☯︎ Monk

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 are martial artists who harness the energy within their bodies to achieve extraordinary physical and spiritual feats. They are masters of unarmed combat, agility, and self-discipline. Drawing on their inner energy, known as ki, monks can perform supernatural abilities that transcend the limits of their physical form.

Monastery

Monasteries are the sacred grounds where monks dedicate their lives to the pursuit of inner mastery. These places, isolated from the mundane world, serve as both homes and sanctuaries for those who seek spiritual and physical perfection. The nature of the monastery where a monk trained often shapes their philosophy and approach to life. Each one is unique, steeped in ancient tradition, and imbued with the quiet power of discipline.

• Monastic Life:
  • Each monastery has a distinct culture, history, and purpose. Monks might train under harsh, austere conditions, or they may study in a place of tranquility and beauty.
• Location:
  • Monasteries can be located in remote mountains, hidden forests, or even deep within bustling cities.

d12	Monastery	Description
1	Mountain Monastery	Carved from the very rock of a mountain, this monastery stands sentinel over a treacherous pass, a fortress of solitude and strength.
2	Feywild Tree Monastery	Perched high in the branches of an immense tree within the Feywild, this monastery is a place of mystical tranquility.
3	Cloud Castle Monastery	Founded long ago by a cloud giant, this monastery floats within a castle made of clouds, accessible only by those who can fly.
4	Volcanic Hot Springs Monastery	Nestled beside a volcanic system of hot springs and geysers, this monastery is often visited by azer traders who respect its seclusion.
5	Gnome Labyrinth Monastery	Built by gnomes, this underground labyrinth of tunnels and rooms is a haven of secrecy and cunning.
6	Gnome Labyrinth Monastery	Built by gnomes, this underground labyrinth of tunnels and rooms is a haven of secrecy and cunning.
7	Remote Temple	Built into the side of a cliff, where the monks train in the harshest conditions.
8	Hidden Sanctuary	In a forest the monks live in harmony with the creatures of the wild.
9	Bustling Urban Monastery	The monks interact with the people daily, offering wisdom and martial aid.
10	Grand Temple	A complex with towering spires and serene gardens, a center of learning and meditation.
11	Ancient Monastery	Tall with crumbling walls, where the monks protect forgotten secrets of martial arts.
12	Sacred Waterfall	A modest monastery near a sacred spring, where the monks are devoted to the spiritual purification of the body.

Monastic Icon

Even within the ascetic lifestyle of monks, symbolism holds great significance. Many monastic orders revere certain creatures, seeing in them reflections of the virtues they strive to embody. These icons may be displayed subtly, such as a small token worn on the body, or through a posture or gesture that holds deep meaning within the order.

d6	Icon	Description
1	Monkey	Admired for its agility and cleverness, the monkey represents quick reflexes and the ability to navigate the heights.
2	Dragon Turtle	Revered by the monks of coastal monasteries, the dragon turtle symbolizes strength, endurance, and the spirit of the sea.
3	Ki-rin	Embodying the nobility and duty of protecting the land, the ki-rin is a symbol of vigilance and righteousness.
4	Owlbear	Coexisting with a family of owlbears, the monks have learned the values of fierce protection and adaptability.
5	Hydra	A symbol of resilience and versatility, admired for its ability to strike from multiple angles simultaneously.
6	Dragon	A legendary creature whose ancient wisdom and power influence the teachings of the monastery long after its departure.

Monastic Vows

Monks often take vows as part of their monastic traditions. These vows can influence their behavior and decision-making during their adventures.

• Vow of Silence:
  • A monk may choose to take a vow of silence, communicating only through gestures or telepathy.
• Vow of Poverty:
  • A monk who has taken a vow of poverty might refuse material wealth, focusing on spiritual and physical excellence instead.

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 ma rtial arts and your attitude toward the world. What sort of person was your master, and how did your relationship with your master affect you?

d6	Master
1	Your master was a tyrant whom you had to defeat in single combat to complete your instruction.
2	Your master was kindly and taught you to purs ue the cause of peace.
3	Your master was merciless in pushing you to your limits. You nearly lost an eye during one especially brutal practice session.
4	Your master seemed goodhearted while tutoring you, but betrayed your monastery in the end.
S	Your master was cold and distant. You suspect that the two of you might be related.
6	Your master was kind and generous, never critical of your progress. Nevertheless, you feel you never fully lived up to the expectations placed on you.

Monk: Why Did You Pursue Perfection?

d6	I became a monk because...
1	I was chosen to study at a secluded monastery. There, I found the guidance I sought.
2	I learned of the monastery’s teaching and saw it as a way to become something greater.
3	I was lost and directionless. The monastery gave me a new purpose.
4	I could not find peace in my life, so I sought out the wisdom of the monastery.
5	I wanted to master my mind and body and saw the way of the monk as the best path.
6	I desired more than just a warrior’s skill, and I turned to the discipline of the monastery to guide me.

You must have a Dexterity score and a Wisdom score of $13$ or higher in order to multiclass in or out of this class.

The Monk

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, Dedicated Weapon (Optional)
3rd	+2	1d4	3	+10 ft.	Monastic Tradition, Deflect Missiles, Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)
4th	+2	1d4	4	+10 ft.	Ability Score Improvement, Slow Fall, Quickened Healing (Optional)
5th	+3	1d6	5	+10 ft.	Extra Attack, Stunning Strike, Focused Aim (Optional)
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

Monks rely on their agility and wisdom rather than armor for protection. 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

Monks are unparalleled in unarmed combat. 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 on the Weapons page.

Ki

Starting at 2nd level, your training allows you to harness the mystic energy of ki. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of ki points. 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.

Dedicated Weapon (Optional)

Also at 2nd level, you train yourself to use a variety of weapons as monk weapons, not just simple melee weapons and shortswords. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can touch one weapon, focus your ki on it, and then count that weapon as a monk weapon until you use this feature again.

The chosen weapon must meet these criteria:

• The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon.

• You must be proficient with it.

• It must lack the heavy and special properties.

Monastic Tradition

When you reach 3rd level, you commit yourself to a monastic tradition. Your tradition grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.

Tradition	Source
Astral Self	Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
Ascendant Dragon	Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
Drunken Master	Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Four Elements	Player's Handbook
Kensei	Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Long Death	Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
Mercy	Tasha's Cauldron of Everything
Open Hand	Player's Handbook
Shadow	Player's Handbook
Sun Soul	Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide Xanathar's Guide to Everything

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 a range of 20/60 using 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.

Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)

Also 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.

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.

Quickened Healing (Optional)

Also at 4th level, as an action, you can spend 2 ki points and roll a Martial Arts die. You 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.

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.

Focused Aim (Optional)

Also 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.

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.

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.

Purity of Body

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

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.

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.

Perfect Self

At 20th level, when you roll for initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 4 ki points.