Way of Gun Kata

Of Blade and Bullet

With the introduction to firearms & more advanced weaponry into the realm of Tehiri, martial practices have been forced to either adapt or risk extinction. Gun Kata, being the result of the industrialization of mankind.

 For centuries, monasteries have taught their students a variety of ways to master martial arts despite the introduction of weaponry. Some monasteries, like the Way of the Kensei, have decided to use weaponry and allow it to become an extension of the body. In many ways, the Way of Gun Kata is similar to the Kensei, however the key difference is the dedication needed & the benefits gained in reaction time & control.

 Monks of this monastery must hone their skills to nearly impossible breakneck speeds to react to the velocity of bullets & the force of gunpowder. Training their reflexes extensively in deadly situations for hours upon end daily is just the beginning. To commit this to one's training is necessary before even becoming adept at this art. For in Gun Kata, there are no practice weapons, only truth. Because of their deadly fighting style, there are only few monks of this monastery who can survive it, and even fewer masters of this form.

Building your Gun Kata Monk

  Though requiring serious amount of dedication to the craft, Monks from this monastery can come in a variety of ways. It is rare that a monk of Gun kata looks similar to another.  However, the most common varieties of these monks are those who remain serious unhindered instruments of martial prowess or those who are arrogant of their skills knowing they can never be stopped by non-magical constraints.

Gunkata's often fall in the latter category as they are naturally skilled with the use of firearms, but only must master their resources like any other monk. Typically are those seeking to train bodies and focus to the absolute limit. Only legends & myths have claimed these monks to have rendered their focus manipulation powerful enough to manifest time bending abilities.  

 

Firearm Proficiency

3rd level Way of the Gun Kata feature

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with firearms, allowing you to add your proficiency bonus to attacks made with firearms.
Firearms also count as monk weapons
When you use flurry of blows, you may swap out the unarmed strikes with a firearm.

Kata

3rd-level Way of the Gun Kata Feature

You have learned the ways to extend your Ki to a non-living object and weaponizing it. In doing so, you've learned a variety of Kata in order to enhance not only your strikes but also your weapons.
You learn two Kata of your choice which are detailed under “Katas” below. Many maneuvers enhance an attack in some way. For each use of Kata, you must expend the required Ki points and it must be declared before the attack roll is made. You can use only one Kata per attack.

You learn an additional Katas of your choice at 6th, 11th, and 17th level. Each time you learn a new Kata, you can also replace one trick shot you know with a different one

Bullet Curve

Prerequisite: Level 3+ Monk

Expend one focus point. When you make a firearm attack against a creature, you can expend one focus point to gain advantage on the attack roll.

Disarming Shot

Prerequisite: Level 6+ Monk

Expend one focus point. When you make a firearm attack against a creature, you can attempt to shoot an object from their hands. On a hit, the creature suffers normal damage and must succeed on a Strength saving throw or drop 1 held object of your choice and have that object be pushed 10 feet away from you.

Elemental Blast

Prerequisite: Level 6+ Monk

Gathering the focus and energy around you, your bullets are infused with elemental power. When utilizing an attack action with a firearm, you must declare this kata before rolling. Expend an amount of Ki points(maximum of 3), for as many Ki points expended, you gain an additional damage dice upon hitting. Choose Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, or Thunder for the type of damage the bullet is infused with. For each focus point expended, the misfire score for your firearm goes up by 2.

Forceful Shot

Prerequisite: Level 3+ Monk

Expend one focus point. When you make a firearm attack against a creature you attempt to trip them up and force them back. On a hit, the creature suffers normal damage and must succeed on a strength saving throw or be pushed 15 feet away from you and be knocked prone.

Lightning Reload

Prerequisite: Level 6+ Monk

Expend one focus point. When you use Flurry of Blows with unarmed attacks, you may reload along with your bonus action attacks

Parry

Prerequisite: Level 3+ Monk

Expend one focus point. As a reaction, when another creature damages you with a melee attack you may roll your martial arts die to reduce the damage by your martial arts die + your Dexterity modifier + your proficiency bonus. If you reduce the damage to 0, you may make an unarmed strike against the creature.

Ricochet

Prerequisite: Level 6+ Monk

Expend one focus point. Through decisive tactics and quick thinking you fire out a shot to align multiple target in sight. When a target is hit you may redirect that bullet to another target within 15ft square of the initial target of your choice. The new target must succeed on a dex saving throw to avoid getting hit. If they are hit you may expend an additional focus point to continue the ricochet but the dc is lowered by 2 each subsequent target.

Shrapnel Spread Shot

Prerequisite: Level 3+ Monk

Expend one focus point. When you hit a creature, you can choose to have the spread be within a 5ft cube of the creature or a 10ft cone behind the creature. All creatures within the radius take damage equal to your wisdom modifier.

Smoke Shot

Prerequisite: Level 3+ Monk

Expend one focus points. You create a 15-foot-radius sphere of fog centered on a point within range. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured. It lasts for the duration or until a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it.

