Monk
Base Class: Monk

Born on the wind-blasted plateaus of the Jade Frontier, the Iron Tempest tradition began as a pact between two unlikely allies. Master Shiori Blackwind, a wandering monk seeking to perfect motion itself, met Marshal Jericho Flint, a frontier lawman whose aim was as steady as the sunrise. Over weeks of shared campfires and duels against marauding war-bands, they forged a style where fist and firearm became a single breath.

“A bullet moves only as true as the soul guiding it,” mused Master Shiori, tracing a spiral of ki in the dust with her finger. “Still the heart, and the barrel becomes an extension of the spine.”

Students of the way begin with meditation drills that synchronize breathing to the click of an empty cylinder. Ki is taught to flow down the arm and through the weapon, sharpening reflex into premonition; a disciple often knows where an enemy will step before the hammer falls. Revolver spins mirror traditional staff katas, while rifle slides echo the sweeping arcs of the bo staff.

Marshal Flint would bark across the range, “Speed? T’ain’t worth spit without purpose. Every round you fire is a promise—make it one you intend to keep.”

Temples that teach the Iron Tempest display both prayer wheels and gun racks. Initiates chant sutras about “harmonizing the furthest strike with the nearest breath.” Graduates earn a brand on the inside of the wrist—an unfurling cyclone wrapped around a six-shot cylinder—symbolizing unbroken momentum.

Whether patrolling dusty badlands, dueling sky-pirates on airship decks, or defending cloistered monasteries atop sheer cliffs, Iron Tempest monks are revered (and sometimes feared) for turning tranquil philosophy into a roaring cascade of precision gunfire—proof that enlightenment can travel faster than sound.

 
 

Gunslinger’s Initiate

 

Firearm Adept. You gain proficiency with simple and martial firearms. A revolver or lever-action rifle you’re proficient with counts as a monk weapon for you.

Ki-Draw. You can stow or draw any firearm as part of the action used to attack with it.
When you hit with an Opportunity Attack using a firearm, you may spend 1 ki to add one Martial Arts die to the damage.

Flurry of Bullets. When you use Flurry of Blows, you may replace one or both unarmed strikes with firearm attacks from a monk firearm. (Each shot still expends ammunition and follows the weapon’s normal damage die.)

Focused Reload. Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ki to ignore the firearm’s Reload property until the end of your turn.

Trick Shots

You learn three trick shots; choose from the list below. Each time you finish a long rest you may switch one for another.

Trick Effect (requires a firearm attack) Ki Cost
Deadeye Add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll. 1
Piercing Round The shot ignores half and three-quarters cover. 1
Disarming Shot Target that takes weapon damage must make a Str save (Ki DC) or drop one held item. 1
Ricochet Choose a second creature within 15 ft of the first; make a new attack roll against it. 2
Hobbling Shot On a hit the target’s speed is halved until the start of your next turn. 1
Thunder-Crack Shot is audible 300 ft; all creatures within 5 ft of the target (except it) must Con-save or be deafened for 1 round. 1

Your saving-throw DC for trick shots is your Ki save DC. Each trick happens in addition to the shot’s normal damage.

Bullet Dance

Evasion Reload. When you use Evasion, you may reload one monk firearm without using an action.

Step-and-Shoot. If you spend ki on Step of the Wind, you can immediately make one firearm attack as part of that bonus action.

Iron Tempest Stance. While you’re wielding a monk firearm in one hand and have the other hand free, you gain a +2 bonus to AC against the first ranged attack made against you each round (reflecting expert muzzle parries and slips).

The Way of Lead and Lightning

Endless Chamber. A monk firearm you wield no longer has the Reload property for you.

Perfect Form. Once on each of your turns you may use a trick shot without spending ki. When you do spend ki on a trick shot, reduce the cost by 1 (-minimum 0).

Ki Fusillade. Immediately after you take the Attack action, you may spend 3 ki to make two additional firearm attacks. These attacks can each use a different trick shot (paying any remaining ki cost after the Perfect Form discount).

NLK

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