Way of Shiva

Ankathari

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in Scimitars and Shields. Additionally, Scimitars and Shields are considered monk weapons for you.

Kalaripayattu

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your martial arts training allows you to adopt different fighting stances.

As a bonus action, you can spend 1 ki point to enter a stance. You can only have one stance active at a time, and it lasts until you change to a different stance or you take a short or long rest. When you enter a stance, you may draw that stance's weapons as part of the bonus action.

Muchaan Payattu

Weapons: A Club

The Muchaan Payattu stance involves overwhelming your opponent with an onslaught of attacks and progressively advancing on their position.

Stance Passives

While in this stance and wielding this stance's weapons, you gain the following benefits:

• When you use the Attack action with a Club on your turn, you can make an additional attack with it as a bonus action.
• When making attacks with Flurry of Blows, you may use a Club instead of your Unarmed Strike.

Onslaught

Whenever you hit a target with a Club, if they are no more than one size larger than you, they must make a Strength saving throw. If they fail, you may do one of two things:

• Reduce their movement speed by 5 feet until your next turn.
• You push the target 5 feet backward and you move 5 feet towards them.

Movement caused by this ability does not provoke opportunity attacks on you or your target. If moving backward would cause the target to fall of a ledge, their movement speed is instead reduced by 5 feet.

Overwhelm

Once per turn, when you hit a creature with a Club, you can spend 1 ki point to attempt to knock the target down. They make a Strength saving throw, the DC of this saving throw is equal to your Ki save DC plus the number of times you attacked that creature with a Club this turn. If they fail, they are knocked prone.

Vaal Payattu

Weapons: Scimitar and Shield

The Vaal Payattu stance combines traditional sword and shield fighting with acrobatic movements to keep enemies off balance.

Stance Passives

While in this stance and wielding this stance's weapons, you gain the following benefits:

• If you are not wearing any armor, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.
• It takes an additional enemy to impose flanking on you.

Leaping Strike

Once per turn, you can attempt to outmaneuver your opponent with your agility. Make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the target's Wisdom (Insight) check. If you succeed, you have advantage on the next melee weapon attack you make against that target with a Scimitar.

Agile Defense

You may spend 1 ki point to add your shield's AC bonus to any Dexterity saving throw you make.

Muktamukta

Weapons: Two Melee Weapons with the Thrown Property

The Muktamukta stance utilizes throwable close-quarters weapons to simultaneously duel an enemy and exploit openings created by allies.

Stance Passives

While in this stance and wielding this stance's weapons, you gain the following benefits:

• When a creature moves outside of a 20 foot radius of you, you can use your reaction to make a ranged attack using a thrown weapon.
• You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding two separate melee weapons with the thrown property.
• You have advantage on ranged attacks with thrown weapons if there is an ally within 5 feet of your target.
• You can draw a weapon that has the thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon.
• You can draw or stow two thrown weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.

Skillshot

Once per turn, when you hit with a ranged attack using a thrown weapon, you can spend 1 ki point to deal extra damage to the target equal to your Martial Arts die.

Kuntham Payattu

Weapons: A Spear

The Kuntham Payattu stance uses large sweeping and stabbing attacks to exert dominance over a large area.

Stance Passives

While in this stance and wielding this stance's weapons, you gain the following benefits:

• When you make an attack with a Spear, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.

Whirlwind

As an action, you can spend 2 ki points to spin your spear and strike multiple enemies near you. Each enemy within 5 feet of you makes a Dexterity saving throw or takes your Spear's damage plus your Martial Arts die and is moved 5 feet away from you.

Haft Block

When you are hit with a melee weapon attack while wielding a Spear, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d4.

Aspect of the Destroyer

At 6th level, when you reduce a creature to 0 hit points, you gain 1 ki point.

Additionally, attacks with your stance weapons count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Gurukkal

At 11th level, your mastery of Kalaripayattu gives your stances the following improvements:

Muchaan Payattu

Batter

As a bonus action, you can spend 2 ki points to make two melee weapon attacks with a Club. Instead of dealing damage, these attacks reduce the target's AC by 1 until your next turn. A creature's AC can't be reduced by more than 2 from this ability.

Vaal Payattu

Improved Leaping Strike

When you make a melee weapon attack with advantage from Leaping Strike, you may add a +2 bonus to your attack's damage roll, if it hits.

Muktamukta

Counterattack

When a melee or ranged weapon attack misses you, you can use your reaction and spend 1 ki point to make a melee or ranged weapon attack with a thrown weapon.

Kuntham Payattu

Improved Haft Block

Haft Block now reduces the damage taken by 1d6 instead of 1d4.

Many-Handed One

At 17th level, as a bonus action you can spend 2 ki points to activate an additional stance for the next minute and manifest a set of arms to wield that stance's weapons.

When you make a weapon attack, you gain a +2 bonus to the damage roll for every stance you have active beyond the first.

You can use this ability multiple times, each time activating an additonal stance and manifesting another set of spectral arms. When you manifest a set of arms, they draw up to two weapons as part of the bonus action.