Hello, everyone! We’ve got a lost gem in store for you today, courtesy of TBM Games’ friends at Underground Oracle – This week’s subclass is a reimagining of Jess Pendley’s Way of the Teeming Touch, a monastic tradition she designed for Underground Oracle’s D&D 5.14 library prior to the publisher’s shift in direction in early 2023.

Warrior of the Teeming Touch

Infest Foes with Swarms of Vicious Parasites.

Warriors of the Teeming Touch are Monks who have undergone a dangerous ritual in which they ingest terrorwasp honey, a substance which serves as a conduit to the Primordial Xil. With unwavering nerve, these monks carry with them a portion of the Swarm of Horrors’ hive, infested with thousands upon thousands of parasitic insects, which they guide like extensions of their own bodies.

Teeming [Condition]

While you have the Teeming condition, you experience the following effects.

Biting Insects. When you start your turn, you take Piercing damage equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

Distracting Swarm. Any attacks or checks you make as a Reaction are made with Disadvantage, and you cannot concentrate on any spells.

If you take Fire damage, the Teeming condition ends.

Level 3: Crawling Retribution

When a creature successfully hits you with a melee attack or initiates a grapple, as a Reaction, you can spend a Focus Point to force that creature to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes Piercing damage equal to your Martial Arts die, and you give that creature the Teeming condition until the end of your next turn.

While Teeming in this way, an affected creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw in order to target you with an attack.

Level 3: Swarming Strike

When you successfully hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can use your Bonus Action and spend 1 Focus Point to force the creature to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, you give the creature the Teeming condition for a number of rounds equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

At the start of each of their turns, a creature with the Teeming condition from this feature must make an additional Constitution saving throw, ending the condition on a success. On a failure, they take Piercing damage equal to your Martial Arts die instead of their Proficiency Bonus.

Level 6: Plague Step

When you use your Step of the Wind, you may expend an additional 2 Focus Points. If you do, until the end of your turn, when you first move within 5 feet of a creature, that creature must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, you give the target creature the Teeming condition for a number of rounds equal to your Proficiency Bonus. While it has the Teeming condition from this feature, an affected creature cannot take Reactions.

At the start of each of their turns, a creature with the Teeming condition from this feature must make an additional Dexterity saving throw, ending the condition on a success. 

Level 11: Virulent Infestation

When you successfully damage a creature with the Teeming condition with an attack, you may spend 3 Focus Points. If you do, all hostile creatures within 5 feet of that creature must make a Constitution saving throw or take Piercing damage equal to your Martial Arts die, and you can also give that creature the Teeming condition until the end of your next turn.

While a creature has the Teeming condition from this feature, its speed is reduced by 15 feet.

Level 17: Flurry of Multitudes

When you successfully hit a creature with the Teeming condition with your Flurry of Blows, you may spend an additional 5 Focus Points. If you do, all creatures with the Teeming condition within 30 feet of you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take Piercing damage equal to the amount of damage dealt by your Flurry of Blows.