Mind Spells

Lifting Breath · First Degree · Bonus Action · 1 Qi Self · 10 min (Conc.) · — · — · visual, subtle You rise and hover, weightless. You gain a hovering Fly Speed of 10 feet, and while it lasts you take no falling damage and can slow your descent to a drift at will. You can’t carry more than your normal load aloft. (Weightless Step adepts manifest this for free.) Display: your heels leave the floor a moment before the rest of you.

Distant Hand · First Degree · Bonus Action · 1 Qi 30 ft · Instant · — · Str save (if you push or pull) · visual, subtle An invisible hand of will shoves, pulls, or lifts. Move an unattended object weighing up to 25 pounds up to 15 feet, manipulate a simple mechanism (open a door, pour a flask, pull a lever), or force a creature to make a Strength saving throw or be pushed or pulled up to 10 feet. (Unseen Hand adepts manifest this for free.) Display: dust turns in a slow spiral where the unseen hand closes.

Still Water Step · First Degree · Bonus Action · 1 Qi Self · 10 min · — · — · none This functions as Water Walk, without components and affecting only you for the duration given above (you call it the still-water step). It also carries you across mud, snow, thin ice, and other unstable footing as though it were solid ground, and you leave no tracks. It does not let you fly or climb — only refuse to sink or slip.

Read the Surface · First Degree · Magic action · 1 Qi 30 ft · 1 min (Conc.) · — · Wis save (to read as guarded) · none You sense the surface intention of one creature you can see: its current mood, and whether it is presently hostile, deceptive, or afraid, updated each round while you maintain Concentration. You do not read specific thoughts or memories. A creature aware of the attempt can make a Wisdom saving throw to be sensed as simply “guarded.”

Unblinking Guard · First Degree · Reaction, when you’re hit by an attack you can see · 1 Qi Self · Instant · — · — · none Foresight sharpens a half-second early. Add your Wisdom modifier to your AC against the triggering attack, potentially causing it to miss.

Thoughtcast · First Degree · Bonus Action · 1 Qi 120 ft · 1 round · — · — · auditory, subtle You send a wordless message of a few seconds’ length directly into the mind of one creature you can see. It understands the intent regardless of language; it cannot reply unless it, too, is telepathic. Display: the listener hears a breath drawn that nobody near them took.

Settled Flesh · First Degree · Magic action · 1 Qi Self · 1 hr · — · — · tactile, subtle You settle your weight into your bones until the world has to argue with all of it. You gain 2d4 + 4 Temporary Hit Points, as the False Life spell grants them, without components (you call it the settled flesh). They last for 1 hour, and they don’t increase with your Degree. Display: a hand laid on you meets the patience of stone.

Flashpoint · First Degree · Magic action · 1 Qi Self (15-ft Cube) · Instant · 2d8 psychic · Int save · visual, obvious Everything you have been holding still arrives at once, for one instant, at arm’s length. This functions as Thunderwave, without components and with three changes (you call it the flashpoint): the damage is psychic rather than thunder, the saving throw is Intelligence rather than Constitution, and it makes no sound. Each creature in a 15-foot Cube originating from you makes an Intelligence saving throw, taking 2d8 psychic damage and being pushed 10 feet straight away from you on a failure, or half as much damage and no push on a success. It doesn’t increase with your Degree, and as a manifestation rather than an Unarmed Strike it doesn’t carry Mind Over Body. Display: a white flash that everyone near you sees behind their own eyes, and nobody hears.

Weightless Stride · Second Degree · Bonus Action · 2 Qi Self · 1 min (Conc.) · — · — · visual, subtle Your Lifting Breath becomes true motion. You gain a Fly Speed equal to your Speed and can hover; you can also walk on air as though it were gentle stairs, ascending or descending at your Speed. Display: the air takes your weight like a stair tread that is not there.

Telekinetic Strike · Second Degree · Magic action · 2 Qi 60 ft · Instant · 2 MA + Wis force · attack roll · visual, obvious You hurl force at a creature you can see. Make a manifestation attack roll; on a hit, the target takes force damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier, and you can push it 10 feet. This is a manifestation, not an Unarmed Strike, so it does not carry Mind Over Body — unless a Discipline feature (Unseen Hand’s Telekinetic Reach, Burning Focus’s Mind-Fire) says otherwise. Display: a dent of force crosses the space between you and the air claps shut behind it.

