Monks are united in their ability to magically harness the energy that flows in their bodies. Whether channeled as a striking display of combat prowess or a subtler focus of defensive ability and speed, this energy infuses all that a monk does.
Monk Class
Class Features
As a monk, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per monk level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 16 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per monk level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons, shortswords
Tools: Choose one type of artisan's tools or one musical instrument
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Religion, Stealth, and Survival
Unarmored Defense
Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.
Martial Arts
At 1st level, your practice of martial arts gives you mastery of combat styles that use unarmed strikes and monk weapons, which are shortswords and any simple melee weapons that don't have the two-handed or heavy property.
You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren't wearing heavy armor or wielding a shield:
- You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for atheletics checks, and the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk weapons
- You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.
- Your unarmed strikes are considered weapons with the light property.
Certain monasteries use specialized forms of the monk weapons. For example, you might use a club that is two lengths of wood connected by a short chain (called a nunchaku) or a sickle with a shorter, straighter blade (called a kama). Whatever name you use for a monk weapon, you can use the game statistics provided for the weapon on the Weapons page.
Ki
Starting at 2nd level, your training allows you to harness the mystic energy of ki. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of ki points. Ignore the table, you have a number of Ki points equal to your monk level + your proficiency bonus.
You can spend these points to fuel various ki features. You start knowing three such features: Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, and Step of the Wind. You learn more ki features as you gain levels in this class.
When you spend a ki point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you draw all of your expended ki back into yourself. You must spend at least 30 minutes of the rest meditating to regain your ki points.
Some of your ki features require your target to make a saving throw to resist the feature's effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:
Ki save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
- Flurry of Blows. You can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action, and gain the benefits of the Disengage action.
- Patient Defense. You can spend 1 ki point to take the Dodge action as a bonus action on your turn, when you do so you gain advantage on all dexterity saving throws and dexterity (acrobatics) checks you make until the start of your next turn.
- Step of the Wind. You can spend 1 ki point to take the Dash action as a bonus action on your turn, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
Unarmored Movement
Starting at 2nd level, your speed increases by 10 feet while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield. This bonus increases when you reach certain monk levels, as shown in the Monk table.
At 5th level your jump distance increases by a number of feet equal to your Dexterity (acrobatics) bonus. At 9th level, you gain the ability to move along vertical surfaces and across liquids on your turn without falling during the move. At 13 level you can stand from being prone without using any movement, and you can move through the space of any creature as if they were not there. At 17th level you gain a flying speed of 20 feet.
Dedicated Weapon
Also at 2nd level, you train yourself to use a variety of weapons as monk weapons, not just simple melee weapons and shortswords. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can touch one weapon, focus your ki on it, and then count that weapon as a monk weapon until you use this feature again.
The chosen weapon must meet these criteria:
- The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon.
- You must be proficient with it.
- It must lack the heavy and special properties.
Monastic Tradition
When you reach 3rd level, you commit yourself to a monastic tradition. Your tradition grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.
Deflect Attack
Starting at 3rd level, you can use your reaction to deflect or catch a strike when you are hit by a ranged weapon attack. When you do so, any bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage you take from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.
If you reduce the damage to 0, if your reduce the bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage to 0, as part of the same reaction you can spend 1 ki point tomake an unarmed attack against the creature if it's within range.
If the attack was a ranged missle attack, you can throw the missle back at the creature if the missle is small enough for you to hold in one hand and you have at least one hand free. If you catch the missle in this way, you can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged attack with a range of 30/60 using the weapon or piece of ammunition you just caught as part of the same reaction. You make this attack with proficiency, regaurdless of your weapon proficiencies, and the missle counts as a monk weapon for the attack.
At 8th level, you can use your reaction to deflect an attack an to put yourself in a defensive stance, in this stance you can deflect an additional attack. This stance lasts until the beginning of your next turn. At 13th level you can deflect an additional 2 attacks, 3 in total.
Robust Body
Starting at 3rd level, your honed body give you strong physcial defenses on the outside as well as the inside. You are Immune to disease, and have advantage on saving throws against poison, and have resistance to poison damage.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 10th, 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.
Slow Fall
Beginning at 4th level, you can use your reaction when you fall to reduce any falling damage you take by an amount equal to five times your monk level.
