D&D 5e Tweaks & Fixes

Martial Arts

(Improved 1st level feature)

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:

• You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk weapons.
• When you make an Athletics checks to grapple or shove, you can use Dexterity instead of strength for the ability check.
• You can roll a d6 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 while not wielding a shield, you can make one additional attack with an unarmed strike or monk weapon as a part of the attack action.

Ki

(Re-written 2nd level feature)

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 equal to your monk level + your Wisdom modifier (to a maximum of 20).

You can spend these points to fuel various ki features. You start knowing two such features: Flurry of Blows and Patient Defense. 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:

Step of the Wind

(Re-written 2nd level "Unarmored Movement" feature)

Starting at 2nd level, while you are not wearing heavy armor or wielding a shield you gain the following benefits:

• You can take the dash or disengage action as a bonus action.

• Your speed increases by 10 feet. This bonus increases when you reach certain monk levels, as shown in the Monk table.

• Your jump distance is doubled and you can use your Dexterity score, in place of your Strength, when calculating how far you can jump.

• At 9th level, you gain the ability to move along vertical surfaces and across liquids on your turn without falling during the move.

• At 15th level, you gain the ability to move upside down along ceilings while leaving your hands free on your turn without falling during the move.

Deflect Attack

(Re-written 3rd level "Deflect Missiles" feature)

Starting at 3rd level, while you are not wearing heavy armor or wielding a shield, you can use your reaction to deflect a blow when you are hit by a weapon attack. When you do so, the damage you take from the attack is reduced by one roll of your martial arts die + your Dexterity or Strength modifier + your proficiency bonus.

Ki-Fueled Attack

(Re-written 3rd level feature)

At 3rd level, if you spend 1 ki point or more as part of your action on your turn, you can use your bonus action to make one attack with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon before the end of the turn.

Monastic Tradition

(Moved feature gained at 11th level to 10th level)

When you reach 3rd level, you commit yourself to a monastic tradition, chosen from the list of available traditions. Your tradition grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 17th level.

Ki-Inhibiting Strikes

(Re-written 5th level "Stunning Strike" feature)

You can interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent's body in various ways.

When you hit a creature with a monk weapon or an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to use one of the following features. You can't target the same creature more than once a turn with these features.

Purity of Body

(Moved 10th level feature to 9th level)

At 9th level, your mastery of the ki flowing through you makes you immune to disease and poison.

Improved Ki-Techniques

(Added 11th level feature)

At 11th level, your proficiency over Ki allows you to further empower your techniques.

Tongue of the Sun and Moon

(Improved 13th level feature)

Starting at 13th level, you can use Wisdom, in place of Charimsa, whenever you make a Deception, Persuasion or Intimidation check.

Additionally, you learn to touch the ki of other minds so that you can understand all spoken languages and be understood by any creature that can understand a language. As an action, you can touch another creature to grant it this benefit for 1 hour.

Diamond Soul

(Improved 14th level feature)

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. You do not spend the ki point if this second result is also a failure.

Perfect Self

(Improved 20th level feature)

At 20th level, your Dexterity and Wisdom scores increase by 4. Your maximum for those scores is now 24.

Additionally, if you start your turn with no ki points, you immediately regain 1 ki point.

Way of the Ascended Dragon

Source: Fizban's Treasury of Dragons.

• Breath of the Dragon: Unchanged
• Draconic Disciple: Unchanged
• Wings Unfurled: Improved
• Aspect of the Wyrm: Unchanged
• Ascendant Aspect: Unchanged

Way of the Astral Self

Source: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

• Arms of the Astral Self Unchanged
• Visage of the Astral Self: Unchanged
• Body of the Astral Self: Improved
• Awakened Astral Self: Unchanged

Way of the Drunken Master

Source: Xanather's Guide to Everything.

• Bonus Proficiencies: Improved
• Drunken Technique: Reworked
• Drunkard's Luck: Improved
• Tipsy Sway: Unchanged
• Intoxicated Frenzy: Unchanged

Way of the Kensei

Source: Xanather's Guide to Everything.

• Path of the Kensei: Unchanged
• One with the Blade: Unchanged
• Sharpen the Blade: Improved
• Unerring Accuracy: Improved

Way of Mercy

Source: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

• Hands of Healing: Improved
• Hands of Harm: Improved
• Implements of Mercy: Unchanged
• Physician's Touch: Unchanged
• Flurry of Healing and Harm: Improved
• Hand of Ultimate Mercy: Unchanged

Way of the Open Hand

Source: Player's Handbook.

