Monk improvement
Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Martial Arts | Unarmored Movement |
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1st | +2 | Martial Arts, Unarmored Defense, Unarmored Movement | 1d4 | +10 ft. |
2nd | +2 | Dedicated Weapon, Fighting Style, Ki, Purity of Body | 1d4 | +10 ft. |
3rd | +2 | Deflect Attack, Monastic Tradition | 1d4 | +10 ft. |
4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement, Martial Versatility (Optional), Quickened Healing, Slow Fall | 1d4 | +10 ft. |
5th | +3 | Extra Attack, Focused Aim, Pressure Points | 1d6 | +15 ft. |
6th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement, Ki-Empowered Strikes, Monastic Tradition feature | 1d6 | +15 ft. |
7th | +3 | Evasion, Stillness of Mind | 1d6 | +15 ft. |
8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d6 | +15 ft. |
9th | +4 | Ki Response, Unarmored Movement improvement | 1d8 | +20 ft. |
10th | +4 | Martial Expert, Unyielding Body | 1d8 | +20 ft. |
11th | +4 | Monastic Tradition feature | 1d8 | +20 ft. |
12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d8 | +20 ft. |
13th | +5 | Empty Mind (Optional), Tongue of the Sun and Moon | 1d10 | +25 ft. |
14th | +5 | Diamond Soul | 1d10 | +25 ft. |
15th | +5 | Timeless Body | 1d10 | +25 ft. |
16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d10 | +25 ft. |
17th | +6 | Monastic Tradition feature | 1d12 | +30 ft. |
18th | +6 | Empty Body | 1d12 | +30 ft. |
19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 1d12 | +30 ft. |
20th | +6 | Perfect Self | 1d12 | +30 ft. |
Class Features
As a Monk, you gain the following class features
Hit Points
- Hit Dice: 1d12 per monk level
- Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + your Constitution modifier
- Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 + your Constitution modifier per monk level after 1st
Proficiencies
- Armor: None
- Weapons: Simple weapons, pikes and shortswords.
- Tools: Choose one type of artisan's tools or one musical instrument
- Saving Throws: Wisdom, Dexterity
- Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Medicine, 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
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
Beginning at 1st level, your practice of martial arts gives you mastery of combat styles that use unarmed strikes and monk weapons.
You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren't wearing Heavy armor or wielding a shield:
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You can use Dexterity instead or Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk weapons.
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You can use your Martial Arts die in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon.
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Your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action to perform the Dodge action.
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You can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action.
Certain monasteries use specialized forms of the monk weapons. For example, you might use a club that is two lengths of wood connected by a short chain (called a nunchaku) or a sickle with a shorter, straighter blade (called a kama). Whatever name you use for a monk weapon, you can use the game statistics provided for the weapon on the Weapons page.
Unarmored Movement
Beginning at 1st 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.
Dedicated Weapon
Also at 2nd level, you train your self to use a variety of weapons as monk weapons, not just simple melee weapons and shortswords. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can touch one weapon, focus your ki on it, and then count that weapon as a monk weapon until you use this feature again.
The chosen weapon must meet these criteria:
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You must have proficiency with it.
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It must lack the Heavy and special properties, This criteria can be ignored if Way of the Kensei is the monastic tradition you have chosen.
Fighting Style
At 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.
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Blind Fighting. You have blind sight 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.
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Extension. When you wield a Two-handed or Versatile melee weapon that lack the reach property, you treat those weapons as if they do.
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Mariner (UA). As long as you are not wearing Heavy armor or using a shield, you have a swimming speed and a climbing speed equal to your normal speed, and you gain a +1 bonus to armor class.
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Superior Technique. You learn one maneuver of your choice from among those available to the Battle Master archetype. You gain one superiority die, which is a d6 (this die is added to any superiority dice you have). This die is used to fuel your maneuvers. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest.
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Thrown Weapon Fighting. You can draw a weapon that has the thrown property as part of the attack you make with the weapon. In addition, you gain a +1 bonus to the attack and damage rolls, when you hit with a ranged attack using a thrown weapon.
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Tunnel Fighter (UA). As a bonus action, you can enter a defensive stance that lasts until the start of your next turn. While in your defensive stance, you can make opportunity attacks without using your reaction, and you can use your reaction to make a melee attack against a creature that moves more than 5 feet while within your reach.
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.
Number of Ki points = Your monk level + your Wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus
You can spend these points to fuel various ki features. 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. Additionally, You can use your Ki and Martial Arts die to perform your Martial Maneuvers.
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 or Dexterity modifier (your choice)
- Flurry of Blows. Once per turn immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ki point to add two additional unarmed strikes to that attack action.
