Her fists a blur as they deflect an incoming hail of arrows, a half-elf springs over a barricade and throws herself into the massed ranks of hobgoblins on the other side. She whirls among them, knocking their blows aside and sending them reeling, until at last she stands alone.
Taking a deep breath, a human covered in tattoos settles into a battle stance. As the first charging orcs reach him, he exhales and a blast of fire roars from his mouth, engulfing his foes.
Moving with the silence of the night, a black-clad halfling steps into a shadow beneath an arch and emerges from another inky shadow on a balcony a stone’s throw away. She slides her blade free of its cloth-wrapped scabbard and peers through the open window at the tyrant prince, so vulnerable in the grip of sleep.
Whatever their discipline, 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.
Monks walk a path of contradiction. They study their art as a wizard does, and like a wizard, they wear no armor and eschew weapons. Yet they are deadly combatants, their abilities on a par with those of a raging barbarian or a superbly trained fighter. Monks embrace this seeming contradiction, for it speaks to the core of all monastic study. By coming to know oneself completely, one learns much of the wider world.
A monk's focus on inner mastery leads many such individuals to become detached from society, more concerned with their personal experience than with happening elsewhere. Adventuring monks are a rare breed of an already rare type of character, taking their quest for perfection beyond the walls of the monastery into the world at large.
Playing a monk character offers many intriguing opportunities to try something different. To distinguish your monk character even further, consider the options in the sections that follow.
The Magic of Ki
Monks make careful study of a magical energy that most monastic traditions call ki. This energy is an element of the magic that suffuses the multiverse—specifically, the element that flows through living bodies. Monks harness this power within themselves to create magical effects and exceed their bodies’ physical capabilities, and some of their special attacks can hinder the flow of ki in their opponents. Using this energy, monks channel uncanny speed and strength into their unarmed strikes. As they gain experience, their martial training and their mastery of ki gives them more power over their bodies and the bodies of their foes.
Training and Asceticism
Small walled cloisters dot the landscapes of Emaxus, tiny refuges from the flow of ordinary life, where time seems to stand still. The monks who live there seek personal perfection through contemplation and rigorous training. Many entered the monastery as children, sent to live there when their parents died, when food couldn’t be found to support them, or in return for some kindness that the monks had performed for their families.
Some monks live entirely apart from the surrounding population, secluded from anything that might impede their spiritual progress. Others are sworn to isolation, emerging only to serve as spies or assassins at the command of their leader, a noble patron, or some other mortal or divine power.
The majority of monks don’t shun their neighbors, making frequent visits to nearby towns or villages and exchanging their service for food and other goods. As versatile warriors, monks often end up protecting their neighbors from monsters or tyrants.
For a monk, becoming an adventurer means leaving a structured, communal lifestyle to become a wanderer. This can be a harsh transition, and monks don’t undertake it lightly. Those who leave their cloisters take their work seriously, approaching their adventures as personal tests of their physical and spiritual growth. As a rule, monks care little for material wealth and are driven by a desire to accomplish a greater mission than merely slaying monsters and plundering their treasure.
Monastery
A monk studies in a monastery in preparation for a life of asceticism. Most of those who enter a monastery make it their home for the rest of their lives, with the exception of adventurers and those who have reason to leave. For those individuals, a monastery might serve as a refuge between excursions to the world or as a source of support in times of need.
What sort of place is your monastery, and where is it located? Did attending it contribute to your experience in an unusual or distinctive way?
Monastic Icon
Even in the monastic lifestyle, which eschews materialism and personal possessions, symbolism plays an important part in defining the identity of an order. Some monastic orders treat certain creatures with special regard, either because the creature is tied to the order's history or because it serves as an example of a quality the monks seek to emulate.
If your character's monastery had a special icon, you might wear a crude image of the creature somewhere inconspicuous on your clothing to serve as an identifying mark. Or perhaps your order's icon does not have a physical form but is expressed through a gesture or a posture that you adopt, and which other monks might know how to interpret.
Master
During your studies, you were likely under the tutelage of a master who imparted to you the precepts of the order. Your master was the one most responsible for shaping your understanding of the martial arts and your attitude toward the world. What sort of person was your master, and how did your relationship with your master affect you?
