Homebrew:Way of Atonement

(OOC: This is an implementation of the Way of Atonement subclass from Xanathar's Lost Notes to Everything Else)

Base Class: Monk

Monks of the Way of Atonement seek to absolve themselves for their past transgressions and current indiscretions by giving up their possessions and atoning through peaceful and selfless service. Seeking not the zealot’s path, they believe that through calming and controlling their fervor, they can bolster the universal well-being of all mortal creatures. These monks seek to protect the delicate balance struck by the presence of the pantheons. and strike out in malice only to defend those who can’t defend themselves.

Feared by those with wealth, and praised by those who lack it, these monks are easy to spot in their dusty burlap robes and bare feet. The Atoned sacrifice not only material possessions but also temporal pleasures to find their way to forgiveness. They often carve or brand the markings of the gods on their skin in penance.

In exchange for the strength to seek perfect purity in an existence full of ambition and hubris, followers of this path endeavor to abstain from anger, envy, and corruption. Not so naïve as to believe that the gods' designs won’t require skirting the edges of temptation, and sometimes justify ends by their means, they willingly pay the price in flesh for their actions. As part of their atonement, they learn to encourage wicked and vile denizens of their world to repent using only a heavy, unadorned club that each refers to as their penance.

To take this path, the acolyte must commit to the poorest lifestyle, renouncing all that they were before atonement.

Path of Atonement

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your Hit Dice represent a pool of vitality you can exhaust to fuel your Way of Atonement features.

Atonement requires absolutely commitment, and constant reminder of the pain you inflict on others by inflicting that pain on yourself during deep contemplation or prayer. To atone, roll the Hit Dice you spent and add them together. You deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage to yourself equal to the total. You deal this damage after you regain hit points from any Hit Dice you spend at the end of a short or long rest, and it can’t be reduced in any way.

Penance Weapon.

Also at 3rd level, you learn a ritual prayer that creates a divine bond between you and one nonmagical simple weapon of your choice. You perform these prayers over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. This weapon counts as a monk weapon for you, and you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated.

Strength of Faith.

You can deliver your own form of justice to others. When you hit with your penance weapon or an unarmed attack, you can spend one Hit Die and expend one ki point, to add 2d8 force damage to the attack.

Trials of Temptation.

For each magic item you currently own, the cost of Hit Dice and ki points used by your Way of Atonement features increase by 1, and again each time you acquire an additional permanent item. Potions and consumable wondrous items don’t count toward this total.

Armament of Atonement

At 6th level, your strict adherence to the tenets of your faith has earned you the gods’ favor. While you wield your penance weapon and no other weapons, you gain the following benefits:

Faithful Strike.

Your attacks with your penance weapon count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Additionally, you gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with your penance weapons and unarmed strikes. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 17th level.

Flagellant Hide.

You gain a +1 bonus to your AC and saving throws. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level, and +3 at 17th level.

Labor of the Gods

At 11th level, constant suffering has made you no stranger to pain. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can use your reaction to spend a Hit Die, roll it, and recover hit points equal to that number plus your Constitution modifier. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

At 17th level, you gain one additional use of this feature between rests, and can spend a number of Hit Dice equal to half your monk level instead of one.

Enlightened Voice

Starting at 17th level, your time spent in quiet contemplation, prayer and servitude has granted you supreme wisdom. Whenever you make an ability check that you are not proficient with, you can spend 1 ki point to gain proficiency in that check and use your Wisdom modifier in place of the skill’s ability modifier.

Additionally, when in counsel with any creature that you are able to speak with, and can understand you, you can spend a number of Hit Dice equal to half your monk level or less to add a bonus to its next Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom check or saving throw, equal to the number of Hit Dice you spend.

You can’t use this feature again until you complete a short or long rest. If you use any part of this feature to deceive or bribe, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.