Way of the Divine Blade (2024)

Monks of this order are far and few between. Instead of a monastery, most would liken their place of training to a dojo. There are usually less than three students, only one of which can be deemed the successor to the current master of the dojo. Their focus is purely on mastering the blade, and nothing more; there are no enemies, only opponents to help hone your skills. Monks of the same dojo rarely enter battle in tandem, preferring to hone their skills on their own to surpass their peers, and eventually be named the master's successor. However, it is strictly forbidden for students to knowingly slay each other, unless it is condoned by the current master. While there is no room for allegiance or bias towards outside factions or conflicts, monks of this order aren't above serving as mercenaries or assassins, if it will lead them to worthy duels. Monks of this order want little in the way of worldly possessions - but they prize their blades highly and are known to seek out powerful weapons.

Should a monk of this order stray from their dedication to the blade, or begin to use their skills for self-serving agendas or conflicts, it is not unheard of for their own master to strike them down. Every few generations a dissenting student might slay their master who attempted to strike them down - this often results in the dissenting student taking on new students of their own and forming their own dojo.

This subclass was largely inspired by classic ronin fantasy archetypes from anime & pop culture, such as Sword of the Stranger, Vagabond, Rurouni Kenshin, Ninja Scroll, Afro Samurai, Samurai Jack, Moribito, Samurai Champloo, Bleach, Demon Slayer, Ghost of Tsushima, 47 Ronin, Ninja Gaiden, and many others.

Disciple of the Blade

Weapon of Choice - you gain Proficiency and Weapon Mastery in one of the following Martial weapons: katana (longsword), tai chi (rapier), wushu dao (scimitar), urumi (flexible sword, re-flavored whip), masakari (battleaxe), or jumonji yari (trident). Your weapon of choice gains the Light property when wielded by you and is considered a Monk weapon. Your weapon choice can be changed each time you gain a Monk level.

Spinning Strike - as a Bonus Action, after taking the Attack action with your bladed weapon or after using a Warrior's Spirit spell with a casting time of an Action, you can make a one-handed melee weapon Attack.

Flurry of Blades - as a Bonus Action you can spend 1 Focus Point to make two one-handed melee weapon attacks. At Monk level 10, this increases to three one-handed attacks.

Warrior's Spirit - You learn the Blade Ward, Booming Blade, Green-flame Blade, Sword Burst, or True Strike cantrip; you can also expend Focus Points to cast the following spells without material components (if a spell requires a spell attack roll or saving throw, Wisdom is your spell casting ability). You can change your cantrip choice each time you gain a Monk level.

 

MONK LEVEL	SPELL	FOCUS POINTS
3rd	divine favor	1
5th	mirror image	2
9th	fly	4
13th	conjure minor elementals	6
17th	steel wind strike	8

Blade Mastery

Dueling fighting style - when you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Impossible Cut - before making a melee Weapon Attack You can spend 2 Focus Points to reduce the AC of a non-wielded, non-magical object by 5. You are skilled enough to attempt this on 1 inch of steel, 2 inches of iron, 2 inches of stone, or 4 inches of wood.

Blade Catching - When both of your hands are empty, you can use the Deflect Attacks feature in a different way against melee weapons. If you reduce the weapon's damage to 0 and your attacker is Large or smaller, you can use 1 Focus Point to disarm the attacker. The attacker must make a Strength or Dexterity Saving Throw (whichever is higher) against your Monk Focus DC; you can use 1 additional Focus Point to impose Disadvantage on their Saving Throw, which must be declared before the roll. On a failure, the weapon is now wielded by you or is harmlessly tossed 10 feet to the left or right of your space (your choice); on a success, the creature retains its weapon but has lost one of its unused attacks for the current round.

Slayer's Gaze

As an Action you can expend 3 Focus Points to target a creature with your Slayer's Gaze. The creature must be within 30 feet of you, must be Large or smaller, and you must both be able to see each other.

The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Focus Save DC; the target makes this save with Disadvantage if they have less than half of their hit points, or if they have seen you deal the killing blow to one of their allies during the last 24 hours.

On a failed save the target is Frightened of you until the combat ends, until it successfully lands an Attack against you, or until you are rendered unconscious. They are also stunned until the end of your next turn.

On a successful save the target is not stunned, but is frightened of you until the end of its next turn.

Any creature that has been targeted by this ability cannot be affected by it again for the next 24 hours.

Decisive Duel

Once per dawn, as a Bonus Action you can expend 5 Focus Points to declare a duel with another creature. The target must be Large or smaller, within 60 feet of you, and within line of sight. The target must make a Charisma Saving Throw against your Focus DC or the following conditions are set for your duel (your target is also immediately aware of the rules); the target can also choose to fail. If the target succeeds on their Saving Throw the duel is not established, but the target has Disadvantage on Attack rolls against you for 1 minute, until you leave their line of sight, or until you are rendered unconscious.

Terms of the Duel:

1. If either duelist attempts to abandon the duel (willingly ends a turn more than 30 feet away from the opponent) a Wisdom saving throw is provoked against your Focus DC. The abandoning duelist suffers 8d6 Psychic damage (half on a success) which cannot be reduced in any way and has Disadvantage on all Attack rolls and Concentration checks until the next Dawn.
2. Both duelists have Disadvantage on Attack rolls against all other creatures while engaged in the duel; attacking other creatures provokes an Opportunity Attack from that creature and the other duelist if they are within melee range.
3. Your initiative placement increases to be immediately after your target, or decreases to be immediately before them.