Subclass Monk Way of Mercy
The Way of Mercy is a support-striker hybrid Monk subclass: Hand of Harm deals bonus Necrotic damage on unarmed hits, Hand of Healing restores HP at the same Ki cost, and at Level 11 Flurry of Healing and Harm turns a single Bonus Action into a multi-target heal or damage sequence. Every Ki point is a choice between damage and healing.
| LEVEL | FEATURE |
|---|---|
| 3 | Hand of Harm, Hand of Healing, Implements of Mercy |
| 6 | Physician's Touch |
| 11 | Flurry of Healing and Harm |
When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 Ki Point to deal additional Necrotic damage equal to Martial Arts die + Wisdom modifier.
Additionally, on a critical hit, Hand of Harm automatically applies the POISONED condition to the target.
Wisdom already scales Ki save DC and AC — Hand of Harm adds to that by also increasing necrotic damage output. At 20 Wisdom, each use adds +5 necrotic on top of the Martial Arts die.
When you use the Help action or touch a willing creature, you can spend 1 Ki Point to restore HP equal to Martial Arts die + Wisdom modifier.
Hand of Healing costs 1 Ki Point and returns Martial Arts die + Wisdom modifier in healing — the same formula as Hand of Harm. Each Ki point is a choice: damage or heal.
Gain proficiency in Insight and Medicine skills. Additionally gain proficiency with the Herbalism Kit.
Implements of Mercy adds proficiency in Insight and Medicine alongside Herbalism Kit proficiency — providing out-of-combat utility for stabilizing allies and crafting healing items.
Physician's Touch expands both Hand of Harm and Hand of Healing:
Hand of Healing upgrade — when you use Hand of Healing, it also removes one of the following conditions from the target:
- Poisoned
- Diseased
- Paralyzed
- Blinded
Hand of Harm upgrade — when you use Hand of Harm, it automatically applies the POISONED condition (previously only triggered on critical hits).
At Level 6, every Hand of Harm Poisons on hit without requiring a critical. Every Hand of Healing also removes a condition alongside the HP restore.
Once per Long Rest, as a Bonus Action, you can use one of two options:
Flurry of Healing — Spend 2 Ki Points: make two Hand of Healing touches as a Bonus Action, each restoring Martial Arts die + Wisdom modifier HP without spending additional Ki per touch.
Flurry of Harm — Spend 2 Ki Points: trigger HandOfHarmTurn — a sequence of Hand of Harm applications as part of your Flurry of Blows, each dealing Martial Arts die + Wisdom modifier Necrotic + POISONED.
Flurry of Healing and Harm delivers either two ally heals with condition cleanses or multiple necrotic hits with Poisoned in a single Bonus Action. The once-per-Long-Rest limitation makes it a meaningful resource choice.
The Way of Mercy is a Ki-economy hybrid that gives you genuine flexibility every combat turn.
Your combat loop:
- Attack — standard unarmed strikes with Stunning Strike available
- Hand of Harm — spend 1 Ki on a hit for Necrotic + Poison (guaranteed after Level 6)
- Flurry of Blows — 2-3 unarmed strikes as Bonus Action
- Hand of Healing — when allies need it, spend 1 Ki to heal + cleanse conditions
- Flurry of Healing and Harm — once per Long Rest, triage multiple allies or devastate clustered enemies