Efficient Healing
Starting at 4th level the constant flow of ki throughout your body helps repair it when injured. When you regain hit points from any source, inlducing using hit die, you regain a number of additional hit points equal to your wisdom modifier.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Stunning Strike
Starting at 5th level, you can interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent's body. Once per action, when you hit another creature with a melee weapon attack, you can spend 1 ki point to attempt a stunning strike. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of their next turn.
Ki-Empowered Strikes
Starting at 6th level, your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
Additionally, when you score a critical hit with a monk weapon, you regain one ki point.
Evasion
At 7th level, your instinctive agility lets you dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a blue dragon's lightning breath or a fireball spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.
Unwavering Soul
Starting at 7th level, your mastery of ki grants you proficiency in all saving throws.
Mind of Mercury
Starting at 9th level, you've honed your awareness and reflexes through mental aptitude and pattern recognition. Once per turn, if you've already taken your reaction, you may spend 1 ki point to take an additional reaction. You can use only one reaction per triggering effect.
Purity of Body
At 10th level, your mastery of the ki flowing through your body makes you makes you immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition.
Tongue of the Sun and Moon
Starting at 13th level, you learn to touch the ki of other minds so that you understand all spoken languages. Moreover, any creature that can understand a language can understand what you say.
Diamond Soul
Beginning at 14th level, your mastery of self grants you immunity to the charmed and frightened conditions.
Additionally, whenever you make a saving throw and fail, you can spend 1 ki point to reroll it and take the second result.
Timeless Body
At 15th level, your ki sustains you so that you suffer none of the frailty of old age, and you can't be aged magically. You can still die of old age, however. In addition, you no longer need food or water.
Additionally, whenever you roll initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 4 ki points.
Empty Body
Beginning at 18th level, you can use your action to spend 4 ki points to become invisible for 1 minute. During that time, you also have resistance to all damage but force damage.
Additionally, you can spend 8 ki points to cast the astral projection spell, without needing material components. When you do so, you can't take any other creatures with you.
Perfect Self
At 20th level you have reached the pinciple of Ki manipulation and understanding. You no longer spend Ki points when using Flury of Blows, Patient Defense, or Step of the Wind.
Additionally, you select either your Dexterity or Wisdom scores to increase by 4 to a maximum of 30, and you gain the following Ki techniques.
Hand of the Ancients. You have become so familiar with all forms of Ki and magical energy that you can cut off a creature’s connection to it. As an action, you touch a creature and expend 6 ki points, and cause it to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Ki save DC. On a failed save, the target becomes unable to cast spells, or spend spell slots, ki points, sorcery points, or other such magical resources, it loses access to all magical abilities and attributes. At the end of every 30 days, the creature can repeat the saving throw, ending the effects on a successful save. This effect can be ended by nothing short of a wish spell. Once you use this feature you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Tears of the Phoenix. Your mastery of Ki and the interactions of it's energy with the mind and body allow you to cleanse a creature's ailments. As an action, you touch a creature and expend 6 ki points, and cause it to make a Wisdom saving throw against you Ki save DC (a willing creature can choose to fail). On a failed save you cast a version of the
wish spell that can only be used to heal or restore the target. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Aspect of Perfection. You have learned to push your physical form to its maximum limits. As an action, you can expend 8 ki points to enter a Form of Perfection which lasts for 1 minute or until you dismiss it as a free action. While in this form, your movement speed and jump distance are doubled. Your movement speed is considered flying speed for the duration. You gain an additional action on each of your turns and you have advantage on any Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. You gain the benefits fo the trueseeing spell. Your movement cannot be impaired or reduced by any means, and you are immune to the Blinded, Deafened, Grappled, Petrified, Restrained, Stunned and Exhausted conditions. When your form ends you gain three levels of exhaustion. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.
Monastic Traditions
Way of the Ascendent Dragon
Way of the Astral Self
Way of the Drunken Master
Way of the Four Elements
Way of Internal Alchemy
Way of Kabuki
Way of the Kensei
Way of the Long Death
Way of the Open Hand
Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Way of the Prescence
Way of Shadow
Way of the Sun Soul
Way of the Tattooed Temple
Way of Thorns
