Monk (Mercy)

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Overview & Creation

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Martial Arts	Ki Points	Unarmored Movement
1	+2	Unarmored Defense , Martial Arts	1d4	-	+ 0 ft.
2	+2	Ki , Unarmored Movement	1d4	2	+ 10 ft.
3	+2	Deflect Missiles , Monastic Tradition : Mercy, Tradition Feature : Implements of Mercy, Tradition Feature : Hands of Healing, Tradition Feature : Hands of Harm	1d4	3	+ 10 ft.
4	+2	Ability Score Improvement , Slow Fall	1d4	4	+ 10 ft.
5	+3	Extra Attack, Stunning Strike	1d6	5	+ 10 ft.
6	+3	Ki-Empowered Strikes, Tradition Feature : Physician's Touch	1d6	6	+ 15 ft.
7	+3	Evasion, Stillness of Mind	1d6	7	+ 15 ft.
8	+3	Ability Score Improvement	1d6	8	+ 15 ft.
9	+4	Unarmored Movement improvement	1d6	9	+ 15 ft.
10	+4	Purity of Body	1d6	10	+ 20 ft.
11	+4	Tradition Feature : Flurry of Healing & Harm	1d8	11	+ 20 ft.
12	+4	Ability Score Improvement	1d8	12	+ 20 ft.
13	+5	Tongue of the Sun and Moon	1d8	13	+ 20 ft.
14	+5	Diamond Soul	1d8	14	+ 25 ft.
15	+5	Timeless Body	1d8	15	+ 25 ft.
16	+5	Ability Score Improvement	1d8	16	+ 25 ft.
17	+6	Tradition Feature : Hand of Ultimate Mercy	1d10	17	+ 25 ft.
18	+6	Empty Body	1d10	18	+ 30 ft.
19	+6	Ability Score Improvement	1d10	19	+ 30 ft.
20	+6	Perfect Soul	1d10	20	+ 30 ft.

 

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Class Features

Level 1

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 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 on the Weapons page.  

Level 2

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:   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

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.  

Level 3

Monastic Tradition: Mercy

When you reach 3rd level, you commit yourself to a monastic tradition. Your tradition grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 11th, and 17th level. For more info on the subclass, see Info.  

Implements of Mercy

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Insight and Medicine skills, and you gain proficiency with the herbalism kit.   You also gain a special mask, which you often wear when using the features of this subclass. You determine its appearance, or generate it randomly by rolling on the Merciful Mask table.  

Merciful Mask Table

1d6	Mask Appearance
1	Raven
2	Black and white
3	Crying visage
4	Laughing visage
5	Skull
6	Butterfly

 

Hands of Healing

At 3rd level, your mystical touch can mend wounds. As an action, you can spend 1 ki point to touch a creature and restore a number of hit points equal to a roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.   When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can replace one of the unarmed strikes with a use of this feature without spending a ki point for the healing.  

Hands of Harm

At 3rd level, you use your ki to inflict wounds. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 1 ki point to deal extra necrotic damage equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier. You can use this feature only once per turn.  

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 a range of 20/60 using 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.  

Level 4

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, you can increase one Ability Score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two Ability Scores of your choice by 1. Through this way, you can't increase an Ability Score beyond 20. Alternatively, you can pick a feat.  

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.  

Level 5

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, you can interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent's body. When you hit another creature with a melee weapon attack, you can spend 1 ki point to attempt a stunning strike. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of your next turn.  

Level 6

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.  

Physician's Touch

Starting at 6th level, you can administer even greater cures with a touch, and if you feel it's necessary, you can use your knowledge to cause harm.   When you use Hands of Healing on a creature, you can also end one disease or one of the following conditions affecting the creature: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, poisoned, or stunned.   When you use Hands of Harm on a creature, you can subject that creature to the poisoned condition until the end of your next turn.  

Level 7

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.  

Stilness 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.  

Level 8

Ability Score Improvement

For detail see Ability Score Improvement  

Level 9

 

Level 10

Purity of Body

At 10th level, your mastery of the ki flowing through you makes you immune to disease and poison.  

Level 11

Flurry of Healing & Harm

Starting at 11th level, you can now mete out a flurry of comfort and hurt. When you use Flurry of Blows, you can now replace each of the unarmed strikes with a use of your Hands of Healing, without spending ki points for the healing.   In addition, when you make an unarmed strike with Flurry of Blows, you can use Hand of Harm with that strike without spending the ki point for Hands of Harm. You can still use Hands of Harm only once per turn.  

Level 12

Ability Score Improvement

For detail see Ability Score Improvement  

Level 13

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.  

Level 14

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.  

Level 15

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.  

Level 16

Ability Score Improvement

For detail see Ability Score Improvement  

Level 17

Hand of Ultimate Mercy

By 17th level, Your mastery of life energy opens the door to the ultimate mercy. As an action, you can touch the corpse of a creature that died within the past 24 hours and expend 5 ki points. The creature then returns to life, regaining a number of hit points equal to 4d10 + your Wisdom modifier. If the creature died while subject to any of the following conditions, it revives with them removed: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, poisoned, and stunned.   Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.  

Level 18

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.  

Level 19

 

Level 20

Perfect Self

At 20th level, when you roll for initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 4 ki points.

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Starting 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

 

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Subclass Options

Monks are united in their ability to magically harness the energy that flows in their bodies. Whether channeled as a striking display of combat prowess or a subtler focus of defensive ability and speed, this energy infuses all that a monk does.   You must have a Dexterity score and a Wisdom score of 13 or higher in order to multiclass in or out of this class.   Monks of the Way of Mercy learn to manipulate the life force of others to bring aid to those in need. They are wandering physicians to the poor and hurt. However, to those beyond their help, they bring a swift end as an act of mercy.   Those who follow the Way of Mercy might be members of a religious order, administering to the needy and making grim choices rooted in reality rather than idealism. Some might be gentle-voiced healers, beloved by their communities, while others might be masked bringers of macabre mercies.   The walkers of this way usually don robes with deep cowls, and they often conceal their faces with masks, presenting themselves as the faceless bringers of life and death.   Source: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything