Way of the Spirit Animals

You have spent your life training to hone your skills and deepen your connection with the six spirit animals with the stances and powers they have lent to mortals many years ago. Each stance and their respective powers were created to help mortals overcome specific difficult situations. However, as time went on most mortal races turned to other means to obtain power such as magic, new gods, or ever-evolving technology, leaving this power to only those who were loyal to the spirit animals and taught their ways to the following generations, or those who wished to strengthen their connection to the wild. Due to this, those who do not follow the teachings and laws set by each of the spirits will not gain the powers of the spirit animals leading to many misinformation for regular mortals when they encounter a follower of the spirit animals for the first time, believing them to be magic casters or, at worst, individuals who used dark means to turn into horrific creatures such as a chimera.

Spirit Stances

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can spend 1 ki point to choose between the following stances at will, the agility and unpredictability of the Monkey, the graceful movement of the Crane, & the patient counterattack of the Mantis, which gives you the following abilities that last until you change to a different stance, or you are knocked unconscious. If you are currently in a stance, you can choose to spend 2 ki points to empower it giving you the respective benefit from the stance. As you level up, you gain access to new stances. You can choose to switch between stances at anytime by spending 1 ki point.

Monkey Stance: You gain a climbing speed equal to your movement and you are unaffected by difficult terrain while climbing. You also have advantage on both the Acrobatics and Athletic skill checks.

Empowered: You have advantage on both Dexterity and Constitution saving throws.

Crane Stance: You gain a jump height equal to double your movement, and opponents have disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you.

Empowered: You bend the wind to your will as you use your fist to propel your attack to your enemies from a distance. You can now attack with unarmed strikes from a 30 ft. distance for 1 round.

Mantis Stance: You can grapple opponents as an opportunity attack.

Empowered: If an enemy lands a successful melee attack against you, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage equal to your monk die + your Dexterity modifier. If you reduce the damage to 0, you can make an unarmed strike against the opponent.

One with Nature

At 6th level, your connection with nature and the creatures that reside within it has has deepened as you can now easily traverse the lands with the aid of the Viper. You have advantage on both Nature and Animal Handling skill checks, and can spend 2 ki points to cast speak with animals. 

Viper Stance: You are no longer affected by difficult terrain while on the ground. You also have advantage on saving throws against spells or effects that would limit/restrict your movement (e.g. paralysis, petrification, etc.).

Empowered: Your attacks move with such speed to the point where they leave your opponents disorientated. If you attacked an enemy with an unarmed strike, they must roll a Constitution saving throw. If they fail, they must roll with disadvantage on their attacks until the end of the round.

Hunter's Senses

After deepening your connection with the spirit animals and the wild as a whole, you gain a new found ferocity along with heightened senses to your surroundings given to you by the Tiger. You have You have advantage on Perception, Intimidation, and Insight checks.

Tiger Stance: You have the vicious ferocity of a tiger ready to strike its prey at any moment. You have advantage on your initiative roll and you add +3 to both your attack and damage rolls.

Empowered: When you attack an enemy with an unarmed strike, they must make a Constitution saving throw. If they fail, they will start bleeding over time as you roll your current monk die for damage on each subsequent turn until the end of their next turn.

Unified Stance

At 17th level, you have the knowledge of all stances of the six spirit animals as you obtain the power of the one creature that stands above all others, the Dragon. With this knowledge, you are able to utilize the strengths of each stance while combing them to mitigate their weaknesses as well. You can now spend 2 ki points to activate two stances at the same time, and you can empower both of them by spend 4 ki points.

Dragon Stance: You can choose one of the following damage types listed here, acid, cold, fire, lighting, and poison. You gain resistance to the chosen damage type and your unarmed strikes are now considered that damage type.

Empowered: If you attack an opponent with an unarmed strike, you send a wave of energy of the chosen damage type in a 15 ft. cone forcing all creatures within it to make a Dexterity saving throw dealing 3d12 damage on a failed save, or half as much on success. The creature you attacked must roll with disadvantage.