Creating a Monk
As you make your monk character, think about your connection to the monastery where you learned your skills and spent your formative years. Were you an orphan or a child left on the monastery’s threshold? Did your parents promise you to the monastery in gratitude for a service performed by the monks? Did you enter this secluded life to hide from a crime you committed? Or did you choose the monastic life for yourself?
Consider why you left. Did the head of your monastery choose you for a particularly important mission beyond the cloister? Perhaps you were cast out because of some violation of the community’s rules. Did you dread leaving, or were you happy to go? Is there something you hope to accomplish outside the monastery? Are you eager to return to your home?
As a result of the structured life of a monastic community and the discipline required to harness ki, monks are almost always lawful in alignment.
Quick Build
You can make a monk quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Dexterity your highest ability score, followed by Wisdom. Second, choose the hermit background.
Optional Rule: Multiclassing
If your group uses the optional rule on multiclassing, here's what you need to know if you choose monk as one of your classes.
Ability Score Minimum
As a multiclass character, you must have at least a Dexterity score of 13 and a Wisdom score of 13 to take a level in this class, or to take a level in another class if you are already a monk.
Proficiencies Gained
If monk isn't your initial class, here are the proficiencies you gain when you take your first level as a monk: simple weapons and shortswords.
The Monk Table
| Level |
Proficiency
Bonus |
Martial
Arts |
Ki
Points |
Unarmored
Movement |
Features |
| 1st |
+2 |
1d4 |
- |
- |
Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts |
| 2nd |
+2 |
1d4 |
2 |
+10 ft. |
Ki, Unarmored Movement |
| 3rd |
+2 |
1d4 |
3 |
+10 ft. |
Monastic Tradition, Deflect Missiles |
| 4th |
+2 |
1d4 |
4 |
+10 ft. |
Ability Score Improvement, Slow Fall |
| 5th |
+3 |
1d6 |
5 |
+10 ft. |
Extra Attack, Stunning Strike |
| 6th |
+3 |
1d6 |
6 |
+15 ft. |
Ki Empowered Strikes, Monastic Tradition Feature |
| 7th |
+3 |
1d6 |
7 |
+15 ft. |
Evasion, Stillness of Mind |
| 8th |
+3 |
1d6 |
8 |
+15 ft. |
Ability Score Improvement |
| 9th |
+4 |
1d6 |
9 |
+15 ft. |
Unarmored Movement Improvement |
| 10th |
+4 |
1d6 |
10 |
+20 ft. |
Purity of Body |
| 11th |
+4 |
1d8 |
11 |
+20 ft. |
Monastic Tradition Feature |
| 12th |
+4 |
1d8 |
12 |
+20 ft. |
Ability Score Improvement |
| 13th |
+5 |
1d8 |
13 |
+20 ft. |
Tongue of the Sun and Moon |
| 14th |
+5 |
1d8 |
14 |
+25 ft. |
Diamond Soul |
| 15th |
+5 |
1d8 |
15 |
+25 ft. |
Timeless Body |
| 16th |
+5 |
1d8 |
16 |
+25 ft. |
Ability Score Improvement |
| 17th |
+6 |
1d10 |
17 |
+25 ft. |
Monastic Tradition Feature |
| 18th |
+6 |
1d10 |
18 |
+30 ft. |
Empty Body |
| 19th |
+6 |
1d10 |
19 |
+30 ft. |
Ability Score Improvement |
| 20th |
+6 |
1d10 |
20 |
+30 ft. |
Perfect Self |
Class Features
As a monk, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per monk level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + 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, and Stealth
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a shortsword or (b) any simple weapon
- (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
- 10 darts
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 armor or wielding a shield:
You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for 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.
When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action. For example, if you take the Attack action and attack with a quarterstaff, you can also make an unarmed strike as a bonus action, assuming you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn.
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 in the Weapons section.
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. Your monk level determines the number of points you have, as shown in the Ki Points column of the Monk table.
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
Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.
Patient Defense
You can spend 1 ki point to take the Dodge action as a bonus action on your turn.
Step of the Wind
You can spend 1 ki point to take the Disengage or 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 9th level, you gain the ability to move along vertical surfaces and across liquids on your turn without falling during the move.
