Visionary
Caption
Reshape Your Body for Battle
Warriors of the Living Weapon pursue physical perfection, honing their body as a smith sharpens a sword. Their traditions are drawn from cultures of shape-shifters and creatures who fight with tooth and claw.
Level 3: Martial Form
At the start of your turn, you can expend 1 Focus Point to manifest your martial form. The form lasts for 10 minutes, until you use this feature again, or until you have the Incapacitated condition. Choose one of the following options when you adopt the form.
Forged Heart. Whenever you hit an object with an Unarmed Strike, the hit is a Critical Hit. In addition, whenever you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike granted by Flurry of Blows, the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed up to 15 feet directly away from you.
Nightmare Shroud. When you use Deflect Attacks, the attacking creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature has the Frightened condition until the end of its next turn.
Traveler’s Blade. Your reach increases by 10 feet.
Weretouched. When you reduce an enemy within 5 feet of you to 0 Hit Points, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die plus your Monk Level.
Level 3: Mutable Strike
You have the power to alter your natural weapons, growing claws or reinforcing your fists. Whenever you deal damage with your Unarmed Strike, it can deal your choice of Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing damage.
Level 6: Manifest Blow
You gain one of the following options of your choice.
Forged Heart. Once per turn when you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can deal extra damage of the same type equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die.
Nightmare Shroud. As a Magic action, you can expend 2 Focus Points to cause psychic energy to erupt from you. When you do so, each creature of your choice in a 30-foot Emanation originating from you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes Psychic damage equal to three rolls of your Martial Arts die, and has the Frightened condition until the end of your next turn. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage.
Traveler’s Blade. Once per turn when you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can use both the Damage and the Grapple option. You are always considered to have a free hand when determining whether you can Grapple another creature.
Weretouched. When you hit the same creature twice on your turn with Unarmed Strike you can expend up to 3 Focus Points to deal extra damage on your second hit. The damage equals a number of rolls of your Martial Arts die equal to the Focus Points expended, and is the same type as your triggering Unarmed Strike.
Level 11: Reflexive Adaptation
When you use Self-Restoration, the following conditions are added to the list of conditions you can remove: Blinded, Deafened, and Grappled.
In addition, when you finish a Short Rest you can remove 1 level of Exhaustion from yourself and when you finish a Long Rest you can remove all levels of Exhaustion from yourself.
Level 17: Perfect Form
Whenever you assume your Martial Form, you can expend an additional 3 Focus Points to gain the following benefits for as long as you remain in the form.
Mercurial Strikes. Whenever you attack with an Unarmed Strike granted by Flurry of Blows, you have Advantage.
Regeneration. At the start of your turn, roll one Martial Arts die. You regain that many Hit Points.
Unbreakable Body. You gain a +2 bonus to your Armor Class.
Playing a Warrior of the Living Weapon
The Warrior of the Living Weapon showcases techniques developed by different cultures and species. The Forged Heart is a recent path, developed by warforged exploring the potential of their constructed frames. This involves both the physical evolution of the body and harnessing the strength of steel and stone. The Nightmare Shroud is a kalashtar tradition. Rather than physically transforming, a nightmare Monk generates ectoplasmic projections, manifesting claws of shadow. Blending physical blows with psychic attacks, they strike fear into the minds of their enemies. A kalashtar typically surrounds themselves with the image of their quori spirit, but the shroud can take any shape. The Traveler’s Blade was developed by tribal changelings, equipping the practitioners with versatile weapons that can’t be taken away. A practitioner can grow bone blades or knuckle ridges, or stretch their limbs to strike a distant foe. The Weretouched techniques were developed by shifter champions of Olarune, honing the natural weapons and strengths innate to their species.
As a Warrior of the Living Weapon, you may draw on a singular technique, or you may instead combine multiple different styles. Both the abilities you gain from this subclass and the base abilities of the Monk class can reflect your ability to control and alter your physical form. When you use Slow Fall, you might be shifting your shape to craft gliding membranes (Traveler’s Blade) or catching the air in an ectoplasmic cloak (Nightmare Shroud). Your Unarmored Defense reflects defensive shape-shifting, and when you develop Empowered Strikes it reflects an enhancement of your natural weapons.
Most of the Living Weapon techniques make use of natural gifts; for example, the Traveler’s Blade assumes that you possess the malleable form of a Changeling. However, any member of any species can follow these paths. If you don’t possess any innate shape-shifting gifts or a bond to a quori spirit, it’s up to you and your DM to explain how you manifest these gifts. If you’re not a Kalashtar, your Nightmare Shroud could be the ghost of an ancestor or lover, clinging to you and helping you fight. If you’re not a Changeling, perhaps you were altered by the daelkyr or part of a Vadalis supersoldier program—you can’t change your face, but you can still grow bone blades and stretch your limbs to strike distant foes.