Monastic Tradition: Way of the Athlete
Monks who give themselves over to the way of the Athlete commit their lives to training their bodies. They practice and compete against one another in tests of strength and endurance that they see as a form of worship and meditation. Such monks are a pleasure to watch as they stretch the limits of their bodies, but can become peerless combatants should true threats arise.
Beauty and Grace
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level you learn to use your physicality in creative ways to compete with others. You gain proficiency in the Athletics and Performance skills. If you are already proficient, you gain expertise instead. Furthermore, you may use your Dexterity instead of Strength for any Athletics check you make and Constitution instead of Charisma for any Performance check you make.
Physicality
Also at 3rd level, your constant training and practice can make up for a lack of experience. You may use your Constitution modifier instead of your Wisdom modifier when calculating your Ki save DC, and your Unarmored Defense.
Art Credit: Isaac Li Yenko
Athletic Ascension
When you reach 6th level, your body is able to push the limits of athletic ability. You gain the following options for spending ki:
Arm of Zeus. As a bonus action on your turn you may spend 1 ki point. Until the end of your turn the range of all thrown weapons are doubled.
Herculean Bind. When you grapple a creature you may spend 1 ki point to restrain yourself and the grapple creature.
Assault of Ares. At the start of your turn you may spend 1 ki point and sacrifice your second attack from Extra Attack. Any attack that you hit with this turn deals damage as if it were a critical hit. If you use Flurry of Blows you may only make 1 attack with it.
Apollo’s Reins. You may expend 1 ki point and grant yourself proficiency in land vehicles for the next hour. If you are already proficient you gain expertise instead.
Achilles’ Retaliation. When a creature misses you with an attack roll you may expend 1 ki point to make one attack against that creature as a reaction.
Poseidon’s Strike. When you hit a creature with an attack, you may expend 1 ki point. In addition to dealing damage, you may attempt to grapple, shove, disarm, or trip the creature.
Lussa
At 11th level you have learned that to defeat an opponent you must sometimes descend into animalistic aggression. At the start of your turn you may choose one creature within 30 feet of you and spend 2 ki points. That creature becomes the target of your Lussa. Your Lussa lasts until you drop to 0 hit points or the target dies. When your Lussa ends you gain two points of exhaustion. While in Lussa you gain the following effects:
- You cannot cast or concentrate on spells
- You cannot perceive any creatures other than the target of your Lussa
- You gain resistance to all damage
- You may gain a 1d6 bonus to damage rolls against the target of your Lussa
- You gain advantage on attack rolls against the target of your Lussa, but that creature also has advantage on attack rolls against you
Ascended Body
When you reach 17th level your body exceeds what is humanly possible. Your Dexterity and Constitution scores each increase by 2. Your maximum for these scores is now 22.
