Base Class: Monk
Warrior of the Lunar Kata
Warriors of the Moonlit Blade practice a sacred martial tradition descended from the sword-dances and moonlit rites of Eilistraee.
What began as an expression of faith has become a disciplined monastic path in which movement, meditation, magic, and steel are treated as parts of the same art.
The Sacred Dance
A Warrior of the Moonlit Blade does not fight through strength alone. Every step, turn, and strike is practiced until weapon and wielder move as one.
Through meditation, these warriors learn to enter a heightened trance and guide their chosen weapons through Wisdom and instinct.
Moonlit Magic
As their discipline deepens, Warriors of the Moonlit Blade learn to wield divine and natural magic drawn from the Cleric and Druid spell lists.
Their martial training eventually allows them to weave spellcasting directly into combat and channel moonlight through their weapons.
The Kata
Masters of the tradition learn supernatural martial forms called kata.
These techniques transform movement itself into a weapon, culminating in the legendary Moonfall Kata.
Level 3: Sacred Dance Weapon
Sacred Dance Weapon
Your training teaches you to wield certain weapons as extensions of your monastic discipline.
Choose one type of melee weapon that lacks the Heavy property. You gain proficiency with that weapon if you don't already have it.
The chosen weapon is a Monk weapon for you, regardless of whether it would normally qualify as one.
Additional Weapons
As your training advances, you can choose one additional Sacred Dance Weapon at the following Monk levels:
- 6th level: One additional weapon
- 11th level: One additional weapon
- 17th level: One additional weapon
Each weapon you choose must meet the requirements above. Choosing an additional weapon doesn't replace any of your previous Sacred Dance Weapon choices.
This gives us a maximum of four Sacred Dance Weapon types at Monk 17.
Level 6: Lunar Blade
Spell and Steel
While your Trance State is active, when you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with the casting of one cantrip you know through your Spellcasting feature.
The cantrip must have a casting time of an Action.
Moonbeam
You always have Moonbeam prepared. It doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare through your Spellcasting feature.
You can cast Moonbeam once without expending a spell slot, even if you don’t yet have a spell slot of the level at which this feature casts it. You regain this special use when you finish a Long Rest.
You can also cast Moonbeam normally using any spell slot of the appropriate level.
Lunar Blade Moonbeam
The special casting of Moonbeam granted by this feature improves as you gain Monk levels:
- 6th Level: Cast at 2nd level.
- 9th Level: Cast at 3rd level.
- 11th Level: Moonbeam cast through this feature no longer requires Concentration.
- 17th Level: Cast at 4th level.
Level 11: Kata of the Crescent Moon
ata of the Crescent Moon
While your Trance State is active and you are wielding a Sacred Dance Weapon, you can use your Action and expend 3 Focus Points to perform this kata.
You move up to your Speed. During this movement:
- You don't provoke Opportunity Attacks.
- You can move through the spaces of hostile creatures.
- Those creatures' spaces don't count as Difficult Terrain for this movement.
- You must end this movement in an unoccupied space you can occupy.
- A creature can be affected by this kata only once each time you use it.
Crescent Strike
Each affected creature makes a Dexterity saving throw against your Focus save DC.
The kata deals 4d6 damage to each affected creature, increasing by 1d6 for each creature beyond the first affected by the kata, to a maximum of 8d6.
A creature takes half as much damage on a successful save.
Example: If you move through three creatures, each creature is subjected to 6d6 damage.
Level 17: Moonfall Kata
While your Trance State is active and you are wielding a Sacred Dance Weapon, you can use a Bonus Action and expend 4 Focus Points to enter the Moonfall Kata for 1 minute.
While the kata lasts, whenever you hit a creature with a Sacred Dance Weapon, the attack deals an additional 4d8 Radiant damage.
Moonfall Kata ends early if your Trance State ends.
Level 6: Lunar Blade: Eilistraee’s Moonbeam
You always have Moonbeam prepared. It counts as a known spell for you and doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare through your Spellcasting feature.
You can cast Moonbeam once at 2nd level without expending a spell slot. You regain this special use when you finish a Short Rest.
You can also cast Moonbeam normally using your spell slots.
At 9th level, the special casting of Moonbeam granted by this feature is cast at 3rd level instead of 2nd level.
Level 11: Lunar Blade: Unbound Moonbeam
Your command of lunar magic deepens.
When you cast Moonbeam using the special casting granted by Lunar Blade, the spell doesn’t require Concentration.
The spell is still cast at 3rd level, and you regain this special casting when you finish a Short Rest.
Moonbeam cast normally using your spell slots still requires Concentration.
Level 3: Trance State
Description
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Trance State
As a Bonus Action, you enter a heightened state of martial focus that lasts for 1 minute.
While the trance lasts, you can use your Wisdom modifier instead of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls of:
- Your Unarmed Strikes
- Your Sacred Dance Weapons
You choose which modifier to use whenever you make the attack.
Ending the Trance
Your Trance State ends early if any of the following occurs:
- You have the Incapacitated condition.
- You are reduced to 0 Hit Points.
- You equip armor.
- You equip a Shield.
- You end the trance voluntarily. No action is required.
Uses
You can enter your Trance State a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.
Level 3: Spellcasting
Spellcasting
Your study of sacred martial forms has awakened an ability to channel divine and primal magic.
You use the Cleric and Druid spell lists when preparing spells with this feature.
Spell Slots
The Warrior of the Lunar Kata Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your level 1+ spells. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a Long Rest.
Prepared Spells
You prepare the list of level 1+ spells that are available for you to cast with this feature, choosing from the Cleric and Druid spell lists.
