Monastic Tradition
Way of Mercy
Monks of the Way of Mercy learn to manipulate the life force of others to bring aid to those in need. They are wandering physicians to the poor and hurt. However, to those beyond their help, they bring a swift end as an act of mercy.
Those who follow the Way of Mercy might be members of a religious order, administering to the needy and making grim choices rooted in reality rather than idealism. Some might be gentle-voiced healers, beloved by their communities, while others might be masked bringers of macabre mercies.
The walkers of this way usually don robes with deep cowls, and they often conceal their faces with masks, presenting themselves as the faceless bringers of life and death.
Way of Mercy Features
| Monk Level | Features |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Implements of Mercy, Hand of Healing, Hand of Harm |
| 6th | Physician's Hand of Healing, Physician's Hand of Harm |
| 11th | Flurry of Harm |
| 17th | Hand of Ultimate Mercy |
Implements of Mercy
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Insight and Medicine skills, and you gain proficiency with the herbalism kit.
You also gain a special mask, which you often wear when using the features of this subclass. You determine its appearance, or generate it randomly by rolling on the Merciful Mask table.
Merciful Mask Table
| d6 | Mask Appearance |
|---|---|
| 1 | Raven |
| 2 | Black and white |
| 3 | Crying visage |
| 4 | Laughing visage |
| 5 | Skull |
| 6 | Butterfly |
Hand of Healing
At 3rd level, your mystical touch can mend wounds. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to touch a creature and restore a number of hit points equal to a roll of your Martial Arts die. You can use this feature only once per turn.
Hand of Harm
At 3rd level, you use your ki to inflict wounds. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to deal extra necrotic damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die. You can use this feature only once per turn.
Physician's Hand of Healing
Starting at 6th level, you can administer even greater cures with a touch. This is an upgrade to your Hand of Healing ability and replaces it. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to touch a creature and restore a number of hit points equal to a roll of your Martial Arts die, and additionally you can also end one disease or one of the following conditions affecting the creature: blinded, deafened, paralysed, poisoned, or stunned. You can use this feature only once per turn.
Physician's Hand of Harm
Starting at 6th level, if you feel it's necessary, you can cause greater pain. This is an upgrade to your Hand of Harm ability and replaces it. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to deal extra necrotic damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die, and additionally you can subject that creature to the poisoned condition until the end of your next turn. They must make a constitution saving throw against your Ki save DC (8 + proficiency bonus + wisdom modifier) to avoid the effect. You can use this feature only once per turn.
Flurry of Harm
Starting at 11th level, you can now mete out additional hurt in a flurry of blows without effort. When you make an unarmed strike with Flurry of Blows (which costs 1 ki point), you can use Physician’s Hand of Harm with one of the strikes without spending the ki point for Physician’s Hand of Harm. You can still use it only once per turn.
Hand of Ultimate Mercy
By 17th level, your mastery of life energy opens the door to the ultimate mercy. As an action, you can touch the corpse of a creature that died recently and expend some ki points and the creature will be returned to life with a number of hit points equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die. If the creature died while subject to any disease or any of the following conditions, it revives them with the diseases and conditions removed: blinded, deafened, paralysed, poisoned, and stunned.
If the creature died up to 1 minute ago this costs 6 ki points, up to 10 minutes ago costs 8 ki points, up to 1 hour ago costs 10 ki points, up to 6 hours ago costs 12 ki points, up to 24 hours ago costs 14 ki points, and for each additional day it costs 2 additional ki points. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.