Monk

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.

Monastic Icons

Even in the monastic lifestyle, which eschews materialism and personal possessions, symbolism plays an important part in defining the identity of an order. If your character's monastery had a special icon, you might wear a crude image of it 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.

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.

Class Features

As a monk, you gain the following class features.

Martial Arts

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 lack the two-handed or heavy properties.

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 1d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die changes in size and number as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts Dice column of the Monk table.
• When you take the Attack action on your turn and attack with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon, you can then make one unarmed strike as a bonus action before the end of your 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 chain (called a nunchaku) or a sickle with a shorter, straighter blade (called a kama).

Fighting Stance

You have developed a special form of martial artistry to employ during combat, known as a fighting stance. The most common stances derive their names from animals, using movements and techniques that mimic the creature's form and behavior and which monasteries use for inspiration in honing their craft.

Choose one of the following options as your fighting stance. You can enter your fighting stance by spending 10 feet of movement during your turn, provided you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield. You remain in your stance until you are incapacitated, you don armor or a shield, or you choose to exit it (no action required).

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:

Ascetic Talents

Starting at 2nd level, your discipline and training grants you access to special techniques. You learn two ascetic talents of your choice, which is listed under the "Ascetic Talents" section at the end of the class description.

You gain additional ascetic talents when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the "Talents Known" column of the Monk table.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the talents you know and replace it with another talent that you could learn at that level.

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, chosen from the list of available traditions. Your tradition grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.

Ki-Fueled Attack

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

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.

If your DM allows the use of feats, you may instead take a feat.

Additionally, whenever you reach a level in this class that grants this feature, you can do one of the following, representing a dedication to new martial techniques:

• Replace the option you chose for the Fighting Stance feature with one of that feature's other options.
• If you're 8th level or higher, replace one of your chosen Style Strike options with another one.

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.

Style Strike

At 5th level, you begin adding potent and highly specialized techniques into your combat repertoire. You learn two style strikes of your choice from the following options, and you learn an additional style strike of your choice at 10th, 15th, and 20th level.

When you hit another creature with a melee weapon attack, you can spend 1 ki point to enhance the attack with one of the style strikes you know. You can use only one style strike per attack.

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.

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.

Purity of Body

At 10th level, your mastery of the ki flowing through you makes you immune to disease and poison.

Tongue of 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 fail a saving throw, 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.

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, but you can't take any other creatures with you when you do.

Perfect Self

At 20th level, you have fully mastered the flow of ki within your body. At the start of each of your turns, you regain 1 ki point if you have fewer than 10 ki points left.

Wings Unfurled

Starting at 6th level, when you use your Step of the Wind, you can unfurl spectral draconic wings from your back that vanish at the end of your turn. While the wings exist, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. While you have no uses available, you can spend 1 additional ki point when you activate Step of the Wind to use this feature again.

Aspect of the Wyrm

By 11th level, the power of your draconic ki now radiates from you, protecting your allies from harm and punishing any who raise arms against them. As a bonus action, you can create an aura of draconic power that radiates 30 feet from you for 1 minute. Choose acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison damage; for the duration, you and your allies within your aura gain resistance to the chosen damage type.

Additionally, when you first create the aura, it momentarily exudes a terrifying, draconic presence. One creature of your choice you can see within your aura must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your ki save DC or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn. As a bonus action while the aura persists, you can exude the draconic presence again. A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to your aura for 24 hours.

Once you create your aura, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you spend 4 ki points to use it again.

Body of the Astral Self

At 11th level, when you have both your astral arms and visage summoned, you can cause the body of your astral self to appear (no action required). This spectral body covers your physical form like a suit of armor, connecting with the arms and visage. You determine its appearance.

While the spectral body is present, you gain the following benefits.

Deflect Energy. When you take acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, or thunder damage, you can use your reaction to deflect it. When you do so, the damage you take is reduced by 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1).

Empowered Arms. Once per turn when you hit a target with the Arms of the Astral Self, you can deal extra damage to the target equal to one roll of your Martial Arts dice.

