Monk
Base Class: Monk

Way of the Red Crown

Monastic Tradition of Ravokh, the God of Murder & Rhain Elarion (Alera Thalen), The Red Wraith

The monks of the Red Crown are born from the faith of a chained god. Where other monastic orders pursue balance through stillness, the Red Crown finds it through blood. They believe peace is stagnation - that only through destruction can the world renew itself. Their devotion is not meditative; it is violent. They are Ravokh’s chosen disciples, the hands of divine judgment, the assassins and prophets of the God of Murder. 

Their monastery, hidden beneath Mareth’kor, trains its initiates to master the art of blood manifestation - to manipulate blood into the form or shape of any weapon - within established proficiencies. Red Crown monks train as others pray. They begin with control over their own blood — learning to slow their pulse, to still pain, to survive on nothing but will. Once mastery is proven, they learn to feel the rhythm of life around them: the flow of veins beneath an enemy’s skin, the echo of a heartbeat behind armor.

Through this training, they learn to shape blood itself into a weapon - the living expression of their devotion. A Red Crown monk can draw crimson energy from their own body or another’s and wield it as a whip, claw, blade, spikes, etc. These techniques are not magic; they are Ki pushed beyond mortal restraint, shaped by divine corruption.

 

The Path Diverges

A standard monk seeks balance — stillness in the storm, mastery over impulse. A monk of the Red Crown rejects that philosophy. To them, restraint is cowardice. Balance is found not in peace but in the precision of violence. They do not meditate; they prepare. Their discipline is born of purpose, not serenity.

Where other monks disarm their foes, the Red Crown leaves nonalive. Where others fight to protect, the Red Crown fights to purify. They are the god’s surgeons, cutting rot from the world with surgical cruelty.

 Faith Made Flesh

The monks of the Red Crown serve as Ravokh’s will in the mortal world. Though they cannot channel his full essence as Rhaen (The Red Wraith) can, they act as extensions of his hunger - assassins bound by doctrine, not conscience.

Their Ki techniques manifest as blood manipulation, divine reflex, and precision that borders on unnatural. They move like a shadow’s memory, strike like a heartbeat missed, and leave behind only silence and red water.

Those who reach the highest ranks are called Thorned Saints — mortals so devoted their blood no longer serves life but faith. Their bodies are temples to pain and perfection.

Ravokh’s Doctrine - Subclass Lore

Ravokh is the God of Murder, chained within the Ethereal Plane. To escape, he tore a fragment of himself away and placed it in mortal flesh, creating the Red Wraith - a living key to his return. There can only ever be one Red Wraith at a time. This division weakens him, leaving that piece of his power cut off in the mortal world until it is reclaimed.

The Cult of Ravokh worships this act of division as holy. From its monastery, the Red Crown, come his chosen monks - disciples trained to draw strength from life itself and corrupt it to his will. They train until they can feel the blood beneath their skin and command it, then learn to command it in others. 

The Red Crown are his trusted hands, the assassins and prophets of a chained God. They revere the Red Wraith, Rhaen Elarion, as divinity made flesh. To them she is both prophecy and purpose - the door through which their god will walk again. To her, they are the dark that hunts her.

The Red Wraith

Title of the Vessel in Transformation
To the Cult of Ravokh, The Red Wraith is divinity given motion. When Rhaen Elarion enters this state, her veins ignite with the God’s chained power. The air thickens. Blood lifts from the ground as if pulled by unseen hands. To the world, she becomes legend and terror both. Her flesh moves as if the god himself wears it; her strikes carve through steel and soul alike. Every heartbeat echo Ravokh’s hunger.

To Rhaen, it is no blessing.
It is the moment her body stops obeying her will. The Red Wraith is not power - it is surrender. Each time she lets it rise, a little more of her stays buried in the silence afterward. The cult prays for the day she cannot pull herself back. They believe that when the Red Wraith endures, Ravokh will walk again.

