Way of Technique

Monks of the Way of Technique are intensely focused practitioners of a specific martial art consisting of one of four Styles: Hard Style, Soft Style, Mixed Style, and Weapon Style. Each one dedicates itself to a particular form of expertise, using their style's best techniques to overcome any foe that may cross their path.

Martial Style

Upon reaching 3rd Level, the disciple must choose a Martial Style, a specific form of combat  their practiced martial art focuses on. The Styles include:

Hard Style: Through intense practice, a monk with a Hard Style system (Karate, Taekwondo, Hong Gar, etc.) combines technique with physical training to exert greater force into each of its strikes.

 

Soft Style: Focusing on manipulating the attacks made by a foe, a monk of a Soft Style system (Tai Chi, Aikido, etc.) focuses on mobility and defense to prevent overuse of energy and keep people safe.

 

Mixed Style: Monks from a Mixed Style system (Kung Fu, Silat, etc.) strive for perfect precision and economy of energy, using their Ki to provide good defenses and attacks alike, though with less physical prowess than those of other styles.

 

Weapon Style: A student of a Weapon Style system (Kenjutsu, Arnis, etc.) aims for the use of a weapon to near perfection, without sacrificing their Ki, in order to strike quickly and with power (and preferably once, if needed).

Hard Style

Through intense practice, a monk with a Hard Style system (Karate, Taekwondo, Hong Gar, etc.) combines technique with physical training to exert greater force into each of its strikes.

Mixed Style

Monks from a Mixed Style system (Kung Fu, Silat, etc.) strive for perfect precision and economy of energy, using their Ki to provide good defenses and attacks alike, though with less physical prowess than those of other styles.

 

Soft Style

Focusing on manipulating the attacks made by a foe, a monk of a Soft Style system (Tai Chi, Aikido, etc.) focuses on mobility and defense to prevent overuse of energy and keep people safe.

Weapon Style

A student of a Weapon Style system (Kenjutsu, Arnis, etc.) aims for the use of a weapon to near perfection, without sacrificing their Ki, in order to strike quickly and with power (and preferably once, if needed).

LV 3 Feature

Your training progresses nicely, gaining you new power and new skills depending on the system you train in.

Battle Meditation

Students of a Mixed Style prefer tactical, conservative use of their energy, keeping it in flow so they can most efficiently use their Ki. This philosophy also applies to their ability to analyze an opponent, even in the middle of a fight.

You can spend 1 Ki Point and make a Wisdom (Insight) check against a creature you can see that isn’t incapacitated, contested by the target’s Charisma (Deception) check. If you succeed, you can learn what that creature's lowest stat is. If you fail, this creature is immune to this effect for 24 hours. This feature can only be used once per target when used in combat.

Fighting Style

Students of a Weapon Style system are more likely than their contemporaries to proficiently take up the study of armed combat. This study improves their martial prowess and allows them 

At 3rd Level, a Monk who chooses this style can take a Fighting Style. Choose one of the following options. 

You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

• Archery. You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

• Blind Fighting. You have blindsight with a range of 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.

• Defense. While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

• Dueling. When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

• Great Weapon Fighting. When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

• Interception. When a creature you can see hits a target, other than you, within 5 feet of you with an attack, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage the target takes by 1d10 + your proficiency bonus (to a minimum of 0 damage). You must be wielding a shield or a simple or martial weapon to use this reaction.

• Protection. When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.

• Superior Technique. You learn one maneuver of your choice from among those available to the Battle Master archetype. If a maneuver you use requires your target to make a saving throw to resist the maneuver's effects, the saving throw DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice.)
  • You gain one superiority die, which is a d6 (this die is added to any superiority dice you have from another source). This die is used to fuel your maneuvers. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest.

• Thrown Weapon Fighting. You can draw a weapon that has the thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon.
  • In addition, when you hit with a ranged attack using a thrown weapon, you gain a +2 bonus to the damage roll.

