Way of the Spirited Brush
While many monks seek to reach the very pinnacle of physical form or spiritual purity, others seek enlightenment through mastery of an art. For most such monks, it is the martial arts which they pursue.
A few, however, find that they favor the brush over the blade.
Brush and Ink
3rd Level Way of the Spirited Brush Feature
You gain proficiency with Painter’s Supplies, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check check you make using that proficiency.
Additionally, you can spend 1 Ki Point and use a set of Painter’s Supplies as a focus to cast the silent image spell. When cast in this way, the spell doesn't require concentration, its casting time is increased to 10 minutes, and its duration is a number of hours equal to half your level in this class.
Lifelike Art
3rd Level Way of the Spirited Brush Feature
Also at 3rd level, you learn to imbue such vibrant spirit into your art that it can literally jump off the page. Choose 2 options from the artistic focus table below.
As an action, you may use a set of Painter’s Supplies to create a creature from one of your artistic focuses by expending an amount of ki points equal to twice the creature's CR (minimum 1). The creature appears in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you, is charmed by you, and obeys your verbal and mental commands. In combat, the creature shares your initiative count, but takes its turn immediately after yours.
The creature remains for 1 hour or until it dies or you use a bonus action to dismiss it, at which point it dissipates into a puddle of ink. You gain a new artistic focus each time you gain a feature from this subclass.
The number of these creatures you control at any one time cannot exceed your proficiency bonus. If creating a new creature would cause you to exceed this number, you must immediately choose another of your creations to be destroyed.
| Artistic Focus | Creatures |
|---|---|
| Felines | cat, panther, lion, tiger, saber-tooth tiger |
| Serpents | flying snake, poisonous snake, fire snake, giant constrictor snake, swarm of poisonous snakes |
| Fish | dolphin, octopus, giant sea horse, swarm of quipper, hunter shark |
| Fowl | hawk, giant owl, swarm of ravens, axe beak, griffon |
| Hounds | wolf, mastiff, dire wolf, blink dog, death dog |
| Riding Beasts | mule, camel, warhorse, warhorse skeleton, pegasus |
| Arachnids | spider, giant wolf spider, giant spider, swarm of insects (spiders), ettercap |
| Insects | scorpion, giant centipede, giant fly, swarm of insects (wasps), ankheg |
| Plants | myconid sprout, needle blight, vine blight, thorny, awakened tree |
| Man | commoner, guard, scout, thug, berserker |
| Carrion | crawling claw, skeleton, ghoul, specter, minotaur skeleton |
| Dragons | pseudodragon, any guard drake, any dragon wyrmling up to CR2 |
Special Thanks
I'd like to specially thank u/king-starman, whose "Way of the Flowing Ink" subclass was a major inspiration and influence for this, and who kindly gave me permission to share my work here freely with all of you!
Burst of Color
6th level Way of Spirited Brushwork feature
Starting at 6th level, the attacks of creatures you create using Painter’s Supplies count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage
Additionally, you can either use bonus action on your turn to select a creature you have created using Painter's supplies or use a reaction when such a creature is reduced to 0 hit points. You agitate the ki imbued during that creature's creation, destroying it in a burst of ink. Creatures within 5 feet of it must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Ki save DC, or be blinded until the end of their next turn. You and creatures you have created using Painter's Supplies succeed on this saving throw automatically.
Artistic Contemplation
11th level Way of Spirited Brushwork feature
Starting at 11th level, you have patiently practiced your craft, and have gained the ability to create and breath life into even greater pieces of artwork than before.
At the end of a long rest, you can use Painter’s Supplies to produce a number of scrolls equal to half your proficiency modifier. Each scroll contains the image of a creature from one of your artistic focuses or of a creature from the table below for which you have the appropriate artistic focus. As an action, you can unfurl a scroll and create the creature pictured as if using your Lifelike Art feature, but without expending any Ki.
A scroll can only be used once before losing its potency, and any unused scrolls lose potency at the end of your next long rest.
| Artistic Focus | Creatures |
|---|---|
| Felines | displacer beast |
| Serpents | salamander |
| Fish | giant shark |
| Fowl | quetzalcoatlus |
| Hounds | yeth hound |
| Riding Beasts | nightmare |
| Arachnids | drider |
| Insects | kruthik hive lord |
| Plants | wood woad |
| Man | gladiator |
| Carrion | allip |
| Dragons | wyvern |
Art Surpasses Life
17th level Way of Spirited Brushwork feature
Your skills with a brush have become so grand and complete that the artistic works you create can exceed even the real creatures that inspired them.
Creatures you create using your Lifelike Art or Artistic Contemplation features can add your wisdom modifier to their attack and damage rolls. Additionally, creatures created using your Artistic Contemplation feature have their hitpoint maximums increased by an amount equal to your monk level.
Art Credits
- Cover art: Generated using Midjourney AI
- Page 1 art: Shadow Fey Ambassador, by Leesha Hannigan
- Page 2 art: Taizan Morozumi, from Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage developed and published by SNK Corporation