Future of D&D 6: Monk Stuff

Wizards released their newest UA, and it contains a lot. It has adjustments based on the feedback they have gotten for the previous 5. We can see a lot of adjustments to how classes will be structured moving forwards in the UA, with some of the broad changes being exciting while others are not.. So that means we get to jump into this UA and see what the changes are, right? Well, wait just one second, dear reader. We seem to have forgotten about one class, and Wizards of the Coast possibly did as well. Tacked onto this massive document, we have the first revision of the Monk Class.

Last but not Least

The last of the Fighter Group, many people have been questioning why it took so long for us to get a look at the updated class. I know it surprised me when we got a look at the Fighter Group and this iconic class was missing. According to theUnearthed Arcanavideo, it had to do with balancing out the damage output of the class. According to Jeremy Crawford “we have been concerned for several years that the monk’s damage output has not been where it should be relative to other classes”. I definitely agree with this, and have seen firsthand how the large amount of low damage attacks can pan out in the higher tiers of the game. So with that in mind, we can start looking at this class update and see if it hits its mark.

Level 1

At level one, we get to see a pair of changes to the Monk. The first is that in the Martial Arts feature, the die starts at a d6 instead of a d4. As mentioned earlier, the aim was to fix the damage output for the Monk class as it was not matching other classes for its level.. The dice increase means that Unarmed Strikes will now do an average of 2 more damage starting out, or be equivalent to a short-sword’s damage output. They do note, however, that Martial Arts Die only pertains to Unarmed Strikes.

Monks also get the Warrior Group ability Weapon Mastery. A monk can use the Weapon Mastery of two simple weapons. The document recommends Daggers and Spears (I would think quarterstaffs would make sense as well).

I think the upgrade to damage will start the Monk off at an advantage, but help them not get overwhelmed by the other classes as leveling goes on. Looking at the table, the die increases at 5th, 11th, and 17th level as it does in the current version, though the die ends on a d12 instead of a d10. This change might look small, but since Monks make lots of attacks, I feel that the slight damage increase will work nicely.

The Weapon Mastery options, however, feels like it could have had some customization for the class itself. Weapon Mastery should be the focus of the Warrior Group.. My thought would allow a Weapon Mastery on Unarmed Strikes. This could be something that only happens when a resource is spent, or unlocked after a certain level. Whatever the option, it should be a bit more unique to the class.

Level 2

Martial Discipline has had a few changes that are seen at level 2. First, we see that they have changed the term Ki Points to Discipline Points. They still represent the same thing, the special energy within a Monk that is unlocked through discipline and martial training. One use, Step of the Wind, has also had an increase in power. Now spending 1 Discipline Point allows the user to take both the Disengage and Dash action as a Bonus action, instead of choosing one or the other.

This feels like a small but significant change for the Monk, and a good one at that. The name change broadens the narrative options for a Monk class character, moving away from the stereotypical characters we have seen in the past. Now a monk could more easily be some kind of pugilist, able to push their body after years of training. It also moves away from using harmful cultural stereotypes, which is happily welcomed.

Step of the Wind getting a boost also feels like it will increase the capabilities of the Monk significantly. For 1 Discipline Point a Monk can disengage from an enemy and move their full movement. This will help keep their mobility high without draining their Discipline Points.

Level 3

At level 3, the monk gets an improved version of the Deflect Missiles feature. The wording has been adjusted to specify any ranged attack that deals Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing damage (no throwing Eldritch Blasts back). The rules specifying the weapon had to be small enough to be held in one hand has also been removed, so Monks can redirect more attacks than just arrows. They have also changed the range to a flat 60 instead of a 20/60 that it currently has. Finally, the attack now causes the target to make a Dexterity saving throw, on a failure taking damage equal to 2 rolls of your Martial Arts die.

I have mixed opinions on this change. I welcomed the wording change to expand the use of Deflect Missiles. Giving a player more chances to use their cool ability feels like a great way to feel exceptional. I also like the idea of making it a Dexterity saving throw instead of an attack roll. It feels more in line with making the ability a redirect instead of a full attack.

I don’t know how I feel about making the damage two rolls of the Martial Arts die. Redirecting a short bow attack that does 1d6 damage to make a 2d6 damage attack feels a bit too powerful, and it will only get more potent as it increases. The previous damage was about half that, and I think that makes more sense. Also, while I think the range increase is nice, tripling its effective range to 60 feet feels a bit too powerful. A range of 30/30 seems like a more balanced option to me..