Monastic Tradition
When you reach 3rd level, you commit yourself to a monastic tradition: the Way of the Drunken Master, the Way of the Four Elements, the Way of the Kensei, the Way of the Open Hand, the Way of Shadow, or the Way of the Sun Soul, all detailed at the end of the class description. Your tradition grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.
Deflect Missiles
Starting at 3rd level, you can use your reaction to deflect or catch the missile when you are hit by a ranged weapon attack. When you do so, the damage you take from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.
If you reduce the damage to 0, you can catch the missile if it is small enough for you to hold in one hand and you have at least one hand free. If you catch a missile in this way, you can spend 1 ki point to make a ranged attack with the weapon or piece of ammunition you just caught, as part of the same reaction. You make this attack with proficiency, regardless of your weapon proficiencies, and the missile counts as a monk weapon for the attack, which has a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.
Ability Score Improvement
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.
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.
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. 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 your 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.
Unarmored Movement
At 6th level, your Unarmored Speed speed bonus increases to 15 feet while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield.
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.
Stillness of Mind
Starting at 7th level, you can use your action to end one effect on yourself that is causing you to be charmed or frightened.
Unarmored Movement Improvement
At 9th level, you gain the ability to move along vertical surfaces and across liquids on your turn without falling during your move.
Purity of Body
At 10th level, your mastery of the ki flowing through you makes you immune to disease and poison.
Unarmored Movement
At 10th level, your Unarmored Speed speed bonus increases to 20 feet while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield.
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 ki grants you proficiency in all saving throws.
Additionally, whenever you make a saving throw and fail, you can spend 1 ki point to reroll it and take the second result.
Unarmored Movement
At 14th level, your Unarmored Speed speed bonus increases to 25 feet while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield.
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.
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.
Unarmored Movement
At 18th level, your Unarmored Speed speed bonus increases to 30 feet while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield.
Perfect Self
At 20th level, when you roll for initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 4 ki points.
Monastic Traditions
Several traditions of monastic pursuit are common in the monasteries scattered across the multiverse. Most monasteries practice one tradition exclusively, but a few honor multiple traditions and instruct each monk according to his or her aptitude and interest. All traditions rely on the same basic techniques, diverging as the student grows more adept. Thus, a monk need choose a tradition only upon reaching 3rd level. Choose from the Way of the Cobalt Soul, Way of the Drunken Master, the Way of the Four Elements, the Way of the Kensei, the Way of the Open Hand, the Way of Shadow, or the Way of the Sun Soul.
Way of the Cobalt Soul
Driven by the pursuit of knowledge and their worship of the Knowing Mistress, the monastery of the Cobalt Soul (known as the library of the Cobalt Reserve) stands as one of the most well-respected and most heavily guarded repositories of tomes, history, and information across Emaxus. Here, young people seeking the clarity of truth and the strength of knowledge pledge to learn the arts of seeking enlightment by understanding the world around them, and mastering the techniques to defend it. To become a Cobalt Soul is to give one's self to the quest for unveiling life's mysteries, bringing light to the secrets of the dark, and guarding the most powerful and dangerous of truths from those who would seek to pervert the sanctity of civilization.
The monks of the Cobalt Soul are the embodiment of the phrase "know your enemy." Through research, they prepare themselves against the ever-coming tides of evil. Through careful training, they have learned to puncture and manipulate the spiritual flow of an opponent's body. Through understanding the secrets of their foe, they can adapt and surmount them. Then, once the fight is done, they return to record their findings for future generations of monks to study from.
Mystical Erudition
Upon choosing this tradition at 3rd level, you've undergone extensive training with the Cobalt Soul, allowing you to mystically recall information on history and lore from the monastery's collected volumes. Whenever you make an Intelligence (Arcana), Intelligence (History), or Intelligence (Religion) check, you can spend 1 ki point to gain advantage on that roll.
In addition, you learn one langauge of your choice. You gain additional languages at 11th and 17th level.
