Bare, clawed feet part river-rounded gravel as a tengu sweeps through motions as graceful as any dancer’s, the surging water parting to allow her and her weary companions a peaceful crossing.
With patient composure, an oniborne deflects a hail of flaming arrows, redirecting their heat into a cascade of blue flame and burning fists.
The clack of jagged obsidian, splash of glacial water, and warmth of flaming eddies gather within a rushing whirl-wind. Drifting out of these massed elements is a glowing hanamori, a primordial incarnation of their mortal form.
These benders, as disparate as their affinities might be, are defined by their connection with the elements: a magic manifested through precise and practised movements. More than a martial art, their motions are a spectacular union of magical and physical virtuosity, each twist and flick a nuanced touch of the Weave. For some, this is a weapon of war, of thunderclaps and fists of rock. For others, this is a tool to preserve, to craft shields of ice and invigorate with an inner flame. Whether a bender chooses to study all the elements—earth, air, water, and fire—or to master just one, the primordial forces of nature are theirs to command.
Quick Build
You can make a bender quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in the ability you choose for your spellcasting: Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, followed by Dexterity. Second, choose the elementalist background.
Class Features
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per bender level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per bender level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armour: Light armour, medium armour
Weapons: Simple weapons, chakrams, nunchaku, shortswords, shuriken, starknives*, twinblades*
Tools: One type of artisan’s tools or one musical instrument of your choice
Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Religion, and Stealth
Equipment
You start with the following items, in addition to anything provided by your background:
• (a) a quarterstaff, (b) a chakram, or (c) any simple weapon
• (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
• Leather armour and 10 shuriken
If you forgo this starting equipment, as well as the items offered by your background, you start with 5d4 x 10 gp to buy your equipment.
Multiclassing
Ability Score Minimum. As a multiclass character, you must have at least a 13 in the spellcasting ability from your bender Spellcasting feature to take a level in this class, or to take a level in another class if you are already a bender.
Proficiencies Gained. If bender isn’t your initial class, when you take your first level as a bender, you gain proficiency with simple weapons.
Spell Slots. Add half your levels (rounded up) in the bender class to the appropriate levels from other classes to determine your available spell slots.
Spellcasting
1st-Level Bender Feature
As a bender of elements, you use the motions of your corporeal form to coax the Weave into manipulating the primordial forces.
Cantrips
You know two cantrips of your choice from your bender spell list (see Elemental Affinity). At higher levels, you learn additional cantrips of your choice, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Bender table. Your Elemental Affinity feature also allows you to learn more cantrips at higher levels.
Preparing and Casting Spells
The Bender table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your bender spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
You prepare the repertoire of bender spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from your bender spell list (see Elemental Affinity). When you do so, choose a number of these spells equal to your bender spellcasting ability modifier + half your bender level, rounded down (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
For example, if you are a 5th-level bender, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With a spellcasting ability of 14, your repertoire of prepared spells can include four spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination. If you prepare the 1st-level spell thunderwave, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your repertoire of prepared spells.
You can change your repertoire of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new repertoire of bender spells requires time spent practising their movements and gestures: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell in your repertoire.
Spellcasting Ability
When you gain your first level in this class, you choose which spellcasting ability you use for your bender spells from Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. You use this ability whenever a bender spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use this ability’s modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a bender spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your spellcasting ability modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your spellcasting ability modifier
Ritual Casting
You can cast a bender spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.
Spellcasting Focus
You can use your free hand as a spellcasting focus for your bender spells. This free hand can be used for both the somatic and material components for a spell, provided the material component has no cost and isn’t consumed by the casting.
Elemental Affinity
1st-Level Bender Feature
You find attunement with one of the four elements. Choose one of the following: air, earth, fire, or water. The spells associated with that element (see Bender Spell List on page 166) are added to your bender spell list.
Each element is associated with one or two damage types:
• Air: Thunder.
• Earth: Acid & bludgeoning.
• Fire: Fire & lightning.
• Water: Cold.
At Higher Levels. At 6th, 10th, and 14th levels, you choose one of the four elements to gain affinity with, either a new element or one you’ve chosen before. This has some immediate effects and interacts with some subclass features (see below).