Level 5

Stunning Strike, one of the more iconic features of the Monk class, has a small nerf at 5th level. The Monk class had the ability to use Stunning Strike once per melee hit by spending only one Discipline Point. Now the ability can only be used once per turn, whether it hits.

I think the player side of the community will dislike this change. Stunning Strike is an incredibly powerful ability, mostly due to how monks rely on many attacks to output their damage. I think they needed the change because of how powerful Stunning Strike can be in combat. If used on a powerful melee fighter, it can lead to a dog pile of advantage attack rolls and other abilities to shut down that creature. On a spell caster, a successful stun means that any concentration spells end immediately. Monks have an advantage at making lots of attacks and Stunning Strike makes it nearly effortless.

Level 6

At level 6 Monk’s gain an ability to overcome damage resistance. The original feature just made Monk unarmed attacks magical for overcoming resistance and immunity. The new ability now allows a monk to change their damage. Now a character can change the damage of their unarmed weapon attacks to Force damage if they want.

This feels like a cleaner way of getting the same result as before. Monks can still overcome resistance, but now the damage changes. Force damage has the least amount of resistances and immunities out of all the magic types. However, this could provide a way in the future for this ability to be resisted.

Level 7

At 7th level we see a new monk feature, Heightened Metabolism. Once per day a Monk can spend 1 minute resting to gain all the benefits of a Short Rest. A fairly simple ability, aimed at giving the Monk a way to regain Discipline Points.

This is an interesting ability. Looking at the flavor, I think it sounds interesting. Taking a minute to find their center and pushing on feels very much like a Warrior Group character. Mechanically it feels balanced. It can happen once per day, so it does not feel overly powerful. At 7th level it would be difficult to grab for multi-classing, so that does not worry me. Developers could give the Monk an ability to regain Discipline Points like the Wizard's Arcane Recovery, potentially per short rest.

Level 9

At level 9, Acrobatic Movement upgrades Unarmored Movement. Now as long as a Monk is not wearing armor or a shield they gain the ability to walk across walls and water. The wording specifically states,

“While you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a Shield, you gain the ability to move along vertical surfaces and across liquids on your turn without falling during the movement.”

In theory, I like this feature, but I have a problem with how it is worded. It feels like the developers wanted to create an ability that was an improvement on movement but was not the effects of Spider Climb or Waterwalking, so they added stipulations to the ability. I think it would benefit to reference the spells that have this effect, and just add stipulations where they do not work. Or even giving a Climb Speed equal to their running speed as long as it is across a vertical surface.

Level 10

A single ability has replaced Stillness of Mind, Purity of Body, and Timeless Body at level 10, called Self Restoration. This ability provides two effects. The first allows a monk to end a Frightened, Charmed, or Poisoned condition with a bonus action. The second effect means that a monk cannot gain points of exhaustion due to lack of food or water.

This feels like it covers those abilities decently enough. I find it interesting that the ability from Timeless Body that prevented the frailty of old age or being aged magically is missing. I wonder if this, like some other phrases that have been removed, are pieces from older editions that will be phased out entirely.

Level 13

At level 13, Deflect Missiles gets upgraded turning into Deflect Energy. At this point, the ability now allows a monk to deflect (and possibly redirect) any ranged attack, not just physical ones. So now spell attacks can also be negated and potentially even redirected.

The wording of this ability is important to remember when looking at it. While these increases the utility of Deflect Missile, it still only works against ranged attacks. So while spells like Firebolt and Eldritch Blast fall under this, attacks like Fireball do not. My thoughts on the changes to Direct Missile apply here too. I like the change but think it may give too much damage and too much range.

Level 14

At level 14, we have Disciplined Survivor. This is mechanically identical to Diamond Soul in the original monk class, but has had its wording updated to match the new terms. Not much else has changed here.

Level 15-16

In the next two levels, we see the 20th and 18th level abilities in Perfect Discipline and Superior Defense. Perfect Discipline stays the same as before. The big difference is the move from 20th to 15th. Superior Defense, previously Empty Body, has changed considerably, removing all the spell effects. Now the ability provides resistance to all damage except Force for 1 minute, at the cost of 3 Discipline Points.