Extract Aspects
Beginning at 3rd level when choosing this tradition, when you pummel an opponent and connect with multiple pressure points, you can extract crucial information about your foe. Whenever you hit a single creature with two or more attacks in one round, you can spend 1 ki point to force the target to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, you learn one aspect about the creature of your choice: Creature Type, Armor Class, Senses, Highest Saving Throw Modifier, Lowest Saving Throw Modifier, Damage Vulnerabilities, Damage Resistances, Damage Immunities, or Condition Immunities.
Upon reaching 6th level, if the target fails their saving throw, you can choose two aspects to learn. This increases to three aspects at 11th level, and four aspects at 17th level.
Extort Truth
At 6th level, you can hit a series of hidden nerves on a creature with precision, temporarily causing them to be unable to mask their true thoughts and intent. If you manage to hit a single creature with two or more attacks in one round, you can spend 2 ki points to force them to make a Charisma saving throw. You can choose to have these attacks deal no damage. On a failed save, the creature is unable to speak a deliberate lie for 1 minute. You know if they succeeded or failed on their saving throw.
An affected creature is aware of the effect and can thus avoid answering questions to which it would normally respond with a lie. Such a creature can be evasive in its answers as long as the effect lasts.
Mind of Mercury
Starting at 6th level, you've honed your awareness and reflexes through mental aptitude and pattern recognition. You can make a number of additional reactions each round equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1), at the cost of 1 ki point per reaction beyond the first. You can only use one reaction per trigger.
In addition, whenever you make an Intelligence (Investigation) check, you can spend 1 ki points to gain advantage on the roll.
Preternatural Counter
Beginning at 11th level, your quick mind and study of your foe allows you to use their failure to your advantage. If a creature misses you with an attack, you can immediately use your reaction to make a melee attack against that creature.
Debilitating Barrage
Upon reaching 17th level, you've gained the knowledge to temporarily alter and lower a creature's fortitude by striking a series of pressure points. Whenever you hit a single creature with three or more attacks in one round, you can spend 3 ki points to give the creature disadvantage to their attack rolls until the end of your next run, and they must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature suffers vulnerability to a damage type of your choice for 1 minute, or until after they take any damage of that type.
Creature with resistance or immunity to the chosen damage type do not suffer this vulnerability, which is revealed after the damage type is chosen. You can select the damage type from the following list: acid, bludgeoning, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, piercing, poison, psychic, radiant, slashing, or thunder.
Way of the Drunken Master
The Way of the Drunken Master teaches its studens to move with the jerky, unpredictable movements of a drunkard. A drunken master sways, tottering on unsteady feet, to present what seems like an incompetent combatant who proves frustrating to engage. The drunken master's erratic stumbles conceal a carefully executed dance of blocks, parries, advances, attacks, and retreats.
A drunken master often enjoys playing the fool to bring gladness to the despondent or to demonstrate humility to the arrogant, but when battle is joined, the drunken master can be a maddening, masterful foe.
Bonus Proficiencies
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Performance skill if you don't already have it. Your martial arts technique mixes combat training with the precision of a dancer and the antics of a jester. You also gain proficiency in brewer's supplies if you don't already have it.
Drunken Technique
At 3rd level, you learn how to twist and turn quickly as part of your Flurry of Blows. Whenever you use Flurry of Blows, you gain the benefit of the Disengage action, and your walking speed increases by 10 feet until the end of the current turn.
Tipsy Sway
Starting at 6th level, you can move in sudden, swaying ways. You gain the following benefits:
- Leap to Your Feet. When you're prone, you can stand up by spending 5 feet of movement, rather than half your speed.
- Redirect Attack. When a creature misses you with a melee attack roll, you can spend 1 ki point as a reaction to cause that attack to hit one creature of your choice, other than the attacker, that you can see within 5 feet of you.
Drunkard's Luck
Starting at 11th level, you always seem to get a lucky bounce at the right moment. When you make an ability check, an attack roll, or a saving throw and have disadvantage on the roll, you can spend 2 ki points to cancel the disadvantage for that roll.
Intoxicated Frenzy
At 17th level, you gain the ability to make an overwhelming number of attacks against a number of enemies. When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can make up to three additional attacks with it (up to a total of five Flurry of Blows attacks), provided that each Flurry of Blows attack targets a different creature this turn.
