Monastic Tradition
Way of the Silver Glimmer
Some monks pay respect to the moon itself — reciting creeds that honor the night sky and ennoble the shining moon. These lunar warriors call themselves the Way of the Silver Glimmer. They meditate under the light of the full moon, and learn techniques for calling upon its power. They may infuse their strikes with moonlight, sear enemies with lunar rays, or bathe others in the calming peace of the moon's silver glow.
Monks of Silver Glimmer may come from any background — most faiths that worship the moon are widespread and welcoming. They will tend to follow the tenets of their culture's moon deity, which often means an emphasis on tolerance, care, and defense of the weak.
Way of Silver Glimmer Features
| Monk Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Child of the Moon, Silvery Strikes |
| 6th | Lunar Blessings, Dance of the Moon |
| 11th | Moonlight Mantle |
| 17th | Silvered Warrior |
Many of this subclass's features are more powerful under a full moon. If your game doesn't have a calendar for the moon's cycles, you can just roll a d10 at the start of every day and declare a full moon on a roll of 10.
Child of the Moon
At 3rd level, you gain heightened senses and abilities to help serve the moon's will. You see in dim light as if it is bright light, and anytime you can see the moon, you gain advantage on Wisdom checks.
Silvery Strikes
Also at 3rd level, you can empower your attacks with the moon's rays. You can choose for your unarmed strikes to do radiant damage instead of bludgeoning, and once per turn when you deal radiant damage to an enemy, you can spend 1 ki point to unleash a burst of moonlight. If you do so, the enemy takes radiant damage equal to twice your Wisdom modifier, and must make a Dexterity saving throw against your ki save DC. On a failure, it is limned with moonlight, granting advantage on all attacks against it until the end of your next turn and dispelling any invisibility affecting it.
When there is a full moon, you can add your Wisdom modifier to any instance of radiant damage you deal.
Lunar Blessings
At 6th level, you are able to call upon special lunar magic. You learn the following spells: faerie fire, moonbeam, and moonlit gladeS. 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. In addition, when you cast these spells, you automatically succeed on saving throws against them.
Dance of the Moon
Also at 6th level, you gain uncanny nimbleness when you illuminated by the moon's light. When there is a full moon, opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage.
Moonlight Mantle
At 11th level, you can summon a cloak of silver light upon yourself as a bonus action. You radiate dim light in a 10-foot radius. The following effects apply within this area of moonlight:
- Allies starting their turns within the moonlight gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus.
- When you spend ki on your Silvery Strikes, the burst of moonlight can affect a second target within 10 feet of the first one.
- Shapechangers make all their attacks against you with disadvantage.
Your moonlight mantle functions for 10 minutes. Once you invoke your moonlight mantle, you can't do so again unless you spend 2 ki points to do so or until you finish a long rest.
When there is a full moon, the temporary hit points granted by this feature are doubled.
Silvered Warrior
At 17th level, you fully embody the moon's power. Anytime your Moonlight Mantle is active, all your abilities function as if there is a full moon, and the spells granted by your Lunar Blessing feature have their ranges and radiuses doubled.
Way of the Silver Glimmer quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your eyes are flecked with silver, and gleam in the moonlight. |
| 2 | You feel warm and comfortable anytime you can see the moon. |
| 3 | Torches and lanterns you light always glow silver. |
| 4 | Your clothing is decorated with crescent-moon motifs. |
| 5 | You prefer weapons with crescent-shaped blades. |
| 6 | Anyone who travels with you perceives the moon as larger and more beautiful. |
Appendix 1: Spells
You may wish to replace moonbeam with lunar beam, a rebalanced and upgraded version taken from the Spells That Don't Suck project.
Lunar Beam
2nd-level evocation
- Classes: Druid
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 120 feet
- Components: V, S, M (a small pearl or quartz disc)
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Replaces: Moonbeam
You call down a beam of shimmering moonlight at a point within range. The beam takes the shape of a 5-foot radius, 40-foot high cylinder of dim light.
When a creature starts its turn in the beam or moves into the beam during its turn, it is seared by the pale light. It must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 2d10 radiant damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. A shapechanger or other creature susceptible to silver has disadvantage on this saving throw, takes an additional 1d10 damage on a failure, and cannot change its form while within the beam.
As an action on each of your subsequent turns, you can move the beam up to 60 feet in any direction within the spell’s range.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 2nd.
Moonlit Glade
3rd-level evocation
- Classes: Druid, Ranger
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 60 feet
- Components: V, S
- Duration: Concentration, 1 minute
You call down the moon's light, enveloping a 100-foot tall, 30-foot radius cylinder in dim light. When a creature starts its turn within the moonlight or enters it on its turn, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 2d6 radiant damage. A shapechanger or other creature susceptible to silver has disadvantage on this saving throw, takes an additional 2d6 damage on a failure, and cannot change its form while within the light. Creatures can't be invisible within the light. When you cast the spell, you can specify any number of creatures you can see to automatically succeed on saving throws against the spell.
If any of this spell's area overlaps with an area of darkness created by a spell of 3rd level or lower, the spell that created the darkness is dispelled.
Change Log
v0.2
- Adjusted Child of the Moon
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
Way of the Silver Glimmer created by somanyrobots | Discord | Patreon
Spells
- Lunar Beam by Omega Ankh and somanyrobots
- Moonlit Glade by somanyrobots
Art
Rasaad, Monk of Selune, by Dan Scott © Wizards of the Coast LLC
Background Image Stains
License
© 2025 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0
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.
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.