The Way of the Shifting Sands takes powerful and destructive elements of nature, rolling waves and storms, coiling sea serpents, and terrifying beasts of the deep, and replicates their likeness into a monk's skin by way of sacred tattoo or scarification. The monks of this tradition learn to enhance their martial abilities, as well as call on a host of other powers represented by their tattoos and invoke their power to manifest them. This primordial and rare magic comes from the depths of the oceans and the alien powers that lie in the deep.

Island monasteries trace their tradition back to deals struck on the sands with an ancient Aboleth who bargained with the people for the secret of mixing ink and ichor taken from its body and infusing it with a mortal's blood and form the first mark, a tattoo that claims the bearer as one of this order, and a gateway to the secret powers of the deep black. Some orders tell a different story of their founders slaying one of these eldritch horrors and drawing the ink and power from its remains. Whatever the source, the tradition has endured as its master's can draw the essence from their First Mark to implant ink and blood in the marks of new initiates and teach them the secrets to invoke its magic.

 

Blood in the Water

You gain proficiency in Athletics. You gain proficiency with Navigator’s tools, and how to pilot water craft. You learn to speak, read, and write Deep Speech, and can use the Create or Destroy Water once per long rest.

The first step of training in the tradition focuses on getting the body in sync with the sea through training on and under the water. When ready to be initiated, the monk is taught the secret words to call on the magic of the ocean's masters and manipulate water in the air around them, allowing them able to stay at sea for extended periods, and their tutor inscribes their First Mark imbuing them with the ability to call upon their hidden power through the ink in their blood.

 

Emissary of the Waves

When you are initiated into the tradition the elders craft the first mark, a huge intricate back tattoo infused with the sacred herbs and magical ink and blood. The tattoo shifts and makes changes to itself constantly, and the monk and those close enough can sometimes hear whispers coming from the shifting image, and it will hiss and change more noticeably when the monk is stressed or angry. 

• You gain Darkvision 60ft.
• You gain the ability to breath air and water.
• Your swim speed becomes equal to your walking speed. 

You can draw on the essence of your first mark and call it forth to imbue yourself with the essence of the oceans themselves, and the powerful ancient masters of this watery domain. Static crackles around you, and the smell of salt spray hangs in the air as your eyes and tattoos glow with an eerie bioluminescence as you visibly display your power.

As a free action, you invoke your markings to magically gain the following benefits, which last for 1 minute:

• Your attacks deal 1d6 additional Cold damage, increasing to 2d6 at Level 11, and 4d6 at Level 17.
• You gain Resistance to Cold damage, at Level 11 you gain Immunity to Cold damage.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Proficiency bonus. You regain all expended uses of it when you finish a  long rest.

Exaltation of Blackest Depths

The raw power, as well as the appearance of Monks of the tradition comes from the tattoos which cover their body. This magic ties in to their first mark, and the blood and ink draws upon a well of power from the most primordial of the denizens of the deep. They share the traits of the first mark in that they can shift and change before your eyes, and react to external stimuli.

Tattoo Magic

You learn how to use different tattoos to enhance your body, or call forth magical effects. Each monk's tattoos are unique to them, the style and appearance do not matter, only the intent and the type of power it taps into. 

When you gain this feature, you learn how to manifest two tattoos of your choice. You gain two additional tattoos at Levels 6, 11, and 17. Any time you gain additional tattoos you can also choose to substitute a tattoo you already know for a new one.

If a tattoo creates an effect that requires a saving throw, your Tattoo Magic save DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier. 

After a tattoo has been invoked and the effects of its magic fade, so too do the passive effects granted by that particular tattoo. These effects recharge on a long rest. A monk can spend 1 Ki point to recharge a tattoo that has been invoked as a Bonus Action.

