Monk
Base Class: Monk
The Ascetic seeks to divest themselves of the material in order to free themselves of the tyranny of the material. This view is that all of life's suffering is tied to one's attachment to the mundane, and to attain true peace with one's soul, one must remove the Mundane from one's life and divest themselves of all attachment to the material plane. 
 Adherents to the way of the Ascetic shed their attachments to the world as they progress down the path slowly relinquishing their connections to the material plane. As they do this they themselves become less of a material being, slowly progressing into a nearly ghost-like state. Ascetics avoid extravagance in all things, avoiding alcohol and lavish foods, and typically only possess items of functional quality without adornment. Romantic relations are also forbidden as such things can slow one's progress down the path to liberation. Less tangible pleasures such as music and dancing are not as avoided, however it can still be a source of attachment and one should use caution not to be led astray by such things. 
 Some Ascetics belong to an entire order seeking this path, others are diverting branches of their main order. Often in the later case these monks are entrusted with the protection of relics of the order, being viewed as above concerns that would cause them to betray their duty. Some ascetics may come across as aloof or disinterested in the causes of the material world, whereas others may tend toward a less selfish approach, seeking to help others through their sufferings and trials

Eschew the material

An Ascetic must limit their possessions to the bare minimum for survival, the following are permissible items:

  • 2 sets of common clothing with 1 set of footwear 
  • 1 set of cold weather clothing
  • 1 bowl
  • 1 cup
  • 1 water skin
  • 1 blanket
  • 1 Religious item (icon, prayer beads, holy symbol, etc.)
  • 1 small utility knife/razor (not a weapon)
  • 1 piece of soap
  • 1 needle and thread for mending
  • 1 bag or pouch to carry items in
  • A modest number of books presuming they are elated to the studies of the monk
  • Practical objects such as light sources,  writing implements, paper/parchment, cooking utensils, tools to maintain a dwelling or garden, etc. are all acceptable in modest amounts but only if necessary
  • A staff, cane or other medical device as necessary is also permissible but not as a weapon
These items must be of plain and simple make, no decoration or expensive materials. Up to 5 days rations are also permitted. Papers or items required by governments or other legal entities are exempt from this rule. 
The monk can never keep more than 5 gold of money or wealth, if they receive more while begging or because someone has compensated them for a task in excess of the 5 gold, the remainder must be donated immediately (at earliest convenience) to an individual in need, or organization looking out for the needs of the poor. He cannot borrow or carry wealth that belong to others. They cannot use things used to improve the looks, smell, or touch of the body (makeup, perfume, etc.) soap for cleanliness is exempt but excessively perfumed soap should be avoided. They are allowed to accept and use curative potions (or similar magical items where the item is consumed and is valueless thereafter) from other creatures if their health or well being are in danger. 
Ascetics do not use weapons, the weapons of the body are enough to protect oneself if necessary.
The Ascetic cannot attune to magic items, even through forced attunement of cursed items of less than artifact level.
They can receive the benefits of magic cast to them by others.
In general the goal of the Ascetic is to shed attachment and only items that are strictly necessary should be kept.
Intentional violation (DMs discretion) of this rule causes the monk to lose any abilities granted by this subclass and they can only recover half of their ki until 24 hours of compliance is achieved.

Embrace Transcendence

Your rejection of the material world is starting to benefit your spiritual practices. You gain the following abilities as long as you are following the restricitons from the Eschew the material ability.
You have 30 ft darkvision or your darkvision is increased by 30 ft
You Gain a ranged attack with a normal range of 60 feet and a long range of 240 feet. It utilizes your wisdom modifier plus proficiency to hit and deals damage equal to your Martial arts die plus your wisdom modifier
You may spend ki for the following effects:
You may spend 2 ki points, as a reaction, to gain resistance to one of the following damage types for 1 minute: acid, bludgeoning, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, piercing, poison, psychic, radiant, slashing, or thunder
You may spend 1 ki point as a bonus action to have your Unarmed Strike deals force damage for 1 minute

Reject the Material

Reject the Material
As you begin to slip from the world you manifest the following abilities:
  • Your unarmored defense is now 11+wis+dex as you body becomes less of this world, this increases to 12+wis+dex at level 11
  • Your Unarmed strike does +1 damage and has +1 to hit as it phases through the protections others rely on, this increases to +2 at level 11 and +3 at level 17.
  • You are immune to the effects of environmental heat and cold, and are always a comfortable temperature no matter the weather around you.

Fade from the World

As your form becomes more Ethereal you gain damage resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage types.
You gain Ethereal Sight. You can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane when it is on the Material Plane, and vice versa.
You may spend Ki for the following ability-
3 Ki Ethereal Jaunt. As a bonus action, the monk can magically shift from the Material Plane to the Ethereal Plane as the spell Etherealness for 1 minute

Transcend the Mundane

Your form becomes like that of a ghost as you divest yourself of your ties to the material plane, the features are yours that you had in life, and a clothed as you desire, Generally in the simple fashion you had in life. You are no only capable of possessing one item from the Ascetic list (your spectral clothing is not an item, simply a manifestation of your will). You can only possess that item and changing items takes two hours, which can be part of a Long rest. (Features like deflect arrows still work as you are simply catching and throwing away the item, not taking possession of it As does interacting with the environment such as utilizing a borrowed tool or opening a door, DM discretion should be used here as abuse should be avoided)
You can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain and takes 5 (1d10) force damage if you end your turn inside an object. You have a fly speed of Half your walking Speed and can hover. 

You gain the following Damage Resistances Acid, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Cold, Necrotic, Poison and the following Condition Immunities Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Prone, Restrained.

As an action, you spend 4 ki and can enter the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. You are visible on the Material Plane while you are in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa, yet you can't affect or be affected by anything on the Plane you are not on. You remain on whichever plane you are on until you use this ability again.
Upon your death you vanish and your final object falls in your space. If you have no possessions then you vanish leaving no trace (in which case you can only be returned to life via magic that does not require remains). The object counts as your body for the purposes of resurrection magic and if you are resurrected you return in this spectral form. You still die of old age as normal and in that moment you shed you final attachment to the material and fade into nothing and can never be brought back short of deific intervention.
jbickbailey

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