Monk (5A)

'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. You must have a Dexterity score of 13 and either a Strength or 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	2d4	–	–	Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts
2nd	+2	2d4	2	+10 ft.	Ki, Unarmored Movement, Dedicated Weapon (Optional)
3rd	+2	2d4	3	+10 ft.	Monastic Tradition, Deflect Missiles, Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)
4th	+2	2d4	4	+10 ft.	Ability Score Improvement, Slow Fall, Quickened Healing (Optional)
5th	+3	2d6	5	+10 ft.	Extra Attack, Stunning Strike, Focused Aim (Optional)
6th	+3	2d6	6	+15 ft.	Ki-Empowered Strikes, Monastic Tradition feature
7th	+3	2d6	7	+15 ft.	Evasion, Stillness of Mind
8th	+3	2d6	8	+15 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
9th	+4	2d6	9	+15 ft.	Unarmored Movement improvement
10th	+4	2d6	10	+20 ft.	Purity of Body
11th	+4	2d8	11	+20 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature
12th	+4	2d8	12	+20 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
13th	+5	2d8	13	+20 ft.	Tongue of the Sun and Moon
14th	+5	2d8	14	+25 ft.	Diamond Soul
15th	+5	2d8	15	+25 ft.	Timeless Body
16th	+5	2d8	16	+25 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
17th	+6	2d10	17	+25 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature
18th	+6	2d10	18	+30 ft.	Empty Body
19th	+6	2d10	19	+30 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
20th	+6	2d10	20	+30 ft.	Perfect Self

Class Features

As a monk, you gain the following class features.

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 and the Battleaxe, Flail, Maul, Morningstar, Rapier, Scimitar, Shortsword, and Trident. If 5A weapons are in use, you also gain proficiency with the Flower Spear , Hook, Cestus , Katar , Ram Helm , Poi , Meteor Hammer , Ball and Chain , Bill , Sabre , Elfblade , and Shakram .

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) any melee 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, choose one of these options. You can only change this option when you advance in level as a monk.

Your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.
Your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Strength modifier.

Martial Arts

At 1st level, your practice of martial arts gives you mastery of combat styles that use unarmed strikes and weapons. You gain the following benefits while 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, which are shortswords and any simple melee weapons that don't have the two-handed or heavy property.
You can roll a 2d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or weapon. These dice change 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 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 four such features: Flurry of Blows, Ki-Fueled Attack, 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 perform the Dodge action. When you spend an action to perform a Dodge (not when you use Patient Defense or ways to do a Dodge as anything but your action), you draw all of your expended ki back into yourself. This restores your Ki points to their maximum value. You may have a flashback inspiration related to your teachings as a role-playing element at this time.

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.
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.
Patient Defense. You can spend 1 ki point to take the Dodge action without expending an actual action during your turn.
Step of the Wind. You can spend 1 ki point to take the Disengage or Dash action on your turn without actually expending an action, 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. You must still end your turn in a position legal without this ability, or you suffer the normal effects.

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.

If your monastic tradition allows you to cast a spell or effect that does damage but is not a weapon or unarmed attack, you add your martial arts dice to the damage inflicted.

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.

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 your Martial Arts dice. 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 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. You can do this even if the effect would normally determine what actions you can take, ignoring any such restrictions.

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.

Perfect Self

At 20th level, when you start your turn, you regain 4 ki points.