Monks of the Way of the Dripping Blade believe the weapon is an extension of the body. To practice what they preach, they undergo a ritualistic sacrifice of their hand for their weapon. By cutting off the hand, they channel their ki through the opened wound, and fuse their weapon to the stump. These monks can certainly be mistaken for berserkers, but their moves are not just unbridled fury like a barbarian, and not just calculated like a rogue's. Their monasteries tend to have one core tenant: The strong survive. These monasteries tend to be places where sellswords and brigands will gather, for mercenaries are sure to find like-minded company in a monastery of the Dripping Blade.

One with your Weapon

At 3rd level, you learn a ritual that creates a ki-empowered bond between yourself and one of three types of weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you attach the weapon and forge the bond. Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are unconscious. Being disarmed in this way requires removal of the limb. Your bonded weapon counts as an unarmed strike. You will only have one hand to manipulate objects.

When you do this, you may choose a damage type according to the weapon. These types are Bludgeoning, Slashing, and Piercing. This weapon type will grant certain bonuses to augment your fighting style:

• Bludgeoning: When you use your stunning strike ability, you can spend an additional ki point to force the target to make the saving throw with disadvantage.
• Piercing: When your unarmed strike deals damage, you can spend a ki point to lunge at the target, initiating a grapple check. This does not take one of your attacks for the turn.
• Slashing: When you are the target of a melee attack, you can spend a ki point to add 5 to your AC until the start of your next turn.

Crippling Blows

At 6th level, you gain the ability to press an assault beyond the average combatant. When you have made a successful melee attack against a foe, you can spend a ki point to add an additional effect to your strike. Your Ki-Empowered Strikes feature extends to any weapon you are bonded with.

• Bludgeoning: When you hit a stunned target, you can deal an amount of damage equal to your Proficiency bonus, and the force of your blow will knock the target prone. 
• Passive: When you hit a target who is prone with a melee attack, you deal an additional amount of damage equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

• Piercing: If the target is grappled by you, you can force another grapple check on them. If you are successful, the target is restrained. This lasts until the grapple is broken. 
• Passive: When a creature grappled by you is freed, you can make a melee attack against it as a reaction.

• Slashing: At the start of the victim's next turn, they must make a Constitution saving throw, or take an amount of damage equal to your Proficiency bonus plus half your monk level, or half on a success.
• Passive: Your "One with your Weapon" feature now gives the creature that caused the reaction disadvantage on remaining attacks against you as well.

Call of Savagery

Your savagery knows no bounds, and your mastery over the extension of your body is peerless.

• Bludgeoning: When you target a prone creature with a melee attack, you have an expanded critical range of 19-20.
• Passive: When you critically hit a target who is prone with a melee attack, you can add an additional martial arts die to the damage.

• Piercing: If the target is grappled by you, you can force another grapple check on them. If you are successful, the target is restrained. This lasts until the grapple is broken. 
• Passive: You can grapple a creature up to Huge size. A creature grappled while two sizes larger than you is reduced to half speed, rather than 0.

• Slashing: When a creature within reach of you is targeted by an attack, you can use your reaction to attack in tandem, granting advantage, or hinder the attack by granting it disadvantage.
• Passive: When you take Patient Defense, you can lash out with a melee attack against the attacker, if the attack misses you. This does not consume your reaction.

One without Mercy

Your savagery knows no bounds, and your mastery over the extension of your body is peerless.

• Bludgeoning: When a target who is both prone and stunned recovers from being stunned, you can spend one ki point to make a melee attack against them as they recover without using a reaction. If they stand up from prone, you can make another melee attack against them with your bonded weapon as a reaction.
• Passive: When a target dies within one minute after being stunned by you, you gain one ki point.

• Piercing: A grappled and restrained target who breaks out of your grapple does so at a cost. You can spend one ki point to stab at them repeatedly to reduce their speed to 0 until the end of your next turn, or deal an amount of damage equal to your monk level.
• Passive: When a target dies within one minute after being restrained by your grapple, you gain one ki point.

• Slashing: When you grant a creature advantage with "Call of Savagery" you can spend a ki point to attack the target as well. When you grant a creature disadvantage, you can spend a ki point to allow the target to make an attack as a reaction.
• Passive: You can take one reaction on each turn of combat.