Way of the Gentle Hand (5e Monastic Tradition)

Author: Zhenra-Khal (talk) Date Created: 12-27-2019 Status: In Progress Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Table: Way of the Gentle Hand

Level	Spells
	Cantrips Known	Spells Known	Max Spell Level Known	Max Ki Per Spell
3rd	2	3	1st	3
4th	2	4	1st	3
5th	2	4	1st	3
6th	2	4	1st	3
7th	2	5	2nd	3
8th	2	6	2nd	3
9th	2	6	2nd	4
10th	3	7	2nd	4
11th	3	8	2nd	4
12th	3	8	2nd	4
13th	3	9	3rd	5
14th	3	10	3rd	5
15th	3	10	3rd	5
16th	3	11	3rd	5
17th	3	11	3rd	6
18th	3	11	3rd	6
19th	3	12	4th	6
20th	3	13	4th	6

Monks who follow the way of the Gentle Hand are those who wish to do no harm. They refuse to hurt another creature, or allow violence to spread like a wildfire, so they use their ki to communicate and reason with, charm and persuade, or disable their foes harmlessly. They are very similar to a Paladin, in that they have a sacred oath to uphold, and will lose faith in themselves if they fail to make the right decision.

This subclass is based on many things - Way of the Open Hand, for one, as well as the Paladin Oath of Redemption, and generally my desire to play a character based utterly around nonviolence, rather than the usual characters who are all given more ways to harm than to help. This will create, perhaps, a very frustrating character for party members to play alongside, even moreso than a Redeem-adin, as they typically neither participate in violence nor allow it to happen, but it's an experimental creation based around rolelay moreso than raw combat power.

Oath of the Gentle Hand

At third level, upon committing yourself to this monastic tradition, you swear several vows relating to nonviolence and purity of intent, detailed below. If you break this Oath, you may seek absolution from a Cleric who shares your faith or from another Monk of the same tradition, as a sort of redemption arc. However, if you willfully violate your oath, and show no sign of repentance, the consequences can be more serious. At the DM's discretion, you might be forced to abandon this class and adopt another, or perhaps fall further into violence, turning to the tradition of the Crimson One.

Tenets of the Gentle Hand

As a Monk of the Gentle Hand, your vows hold you to a higher standard of peace, sacrifice and understanding.

• Peace. Violence is a sickness, and to harm another is to harm yourself. Diplomacy should be your tool in the fight against evil, and your touch, when you strike, should hinder, restrain and disable without creating a wound, so the foe can be reasoned with later, or simply removed from your path harmlessly so they may go about their lives after you pass.

• Understanding. You must always understand the world is more complex than it seems. Truth is many-sided, and different for each person - What works for you will likely not work for others, for each wound is as unique as the harm that created it, and as such, will require a remedy that is just as unique. All creatures begin life like polished silver - Pure, clean, and whole. But life and its struggles, the turmoil and violence of the world, tarnishes our shine, wears away our intricacies, chips and dents our edges, and soils our purity. Each path has value, no matter how wicked it has become, for just like repairing a vase with gold to fill the cracks, what was once broken can be repaired to have more value than before, because it has a unique story.

• Duty. Just as entropy and conflict destroys, you must work tirelessly to oppose the forces of destruction, for your war is against war itself. You must create and rebuild, protect and heal, redeem and teach, just as the world grinds away all things. Nothing is permanent and all things fade - Even your own willpower and devotion will one day break, but without a force making new things, all will turn to dust. Thus, you must patiently work to heal the wounds of a deeply flawed world, redeem and recruit the wicked, and plant seeds of kindness and hope wherever you go.

• Sacrifice. Violence must end with you. Call for your enemy to strike you if they must; Let your spilled blood be the medicine for the sickness that plagues their mind. Put yourself between the innocent and the blades of the wicked; Protect them so that pain does not breed violence in their hearts as well. Wherever you can halt entropy in its tracks by letting it strike you instead, do so.

Gentle Touch

Beginning at third level, you may choose for your unarmed attacks to deal no damage. They still count as having struck, for the purposes of things like Stunning Strike, but they deal no damage and thus cannot break your vow of nonviolence.

Whenever you strike a creature with your Gentle Touch, you may choose to impose one of the following effects on that target:

• It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.

• It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.

• It can't take reactions until the end of your next turn.

Gentle Promise

At 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill if you do not already possess it. You can also expend 1 Ki point to double your proficiency bonus on Persuasion checks for 1 minute.