Chuul

Beneath the insectoid carapace of the Chuul lies a hate for surface-dwelling humanoids, and a drive from their creators the Aboleth to search and recover magic. Snapping claws and shells, these creatures look like monstrous lobsters and frequently favour hunting and ambushing their prey. If they can secure them in their grip, their hideous throng of mouth tentacles paralyse creatures they touch, giving them the opportunity to make quick work of them with their claws, or drag them beneath the surface alive for later.

Monks bearing the likeness of the Chuul share the creatures ability to track down magic users and artefacts. You gain advantage on Perception checks and can create the Sense Magic as per the spell at will. 

A monk can invoke their Chuul tattoo with a reaction that warps their appearance as a writhing mass of tentacles burst out of their mouth. This transformation lasts for 1 minute, and the tentacles cause paralysis at a touch. If the monk successfully Grapples a target, they must succeed on a Constitution save (poison based) or be Paralysed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. 

Coral Drake

Delicate fin-like wings, iridescent and shifting colours allaying a fragile beauty to a deadly ocean predator. The serpentine form of the Coral Drake is a writhing form of needle-like teeth and poisonous spines. Beautiful, but deadly. These tattoos often coil around a limb and display a fan of the spiny fins, these lithe hunters prowl bright coral reefs and stir up the sands and strike out with their spines to blind their victims, before tearing chunks off them while they flail around unable to protect themselves.

 

The Coral Drake grants its bearer a portion of its incredible speed and dexterity, while able to draw on the power of their tattoo, when another creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you. You also learn how to land a strike and then slip away without reprisal. During your turn, if you make a melee attack against a creature, that creature can’t make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.

The monk can invoke the power of the Coral Drake, for a moment, the creature's likeness coils around the monk, poisonous spiny fins spread out like wings behind them before shooting out to a point and becoming a swirling cloud of sand and spines, stinging and blinding those it hits. The monk choses a 20-foot-radius sphere cantered on a point they can see within 60 feet. The cloud spreads around corners. Each creature in the cloud takes poison damage and must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be blinded for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Dragon Turtle

These armoured gargantuan beasts are crashing engines of destruction, hiding an aggressive rage beneath layers of armoured hide as thick as walls. In the flesh they use their huge size to crush or capsize even the biggest ships that draw their ire, and tattoos of these monsters often include ships being smashed apart. Monks that wear the form of the Dragon Turtle are some of the most potent of guards of the tradition, wearing shell markings on their skin harder than iron.

Monks with an affinity and bearing the image of the Dragon Turtle gain a portion of the resilience of this great armoured beast. You gain a Resistance to Fire, and a magical bonus +1 to AC while they have power from their tattoo. 

To Invoke the tattoo, the monk's features shift for a few seconds into a scaled armoured likeness of the Dragon Turtle's features and they exhale a scalding spray of steam in a 30ft cone. Each creature in the area must make a Constitution saving throw, taking fire damage on a failed save (increasing with level), or half as much damage on a successful one. Being underwater or blocked by a body of water doesn't grant any resistance against this damage. 

Hydra

This gluttonous beast is straight out of myth and legend, this monster was incredibly hard to surprise, and almost impossible to kill. A writhing, thrashing collection of heads reach out from a serpentine body, one of the heads always alert to movement at which to lash out at, and as each head falls it regenerates and others take it's place. Its image varies in the stories and how the monk displays its likeness; sea snake and eel heads featuring as prominently as more traditional lizard or dragon-like heads, they all share the same horrifying powers.

A monk bearing the image of the Hydra can't be surprised as long as they are not Incapacitated, and they are ever ready to burst into action, gaining an additional Reaction action each turn that can only be used for attacks of opportunity. 

This powerful tattoo holds a minor and major power to be invoked. A monk can channel the minor effect of the Hydra tattoo to gain a second wind as a Bonus Action, and immediately heal a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + their monk level. This takes up a use of the tattoo as normal.

