Way of the Cobalt Mercy

Monks of the Way of the Cobalt Mercy believe that understanding the body is the first step toward mastering it. They study anatomy, pressure points, spiritual pathways, psychology, and combat with equal intensity.

To these monks, knowledge is both medicine and weapon. A single touch can mend shattered flesh, disable an enemy's nerves, or reveal weaknesses hidden beneath supernatural defenses.

Their philosophy is simple:

Understand. Adapt. Heal what can be saved. Break what cannot.

Hands of Knowledge

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your study of medicine and anatomy grants you proficiency in Insight and Medicine.

If you already have proficiency in either skill, you instead gain proficiency in one of the following skills:

• Arcana
• History
• Investigation
• Nature
• Religion

Additionally, whenever you make an Insight, Investigation, or Medicine check, you may use your Wisdom modifier instead of the ability modifier normally used for the check.

Hand of Mercy

You learn to manipulate the flow of life energy through a creature's body.

Healing Hand

When you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can replace the attack's damage with healing.

The creature regains Hit Points equal to:

One roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.

You must expend 1 Focus Point to use this ability.

You can also use Healing Hand as part of your Flurry of Blows, replacing one of the attacks without spending an additional Focus Point beyond the Focus Point used for Flurry of Blows.

A creature can benefit from Healing Hand only once per turn.

Harmful Hand

Once per turn when you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can expend 1 Focus Point to strike one of the creature's vulnerable pressure points.

The attack deals additional Necrotic damage equal to:

One roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.

This additional damage ignores Resistance to Necrotic damage.

Harming Hand

Once per turn when you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can expend 1 Focus Point to strike one of the creature's vulnerable pressure points.

The attack deals additional Necrotic damage equal to:

One roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.

This additional damage ignores Resistance to Necrotic damage.

Healing Hand

When you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can replace the attack's damage with healing.

The creature regains Hit Points equal to:

One roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.

You must expend 1 Focus Point to use this ability.

You can also use Healing Hand as part of your Flurry of Blows, replacing one of the attacks without spending an additional Focus Point beyond the Focus Point used for Flurry of Blows.

A creature can benefit from Healing Hand only once per turn.

Extract Weakness

Whenever you hit a creature with one or more attacks during your turn, you can carefully analyze its movements.

At the end of your turn, choose one creature you hit. You immediately learn whether the creature has any:

• Damage Immunities
• Damage Resistances
• Damage Vulnerabilities

You don't automatically learn every entry. Instead, choose one damage type that you dealt to the creature that turn. You learn whether the creature is Immune, Resistant, Vulnerable, or normally affected by that damage type.

Once you have analyzed a creature in this way, you may analyze an additional damage type each time you hit it on later turns.

You remember this information permanently unless the creature's abilities change.

Anatomical Exploitation

Your study of an opponent's body allows you to immediately capitalize on discovered weaknesses.

Whenever you use Extract Weakness on a creature, you can mark it as an Analyzed Target for 1 minute.

You may have only one Analyzed Target at a time.

Against your Analyzed Target:

• Your Unarmed Strikes count as magical for overcoming resistance and immunity.
• You gain a +1 bonus to your Armor Class against attacks made by that creature.
• The creature cannot gain Advantage on attacks against you merely because it is unseen.
• You have Advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks made against it.

Additionally, whenever your Analyzed Target misses you with a melee attack, you can use your Reaction to make one Unarmed Strike against it.

If that strike hits, you can choose to deal no damage and instead force the target to make a Constitution saving throw against your Focus save DC.

On a failure, choose one:

• Disrupt: The creature can't take Reactions until the beginning of its next turn.
• Off-Balance: The next attack roll made against the creature before the beginning of its next turn has Advantage.
• Nerve Strike: The creature's Speed is reduced by 10 feet until the beginning of its next turn.

Physician's Touch

Your Healing Hand becomes capable of purging harmful conditions.

Whenever you restore Hit Points to a creature using Healing Hand, you can also end one of the following conditions affecting it:

• Blinded
• Deafened
• Paralyzed
• Poisoned
• Stunned

Alternatively, you can end one disease affecting the target.

You can remove only one condition or disease per use of Healing Hand.

Cobalt Flurry

You have learned to seamlessly combine observation, healing, and destruction.

Whenever you use Flurry of Blows, you can use Healing Hand or Harmful Hand once during that Flurry without spending the Focus Point normally required for that feature.

You can still use only one free use of either feature per Flurry.

Additionally, when you hit your Analyzed Target with an Unarmed Strike during Flurry of Blows, you can choose to apply one of the following effects:

Pressure Point

The target has Disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes before the beginning of your next turn.

Disorienting Blow

The target cannot make Opportunity Attacks until the beginning of your next turn.

Open Guard

The next creature other than you that hits the target before the beginning of your next turn deals additional damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die.

You may apply only one of these effects to a creature per turn.

Mind of the Archivist

Your ability to read others has reached an almost supernatural level.

You gain proficiency in Investigation. If you already have proficiency, you gain Expertise instead.

Additionally, after speaking with or observing a creature for at least 1 minute, you can make a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by its Charisma (Deception) check.

On a success, you learn one of the following pieces of information of your choice:

• Whether it is deliberately lying to you.
• Its strongest current emotional state.
• Whether it is frightened of a particular creature or object present.
• Whether it intends to attack you within the immediate future.
• One bond, ideal, or motivation it has revealed through its behavior.

This feature doesn't allow you to read thoughts. It represents extraordinary observation and deduction.

Perfect Understanding

Your mastery of anatomy, ki, and observation allows you to dismantle an enemy almost as quickly as you can understand them.

When you designate a creature as your Analyzed Target, you can enter a state of Perfect Understanding for 1 minute.

While Perfect Understanding is active:

• Your attacks against the target ignore Resistance to Bludgeoning, Necrotic, Radiant, and Force damage.
• When you hit the target with an Unarmed Strike, you may change the attack's damage type to Bludgeoning, Force, Necrotic, or Radiant.
• You gain Advantage on saving throws caused by the target.
• Your Reaction attack from Anatomical Exploitation has Advantage.
• Whenever you use Harmful Hand, you roll two Martial Arts dice instead of one for its additional damage.
• Whenever you use Healing Hand, you roll two Martial Arts dice instead of one for its healing.

Additionally, once on each of your turns when you hit your Analyzed Target, you can force it to make a Constitution saving throw against your Focus save DC.

On a failed save, choose one effect:

• Severed Response: It can't take Reactions until the start of your next turn.
• Crippled Movement: Its Speed becomes 0 until the start of your next turn.
• Broken Focus: It has Disadvantage on Constitution saving throws made to maintain Concentration until the start of your next turn.
• Exposed Defense: The next attack made against it before the start of your next turn has Advantage.

Once Perfect Understanding ends, you can't activate it again until you finish a Long Rest, unless you expend 4 Focus Points to use it again.