Way of the Transcendent Will

Monks that follow the discipline of the Transcendent Will strive to achieve an indomitable mind that surpasses the physical resolve required to master one's monastic tradition. Through sheer determination they decouple themselves from the limits of their beings, achieving unmatched feats of endurance, resolve, and willpower. These monks teach that through meditation and the disciplined expression of intent one can transpose their will in order to manifest change onto the body and the world. These philosopher monks combine both martial tradition and the powerful Ki that resides within the mind of intelligent creatures to change the fates of their allies and enemies.

Freedom of Intent

Starting when you take this monastic tradition at 3rd level, you become enlightened to your tradition's understanding that one's own limits are merely imagined. You gain the following options:

Imposing Presence. When you spend Ki points to activate an ability or when you recover Ki points with your Limit Release, you may choose to activate one or more effects from the list below, but not more than the number of Ki points you spent or recovered:

• Your voice booms up to three times as loud as normal for 6 seconds.
• You cause flames to flicker, brighten, dim, or change color for 6 seconds.
• You cause harmless tremors in the ground for 6 seconds.
• You create an instantaneous sound that originates from yourself, such as a rumble of thunder, the cry of an animal, or ominous whispers.
• You alter the appearance of your eyes for 6 seconds.

Agitating Strike. Once per round when you make a successful melee attack against a creature with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon, you may choose to replace the attack with an Agitating Strike. You focus your Ki into the creature's mind, disrupting its focus. The attack's damage type becomes Psychic damage, then you may spend 1 Ki point to cause the creature to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a failure, roll a Martial Arts die. The creature must subtract the number rolled from the next saving throw it makes before the end of your next turn. On a success, the creature resists the effect.

Ki Reading. You learn to meld your Ki with that of another creature through meditation, allowing you to seamlessly exchange thoughts, emotions, and memories while maintaining a physical connection with them. You can establish this connection by making physical contact with a creature for at least 6 seconds, or by making unbroken eye contact with a creature that's within 10 ft. of you for at least 6 seconds. When the physical contact or eye contact ends, or if the creature moves more than 10 ft. away from you, the effect also ends. An unwilling creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC to resist the connection. On a failure, the creature can make a Wisdom saving throw at the beginning of each of its turns in an attempt to break the connection. On a success, the creature breaks free from the connection and becomes immune to Ki Reading for 1 minute or until you spend 1 Ki point to attempt the connection again.

Once established, as long as the connection remains you can communicate telepathically with the creature. A creature that cannot speak or understand you can communicate through emotion, intent, or mental imagery. While connected, you are able to understand a creature's surface level thoughts and its emotional state. If the creature is willing, you may probe deeper into its mind, gaining insight into its reasoning, alignment, a matter drawing its attention, or a piece of specific information that you discuss with the DM. You may spend 1 Ki point to attempt to probe an unwilling creature, which must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a success, the creature breaks free from the connection and the effect ends.

Manifestation of Will

At 6th level, your understanding of how the life energy within Ki can be used to manifest your will improves. You gain the following options:

Limit Release. You briefly meditate, surpassing your physical limits through sheer will. As a bonus action, roll a Martial Arts die. You lose a number of hit points equal to the number rolled as your body recoils from the surge of power, then regain half as many Ki points. Minimum 1.

Ki Link. You transform your Ki to embed a temporary mental link between yourself and another creature's life energy. While you are maintaining a connection with a creature through Ki Reading, you may spend a bonus action and 3 Ki points to plant a seed of your Ki within the creature's mind for 1 minute. The creature makes a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a success, the creature takes 3d6 Psychic damage and the effect ends.

On a failure, the seed takes root and your mind becomes entwined with the creature's even if you are not making eye contact or physical contact with it. You benefit from all the same effects of having established a connection through Ki Reading so long as the creature is within 1,000 feet of you. While the creature is under the effects of Ki Link you are aware of its presence at all times even if it is invisible or you cannot see it.

You are able to anticipate the creature's thoughts and actions while you maintain the link, granting you the following benefits:

• The first time each round the affected creature attempts to make a melee, ranged, or spell attack against you, the creature has disadvantage imposed on its attack.
• The first time each round the affected creature attempts to use a targeted spell, ability, or feature that causes you to make a saving throw, you have advantage on the saving throw.

While Ki Link is active you may spend a bonus action to end the link early. When you do so, the creature makes a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a failure, the creature takes 7d6 Psychic damage and the effect ends. On a success, the creature takes half as much damage.

If the creature moves more than 1,000 ft. away from you, or your concentration on Ki Link ends as a result of something other than you choosing to end the effect or activating another Ki ability, the creature takes 3d6 Psychic damage and the effect ends.