• Two-Weapon Fighting. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

• Unarmed Fighting. Your unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier on a hit. If you aren't wielding any weapons or a shield when you make the attack roll, the d6 becomes a d8.
  • At the start of each of your turns, you can deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage to one creature grappled by you.

Martial Conditioning

Upon taking on a system from the Hard Style, a student pushes their athletic power higher than others, allowing them to strike with greater power than their peers. 

Starting at 3rd Level, your Martial Arts die is upgraded to a d6. When your Martial Arts die would upgrade, it will continually upgrade to one above the standard die, up to 1d12 when you would otherwise upgrade to 1d10.

No Resistance

Students of the Soft Style learn the art of grappling through the manipulation of energy given by their foe. They will not resist a strike, only move the energy somewhere else.

If a hostile creature misses you with an attack, you can spend 1 Ki point to use your Reaction to knock the enemy prone and move them to a desired spot within 5 feet from you.

LV 3 Feature, Part 2

Your training progresses nicely, gaining you new power and new skills depending on the system you train in.

???

If this is the only available option for you in this feature, your Style did not receive an additional feature here.

Natural Warrior

Those who study from the Weapon Style understand weaponry as no other monk will, giving them an ease of use for more types of armaments.

At 3rd Level, you gain Proficiency with Simple and Martial Weapons.

Relentless Force

Those who train in the Hard Style become strong enough to put their weight into their strikes, forcing enemies to recoil violently from their mighty punches.

When you hit an enemy with an attack, you can push them back 10 feet in addition to damage being dealt. No save is given for this push.

Vigilant Defense

Soft Style martial artists learn how to engage with the world using a heightened awareness and an effective defensive stance at all times.

When you take this Martial Style, Patient Defense no longer costs Ki to use.

LV 6 Feature

Your training progresses nicely, gaining you new power and new skills depending on the system you train in.

Energy in Motion

Those of the Soft Style who learn to throw well enough can often use subtle movements to wound their foes with a simple takedown.

When you throw an enemy to the ground using No Resistance, you can add movement speed that you have yet to use to add damage equal to this movement speed. You cannot use this movement on your next turn to move. You can only deal damage up to the bonus speed granted by Unarmored Movement.

Experienced

Those who are dedicated to the Weapon Style they train in are capable of adapting their power through their weapons of choice, becoming more fluid in their movements and even more precise in their attack and defense.

At 6th Level, any weapon you’re proficient with is now considered a Monk weapon.

Quick Recovery

Practitioners of a Mixed Style become able to use their well-managed Ki to revitalize themselves in a pinch.

Once you reach 6th Level, you can choose to spend 5 Ki points to get rid of a point of Exhaustion.

Rope Arms, Steel Fists

The athletics of Hard Style warriors allow them to throw strikes that snap with swiftness, but land a brutal impact.

Once per turn, when you take the Attack action, you can add an extra Martial Arts die to the damage of one successful attack.

LV 6 Feature, Part 2

Your training progresses nicely, gaining you new power and new skills depending on the system you train in.

???

If this is the only available option for you in this feature, your Style did not receive an additional feature here.

Conservative Karma

By maintaining their Ki to an impressive degree, those who train in a Mixed Style system subconsciously develop pools of their own Ki they can draw from when their power runs low.

Once per Short Rest, you can use a Bonus Action to regain Ki Points equal to half your current level, rounded down.

LV 11 Feature

Your training progresses nicely, gaining you new power and new skills depending on the system you train in.

Adaptive Strike

Those who train in a style of combat of a Mixed Style are so capable of invoking Ki in their attacks that they become capable of affecting more than a foe's endurance using the sheer power of their conserved Ki.

When you use Stunning Strike, you can spend 1 Ki point to alter what saving throw Stunning Strike imposes on the target. You must spend this Ki point and decide which saving throw it will use before you roll the attack roll.

Precise Aim

As monks of a Weapon Style become more and more powerful with their preferred instrument of disaster, they can strike in a burst of blisteringly accurate strikes to overwhelm a foe with a dance of sheer pain.

