Video Breakdown
Base Monk Class Notes
- Knew monk was going to get a lot of attention - both satisfaction scores and actual play numbers have historically tended to be a bit low
- Similar to ranger, monk is largely a "new class"
- Martial Arts feature at 1st level
- Monk weapons have been broadened to all simple melee weapons and martial melee weapons with light property
- Can make an unarmed strike as bonus action
- Can choose to use Dex to set DCs for unarmed strike grapple and shove options (see general notes below)
- Martial Arts die - starts at d6 at level 1, scales to d12 at level 17
- Monk's Focus feature at 2nd level
- Ki/Discipline Points are now Focus Points
- Patient Defense - can Disengage as bonus action for free
- Spending 1 Focus Point lets you both Disengage and Dodge at the same time
- Step of the Wind - can Dash as bonus action for free
- Spending 1 Focus Point lets you both Dash and Disengage at the same time, and additionally your Jump distance is doubled for the rest of your turn
- Flurry of Blows - Spend 1 Focus Point to make two unarmed strikes as bonus action
- Uncanny Metabolism feature at 2nd level ("I didn't hear no bell.")
- When rolling initiative, can regain all expended Focus Points and restore a number of hit points (1/long rest)
- Redesigned Deflect Attacks feature at 3rd level
- Roll d10 + Dex + Monk level to reduce damage from any attack that deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage
- If damage is reduced to zero, can spend Focus Point to redirect force of attack to someone else - target makes a saving throw and on failure suffers an amount of Force damage based on your Martial Arts die
- Upgrades to Deflect Energy at 13th level - can deflect any damage type
- Self Restoration feature at 10th level
- Can end Charmed, Frightened, or Poisoned condition on self at end of monk's turn for free
- Heightened Focus feature at 10th level - further enhancements to Patient Defense, Step of the Wind, and Flurry of Blows (not detailed)
- Superior Defense feature at 18th level - mentioned as example of ways they've increased monk survivability, but not detailed
- Disciplined Survivor feature (level not mentioned) - mentioned as example of ways they've increased monk survivability, allows monk to reroll saving throws
- Stunning Strike feature
- Can only be used once per turn, but always does something
- If target fails saving throw, they are stunned
- If target succeeds on saving throw, their speed is halved and the next attack roll against them has advantage
- Epic Boon at 19th level - no example specified
Subclass Notes
- Warrior of Mercy
- Largely the same, save for tweaks to better integrate subclass with new version of the base monk class
- Warrior of the Elements
- Completely replaces Way of the Four Elements
- Elemental Attunement - not always active, costs Focus Points to "turn on"
- Can increase reach of unarmed strikes using elemental power ("Not a Mr. Fantastic or One Piece style stretchy punch"
) - Can change damage type to one of elemental themed options (not specified, but generally guessable)
- Can force target to make a saving throw and move them around battlefield on a failure
- Can increase reach of unarmed strikes using elemental power ("Not a Mr. Fantastic or One Piece style stretchy punch"
- Gain Elementalism cantrip
- At 6th level, can take Magic action and expend some Focus Points to cause elemental explosion in 20-foot radius sphere up to 120 feet away, dealing damage based on Martial Arts Die
- Themed around tapping into Elemental Chaos as a whole, rather than just one of the Elemental Planes
- At 11th level, gain fly and swim speed when Elemental Attunement is active
- Elemental Epitome at 17th level
- Further improves Elemental Attunement
- Gain elemental damage resistance (can be changed at start of every turn)
- When using Step of the Wind, speed is increased and you can cause damage to enemies you pass
- Additional option to deal bonus elemental damage once per turn (not elaborated)
- Warrior of Shadow
- Can cast Darkness spell as before, but can now see through that darkness
- Improved Shadowstep at 11th level
- Can expend Focus Point to remove requirement to start/end teleportation in dim light or darkness, and can make an unarmed strike as part Shadowstep bonus action
- Cloak of Shadows at 17th level
- Turn invisible and partially incorporeal (can pass through occupied spaces as difficult terrain), and Flurry of Blows does not cost Focus Points while Cloak of Shadows is active
- Kendrick: "Would love to see the Archfey Warlock and Shadow Monk teleporting around the battlefield fighting each other."
- Crawford: "Not a PvP game."
- Crawford: "Not a PvP game."
- Warrior of the Open Hand
- Wholeness of Body feature at 6th level
- Now a bonus action and can be used multiple times per day
- Fleet Step feature (level not specified)
- Whenever you take a bonus action to do anything other than Step of the Wind, you can also use Step of the Wind immediately after that bonus action
- Revised Quivering Palm
- Deals a "truckload" of damage on failed save and a "smaller truckload" of damage on a successful one, but can no longer instantly drop creatures down to 0 hp
- Wholeness of Body feature at 6th level
General Notes
- Baseline (gold?) dragonborn monk iconic art has a tail.
- Unarmed strike redesigned, intended to grant similar tactical versatility to that offered by weapon mastery - now includes three options:
- Deal damage
- Attempt to start a grapple
- Attempt to shove target
