Way of the Gentle King

Monks of the Way of the Gentle King dedicate themselves to the twin arts of grappling and throwing and seek to hone both to perfection. No foe can overcome their own strength alongside yours, and these monks use that philosophy to create methods of taking away control from their opponents.

Thought to Action

At 3rd level, you’ve achieved the ability to go from grapple to a throw in an instant, and can use others powers against them. You gain the following abilities:

• When you use your flurry of blows feature, you can attempt to grapple or shove in place of each unarmed strike.
• When grappling an opponent, you may add their Athletics modifier (Minimum of 1) up to your monk level to your grapple check.
  (This limit is removed when gaining 20 levels in this class)
• You may grapple or shove when making an opportunity attack in place of striking.

Followers of the Way of the Gentle King are often pacifists and focus on subduing targets rather than eliminating them. Monastic Schools of grappling rigorously beat the aggression out of their students in place of refined patience and wisdom. Cultivating strength to pave way for peace, rather than war. Such is the way of the gentle arts.

 

Grapple-Jitsu

Starting at 6th level, your stubborn and single-minded training over the gentle art of grappling has granted you the ability to pull others into and out of your hold easily. In the span of long years or a few short months, you eventually learn and gain the following advantages:

• You gain advantage on all grapple checks and no longer suffer any penalties from the prone condition. (Despite this, you may only move 10 feet while prone before needing to stand up.)
• When grappled with a creature, you may spend 2 ki points (No action required) to reduce any damage done to you by the grappled target by your [Monk level] until the end of your next turn or until you are no longer grappling them.

Prodigies of grappling are not unheard of, yet are no different than their peers except in rapid growth. Young and old, all practitioners of grappling learn the push and pull techniques to defend oneself when thrown to the ground or attacked from above. A great defense -- Is a good offence. Learning to attack from below is cornerstone of the Way of the Gentle King, and marks an important milestone in advancement.

David VS Goliath

You may grapple a creature a number of size categories larger than you equal to your proficiency bonus deducted by 1. If the creature is heavier than your max carrying capacity then you cannot pick them up. If the creature is heavier than your Push/Drag limit then you cannot move them around.

Where Kings and students set themselves apart begins here. A blue-belt can practically grapple and hold their ground against ogres and hill giants, but this is where most students stop their journey. Either through death, injury, or disinterest, there has only ever been one Gentle King in history. A new diamond has yet to form in the ages past of clumps of coal passing through monastic schools.

Redirection of Power

At 11th level, you've reached the pinnacle of the martial world with unparalleled grappling prowess. Combining the sacred arts of "Judo" & "Aikido" as described in theoretical ancient manuscripts, you become capable of the following:

• As a reaction to being struck with a melee attack by a grappled creature, you may spend 2 ki points to deal that same amount of damage that would have been dealt to you back at the attacker in addition to your unarmed strike damage.
• Standing up from prone now costs 0 movement for you, and you may now add half your acrobatics modifier to your grapple checks.

This is the turning point that separates the wheat from the chaff and cements your mastery over grappling across the known world. From whispered words shared from mouths to ears, rumors and legend of your abilities to clash and hold your ground with creatures more than 3 times your size embellishes your reputation. The number of people across history that have reached such a height can be counted on one hand, and you're now among them.

The Willow and the Oak.
In a storm, a willow tree will bend where the oak tree breaks -- In the same way, you are able to control when to soften or harden your body at certain moments.

• When faced with a broken bone or dislocated joint, you are able to temporarily mend it through fine muscle control for a number of minutes up to your monk level twice per short rest. This technique grants you a number of temporary hit points equal to your monk level plus your wisdom modifier.
• When in combat, you may make a special grapple attack that deals no damage. If the number of the resulting athletics check exceeds half of the target's current hitpoints, you may effectively dislocate or break a limb. (The consequences of such an action would be at the discretion of the DM. If this ability is used against a player, the targeted player would have the discretion of deciding what happens after the use of this ability. Nothing happening at all is also a viable outcome.)

Theory over techniques in the realm of martial arts is a fickle idea that endangers a practitioner attempting to put it into practice -- Yet you have. What set you apart from the rest of monks and unarmed specialists across the continents? Kinetic genius? Unyielding determination? Natural talent? In any case. You're cut from a different cloth, that much any monk worth their salt can tell.

Endless Journey

At 17th level, you've gone beyond mastery over the physical limits placed upon your body, and your magical strikes empowered by your ki carryover into your grappling aswell. Creatures immune to the grappled condition are tethered to you with a special link formed of untapped ki, allowing you to hold onto ephemeral and phantasmal creatures and those residing in the ethereal plane. You gain the following benefits:

• No enemy can be immune to the grappled condition when faced off against you.
• When under the restrained condition you suffer none of the penalties besides 0 movement speed.
• You're no longer limited in the size of creatures you may grapple, shove, push, pull, or carry. 

"Striking hurts -- Grappling is excruciating." Such were the words of the Gentle King, where champions are envisioned trekking the endless blizzard. An excerpt from his scrolls read:

"No matter how painful it is, just take a step...
And another step...
Whoever can walk the farthest while enduring the pain
will be the winner."

You've reached what you thought was the pinnacle of strength, wrestling dragons and crushing mountains yet still you realize... The journey ahead of you is Endless. There is still more room to grow. Infinite room. Daunting is an understatement, but for an exceptional creature like yourself, no task is too tall. You stand side-by-side to the master and founder of the grappling arts.

Imperfect Self
At this level, you may not gain the benefits of the "Perfect Self" monk feature due to your incessant practices over martial arts and lack of care over the conventional mastery of ki. Instead taking it in a new direction to fit your own style of combat -- When a creature is grappled by you, it is considered vulnerable to all melee attacks done by you.

Impossibly, you've changed the very genetic code in your DNA through ruthless manifestation and stubborn determination... Or that's simply what's told about the one who's body feels denser than a meteorite. Your ki veins are disrupted all across your body, but that's not important.