The Clans of the Rivers and Lakes 5e
Wuxian inspired backgrounds and feats for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.
Backgrounds
Adamantine Tiger Acolyte
You have been accepted into the Adamantine Tiger temples. The Adamantine Tiger temples sought seclusion for their religious rites, but soon found themselves beset by bandits and monsters of the wilds. To protect themselves they learned martial arts for defense and as a religious devotion.
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Religion
Tool Proficiencies: None
Languages: Two of your choice
Equipment: Prayer beads (your holy symbol) a prayer book or prayer wheel, 5 sticks of incense, a meditation pillow, robes, a set of common clothes and a pouch containing 15 gp.
Features
Hard Style Initiate
You gain the Hard Style Initiate feat.
In addition, the Adamantine Tiger temples provide you with free, modest lodging and food at any of their temples.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables for the acolyte background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity.
Beggar Clan Urchin
The Beggar Clan has accepted you into it. Though they look lowly the beggar clan seeks to help the good people of the world, often taking notice of abuses before others. Rarely keeping fancy weapons the beggar clan turns to martial arts for protection.
Skill Proficiencies: Sleight of Hand, Stealth
Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, thieve’s tools
Languages: None
Equipment: A small knife, a single bag to carry your supplies, a short walking stick, a memento of better times, a set of common clothes and a pouch containing 10 gp.
Feature
Hard Style Initiate
You gain the Hard Style Initiate feat.
In addition, the Beggar clan has eyes and ears everywhere. You know how to get messages to and from your contact, even over great distances. The beggar clan has friends everywhere.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables for the urchin background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity.
Jade Dragon Scholar
You have been accepted into one of the Jade Dragon sects. These scholars seek to understand nature through observation and meditation, and find their martials arts grow from their deep understanding of the world around them.
Skill Proficiencies: History, plus your choice of one from among Arcana, Nature, and Religion
Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism kit
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: The scholar’s robes of your sect, a meditation rug, a small knife, a set of common clothes, an herbalism kit and 10 gp.
Feature
Soft Style Initiate
You gain the Soft Style Initiate feat.
In addition, the jade dragon temples provide you with free, modest lodging and food at any of their temples.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables for the hermit background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity.
Red Tower Trainee
You have been accepted into the Red Tower schools. These schools of courtiers and courtesans are known far and wide for their arts and elegance. They seek to bring beauty to the world, but in a dangerous world, find themselves in dangerous places, and find that it’s often a good idea to be able to protect yourself.
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion
Tool Proficiencies: One instrument of your choice
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: A set of fine clothes and a pouch containing 5 gp.
Feature
Soft Style Initiate
You gain the Soft Style Initiate feat.
As an established and respected member of a school, you can rely on certain benefits that membership provides. Your fellow school members will provide you with lodging and food if necessary, and pay for your funeral if needed. In some cities and towns, a school hall offers a central place to meet other members of your profession, which can be a good place to meet potential patrons, allies, or hirelings.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables for the guild artisan background as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to suit your identity.
Feats
Ki Initiate
You’ve learned the basics of using ki.
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You gain 2 ki points that can be used to fuel certain features. You regain all spent ki points on a short rest as long as you spend at least 30 minutes of the rest meditating to regain your ki points.
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You learn two of the ki features below. Whenever you reach a level that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature you can replace one of these ki features with another one from the list.
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Deflect Missiles: Starting at 3rd level, you can use your reaction to deflect or catch the missile when you are hit by a ranged weapon attack. When you do so, the damage you take from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Proficiency bonus.
If you reduce the damage to 0, you can catch the missile if it is small enough for you to hold in one hand and you have at least one hand free. If you catch a missile in this way, you can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged attack with a range of 20/60 using the weapon or piece of ammunition you just caught, as part of the same reaction. You make this attack with proficiency, regardless of your weapon proficiencies.
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Flurry of Blows. Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.
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Ki-Empowered Blows. You focus your ki into your body. You spend 1 ki point and a bonus action to make your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. This lasts for 1 minute.
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Patient Defense. You can spend 1 ki point to take the Dodge action as a bonus action on your turn.
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Quickened Healing: as an action, you can spend 2 ki points and roll a d6. You regain a number of hit points equal to the number rolled plus your proficiency bonus.
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Step of the Wind. You can spend 1 ki point to take the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action on your turn, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
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Hard Style Initiate
You have been taught a particular hard style of martial arts focused on physical development. You can choose four features below. You can take this feat more than once, each time taking different features.
- Adamantine Body: (prerequisite: Adamantine Tiger Acolyte) As a bonus action you can give yourself resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage until the start of your next turn. Once you use this feature you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 1 ki point to use it again.