The cult calls her their savior, yet they hunt her all the same. Ravokh presses at the veil and bids her submit, for if she does, he will walk the mortal world again. Monks who follow the Way of the Red Crown carry a single purpose: to ensure Ravokh’s return. To do so, they must capture the Vessel and bring her to the altar buried deep beneath Mareth’Kor, where the final rite awaits.

 Difference from Other Monastic Traditions

Where other traditions focus on defense, deflection, or enlightenment, the Way of the Red Crown specializes in aggression, dominance, and control.
They are a rare blend of martial precision and divine possession, guided by Ravokh’s chained will.

  • They command life itself through divine Ki, manipulating blood as a weapon.

  • Their devotion to Ravokh replaces compassion with purpose - mercy is weakness, and every death is sacred.

  • Their techniques consume their vitality; the power they wield is both gift and curse.

  • Their discipline is outward, not inward — balance is achieved through ending, not enduring.

Where the Way of Mercy heals through touch, the Way of the Red Crown kills with reverence.

 The Red Crown Creed

"To walk the path of Ravokh is to abandon the lie of peace. You are not monk, nor man, nor woman; you are the pulse of the Chained God, you carry his will. There is no redemption. There is no forgiveness. Only the moment before the strike - and the silence that follows."

 

Subclass Base Traits

Monks of the Red Crown gain all the base Monk class features, along with the following subclass features as they advance in level.

Weapon and Proficiency Notes

  • Whip Proficiency: You gain proficiency with the whip, which counts as a monk weapon for you.

  • Blood Manifestation: Any weapon created through your features counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

  • Damage Type: Unless otherwise stated, your subclass attacks deal necrotic or radiant damage (choose when you manifest the weapon).

 

Proficiencies for the Monks of the Red Crown

Weapon Proficiencies
Red Crown monks are executioners of faith, not wanderers with sticks. They train with weapons meant to bleed and punish.

  • Whip (signature weapon of Ravokh’s monks — used as divine channeling focus)
  • Daggers (for close assassination work)
  • Shorts words (used ritually in cult sacrifices and swift executions)
Armor Proficiencies
  • None (Monks rely on unarmored defense). Even Ravokh’s chosen fights unshielded — not from mercy, but because their faith is armor. (Optional flavor: If you want a “Blood Cloak” or “Veil” ability later, we can add a supernatural AC bonus that scales with Wisdom.)
Tool Proficiencies
  • Poisoner’s Kit (ritual use — symbolic of purification through death)
  • Calligrapher’s Supplies (used for writing oaths, contracts of sacrifice, and divine sigils)

 

Proficiency Additions

Category

Proficiencies Gained

Weapons

Whip, Dagger, Shorts word

Armor

None

Tools

Poisoner’s Kit, Calligrapher’s Supplies

 

Role in the World 

This short paragraph helps both DMs and players understand how these monks appear in play - how they’re perceived, where they fit, and what hooks surround them.
Official subclasses always include this to make them usable beyond just lore flavor.

Role in the World
Monks of the Red Crown rarely travel openly.

Most who claim to have seen a Red Crown monk are liars. The order moves in whispers, its temples hidden beneath cities and ruins alike. They appear when oaths are broken, when a lord’s cruelty spills past usefulness, when a godless priest forgets fear. They do not linger. They do not speak. They leave only bodies and the mark of Ravokh — a single line drawn in blood across the heart.

Kings call them assassins. Scholars call them zealots. The truth lies somewhere colder.


Playing a Red Crown Monk 

You are not a hero. You are a consequence.

Ravokh’s will moves through your veins like a second pulse, and every strike you make carries the weight of his hunger. You may call it duty, faith, or survival - it makes no difference. 

 

Subclass Overview Summary

Disciples of the Red Crown are Ravokh’s executioners — monks who shape blood into weapons and death into worship. They fight without mercy and live without peace, believing that only through destruction can the world be made pure.

Design Summary

If you want to include this for DMs only (bottom of the description), it can briefly explain how this subclass plays differently from others.
This is not seen by players on D&D Beyond but helps you justify balance.

