Way of the Unerring Arrow
Monk subclass focusing on archery and unarmed combat, with special abilities.
- Classes
- Monk
The inner peace of contemplation, the artistry of focused breathing, and the calm awareness which leads to pinpoint accuracy all contribute to the Way of the Unerring Arrow. Some are dedicated soldiers, others walk the path of a wandering warrior-mendicant, but all of them hone their art of self-control, spirituality, and the martial arts, combining unarmed combat with archery. Select this tradition if you want to play a character who is as comfortable trading kicks and blows as they are with snatching an arrow from the air and firing it back in a single motion.
Archery Training
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your particular martial arts training guides you to master the use of bows. The shortbow and longbow are monk weapons for you. Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls with shortbows or longbows.
When you make an unarmed strike as a bonus action as part of your Martial Arts feature or as part of a Flurry of Blows, you can choose for the unarmed strike to deal piercing damage as you jab the target with an arrow.
Flurry of Deflection
At 3rd level, you get additional reactions equal to your proficiency bonus, but these reactions can be used only for your Deflect Missiles monk class feature. If you reduce the damage of the ranged weapon attack to 0 and the missile can be fired with a shortbow or longbow, you can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged attack with your shortbow or longbow, using the missile you caught as ammunition.
At 9th level, when you use Deflect Missiles, the damage you take from the attack is reduced by 2d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.
Needle Eye of Insight
At 6th level, your attacks with shortbows and longbows count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. In addition, when you make a ranged attack with a shortbow or longbow, you can spend 1 ki point to cause your ranged attacks to ignore half cover and three-quarters cover until the start of your next turn.
Steel Rain Blossom
At 11th level, you can fire arrows in a deadly rain. While wielding a shortbow or longbow, you can use an action to fire an arcing arrow at a point you can see within your weapon’s normal range. As the arrow descends onto the point, it magically replicates into dozens of arrows. Each creature within 15 feet of that point must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take piercing damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die. A creature behind total cover automatically succeeds on this saving throw. You can increase the steel rain’s damage by spending ki points. Each point you spend, to a maximum of 3, increases the damage by one Martial Arts die.
In addition, when you would make an unarmed strike as a bonus action as part of your Martial Arts feature or as part of a Flurry of Blows, you can choose to make a ranged attack with a shortbow or longbow instead.
Improbable Shot
At 17th level, when you use your Needle Eye of Insight feature to ignore cover, you can spend 3 ki points to ignore all forms of cover instead. The arrow even passes through solid barriers, provided you have seen the target within the past minute and it is within your weapon’s normal range.
Alternatively, you can spend 5 ki points to strike a target you have seen within the past minute that is now on a different plane or in an extradimensional space, such as through the plane shift or rope trick
spells or a phase spider’s Ethereal Jaunt trait. If you do so, you can’t use this feature in this way again until you finish a long rest.
Monks of the Unerring Arrow in Midgard
In the many realms, no place formally trains and encourages monks of the Unerring Arrow like the Southlands kingdom of Morreg. Their legions boast unit after unit of these potent martial artists, dedicated to the nation’s defense. Still, some retire and take to the road, seeking wider experiences.
Even Morreg pales in comparison to Khandiria, whose warriors exalt the bow above all other weapons. Many there seek to follow the Way of the Unerring Arrow, and masters of this Way hold respected places in society.
In central Midgard, many Unerring Arrow archers live in monasteries dedicated to Mavros, operate as scouts among the mercenary companies of the Seven Cities, or graduate from one of the three schools near Tintager, where their skills are said to be particularly effective against fey glamours and the deceptions of the Wasted West.
Source and licence
From Tome of Heroes.
Licence: Open Game Content (OGL 1.0a).