Monk 5e- How to Play the New Edition Monk

Awais NawazNovember 3, 2024

13 4 minutes read

Many people have become fans of the infamous Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing game. The way people use the characters or classes to have fun is just amazing. Now, people can use The Monk class in the game as well. Many people are using the word Monk 5e to mention this class. That is because this class is available in the 5^th edition of the game.

If you want to learn more about this class, you’re at the right place. Here, I’m going to discuss what it actually is along with its features. Let’s start.

What is Monk 5e?

Monk 5e is known as a versatile class in the infamous tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons. For those who are unaware of the game, a class is known as the characters you build to play throughout your game campaign. There are a lot of different classes available in the Dungeons and Dragons game and the Monk is one of them.

This class possesses high physical combat skills. They tend to use martial arts to fight and defend themselves. Besides martial arts, they also have the power of Ki. All of these things, when combined, can help you perform well in the DnD game.

Major Features of a Monk 5e:

A Monk 5e contains a bunch of useful features. Here are their details:

Hit Dice:

The Monk 5e comes in the same league as Ranger and Warlock if you look at its hit dice. It contains a hit dice of a solid d8. People argue that it’s not very strong and efficient as a barbarian. However, it is more than enough for support.

Saving throws:

The class is very efficient in saving throws as well. It can handle any spell or trap thrown at it due to its Dexterity and Strength.

Proficiencies:

Many of you guys will be surprised to know that the Monk 5e does not contain any type of armor or shield proficiencies. They rely entirely on their physical strengths for combat. I think it is a very positive point. Since there is no heavy armor, monks can move with more speed and agility.

Skills:

You’re allowed to pick two skills for your Monk from the given options.

Acrobatics
History
Insight
Religion
Stealth

Skills like history and religion are useful for classes like clerics. For monks, I recommend you pick from acrobatics, stealth, and insight. That is because they will help you get the most out of the physical strengths of your Monk class.

Factors Affecting Ability Scores of Monk 5e:

Here are the details of some factors and how they affect the ability scores of Monk 5e:

Strength:

Strength modifiers can be important for ability scores. However, it is not very necessary.

Dexterity:

As a DnD player, Dexterity should be your main focus for your Monk character. It is a crucial ability stat and can help you get more ability scores. They help your character with attack bonuses, AC mods, and avoiding AOE damage.

Constitution:

Focusing on the Constitution is also important. It can buff your d8 hit dice.

Intelligence:

You can ignore this ability for Monk 5e. It does not have a very high impact on the ability scores. However, you can use it in case you’ve got some knowledge skills.

Wisdom:

There might be many people who think that Wisdom is an average ability. But I think it’s very important for a perfect Monk build. It boosts your AC along with KI save DC. So, I’d say it’s the second most important ability after Dexterity.

Charisma:

Finally, Charisma. Well, you can skip it as well. It won’t affect the ability scores much.

Level-Wise Stats of Monk 5e:

I have created a table that will help you understand the level-wise stats of a Monk 5e:

Level #	Proficiency Bonus	Martial Arts	Ki Points	Unarmored Movement	Features
1^st	+2	1d4	None	none	Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts
2^nd	+2	1d4	2	+10 ft.	Dedicated Weapon, Ki, Unarmored Movement,
3^rd	+2	1d4	3	+10 ft.	Monastic Tradition, Ki-Fueled Attack Deflect Missiles
4^th	+2	1d4	4	+10 ft.	Ability Score Improvement, Slow Fall, Quickened Healing
5^th	+3	1d6	5	+10 ft.	Extra Attack, Focused Aim, Stunning Strike
6^th	+3	1d6	6	+15 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature, Ki-Empowered Strikes
7^th	+3	1d6	7	+15 ft.	Evasion, Stillness of Mind
8^th	+3	1d6	8	+15 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
9^th	+4	1d6	9	+15 ft.	Unarmored Movement improvement
10^th	+4	1d6	10	+20 ft.	Purity of Body
11^th	+4	1d8	11	+20 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature
12^th	+4	1d8	12	+20 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
13^th	+5	1d8	13	+20 ft.	Tongue of the Sun and Moon
14^th	+5	1d8	14	+25 ft.	Diamond Soul
15^th	+5	1d8	15	+25 ft.	Timeless Body
16^th	+5	1d8	16	+25 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
17^th	+6	1d10	17	+25 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature
18^th	+6	1d10	18	+30 ft.	Empty Body
19^th	+6	1d10	19	+30 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
20^th	+6	1d10	20	+30 ft.	Perfect Self

Monk 5e Subclasses:

There are some subclasses of the Monk 5e in the game as well. Here are their details:

Way of the Astral Self
Way of the Cobalt Soul
Way of the Drunken Master
Way of the Four Elements
Way of the Kensei
Way of Mercy
Way of the Shadow
Way of the Open Hand
Way of the Long Death
Way of the Sun Soul

Weapons of Monk 5e:

It’s true that the Monk class does not get a lot of weapons. Still, they can be useful in the initial phases when you’re building the character’s unarmed attacks. Here are some of these weapons:

Javelin
Dart
Handaxe
Quarterstaff
Short Sword
Spear

Conclusion:

To sum it up, the Monk is an interesting class to pick in the 5^th edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game. Many people refer it to as Monk 5e.

This class is known for its exceptional martial arts skills and physical strength. They rarely use weapons and deal with combat with their body strengths. There are different features that this class has. I’ve explained them in detail in the information shared above. Not only that. I’ve also given details of their ability scores and weapons as well.