Monk - Way of the Forge

by somanyrobots

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Monastic Tradition

Way of the Forge

Many monastic orders choose to meditate through craft — delicate artifice, elegant brushwork, or magnificent art. Monks walking the Way of the Forge hone their discipline in the furnace's fire, hammering impurities out of their souls as they would steel on the anvil. Forge monks prioritize discipline above all else, tempering themselves like the iron they work.

Way of the Forge monks may come from any background, but are nearly always lawful; their creed calls for iron discipline. Their order is perhaps more enticing to common folk and tradespeople, since few nobles would deign to get their hands sooty at the anvil.

Way of the Forge Features

Monk Level Feature
3rd Fireforged Spirit, Unbearable Heat, Forge Magic
6th Hammer Blow
11th Furnace's Fires
17th Forgewrought Soul

Fireforged Spirit

At 3rd level, you engage with your craft on a deeper level, pouring your heart and soul into your smithing. You gain the following benefits:

  • You gain proficiency with smith's tools, or another tool of your choice if you are already proficient. Whenever you roll a check with your smith's tools, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the result.
  • You can use your Strength modifier in place of Dexterity for your Unarmored Defense feature.
  • You gain proficiency with flails and warhammers, and they are monk weapons for you.

Unbearable Heat

Also at 3rd level, you develop offensive techniques to take advantage of the muscles you've built at the forge. Once per turn when you deal bludgeoning damage, you can spend 1 ki point to deal additional fire damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.

Forge Magic

Also at 3rd level, you gain the ability to summon the forge's heat directly. You learn the following spells when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown on the Forge Magic table. You can cast each of these spells once without expending a spell slot. After you've done so, you can't cast it again unless you spend ki points equal to 1 + the spell's level (or expend a spell slot you have from another class). Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Monk Level Spells
3rd keen weapon*
5th enkindle*
9th aura of iron*

These spells are all included in Appendix 1. Your DM may allow you to substitute heat metal for enkindle, but it's not recommended.

Hammer Blow

At 6th level, your blows carry the full might of your forge hammer. When you use your Unbearable Heat, you can force the target to make a Strength saving throw against your Ki save DC, falling prone on a failure.

If you use your Unbearable Heat against a prone creature, the bonus damage is increased by one additional roll of your Martial Arts die.

Furnace's Fires

At 11th level, you can use your action to summon the forge's flame into yourself, radiating a powerful heat outward. All creatures within 15 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw against your Ki save DC, taking 4d8 fire damage on a failure or half as much damage on a success. For the next minute, any creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of you takes 1d4 fire damage. Once you summon the forge's heat in this way, you can't do so again unless you spend 4 ki to do so or until you finish a long rest.

Forgewrought Soul

At 17th level, your mind and spirit are as pure as any metal ever forged. You can add your Wisdom modifier to the result when you roll Strength and Constitution saving throws. In addition, when you take the Attack action, you can spend 1 ki to replace one attack with casting one of your Forge Magic spells or using your Furnace's Fires.

Way of the Forge quirks

The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.

d6 Quirk
1 Your pupils glint with cinders in the darkness.
2 You named your favorite hammer.
3 Your chest and arms are scarred with embers thrown off your forge.
4 You are just constantly sweaty.
5 You hate shirts, and would only ever wear a leather apron if you could manage.
6 You hear ringing hammers in your dreams every night.

Appendix 1: Spells

Aura of Iron

3rd-level transmutation (ferromancy)

  • Classes: Sorcerer
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: Self (30-foot radius)
  • Components: V, S, M (a small steel disc)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You radiate a field of metallic magic, layering a thin layer of hard iron over creatures within range. Until the spell ends, the aura moves with you, centered on you. Each nonhostile creature in the aura (including you) has resistance to the next instance of nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage it takes. In addition, the next time it deals piercing or slashing damage, it can maximize one die of damage.

Both of these effects occur once, resetting at the start of each of your turns.

Enkindle

2nd-level transmutation

  • Classes: Bard, Druid
  • Casting Time: 1 bonus action
  • Range: 60 feet
  • Components: V, S, M (an unlit candle)
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You choose a Medium or smaller object not being worn within range and cause it to rapidly heat to unbearable temperatures. If the object is metal or otherwise not flammable, it glows white-hot; if it is flammable, it is engulfed in flame but not destroyed. If a creature is holding the object, it makes a Constitution saving throw at the start of each of its turns, taking 2d4 fire damage on a failure and suffering disadvantage on any ability checks or attack rolls using the item. If it succeeds on the saving throw, it takes half as much damage and suffers no other effects.

If you maintain concentration for the full 1-minute duration, a non-magical item is melted, reduced to ash, or otherwise destroyed.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the fire damage increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 2nd.

Keen Weapon

1st-level transmutation (ferromancy)

  • Classes: Inventor, Sorcerer, Wizard
  • Casting Time: 1 action
  • Range: 15 feet
  • Components: V, S
  • Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You point at a metal weapon and magically enhance its sharpness or hardness. Until the spell ends, the target weapon deals an extra 1d6 damage of its damage type on a hit.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the spell can target an additional weapon for each two slot levels above 1st.

Change Log

v0.4

  • Removed morningstars

v0.3

  • Fixed a proficiency bug

v0.2

  • Corrected a couple typos

v0.1

  • Rough Draft
Credits & References:

Way of the Forge created by somanyrobots
Discord | Patreon

Spells
  • Aura of Iron and Keen Weapon by somanyrobots
  • Enkindle by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots
Art

Ingenious Smith, by Nicholas Elias © Wizards of the Coast LLC

Background Image Stains

Jared Ondricek

Includes spells from Spells That Don't Suck by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots, which is licensed CC-BY and available here.

Fan Content Policy

This work is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.