Monk - Way of the Venerable Masters
In ages past, some monks have gained such mastery of Ki and such esteem within their respective orders that they have earned the title of Venerable Master or Grand Master (or some other variation in accordance with custom). Many of these aged and devout practitioners became so attuned to Ki that their very aura shifted and warped the boundaries of fate and fortune and to even wish harm upon them would lead to their enemies incurring cosmic penalties.
Monks who study and emulate the techniques of these ancient practitioners follow the Way of the Venerable Masters, a challenging path requiring extreme discipline, serenity and patience, however, those who progress down this path of mastery will find their virtues are rewarded with an unrivaled mastery of the forces of Ki.
Class Features
Forgotten Secrets
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level your spiritual discipline gives you access to powerful and ancient abilities through the channeling of Ki. You learn the following spells at the monk level shown in the table below and can cast each of them using a number of Ki points as shown in the table below. When you cast these spells with Ki points they do not require material components. Wisdom is your spellasting ability for these spells:
| Monk Level |
Spell | Ki Point cost |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Shillelagh, Sanctuary | 1 |
| 5th | Lesser Restoration, Prayer of Healing | 2 |
| 9th | Dispel Magic, Counterspell | 3 |
| 13th | Divination, Greater Restoration | 4 |
| 17th | Find the Path, True Seeing | 5 |
Blessing of the Venerable Masters
Also at 3rd level you begin to establish a cosmic link to the venerable masters of old whose disciplined use of Ki conveyed special protection. When you roll for initiative, provided you have at least unspent 3 Ki points, you gain the following benefits.
-
Ki Shield: While you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your Armor Class increases by 2.
-
Cosmic Rebuke: When an enemy misses you with an attack roll you can use your reaction to force them to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed saving throw you can choose to expend up to 3 Ki Points and deal force damage to them equal to one roll of your martial arts die for each Ki point you expend. You gain temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt.
Both of these benefits end immediately if you take any damage or if you have fewer than 3 unspent Ki points
Spiritual Fortitude
At 6th level, you further resemble the ancient masters both in physical frailty and mental strength. Your Strength and Constitution scores both decrease by 2. Your Wisdom score increases by 2 and your maximum for this score increases to 22. You also gain additional Ki Points equal to your Proficiency Bonus.
Cosmic Fortune
At 11th level your mastery of Ki further shields you and your allies from harm. When you or a friendly creature within 20 feet of you fails a saving throw, you can use your reaction and expend 2 Ki points to add your martial arts die to the roll, potentially turning the failure into a success. If this causes the saving throw to succeed the creature who made the save also gains temporary hit points equal to the roll of your martial arts die.
At 14th level when you gain the Diamond Soul feature and use it to re-roll a saving throw, you also have the option to expend one additional Ki Point and add one roll of your martial arts die to the new roll. If this causes the saving throw to succeed you also gain temporary hit points equal to the roll of your martial arts die.
Transcendent Soul
At 17th level your mastery of Ki renders you unassailable. You gain the following benefits:
- Your Cosmic Rebuke and Cosmic Fortune features no longer require the use of your reaction and when you roll your martial arts die to determine temporary hit points for your Cosmic Rebuke feature you can instead use the maximum number for each die.
- If you are reduced to 0 hit points or subjected to any effect that would ordinarily kill you, you can instead spend 5 ki points to cast the Etherealness spell with a duration of 1 minute. Once you have used this ability you cannot use it again until you have finished a long rest.