Awakened Astral Self

By 17th level, your connection to your astral self is complete, allowing you to unleash its full potential. As a bonus action, you can spend 5 ki points to summon the arms, visage, and body of your astral self and awaken it for 10 minutes. This awakening ends early if you are incapacitated or die.

While your astral self is awakened, you gain the following benefits:

Armor of the Spirit. You gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class.

Astral Barrage. Whenever you use the Extra Attack feature to attack twice, you can instead attack three times if all the attacks are made with your astral arms.

Way of the Drunken Master

The Way of the Drunken Master teaches its students 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.

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 choose to ignore the disadvantage on that roll.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. While you have no uses remaining, you can spend 2 ki points to use it again.

Intoxicated Frenzy

At 17th level, you gain the ability to make an overwhelming number of attacks against a group 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 primordial forces of creation and bend the four elements to your will, using them as an extension of your body. Some monasteries inherited these techniques from warrior genies of the Elemental Planes; for this reason, many members of this tradition dedicate themselves to a single element, but others weave the elements together. Monks who shape the elements tattoo their bodies with representations of their ki powers, commonly imagined as coiling dragons, but also as phoenixes, fish, plants, mountains, and cresting waves.

Ki Transmigration

Starting at 3rd level, you can draw upon your inner reserves of ki to fuel your magic in a pinch. When you cast an elemental spell you have prepared, you can cast the spell at its lowest level, without expending a spell slot, by spending a number of ki points equal to 1 + the spell's level. For example, if you cast the burning hands spell in this way, you spend 2 ki points to cast it as a 1st-level spell.

Once you use this feature to cast an elemental spell, you can't that spell by spending ki points again until you finish a short or long rest.

Elemental Path

When you reach 6th level, your elemental training bears fruit by enhancing your basic monk techniques. When you finish a long rest, you gain one of the following benefits of your choice, which lasts until you finish your next long rest.

Enduring Mountain Stance (Earth). When you take the Dodge action, you can't be moved against your will or knocked prone until the start of your next turn.

Leaf on the Wind (Air). When you are falling, you can move 1 foot horizontally for every 2 feet you descend. In addition, if you use Slow Fall to reduce the damage you take from falling to 0, you regain the use of your reaction.

Talon of Two Embers (Fire). When you use Flurry of Blows and hit the same creature with both attacks, you can cause the target to also take fire damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts dice.

Scales of Swaying Koi (Water). You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. In addition, when you take the Dash action, you can squeeze through narrow spaces as if you were a creature one size smaller than yourself until the end of the current turn.

Practised Disciple

At 11th level, you demonstrate greater aptitude at manifesting your elemental powers. When you cast an elemental spell of 1st level or higher, you can shroud yourself in a veil of elemental energy which lasts until the start of your next turn. While you are shrouded by this veil, you are protected by half cover, and if the spell you cast dealt cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, you gain resistance to that damage type until the veil disappears.

Avatar of the Elements

At 17th level, you complete your mastery of the four elements. As an action, you can clad yourself in a shroud of elemental energy which lasts for 1 minute or until you fall unconscious or die, and which takes the form of one of the following elemental creatures of your choice: air elemental, earth elemental, fire elemental, or water elemental. (See the Monster Manual for each creature's statistics.)

When the shroud appears, you gain temporary hit points equal to five times your monk level. While you are clad in the shroud, you gain the benefit of any special features of your chosen elemental, including (but not limited to) its speeds, senses, damage resistances and immunities, and traits. You also gain access to any special actions the elemental has.

Whenever you spend at least 1 ki point as part of your action during your turn, you can spend 1 additional ki point to alter the nature of your shroud (no action required), replacing the benefits of your chosen elemental with those of a different one.

Once you use this action, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

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 the 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.

Way of the Long Death

Monks of the Way of the Long Death are obsessed with the meaning and mechanics of dying. They capture creatures and prepare elaborate experiments to capture, record, and understand the moments of their demise. They use this knowledge to guide their understanding of martial arts, yielding a deadly fighting style.