When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead  using your Reaction to invoke the power of the Hydra. You then immediately regain 10 hit points, and you continue to regain 10 hit points at the start of each of your turns for 1 minute as the regenerative properties of the Hydra are awakened in you. When this power is called on, your entire body begins to steam and the spectral image of a Hydra can be seen super imposed over the monk's form, heads bursting forth as they regenerate before dissolving away. At the end of the minute, the monk suffers 1 level of Exhaustion and cannot use this power again until after they have taken a long rest.

As one of the most potent tattoo powers available to the Way of the Shifting Sand, it is only ever granted to a monk of level 11 or above. 

 

Kelpie

Green tendrils of seaweed knit together to form the Kelpie's natural form, a Hippocampus, or Horse-mercreature hybrid with a sinister glow to its eyes, and an unseen menace only hinted at. Those that recognise the form of this animated mass of seaweed may remember beyond its ability to move unseen amidst the kelp forests and flotsam, it has a terrible need to call its victims to their deaths beneath the waves.

Those bearing the mark of the Kelpie find they can press through even the densest undergrowth, vines and seaweed forests without being entangled, and blend seamlessly with their surroundings as they stalk the shadows. Monks with this tattoo are unaffected by nonmagical difficult terrain, and gain Advantage to any stealth checks.

To call upon the damning weapon of the Kelpie, the monk invokes the tattoo with an Action, the eyes of the tattoo and monk both glow an eerie green, and the seaweed strands across the monk's body sway and move as if pulled too and froe by the tide. Pick a humanoid you can see within 120 feet. If the target can see the monk, they must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be magically charmed while the monk maintains concentration, up to 10 minutes (as if concentrating on a spell). 

The charmed target is incapacitated, and instead of holding its breath underwater, it tries to breathe normally and immediately runs out of breath if submerged, unless it can breathe water. If the charmed target is more than 5 feet away from the monk, the target must move on its turn towards the monk by the most direct route, trying to get to within 5 feet. It doesn't avoid opportunity attacks. 

If the charmed target is about to move onto damaging terrain, such as lava or a pit, or if it takes damage from a source other than drowning or the monk, the target can repeat its saving throw. The target can also repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. If any saving throw is successful, the effect ends and the target is immune to further attempts for 24 hours. 

Kraken

Tentacles coiling around the monks limbs, tattoos displaying writhing limbs thrashing in the water or wrapped around a great ship trapped in its grasp, a glimpse of the great beast itself rearing out of the waves. Every creature that sets foot upon a seafaring ship has heard the stories of the destructive force that is the Kraken, and that once in it's grasp you are already dead. This terrifying behemoth of the sea represents the unrelenting raw strength of the legendary Kraken. 

The power of the Kraken lends it's incredible strength to its bearer, and allows them to call upon its grasping arms to ensnare and crush an adversary.

While inscribed with this tattoo, you have advantage on Strength checks, and you gain the Siege Monster trait, dealing double damage to objects and structures. 

In addition, you can invoke the tattoo as an action targeting a creature within 60 feet. Spectral tentacles burst from around the target and coil around them: the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be restrained for 1 minute. While restrained by the tentacles, the target takes bludgeoning damage at the start of each of it's turns. If the target succeeds they take half damage and no other effect as the tentacles lash at them. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, breaking out of the grasp of the tentacles until they dissipate. 

Leviathan

The greatest of sea serpents, Leviathan is akin to a primordial god in its power. If not the titanic jaws, its thrashing body hits like a hurricane and can render the largest ships to tinder in one pass of its body. It moves like an arrow, cutting through the space between it and its target in seconds. The Leviathan's speed through the ocean and control of water is such that it sends huge crashing waves in its wake. Serpentine coils and great waves often go hand in hand in depicting this beast rearing out of the sea.

The monk inscribed with the image of the Leviathan mimics its incredible speed and manoeuvrability. The bearer of the tattoo is granted an advantage on Initiative rolls and supernatural agility: Your reflexes and agility allow you to move with a burst of speed. When you move on your turn in combat, you can double your speed until the end of the turn. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you move no more than 10 feet on one of your turns. 