Gunsmith

3rd-level Way of the Gun Kata Feature

 Upon choosing this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Tinker’s Tools. You may use them to craft ammunition at half the cost, repair damaged firearms, or even draft and create new ones (DM’s discretion). Some extremely experimental and intricate firearms are only available through crafting

Firearm Properties

Firearms are a new and volatile technology, and as such bring their own unique set of weapon properties. Some properties are followed by a number, and this number signifies an element of that property (outlined below). These properties replace the optional ones presented in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Firearms are ranged weapons.

Reload. The weapon can be fired a number of times equal to its Reload score before you must spend 1 attack or 1 action to reload. You must have one free hand to reload a firearm.

Misfire. Whenever you make an attack roll with a firearm, and the dice roll is equal to or lower than the weapon’s Misfire score, the weapon misfires. The attack misses, and the weapon cannot be used again until you spend an action to try and repair it. To repair your firearm, you must make a successful Tinker’s Tools check (DC equal to 8 + misfire score). If your check fails, the weapon is broken and must be mended out of combat at a quarter of the cost of the firearm. Creatures who use a firearm without being proficient increase the weapon’s misfire score by 1.

Explosive. Upon a hit with a firearm, everything within 5 ft of the target must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier) or suffer 1d8 fire damage. If the weapon misses, the ammunition fails to detonate, or bounces away harmlessly before doing so.

Ammunition

All firearms require ammunition to make an attack, and due to their rare nature, ammunition may be near impossible to find or purchase. However, if materials are gathered, you can craft ammunition yourself using your Tinker’s Tools at half the cost. Each firearm uses its own unique ammunition and is generally sold or crafted in batches listed below next to the price.

Name	Cost	Ammo	Damage	Weight	Range	Properties
Palm Pistol	50g	2g (20)	1d8 piercing	1 lb.	(40/160)	Light, reload 1, misfire 1
Pistol	150g	4g (20)	1d10 piercing	3 lb.	(60/240)	Reload 4, misfire 1
Musket	300g	5g (20)	1d12 piercing	10 lb.	(120/480)	Two-handed, reload 1, misfire 2
Pepperbox	250g	4g (20)	1d10 piercing	5 lb.	(80/320)	Reload 6, misfire 2
Blunderbuss	300g	5g (5)	2d8 piercing	10 lb.	(15/60)	Reload 1, misfire 2
Bad News	Crafted	10g (5)	2d12 piercing	25 lb.	(200/800)	Two-handed, reload 1, misfire 3
Hand Mortar	Crafted	10g (1)	2d8 fire	10 lb.	(30/60)	Reload 1, misfire 3, explosive

Iaijutsu Master

6th level Way of the Gun Kata feature

You slowly begin to master the art of the Quickdraw. Because so, you're initiative bonus increases by your wisdom modifier.

Heightened Awareness

6th level Way of the Gun Kata feature

Normal monks are trained to deflect arrows coming at breakneck speeds. However monks of Gun Kata are trained to dodge bullets in close quarters. Because of this your reaction time is miles faster than a normal monk.

Whenever you use your deflect missiles ability and throw it back apart of the reaction. You may may make a free melee attack against a creature within 5 feet of you apart of the reaction. However, the damage is equal to your wisdom modifier.

Iaijutsu Standoff

11th level Way of the Gun Kata feature

At 11th level, you gain the ability to challenge opponents to an iaijutsu duel. As a full turn, Choose a creature with 60 feet of you. That creature must make a Wisdom Saving throw (if they are willing, they do not need to roll). Upon fail, you and the creature enter a clash of speed and technique. In doing so, you wager half your maximum hit points. Both of you must make a melee or ranged weapon attack rolls. Who ever rolls highest wins the round. You continue making attack rolls at one another best 2 out of 3 times. Whoever wins two rounds, wins the clash and takes no damage. However the loser suffers half of your maximum hit points in damage. This damage cannot be reduced in anyway.

 You may do this ability once per long rest however, you may use this ability again by expending all of your remaining ki points. Afterwards, you suffer one level of exhaustion.

 Example: Player subjects a Death Knight to an Iaijutsu Standoff. The Death knight is unwilling and makes a Wisdom Saving throw and fails. The Player and Death Knight Make opposing attack rolls. Player Rolls a 16 The Death knight rolls a 14. The Player rolled higher thus winning the first round of the clash. This repeats until one side has one twice. Afterwards the clash is over and a victor is decided. Whoever wins twice suffers no damage but instead inflicts half of the maximum hp of the player in damage. Clash end.

Temporal Cleave

17th level Way of the Gun Kata feature

At 17th level, your focus has been honed to perfection, the environment around you slowing time to a crawl. You have advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn’t taken a turn in the combat yet. In addition, any hit you score against a creature that is surprised is a critical hit.

If you expend 5 Ki points, you may make an additional attack and gain 30 feet of movement(this movement doesn't provoke attacks of opportunities).