Monastic Tradition

Way of the Element Bender Features

Bending Arts

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you spiritually connect with one of the four elements and learn to manipulate its form or “bend” it, using the energy within you, becoming a part of your martial arts style.

You gain a new attack option that you use with the Attack action, a Bending Strike. This special attack is a melee weapon attack (even though your element is not a weapon) with a range of 10 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Dexterity modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage 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 a Bending Strike as part of it, you can make one Bending Strike as a bonus action. You can also spend 1 ki point to make a Bending Strike twice as a bonus action.

Choose between fire, air, water, or earth. This choice determines the abilities you learn in this and each feature of the tradition as you level up.

• Firebending. Your Bending Strike deals fire damage. When you are directly under the sun, you can harness its energy to add half your Wisdom modifier (rounded up) to the damage of your Bending Strikes.

At 6th level, the damage of your Bending Strikes counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage

Shape of the Elements

Also at 3rd level, as part of your bending, you can mold your element in more subtle manners. As an action you can manipulate your chosen element if it is within 15 feet of you in one of the following ways:

• Cause up to a 5-foot cube of your element to shape itself into a crude form you designate or move to a place within range. This movement does not involve enough force to cause damage.
• Transform the physical properties of up to a 5-foot cube of your element, such as lighting or snuffing out a small fire, freezing water or creating mist, or turning sand into sandstone.
• Create a harmless, instantaneous sensory effect related to your element, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, a spray of light mist, or a gentle rumbling of stone.

Wisdom of the Elements

When you reach 6th level, you ascertain the less apparent attributes of your element and develop techniques that imitate them:

• Energy conduit (Fire). You have resistance to cold damage, and you do not suffer the negative effects of extreme temperatures.
   Also, when you suffer fire or lightning damage, you can use your reaction to spend a use of this feature and gain resistance to the triggering damage type until the beginning of your next turn. As part of this reaction, you can spend 1 ki point to make a Bending Strike against a creature you can see within range, dealing fire or lightning damage, the same type as the triggering attack's damage.

You have a number of uses of this feature equal to your Wisdom modifier, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. While you have no uses left, you can spend 1 ki point to use this feature again.

Ki-Empowered Bending

Beginning at 11th level, you can instill ki in your chosen element to create more powerful bending moves. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to make one of the following techniques:

• Bending stream. Each creature in a line 30 feet long and 5 feet wide emanating from you in a direction you choose must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes damage of the same type as your Bending Strikes equal to three rolls of your Martial Arts die, or half as much damage on a success.
• Bending wave. Each creature other than you in a 10-foot radius sphere centered on you must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes damage of the same type as your Bending Strikes equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die, or half as much damage on a success.

Additionally, you can add an extra effect to the attack depending on your chosen element:

• Searing flames (Fire). A creature that fails the saving throw takes extra fire damage equal to your Wisdom modifier.

You can increase the damage of this techniques by spending extra ki points. Each point you spend increases the damage of the attack by one roll of your Martial Arts die. The maximum number of ki points (1 plus any additional points) that you can spend equals your proficiency bonus.