• Open Hand Technique: Unchanged
• Wholeness of Body: Unchanged
• Tranquility: Improved
• Quivering Palm: Re-written

Way of Shadow

Source: Player's Handbook.

• Disciple of Shadow: Added
• Shadow Arts: Improved
• Shadow Step: Unchanged
• Cloak of Shadows: Improved
• Opportunist: Improved

Way of the Sun Soul

Source: Xanather's Guide to Everything.

• Radiant Sunbolt: Improved
• Searing Arc Strike: Re-Written
• Searing Sunburst: Re-Written
• Sun Shield: Relocated and Re-Written
• Aura of Light : Added

Searing Sunburst

(Re-written 11th level feature moved to 10th level)

At 10th level, you gain the ability to create an orb of light that erupts into a devastating explosion.

As an action, you can 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 make a Constitution saving throw against your Ki save DC, taking radiant damage equal to four rolls of your Martial Arts die and becoming blinded until the end of your next turn on a failure, otherwise they take half as much damage and don't become blinded on a success. A creature doesn't need to make the save if the creature is behind total cover that is opaque.

Once you use this action, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 3 ki points to use it again.

Aura of Light

(Re-written 17th level feature)

At 17th level, you can channel your ki to become a beacon of a luminous, magical sunlight. You can activate this aura as a bonus action, granting yourself the following benefits for 1 minute:

• You shed bright sun light in a 30 foot radius and dim sun light for an additional 30 feet. You can extinguish or restore the light as a bonus action.
• You gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed.
• You become immune to radiant damage and the blinded condition

These benefits last for a 1 minute or until you use a bonus action to end it early. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 4 ki points to use it again.

Way of the Four Elements

Source: Player's Handbook.

• Disciple of the Elements: Re-Written
• Elemental Attunement: Added
• Elemental Deflection: Added
• Elemental Strikes: Added
• Avatar of the Elements: Added

Elemental Attunement

(Added 3rd level feature)

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you learn Primordial, the language of the elements, including all four of its dialects.

In addition you learn two cantrips of your choice: Control Flames, Gust, Mold Earth, or Shape Water. Wisdom is your spellcasting modifier for these spells. You learn an additional cantrip from this list when you reach 6th and 11th level in this class.

Elemental Deflection

(Added 6th level feature)

Starting at 6th level, your mystical attunement allows you to call upon the elements to defend yourself from magical attacks. When you take damage from a ranged spell attack, you can use your reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier (minimum reduction of 1).

You can not use this feature to deflect spells that do not make an attack roll such as magic missile.

Elemental Strikes

(Added 10th level feature)

Starting at 10th level, your strikes become imbued with the power of the elements. As a free action once on each of your turns, you can choose to magically imbue your unarmed strikes with one of the four elements.

Earth. Your unarmed strikes deal an additional martial arts die of bludgeoning damage to objects and constructs.

Fire. Your unarmed strikes deal fire damage, you emit bright light in a 20 foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. You can choose to ignite a flammable object that isn’t worn or carried by touching it.

Water. Your unarmed strikes deal cold damage and creatures grappled by you are considered restrained.

Air. Your unarmed strikes deal thunder damage and whenever you shove a creature you can push them up to 15 feet away.

Master of the Elements

(Added 17th level feature)

Starting at 17th level, the following four spells are added to your Elemental Disciples list:

• Investiture of Fire
• Investiture of Ice
• Investiture of Stone
• Investiture of Wind

You can cast one of these spells once without expending ki points. Once you do so, you can’t cast it again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 6 ki points to cast it again.

Elemental Disciplines

(Improved subclass feature)

Unnecessary Restrictions

The Monk was designed with a very specific image in mind, something akin to a Shaolin style Monk with no armor and very limited weapon choices in order to become a mystically enlightened fighter who has no need for material possessions in both their lifestyle and combat.

But I genuinely believe that not only is this strict idea of what a Monk should play like to be unfairly limiting in a game that is meant to be about creative freedom, it mechanically doesn't make sense for the following reasons:

• Why is that a Rogue can dash or disengage in light armor but suddenly a Monk is too encumbered when they wear leather armor and either way they still can only dash or disengage a limited amount of times?

