  Recommend changing it to also apply to resisting being shoved.
2. Tree of Life is noticeably worse than Coiling Dragons for no clear reason.  Recommend changing it to:
   1. Your Dedicated Weapon can use Wisdom instead of Strength or Dexterity and counts as magical, which is overall better than Shillelagh.
   2. Your Medicine checks are now Reliable (a roll of less than 10 on the d20 counts as 10), which is strictly better than having Spare the Dying.

Quote from quindraco >>

Looks good initially, but I'd suggest:

1. Cresting Waves:  Too weak; why does it apply to Shove but not Being Shoved?  Recommend changing it to also apply to resisting being shoved.
2. Tree of Life is noticeably worse than Coiling Dragons for no clear reason.  Recommend changing it to:
   1. Your Dedicated Weapon can use Wisdom instead of Strength or Dexterity and counts as magical, which is overall better than Shillelagh.
   2. Your Medicine checks are now Reliable (a roll of less than 10 on the d20 counts as 10), which is strictly better than having Spare the Dying.

 1) The idea of the cresting wave is your weapon attacks are like crashing waves, knocking people around. The same is for you shoving another creature. But shoving a wave and being shoved by a wave are very different. I do not see what is weak about it. The first part is practically the same primary effect of the Crusher feat. Being able to Shove with Wisdom (making the monk less MAD on the offensive side) only makes it better. Ideally a Monk wont need wisdom for resisting a shove because their Dex should be fairly high for Acrobatics. 

2.1) Its not focused on being purely offensive as Coiling Dragons is. A quarterstaff (your standard monk weapon) is a d6/d8, so casting a spell that lets you use Wisdom and makes it always a d8 (for one or both hands) is a benefit, especially for a monk trying to be Wisdom focused (but a Dex monk could still use their dex, they dont have to use Wisdom). The damage only falls off at level 17 and above, when you martial arts damage becomes a d10. On top of that, restricting the weapons to clubs and quarterstaffs (which are wooden) fits the flavor of a Tree of Life rather than just any weapon the monk is proficient in. 

2.2) How is a reliable Medicine better than spare the dying? Spare the dying is a guaranteed stabilization rather than a skill check. I might change this to let Spare the Dying be a bonus action cast instead of an action, though. 

Quote from Collin_Lightborn >>

For the most part, i like this Tattoo but i think few may need some revision: 

1- Mountain: The ability being mixed in with patient defense is weird since patient defense gives you the dodge action which makes it harder for you to be hit. Giving it reduction to physical attacks feels (redundant? over doing it? not sure which is more proper). I'd say maybe instead, you can choose to have resistance to non-magical piercing, bludgeoning and slashing damage. (though i'd say just make it apply to magical attacks too to make it more appealing)

 

 I am thinking I might just change this one to "When you use Patient Defense you have advantage on ability checks and saving throws made against effects which would move you against your will or knock you prone." That is to say, in patient defense it would be more difficult to shove the monk or affect them with spells that would push/pull/maneuver them around the battlefield