Monastic Tradition
Way of the Element Bender: Airbending
Way of the Element Bender Features
| Monk level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Bending Arts, Shape of the Elements |
| 6th | Wisdom of the Elements |
| 11th | Ki-Empowered Bending |
| 17th | Master Technique |
Bending Arts
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you spiritually connect with one of the four elements and learn to manipulate its form or “bend” it, using the energy within you and becoming a part of your martial arts style.
You gain a new attack option that you use with the Attack action, a Bending Strike. This special attack is a melee weapon attack (even though your element is not a weapon) with a range of 10 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Dexterity modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage die is a d4. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.
When you take the Attack action on your turn and use a Bending Strike as part of it, you can make a Bending Strike as a bonus action. You can also spend 1 ki point to make a Bending Strike twice as a bonus action.
Choose between fire, air, water, or earth. This choice determines the abilities you learn in this and each feature of the tradition as you level up.
- Airbending. Your Bending Strike deals bludgeoning damage. If this attack hits a creature no more than one size bigger than you, you can deal the damage and try to push it 5 feet in a direction you choose unless it succeeds in a Strength saving throw. You can instead forgo the damage of the attack to knock prone the target unless it succeeds in a Strength saving throw.
At 6th level, the damage of your Bending Strikes counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage
Shape of the Elements
Also, at 3rd level, as part of your bending you can mold your element in more subtle ways. As an action you can manipulate your chosen element if it is within 15 feet of you in one of the following ways:
- Cause up to a 5-foot cube of your element to shape itself into a crude form you designate or move to a place within range. This movement does not involve enough force to cause damage.
- Transform the physical properties of up to a 5-foot cube of your element, such as lighting or snuffing out a small fire, freezing water or creating mist, or turning sand into sandstone.
- Create a harmless, instantaneous sensory effect related to your element, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, a spray of light mist, or a gentle rumbling of stone.
Wisdom of the Elements
When you reach 6th level, you ascertain the less apparent attributes of your element and develop techniques that imitate them:
- Circle walking (Air). You ignore difficult terrain when you Dash.
Also, when a creature misses you with a melee attack roll, you can use your reaction to spend a use of this feature and move up to half your speed without provoking opportunity attacks. If you do not leave the attack range of the creature, you have advantage on the first attack you make against it on your turn.
You have a number of uses of this feature equal to your Wisdom modifier, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. While you have no uses left, you can spend 1 ki point to use this feature again.
Ki-Empowered Bending
When you reach 11th level, you can instill ki in your chosen element to create more powerful bending moves. As an action you can spend 3 ki points and choose one of the following attacks:
- Bending stream. Each creature in a line 30 feet long and 5 feet wide emanating from you in a direction you choose must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes damage of the same type as your Bending Strikes equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die.
- Bending wave. Each creature in a 10-foot radius sphere centered on you must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes damage of the same type as your Bending Strikes equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die
Additionally, you can choose to create an effect depending on your chosen element:
- Rushing gales (Air). A creature that fails the saving throw is pushed 10 feet away from you.
You can increase the damage of this techniques by spending extra ki points. Each point you spend, to a maximum of 3, increases the damage by one roll of your Martial Arts die.
Master Technique
When you reach 17th level, you reach the peak of your bending abilities, becoming a master of the element, able to invoke its full power. You choose one master technique related to your element:
Mastery of Air
-
Become wind. By leaving all earthly attachments, you have found true freedom. You gain a flying speed equal to your movement speed, and while flying you gain the same benefits as if under the freedom of movement spell.
You can also detach your spirit from your body through meditation. You can spend 5 ki points to cast project image without providing any material components. When you cast it this way, your image looks translucent and spirit-like. -
Asphyxiation. You reject the traditional philosophy of airbending, learning a technique that steal your opponent’s breath. You can spend 5 ki points as an action to concentrate (as if you were concentrating on a spell) and extract the air of a creature you can see within 15 feet of you. The creature runs out of breath and begins suffocating (see the rules for suffocating on Chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook). While suffocating, at the beginning of its turn the creature must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the beginning of its next turn.
You must use your action in subsequent turns to maintain this effect, and it ends early if you lose your concentration or if the creature moves more than 15 feet away from you.
Credits
Subclass created by McKirby98.