The Way of the Bestial Art calls on the instincts of predatory beasts. Monks who follow this tradition shape their bodies and minds after their spirit animal, turning every movement into a reflection of primal ferocity, resilience, or cunning. Their fighting style is fluid, but always animalistic, allowing them to stalk, pounce, crush, or strike with venomous precision.
Level 3: Bestial Art
You learn the instincts of the animal you embody. Choose one of the following Bestial Art. While you are trained under a Bestial Art, you gain a skill proficiency based on your choice:
- Tiger: You gain proficiency in the Perception skill.
- Bear: You gain proficiency in the Athletics skill.
- Viper: You gain proficiency in the Stealth skill.
Level 3: Bestial Style
Your Bestial Art allows you to apply a weapon mastery to your unarmed strikes.
When you hit with an unarmed strike, you can apply a weapon mastery effect to that attack. You can only use a weapon mastery in this way once per turn. The mastery you can use depends on your chosen style:
- Tiger: Your unarmed strikes have the Graze weapon mastery.
- Bear: Your unarmed strikes have the Topple weapon mastery.
- Viper: You can apply poisons and similar coatings to your unarmed strikes as if they were weapons, and your unarmed strikes have the Sap weapon mastery.
You can change your bestial art when you finish a long rest.
Level 6: Bestial Empowerment
You can empower your bestial art. As a bonus action, you can spend 2 ki points to enter a heightened bestial state for 1 minute. The effect depends on your chosen style.
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Tiger: Once per turn, and once when you use Flurry of Blows, you deal 2 additional damage when you hit a creature with an unarmed strike. In addition, the damage dealt by your Graze mastery increases by 1. While this empowerment lasts, your unarmed strikes can deal slashing damage instead of their normal damage type.
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Bear: Once per turn, and once when you use Flurry of Blows, when you make an unarmed strike against a creature, you can attempt to grapple that creature as part of the same action.
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Viper: Once per turn, and once when you use Flurry of Blows, when you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, that creature must make a Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the end of its next turn. The saving throw DC equals your ki save DC.
This empowerment ends early if you are incapacitated or if you choose to end it (no action required).
Level 11: Primal Aspect
Your body and instincts further align with your chosen beast, granting you additional benefits based on your current bestial style.
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Tiger: You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks. In addition, your long jump and high jump distances each increase by 10 feet without a running start.
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Bear: You have advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks. Additionally, your speed is not reduced when you drag or carry a creature you are grappling.
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Viper: You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) and Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and you have advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to resist being grappled.
In addition, once per long rest, you can change your bestial style when you finish a short rest.
Level 17: Perfected Bestial Art
Your connection to your bestial art is perfected. When you use your Bestial Empowerment feature, you can choose to further enhance it. When you do so, you spend 4 additional ki points. You can use this enhanced empowerment a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
When you enhance your Bestial Empowerment in this way, you can apply your weapon mastery with your unarmed strikes on every unarmed strike you make, instead of only once per turn. In addition, you gain an extra benefit based on your current bestial style.
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Tiger: Your unarmed strikes ignore resistance to bludgeoning and slashing damage.
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Bear: When you activate your empowerment, you gain temporary hit points equal to twice your monk level. Additionally, you may expend and roll any number of Hit Dice from your Monk Hit Dice pool, adding the total rolled to these temporary hit points.
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Viper: Your poisons and unarmed strikes ignore resistance to poison damage and to the poisoned condition. Creatures normally immune to poison damage or the poisoned condition are instead treated as resistant to poison damage from you, and they have advantage on saving throws to resist being poisoned by your features. In addition, you do not provoke opportunity attacks while you still have movement remaining on your turn.