When you take the Attack action, you can spend 2 Ki points to gain advantage on all attacks until the start of your next turn.

Precise Fist

Those of the Hard Style are well known for vicious offensive strength, and as they hone their body further than most mortals could conceive, they become able to make their strikes even more lethal, woe be to those who stand in their way.

When you reach 11th Level, you can spend Ki points to boost your critical hit range. By spending 3 Ki points, you can achieve a critical hit at 19 or higher, and at 18 or higher for another 3 Ki points, until the end of combat. 

Unrivaled Instinct

As those of a Soft Style form of martial art develop, they build a heightened instinct that lets them feel the energy of life around them, making their relentless defense all but impenetrable.

When you reach 11th level, hostile creatures can no longer gain benefits from flanking, and and if they attack you with a melee attack, they cannot benefit from having Advantage.

Lv 11 Feature, Part 2

Your training progresses nicely, gaining you new power and new skills depending on the system you train in.

???

If this is the only available option for you in this feature, your Style did not receive an additional feature here.

Improved Battle Meditation

Those of a Mixed Style who train for long enough will often find that their Battle Meditation grows sharper, their intuition more capable than before.

When using Battle Meditation, if you successfully use it, you can now also tell if your target has Legendary Resistances or not. You cannot tell any further details, such as how many they might have, but you can tell if a target has them or not.

Master of War

With enough training, anyone can properly use a weapon infused with magic. Luckily for those of a Weapon Style system, they've trained so much that they might be able to use nearly any weapon they see fit to wield...

When you gain this feature, you can spend 3 Ki points to attune to an item, ignoring any class-based or racial restrictions that would limit your ability to use the item. You must still have an available Attunement slot to be able to use this feature.

LV 17 Feature

Your training has ascended beyond the power of those who have come before you, granting you immense might to stand against those who may assail you.

Breaking Attack

As someone beyond even a Master of your Hard Style system, you’ve learned to put your physicality to your advantage, letting its controlled momentum empower your strikes, so even if it takes great effort, you can knock the wind out of anyone who challenges you. You gain the following benefits:

• On your turn, when you score a critical hit with a melee attack or reduce a creature to 0 hit points with one, you can make one unarmed strike as a Bonus Action, even if your Bonus Action has been used this turn. 
• Before you make an unarmed strike as an attack, you can choose to take a -5 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack hits, you add +10 to the attack’s damage.
• If you used the previous benefit, then use it on the next turn after that, you take a point of Exhaustion.

Meridian Blocking

Warrior Monks of a Mixed Style are reputed disruptors of the flow of combat, often flowing through the rhythm of a fight only to interrupt it violently and cause their foes to lose their guard and fall to their might. By attacking special points of physiology, you can de-energize a foe, weakening them quickly and efficiently.

When you use Stunning Strike, you can spend 2 Ki points to impose Disadvantage on the saving throw, potentially causing them to fail.

Shieldbreaker

Those who have survived many a grueling battle with their trusted weapon know the sensation of weapon mastery. As a Weapon Style system's warrior of great renown, you can strike so effectively that a foe's armor will shatter or buckle, or a natural armor will crack and give way beneath the sheer power in your strikes.

When you make the Attack action, you can choose to make a single Attack and spend 2 or more Ki. If you do, you add 1 Martial Arts die to your damage roll per 2 Ki spent, and their AC is reduced by 1 per 2 Ki spent until combat ends.

Unmoved by the Four Winds

Masters of Soft Style forms of training are fabled to have defensive prowess that few could hope to match in their lifetime. As someone who has trained for precisely that method of combat, you come to embody that fabled "perfect defense", such that attacks of many different kinds now struggle to pierce your energy, as it merely passes by you.

If you have to make a saving throw that isn't a Dexterity saving throw, you can spend 3 Ki points to gain the effect of Evasion for that saving throw.