As you make your monk character, think about your connection to the monastery where you learned your Skills and spent your formative years. Were you an orphan or a child left on the monastery’s threshold? Did your parents Promise you to the monastery in gratitude for a service performed by the monks? Did you enter this secluded life to hide from a crime you committed? Or did you choose the monastic life for yourself? Consider why you left. Did the head of your monastery choose you for a particularly important mission beyond the cloister? Perhaps you were cast out because of some violation of the community’s rules. Did you dread leaving, or were you happy to go? Is there something you hope to accomplish outside the monastery? Are you eager to Return to your home? As a result of the structured life of a monastic community and the discipline required to harness ki, monks are almost always lawful in Alignment.

hit dice: 1d8

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

armor proficiencies: Light Armor, Medium Armor

weapon proficiencies: Simple weapons, short swords, and one martial/exotic weapon of your choice

tools: Choose one type of artisan’s tools or one musical Instrument

saving throws: Strength, Dexterity

skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Investigation, Religion, and Stealth

class features:
Unarmored Defense

Unarmored Movement⁠

2-Level Monk Feature

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.

Martial Arts

1-Level monk Feature

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.

Ki

2-Level Monk Feature

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 + your proficiency bonus 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

Unarmored Movement⁠

2-Level Monk Feature

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.

Unwavering Resolve

4-Level Monk Feature

Beginning at 4th level, you can use the power of ki to refocus your attention and strengthen your resolve. As a bonus action, you can spend up to 3 ki points and roll Martial Arts dice equal to the number of ki spent. You regain a number of hit points equal to the number(s) rolled plus your proficiency bonus. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Extra Attack

5-Level Monk Feature

Beginning at 5th Level, you can Attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack Action on Your Turn.

Ki-Empowered Strikes

6-Level Monk Feature

Starting at 6th Level, your Unarmed strikes count as magical for the Purpose of overcoming Resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Evasion

7-Level Monk Feature

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

7-Level Monk Feature

Starting at 7th level, you can end one effect that is causing you to be charmed or frightened at the start of each turn.
You also gain advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened, and magic can't put you to sleep.

Triple Blossom Meditation

8-Level Monk Feature

At 8th level, you have mastered the ki circulation techniques of your stances and can recover from the ki expenditure of one martial flourish. You spend 1 minute in uninterrupted meditation as you refocus your internal ki and you can reignite the power of one of your expended martial stances. At 15th level, you can use this feature to recover two martial stances or a single Advanced Martial Stance. Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Advanced Martial Stances

Ki-Empowered Strikes

6-Level Monk Feature

Starting at 6th Level, your Unarmed strikes count as magical for the Purpose of overcoming Resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Improved Ki Techniques

9-Level Monk Feature

At 9th level, you gain the ability to use your ki to strike when you are moving or defending yourself. If you spend a ki point to activate Patient Defense or Step of the Wind, you may make an additional attack as a part of that bonus action. Step of the Wind, you gain a fly speed until the start of your next turn. Patient Defense, you gain the Parry reaction. When an enemy makes an attack against you, you may use a reaction to make a Dexterity Check + your proficiency modifier to parry the blow. If your Dexterity (Parry) Check beats an opponent's melee attack you may disarm them as a part of the same reaction.

Tounge of Sun and Moon

Tongue of the Sun and Moon

13-Level Monk Feature

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. As an action, you can inject your ki into your allies share this ability with up to four others. Ki of Alacrity. Additionally, your ki and instincts are so finely honed that you now have advantage on Initiative rolls. Strength of The Sun and Moon. You can choose to add your Strength modifier to your Initiative rolls.

Diamond Soul

10-Level Monk Feature

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.

Formless Ki

14-Level Monk Feature

At 14th level, you can use a bonus action to regain ki equal to half your monk level rounded down. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Timeless Body

15-Level Monk Feature

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

18-Level Monk Feature

Beginning at 18th level, you can use your action to spend 5 ki points and gain the benefits of Greater Invisibility 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 take up to eight willing creatures within 10 feet with you to the Astral Plane. Once you use these features, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use them again.

Perfect Self

Martial Arts Mastery

20-Level Monk Feature

At 20th level, you can use basic ki abilities — Flurry of Blows,Patient Defense, and Step of the Wind — without spending ki. Also, when you finish a short rest, you can choose a strike,monastic, or defensive technique that can be learned before8th level. You learn it until you finish a short or long rest.

subclass options:
Mercy

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Martial Arts	Ki Points	Unarmored Movement	Features
1st	2	1d4	—	—	Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts
2nd	2	1d4	4	+10'	Ki, Unarmored Movement⁠
3rd	2	1d4	5	+10'	Monastic Tradition
4th	2	1d4	6	+10'	Unwavering Resolve
5th	3	1d6	8	+10'	Extra Attack
6th	3	1d6	9	+15'	Martial Stances, Monastic Tradition feature
7th	3	1d6	10	+15'	Evasion, Stillness of Mind
8th	3	1d8	11	+15'	Triple Blossom Meditation
9th	4	1d8	13	+15'	Improved Ki Techniques
10th	4	1d8	14	+20'	Diamond Soul
11th	4	1d10	15	+20'	Advanced Martial Stances, Monastic Tradition feature
12th	4	1d10	16	+20'
13th	5	1d10	18	+20'	Tongue of the Sun and Moon
14th	5	1d12	19	+25'	Diamond Soul, Formless Ki
15th	5	1d12	20	+25'	Timeless Body
16th	5	1d12	21	+25'
17th	6	2d8	23	+25'	Monastic Tradition feature
18th	6	2d8	24	+30'	Empty Body
19th	6	2d8	25	+30'
20th	6	3d6	26	+30'	Martial Arts Mastery

Dungeons & Dragons 5e Class (KS): Monk

Monk

Unarmored Movement⁠

Martial Arts

Ki

Unarmored Movement⁠

Unwavering Resolve

Extra Attack

Ki-Empowered Strikes

Evasion

Stillness of Mind

Triple Blossom Meditation

Ki-Empowered Strikes

Improved Ki Techniques

Tongue of the Sun and Moon

Diamond Soul

Formless Ki

Timeless Body

Empty Body

Martial Arts Mastery

Created by

System

Statblock Type

Link/Embed

Find your way!

Resources

WHO WE ARE

LEGAL

Get the news

Listen to our Podcast

Our Allies