Way of the Four Elements
You follow a monastic tradition that teaches you to harness the elements. When you focus your ki, you can align yourself with the forces of creation and bend the four elements to your will, using them as an extension of your body. Some members of this tradition dedicate themselves to a single element, but others weave the elements together.
Many monks of this tradition tattoo their bodies with representations of their ki powers, commonly imagined as coiling dragons, but also as phoenixes, fish, plants, mountains, and cresting waves.
Disciple of the Elements
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn magical disciplines that harness the power of the four elements. A discipline requires you to spend ki points each time you use it.
You know the Elemental Attunement discipline and one other elemental discipline of your choice, which are detailed in the "Elemental Disciplines" section below. You learn one additional elemental discipline of your choice at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.
Whenever you learn a new elemental discipline, you can also replace one elemental discipline that you already know with a different discipline.
Casting Elemental Spells
Some elemental disciplines allow you to cast spells. See chapter 10 of the PHB for the general rules of spellcasting. To cast one of these spells, you use its casting time and other rules, but you don't need to provide material components for it.
Once you reach 5th level in this class, you can spend additional ki points to raise the level of an elemental discipline spell that you cast, provided that the spell has an enhanced effect at a higher level, as
burning hands does. The spell's level increases by 1 for each additional ki point you spend. For example, if you are a 5th-level monk and use Sweeping Cinder Strike to cast
burning hands, you can spend 3 ki points to cast it as a 2nd-level spell (the discipline's base cost of 2 ki points plus 1).
The maximum number of ki points you can spend to cast a spell in this way (including its base ki point cost and any additional ki points you spend to increase its level) is determined by your level, as shown in the Spells and Ki Points table.
Spells and Ki Points
| Monk Levels |
Maximum Ki Points for a Spell |
| 5th-8th |
3 |
| 9th-12th |
4 |
| 13th-16th |
5 |
| 17th-20th |
6 |
Elemental Disciplines
The elemental disciplines are represented in alphabetical order. If a discipline requires a level, you must be that level in this class to learn the discipline.
Breath of Winter (17th Level Required)
You can spend 6 ki points to cast
cone of cold.
Clench of the North Wind (6th Level Required)
You can spend 3 ki points to cast
hold person.
Elemental Attunement
You can use your action to briefly control elemental forces nearby, causing one of the following effects of your choice:
- Create a harmless, instantaneous sensory effect related to air, earth, fire, or water, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, a spray of light mist, or a gentle rumbling of stone.
- Instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
- Chill or warm up to 1 pound of nonliving material for up to 1 hour.
- Cause earth, fire, water, or mist that can fit within a 1-foot cube to shape itself into a crude from you designate for 1 minute.
Eternal Mountain Defense (17th Level Required)
You can spend 5 ki points to cast
stoneskin, targeting yourself.
Fangs of the Fire Snake
When you use the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ki point to cause tendrils of flame to stretch out from your hands and feet. Your reach with your unarmed strikes increases by 10 feet for that action, as well as the rest of the turn. A hit with such an attack deals fire damage instead of bludgeoning damage, and if you spend 1 ki point when the attack hits, it also deals an extra 1d10 fire damage.
Fist of Four Thunders
You can spend 2 ki points to cast
thunderwave.
Fist of Unbroken Air
You can create a blast of compressed air that strikes like a mighty fist. As an action, you can spend 2 ki points and choose a creature within 30 feet of you. That creature must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d10 bludgeoning damage, plus an extra 1d10 bludgeoning damage for each additional ki point you spend, and you can push the creature up to 20 feet away from you and knock it prone. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage, and you don't push it or knock it prone.
Flames of the Phoenix (11th Level Required)
You can spend 4 ki points to cast
fireball.
Gong of the Summit (6th Level Required)
You can spend 3 ki points to cast
shatter.
Mist Stance (11th Level Required)
You can spend 4 ki points to cast
gaseous form, targeting yourself.
Ride the Wind (11th Level Required)
You can spend 4 ki points to cast
fly, targeting yourself.
River of Hungry Flame (11th Level Required)
You can spend 5 ki points to cast
wall of fire.
Rush of the Gale Spirits
You can spend 2 ki points to cast
gust of wind.
