Water Dancer (5e Subclass)
Water Dancers are monks who have chosen to dedicate themselves to the study of a single type of melee weapon. Through this study, they develop their own unique fighting style that relies on elegance and finesse over the hacking and slashing favored by most combatants.
They are so confident in their mastery that they eschew the use of armor, relying instead on cunning parries, riposes, and blocks, simultaneously protecting themselves while further demonstrating their martial artistry. And, much like the ebb and flow of the streams and rivers they base their artistry on, a water dancer stresses fluidity in motion, quickly advancing to attack and then withdrawing to defend.
Level 3: Water Dancing[edit]
All of the water dancer's features require them to be wielding a single weapon with no other weapon or shield in their off-hand.
The only exception is if your chosen weapon possesses the Nick mastery, in which case you are permitted to wield two of those weapons, but only those weapons. For example, a water dancer who chooses the scimitar as their chosen weapon would be able to wield two scimitars at once, but they couldn't wield a scimitar and a dagger and still benefit from the features of this subclass.
- Dancer's Choice: Choose one melee weapon, which will be known as your chosen weapon for the purpose of these rules. This includes two-handed weapons and thrown weapons, but not other types of ranged weapons or unarmed strikes. You gain proficiency with this weapon if you are not already, and you treat it as a monk weapon. Any monk features that allow you to perform an unarmed strike—such as flurry of blows—can have that unarmed strike replaced with an attack with your chosen weapon, and any monk features that affect unarmed strikes—such as empowered strikes—also affect your chosen weapon.
- Master of the Waves: You learn the mastery for your chosen weapon, and you gain the Dueling fighting style feat (or the Two-Weapon Fighting fighting style feat if your chosen weapon possesses the Nick mastery).
- The Changing Tide: You can ignore any of the following requirements for feats and other traits that require any of these conditions, but only in regards to your chosen weapon: The weapon deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage; the weapon must have the finesse property; the weapon must be light; the weapon must be heavy; you must be wielding the weapon with one hand; you must be wielding the weapon with two hands. For example, if your chosen weapon is a longsword, you would be able to benefit from the Piercer feat despite longswords dealing slashing damage instead of piercing damage.
Level 3: Flow As Water[edit]
You can perform one opportunity attack each round without using your reaction. This improves to two opportunity attacks without requiring a reaction at 11th level. Opportunity attacks must still be triggered before you can perform them.
Level 6: The Rising Tide[edit]
Choose one mastery property that your chosen weapon does not possess other than Nick. You treat your chosen weapon as if it possessed that mastery property in addition to its normal one, benefiting from both simultaneously.
In addition, when you perform a flurry of blows where you exchange all of your unarmed strikes with an attack with your chosen weapon, you gain one additional attack with your chosen weapon. This increases the focus cost of your flurry of blows to 2. You can still perform a flurry of blows without this extra attack for the normal focus cost.
Level 11: Ebb and FLow[edit]
Your skill at the water dance improves significantly, making you not only a more formidable opponent in combat, but also an inscrutable puzzle.
- Biting Wave: Whenever you roll damage from an attack made with your chosen weapon, any rolls of a 1 or 2 are treated as if you had rolled a 3 instead. When attacking with your chosen weapon, you also score a critical hit on a natural roll of 18-20, and your critical hits with it deal one extra die of damage.
- Not Today: Whenever an enemy attacks you with a melee weapon and misses, you can make an opportunity attack against them with your chosen weapon. You gain advantage on this attack, and you can move up to any other square adjacent to the target of your opportunity attack without taking up any of your speed. You may only make this type of opportunity attack against a given attacker once per turn.
- The Crushing Tide: When you perform a flurry of blows where you exchange all of your unarmed strikes with an attack with your chosen weapon, you gain two additional attack with your chosen weapon instead of one from your Rising Tide feature.
Level 17: Diverting the Stream[edit]
If you miss with an attack with your chosen weapon, you can immediately make another attack against the same opponent. You only gain this second attack once per turn.
You can also now use your chosen weapon to knock a weapon or other item from your opponent's grasp. You make an attack roll contested by your opponent's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. This attack has advantage. If you win the contested roll, your opponent drops the item to any unoccupied space within 15 feet of you that you choose. If your opponent is larger than you, it has advantage on its skill check. If your opponent is smaller than you, it has disadvantage on its skill check. In addition, this disarming attack can deal damage as normal if your attack roll beats your opponent's AC, though you can choose to deal no damage instead as with a standard disarm.
You can only attempt this advanced version of a disarming attempt against the same opponent only once per round.
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