Way of Mercy

Monks of the Way of Mercy learn to manipulate the life force of others to bring aid to those in need. They are wandering physicians to the poor and hurt. However, to those beyond their help, they bring a swift end as an act of mercy.

Those who follow the Way of Mercy might be members of a religious order, administering to the needy and making grim choices rooted in reality rather than idealism. Some might be gentle-voiced healers, beloved by their communities, while others might be masked bringers of macabre mercies. The walkers of this way usually don robes with deep cowls, and they often conceal their faces with masks, presenting themselves as the faceless bringers of life and death.

Implements of Mercy

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Insight and Medicine skills, and you gain proficiency with the herbalism kit.

You also gain a special mask, which you often wear when using the features of this subclass. You determine its appearance, or generate it randomly by rolling on the Merciful Mask table.

Hand of Healing

Starting at 3rd level, your mystical touch can mend wounds. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to touch a creature and restore a number of hit points equal to one roll of your Martial Arts dice + your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1 hit point).

When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can replace one of the unarmed strikes with a use of this feature without spending a ki point for the healing.

Hand of Harm

Also at 3rd level, you use your ki to inflict wounds. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to deal extra necrotic damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts dice + your Wisdom modifier (minimum of 1 damage). You can use this feature only once per turn.

Physician's Touch

Starting at 6th level, you can administer even greater cures with a touch, and if you feel it's necessary, you can use your knowledge to cause harm.

When you use Hand of Healing on a creature, you can also end one disease or one of the following conditions affecting the creature: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, poisoned, or stunned.

When you use Hand of Harm on a creature, you can subject that creature to the poisoned condition until the end of your next turn.

Flurry of Healing and Harm

By 11th level, you can now mete out a flurry of comfort and hurt. When you use Flurry of Blows, you can now replace each of the unarmed strikes with a use of your Hand of Healing, without spending ki points for the healing.

In addition, when you make an unarmed strike with Flurry of Blows, you can use Hand of Harm with that strike without spending the ki point for Hand of Harm. You can still use Hand of Harm only once per turn.

Psionic Technique

Also at 3rd level, you learn to hone your attacks to inflict devastating psionic strikes. Once per turn when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can create one of the following effects:

• Disorienting Blow. The target cannot make opportunity attacks against you until the end of the turn.
• Neural Strike. The target must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw or have disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes before the start of your next turn.
• Slipspace Fist. The target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be teleported up to 10 feet horizontally to an unoccupied space you can see.

Aura Sight

At 6th level, you gain the ability to read the spiritual auras of other creatures. You gain proficiency in the Insight skill if you don't already have it, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses that skill.

Additionally, as an action, you can focus your psionic power upon one creature within 30 feet of you that you can see, forcing it to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, you learn the creature's type and alignment, or you learn its damage vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities, if it has any (your choice when it fails the saving throw).

On a successful save, you gain no insight into the creature, and you can't use this ability on it again for 24 hours. If the target is shielded from divination magic or benefits from a similar effect, it automatically succeeds on its saving throw.

You can perform this action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Phase Strike

At 11th level, you can cause your mystic fists to slip through physical objects and defenses. Once per turn when you make an attack with an unarmed strike, you can choose to forgo making an attack roll and instead force the target to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the target is hit by your attack; on a successful save, the target takes half the damage of your attack but suffers no additional effects.

Psychic Form

By 17th level, your mastery of your psychic potential allows you to transform your physical body into a new form. As a bonus action, you can spend 5 ki points to gain the following benefits:

• You have a flying speed equal to your walking speed, and you can hover.
• Your attacks deal an extra 1d6 psychic damage on a hit, and a creature that takes this extra psychic damage has disadvantage on the next attack roll or ability check it makes before the start of your next turn.
• You can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. You take 1d10 force damage if you end your turn inside an object. If you return to your normal form while inside an object, you are shunted to the nearest unoccupied space, and you take 1d10 force damage for every 5 feet traveled.

