Since most water bending abilities require water, many Water Bending monks carry water with them, in vials or jugs carried on their back.

One with Water

As an action you can manipulate water within 120 feet of you that fits within a 5-foot cube.

• You can collect water from any number of sources within 120 feet of you. The water need not be all in one place but cannot move through barriers. The water converges into a simple shape of your choice floating within 5 feet of you.
• You instantaneously move or otherwise change the flow of the water as you direct, up to 5 feet in any direction. This movement doesn’t have enough force to cause damage.
• You cause the water to form into simple shapes and animate at your direction.
• You freeze or unfreeze the water, provided that there are no creatures in it. The water unfreezes in 10 minutes.

Bending Technique

Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can manipulate streams of water and ice. When you gain this feature, you learn three Bending Technique options of your choice (see “Bending Technique Options” below).

You also gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack action. This special attack is one of your Bending Technique options, you are proficient with it, and you add your Dexterity modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is decided based on the technique and its die is a d4. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.

When you take the Attack action on your turn and use this special attack as part of it, you can spend 1 ki point to make the special attack twice as a bonus action.

When you gain the Extra Attack feature, this special attack can be used for any of the attacks you make as part of the Attack action.

Starting at 6th level this attack is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

You gain an additional Bending Technique option of your choice when you reach certain levels in this class: 6th, 11th, and 17th. Each option also improves when you become an 11th and 17th-level monk.

Water Healing

At 6th level, you can channel your ki to use water to heal wounds. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to cause a target you are touching to gain hit points equal to your monk level.

You can spend additional ki points and rounds to increase this healing. Each additional ki point spent on the same turn increases the healing by 1d6 + your Wisdom modifier and you can spend additional ki points on subsequent rounds to take this action again. 

Improved Water Bending

At 11th level, with your increased mastery and control over water and ice and all their forms, you can choose two of the following eight advanced Bending Techniques. You can select an extra option at level 17. 

 

 

Breath of Ice

As an action, you can spend 4 ki points, and a blast of cold mist erupts from your mouth. Each creature in a 45-foot cone must make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes 6d8 cold damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

A creature killed by this spell becomes a frozen statue until it thaws.

Cloak of Water

You can spend 3 ki points and concentrate to have water or ice (your choice) encase your body, and you gain the following benefits for the duration of 10 minutes:

• If water, you are immune to acid damage and have resistance to fire damage. If ice, you are immune to cold damage and have resistance to fire damage.
• If water, you can move across or in water without spending extra movement. If ice, you can move across difficult terrain created by ice or snow without spending extra movement.
• If water, you can spend 5 feet of movement to automatically escape from nonmagical restraints, such as manacles or a creature that has you grappled. If ice, the ground in a 5-foot radius around you is icy and is difficult terrain for creatures other than you. The radius moves with you.
• You can spend 1 ki point to change between water or ice as your cloak.

Ice Floor

You can now create a sheet of ice to hamper your foes' movements. As an action you can spend 3 ki points and create up to a 30-foot-radius sheet of ice centered on a point you can see within 120 feet of you. Creatures that move on the ice must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone. The ice is considered difficult terrain and melts after 1 hour.

Additionally, you learn how to create spikes from ice. As a bonus action you can choose a target creature within 5 feet of ice and spend 1 ki point. That creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save they take 4d6 damage and are knocked prone, and on a successful one they take half as much damage and are not knocked prone.

Octopus Form

You learn to create multiple water extensions from your arms, extending your reach and capabilities and supplementing your defense. After spending a bonus action and 5 ki points and while maintaining concentration, you gain the following benefits:

• Benefits of the Water Arms, Bending Technique
• Benefits of the Cloak of Water, Bending Technique
• You can use your reaction to gain a +2 bonus to AC and make a water arm attack against a creature within range.
• Immediately after you use the Attack action with your water arms on your turn, you can make two extra attacks with your water arms as a bonus action. This increases to three at 17th level.

You can spend 1 ki point at the start of your next turn to continue this effect. Otherwise the effects end and any creatures currently grappled by you automatically escape. You also cannot use other bending techniques besides this one while it is active.

Water Arms

You learn to create water extensions from your arms, extending your reach and capabilities. After spending a bonus action and 2 ki points and you can concentrate and gain the following benefits for 10 minutes:

• You can use your Wisdom modifier in place of your Strength modifier when making Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• The water arms are monk weapons and have a reach of 10 feet. When you attack with the arms, you can use your Wisdom modifier instead of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls.
• When you hit a large or smaller creature with an unarmed strike you can grapple the target instead of rolling for damage. The escape DC is equal to your ki save DC.
• If you are grappling a large or smaller creature you can spend a bonus action to cause the grappled creature to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save they are knocked prone and pulled up to 5 feet towards you.