Invoking the Leviathan allows the monk to summon a tidal wave, as an action you conjure a wave with the translucent image of the great serpent within as it rises out of nowhere before crashing down upon your enemies.

Merrow

The merrow are the result of a corruption in the merfolk bloodline caused when a tribe was driven mad by a demonic artefact and made the Abyss their home for generations, becoming twisted by the realm. Towering mass of predatory muscle, the Merrow sport shark and eel-like features and lower bodies. Their hulking monstrous shape a mockery of the lithe and light merfolk, with vicious fangs and claws to accompany spears and harpoons with an unnatural strength and savagery behind them they replace fairy tales with brutal savagery.

Merrow are ferocious opponents, renowned for lunging out of the water and throwing their savage strength into a series of attacks designed to completely overwhelm their opponent. The monks that bare the Merrow tattoo know how to tap into that savagery, and enter combat without hesitation, aiming to put down any opposition before they know what is happening.

While able to channel power from your tattoo you gain Savage strength: If you hit a creature with an attack in melee on your first turn in combat, the first attack deals an extra 2d6 of the same damage type. When you score a critical hit with a melee attack, you can roll an additional attack against the same target as you lash out again.

Invoking this tattoo summons the spectral form of a Merrow warrior towering over the monk, it hurls an ethereal harpoon at an enemy skewering them and pulling them forward. A target within 60ft is struck with the harpoon doing force damage and must make a Strength saving throw or be pulled 30ft towards the monk.

Morkoth

One of the most varied in how it is depicted, the hideous Morkoth. A combination of vicious maw, insectile legs, pseudopods and flattened tentacles all trailing from an almost beholder-like body combine into a true horror of the deep. This greedy and powerful spellcaster gathers a horde on and island or undersea lair it creates, carving out their own kingdoms ruling through their magical dominance and fear. Through the tattoo, the monk can call upon the magical nature of this horror and become a terrifying enemy of any spellcaster. 

Being inscribed with the mark of a Morkoth grants the monk the ability to feel the area around them and insight into its magical knowledge. The monk gains proficiency in the Arcana skill and Blindsight 30 ft. 

One of the most powerful markings of the order, the Morkoth tattoo has a lesser power that can be invoked. When targeted by a spell, the monk can use their Reaction to grant themselves Advantage on the saving throw. This takes up a use of the power as normal. 

The monk can invoke the power of the Morkoth to defend themselves against magical attacks. As a Reaction when the monk makes a successful saving throw against a spell, or a spell attack misses them, the monk can choose another creature (including the spellcaster) it can see within 120 feet of them. The spell targets the chosen creature instead of the monk. If the spell forced a saving throw, the creature makes its own save. If the spell was an attack, the attack roll is rerolled against the chosen target. The space around the monk warps when they use this ability, and the spindly and reaching limbs of the Morkoth extend briefly from the monks form and thrash around as it deflects the attack. After using this ability the monk gains one level of Exhaustion. 

As one of the most potent tattoo powers available to the Way of the Shifting Sand, it is only ever granted to a monk of level 11 or above. 

Siren

The monstrous beauty of the Siren is legendary, as it the power of their song. Appearing both as beautiful humanoids, and twisted hybrids melding their form with that of an octopus or mercreature, Sirens are known for their power to manipulate any who would risk close enough to hear their melodic voices. These witches of the sea's most infamous power is their song, shifting flawlessly between beautiful melodies, to discordant jarring screeches and wailing. The song fills the area around them and warps the very air around its victims, and can drive them to excel, or to fall, all at the cruel whim of the Siren.

You gain advantage on Deception and Persuasion skill checks.

