Way of the Scavenger | Homebrew Monk Subclass for D&D 5e

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Way of the Scavenger

The best fighters know that their options for what tools they may use in combat aren't limited to what they currently carry. Their eyes are trained to see the battlefield before them in a new light - there are weapons everywhere.

Ranging from what their enemies drop, to even a loose brick or plank, Monks following the Way of the Scavenger focus on improvising and thinking quick on their feet when they need a weapon. They are trained to move fast with both their feet and their hands. Swapping weapons becomes second nature as they turn anything not nailed down into a new tool for war.

Flick of the Wrist

When you choose this Monastic Tradition at 3rd level, your training has made your hands particularly limber and skillful in the handling of weapons you normally wouldn't be proficient with - provided you move and strike quickly, at least. You gain the following benefits:

  • Quick Pickup: You can quickly pickup weapons dropped by other creatures, or improvised weapons from your surroundings, without consuming your free action. Until the end of your turn, the weapon you pick up counts as a monk weapon, and you are also proficient with it if you normally aren't. As a free action, you can quickly scan your surroundings with a Perception check to see if there are any loose items that could qualify as an improvised weapon. The DC for this check and the item you find is determined by the DM.

  • Fastball: As a bonus action, you may throw whatever you are currently holding at a creature. If what you are throwing does not have a normal throwing range, the range is considered as 5 times your Dexterity modifier for the normal range, and double that for the maximum range. Throwing an item is a ranged attack with which you are proficient, and it deals damage equal to your Martial Arts die + your Dexterity modifier. If the item was a melee weapon, then the type of damage this attack deals is the same as the weapon. Otherwise, assume it deals bludgeoning damage. The DM may also decide what's appropriate if they so choose. The item then drops at a space adjacent to the creature, but at the DM's discretion, something else may happen to the item you threw depending on what it was, such as shattering if you threw something fragile.

  • Disarming Throw: When using Fastball or Deflect Missiles to attack, you may choose to expend a ki point to empower the attack. After being empowered, if this attack successfully hits a creature, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw, or drop whatever it is currently holding.

Roll With It

At 6th level, you grow accustomed to the flow of dancing around the battlefield, grabbing a weapon, using it, and then going for the next. This rhythm and the momentum it carries have honed your combat instincts. When picking up a weapon, improvised or otherwise, you gain an additional 10 feet of movement and +1 to your AC until the start of your next turn. You can only gain this benefit once on each of your turns.

Additionally, a creature that fails the Constitution Save from Disarming Throw is also knocked prone.

Additionally still, when using Flurry of Blows, you may replace one of the unarmed strikes with a throw instead.

Powerful Throw

At 11th level, the force of the items you throw carries on even after striking a target. When using Fastball, you attack in a line, allowing you to hit multiple creatures. The attack roll applies to all creatures within the line's range, and stops at the first creature that it fails to damage. For example, if 3 creatures are standing in a line and you throw an item at them, if the attack succeeds on the first creature, but fails on the second, then third is not affected by the attack.

Cannon For An Arm

At 17th level, the power of your throwing arm rivals a catapult. The range of Fastball changes to your Unarmored Movement bonus + 10 times your Dexterity modifier. Additionally, when using Disarming Throw, the attack counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances and immunities, and its damage increases to twice your Martial Arts die.

Additionally still, when making a melee weapon attack with a weapon you just picked up, once on each of your turns, you may use Fastball as part of the same attack without expending your bonus action.

 

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