• Why do Barbarians benefit from light and medium armor training if they also have the means to become an unarmored fighter? And why is it that a Barbarian's unarmored defense benefits from a shield while a Monk's wisdom can't allow them to dodge and wield a shield?

• Why can the Monk only punch up to 3 times at higher level so long as they aren't wearing armor or using a heavy weapon when the Fighter can choose to make 4 attacks with a 13 pound Pike in full plate armor?

If the argument for the restrictions is because historically warrior monks like the shaolin don't use any armor, then what about the Sohei warrior monks of fuedal Japan who donned samurai armor? While it's true many sought out martial arts for the sake of self improvement or spiritual enlightenment, martial arts was primarily taught and used for war. So it stands to reason that if we were to be realistic, monks trained in martial arts would be practically prepared for warfare and bring flexible armor to the battlefield.

I'm not saying a Monk should be allowed to move 120 feet up a wall in six seconds while wearing full plate mail. But I do believe the Monk is put at an unfair disadvantage because of the shaolin based identity imposed upon it and I feel the class can benefit from a bit of versatility for the sake of player freedom by drawing inspiration from the Sohei.

But even if the Monk is thematically never meant to use weapons or armor, how are they expected to measure up to Fighters, Barbarians and Rogue who can take and dish out more damage? Not to mention how much larger the gap will become when these martials get magical items that the Monk can't use because of their class restrictions.

If the Monk can just as easily be replaced by multi-classing Fighter, Barbarian and Rogue together in addition to picking up the mobile feat, to build a fast moving, hard hitting and durable unarmored fist fighter without as many limits as the Monk is forced to endure, then what is there left to entice players to bother playing a Monk?

Lots of Features with Little Impact

The Monk as it stands already has loads of features to gain from its class progression without even needing to be a spellcaster, making it arguably the most complicated martial class to play. But while it's great for a class to gain so many features, not very many of them ultimately allow the Monk to do all that much.

Increased movement is great for closing distances but doesn't help when you can't leave melee very often. Reducing fall damage is potentially life saving but doesn't come up too often unless the character has a flying speed. Deflect Missiles helps one to avoid being bested by ranged attackers but doesn't matter that much if you don't last very long in melee either.

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything did add some optional features to try and fix some of the classes weaknesses. But while I believe these features to be helpful sometimes, I don't believe these new options really fix what's fundamentally wrong with the class and I've noticed players still have a hard time keeping track of all these extra rules and how to use them effectively on top of everything else the Monk gets.

The Monk doesn't need Quickened Healing if they just have enough hit points to soak up damage.

Focused Aim isn't worth the Ki cost if the Monk doesn't benefit from burst damage like a Paladin or Rogue does.

Step of the Wind shouldn't require a ki cost if a Rogue can do the same just as easily so it stands to reason that it would be part of the Monk's increased mobility feature.

Tongue of the Sun and Moon isn't helpful to a class that doesn't benefit from Charisma, so why not allow the Monk to grant that feature to others?

Stunning Strike is Broken

The biggest reason why players consider Monk to be "overpowered" at all is specifically because Stunning Strike is such a debilitating feature.

It requires only one ki point and can be used on every hit, so it could potentially stun a crowd of creatures or even stun lock a single enemy for multiple rounds. Even if a creature initially makes the save, there's nothing to keep the monk from spamming this feature until it finally takes effect except for the ki cost.

From both the player's and DM's perspective, being Stunned is miserable. It completely prevents a combatant from doing anything and can easily ruin the narrative impact of a DM's threatening encounter with the BBEG or quickly fell a vulnerable player character without getting much of a chance to fight back.

A lot of 5E's design is built around simple yet fair rules, but Stunning Strike is all too easy to abuse for too little cost and if the Monk doesn't use it frequently, they will ultimately find themselves underperforming compared to every other class.

In Conclusion

I do agree that every class should have weaknesses, but if every Spellcaster makes up for low endurance with incredible power then inversely every Martial should make up for low power with incredible endurance. The Monk is simply not durable or formidable enough a frontliner on its own and while Stunning Strike bumps up the class's power level, it still forces the class to be a one-trick-pony.

I do hope in earnest these changes prove to make the Monk feel more fun to play, it genuinely saddens me as a DM to see players with such an earnest desire to fufill their power fantasy be left feeling frustrated and dejected because the rules did their favorite class so dirty.

If you're skeptical about these changes, please feel free to playtest and submit your feedback to u/Kire-Ikasu on reddit.