Ki Demon. When you make a successful melee attack against a creature with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon, you may spend 3 Ki points to attempt to afflict the target with a phantasmal force born from your Ki. The target makes a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC.

On a failed save, you concentrate on embedding your Ki in the creature's mind, allowing you to create a phantasmal object, creature, or other visible phenomenon of your choice that is no larger than a 10-foot cube and that is perceivable only to you and the target for 1 minute. The phantasm includes sound, temperature, and other stimuli, also evident only to the creature. While the target is afflicted, it perceives the phantasm you create as an assailant meant to attack it. An affected target is so convinced of the phantasm’s reality that it can even take damage from the illusion. A phantasm created to appear as a creature can attack the target. Similarly, a phantasm created to appear as fire, a pool of acid, or lava can burn the target. As long as the phantasm persists it follows the creature, remaining at least 5 feet from its occupied space if it appears as a creature, or sharing its space if it assumes the form of fire, lava, or any entity which might share the creature's space.

Once when the creature fails its saving throw and then each round at the beginning of your turn, the phantasm deals 4d10 psychic damage to the target, provided that the illusion is of a creature or hazard that could logically deal damage, such as by attacking. The target perceives the damage as a type appropriate to the illusion.

On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage, then sees through the illusion and the phantasm fades from its mind.

At the end of each of the affected creature's turns it can make a Wisdom saving throw to determine that the phantasm is an illusion. On a success, the creature sees through the illusion and the effect ends.

 

Liberty of Spirit

At 11th level, you reach a significant milestone in the execution and application of your monastic discipline. You gain the following options:

Limit Break. You briefly meditate, sacrificing your life energy to temporarily transcend the limits of your physical power. As a bonus action, roll 1d4+1 and spend 3 Ki points. You lose hit points equal to twice the total rolled, then you may activate any number of effects from Imposing Presence. Until the end of your next turn you add the amount rolled to the attack and damage rolls made with your unarmed strikes or monk weapons, gain 30 ft. of movement speed, and can't fall unconscious as a result of being reduced to 0 hit points.

At the end of your next turn your body suffers the extreme recoil of the power you unleashed. Your movement speed becomes 0 ft., you have disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws, you can't take reactions, and creatures have advantage on attacks made against you until the beginning of your next turn. If you have 0 hit points when the effect ends, you immediately fall unconscious.

When you activate this ability you may optionally spend an additional 3 Ki points to increase the total rolled by 1, up to a maximum of 6. When you do so, you lose an additional 2 hit points for each additional 3 Ki points spent.

Agonizing Strike.  When you make a successful melee attack against a creature with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon, you may spend 6 Ki points to attempt to suffuse a creature's mind with your Ki, binding its consciousness within an illusory cell that only it perceives. The creature makes a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a successful save, the target takes 5d10 Psychic damage and the effect ends.

On a failed save, the target takes 5d10 psychic damage, and you make the area immediately around the target’s space appear dangerous to it in some way. You might cause the target to perceive itself as being surrounded by fire, floating razors, or hideous maws filled with dripping teeth. Whatever form the illusion takes, the target can’t see or hear anything beyond it and is restrained for 1 minute. If the target is moved out of the illusion, makes a melee attack through it, or reaches any part of its body through it, the target takes 10d10 psychic damage, and the effect ends.

When you activate Agonizing Strike while maintaining a connection with a creature through Ki Reading and you've successfully probed deeper into its mind,  or if you are concentrating on a Ki Link with the creature, the creature has disadvantage on its saving throw made to resist Agonizing Strike.

Supplant Memory. While you are maintaining a connection with a creature through Ki Reading, you may spend 6 Ki points to attempt to reshape a creature's memories by molding the Ki within its mind. The creature makes a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC. On a failure, the creature enters a trance and becomes unaware of its surroundings except for your thoughts and voice for 1 minute. If the creature takes any damage or becomes the target of a spell, this effect ends and the creature's memories aren't modified.

While this trance lasts, you can affect the target’s memory of an event that it experienced within the last 24 hours and that lasted no more than 10 minutes. You can permanently eliminate all memory of the event, allow the target to recall the event with perfect clarity and exacting detail, change its memory of the details of the event, or create a memory of some other event.

You must speak or think to the target to describe how its memories are affected, and it must be able to understand your language for the modified memories to take root. Its mind fills in any gaps in the details of your description. If the spell ends before you have finished describing the modified memories, the creature’s memory isn’t altered. Otherwise, the modified memories take hold when the spell ends.

