Way of the Elemental Dance — D&D 5.5e (2024 Rules)

Monks who follow the Way of the Elemental Dance achieve balance with the five primal forces that shape reality: air, earth, fire, nature, and water. Through disciplined meditation and rigorous physical training, these monks channel the five primal elements through their Focus, weaving them into a fluid and devastating martial style.

3rd Level: Elemental Attunement

You learn to channel the elemental forces through your strikes.

• Primal Utility: You learn the control flames, druidcraft, gust, mold earth, and shape water cantrips. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. You can cast these cantrips even while your hands are occupied with monk weapons or other objects.

• Elemental Strikes: When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can replace its damage type with acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage (your choice for each attack). Additionally, when you spend 1 Focus Point to use Flurry of Blows, your unarmed strikes for that turn deal an extra 1d4 damage of the chosen type. This extra damage increases to 1d6 at 11th level.

6th Level: Dance of Elements

As a bonus action, you can spend 1 Focus Point to adopt an elemental stance for 1 minute. You can have only one elemental stance active at a time. Switching stances requires a bonus action and 1 Focus Point.

• Air Stance: Your jump distance is tripled, and your movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.

• Earth Stance: At the start of each of your turns, if you have no temporary hit points, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1).

• Fire Stance: Once on each of your turns, when you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can deal extra fire damage equal to your Wisdom modifier to that creature.

• Nature Stance: You can communicate simple ideas with beasts and plants. You ignore nonmagical difficult terrain. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against poison and being diseased.

• Water Stance: You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed, can breathe underwater, and gain a +1 bonus to your AC.

11th Level: Elemental Fury

When you use Flurry of Blows, you can spend 1 extra Focus Point (2 total) to replace one of the Flurry attacks with an elemental technique:

• Cyclone Strike (Air + Water): Each creature of your choice within 5 feet of you must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your Focus Save DC or be pushed up to 10 feet away from you.

• Lightning Torrent (Air + Fire): You unleash lightning in a 15-foot line that originates from you and is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Focus Save DC, taking lightning damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die on a failed save, or half as much on a success.

• Renewal Rain (Nature + Water): You conjure a soothing rain in a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you can see within 15 feet of you. Each creature of your choice in the area regains hit points equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.

• Thornwhip Assault (Nature + Earth): Thorny vines erupt from your outstretched hand toward one creature you can see within 15 feet of you. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your Focus Save DC or be pulled up to 15 feet straight toward you. If it is pulled, you can immediately make one unarmed strike against it as part of this technique.

• Volcanic Fist (Fire + Earth): You strike with igneous force. The target takes extra fire damage equal to 2 rolls of your Martial Arts die and its speed is reduced by 10 feet until the end of its next turn.

17th Level: Avatar of Elements

You achieve mastery over the five primal forces. Your body becomes a living conduit for the primal elements, shifting effortlessly between their forms.

• Elemental Resistance: You gain resistance to your choice of two of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder. You can change your choices whenever you finish a long rest.

• Elemental Embodiment: As an action, you can spend 4 Focus Points to enter an elemental state for 1 minute.

  While active, you gain the following benefits:

  • Elemental Aura. Elemental energy surrounds you, shedding bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet.
  • Dual Elemental Stances. You gain the benefits of two Dance of Elements stances simultaneously.
  • Empowered Strikes. Your unarmed strikes deal acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage (your choice for each attack).
  • Elemental Mastery. Once on each of your turns, when you deal elemental damage with an unarmed strike or your Elemental Fury feature, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest unless you spend 5 Focus Points to activate it again.