You can call on the Siren's most infamous power and invoke your tattoo to let out a discordant song that warps the perception of those around you. The ghostly image of a Siren manifests when you invoke this ability and floats along near the monk as if underwater for the duration. The Siren's song reaches out to a 30 foot radius sphere and lasts for 1 minute. You can use your Reaction to affect a single target each round (friend or enemy) causing any attack, save, or ability checks they make to be at an Advantage or Disadvantage (you choose).

Storm Giant

Powerful armoured humanoids, wreathed in waves and storm clouds, with crackling lightning across their fingertips or weapons. Storm Giants pale skin and glowing eyes, or their body seemingly made out of raging cloud stuff itself mark them as unnatural before you realise the scale of any display of their image. These giants are the kings of their kind, and bend the power of mighty storms, hurricanes, and even thunder and lightning itself to their will.

Bearing the image of the Storm Giant grants the monk resistance Thunder and Lightning damage while they can call upon its power, and can control winds around them, making them highly sought after for naval vessels who have witnessed their abilities.

 

Invoking the power of the Storm Giant the air around the monk whips up all around them, those close by can feel the crackle of static in the air and see tiny waves of lightning start to arc across the monk's body as a black cloud flashing with the lightning within swiftly grows out of nothing between their hands. The monk hurls the storm bolt at a point it can see within 120 feet of it. Every creature within 10 feet of that point must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking Lightning or Thunder damage (you choose) on a failed save, and half damage on a successful one. 

Alternatively, the monk can take control of the air in a 100-foot cube that they can see within range. The effect is identical to as if the monk had cast the spell Control Winds, but as well as Concentration requires the monk to remain in place and spend 3 Ki Points. The effect lasts for up to an hour, unless you use your action on a later turn to switch to a different effect. You can also use your action to temporarily halt the effect or to restart one you’ve halted. At the end of the duration the monk suffers a level of Exhaustion.

Water Elemental

The elemental force of the water itself. These creatures of the elemental plane manifest at the beckoning of the greatest masters of the sea, and enter our world through deep sea rifts or portals. A roaring wave forming into a towering figure, swirling water held together as an avatar of the sea. Boiling, churning water rising out of the crest of a wave, partially formed limbs are typical images of the elemental tattoos. 

The ever shifting form of the Water Elemental grants its bearer its resistances granting an Advantage on saving throws vs poison, and Resistance to Acid and Poison Damage. Its liquid form shrugging off easily any attempt to weaken a monk wearing its likeness.

Invoking the power of the Water Elemental grants Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage and immunity to acid and poison damage (and the poisoned condition) for 1 minute as the monk's skin takes on a translucent look, and is covered in a constantly swirling and dripping film of water as their body mimics the form of the elemental.

Veil of the Abyss

 As a monk gains in power, they begin to manifest more images across their body that share the same traits as their first mark in that they twist and move. As the bond with their first mark grows they learn to better control the power contained within all of the tattoos they bare; calling on their power with more frequency shows the first real step towards mastering the magic inscribed on their body. They also tap into the power within their first mark to replicate somewhat, the eternal memory of the creatures that's ink now runs through their body. Though the primordial ancients memory is enduring and infallible, their servants are not, but have been taught to pick out strands of memory and thought to create reliquaries or libraries of water called a Memory Pool.

At this level a monk learns the ability to invoke each tattoo from the Exaltation of Blackest Depths class feature twice before they are expended, granting them an increased flexibility in how they use their powers. All uses of the tattoos refresh after a long rest. 

You gain the ability to cast the Cantrip Encode Thoughts, and an hour long ritual to consecrate a Memory Pool. The pool must consist of at least 300 gallons of water and have an icon or tablet inscribed with Deep Speech and an Opal worth at least 500 gold. At the end of the ritual the Opal sets itself into the object and emits a bioluminescent glow and a just perceptible pulse in the water around it. While within the pool, thought strands created by the monk's using the Encode Thoughts cantrip do not expire as long as they remain submerged, allowing the monks to create underwater libraries of their secrets and discoveries in their monasteries. 

