Earthly Unarmed Styles

To be honest, I really made this subclass to cover some problems I had with some things about monks. I wanted to pull use out of their abilities as well as bring new ones to the table that make you think a bit more and throw yourself a bit farther into the depths of the subclass.

Earthly Styles

You may expend an ability score improvement to gain a feature in a level of the Unarmed Styles you have unlocked. For example a level 4 character could forego their ability score improvement to gain another feature from the Earthly Flow category, but not the Nature’s Clarity category.

Earthly Flow

Blue Style : Undertow. You have advantage on grappling a creature of the same size as you or smaller. When you grapple a creature, it is counted as restrained. You may make unarmed strikes while grappling a creature on subsequent turns.

Red Style : Flame Strikes. When using the Flurry of Blows feature, you may add an extra monk die fire damage to these strikes.

Green Style : Adamantine Muscles. When you take a hit, you may use this ability to block one martial arts die worth of damage.

White Style : Gust. When using the Patient Defense feature, you gain an extra 3 to your armor class, as well as the ability to make one attack as a reaction on a creature who has missed you with a melee attack.

Nature’s Clarity

Blue Style : Crashing Wave. You are as forceful as the waves crashing on the rocky shore. You gain the following grappling maneuvers.

Head Smash. You may use an attack action to try and stun a creature grappled by you. To do so, make another grapple check. If you succeed, the target must make a constitution saving throw against your monk save DC. If they fail, they are stunned and take one unarmed strike’s worth of damage. On a success, they are not stunned, and take half damage from the strike.

Wrist Grab. When you make a grapple check against a creature with humanoid forelimbs, as a bonus action you may attempt to lock their arms. If you are successful, the target may not make attacks with their arms, including weapons they are holding or natural weapons on their arms, like claws. You may grab one or two arms when you use this feature. If you restrain two limbs, the target has advantage on their contested check.

Red Style : Flickering Flame. When you are hit with an attack, you may take the disengage action immediately as an interrupt, as well as make one unarmed attack as a reaction. This attack counts as a Flurry of Blows attack. Additionally, all attacks originating from you deal fire damage equal to your wisdom modifier, on top of all other damage.

Green Style : Unmovable Mountain. Your body is as solid as the rock beneath you. You may spend 30 feet of movement to take the Planted effect. 

Planted. You can’t be knocked back or knocked prone by creatures up to one size larger than you, and you also gain an additional number of temporary hitpoints equal to your monk level, plus your Dexterity modifier.

White Style : Blink. The wind is your ally and movement is part of the wind. When you expend all of your movement and have not stepped on the same space twice during this movement, you may spend one ki point to gain an additional 15 foot blink to one space you can see within that range and may make one unarmed strike immediately.

 

 

I would like to credit Taking 20 for the ideas for the grappling maneuvers, I just hope I was able to give them a good place, since I don’t personally want to replace the Grappler feat, and I think this was a good use for them. - ABunchOfNumbers.

Warrior of the Earth

Blue Style : Water Mirror. You are one with your enemy. Using a reaction, you may copy the movements of one humanoid creature you can see; this creature has advantage on attacks against you, but you also gain advantage on attacks against this creature. Your grapple checks on this creature also give the creature disadvantage on their checks. This effect lasts one minute, until this creature is reduced to 0 hitpoints, or until you choose to end this effect. 

Red Style : Flashfire. The flames rage within you. You become resistant to fire damage, as well as have the ability to spend a bonus action to go into the Flashfire state.You can only use this ability once per short rest.

Flashfire. When in this state, your Flurry of Blows does one extra attack. You also are able to cast Scorching Ray by spending Ki points equal to the level of the spell (2). This state only lasts for one minute, until you are reduced to 0 hitpoints, or until you end it as a bonus action. 

Green Style : Breaking Boughs. The earth is your power. When a creature attacks you, you may make one attack immediately as a reaction. On a hit, this attack does an additional martial arts die worth of damage. Additionally, you may make an Earthbound attack by foregoing your attack action and spending 3 ki points.

Earthbound. Your strikes come with the strength of the earth, and all must return there one day. This attack cannot have advantage or disadvantage; you also have a -3 to this attack roll. If this attack hits, you slam your target to the ground with much force, dealing an additional 1d10 damage plus half your monk level rounded up, and knocking the target prone.

White Style : Tempest. The wind blows through you. When making two Flurry of Blows attacks against different creatures with 10 feet or more between them, you may make an additional attack against one of the two creatures. Additionally, your movement is swift and powerful, when running for more than 10 feet in a straight line, you gain an additional attack on the first creature struck, as well as advantage on dexterity saving throws until your next turn. All opportunity attacks against you have disadvantage after that 10 foot movement until the start of your next turn.

Ultimate Technique.

Blue Style : Bind of Pisces. You are the ocean, pulling your opponents down to the depths and drowning them. When grappling a creature, you can spend an attack to deal damage equal to one martial arts die, plus half your monk level. Additionally, you can instead make another grapple check to put the target into a choke hold. Also, if a target is knocked unconscious in your grapple, you may immediately make an athletics check against them to attempt to break their neck. The DC is 12 + the targets constitution modifier.

Choke Hold. When you put the target into a choke hold, the target has three rounds to escape. If they fail to escape the grapple for all three rounds, the target is knocked unconscious. The save is your monk save DC.

Red Style : Will-O’-the-Wisp. You are the flames themselves, your strikes are deadly, and your defence is the fear of being burnt. When an enemy hits you with a melee attack they take 4d4 fire damage that the target can’t be immune or resistant to. When you hit a target with a melee attack and reduce that target to 0 hitpoints, you may immediately make another attack.

Green Style : Indestructible. You are the stones, trees, and metals, you are the earth and all its fortitude and power. When reduced to 0 hitpoints, you may make a constitution saving throw, DC 14. On a success, you instead are restored to  your monk level + your Constitution modifier + 5 hitpoints, and may immediately take one attack action. This can only be used once per short rest.

White Style : Change of Scenery. You are the wind and you are one with the tempests and the tornadoes. When a target makes an attack against you and misses, you may spend your reaction as well as your next turns bonus action, to make a Change of Scenery attack against the target. If this attack lands and deals more than 15 damage, the target is knocked prone, you take an immediate disengage action, and you may move up to 10 feet.

Change of Scenery. You throw the target to the ground with ease, dealing normal damage for your unarmed strike, plus an additional 3d8 force damage.