Shape the Flowing River
As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to choose an area of ice or water no larger than 30 feet on a side within 120 feet of you. You can change water to ice within the area and vice versa, and you can reshape ice in the area in any manner you choose. You can raise or lower the ice's elevation, create or fill in a trench, or form a pillar. The extent of such changes can't exceed half the area's largest dimension. For example, if you affect a 30-foot square, you can create a pillar up to 15 feet high, raise or lower the square's elevation by up to 15 feet, dig a trench up to 15 feet deep, and so on. You can't shap the ice to trap or damage a creature in the area.
Sweeping Cinder Strike
You can spend 2 ki points to cast
burning hands.
Water Whip
You can spend 2 ki points as an action to create a whip of water that shoves and pulls a creature to unbalance it. A creature that you can see that is within 30 feet of you must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d10 bludgeoning damage, plus an extra 1d10 bludgeoning damage for each additional ki point you spend, and you can either knock it prone or pull it up to 25 feet closer to you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage, and you don't pull it or knock it prone.
Wave of Rolling Earth (17th Level Required)
You can spend 6 ki points to cast
wall of stone.
Way of the Kensei
Monks of the Way of the Kensei train relentlessly with their weapons, to the point where the weapon becomes an extension of their body. Founded on a mastery of sword fighting, the tradition has expanded to include many different weapons.
A kensei sees a weapon in much the same way a calligrapher or painter regards a pen or brush. Whatever the weapon, the kensei views it as a tool used to express the beauty and precision of the martial arts. That such mastery makes a kensei a peerless warrior is but a side effect of intense devotion, practice, and study.
Path of the Kensei
When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your special martial arts training leads you to master the use of certain weapons. This path also includes instruction in the deft strokes of calligraphy or painting. You gain the following benefits.
- Kensei Weapons. Choose two types of weapons to be your kensei weapons: one melee weapon and one ranged weapon. Each of these weapons can be any simple or martial weapon that lacks the heavy and special properties. The longbow is also a valid choice. You gain proficiency with these weapons if you don't already have it. Weapons of the chosen types are monk weapons for you. Many of this tradition's features work only with your kensei weapons. When you reach 6th, 11th, and 17th level in this class, you can choose another type of weapon - either melee or ranged - to be a kensei weapon for you, following the criteria above.
- Agile Parry. If you make an unarmed strike as part of the Attack action on your turn and are holding a kensei weapon, you can use it to defend yourself if it is a melee weapon. You gain a +2 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn, while the weapon is in your hand and you aren't incapacitated.
- Kensei's Shot. You can use a bonus action on your turn to make your ranged attacks with a kensei weapon more deadly. When you do so, any target hit with a ranger attack using a kensei weapon takes an extra 1d4 damage of the weapon's type. You retain this benefit until the end of the current turn.
- Way of the Brush. You gain proficiency with your choice of calligrapher's supplies or painter's supplies.
One with the Blade
At 6th level, you extend your ki into your kensei weapons, granting you the following benefits:
- Magic Kensei Weapons. Your attacks with your kensei weapons count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
- Deft Strike. When you hit a target with a kensei weapon, you can spend 1 ki point to cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target equal to your Martial Arts die. You can use this feature only once on each of your turns.
Sharpen the Blade
At 11th level, you gain the ability to augment your weapons further with your ki. As a bonus action, you can expend up to 3 ki points to grant one kensei weapon you touch a bonus to attack and damage rolls when you attack with it. The bonus equals the number of ki points you spent. This bonus lasts for 1 minute or until you use this feature again. This feature has no effect on a magic weapon that already has a bonus to attack and damage rolls.
Unerring Accuracy
At 17th level, your mastery of weapons grants you extraordinary accuracy. If you miss with an attack roll using a monk weapon on your turn, you can reroll it. You can use this feature only once on each of your turns.
Way of the Open Hand
Monks of the Way of the Open Hand are the ultimate masters of martial arts combat, whether armed or unarmed. They learn techniques to push and trip their opponents, manipulate ki to heal damage to their bodies, and practice advanced meditation that can protect them from harm.
Open Hand Technique
Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can manipulate your enemy’s ki when you harness your own. Whenever you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows, you can impose one of the following effects on that target:
- It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
- It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
- It can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn.