In addition, you learn two new tattoos of your choice from the Exaltation of Blackest Depths feature (for a total of four).

 

Rise of the Crushing Deep

 The Master's of the tradition gain greater and greater control of the deep magics gifted to them from their first mark. Calling out the power to invoke each tattoo no longer exhausts the power it holds, as the Monk now embraces and absorbs these elements of their tattoos into them at all times. They also learn how to channel the energy of their bodies and magic to empower the invocation of one of their tattoos, creating a more powerful effect making their abilities harder to resist and causing a psychic assault or backlash against their enemies fuelled by their tattoos, and further tapping into the powers of telepathy shared with their hidden masters.

The monk learns to maintain the passive ability of their tattoos even once they have been invoked. 

A monk of this level also gains the ability to empower the invocation of one of their tattoos, increasing the Save DC by 4 of any effects and causing an additional 4d6 Cold or Psychic damage (your choice) to enemies affected (in the case of defensive powers such as the Water Elemental, Hydra, Morkoth the damage is inflicted on the creature that triggered the Invocation). This ability can be used once, and refreshes after a short rest. 

You gain the ability to produce the effect of the Detect Thoughts spell with Wisdom being your casting stat. You can use this ability once before needing a short rest to replenish it. You can also spend 1 Ki point for additional uses of the ability.

In addition, you learn two new tattoos of your choice from the Exaltation of Blackest Depths feature (for a total of six).

 

Dweller of the Forbidden City

 The most powerful and ancient members of the tradition have reached the pinnacle of the bond with their markings, and the source of their magic. The ink that flows across their skin now has truly become absorbed by their body and flows also in their blood, allowing them to surpass the longevity of even other legendary monk's and acting as a link, and even a portal to the primordial depths and its denizens.  

Monks of this level of mastery build on the Monk class feature of Timeless Body and can no longer die of old age. 

Being in or near water makes the monk increasingly more dangerous and powerful. If either the monk, or the target of one of their abilities is standing in at least a foot of water, the DC of any Save check they make is increased by 2 for each of these conditions, making their invocations incredibly hard to resist at this level should you face them in their chosen environment.

The monk can now invoke the full extent of the power of their first mark. Their tattoos and eyes and mouth light up and a their markings become a writhing mass as water gushes out of them and black ethereal-like ink seem to pour out of them along with the water. The flow quickly forms a pool on 30ft in diameter with the monk at the centre (if this ability is used in water it forms a rough sphere of the same diameter). The water has an eerie glow, and the ink forms shifting and swirling tentacles made of shadow stuff just beneath the surface. This process takes 1 minute, during which time the monk cannot perform any action and must succeed on a Concentration check if subjected to damage to complete the process and produce one of the following effects which last for an hour, unless the ability is immediately followed by the sacrifice of 9 sentient creates and 1000 gold worth of materials which makes them permanent until dispelled or killed. This ability cannot be used again until you complete a long rest.

• You use the pool to open a gateway and transport yourself and up to 5 other creatures to a Memory Pool created by one of the tradition, to the Elemental Plane of Water, or to within a mile of one of an ancient deep sea power such as an Aboleth, that the Monk can visualise or name. The gateway is a magical effect that counts as a 9th level spell with the monk's level as its casting level for the purposes of dispelling.
• You use the portal to call forth a creature of water, or deep darkness to act as a guardian, or soldier. The ability replicates either Conjure Elemental (Water only) as a 9th level spell or Summon Aberrant (Star spawn only) cast as a 9th level spell, and with a swim speed of 60 ft, that has the Slaadi Regeneration ability (regain 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point) if in water. If summoned permanently, the creature cannot travel further than a mile from the point of summoning, and is friendly to anyone bearing a mark of the tradition and accompanying them.

 

In addition, you learn two more tattoos of your choice from your Exaltation of Blackest Depths feature (for a total of 8).