Foreseen Step · Second Degree · Reaction, when a creature within 60 feet you can see makes an attack roll · 2 Qi 60 ft · Instant · — · — · none You impose Disadvantage on the triggering attack roll. You watched the arm decide.

Borrowed Eyes · Second Degree · Magic action · 2 Qi 300 ft · 10 min (Conc.) · — · — · visual, subtle You project your sight to an unoccupied point you can see within range, seeing and hearing from there as though standing at that point (you are Blinded and Deafened to your own body’s senses while you do). The sensory point can’t move once set; re-manifest to relocate it. Display: your own eyes go blank and unblinking as an empty room.

Mind’s Grip · Second Degree · Magic action · 2 Qi 60 ft · 1 min (Conc.) · — · Str save · tactile, subtle Telekinetic force pins a creature you can see. It makes a Strength saving throw; on a failure it has the Restrained condition, and can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. A creature Restrained this way can be moved up to 10 feet by your Distant Hand as a Bonus Action. Display: the target feels a hand close that nobody is holding.

Serene Ward · Second Degree · Bonus Action · 2 Qi Self · 10 min (Conc.) · — · — · none You wrap your mind in stillness. You have Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened, and Resistance to psychic damage, for the duration.

The Hushed Room · Second Degree · Magic action · 2 Qi 60 ft (20-ft-radius Sphere) · 1 min (Conc.) · — · Cha save · auditory, subtle Your own stillness spreads outward until the room remembers how to be quiet. This functions as Calm Emotions, without components (you call it the hushed room): each Humanoid in a 20-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point you choose within range makes a Charisma saving throw, and for each one that fails you choose one of the spell’s two effects — it is shielded from the Charmed and Frightened conditions, or it becomes indifferent toward creatures of your choice that it is hostile toward. Display: the room goes quiet the way a room does when someone important has stopped talking.

The Lodged Splinter · Second Degree · Magic action · 2 Qi 60 ft · 1 hr (Conc.) · 3d8 psychic · Wis save · visual, subtle You set one sharp thought into another mind and leave it there. This functions as Mind Spike, without components and at the range given above (you call it the lodged splinter): one creature you can see makes a Wisdom saving throw, taking 3d8 psychic damage on a failure or half as much on a success. On a failure you also always know its location for the duration, as long as you are both on the same plane of existence; it can’t become hidden from you, and the Invisible condition gives it no benefit against you. It doesn’t increase with your Degree, and it doesn’t carry Mind Over Body. Display: the target winces at a light only it can see.

Unbound Flight · Third Degree · Bonus Action · 3 Qi Self · 10 min (Conc.) · — · — · visual, obvious You gain a Fly Speed equal to twice your Speed and can hover, dive, and climb freely. This is levitation mastered — the sky has stopped being a ceiling. Display: you stand on nothing, and nothing gives.

Crushing Will · Third Degree · Magic action · 3 Qi 60 ft · Instant · 3 MA + Wis force · Str save · tactile, obvious You close an invisible fist around a creature you can see. It makes a Strength saving throw, taking force damage equal to three rolls of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier on a failure (half on a success); on a failure it also has the Restrained condition until the end of its next turn. Display: the air closes on the target like a fist, and the room hears it.

Thought Theft · Third Degree · Magic action · 3 Qi 30 ft · 1 min (Conc.) · — · Wis save · olfactory, subtle This functions as Detect Thoughts, without components, aimed at one creature you can see within range (you call it thought theft). It makes a Wisdom saving throw when you manifest it; on a failure you learn its surface thoughts each round and can spend a Bonus Action to probe one specific question (its greatest fear, what it’s guarding, whether it’s lying about a named thing), learning a true one-line answer. On a success, it knows you tried and the attempt fails. Display: the one being read catches a faint smell of hot dust.

Precognitive Veil · Third Degree · Bonus Action · 3 Qi Self · 1 min (Conc.) · — · — · none The next several seconds arrive early and often. While it lasts, attack rolls against you have Disadvantage the first time each creature attacks you on its turn, and you can move up to 5 feet as a Reaction when a creature you can see moves within 5 feet of you.

Phase Step · Third Degree · Bonus Action · 3 Qi Self · Instant · — · — · visual, subtle This functions as Misty Step, without components (you call it the phase step): you wink out and back in, teleporting up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. Unlike the spell, you can bring one willing creature within 5 feet with you if you both fit at the destination. Display: a soundless fold of air where you were standing.

