Monks of the Returning Current study how force travels through bodies, weapons, and the ground beneath them. Rather than meeting violence head-on, they catch its momentum, alter its path, and send it away from those it would harm. Their style is calm and economical: a shift of the shoulder, a turn of the wrist, and an attacker’s strength becomes their own undoing.
Meet force with motion; send it where it cannot harm.
Defensive skirmisher and close-range protector
At a glance
Hit die d8
Dexterity
WisdomSubclass of Monk
When a creature you can see hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction and spend 1 ki point to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level. If this reduces the damage to 0, you can move up to 5 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. This movement must end in a space you can occupy.
Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can spend 1 ki point to disrupt its balance. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your ki save DC or be pushed up to 10 feet away from you or knocked prone (your choice). A creature more than one size larger than you has advantage on this save.
When you use Catch the Current, you can spend 1 additional ki point to send the intercepted force back toward its source. If the damage is reduced to 0, the attacker takes force damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier. If the attacker is within 10 feet, you can instead push it up to 10 feet away from you; it must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your ki save DC to avoid being pushed. This feature cannot push a creature more than one size larger than you.
When you use Catch the Current, you can spend 2 additional ki points to extend its protection. Until the start of your next turn, the first time each other creature of your choice within 5 feet of you takes damage from an attack, reduce that damage by your Wisdom modifier + one roll of your Martial Arts die (minimum reduction of 1). You can protect a number of creatures up to your Wisdom modifier (minimum one).
DexterityWisdomHit pointsAs monk: d8 per monk level.
Saving throwsKi save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier. Catch the Current reduces damage from melee attacks; Stillwater Circle can also reduce damage to nearby allies.
TrainingNo additional proficiencies. You retain the monk's weapon, armor, and tool proficiencies.
ResourceKi points, using the monk's Ki feature and ki save DC.
MulticlassingThis subclass grants features at monk levels 3, 6, 11, and 17. It adds no multiclass prerequisites or proficiencies. Its features use ki points and your ki save DC, so they are most effective with monk levels and a strong Wisdom score.
Monks of the Returning Current study how force travels through bodies, weapons, and the ground beneath them.
Rather than meeting violence head-on, they catch its momentum, alter its path, and send it away from those it would harm. Their style is calm and economical: a shift of the shoulder, a turn of the wrist, and an attacker’s strength becomes their own undoing.
You play a defensive monk who can blunt a melee hit, reposition safely, and punish enemies who overcommit.
Stay near allies when you want to protect them, but remember that your strongest responses cost ki and your reaction. Use Turn the Force to disrupt a key enemy rather than spending ki on every hit.
Students begin by learning to read balance: the pressure in a planted foot, the turn of a shoulder, and the direction of a falling body.
Instructors teach them to yield safely before attempting to redirect an attacker. Initiation usually involves protecting someone in a real but supervised crisis, proving that the student can choose restraint under pressure.
Ordinary people often see these monks as calm protectors, useful in crowded places where weapons are dangerous.
Those who rely on intimidation or brute force may regard them as unnerving: a Returning Current monk seems to make aggression collapse under its own weight.
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