These are minor changes, giving a monk more power prior to hitting 20th level. I am a fan of this, as it means we will see characters having more power prior to an endgame situation. Making sure Discipline Points are almost always available is nice, and those 4 will keep them moving powerfully.

Level 20

The new capstone for the monk, Defy Death, gives a monk the ability to take way more hits than they should. Monks can spend 4 Discipline points to roll four Martial Arts dice and use the total as their new Hit Points.. When this is done before taking a long rest, the cost increases by an additional 2.

This is a very tanky, flavorful ability for the monk. I like the narrative of a martial warrior, trained in the discipline over mind and body, pushing themselves past their limit. To me, it feels like what I imagine when I think of the description for a monk. It also provides a very interesting mechanic, the increased cost. Instead of being limited to a single use per rest, the cost of using the ability increases. Using Defy Death twice without resting would cost 10 Discipline Points. It is a hefty cost, but it still allows for the use of the ability. It does a good job to represent the rising cost of staying in the battle. I would love to see this more.

Core Class Thoughts

This feels like a solid power up for the monk class. We see some minor changes to make the class better for narrative, and we see a lot offering the monk more power earlier on. These changes keep this class hitting hard throughout the game. The changes to reduce the power of Stunning Strike is very welcome as well, since this ability could easily negate a boss encounter. My only dislikes were the power up to Deflect Missile, and even that is minor.

Subclasses

This play test provides us with a trio of subclasses to look at: Warrior of Shadow, Warrior of Elements, and Warrior of the Hand. The naming convention has shifted to avoid stereotypes and be more general.. The changes in each subclass are not as extensive as the core class, so I will briefly look at all of them.

Warrior of Shadow

The updated version of Way of Shadows, this monk subclass, focuses on creating a warrior that is at home in the darkness and shadow. We still see a character that is at home using Darkness, and being able to use it to increase mobility.

The 3rd level feature Shadow Arts has been redesigned. This feature now provides Darkvision up to 60 feet with no cost and reduces the cost of casting Darkness down to 1 Discipline point. This instance of Darkness can be moved within a space of 60 feet of the monk at the end of each of their turns.

At 11th level we see a new ability, Improved Shadowstep. At the cost of 1 Discipline Point, a Warrior of Shadow can Shadowstep without requiring that they start and end in Dim Light or Darkness. They can use a Bonus Action to make an Unarmed Strike immediately after they teleport, allowing them to sneak up and attack an unsuspecting foe.

Cloak of Shadows, now the last ability at 17th level, now gives a new ability to spend Discipline Points on. For 3 Discipline Points, the monk becomes Invisible, can walk through creatures and objects for double the movement cost, and can do Flurry of Blows spending no Discipline Points. This ability lasts for 1 minute or until the monk ends their turn in Bright Light.

These changes create a subclass that is less reliant on the darkness of the environment. A Warrior of Shadow can more easily create and manipulate magical darkness, allowing themselves to get benefits more easily. As they increase in power, they can spend Discipline to negate the need for darkness or even create it on themselves. Those 17th level abilities also feel incredibly cool, and would make the ultimate warrior. I think that by removing the heavy need for darkness; it takes away from some of the complexity and balance of the class, but feel like this is an appropriate trade off.

Warrior of Elements

This subclass aims to rewrite the Way of Elements monk, a subclass I have seen more rewrites of than any of the other subclasses. The original class felt interesting, but not as powerful as one would hope, so hopefully this does some work at fixing it.

Monks can use Elementalism cantrip and can spend a Discipline Point to change the damage type of their Unarmed Strikes to Acid, Cold, Fire, or Lightning.. These attacks cause a Strength saving throw, the failure of which forces the target up to 10 feet towards or away from you. Finally, this ability also increases the Reach of Unarmed Strikes by 10 feet.

Next we see Environmental Burst at 6th Level. This allows the monk to spend 2 Discipline Points to create a 20 foot radius sphere within 120 feet of themselves, doing either Acid, Cold, Fire, or Lightning Damage. This attack requires a Dexterity saving throw. It does three Martial Die worth of damage, half as much on a successful save. After using this ability, a Warrior of the Elements can make an Unarmed Strike as a Bonus action.

At level 11, using the Step of the Wind feature also gives a Warrior of the Elements a Swin and Fly speed equal to the monk’s Speed. This lasts for 10 minutes.