Wholeness of Body
At 6th level, you gain the ability to heal yourself. As an action, you can regain hit points equal to three times your monk level. You must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.
Tranquility
Beginning at 11th level, you can enter a special meditation that surrounds you with an aura of peace. At the end of a long rest, you gain the effect of a sanctuary spell that lasts until the start of your next long rest (the spell can end early as normal). The saving throw DC for the spell equals 8 + your Wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus.
Quivering Palm
At 17th level, you gain the ability to set up lethal vibrations in someone’s body. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 3 ki points to start these imperceptible vibrations, which last for a number of days equal to your monk level. The vibrations are harmless unless you use your action to end them. To do so, you and the target must be on the same plane of existence. When you use this action, the creature must make a Constitution saving throw. If it fails, it is reduced to 0 hit points. If it succeeds, it takes 10d10 necrotic damage.
You can have only one creature under the effect of this feature at a time. You can choose to end the vibrations harmlessly without using an action.
Way of Shadow
Monks of the Way of Shadow follow a tradition that values stealth and subterfuge. These monks might be called ninjas or shadowdancers, and they serve as assassins and spies. Sometimes the members of a ninja monastery are family members, forming a clan sworn to secrecy about their arts and missions. Other monasteries are more like thieves' guilds, hiring out their services to nobles, rich merchants, or anyone else who can pay their fees. Regardless of their methods, the heads of these monasteries expect the unquestioning obedience of their students.
Shadow Arts
Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can use your ki to duplicate the effects of certain spells. As an action, you can spend 2 ki points to cast
darkness,
darkvision,
pass without trace, or
silence, without providing material components. Additionally, you gain the
minor illusion cantrip if you don't already know it.
Shadow Step
At 6th level, you gain the ability to step from one shadow to another. When you are in dim light or darkness, as a bonus action you can teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see that is also in dim light or darkness. You then have advantage on the first melee attack you make before the end of the turn.
Cloak of Shadows
By 11th level, you have learned to become one with the shadows. When you are in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use your action to become invisible. You remain invisible until you make an attack, cast a spell, or are in an area of bright light.
Opportunist
At 17th level, you can exploit a creature's momentary distraction when it is hit by an attack. Whenever a creature within 5 feet of you is hit by an attack made by a creature other than you, you can use your reaction to make a melee attack against that creature.
Way of the Sun Soul
Monks of the Way of the Sun Soul to channel their life energy into searing bolts of light. They teach that meditation can unlock the ability to unleash the indomitable light shed by the soul of every living creature.
Radiant Sun Bolt
Starting when you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you can hurl searing bolts of magical radiance.
You gain a new attack option that you can use with the Attack action. This special attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 30 feet. You are proficient with it, and you add your Dexterity modifier to its attack and damage rolls. Its damage is radiant, and its damage die is a d4. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.
When you make the Attack action on your turn and use this special attack as part of it, you can spend 1 ki point to make the special attack twice as a bonus action.
When you gain the Extra Attack feature, this special attack can be used for any of the attacks you make as part of the Attack action.
Searing Arc Strike
At 6th level, you gain the ability to channel your ki into searing waves of energy. Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 2 ki points to cast the
burning hands spell as a bonus action.
You can spend additional ki points to cast
burning hands as a higher-level spell. Each additional ki point you spend increases the spell's level by 1. The maximum number of ki points (2 plus any additional points) that you can spend on the spell equals half your monk level.
Searing Sunburst
At 11th level, you gain the ability to create an orb of light that erupts into a devastating explosion. As an action, you magically create an orb and hurl it at a point you choose within 150 feet, where it erupts into a sphere of radiant light for a brief but deadly instant.
Each creature in that 20-foot radius sphere must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 2d6 radiant damage. A creature doesn't need to make the save if the creature is behind total cover that is opaque.
You can increase the sphere's damage by spending ki points. Each point you spend, to a maximum of 3, increases the damage by 2d6.
Sun Shield
At 17th level, you become wreathed in a luminous, magical aura. You shed bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. You can extinguish or restore the light as a bonus action.
If a creature hits you with a melee attack while this light shines, you can use your reaction to deal radiant damage to the creature. The radiant damage equals 5 + your Wisdom modifier.
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