You remain in this form for 1 minute, or until you die or you end it early as a bonus 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 spies and assassins. 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.

Way of the Sun Soul

Monks of the Way of the Sun Soul learn 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.

Deflect Missiles

You can use your reaction to deflect or catch a 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 (range 20/60 feet) 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 both a thrown weapon and a monk weapon for the attack.

Earthly Tether

Prerequisite: 5th level

Other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they fall prone while within your reach.

Empty Sight

Prerequisite: 5th level

While you have at least 1 ki point remaining, you have blindsight with a range of 10 feet. Within that range, you can effectively see anything that isn't behind total cover, even if you're blinded or in darkness. Moreover, you can see an invisible creature within that range, unless the creature successfully hides from you.

Focused Aim

Prerequisite: 5th level

When you miss with an attack roll, you can spend 1 to 3 ki points to increase your attack roll by 2 for each of these ki points you spend, potentially turning the miss into a hit.

Formless Flourish

Prerequisite: 5th level

When you make an attack with a monk weapon you are wielding, you can treat your attack with that weapon as an unarmed strike for the purposes of using your monk abilities and features (such as Martial Arts or Ki-Empowered Strikes).

You can use this talent a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. While you have no uses remaining, you can spend 1 ki point to use this talent again.

Heightened Reflexes

Prerequisite: 13th level

While you have at least 1 ki point remaining, you can take an extra reaction each round, but this reaction can only be used to make opportunity attacks. You can't take more than one reaction during the same turn.

Ki Barrier

Prerequisite: 5th level

If your turn ends and you have spent 2 or more ki points since your last turn, you gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus.

Ki Stand

When you are prone, standing up uses only 5 feet of your movement, provided you have at least 1 ki point remaining.

Ki Visions

Prerequisite: 13th level

By spending at least 10 uninterrupted minutes in focused meditation, you can spend 5 ki points to cast the commune with nature spell.

Light Steps

Prerequisite: 9th level

While you have at least 1 ki point remaining, you can use Dexterity, instead of Strength, when determining your jump distance.

Monastic Pursuit

You gain proficiency in one skill or tool of your choice.

Quickened Healing

You can spend 2 ki points as an action to roll your Martial Arts dice once and regain a number of hit points equal to the roll.

Shapeless Stance

Prerequisite: 9th level

You can choose a second option from the Fighting Stance class feature. You can't enter a fighting stance while you are already in one of your other stances.

Sharp Throw

When you make a ranged attack with a weapon that has the thrown property, its normal and long ranges are doubled.

Sidestep

Once on each of your turns, you can move up to 5 feet without provoking opportunity attacks, but only if you move in this way before doing anything else on that turn.

Silent Soul

Prerequisite: 9th level

While you have at least 1 ki point remaining, whenever you take damage from a critical hit while at 0 hit points or roll a 1 on the d20 for a death saving throw, you suffer only one death saving throw failure instead of two failures.

Stillness of Mind

Prerequisite: 9th level

You can use your action to end one effect on yourself that is causing you to be charmed or frightened.

Volley of Blows

Prerequisite: 13th level

When you spend a ki point to use your Flurry of Blows, you can make one additional unarmed strike as part of your bonus action. You don't add your ability modifier to the damage of this additional attack, unless that modifier is negative.

Class Changes

The design philosophy of the monk class is characterized by a departure from the roleplaying tropes of the other official classes, representing an Eastern fantasy-inspired character rather than a Western fantasy-inspired one. Changes to the balance and approach of this class are therefore designed to exemplify this unique flavour of the class, and also allow the monk to flourish as a martial class in a wider array of situations, both in and out of combat.

Hit Points. The monk's Hit Die is a d10, instead of a d8, bringing it more in line with other martial-focused classes.

Martial Arts. The damage progression of the monk's Martial Arts die changes at 11th level to 2d4 (previously 1d8), and at 17th level to 2d6 (previously 1d10). This is intended to give monks slightly higher and more consistent damage at high tiers of play, in order to keep pace with the damage outputs of other martial classes.