A modified memory doesn’t necessarily affect how a creature behaves, particularly if the memory contradicts the creature’s natural inclinations, alignment, or beliefs. An illogical modified memory, such as implanting a memory of how much the creature enjoyed dousing itself in acid, is dismissed, perhaps as a bad dream. The DM might deem a modified memory too nonsensical to affect a creature in a significant manner.

A Remove Curse or Greater Restoration spell cast on the target restores the creature’s true memory.

When you activate this ability, you can spend additional Ki points to alter the target’s memories of an event that took place up to 7 days ago (7 Ki points), 30 days ago (9 Ki points), 1 year ago (11 Ki points), or any time in the creature’s past (13 Ki points).

When you activate this ability while maintaining a connection with a creature through Ki Reading and you've successfully probed deeper into its mind, or if you are concentrating on a Ki Link with the creature, the creature has disadvantage on its saving throw made to resist Supplant Memory.

Mind Unbound

At 17th level, you reach the peak of ability within the discipline of your monastic tradition. You have mastered not only the control of the Ki of your own mind but also that of others. You gain the following options:

Gift of Enlightenment. As an action, you may spend 12 Ki points to suffuse the mind of a huge or smaller beast, humanoid, or plant that you are touching with your Ki and mold it, augmenting the life energy within it and granting it an expanded consciousness. The target must have either no intelligence score or an intelligence of 9 or less.

The target gains an Intelligence of 10, or its Intelligence becomes 10 if it already had a score. The target also gains the ability to speak one language you know. If the target is a plant, it gains the ability to move its limbs, roots, vines, creepers, and so forth, and it gains senses similar to a human’s. Your DM chooses statistics appropriate for the awakened plant, such as the statistics for the awakened shrub or the awakened tree.

The awakened beast or plant is charmed by you for 24 hours or until you and your companions do anything harmful to it. When the charmed condition ends, the awakened creature chooses whether to remain friendly to you, based on how you treated it while it was charmed.

The awakened humanoid is charmed by you for 1 minute or until you and your companions do anything harmful to it. When the charmed condition ends, the awakened creature chooses whether to remain friendly to you, based on how you treated it while it was charmed.

Once you've used this feature, you can't use it again until you complete a long rest.

Debt of Gratitude. As an action, you may spend 12 Ki points to suffuse the mind of a creature you are touching with your Ki, molding it and directing the life energy within it. You utter the creature's first name or full name, then speak or think a command, forcing it to carry out some service or refrain from some action or course of activity as you decide for 1 week.

If the creature can understand you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC or become charmed by you for the duration. While the creature is charmed by you, it takes 5d10 psychic damage each time it acts in a manner directly counter to your instructions, but no more than once each day. A creature that can’t understand you is unaffected by the command.

You can issue any command you choose, short of an activity that would result in certain death. Should you issue a suicidal command, the creature refuses once the effect ends. You can end the effect if you spend an action to end it while making physical contact with the creature. A Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, or Wish spell also ends it.

When you activate this ability, you may spend additional Ki points to increase its duration. For every 2 additional Ki points spent, the duration increases to 1 month (14),  6 months (16), 1 year (18), or until the spell is ended by you or one of the spells listed above (20).

When you activate Debt of Gratitude while maintaining a connection with a creature through Ki Reading and you've successfully probed deeper into its mind, or if you are concentrating on a Ki Link with the creature, the creature has disadvantage on its saving throw made to resist Debt of Gratitude.

Once you've used this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Cessation of Suffering. As an action, you may spend 12 Ki points to suffuse the mind of a creature you are touching with your Ki, molding it and suppressing the life energy within it, attempting to shatter its intellect and personality. The target takes 4d6 psychic damage and must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC.

On a failed save, the creature’s Intelligence and Charisma scores become 1. The creature can’t cast spells, activate magic items, spend Ki points, understand language, or communicate in any intelligible way. The creature can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and even protect them.

At the end of every 7 days or the full duration of the effect if increased, the creature can repeat its saving throw against Cessation of Suffering. If it succeeds on its saving throw, the effect ends. The effect can also be ended if you spend an action to end it while making physical contact with the creature, by Greater Restoration, Heal, or Wish.

When you activate this ability, you may spend additional Ki points to increase its duration. For every 2 additional Ki points spent, the duration increases to 1 month (14), 6 months (16), 1 year (18), or until the spell is ended by you or one of the spells listed above (20).

When you activate Cessation of Suffering while maintaining a connection with a creature through Ki Reading and you've successfully probed deeper into its mind, or if you are concentrating on a Ki Link with the creature, the creature has disadvantage on its saving throw made to resist Cessation of Suffering.

Once you've used this feature, you can't use it again until you've completed a long rest.