- Adamantine Tiger Strike: (prerequisite: Adamantine Tiger Acolyte) When you hit another creature with a melee weapon attack, that creature has disadvantage on the next saving throw you force it to make before the end of your next turn. Only one Strike can be added to an attack.
- Beggar’s Grasp: (prerequisite: Beggar Clan Urchin) You are proficient in improvised weapons and as a bonus action you can make a grapple attack.
- Beggar’s Dog Driving Strike: (prerequisite: Beggar Clan Urchin) Any creature that is grappled by you, or is prone, has disadvantage on any saving throw you force them to make.
- Earth Breaking Fist: Your unarmed attacks do double damage to objects and structures. If your unarmed strikes use a d4 for damage, you can roll a d6 in place of it.
- Iron Palm Training: You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon.
- Iron Shirt Adept: (prerequisite: Iron Shirt Basics) Once a day, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage you take from a weapon attack by 1d10 + your Constitution modifier + your Proficiency bonus. Once you use this feature you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 1 ki point to use it again.
- Iron Shirt Basics: While you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + half your Constitution modifier.
- Iron Shirt Master: (prerequisite: Iron Shirt Basics) While you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier.
Soft Style Initiate
You have been taught a particular soft style of martial arts focused on mental development. You can choose four features below. You can take this feat more than once, each time taking different features.
- Dragon's Protection (prerequisite: Jade Dragon Scholar) Once a day, you can use your reaction to give yourself resistance to one damage type until the end of your next turn. Once you use this feature you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 1 ki point to use it again.
- Dragon Palm: (prerequisite: Jade Dragon Scholar) When you would make an unarmed attack you can replace it with a Dragon Palm attack. They make a Dexterity saving throw against your save DC (8+ Proficiency + Wisdom modifier) taking thunder damage equal to your unarmed strike.
- Iron Battle Goddess Conditioning: You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike.
- Lightness Technique: You can use Dexterity (Athletics) for climbing checks and you can use your Dexterity when calculating your jump distance.
- Perceptive Defense Basics: While you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + half your Wisdom modifier.
- Perceptive Defense Master: (prerequisite: Perceptive Defense Basics) While you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.
- Plum Blossom Flurry: (prerequisite Red Tower Trainee) When you make an unarmed strike or attack with a finesse weapon you can replace it with a Plum Blossom Flurry. In place of an attack roll they make a Wisdom saving throw against your save DC (8+ Proficiency + Wisdom modifier) on a failure taking 1d4 damage of the same type as the attack it replaces, you also have advantage on the next weapon attack kyou make against that creature before your next turn.
- Red Lady’s Aggression: (prerequisite: Red Tower Trainee) When you make an unarmed strike or an attack with a weapon with the finesse property and you have advantage on your attack roll and your attack is successful, your next unarmed or finesse weapon attack against that creature also has advantage if it’s made before your next turn.
- Sticky Hands: When you grapple or shove you can use Dexterity (Athletics) in place of Strength (Athletics) for your rolls.
- Willow Leaf Palm: You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes
Thrown Weapon Specialist
You have mastered the shifting nature of thrown weapons. You are proficient in throwing improvised weapons. You can choose two features from the list below:
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Interrupting Shot: When a creature you can see attacks a target that is you or within 20 feet of you, you can use your reaction to make a ranged weapon attack. This attack does no damage, but the target must make a Wisdom saving throw against a DC of 8 + your Proficiency modifier + your Strength or Dexterity Modifier (your choice). If the creature fails the save it is Frightened of you until the end of it's turn, if they succeed they automatically succeed against any further Interrupting Shots for 24 hours.
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Shadow Blade Technique When you make a ranged weapon attack with a weapon with the thrown property you can choose to throw two of them with the same attack, placing the second in the first weapon's shadow. If the first attack misses reroll the attack taking the second roll. You can only do this a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier, and you regain all expended uses after a long rest.
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Skirmisher When you make an attack with a weapon with the thrown property you can choose to treat it as a ranged weapon attack with a ranged weapon. When you make an attack with a weapon with the thrown property within it’s normal range you can choose to treat it as a melee weapon attack with a melee weapon. You cannot treat a weapon as both a melee weapon and a ranged weapon for the same attack.
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Steel Rain: As an action you can throw a volley of darts in a spread. You draw and throw 5 or more darts, each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d6 piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the darts used are magical, the damage is magical. The DC for this attack is equal to 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Strength or Dexterity modifier. You can only do this a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier, and you regain all expended uses after a long rest.
Catchy Title
Art by Stanton Feng: Shaolin; © Swordsman Online 2012
Clans of the Rivers and Lakes 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.