Water Bubble

You can spend 3 ki points and concentrate to conjure a globe of water with a 30 foot radius that can contain two Large or eight medium and smaller creatures, with enough air within for 8 hours of breathing. The bubble can be moved by half the movement speed of one creature within it. The bubble provides total cover to all creatures inside and outside the bubble. The walls of this bubble have an AC of 8 and 50 hit points and resistance to fire damage, and when the hitpoints of the bubble drop to 0, all creatures within are released.

Water Prison

As an action, and while maintaining concentration, you can spend 4 ki points and conjure up a sphere of water with a 15-foot radius or a cylindrical wave of water with a 15 foot-radius and 15 feet high at a point you can see within range. The sphere can hover but no more than 10 feet off the ground. The sphere and cylinder remain for the spell’s duration and act as a prison.

Any creature in the prison’s space must make a Strength saving throw. On a successful save, a creature is ejected from that space to the nearest unoccupied space of the creature’s choice outside the prison. A Huge or larger creature succeeds on the saving throw automatically, and a Large or smaller creature can choose to fail it. On a failed save, a creature is restrained by the prison and is engulfed by the water. At the end of each of its turns, a restrained target can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success.

The prison can restrain as many as four Medium or smaller creatures or one Large creature. If the prison restrains a creature that causes it to exceed this capacity, a random creature that was already restrained by the prison falls out of it and lands prone in a space within 5 feet of it.

As an action, you can move the sphere up to 30 feet in a straight line. If it moves over a pit, a cliff, or other drop-off, it safely descends until it is hovering 10 feet above the ground. Any creature restrained by the sphere moves with it. You can ram the sphere into creatures, forcing them to make the saving throw. As an action, you can also freeze the prison, forcing the creatures within to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, they take 2d8 cold damage and are incapacitated, but on a successful save they take only half as much damage and are not incapacitated.

When the spell ends, the prison falls to the ground and extinguishes all normal flames within 30 feet of it. Any creature restrained by the prison is knocked prone in the space where it falls. The water then vanishes.

Water Vortex

As an action, you can spend 4 ki points and concentrate to cause a swirling mass of 5-foot-deep water appears in a 30-foot radius centered on a point you can see within range. The point must be on the ground or in a body of water. Until the spell ends and while the vortex is unfrozen, that area is difficult terrain, and any creature that starts its turn there must succeed on a Strength saving throw or take 3d6 bludgeoning damage and be pulled 10 feet toward the center.

As an action, you can also freeze the vortex, forcing the creatures within to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, they take 2d8 cold damage and are restrained, but on a successful save they take only half as much damage and are not restrained.

Bloodbending

Starting at 17th level you learn to control the blood of other creatures, paralyzing them where they stand. You can spend 5 ki points and concentrate, choosing a creature with a body that contains blood within 120 feet of you. That creature must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save the creature takes 6d6 bludgeoning damage and becomes paralyzed. At the end of each of its turns, it can make another Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and the effect ends.

On creatures that failed the save, as a bonus action you can move the target up to 30 feet in any direction as long as the target stays within 120 feet of you.

If the creature is still paralyzed due to this effect at the start of your turn, you can use your action and spend 2 ki points to continue this effect. Otherwise the effect ends. When you activate this effect, you can also target one additional creature with a body that contains blood, per extra ki point you spend. The creatures have to be within 30 feet of each other when you target them.

Special Attack

The special attack’s damage is bludgeoning or cold (if it is water or ice respectively), and it has a new damage die, which is a d4. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.

When you take the Attack action on your turn and use this special attack as part of it, you can spend 1 ki point to make the special attack twice as a bonus action.

Water Blade

You create a solid blade of water or ice extending from your hands. This technique deals damage equal to your unarmed strike attack plus an additional 1d6 slashing damage.

Water Column

You create a solid pillar of water or ice at a point you can see within range. The pillar is a cylinder that has a diameter of 5 feet and a height of up to 20 feet. The ground where a pillar appears must be wide enough for its diameter, and you can target ground under a creature if that creature is Medium or smaller. Each pillar has AC 5 and 15 hit points. When reduced to 0 hit points, a water pillar dissolves into a puddle and an ice pillar shatters into pieces, which creates an area of difficult terrain with a 5-foot radius. The puddle or ice shards last until cleared.
If a pillar is created under a creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be lifted by the pillar and take 2d6 bludgeoning damage. A creature can choose to fail the save. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and is not lifted.
If a pillar is prevented from reaching its full height because of a ceiling or other obstacle, a creature on the pillar takes an additional 1d6 bludgeoning damage and is restrained, pinched between the pillar and the obstacle. The restrained creature can use an action to make a Strength or Dexterity check (the creature’s choice) against your ki save DC. On a success, the creature is no longer restrained and must either move off the pillar or fall off it.

You can spend additional ki points past the first to create an additional pillar per ki point.