Fighting Stance. This is a new feature, which is intended to provide meaningful and flavorful improvements to the monk's combat abilities at low levels and beyond.

Ascetic Talents. This is a new feature, which rebalances the monk by granting a wider variety of benefits of features, which allows players to customize a monk's abilities to suit their tastes. The previously-existing monk features Dedicated Weapon (2nd-level), Deflect Missiles (3rd-level), Quicekened Healing (4th-level), Focused Aim (5th-level), and Stillness of Mind (7th-level) are now included in the list of options for this feature.

Style Strike. This is a new feature which improves upon the monk's Stunning Strike feature (which is included in this feature's list of options).

Perfect Self. This feature now grants a measure of continuous ki regeneration, instead of refreshing some ki during certain initiative rolls. This change is designed to give monks greater staying power at 20th level when using ki-intensive abilities.

Way of the Kensei

The changes to the Way of the Kensei are listed below.

Path of the Kensei. This feature now grants the monk proficiency with martial weapons, and the restrictions on the monk's choice of kensei weapon have been changed.

One with the Blade. The ability Deft Strike can now be used once per turn, instead of once on each of the monk's turns.

Sharpen the Blade. This feature can now affect a magic weapon that doesn't already possess a higher bonus to attack and damage rolls. (Previously, this feature had no effect on any magic weapon with any bonus to attack and damage rolls.)

Way of the Long Death

The changes to the Way of the Long Death are listed below.

Touch of Death. This feature no longer has a range limit of 5 feet.

Hour of Reaping. This feature has a secondary effect against creatures who fail their saving throw by 5 or more.

Mastery of Death. The monk can use this feature even if they would be killed outright.

Touch of the Long Death. This feature's damage dice increases from 2d10 to 2d12, and it ignores resistance to necrotic damage.

Way of Mercy

The changes to the Way of Mercy are listed below.

Hand of Healing. This ability now restores a minimum of 1 hit point.

Hand of Harm. This ability now deals a minimum of 1 extra necrotic damage.

Way of the Open Hand

The changes to the Way of the Open Hand are listed below.

Wholeness of Body. This feature now restores hit points equal to five times the monk's class level, instead of three times their monk level.

Way of the Sun Soul

The changes to the Way of the Sun Soul are listed below.

Radiant Sun Bolt. The wording of this feature has been changed so that the bolts count as unarmed strikes with a reach of 30 feet, instead of ranged attacks requiring a more complicated explanation than is needed.

Searing Sunburst. Hurling the orb now requires the monk to spend ki points; in exchange, the base damage is 4d6 instead of 2d6, and creatures take half damage from this feature when they succeed on their saving throw.

Sun Shield. The radiant damage of this feature now equals one roll of the monk's Martial Arts dice + their Wisdom modifier (a minimum of 1 damge), instead of 5 + their Wisdom modifier.

Ascetic Talents

Many of the Ascetic Talents are new features; some of these talents previously existed as monk features, and their changes are listed below.

Dedicated Weapon. This feature grants proficiency with one eligible weapon, which also becomes a monk weapon. Previously, this feature allowed a monk to turn any eligible weapon with which they were already proficient into a monk weapon.

Art Credits

The artists below are credited in alphabetical order. Where possible, an art credit includes the website where the artist's work can be found, and the pages on which their illustrations appear.

• Eric Belisle (ArtStation; pg 8)
• Paizo (© Paizo; pg 17)
• Smirtouille (DeviantArt; pg 7)
• Thiago Richau (ArtStation; cover)
• Viktor Titov (ArtStation; pg 18)
• Wizards of the Coast (© Wizards; pg 2, 13, 14)
• XR CG (ArtStation; pg 10)

Thank You

... for taking the time to read this reimagining of the Monk class! If you have any feedback or suggestions, please contact the author ─ /u/Ozzifer on Reddit ─ or consider joining their Patreon.

Open Game License

Version 1.0a

END OF LICENSE