The last ability, Elemental Epitome, adds on to Elemental Attunement. Warriors of the Elements now receive Damage Resistance when using their Elemental Attunement feature, changeable at the start of each turn.. The Step of the Wind features will now increase the monk’s speed by 20 feet until the end of the turn. This ability also does one martial die worth of damage when a creature enters a space within 5 feet of it, the type matching the resistance chosen. Finally, once each turn, the damage of an Unarmed Strike gains an additional Martial Die, the damage type equal to the resistance chosen.

Compared to the current Way of Four Elements subclass, this feels entirely different. Where the current subclass feels like a Ki powered caster, this class feels like it just augments the monk’s innate abilities. I much prefer this to the old class. My only dislike is that all the choices feel spotless, cut and simple. It would be interesting (and a little complex) if damage types could do slightly different effects. Perhaps hitting with Acid damage could also create a cone-type spray, or Lightning could take away the reaction of a foe. It would be much harder to balance out, but could lead to a much more strategic subclass.

Warrior of the Hand

Focusing on Unarmed combat, the Warrior of the Hand (previously Way of the Open Hand) focuses on additional abilities. Everything stays fairly focused on the monk core, just adding a bit more utility.

Starting off, Open Hand Technique gives Flurry of Blows one of three potential effects, chosen upon hitting a creature. You can choose to remove reactions on a failed Constitution saving throw, push a target on a failed Strength saving throw, or knock a target prone on a failed Dexterity saving throw.

Wholeness of Body returns, now only taking a Bonus Action to regain Hit Points. A Warrior of the Hand can now do this several times, equal to their Wisdom modifier per Long Rest, instead of being able to do it only once.

At 11th level, Fleet Step replaces Tranquility. This ability makes it so that Step of the Wind no longer costs Discipline Points.

Finally, we see a change to Quivering Palm. Previously, this ability would reduce a target to 0 Hit Points on a failed Constitution saving throw, heavily damaging them on a success. Now the ability does 10d12+Monk Level of Force damage, half on a successful save.

There is a mix of buffs and nerfs here. We see a more consistent subclass here, with options that can now be used more often between rests. To balance that out, the final subclass option has now had its maximum damage capped. This feels like a nice update.

Subclass Thoughts

These three subclasses all feel like improvements upon the original. All decidedly different in how they enhance the core monk class. I do not think there is any of these that felt like it needed to be reworked entirely. Out of all of them, I think my favorite revision was the Warrior of the Elements. To me this created a subclass worth playing where the current one seems to lack that cohesion. I was hoping to see a rework of Way of the Kensei, just to see how a more weapon focused monk subclass would look with the new Warrior Features.

Appendix: Spells, Feats, and Weapons

At the end of the play test document, we see a broad set of changes to some of the other areas of the player options. Since this focused mostly on one class, I figured it would make sense to briefly discuss these changes.

Spells

The spell lists have had some additions. For the Arcane spells, the Cantrip section has had Elementalism, Frostbite, Mind Sliver, Thunderclap, and Toll the Dead added to it. Dissonant Whispers has also been added while they have turned Hex into a Warlock-exclusive spell. Shatter and Thunderwave have returned to being Evocation magic.

The Divine Spells have had Toll the Dead and Word of Radiance added to the cantrips. All the Smite spells, except Searing Smite and Wrathful Smite, have been removed, as has Find Steed. These have all become Paladin exclusive spells.

The Primal Magic section has the Elementalism, Frostbite, and Thunderclap cantrips added. Hunter’s Mark, Conjure Barrage, and Conjure Volley have all been removed, becoming Ranger exclusive spells.

Some spells themselves have had some adjustments as well.

The new Elementalism spell functions similarly to Druidcraft, however it feels less focused on nature magic. Harnessing Air, Earth, Fire, or Water, you can do slight effects that affect a 5 foot area and last for a bit. It can also sculpt a crude shape using dirt, sand, fire, smoke, mist, or water that lasts one hour.

All smite spells now work with melee weapons and Unarmed Strikes, not ranged weapons. Except for two, these are all paladin exclusive spells as well. Banishing Smite has reverted to only requiring one saving throw, instead of one per turn for the target. It also will only temporarily banish a target, leaving that for the Banishment spell. Blinding Smite automatically succeeds, allowing the target to end the effect with a save. Searing Smite does the same as well, dealing its ongoing damage prior to requiring a saving throw. It and Wrathful Smite no longer require concentration to keep up the effect. Divine Smite itself is a new Paladin-exclusive spell, intending to make it just one of the rest of the Smite family.