Water Line

A line of razor sharp water or ice 30 feet long and 5 feet wide emanates from you in a direction you choose. Each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 2d6 slashing or cold damage (your choice) on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.   

Water Shield

You generate a quick water or ice based defense in front of you, granting you +2 to your ac and dexterity saving throws until the beginning of your next turn.

Water Slash

You create two crescents of water or ice that you hurl against a target within range. Make a ranged weapon attack for each one. On a hit, the target takes 1d6 slashing or cold damage (your choice).

Water Spear

You create a stream of water or spear of ice that you hurl at a target within range. It deals 2d6 bludgeoning or piercing damage (whether it is water or ice) and pushes the target back 5 feet.

Water Whip

You can create a whip of water that shoves and pulls a creature to unbalance it. A creature that you can see that is within 30 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage, and you can either knock it prone or pull it up to 25 feet closer to you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage, and you don’t pull it or knock it prone.

Bending Technique Options

The Bending Technique feature lets you choose options for it at certain levels. The options are presented here in alphabetical order.

If an option requires a saving throw, your Bending Technique save DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier. 

Tidal Wave

You conjure up a wave of water that crashes down on an area within range. The area can be up to 20 feet long, up to 10 feet wide, and up to 10 feet tall. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes 2d8 bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage and isn’t knocked prone. The water then spreads out across the ground in all directions, extinguishing unprotected flames in its area and within 20 feet of it, and then it vanishes.

Water Blade

You create a solid blade of water or ice extending from your hands. This technique deals damage equal to your unarmed strike attack plus an additional 1d6 slashing damage. 

Water Bullets

You can spend two ki points and create and rapidly shoot bullets of water or shards of ice. Each creature in a 30-foot cone must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 4d4 bludgeoning or piercing damage (whether water or ice) on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Water Column

You create a solid pillar of water or ice at a point you can see within range. The pillar is a cylinder that has a diameter of 5 feet and a height of up to 20 feet. The ground where a pillar appears must be wide enough for its diameter, and you can target ground under a creature if that creature is Medium or smaller. Each pillar has AC 5 and 15 hit points. When reduced to 0 hit points, a water pillar dissolves into a puddle and an ice pillar shatters into pieces, which creates an area of difficult terrain with a 5-foot radius. The puddle or ice shards last until cleared.
If a pillar is created under a creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be lifted by the pillar and take 2d6 bludgeoning damage. A creature can choose to fail the save. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and is not lifted.
If a pillar is prevented from reaching its full height because of a ceiling or other obstacle, a creature on the pillar takes an additional 1d6 bludgeoning damage and is restrained, pinched between the pillar and the obstacle. The restrained creature can use an action to make a Strength or Dexterity check (the creature’s choice) against your ki save DC. On a success, the creature is no longer restrained and must either move off the pillar or fall off it.

You can spend additional ki points past the first to create an additional pillar per ki point.

Water Line

A line of razor sharp water or ice 30 feet long and 5 feet wide emanates from you in a direction you choose. Each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 2d6 slashing or cold damage (your choice) on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.   

Water Shield

You generate a quick water or ice based defense in front of you, granting you +2 to your AC and Dexterity saving throws until the beginning of your next turn.

Water Slash

You create two crescents of water or ice that you hurl against a target within range. Make a ranged weapon attack for each one. On a hit the target takes 1d6 slashing or cold damage (your choice).

Water Spear

You create a stream of water or spear of ice that you hurl at a target within range. It deals 2d6 bludgeoning or piercing damage (whether it is water or ice) and pushes the target back 5 feet.

Water Wall

You can spend two ki points and create a wall of water or ice on the ground at a point you can see within range. You can make the wall up to 20 feet long, 10 feet high, and half a foot thick or you can form the water into a hemispherical dome or sphere with a radius of up to 10 feet. The wall vanishes when the spell ends. The wall’s space is difficult terrain. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point and change the material of this wall between water or ice.

If the wall cuts through a creature's space when it appears, the creature within its area is pushed to one side of the wall and must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 bludgeoning or cold damage (whether water or ice).

When water, any ranged weapon attack that enters the wall’s space has disadvantage on the attack roll, and fire damage is halved if the fire effect passes through the wall to reach its target. Spells that deal cold damage that pass through the wall cause the area of the wall they pass through to freeze solid (at least a 5-foot-square section is frozen). Each 5-foot-square frozen section has AC 5 and 10 hit points and is vulnerable to fire damage. Reducing a frozen section to 0 hit points destroys.

When ice, the wall or dome provides total cover for those behind or inside it and each 5-foot-square frozen section has AC 5 and 10 hit points and is vulnerable to fire damage.

Water Whip

You can create a whip of water that shoves and pulls a creature to unbalance it. A creature that you can see that is within 30 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage, and you can either knock it prone or pull it up to 25 feet closer to you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage, and you don’t pull it or knock it prone.