Monk

The monk is a storied class that aims to deliver the fantasy of a mystical warrior or one that fights with hand and foot. Monks are a versatile class that can pair weapons and unarmed strikes with a host of unique features that can allow it to achieve themes from a fantasy pugilist to esoteric warriors to shadow dancers, mixing martial ability with a versatile skill package. The core monk from the Player’s Handbook received a number of new features aimed to adjust the play experience of the class in *Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything* by Wizards of the Coast. The material presented in this supplement furthers those efforts to make the monk a more effective class on par with its ranger and paladin peers. Class enhancements are designed to boost monks of any subclass to a healthy level, with certain underperforming subclasses receiving enhancements specifically to bridge remaining gaps.

The monk is the best class because it never needs to rely on anything except itself, but brings a number of tricks any party will find beneficial. Able to use a variety of weapons or go unarmed, the monk has options on how to combat its foes. It backs this selection up with a number of defensive techniques and superior movement. The class can focus on offense, defense, or movement through use of its bonus action.

The monk class receives new features and subclasses in this section. You gain class features in the Player’s Handbook when you reach certain levels in your class. This section offers additional features you can gain as a ranger. Unlike features in the *Player’s Handbook*, you don’t gain the features here automatically. Consult with your DM on whether you gain a feature in this section if you meet the requirements. These features can be selected separately from one another; you can use some, all, or none of them.

If you take a feature that replaces another feature, you gain no benefit from the replaced feature and don’t qualify for anything in the game that requires it.

Bonus Proficiencies

1st-level monk feature

You gain proficiency with light flails, parrying daggers, and scimitars. Many of these weapons are introduced in Aronar’s Armory.

Inner Core

5th-level monk feature

You have a reserve of 5 ki points that you can draw upon in times of need. As an action, you can withdraw 1 or more of these ki points from this reserve and add them to your current ki points. You regain all expended points from this reserve when you finish a long rest.

Stunning Strike (Variant)

5th-level monk feature which replaces the Stunning Strike feature

You can interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent’s body. Once during your turn when you hit another creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one ki point to deal force damage equal to your Wisdom modifier to the target, and the target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn.

Focused Forms

11th-level monk feature

At the start of your turn, you can enter a focused state as if concentrating on a spell, choosing one of the following forms:

Ringing. The first time on a turn when you hit a target with an attack from an unarmed strike or monk weapon you can deal one extra roll of your martial arts die to a target. You can’t deal this damage on the same turn you use another feature that adds extra damage using additional rolls of your martial arts die as a result of an attack unless it expends ki to do so.

Seamless. Once during your turn when you expend 1 or more ki points as part of a bonus action that doesn’t also make an attack, you can make the bonus attack from your Martial Arts or Ki-fueled Attack feature without requiring a bonus action.

Perfect Self (Variant)

20th-level monk feature

When you roll initiative and have fewer than 4 ki points remaining, you gain 4 ki points.

Way of the Four Elements

The Way of the Four Elements monastic tradition receives the following features.

Rasp

6th-level Way of the Four Elements feature

On a turn in which you use an elemental discipline, you can use your Patient Defense or Step of the Wind feature without spending a ki point.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Elemental Dissipation

11th-level Way of the Four Elements feature

Whenever you take acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, you can take a reaction and expend 1 ki point to gain resistance to the triggering damage type until the end of your next turn.

If you use an elemental discipline before losing this damage resistance, you can reduce its ki point cost by 1.

Flowing Strike

17th-level Way of the Four Elements feature

After spending ki on an elemental discipline, the next time you hit a target with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon before the end of your next turn, you deal bonus damage equal to your Martial Art die plus your Wisdom modifier. If the elemental discipline deals damage, the bonus damage from this feature is the same type, otherwise the bonus damage is the same type as the weapon’s damage.