The Way of the Red Crown turns the monk’s calm inward focus into outward domination. They use Ki to command the flow of blood — their own and their enemies’. Where the Way of Mercy heals through touch, the Red Crown kills with purpose. Their mastery is not serenity but control: the stillness between two heartbeats, before the strike.

 

 

 

Level 3: Weapon of the Red Crown (Blood Whip)

Manifested Weapon of the Red Crown

When a monk of the Red Crown takes this vow, their blood is no longer their own. Ravokh, the God of Murder, marks their veins with his power. Through focus and pain, they learn to pull the red water from within and give it form — a weapon wrought of their own lifeblood.

As a bonus action, you may spend 1 Ki point to draw blood from your veins (or another's) and shape it into a blood whip. The whip flickers between matter and will, a living extension of Ravokh’s command.

  • The Blood Whip lasts for 3 rounds.

  • It counts as a monk weapon and uses your Dexterity for attack and damage rolls.

  • It has the finesse and reach properties (10 ft.).

  • On a hit, it deals damage equal to your Martial Arts die + Wisdom modifier, dealing either necrotic or radiant damage (choose when you manifest it).

  • On hit, you may choose to pull the creature 10 feet toward you or push it 10 feet away.

  • When the weapon fades, the red water falls to the ground like rain — silent and final.

While active, the weapon thrums faintly, echoing a heartbeat not your own. The lash remembers every strike.

Feature Type: Ki Channel / Bonus Action
Activation Time: 1 Bonus Action
Range: Melee (10 ft. reach)
Attack / Save: Melee Attack (Dex)
Damage / Effect: Martial Arts Die + WIS modifier (Necrotic or Radiant)
Duration: 3 rounds
Usage: 1 Ki Point

Description:
You draw the blood from your veins (or the veins of another) and shape it into a whip of divine violence. The whip counts as a monk weapon with finesse and reach. On a hit, you may pull or push the target up to 10 feet. When the weapon fades, the blood falls to the ground like rain — silent and final.

Level 6: The Vein Unbound

your command over blood deepens. The boundary between your will and Ravokh’s power begins to blur. 

  • When you hit a creature with your Blood Whip or an unarmed strike, you may spend 1 Ki to draw strength from the wound.
    • The attack deals extra necrotic or radiant damage equal to your Wisdom modifier (your choice).
    • You gain temporary hit points equal to half the total damage dealt.

  • When a creature dies from one of your attacks, you may spend 1 Ki to immediately strike again. The new target must be within reach of your weapon or unarmed strike.

Each kill feeds the current. Each heartbeat tightens Ravokh’s chain — and each time you feel the pulse, it grows harder to tell where you end and he begins.

Crimson Surge

When Ravokh’s will surges through you, your blood ignites with his divine malice. The veins in your arms darken and pulse with a crimson light, each heartbeat a drumbeat of violence. Your strikes carry the weight of decay — not fire, but the collapse of life itself.

While this surge flows through you:

  • Your Vein Unbound feature deals necrotic damage instead of radiant.

  • The wounds you inflict blacken and wither as Ravokh draws life from them.

  • Each hit channels a fragment of divine hunger, pulling at the target’s life essence.

When you activate The Vein Unbound and choose Crimson Surge, the god’s voice echoes in your pulse. Every drop of blood shed in his name strengthens your bond to him.

Mechanical Effect:

  • Damage Type: Necrotic

  • Adds Wisdom modifier necrotic damage to the triggering attack when spending Ki via The Vein Unbound.

  • Grants temporary hit points equal to half the total damage dealt.

Flavor Effect:

  • The monk’s body glows faintly from within — veins illuminated like molten lines, eyes blood-red, aura rippling with violent heat. The air around them smells of iron and ash.

Level 11: Stillness of the Veins

At this stage of devotion, the monk no longer needs to strike to kill. By will alone, they can still the blood within another’s body, halting motion, breath, and will itself.

