Water Dancer (Monk Archetype)
Borrowing secret arts of the nereid fey, there are those monks that combine their martial arts with a deep connection to the element of water. The result is a monk with a minor, but still potent ability to manipulate water as a kineticist.
The martial arts of this style of this style tend to be graceful and elegant, truly earning them the name “water dancer”. However, like all martial arts, just because it looks like a dance doesn’t mean it isn’t a deadly art.
It’s also possible that other magical beings of water have mastered this technique, but nereid is a good thematic connection given the trust that the fey have to give to mortals just to allow them near, to say nothing of allowing them to learn these techniques.
At the start of their training, these mystics learn how to manipulate the element of water, directing it as powerful blasts, and in basic, minor ways.
Additionally, their graceful movements give them unparalleled agility in avoiding attacks, though obviously they need to be unencumbered to do so. They also combine this with the normal defensive training as a monk as well.
Though they do not attack with the same speed as other monks, they do still master improving their hand to hand combat skills, striking with great power, albeit at a stunted rate compared to others.
While they cannot gather power, these monks can accept burn like a kineticist, sapping their vitality to empower other abilities.
The abilities in question being various utility wild talents that they master, drawing from those available to all elements and of course, water, granting them various protections, mobility, and even healing.
Blessed with uncanny agility, one of the signature abilities of this archetype allows them to dance across water as if it were solid ground, moving incredibly swiftly, though they eventually skin. What’s more, they can manipulate the cohesion of vertical pouring water like a waterfall to climb up it.
While not capable of infusion talents, these monks can use their burn to fuel especially powerful blasts.
Truly becoming one with the water, the more powerful of these monks can use a modified version of the abundant step of other monks to teleport between bodies of water.
While not a typical monk without stunning fist or flurry of blows, this archetype has a lot going for it. With both Charisma and Wisdom adding to AC, they can be very hard to hit without using stealth, and their water blast and wild talents give them an offensive option and useful tricks for you to choose from, not to mention a lot of mobility in aquatic areas. With that in mind, you have a tanky monk that can prove a threat at range and a defensive nuisance in close combat. How exactly you build them will vary on what you want to go for and whether you want a cold or bludgeoning blast.
While the techniques associated with this archetype are flavored as a gift from the nereids, in theory this archetype could be tied to any sort of magical water creature, including marid genies, tritons, and so on.
In places of extreme cold, some nomadic tribes practice frostdancing, a technique that shapes and conjures ice alongside their martial arts. They use this supernatural chill to aid their people in hunting mastodon, defending their camps, and those rare times they go to war.
While the most commonly seen among mortal races, it was still the nereid that invented water dancing, and they are the most prevalent practitioners. Legends tell of licentious fools who tried to steal a nereid’s shawl, only to be crushed to death by coils of conjured water.
In a decision that has haunted her ever since, the nereid Ashanta taught the secrets of the water dancer to the hobgoblin that rescued her. While he may have been kind, he still then taught the technique to his fellows, and now the hob armies have special teams that channel the power of water and cold to strike from the sea.