Additionally, as long as you have one Ki point remaining, you may use your bonus action to cast Compelled Duel without consuming Ki or requiring concentration, though you cannot use this ability on more than one target at once. While the target is under the effects of your Compelled Duel, in addition to the usual effects, if the target attempts to employ an attack or a harmful spell against a creature other than you, it must succeed at a Wisdom saving throw against your spell DC in order to do so. If it fails, it must target you instead if you are within range, or otherwise lose the attack or spell.

Spellcasting

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn to cast a small number of spells using your Ki.

You learn two cantrips of your choice from the list below. At 10th level, you learn a third cantrip from that list.

At each level listed, you may learn a spell from the list below, provided it is no higher than your Max Spell Level Known, listed on the table above. Whenever you learn a new spell, you may choose to replace one of your spells known with another spell from the list below.

You cast your spells using Ki, rather than spell slots. Each spell costs Ki equal to 1 + the spell's level. If the spell you're casting gains additional benefit when cast from a higher-level spell slot, you may choose to expend additional ki when casting the spell, up to the listed maximum amount on the table above. Each additional point of Ki spent on the spell increases its potency as if cast from a spell slot 1 higher than the spell's level - Thus you could cast Sleep, expending 3 Ki points (2 for the normal spell, 1 for 1 slot higher) to affect 7d8 hit points worth of creatures.

• Cantrips: Blade Ward, Mending, Spare The Dying, Guidance, Resistance, Virtue

• 1st-Level Spells: Animal Friendship, Cure Wounds, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Disguise Self, False Life, Feather Fall, Healing Word, Identify, Longstrider, Sense Emotion, Sleep, Speak With Animals, Unearthly Chorus, Detect Evil And Good, Detect Poison And Disease, Protection From Evil And Good, Purify Food And Drink, Sanctuary, Shield Of Faith, Shield, Jump, Sudden Awakening

• 2nd-Level Spells: Animal Messenger, Calm Emotions, Detect Thoughts, Enthrall, Hold Person, Lesser Restoration, Locate Animals Or Plant, Locate Object, See Invisibility, Silence, Zone of Truth, Aid, Augury, Find Traps, Gentle Repose, Prayer Of Healing, Protection From Poison, Warding Bond, Pass Without Trace

• 3rd-Level Spells: Clairvoyance, Feign Death, Nondetection, Sending, Speak With Dead, Speak With Plants, Tongues, Beacon Of Hope, Mass Healing Word, Protection From Energy, Revivify

• 4th-Level Spells: Compulsion, Confusion, Freedom Of Movement, Locate Creature, Death Ward, Divination

Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your Gentle Hand spells, coming from sheer willpower and faith in yourself. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a Gentle Hand spell you cast, and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Fluid Defender

Beginning at 6th level, using Patient Defense no longer costs Ki. While using Patient Defense, you can make attacks of opportunity without using your reaction. Additionally, any creature that misses you in melee provokes an attack of opportunity from you.

Finally, while using Patient Defense, when a creature you can see makes an attack against a target other than you that is within 5ft of you, you may use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. If they miss their target due to your interference, the attack strikes you instead (Regardless of the original rolls), and if the attacker is within your melee reach, they provoke an attack of opportunity from you.

Pacifying Blow

By 11th level, you've grown more adept at disabling foes by manipulating their Ki.

• If you make a successful Stunning Strike against a target you've already Stunned using your Stunning Strike, on a failed save, they are Paralyzed until the end of your next turn.

• If you make a successful Stunning Strike against a target you've already Paralyzed using this ability, on a failed save, they are instead knocked Unconscious for 10 minutes and are subject to the effects of the Sanctuary spell for the duration, requiring no components nor concentration.

• If the target of your Stunning Strike is of a CR equal to or less than your Monk level, Stunning Strike will now Paralyze them, rather than Stunning them.

• If the target of your Stunning Strike is of a CR equal to or less than half your Monk level, Stunning Strike will now knock them Unconscious, rather than Stunning or Paralyzing them, as well as granting them the benefits of Sanctuary, as described above.

Blood of the Martyr

Beginning at 17th level, whenever a target you can see takes damage, you can use your reaction to magically take that damage in their stead. This feature doesn't transfer any other effects that might accompany the damage, and this damage can't be reduced in any way.

Additionally, when a creature you can see drops to 0 hit points, or would be slain by an effect other than damage, you can choose to die in their stead. In doing so, you drop to 0 hit points, and restore hit points to the target whose impending death triggered this ability, equal to the hit points you had when you chose to sacrifice yourself.

Finally, if you die due to using either of the above features of this ability, raising you from the dead costs no material component and imposes no penalty on you, as your purity of dead has not gone unnoticed.

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