A Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Class Specialization.
When I was growing up, I was part of a monastery, run by an order of monks that aligned themselves with the sun. But, through the years, the high walls of the monastery, the meditation rituals at dawn and dusk, and the tranquil way of living… I started to understand that these were not for me. I craved to see the world.
Excerpt from ‘Her will Only’, by Lunarion
At night, I would look at the moon and think of all the places it had seen. So, when the moon started guiding my daily training, I wasn’t really surprised. I took the gift and when I was no longer synchronized with my brethren, I left. Now, only the moon guides me. She has made me into her disciple and I obey.
The way of the moon soul moves in the shadows, deflecting the light of the moon into the minds of her opponents. Sometimes, a moon touched monk is an agent of justcie that walks the nights. Other times, they are servants of madness. Whatever their origin, a moon soul monk causes her target to become deranged, insane, touched by the moon: A lunatic. Hopefully for a small amount of time, but that is entirely dependent on the mission.
| Way of the Moon Soul features | |
|---|---|
| Monk Level | Feature |
| 3rd | Bonus Proficiencies, Sickles Of The Moon, Moon Soul Technique |
| 6th | Moonstruck |
| 11th | Pull of the Moon |
| 17th | Lunacy |
Optional Level 1 Features
Unlisted on ‘Way of the Moon Soul’ table are possible level 1 features. Though the class isn’t designed around a level 1 feature, I have added these for all classes in my own campaigns. This way, you can embrace the type of battlerager you want to be from the start.
Pale Reflection
Level 1 Feature (optional)
You can retreat to an inner space, making your exterior form become but a pale reflection of your true self. Unless people know you or know who to look for, you become quite unremarkable to the people around you. Unless youreally make a mess, passive perception doesn’t detect you in places where a lot of people are, but you shouldn’t be.
Bonus Proficiencies
Level 3 Feature
You gain proficiency with the athletics and stealth skills.
Sickles of the Moon
Level 3 Feature
You can use a bonus action to create a moon sickle in each hand. A moon sickle deals 1d4 slashing damage and has the thrown (range 30/60) property. It teleports to your hand immediately after it is used to make a ranged attack. Moon sickles count as monk weapons for you and can be used instead of unarmed strikes.
The sickles have an ebony black haft and a curved blade that sheds a pale white light. Alternatively, they can appear as two slices of moon that only you can hold without being cut by them. The blades illuminate a 20-feet radius around you with dim light. You can suppress the light without having to spend an action. These weapons count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage, but only while you wield them. They disappear if they are more than 5 feet away from you for 1 minute or more. They also disappear if you use this feature again, if you dismiss the weapons (no action required), or if you die.
When you find a magical weapon that is not an artifact or a sentient weapon, you can perform a special ritual while you hold the weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. You can then dismiss the weapon, shunting it into an extradimensional space. While it is there, your sickles have the same properties as the weapon stored. The weapon ceases to confer its properties if you die, if you perform the 1-hour ritual on a different weapon, or if you use a 1-hour ritual to break your bond to it. The weapon appears at your feet if it is in the extradimensional space when the bond breaks.
Any feature of the Way of the Moon Soul that requires an attack requires you to use these sickles.
Way of the Moon Soul Techniques
Level 3 Feature
When you hit with one of your Flurry of Blow attacks, but never more than once on your turn, you can impose one of the following effects on your target:
- You blind your target with the light of your sickles. It must make a Dexterity saving throw or be blinded until the start of you next round.
- You pummel the hafts of your sickles into its vocal organ. It must make a Constitution saving throw or be silenced until the start of you next round.
- You impose a visage of horror on its being. It must make a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the start of your next turn.
Moonstruck
Level 6 Feature
On the first attack that hits on your turn, you can confuse your target. If it fails a Wisdom saving throw, it acts confused until the start of your next turn. If you choose to do so, you can do psychic damage instead of your normal damage with that hit.
On its turn, roll a D10 to see what your target will do:
- 1: The creature uses all its Movement to move in a random direction. To determine the direction, roll a d8 and assign a direction to each die face. The creature doesn’t take an action this turn.
- 2-6: The creature doesn’t move or take actions this turn.
- 7-8: The creature uses its action to make a melee Attack against a randomly determined creature within its reach. If there is no creature within its reach, the creature does nothing this turn.
- 9-10: The creature can act and move normally.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1). You regain all uses of this feature after a long rest.
Pull of the Moon
Level 11 Feature
The pull of the moon makes it so that gravity has a lesser hold on you. You gain the following benefits:
- You can jump twice as far and high as normal.
- You have a climb speed equal to your normal speed.
- Your proficiency in athletics and stealth become expertise instead.
The pull of the moon also gives you an edge in combat:
- You have advantage on initiative rolls.
- On your first turn during combat, you have advantage on attack rolls against creatures that have not yet acted.
Crescent Edge
Level 17 Feature
Once on your turn, you can spend 3 ki points to make one of your attacks deal an extra 8d6 psychic damage if your target is within 30 feet of you.
Lunacy
Level 17 Feature
You can touch the mind of your quarries. After you have dealt psychic damage to a creature and within 1 minute of the attack that caused the damage, you can use an action to cast the spell Feeblemind on that creature. The DC to resist the spell effect is equal to your monk DC.
You regain the use of this feature after a long rest.