After Ranger, the Monk is one the least liked 5e classes. It's in an odd position - on one hand it starts off strong, and gains the incredibly powerful Stunning Strike. However at later levels it's damage drops off considerably, and outside of certain tradiations (Open Palm), its options in combat become quite limited, and are often relegated to stun spam. These changes aim to make Monks more attractive with more alternatives

These changes broadly include:

• Stunning Strike is triggered on multiple attacks against the same target with a number of free uses per short rest, but ki can't be used for it.

  • This reduces both the number of times you can use it per turn & incentivises other uses of Ki
• Flurry of Blows increases to 3 attacks at level 11, giving Monks a much needed damage boost, but still not outclassing Fighter Extra Attack.
• More abilities that use your Ki at level 3 and 9 to give Monks more options in combat (and compensate for Stunning Strike nerf) [potentially too many options...]
• Ki-fueled Strike from the UA - the ability to make a Bonus Action unarmed attack if you spent Ki rather than using the Attack action (useful for 4 Elements)
• Ki-fueled Strike from the UA - the ability to make a Bonus Action unarmed attack if you spent Ki rather than using the Attack action (useful for 4 Elements)
• Added Wis bonus to Deception/Persuasion to Tongue of Sun and Moon.
• Changed Perfect Self to give ki and a stunning strike usage back when you roll initiative.
• Each subclass now has an new way of spending ki to improve their relevant skills at level 3. Also exploring alternative subclass-specific capstones to Perfect Self

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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

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

At 1st level, your practice of martial arts gives you mastery of combat styles that use unarmed strikes and monk weapons, which are described below.

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.

Monk Weapons

You practice your martial arts with specially chosen weapons, which become monk weapons for you. You can choose a number of weapons to be your monk weapons equal to 5 + your Wisdom modifier (minimum of five weapons). The chosen weapons must each meet the following criteria:

• The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon.
• You must be proficient with the weapon.
• The weapon must lack these properties: heavy, special, or two-handed.

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:

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.
The number of attacks from your Flurry of Blows increases to three when you reach 11th level in this class.

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.

Distant Eye

When you make a ranged weapon attack, you can spend 1 ki point to prevent attacking at long range from imposing disadvantage on your attack rolls until the end of the current turn.

Quickened Healing

As an action while in combat, you can spend 2 ki points and roll a Martial Arts die. You regain a number of hit points equal to the number rolled.

Mantis strike

When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to target pressure points in their limbs and joints. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or have its speed reduced by 10ft and suffer disadvantage on opportunity attacks until the start of your next turn.

Iron Claw

When you attempt to grapple a creature, you can spend 1 ki point to use Wisdom in place of Strength for the Athletics checks to make and sustain the grapple.

Ki-Fueled Strike

When you reach 2nd level, if you spend 1 ki or more as part of your action on your turn, you can then immediately make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.

At level 11, you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes instead of one.

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.

Monastic Tradition

When you reach 3rd level, you commit yourself to a monastic tradition. In addition to the published options, you can choose from:

• Way of the Open Hand
• Way of the Four Elements
• Way of Shadow
• Way of the Long Death
• Way of the Sun Soul
• Way of the Drunken Master
• Way of the Kensei

Your tradition grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.

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 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, which has a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.

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.

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, when you target the same creature with two melee weapon attacks in one round from your Flurry of Blows or Ki-Fueled Strike, your precision strikes begin to interfere with the flow of ki in your opponent's body. If either attack hits and deals damage, you can force the target to make a Constitution saving throw. On failure, they are stunned until the end of your next turn.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

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.

Enhanced Ki

At level 9, your mastery over mind and body improves and you gain access to the following ki features:

Improved Iron Claw

When you grapple using the Iron Claw feature, you can spend 1 additional ki point (for a total of 2) so the target is also restrained while grappled in this way.

Flying Crane Kick

As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to triple your jump distance for 1 minute (as if under the effect of the jump spell).

Once before the effect ends, when you hit a target with an unarmed strike, you can force it to succeed on a Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

Honed Reactions

You can spend 2 ki points to use Deflect Missiles without using your reaction. You can only use this once per round and can't use Deflect Missiles twice on the same attack.

Eye of the Storm

When you take the Dodge action in combat, you can use your bonus action to center yourself and briefly meditate. If you have less than 4 ki points, you regain 2 ki points. Alternatively if you have no remaining uses of stunning strike, you can regain one use.

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.

Additionally, whenever you make a Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Deception) check, you gain a bonus to the check equal to your Wisdom modifier.

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 less than 5 ki points remaining, you regain 5 ki points and if you have less than two remaining uses of stunning strike, you regain an additional use.