Class Monk
Your Subclass is chosen at Level 3 and defines your Monk's combat identity — how you use Ki, what additional features you gain, and what role you fill in a party.
- Way of the Open Hand — Control, Battlefield Dominance, Wholeness
- Way of Mercy — Harm and Heal, Ki as Medicine and Poison
- Way of Shadow — Shadow Arts, Shadow Step, stealth and darkness
- Way of the Drunken Master — Drunkard's Luck, evasive movement, Redirect Attack
- Way of the Four Elements — Elemental Attunement, Aura Combat
- Way of the Kensei — Weapon Mastery, Precision, Sword Saint
- Way of the Sun Soul — Radiant Sun Bolt, ranged Ki attacks, radiant bursts
| TRAIT | DETAIL |
|---|---|
| Primary Ability | Dexterity and Wisdom |
| Hit Point Die |
 D8 per Monk level |
| Saving Throw Proficiencies | Strength and Dexterity |
| Skill Proficiencies | Choose 2: Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Religion, or Stealth |
| Weapon Proficiencies | Simple weapons, Shortswords, and Scimitars |
| Armor Training | None |
| LEVEL | FEATURE |
|---|---|
| 1 | Martial Arts, Unarmored Defense |
| 2 | Ki, Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, Step of the Wind, Unarmored Movement I, Uncanny Metabolism |
| 3 | Deflect Missiles, Melee Unarmed Attack Bonus |
| 4 | Slow Fall |
| 5 | Stunning Strike, Extra Attack |
| 6 | Ki-Empowered Strikes, Unarmored Movement II |
| 7 | Evasion |
| 9 | Acrobatic Movement |
| 10 | Heightened Focus, Purity of Body, Stillness of Mind, Unarmored Movement III |
Your unarmed strikes and monk weapons deal damage based on your Martial Arts die, which scales with level:
| MONK LEVEL | MARTIAL ARTS DIE |
|---|---|
| 1–4 | 1d6 |
| 5–10 | 1d8 |
| 11–12 | 1d10 |
You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls with unarmed strikes and monk weapons. When you use the Shove or Grapple option of your Unarmed Strike, you can also use your Dexterity modifier instead of Strength to set the save DC (only if your Dexterity is at least as high as your Strength).
At Level 2, you gain Ki Points equal to your Monk level. Ki powers your core combat abilities and replenishes on Short Rest.
Ki-powered actions:
Flurry of Blows — Spend 1 Ki: make 2 unarmed strikes as a Bonus Action. At Level 10+, this becomes 3 strikes.
Patient Defense — Spend 1 Ki: take the Dodge action as a Bonus Action. At Level 10 (Heightened Focus): also gain temporary HP equal to your Martial Arts die.
Step of the Wind — Spend 1 Ki: take the Disengage or Dash action as a Bonus Action, and your jump distance doubles. At Level 10 (Heightened Focus): the Disengage option also gives temporary HP.
Gained at Level 3. When an attack (melee or ranged, weapon or unarmed — anything that isn't a spell attack) hits you, use your Reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 + Dexterity modifier + Monk level.
If you reduce the damage to 0, you can spend 1 Ki to catch the projectile and immediately throw it back as a ranged attack. The return attack uses 2 × Martial Arts die + Dexterity modifier.
Deflect Missiles is both a defensive reaction and a potential offensive counterattack. The return throw requires a separate Ki spend but turns a hit against you into a hit against your attacker.
Gained at Level 3. Your melee unarmed attack rolls get a bonus equal to half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down).
Gained at Level 2. Once per Long Rest, when you roll Initiative, you can immediately:
- Regain HP equal to
Martial Arts die + Monk level - Restore all expended Ki Points
Uncanny Metabolism is the emergency reset button. If you enter a fight depleted, this restores your full Ki before you take your first turn.
Gained at Level 7. When you are subjected to an effect that allows a Dexterity saving throw to take half damage, you instead take:
- No damage on a successful save
- Half damage on a failed save
Your speed increases progressively as you level:
| MONK LEVEL | SPEED BONUS |
|---|---|
| 2–5 | +10 ft |
| 6–9 | +15 ft |
| 10+ | +20 ft |
Gained at Level 6. A toggled passive, on by default and added to your hotbar. While active, your unarmed strikes deal Force damage instead of their normal damage type, letting them bypass resistance and immunity to nonmagical damage. Toggle it off if you'd rather keep dealing your Martial Arts die's normal (Bludgeoning) damage type.
The Monk's engine is Ki decisions per turn. Flurry of Blows (1 Ki → 2 strikes, later 3) is the default output. Stunning Strike (1 Ki per hit) is the high-priority exception — forcing a Constitution save on a hit and removing the target from the fight for a full round on failure. Landing a Stun ends encounters; a failed Stun is dead Ki, so read the target's Constitution before committing.
Patient Defense and Step of the Wind cost the same 1 Ki — spending on either means no Flurry that turn. The decision each turn: does the defensive value or repositioning outweigh the extra strikes?
Subclass defines the combat identity:
- Open Hand — Flurry knockdowns, shoves, and reaction denial; peak Stunning Strike platform
- Mercy — healing and Poisoned application; Ki as medicine and poison simultaneously
- Four Elements — elemental attacks convert Ki into spell-like ranged and area damage
- Kensei — weapon-based Monk with Rapier/Longsword/Longbow proficiency plus Ki-fueled weapon techniques
- Shadow — stealth and darkness; Shadow Arts casts utility spells with Ki, Shadow Step teleports between shadows
- Drunken Master — evasive melee; Drunkard's Luck and Redirect Attack turn enemy attacks against each other