When you hit a creature with your Blood Whip, unarmed strike, or Blood Knife, you may spend 2 Ki points to invoke Stillness of the Veins.
The target must make a Constitution saving throw (DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier).

  • On failure: the creature is Restrained until the end of your next turn.
    Their veins harden beneath their skin, locking muscles and breath in place.

  • On success: the creature resists, but still takes damage equal to your Wisdom modifier (necrotic).

While a creature is restrained by this feature, you may sense its heartbeat and location within 60 feet as long as you concentrate (as though concentrating on a spell).

Your lash’s reach extends to 15 feet.
When a creature enters that reach, you may make an immediate reaction attack with your whip or unarmed strike — Ravokh’s hand striking through you.

At higher levels, your mastery of this art grows until your command over life itself becomes divine law.

 

Your focus becomes absolute. You can command the pulse itself to stop.

  • When you hit a creature with your Blood Whip, you may spend 2 Ki points to still its heart.

  • The creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier) or become restrained until the end of your next turn.

  • On a success, the target still suffers damage equal to your Wisdom modifier.

  • Your whip’s reach increases to 15 feet.

  • When a creature enters that reach, you may make a reaction attack against it.

To face you is to feel one’s own blood hesitate in fear.

Level 3: Blood Claws of Ravokh

As a bonus action, you may spend 1 Ki point to shape your own blood into weapons of flesh and faith. Razor-thin tendrils coil over your fingers, extending into curved crimson claws.

  • These claws last for 1 minute.

  • They count as monk weapons for your Martial Arts feature.

  • You may use Dexterity for attack and damage rolls.

  • Each hit deals your Martial Arts die + Wisdom modifier in necrotic or radiant damage (choose when you manifest them).

  • If you score a critical hit, you regain 1 Ki point.

When the effect ends, the blood retracts back beneath your skin, leaving faint scars along your hands.

Level 6: Blood Knives of Ravokh

When the monk has mastered the stillness of their own blood, they learn to break it apart.
Through focus and sacrifice, the blood flows from their hands in thin arcs, forming knives made of blood. Each blade vibrates faintly before being thrown, singing a tone only the monk can hear — Ravokh’s approval.

As a bonus action, you may spend 1 Ki point to form up to two Blood Knives in your hands.
They last for 1 minute or until thrown.
You can throw them as part of the Attack action or as a bonus action if not already used.

Each knife counts as a monk weapon and uses Dexterity for attack and damage rolls.
They have the thrown (20/60 ft.) and finesse properties.

On a hit, a Blood Knife deals damage equal to your Martial Arts die + Wisdom modifier,
dealing necrotic or radiant damage (choose when you manifest them).

When the knives strike, they burst into a mist of red light, searing flesh and nerve.
If you kill a creature with one, you may immediately make another throw as part of the same action —
the god’s hand guiding the next blade.

When the effect ends, any unused knives melt into vapor, leaving faint red streaks along your arms like old scars.

You may spend 1 Ki point to form and throw up to two red knives as part of the Attack action.

  • The knives deal 1d6 + Wisdom modifier necrotic or radiant damage.

  • Their range is 30/60 feet.

  • They count as monk weapons.

  • On a critical hit, the target’s movement speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.

These blades leave a trail of red vapor that fades with the victim’s heartbeat.

Level 17: Ravokh’s Pulse

Once per long rest, when you enter combat, you may choose to awaken Ravokh’s Pulse. For 1 minute, your strikes hum with the rhythm of the chained god’s heart.

  • Your unarmed strikes and Blood Whip deal one additional Martial Arts die of necrotic or radiant damage (your choice).

  • When you reduce a creature to 0 HP, you regain 1 Ki point.

  • If you start your turn at 0 Ki points, regain 2 Ki points instead.

When the effect ends, you take 1 level of exhaustion.
The god’s heartbeat fades, leaving silence — and the smell of iron.

Alera_Thalen_Monk