Way of the Cenobitic Order

The earliest monks in history learned their arts through Hermeticism - isolating themselves away from society and turning their attention inward towards the body and soul. Through this, they gained enlightenment, learned how to harness their Ki and became masters of mind and fist. In order to do so, however, they severed their connections to others, becoming isolated and alone.

Those who follow the Cenobitic Orders reject this isolationism. They believe that enlightenment comes from working together, that wisdom and knowledge hoarded is no wisdom at all. They believe strongly in helping others, strengthening their bonds with their allies, and accumulating knowledge and wisdom for the use of the entire community.

Cenobitic Monastaries typically spawn villages, and in some cases entire towns, which surround them, forming an integrated ecosystem. The Monks provide services of Knowledge, Wisdom and Counsel to the people, and when necessary, they fight to defend their community. In turn, the people provide the monks with the resources they need to sustain themselves, or hide them when religious purges threaten their way of life. By working together as a community, the Cenobites are stronger together than they ever could be apart.

Distribute Knowledge

Beginning at 3rd level when choosing this tradition, you can strike pressure points to extract information about your target, channeling it through your own ki to your allies. Whenever you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows, you mark them as marked by you and a number of creatures up to your Wisdom Modifier that you can see. This shared group becomes a Mark Group for the duration of the ability.

You may determine the effect of this mark from the following list:

• Knowledge of Movement
  The Knowledge of Movement ensures that, as long as one member of the Mark Group can see the creature, all members remain aware of its location, and are thereby unhindered by darkness, obscuration or other limitations to sight. If the creature is not hidden from one member of the Group, it is considered unhidden by all members of the Group. However, if no-one can observe the creature, it is considered obscured or hidden until it is spotted again.
• Knowledge of Form
  The Knowledge of Form enables the Group to divine the nature of the creature's strengths and weaknesses - all members become aware of any Damage Vulnerabilities, Damage Resistances, Damage Immunities, and Condition Immunities possessed by the creature.
• Knowledge of Technique
  The Knowledge of Technique enables the Group to study and understand the creature's behaviour and attack patterns, and thereby evade them better. When attacked by the marked creature, a member of the group may expend their reaction to force an INT save against your Ki Save DC. On a failure, the victim gets a bonus to their AC equal to a roll of your Martial Arts dice. On a success, the effect ends and the Mark is removed.

Your marks last until you finish a short or long rest, or ended early by spending a ki point as a free action(ending the mark ends its effects for all members). A given creature may only have a single mark at one time, and you may maintain a number of marks up to your Wisdom Modifier at any one time.

Allies in the Community

At 6th level, you recognise the key Cenobite adage: you grow strong by making freinds, not destroying your enemies. You can expend a ki point to suffuse your body with calming energy. For the next hour, any Charisma check you perform (in good faith) to calm violent emotions, or counsel a wise course of action is performed with advantage.

You also gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill, if you do not already have it.

Knowledge of the Herd

Beginning at 6th level, you’ve mingled with many folk - some of them you have formed a group with, others perhaps only fleetingly. As you meet people from different walks of life, you learn from them, and adapt your skillset accordingly. You learn one language and one proficiency of your choice from those possessed by your allies or people you have met on your travels.

 

You gain an additional language and an additional skill proficiency from the above list (with the ability to double the bonus of an existing proficiency from the list) at 11th and 17th level.

Ready to Help

Starting at 11th level, you can channel you ki into your awareness of your surroundings, enabling you to react quickly to incoming threats, or help others in danger. You may spend 1 ki point to take an additional reaction, or spend 2 ki points to grant an additional reaction to a creature you share an action group with within 10ft - provided the target has already used their reaction. A creature affected by this ability cannot gain it again until the end of your next turn.

Knowledge of the Herd (Additional)

You gain an additional language and an additional skill proficiency from the above list at 11th level.

Create Opening

Upon reaching 17th level, you’ve learned how your group functions, and how best to work with your allies to create openings for devastating attacks. Whenever you hit a target of your Knowledge of Form ability with a weapon attack, you may choose to expend 3 ki points to create an opening for a nominated ally within the Mark Group for that creature. Until the end of your next turn, the target is considered Vulnerable to all damage inflicted by the nominated creature.

When the effect ends, the target may make a Intelligence Saving Throw against your Ki Save DC, on a success they cannot be affected by this effect for another 24 hours. Each subsequent use of this ability reduces the DC by 2.

Knowledge of the Herd (Additional)

You gain an additional language and an additional skill proficiency from the above list at 17th level.

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