Way of the Leech (5e Subclass)
Knowledge of pressure points - high density valves of a person's inner ki - allows many great masters to disable opponents, by blocking or disrupting the flow of ki through their bodies. Others, however, have applied this understanding of the mystical connection between body and ki in a different way: by manipulating one's own ki flow around these areas, an enemy's ki can be sapped directly from their body, and into the Leech.
Such activity - theft, of a sort, of lifeforce - is seen as an abomination by some sects. Occasionally, it may indeed be such; some monks who follow the Way of the Leech are drawn by the feeling of ki overflow down a dark path, their addiction (or perhaps just moral apathy) compelling them to kill in order to satisfy their hunger. Others join with the understanding that ki is a transient thing, over which it is impossible to claim ownership - and that manipulation thereof can be committed to good or evil ends. Such monks use their ability to draw ki as a way to disable their opponents without major injury, while bolstering themselves in the fight.
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| "What was yours, is mine." |
Path of the Leech
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your eyes and hands open to the ki pathways flowing through the bodies of your opponents. You gain the following benefits:
- While a creature which is not an Undead or a Construct is grappled by you or being climbed by you (via the Climb Onto a Bigger Creature action), at the end of each of its turns, it takes an amount of necrotic damage equal to your monk level. You may then gain an amount of temporary hit points equal to half of the damage dealt, rounded down. These temporary hit points do not stack with other sources of temporary hit points. If this damage reduces the creature to 0 hit points, you may immediately regain 1 ki point.
- If a creature which is not an Undead or a Construct was reduced to 0 hit points within the last round of combat, you may spend your Action grasping their body. This provokes attacks of opportunity from nearby enemies. If you do so, you regain hit points equal to your monk level. If the creature was unconscious, rather than dead, it must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it dies instantly. On a success, it fails one death check.
Agile Grappler
Your goal in a grab is typically simply to keep your hand on your enemy, and not to strongarm them into an advantageous position. Starting at 3rd level, you may make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check instead of a Strength (Athletics) check when attempting to grapple or climb onto a creature, as you outmaneuver it to establish a hold. If you do so, any attempts to break the grapple must be against your Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. However, in this case, your movement speed also becomes 0. You can still release the target at any time.
Additionally, the grapple Special Attack now counts as an attack with a monk weapon for the purpose of the Martial Arts class feature.
Bewildering Throw
At 6th level, you learn to shift your oppponents' ki internally in such a way as to allow you to lift even enemies much heavier than you into the air and move them as you will. When you use the Attack action to shove a creature, you may use your Dexterity (Acrobatics) modifier instead of your Strength (Athletics) modifier for the check. If the creature is grappled by you, and you succeed on the check to shove, you may also reposition them to any space adjacent to you before the effects of the shove occur.
Ebb Tide
At 11th level, you learn to use your own ki to direct the ki flow of others not only out of their bodies, but out of particular areas within their bodies. When you deal necrotic damage to a creature which is not an Undead or a Construct with your Path of the Leech feature, you may spend 1 ki point and choose a body part. It must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw, or suffer one of the following effects, based on the body part you chose:
| Body Part | Condition | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Eyes | Blinded | 1d4 rounds |
| Ears | Deafened | 1d4 minutes |
| Brain | Stunned | 1 round |
| Limbs | Poisoned | 2d4 rounds |
| Heart | Fatigued | See Exhaustion |
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Hungry Ghost
At 17th level, your body becomes so receptive to the ki of others that you can drain them at the briefest touch. Whenever you hit a creature which is not an Undead or a Construct and which is grappled by you or being climbed by you with an unarmed strike, you may spend 2 ki points. If you do, you deal additional necrotic damage equal to your monk level, then may gain temporary hit points equal to half of the damage dealt, rounded down, as with the Path of the Leech base feature. If this damage reduces the creature to 0 hit points, you may immediately regain 1 ki point. This necrotic damage also allows the use of Ebb Tide.
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