• New Elemental Affinity. If you choose a new element with which to gain affinity, you add its spells to your bender spell list and you learn one cantrip of your choice from the new element’s list. This cantrip doesn’t count against the number of cantrips you know.
• Repeated Elemental Affinity. If you choose an element for which you already had affinity, spells that you cast from that spell list are cast one level higher than the level of spell slot you expend. This effect stacks; if you choose to gain affinity with the same element four times, your spells from that element’s list are cast three levels higher than the spell slot you expend.
Elemental Strikes
1st-Level Bender Feature
You have learnt to unite magic with movement, giving you a unique and deadly combat style. When you take the Attack action, you can make melee or ranged spell attacks called elemental strikes as one or more of your attacks. The strike deals damage of a type with which you have affinity (your choice when you make the attack).
• Melee. A melee elemental strike is an unarmed strike that has a reach of 10 feet and deals damage equal to 1d6 plus your bender spellcasting ability modifier on a hit.
• Ranged. A ranged elemental strike has a range of 60 feet and deals damage equal to 1d4 plus your bender spellcasting ability modifier on a hit.
This damage does not increase with level. However, any magic items that confer a bonus to the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes confer the same bonus to your elemental strikes.
The superior strikes for these attacks are Flurry (for melee attacks) and Battery Strike (for ranged attacks), both unlocked by the tier 2 Pugilist advanced technique. See the Weapon Masteries chapter on page 85 for more details on superior strikes, and advanced techniques.
Elemental Combo
2nd-Level Bender Feature
Your strikes manifest elemental energy, which you can unleash at the peak of your combination. On your turn, after you make a weapon attack or unarmed strike, or after you cast a levelled spell from your bender spell list, you can make one elemental strike attack as a bonus action. You do not add your ability modifier to the damage from this attack.
At Higher Levels. This bonus action attack’s damage increases by one damage die (1d6 for a melee attack or 1d4 for a ranged attack) when you reach 6th (2d6 or 2d4), 10th (3d6 or 3d4), and 14th (4d6 or 4d4) level in this class.
Bender Discipline
3rd-Level Bender Feature
You choose an aspect of how nature manifests, which you embody in your manipulation of the elements. Your discipline choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 15th, and 20th level.
Ability Score Improvement
4th-Level Bender Feature
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature. Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.
Extra Attack
5th-Level Bender Feature
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Improved Extra Attack
Optional 7th-Level Bender Feature
This feature replaces the Extra Attack feature and works with features that interact with Extra Attack.
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
When you reach 7th level in this class, your conjuration of the elements dazzles and confuses your foes. After you hit a creature with a melee attack as part of the Attack action on your turn, that creature can’t make opportunity attacks against you until the end of your turn.
Primordial Form
11th-Level Bender Feature
As a bonus action, you embody aspects of a chosen element. Choose one of the elements with which you have affinity. For 1 minute, you can cast 1st-level spells associated with that element (see Bender Spell List, page 166) even if you do not have them prepared and without expending a spell slot. Note: as spells cast using this feature don’t expend spell slots, they are not automatically upcast to higher levels if you have repeated elemental affinities. In addition, you gain a benefit based on that element:
• Air: Untouchable. You have resistance to bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage.
• Fire: Alight. At the end of each of your turns for the duration, creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you take fire damage equal to your bender spellcasting ability modifier (minimum 1).
• Earth: Solid. You gain a +2 bonus to AC.
• Water: Fluid. You gain a pool of vitality equal to five times your bender level. At the end of each of your turns for the duration, you can cause up to three creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you to regain 5 hit points (no action required), expending an equal amount of vitality from your pool to do so.
After you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
Starting at 17th level, while in your primordial form, you can cast spells of 2nd level or lower without expending a spell slot.
Primordial Avatar
18th-Level Bender Feature
As an action, you become a primordial incarnation of your mortal form. You gain 50 temporary hit points as well as benefits based on your Elemental Affinities, which last for 10 minutes. After you enter this state using this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. You gain one benefit for each elemental affinity you have (new or repeated).