Stilling Word · Third Degree · Magic action · 3 Qi 30 ft · Instant · — · Wis save · auditory, subtle You press a single silent command against a mind. One creature you can see makes a Wisdom saving throw or has the Stunned condition until the end of its next turn — the thought it was about to have simply doesn’t arrive. A creature that succeeds on the save is immune to this Mind Spell for 1 minute. Display: one clean note, heard only by the target.

Unkindled Skin · Third Degree · Magic action · 3 Qi Touch · 1 hr (Conc.) · — · — · none Heat and frost go looking for something that reaches back, and find nothing. This functions as Protection from Energy, without components (you call it the unkindled skin): one willing creature you touch has Resistance to Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder damage (your choice) for the duration.

The Unbearable Gaze · Third Degree · Magic action · 3 Qi Self (30-ft Cone) · 1 min (Conc.) · — · Wis save · visual, obvious An eye that is not an eye opens for a breath, and everything in front of it remembers what it is to be kindling. This functions as Fear, without components (you call it the unbearable gaze): each creature in a 30-foot Cone makes a Wisdom saving throw or drops whatever it is holding and has the Frightened condition for the duration. While Frightened this way, a creature must take the Dash action and move away from you by the safest route on each of its turns, unless there is nowhere to move; if it ends its turn where it has no line of sight to you, it repeats the save, ending the effect on itself on a success. Display: a vertical line of light opens on your brow, and everyone in front of you looks away from it.

Sovereign Flight · Fourth Degree · Bonus Action · 4 Qi Self · 1 hr (Conc.) · — · — · visual, obvious This functions as Fly, without components and on yourself only, for the duration given above (you call it sovereign flight): you gain a Fly Speed of 60 feet and can hover. In addition, you can carry up to your normal capacity aloft without penalty, and you have Advantage on Dexterity saving throws while flying, weaving effortlessly. Display: you are simply in the air, and you stay there.

Telekinetic Barrage · Fourth Degree · Magic action · 4 Qi 60 ft · Instant · 3 MA + Wis force · Str save · visual, obvious Force erupts among your enemies. Up to three creatures you can see each make a Strength saving throw, taking force damage equal to three rolls of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier on a failure (half on a success) and being pushed 10 feet on a failure. Display: force blooms among them in overlapping rings.

Dominant Suggestion · Fourth Degree · Magic action · 4 Qi 60 ft · 1 min (Conc.) · — · Wis save · auditory, subtle You bend a will toward a course. A creature you can see makes a Wisdom saving throw; on a failure, it pursues a reasonable command you conceive (no directly self-destructive order) for the duration, repeating the save at the end of each of its turns and whenever it takes damage. This is the bend the will practice in its milder, standing form; the Shared Mind Discipline sharpens it into round-by-round control. Display: the target hears the instruction in a voice it takes for its own.

Prescient Command · Fourth Degree · Reaction, when you roll Initiative or at the start of your turn · 4 Qi Self · Instant · — · — · none You take an extra Bonus Action’s worth of activity this turn, or immediately take one Reaction you have not yet used this round. You saw the moment and stepped into it first.

Mind Fortress · Fourth Degree · Bonus Action · 4 Qi Self · 8 hr · — · — · none Your mind becomes a sealed room. For the duration given above you have the protection of Mind Blank, without components (you call it the mind fortress): you can’t be read, scried, tracked, or located by magic, and you have Immunity to the Charmed condition and to psychic damage. In addition, any creature that attempts to read your thoughts or force your mind takes psychic damage equal to your Stillmind level and must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw or be Stunned until the end of its next turn.

Distant Body · Fourth Degree · Magic action · 4 Qi 1 mile · 10 min (Conc.) · — · — · visual, subtle You project your senses to any point within range that you have seen before, perceiving from there as though present (you are Blinded and Deafened to your own senses meanwhile). Unlike Borrowed Eyes, the sensory point can move at your Speed under your direction each round. Display: your eyes go blank and unblinking, as with Borrowed Eyes.

