Way of the Badlands

Subclass of: Monk

The Way of the Badlands monk dedicates their life to mastering the unforgiving heat and shifting sands of the desert, embodying the resilience and endurance of those who call the harsh wilderness their home. Training under the relentless sun, these monks become embodiments of the desert's power. Their rigorous discipline grants them unique abilities to navigate and manipulate the sands around them, from traversing dunes with ease to shaping the desert itself to their will. Monks of this path are not only fierce warriors but also guardians of the desert, aiding those lost in its vastness. Through their journey, they become one with the very essence of the badlands, using their ki to command the sand beneath their feet, shield themselves with swirling sandstorms, and even teleport across short distances through the dunes, making them formidable foes and invaluable allies in the desolate wilds. 

Monks of the Way of the Badlands are those who spend their lives training and toiling under the grueling sun overhead, in temperatures and conditions that often exceed what others would even consider livable. Those who complete their training and are inducted into the Way of the Badlands are often seen as the most determined and hardy warriors. Their motto of ‘even the mountain trembles before the sand’ points towards their determination, as even the tallest of mountains will be worn down by the constant blowing of the sand on the winds. These monks often spend their lives protecting those who call the deserts home, and traveling the dunes helping unprepared travelers in the wastes.

Mushroom Homebrew

Bonus Proficiencies

3rd-level Way of the Badlands feature

Training in the dangerous deserts of the badlands has made you more proficient in the wild, living off the land and surviving in the wilderness. You gain expertise in the Survival skill.

Sand Strider

3rd-level Way of the Badlands feature

You gain the Sand Dancer feat, and sand no longer counts as difficult terrain for you.

(this feat needs to be manually added to your character sheet)

Rider of the Sand

3rd-level Way of the Badlands feature

You gain the ability to channel your ki into the sands around you, and further augment your movement and control. You can spend a ki point as a bonus action and cause the sands to move underneath your feet. You are able construct a solid structure of sand underneath you that is 5 ft. wide and a length equal to your total maximum speed (base speed + unarmored movement bonus). The base of this structure must be rooted into solid ground on at least one end. You can cause the sand to disperse and fall as a bonus action.

Sand Step

6th-level Way of the Badlands feature

You gain the ability to channel your ki into the sand around you and use it as a waypoint to travel. As a bonus action, you can spend 1 ki point to cause your body to meld down into the sand around you, and immediately reemerge from another spot of connected sand within 60 ft.

Flaying Blast

11th-level Way of the Badlands feature

You gain the ability to channel your ki into a flaying wave of sand. Immediately after you take the attack action on your turn, you can spend 3 ki points to cast the Flaying Sand spell as a bonus action using Wisdom as the spellcasting ability.

Desert Devastator

17th-level Way of the Badlands feature

Your connection with the sands and the desert has reached full attunement. As a bonus action, you can spend 3 ki points and create a vortex of sand that circles around you for one minute, extending out to 10 feet. Each creature other than you that starts its turn within this vortex takes 1d8 points of slashing damage.