The barrel-chested half-orc drops lithely under the bandit's sword, his body coiling and constricting for a moment before shooting two hooked fingers under the bandit's armpit, the chi blockage spreading like venom throughout his body. The halfling dives beneath the ice, the frigid water passing her lips as if it were air, but she must always be moving, lest she lose the scent of her prey. The alpha genasi's flames flicker as they howl in pain to feign their failure after a grueling battle, but their pack hears that subtle signal to race into position and attack the hobgoblins before they realize they are already finished. The half-elf, bloodied and bruised, unleashes a roar that shakes the mountain pass, making the warlock's eldritch blast shoot prematurely, but much to her dismay, the chi shining beneath his skin simply reflects the arcane energies back upon her. 

Monks of the Way of The Prime Predator adhere dogmatically to an ancient theoretical philosophy which states: "Nature forever finds its footing." Through diligent study and dissection of a creature's anatomy, along with its defensive and offensive instincts,  the Way of The Prime Predator monks manage to manipulate their ki to mimic the attributes of the opponents they face. The battle of survival is one all living things must partake in, yet civility has dethroned that primeval simplicity. Students of this tradition do not allow the primitive purity of predator versus prey to be tainted by such "civility." They instead choose to follow the Way to becoming the true apex predator, accepting that it is an everlasting, treacherous journey bathed in the blood of their choosing.

Intuitive Analysis

Starting when you choose this tradition at third level, you are able to use a combination of biological study, behavioral scrutiny, and ki manipulation to adopt abilities from enemies in order to improve your combat prowess.

After your opponent falls in battle, you may take at least one hour, and up to eight for Huge creatures and larger [at the DM's discretion], to perform an Intelligence (Nature) check and a Wisdom (Medicine) check with a DC dependent on the list below:

- CR 9 and below: DC= CR + 10 (minimum 11)

- CR 14 and below: DC= CR + 8

- CR 19 and below: DC= CR + 6

- CR 24 and below: DC= CR + 4

- CR 29 and above: DC= CR

If you fail, you may immediately attempt to dissect the specimen once more at a disadvantage, the specimen decomposing after a second failed attempt unless magically preserved, such as when under a gentle repose spell. If you succeed, you acquire a documented ability from the specimen's entry in the Monster Manual (or other D&D source material) to initiate in combat. You can spend 1 ki point as a bonus action on your turn to activate the ability within you for a number of rounds equal to your monk level, or until you end it as a bonus action. The number of active Analyses you can have at one time is equal to your Wisdom Modifier, though you are allowed to replace an active Analysis with another on subsequent turns. At seventeenth level, the number of active Analyses you can have at one time is equal to half your monk level, rounded down.

OPTIONAL: The DM and yourself may design creature abilities more mechanically synergistic with the Monk class, however, remember to keep character and group balance in mind. 

Vestigial Templates

Starting when you choose this tradition at third level, you have mastered the three Prime Intuitive Analyses of the Way of the Prime Predator: The Shark, The Cobra, and The Dire-Wolf.You gain the following Intuitive Analyses:

- Marine Hunter: You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed and can breathe underwater.

- Venomous Strike: Your unarmed strikes deal extra poison damage equal to half your monk level (minimum 2) and you gain advantage on Constitution saving throws.

- Alpha Maneuver: You gain advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks reliant on sound or smell and you gain advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.

Deliberated Evolution

Starting at sixth level, your ki, body, and mind collaborate to permanently evolve your body to mirror your favored predator.

You can choose a Vestigial Template to graft to your physiology, forever granting you its properties innately without the use of ki.

Apex Predacity

At eleventh level, your natural instincts are so finely tuned that you can react inhumanely fast to those around you with devastating efficiency, potentially turning the tide of battle towards your favor.

Once per day, at the end of another creature's turn, you can spend three Ki points to use your reaction to enact an "apex action," a manifestation of your bestial spirit so substantial that you revel in rendering your bloodied opponent to shreds, seizing their muscles entirely with a single strike, or imbuing your fellow adventurers with a wave of determination that pushes them beyond their normal limits, if only for a moment, for the sake of the pack. These apex actions descend from your Deliberated Evolutions and emerge like so:

- Hemorrhaging Hunger: When you use this apex action,  roll an unarmed strike. If you hit a creature, it must make a Constitution saving throw against your Ki save DC. If it fails, it takes half of the total damage it has taken since combat began, in bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. If it succeeds, it takes slashing damage equal to six times your Wisdom modifier. If it fails by five or more, it takes the total damage, instead of half. Should that strike kill the creature, you enter a "Blood Frenzy," allowing you to maximize all of your damage die on all unarmed strikes until the end of your next turn.

- Neurotoxic Shock: When you use this apex action, roll an unarmed strike. If you hit a creature, it must make a Constitution saving throw against your Ki save DC. If it fails, it is paralyzed for one minute, able to attempt a save against your Ki save DC at the end of each of its turns. If it succeeds, it takes extra poison damage equal to three times your Wisdom modifier. If it fails by five or more, it is instead paralyzed for the entire duration, no saving throws allowed, and begins to asphyxiate, suffocating within a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier.

-Coordinated Ferocity: When you use this apex action, you command your fellow adventures to survive, whether in fight or in flight, . All allies within sixty feet can immediately move or Attack based on regular initiative order. Any of your allies' movement speeds become equal to your Unarmored Movement speed (including bonuses from Feats, like Mobile, but not magic items, like Boots of Speed) and do not provoke attacks of opportunity (though they can still be stopped by abilities designed to do so, such as the Sentinel Feat). Any of your allies' attack rolls gain advantage and they gain a bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier to their total weapon damage or total spell damage.

Primal Arts

At seventeenth level, both the mastery of your metaphysical self and your unparalleled expertise in the very building blocks of the living, allow you to perfectly intertwine your physical and spiritual connections to the natural world, in all its breathtaking savagery and terrifying inscrutability to the normal eye and stomach.

Once per long rest, you can choose and activate a second, temporary Deliberated Evolution based on an Intuitive Analysis you have prepared.