Conjure Barrage has had its damage increased to 5d8, and can increase further when cast at a higher level. Conjure Volley can also be used with any melee weapon. Hunter’s Mark now only deals its extra damage once per turn, but has a damage boost at higher levels.

Two of the Power Word spells, Power Word Heal and Power Word Kill, have changed a little. The first now has an increased range of 60 feet. The latter now has alternate damage to anything that has over 100 hit points, dealing 12d12 Psychic damage.

Vicious Mockery now only scales with a character’s Bard Level. They have increased its damage die to a d6 from a d4. Now it also can target creatures seen or heard, and creatures do not need to hear the target to be affected by it.

I think the primary takeaway I see here is the other side of making more abilities coded as spells. Some spells that all casters could grab are now off the general lists, being kept in the class specific lists. This significantly changes up Smites, as well as the spells like Hex and Hunter’s Mark, making the Paladin, Warlock, and Ranger classes a bit more unique for having access to them. I prefer it this way. By limiting the general options of all classes, this will make those that access them a bit more unique. It also makes some of the partial casting martial focused classes, like Paladin and Ranger, have a bit more utility in the game.

Feats

The big thing we see in this section is the Fighting Style Feats. These Feats give the fighting styles that were originally for Martial Classes. We see Archery, Defense, Dueling, Great Weapon Fighting, Protection, and Two-Weapon fighting. They all require the Fighting Style feature, something that is kept specifically for some of the martial classes. The only other large change in Fighting Styles is that Protection has gone back to imposing Disadvantage on attack rolls.

We also see that Ability Score Improvements can exceed 20th. Any taken at 19th level and higher can push an ability to 22.

The Fighting Style grouping feels appropriate. Making them feats kind of makes sense, though I worry that this kind of mentality could end up causing confusion for new players down the line. The ASI change kind of makes sense, but I almost wonder if making Greater Ability Score Improvement and having that ability tied to that would make more sense.

Weapons

Weapons have had a small bit of changes here. Weapon Masteries are here again and have the same wording on them (from what I can tell). Short sword has (humorously) been returned to being a Martial Weapon. A net is no longer considered a weapon, but is instead Adventuring Gear. The Trident now does 1d8/1d10 with its Versatile instead of 1d6/1d8. Lance has had its Special property removed, and changed to Heavy and Two-handed, and its damage die is now 1d10 (instead of 1d12). War Pick now has the Versatile property, having it align with the Longsword, Battleaxe, and Warhammer. Musket and Pistol now are in the Martial Weapons: Ranged table, with the note that DM oversees what is available for purchase in shops. Finally, the Thrown property now allows a weapon to be drawn as part of an attack.

I like to see that Weapon Mastery is here to stay, and think it will do good for martial characters letting them be able to do a bit more in combat. However, I feel like because the ability to use Weapon Mastery is so prevalent in classes that the Warrior group should get more utility out of them. While a great feature, it no longer feels like it is the Warrior Group feature.

Conclusion

This play test provides a very comprehensive and thoughtful rework of the monk class. Empowering the class early on and adjusting certain abilities, we see a much more potent and versatile option for players. Stunning Strike’s change is also appreciated, so that a monk character does not easily overpower encounters but remains a threat on the battlefield.

The three subclasses - Warrior of Shadow, Warrior of Elements, and Warrior of the Hand - do a good job of providing interesting options for the player. The changes presented keep the original concept each subclass had, but provides more easily used features that will see more use in game. The Way of Elements gave us a much better designed subclass that gives the players the options they want. This subclass stands out as a very promising revamp of an existing subclass that, as it was written, lacked cohesion.

The changes made to spells, feats, and weapons were minor but worked to refine and organize the game a bit more. We see spells getting restricted to certain classes like Paladin, Warlock, and Ranger. This will contribute to the uniqueness of each class, and hopefully avoid diluting the power across all casters. Weapons Mastery, a new feature that is here to stay, promises to give martial classes more options in the battlefield.

These revisions have balanced out the monk’s power and also ensures that each subclass provides a distinct place in the game. I eagerly look forward to seeing what the designers release in the future.