Flurry of Blows (Optional Variant)
Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 2 ki points to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action. The amount of unarmed strikes increase as you gain levels in this class following your Proficiency Bonus, as do the cost for every additional unarmed strike by 1 ki point for each subsequent strike (max of 6 ki points for 6 additional attacks).
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Patient Defense. Whenever you are hit by an attack, you can spend 1 ki point to use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you.
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Step of the Wind. Once Per Turn you can spend 2 ki points to freely (no action required) take the Dodge, Disengage or Dash action on your turn, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.
Ki-Fueled Attack
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.
Purity of Body
By 2nd level, the ki flowing through you makes you immune to disease.
Monastic Tradition
When you reach 3rd level, you commit yourself to a monastic tradition. Your tradition grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.
Deflect Attack
Starting at 3rd level, you can deflect attacks, and even divert them, with ease.
Whenever you or an ally within range are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to spend 2 ki points and reduce the damage dealt by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Monk level.
If you reduce the damage of a attack to 0 in this way you instantly divert it, and you make an attack roll as part of the same reaction.
When catching a missile, you make a ranged weapon attack using the missile you caught as part of the reaction. To do so, you must have a free hand, and the weapon or piece of ammunition you deflected must be small enough to hold in one hand. The ranged weapon attack you make has the thrown property (range 20/60) and counts as a monk weapon when thrown in this way.
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 6th,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.
Martial Versatility (Optional)
Whenever you reach a level in this class that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, you can replace a fighting style you know with another fighting style available to Monks. This replacement represents a shift of focus in your martial practice.
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. Moreover you can use your Dexterity modifier to determine your Jump distance .
Quickened Healing
Also at 4th level, as an action, you can spend 2 ki points and roll a Martial Arts die. You or one of your allies that you touch regain a number of hit points equal to the number rolled plus your proficiency bonus.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Focused Aim
At 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.
Pressure Points
Starting at 5th level, you can interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent's body.
Whenever you hit another creature with a melee weapon attack or unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to impose a negative status effect on them.
The target must succeed on the following saving throws or experience one of these effects:
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Blind Rage. The target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or suffers disadvantage on all attack rolls against targets other than you until the end of your next turn.
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Confounding Jolt. The target must succeed on a Intelligence saving throw, on a failed save it can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn.
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Staggering Strike. The target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls, ability checks and saving throws.
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Stunning Strike. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become stunned until the end of your next turn.
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Tender Flesh. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or gain vulnerability to bludgeoning damage until the end of your next turn.
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Terror Touch. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn.
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Weakened Body. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or experience disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes before the end of your next turn.
At 15th level any time you score a critical hit on an enemy, they suffer one of the following effects (your choice) 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.
Stillness of Mind
Starting at 7th level, you become resistant to being charmed or frightened, and you can use your action to end one of these effects on yourself or one of your allies.
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.
Ki Response
At 9th level, your training in the mystic art of Ki has grown; providing you access to additional features.
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Counter-Strike: When a creature misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction and expend 1 ki point to make a melee weapon attack against the creature.
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Puppeteer-Strike: When you hit a creature with an attack, you can expend 1 ki point to maneuver one of your comrades into a more advantageous position. You choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you. That creature can use its reaction to move up to half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks from the target of your attack.
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First-Strike: When a creature you can see moves into your reach, you can use your reaction to expend 1 Ki point and make one attack against the creature, using that weapon or unarmed strike.
Diamond Soul
Beginning at 10th 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.
Timeless Body
At 10th 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.
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, and any creature that can understand a language can understand what you say. Moreover, whenever you make a skill check that requires Charisma, you can add your Wisdom modifier to it.
Empty Mind (Optional)
At 13th level, you have practiced emptying your mind of all thoughts, desires, and assumptions. When your mind is clear, you are free from your ego and are able to act spontaneously and fluidly without emotion and hesitation.
When you hit a creature with an attack roll, you can target it as your Sole Focus for 1 minute or until you lose consciousness.
Every time that you hit the Sole Focus and deal damage to it, including when you target it, you increase that damage by rolling an additional Martial Arts die.
You can use this feature to target a Sole Focus a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.
When using this feature with variant Flurry of Blows, You only apply the extra martial Arts die Once per turn.
Ki Reserve
At 15th level, when you roll for initiative, you regain half your total Ki points.
Unyielding Body
At 15th level,your mastery of the ki flowing through you makes you immune poison.
Additionally, your Flurry of Blows feature no longer costs Ki.
Empty Body
Beginning at 17th 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 4 ki points to cast the Astral Projection spell, without needing material components. When you do so, you can't take any other creatures with you.
Perfect Self
At 20th level, you now embody KI, more Ki than Person. Your Wisdom and Constitution scores increase by 4. Your maximum for those scores is now 24.