Way of Undeath (5e Subclass)

Way of Undeath

Monk Subclass

Ki is the mystical energy that courses through all living bodies. It is the essence of life that monks turn into power. Some monks have learned to transfer life force to manipulate Death itself for a short period of time. They can siphon the life energy of their foes or use their own ki to control slain enemies as they would puppets. Any monastery that teaches this Way does so in secret; necromancers in any form are almost sure to be vilified.

Escape Death's Grasp

At 3rd level, your study of transferring ki allows you to help your companions stave off death. You learn the Spare the Dying cantrip, if you don’t already know it, and can perform it without verbal components.

Consume the Living

At 3rd level, when you use Flurry of Blows, you can steal life energy from your foe’s body. You can spend 1 extra ki point when you hit one of your Flurry of Blows to deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage. You regain hit points equal to the necrotic damage you dealt. You can only use this feature once per turn.

Puppeteer the Dead

At 6th level, you have learned how to transfer your ki to control those you kill. When you reduce a humanoid size Large or smaller to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction and spend 2 ki points to turn them undead, given their body is still intact (i.e. not melted, incinerated, etc.). It has the same stats as a zombie with the following differences:

• Its hit points are equal to 5 times your Wisdom modifier.
• It adds your Wisdom modifier to its Attack rolls, in addition to the +3 it already gets.
• Its damage rolls are your Martial Arts Die plus your Wisdom modifier.

The zombies move on your turn, and you must use your bonus action to direct them. They last for 10 minutes or until you release them from your hold as a bonus action. Once they are released from your control, they cannot be turned undead again. The number of undead you can control is equal to your Proficiency bonus.

Advanced Control

At 11th level, you are skilled at keeping your life energy within your body. You are resistant to necrotic damage. In addition, you have advantage on death saving throws.

Remnants of the Fallen

At 11th level, you can tap into a person’s life force even after they’ve passed on. By spending 2 ki points, you can access the memories of a deceased humanoid, given that they died in the last 24 hours. You can see the last minute leading up to their death. If you already know how they died, you can access a random memory (at the DM’s discretion).

Undying Burst

At 17th level, your mastery of necrotic forces allows you to extend your unholy grasp. You can spend 6 ki points to create a 20ft radius of necrotic energy, centered on yourself that last for 1 minute. Upon activation, any hostile creature in the radius must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, they take 8d8 necrotic damage, and they suffer an additional 2d8 when they start their turn in the radius. On a successful save, they take half damage and do not suffer additional damage. Undead and constructs are not affected.

Any creature size Large or smaller, humanoid or otherwise, who dies within the radius turns into an undead controlled by you. This is not affected by the Constitution saving throw, but the number of undead is still limited by your Proficiency bonus. If the creature is not a humanoid, it will still follow the zombie stats.

Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you complete a long rest.

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