Gunk Monks are just dripping with Ki and ready to use it to glop all over the battlefield. They are martially-adept masters of their own physical alchemy, embodying more fluidity than your sexuality in Freshman year. With acidic unarmed strikes and shape-shifting realness, these slimy warriors are one with their inner ooze.
Ooey Gooey
Starting when you take this subclass at 3rd level, you can spend 1 ki point as a bonus action to shift into Ooze Form. You become a gurgling mono-chromatic semi-translucent humanoid. You can change your shape and color at will but are very clearly an ooze form. You cannot change your shape to be larger or smaller than your solid form.
While in Ooze Form you gain the following abilities and benefits:
- You can deal bludgeoning damage or acid damage when making unarmed strikes.
- When you deal acid damage you deal additional damage equal to your Constitution modifier.
- You can subtract your Constitution modifier from bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt to you.
- While in Ooze form, your Ki Save DC uses Constitution instead of Wisdom.
While in ooze form you cannot wield weapons, shields or armor. Any clothing, armor or belongings you have become impossible to hold effectively. Instead your belongings are absorbed into your Ooze Form and are returned to you when Ooze Form ends. While absorbed they remain undamaged and can be accessed and removed by other creatures. Additionally, you have disadvantage on Charisma-based skill checks.
You can spend 1 minute in Ooze Form before reverting back to your standard form. You can also dismiss Ooze Form as a free action. You can use Ooey Gooey a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier and regain all expended uses of Ooey Gooey after completing a long rest. If you become incapacitated while in Ooze form, you revert back to your standard form.
Slippery When Wet
Also starting at 3rd level, you learn to fundamentally alter the alchemy of your ooze body. While in Ooze Form, you can use a bonus action to spend 1 ki point to lower your viscosity to that of a thin sludge until the start of your next turn.
- While Slippery When Wet is active, you cannot take the Attack action.
- You can spend 30 feet of movement to move through any space as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing.
- You can spend 5 feet of movement to escape from non-magical restraints or being grappled
- You can spread into any 2 dimensional shape that is no larger than 15 square feet. Any creature passing through you treats the area as difficult terrain and must make a Dexterity Saving Throw (DC = 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + Constitution Modifier) upon entering. On a failed save they fall prone.
Spider Climb
Beginning at 6th level, you learn to articulate the globules and bubbles of your Ooze Form to grip surfaces. While in Ooze Form you can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings.
If you drop from a wall or ceiling onto a hostile creature while in Ooze Form, they must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Ki Save DC or sustain acid equal to 2 rolls of your Martial Arts die.
If your Ooze Form ends while on a flat wall or ceiling, you can make a Dexterity saving throw to grab onto something at the DM’s discretion. Otherwise you immediately fall.
Corrosive Flesh
Beginning at 6th level, your body builds up natural acidic defenses whether or not you're in Ooze Form. When a hostile creature touches you or hits you with a melee attack while within 5 feet of you, you can use a reaction to momentarily explode in corrosive damage. Each creature within 5 feet must make a dexterity saving throw. On a failed save a creature sustains 3 roles of your Martial Arts die in Acid damage.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to half your Proficiency modifier and regain all expended uses on a short or long rest. Corrosive Flesh does not require you to be in Ooze Form to activate.
Split
Beginning at 11th level, you can splice yourself into multiple goopy monks. While in Ooze Form you can spend 4 Ki points as an action to split yourself into 2 forms. The new forms are each one size smaller than the original form and have hit points equal to half the original form’s, rounded down. Each form can also use Split to further bisect themselves into smaller forms.
A split creature’s martial arts die is downgraded to the next largest die on the Monk skill table.
On your initiative, you can split your movement across each of your forms. Each form can take an action and a bonus action in whatever order you choose.
You can remain Split for up to one minute. After one minute, you merge back into one monk, choosing one of your forms as the merging location. You can use a bonus action to merge two forms back together if they are within 5 feet. If a form drops to 0 hit points, it immediately merges with the next closest form and becomes one size larger.
Engulf
Beginning at level 17, when you successfully grapple a Large or smaller creature, you can spend 4 Ki points to spread your ooze around that creature, fully encompassing it. If you were not in Ooze Form, using this feature immediately triggers Ooey Gooey as a free action. When a creature is grappled in this way, you and that creature are merged into a form one size larger than the engulfed creature.
While you’re engulfing a creature you gain the following attributes:
- You have a movement speed of 10 feet.
- The engulfed creature is both grappled and silenced.
- When you sustain damage, the total is split evenly between you and the engulfed creature.
- At the end of your turn, the engulfed creature sustains acid damage equal to your Constitution modifier.
The grappled creature can make a Strength saving throw against your Ki Save DC at the start of its turn. On a successful save, Engulf immediately ends. The released creature reappears in the nearest open space to you. On a failed save, the creature remains grappled but gets cumulative +1 to their next Strength saving throw against this effect.
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Want to reflavor the gunk monk? Change the acid damage to fire damage and build a Lava Monk! Or cold damage with a Abyss Monk! Or necrotic damage and just play Slimer from Ghost Busters! The options are endless!