The spells you prepare must be of a level for which you have spell slots from this subclass.
Spellcasting Ability
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for spells you cast through this subclass.
Spellcasting Focus
You can use a Sacred Dance Weapon as a Spellcasting Focus for spells you cast through this subclass.
True Strike
You know the True Strike cantrip. It doesn't count against the number of cantrips you know through this subclass.
Pact Weapon
This hidden feature enables the weapon-selection backend used by Trance State for eligible Two-Handed Sacred Dance Weapons.
Trance State
Internal helper feature used to apply the Wisdom-based attack and damage effects of Trance State.
Trance Active
Select this option while your Trance State is active. Deselect it when your Trance State ends.
Hex Warrior
This hidden feature enables the weapon-selection backend used by Trance State. It has no independent rules effect.
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Posted Aug 1, 2026Warrior of the Lunar Kata
A 2024 Monk subclass playtest inspired by the sword-dancing traditions of Eilistraee, blending sacred weapons, trance, limited spellcasting, and supernatural kata.
This is an active playtest build, and I’m looking for constructive feedback on balance, action economy, and how the subclass feels in actual play.
Class mechanics and writing were created by hand. The presentation art uses AI assistance.
Warrior of the Lunar Kata — Playtest Monk Subclass
This is my first serious attempt at building a subclass from the ground up and then forcing D&D Beyond to actually support it, which turned out to be a second, entirely separate boss encounter.
Warrior of the Lunar Kata is currently a playtest subclass, not something I consider finished or perfectly balanced. I’m posting it because I want useful criticism from people who will actually look at how the pieces interact rather than simply judging an isolated damage number.
The subclass grew out of the sword-dancing traditions associated with Eilistraee. The basic idea was a Monk whose martial discipline blends weapon forms, meditation, divine and primal magic, and increasingly supernatural kata.
At 3rd level, the subclass establishes its three main systems: Sacred Dance Weapons, Trance State, and Spellcasting. Sacred Dance Weapon expands the Monk’s weapon options without opening the door to Heavy weapons. Trance State is the core combat stance, allowing Wisdom to replace Strength or Dexterity for attacks and damage with Sacred Dance Weapons and Unarmed Strikes. Spellcasting uses the one-third-caster progression, with Wisdom as the casting ability and access to the Cleric and Druid spell lists.
At 6th level, Lunar Blade begins blending martial attacks and spellcasting together. The subclass also gains its special relationship with Moonbeam, including a free casting that improves as Monk levels increase.
At higher levels, the subclass begins learning its namesake kata. Kata of the Crescent Moon turns movement through the battlefield into an offensive technique, while Moonfall Kata is the high-level offensive culmination of the style.
The current D&D Beyond implementation reflects that overall feature progression, although the export also exposes a few ugly helper features such as Hex Warrior, Pact Weapon, and the secondary Trance State. Those exist purely because D&D Beyond doesn't natively support everything this subclass asks it to do.
Using Warrior of the Lunar Kata on D&D Beyond
A few mechanics require some manual interaction with the character sheet.
Sacred Dance Weapon. Choose your Sacred Dance Weapon when prompted. When Trance State is active, select Trance Active on the character sheet and designate the appropriate Sacred Dance Weapon using the available Hex Weapon or Pact Weapon option. This is backend scaffolding, not an actual Hexblade/Pact feature. It allows D&D Beyond to calculate the weapon using Wisdom for both its attack and damage rolls.
Unarmed Strikes. While Trance State is active, use the Trance Unarmed Strike attack entry when you want your Unarmed Strike to use Wisdom. This exists because D&D Beyond cannot simply toggle the normal Monk Unarmed Strike between Dexterity and Wisdom.
Moonbeam. At 6th level, the subclass gains a special casting of Moonbeam that can be used once per Short Rest without expending a spell slot. At 9th level, that special casting becomes a 3rd-level casting. Depending on how D&D Beyond displays the spell entries, you may see both versions. They represent the same special use, not two separate free castings. Use the highest version available for your Monk level.
At 11th level, the special Lunar Blade casting of Moonbeam no longer requires Concentration. Moonbeam cast normally with your spell slots still follows the spell's normal Concentration rules.
Focus Points. D&D Beyond currently cannot make subclass actions automatically deduct points from the Monk's existing Focus Point pool. Kata of the Crescent Moon costs 3 Focus Points, and Moonfall Kata costs 4 Focus Points. Deduct those manually when the feature is used.
What I'm Looking For From Playtesting
I'm particularly interested in feedback on actual play rather than white-room optimization: whether Trance State feels worth activating, whether the Sacred Dance Weapon system creates problematic weapon combinations, whether full Cleric/Druid spell access is appropriately constrained by the one-third-caster progression and prepared-spell limits, whether Lunar Blade creates interesting turns without making the normal Monk attack routine irrelevant, whether the Short Rest Moonbeam is too frequent or feels appropriate, and whether the Focus Point costs and damage of the two kata feel right at levels 11 and 17.
I'm also interested in action economy. One of the goals is for the subclass to have meaningful choices between normal Monk tools, spellcasting, and kata rather than having one obviously correct rotation every turn.
If something looks overtuned, undertuned, exploitable, confusing, or simply miserable to use at the table, that's exactly the sort of feedback I'm looking for. This is a test-play version, and mechanics are expected to change as it gets played.
Art / AI Disclosure
The subclass itself was designed and built by hand, including the mechanics, feature progression, wording, balancing decisions, and the fairly ridiculous amount of work required to implement it in D&D Beyond.
The presentation image used for the post was created with AI assistance. It is there to give the playtest material a visual identity and is not being presented as hand-drawn artwork.