Monastic Tradition
Way of the Beast
Some monks embracee monastic discipline when the alternative is to surrender to bestial fury. The Way of the Beast is for monks cursed with lycanthropy—perhaps not a full descent into beastly frenzy, but at least a touch of the dreaded curse.
Sometimes a person afflicted with lycanthropy seeks out the Way of the Beast as a way to control it. Other darker orders may intentionally afflict their disciples intentionally bringing on the transformation with all its power. In the foulest monasteries, the Way of the Beast may even infect unwitting acolytes, turning them into pariahs who would struggle to survive outside the Way of the Beast. Accordingly, monks of the Way of the Beast may come from any background and any alignment; the path a beast monk walks depends heavily on how they arrive there.
Way of the Beast Features
| Monk Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 3rd | Beast Blood, Rending Claws, Pouncing Strikes |
| 6th | Beast Form |
| 11th | Pack Discipline |
| 17th | Lunar Howl |
Beast Blood
At 3rd level, your curse awakens and you discover a wild connection. You gain proficiency in Survival or a monk skill of your choice if you are already proficient.
In addition, you gain the ability to speak intelligibly with beasts, and you can cast befriend beastSDS without expending a spell slot. Once you cast the spell in this way, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
Rending Claws
Also at 3rd level, you can call on your innate curse to strengthen your blows. When you hit with an unarmed strike you can choose to deal slashing damage instead of bludgeoning, and you can reroll any 1's you roll for damage, keeping the new result.
Pouncing Strikes
Also at 3rd level, your monstrous fury allows you to leap great distances to make an attack. If you move at least 20 feet on your turn, you can make your next melee attack with advantage. When you use your Step of the Wind, you can make a single unarmed strike as part of the same bonus action.
Beast Form
At 6th level, you can fully summon your lycanthropic powers. At the start of your turn, you can choose to spend 3 ki to take on a monstrous aspect. If you do so, you gain the following benefits for 1 minute:
- Your speed increases by 10 feet.
- You gain resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
- Once on each of your turns, you can make a bite attack, which is an unarmed strike which deals 2d6 piercing damage on a hit.
Pack Discipline
At 11th level, you learn to rely on your comrades, benefiting from their presence as you would a trusted packmate. You gain the following benefits:
- When you end your turn adjacent to both an enemy and an ally, you can spend 1 ki to gain temporary hit points equal to 1d6 plus your Wisdom modifier.
- When you damage a creature with the bite attack from your Beast Form, the next attack an ally makes against that creature before the start of your next turn is made with advantage.
Lunar Howl
At 17th level, you can empower those around with the effect of your lycanthropy. You learn the spell howl of the moonS, which you can cast once without expending a spell slot with Wisdom as your spellcasting ability. Once you cast it in this way, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
When you cast the spell while in your Beast Form, you can spend 1 ki to grant the benefits of your Beast Form to one creature within 5 feet. You can empower additional creatures this way, spending 1 additional ki for each additional creature (for example, 3 ki for two creatures, 6 ki for three, and so on).
Enough Werewolves Already!
The Way of the Beast is primarily written with a werewolf fantasy in mind, but can be adapted to cover other lycanthropes. Consider the following adjustments:
- Wererat: Instead of Beast Form granting damage resistance, allow it to make Patient Defense free.
- Wereraven: Instead of Beast Form granting damage resistance, allow it to grant flight.
- Wereboar: Instead of Pouncing Strikes granting an extra attack after you use Step of the Wind, have it grant a free shove attempt (using Dexterity or Wisdom instead of Strength).
- Werecrocodile: Instead of Beast Form granting damage resistance, allow unlimited uses of its bite attack.
Way of the Beast quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your eyes gleam gold in the moonlight. |
| 2 | You are very hairy. |
| 3 | You prefer your meat raw and bloody. |
| 4 | Sometimes you start to lick yourself clean after a fight. |
| 5 | You have a strong desire to share your "gift". |
| 6 | You carry a squeaky toy. |
Change Log
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
Way of the Beast created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon
Spells
- Befriend Beast, by Omega Ankh and Somanyrobots
- Howl of the Moon, by somanyrobots
Art
Arlinn, the Pack's Hope, by Anna Steinbauer © 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.