The Lent Nightmare · Fourth Degree · Magic action · 4 Qi 60 ft · 1 min (Conc.) · 4d10 psychic · Wis save · visual, subtle You lend a mind the shape of the thing it fears most, and let it do the rest. This functions as Phantasmal Killer, without components and at the range given above (you call it the lent nightmare): one creature you can see makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure it takes 4d10 psychic damage and has Disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls for the duration, and at the end of each of its turns it repeats the save, taking the damage again on a failure and ending the effect on a success. On a successful initial save it takes half as much damage and the effect ends. It doesn’t increase with your Degree, and it doesn’t carry Mind Over Body. Display: the target’s eyes go wide at something just over your shoulder.

The Closed Hand · Fourth Degree · Magic action · 4 Qi 30 ft · 1 min (Conc.) · — · Dex save · visual, obvious The unseen hand closes all the way, and what it holds is somewhere else now. This functions as Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, without components (you call it the closed hand): a sphere of force encloses a Large or smaller creature or object within range, and an unwilling creature makes a Dexterity saving throw to avoid it. Nothing passes through the sphere’s wall and nothing damages it; everything else — rolling it from inside, Disintegrate — works as the spell describes. Display: a sphere of bent air, visible only where the light catches its curve.

Ascended Body · Fifth Degree · Bonus Action · 5 Qi Self · 1 hr (Conc.) · — · — · visual, obvious Weight, terrain, and medium stop applying to you. You gain a Fly Speed equal to twice your Speed, can hover, walk on any surface or none, breathe anywhere, and pass through spaces as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing. You are, briefly, what the old stories meant by walking on clouds. Display: nothing about you touches anything any more.

Annihilating Focus · Fifth Degree · Magic action · 6 Qi 90 ft · Instant · 5 MA + Wis force/psychic · Int save · visual, obvious You loose everything held still. Choose a point you can see; each creature in a 20-foot-radius Sphere makes an Intelligence saving throw, taking force or psychic damage (your choice) equal to five rolls of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier on a failure (half on a success). Creatures that fail can’t take Reactions until the end of their next turn. Display: everything you were holding still lets go at once.

Bend the Mind · Fifth Degree · Magic action · 6 Qi 60 ft · 1 min (Conc.) · — · Wis save · tactile, subtle You take a mind as your own. A creature you can see makes a Wisdom saving throw (with Advantage if its Challenge Rating is 11 or higher); on a failure, you control its actions for the duration, issuing commands mentally on your turn (no action). It repeats the save each time it takes damage and at the end of each of its turns. While controlled it uses its Reaction only as you direct. Display: the target’s own hands feel borrowed for a moment.

Foreknowledge · Fifth Degree · Bonus Action · 5 Qi Self · 1 min (Conc.) · — · — · none You live a full second ahead. While it lasts, attack rolls against you have Disadvantage, you have Advantage on all saving throws, and once on each turn you can treat any d20 roll you make as an 18 before rolling. The future holds very few surprises now.

The Unmoved Center · Fifth Degree · Bonus Action · 5 Qi Self · 1 min (Conc.) · 2 MA + Wis psychic (to attackers) · — · tactile, obvious You become a still point the battlefield must account for. Emanating 15 feet from you, enemy creatures have their Speed halved and make attack rolls with Disadvantage against anyone but you, and any creature that damages you takes psychic damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier. Display: the air thickens for fifteen feet around you.

Astral Stride · Fifth Degree · Magic action · 5 Qi Self · Instant or 10 min · — · — · visual, subtle You step out of space entirely and back, taking with you up to five willing creatures you can see, each within 15 feet of you. Choose one: Display: the outlines of everyone travelling with you go thin for a step.

The Great Hand · Fifth Degree · Magic action · 5 Qi 60 ft · 10 min (Conc.) · — · Str save (creatures) · visual, subtle The hand that opened doors at the First Degree has grown until it can move the house. This functions as Telekinesis, without components (you call it the great hand): when you manifest it, and as a Magic action on each of your later turns for the duration, you can move a Huge or smaller creature (it makes a Strength saving throw to resist) or an object weighing up to 1,000 pounds, exactly as the spell describes. Display: whatever you hold turns slowly in the air, as if underwater.

The Woven Mind · Fifth Degree · Magic action · 5 Qi 30 ft · 1 hr · — · — · none For an hour, several minds sit in the same quiet room, whatever the distance between their bodies. This functions as Rary’s Telepathic Bond, without components (you call it the woven mind): up to eight willing creatures of your choice within range, which may include you, are linked telepathically for the duration and can speak mind to mind across any distance on the same plane, whether or not they share a language. You can’t manifest it as a ritual — the Qi is the ritual.