You are a monk, a master of martial combat and spiritual ki. You can channel the mystical energy that flows through your body—but how do you wield it?
Do you leap into the heart of battle, a blur of fists and fury? Do you bend the elements of nature to your will, striking at your enemies with fire, water, earth, and air? Or do you move silently through shadows, waiting for your enemies to make a lethal mistake?
Choose a Monastic Tradition to help harness your mystical ki as you master inner peace.
Choose Your Tradition
Choose your monastic tradition from one of the following options:
- Way of the Elementalist: You can harness the raw power of the elements—earth, water, air, and fire—and bend them to your will.
- Way of the Open Hand: You are a master of the martial arts, using special techniques to push, trip, and daze your opponents.
Creating a Tradition
To create your own Monastic Tradition (or to convert an existing tradition from other sources), follow these steps:
- Add 4 Mantras: At 1st-level, monastic traditions expand the monk mantra list with 4 unique mantras. Create interesting ways to act in battle that are thematic to your tradition—be flavorsome.
- Create 3rd and 6th-level Features: Monastic traditions grant features at 3rd and 6th-level.
- Create a 10th-level Capstone: At 10th-level, monastic traditions grant a unique capstone feature—this is the pinnacle of your tradition's theming.
And that's it, your tradition is complete!
Way of the Elementalist
You are the still center of the turning wheel. When you focus your ki, you can align yourself with the forces of creation and bend the elements to your will.
1Monastic Mantras
Add the following four mantras to your list of mantra options:
Balance of All Things
When you make an ability check and use Acrobatics or Religion, you can roll 1d6 and add it to the result. You can wait until after you roll your check before deciding to use this mantra, but you must decide before the GM says whether your check succeeds or fails.
Greater Balance of All Things: (5th-level) Your bonus increases from 1d6 to 1d8.
Superior Balance of All Things: (9th-level) Your bonus increases from 1d8 to 1d10.
Fury of Elements
When you hit a creature with a weapon melee attack, you can change the type of damage you deal. Choose one of cold, fire, bludgeoning, lightning, or thunder—your attack deals this damage type. In addition, you deal 1d6 additional damage of the same type.
Greater Fury of Elements: (5th-level) The additional damage you deal increases from 1d6 to 1d8.
Superior Fury of Elements: (9th-level) The additional damage you deal increases from 1d8 to 1d10.
Clutch of the Wild
When you hit a Large or smaller creature with a weapon melee attack, you can attempt to trap it using elemental power. The creature must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, the creature is grappled.
Greater Clutch of the Wild: (5th-level) You can use this mantra on Huge creatures.
Superior Clutch of the Wild: (9th-level) You can use this mantra on Gargantuan creatures.
Shield of Elements
When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can shield yourself with elemental power to drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this mantra again until you finish a long rest.
Greater Shield of Elements: (5th-level) You can use this mantra two times per long rest.
Superior Shield of Elements: (9th-level) You can use this mantra three times per long rest.
3Elemental Arts
You gain the ability to cast powerful elemental arts by channeling the ki that flows within you.
Learning Elemental Arts
At 3rd-level, you know three arts of your choice from the elementalist spell list. The spell level of your elemental arts must be lower than or equal to your maximum spell level.
You learn additional arts of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Arts Known column of the Class Features (Elementalist) table.
Replacing Known Arts: When you finish a long rest, you may replace one of your known elemental arts with another option from the elementalist spell list.
Elemental Arts
| Level | Arts Known | Max. Spell Level |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | 3 | 1st |
| 4th | 4 | 1st |
| 5th | 5 | 1st |
| 6th | 6 | 2nd |
| 7th | 7 | 2nd |
| 8th | 8 | 2nd |
| 9th | 9 | 2nd |
| 10th | 10 | 3rd |
Casting Elemental Arts
To cast an elemental art of 1st-level or higher, you must spend a number of ki points as shown in the Elementalist Spellcasting table. You must use the spell's casting time and other rules—but you don't need to provide material components for it.
Upcasting Spells: When casting an elemental art at a higher spell level, you can't exceed your Maximum Spell Level—even if you have enough ki points.
Elementalist Spellcasting
| Spell Level | Ki Points |
|---|---|
| 1st | 2 |
| 2nd | 3 |
| 3rd | 5 |
Spellcasting Ability
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your elemental art spells. Use your Wisdom modifier to determine the saving throw DC or attack modifier for spells that you cast.
Spellcasting Ability
Spell Save DC: 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
Spell Attack Modifier: your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier
3Spear of Elements
When you spend an action to cast an elemental art, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action. The range of this unarmed attack is increased by +10 ft.
Elemental Flurry of Blows: Immediately after you spend an action to cast an elemental art, you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action. The range of these unarmed attacks is increased by +10 ft.
6Variable Arts
When you learn a variable elemental art, you can choose what type of damage that elemental art deals—fire, cold, bludgeoning, lightning, or thunder. You may learn a variable elemental art multiple times, choosing a new damage type each time.
10Elemental Avatar
At 10th-level, you have become deeply attuned to the elements of nature. When you finish a long rest, choose one of the following masteries:
- Avatar of Air (Investiture of Wind)
- Avatar of Earth (Investiture of Stone)
- Avatar of Fire (Investiture of Flame)
- Avatar of Water (Investiture of Ice)
You can spend an action to freely invoke your chosen avatar. You may use this feature once, and you regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Elementalist Spell List
Cantrip
| d100 | |
|---|---|
| 01-11 | Blade Ward |
| 12-22 | Control Flames |
| 23-33 | Fire Bolt |
| 34-44 | Gust |
| 45-55 | Mold Earth |
| 56-66 | Ray of Frost |
| 67-77 | Shape Water |
| 78-88 | Shocking Grasp |
| 89-99 | Thunderclap |
1st-level
| d100 | |
|---|---|
| 01-08 | Absorb Elements |
| 09-16 | Burning Hands |
| 17-24 | Create or Destroy Water |
| 25-32 | Earth Tremor |
| 33-40 | Expeditious Retreat |
| 41-48 | Feather Fall |
| 49-56 | Fog Cloud |
| 57-64 | Ice Knife |
| 65-72 | Jump |
| 73-80 | Longstrider |
| 81-88 | Thunderwave |
| 89-96 | Zephyr Strike |
2nd-level
| d100 | |
|---|---|
| 01-07 | Aganazzar's Scorcher |
| 08-14 | Barkskin |
| 15-21 | Dragon's Breath |
| 22-28 | Flame Blade |
| 29-35 | Flaming Sphere |
| 36-42 | Gust of Wind |
| 43-49 | Hold Person |
| 50-56 | Levitate |
| 57-63 | Maximilian's Earthen Grasp |
| 64-70 | Scorching Ray |
| 71-77 | Shatter |
| 78-84 | Snilloc's Snowball Swarm |
| 85-91 | Spider Climb |
| 92-98 | Warding Wind |
3rd-level
| d100 | |
|---|---|
| 01-07 | Call Lightning |
| 08-14 | Erupting Earth |
| 15-21 | Fireball |
| 22-28 | Fly |
| 29-35 | Gaseous Form |
| 36-42 | Lightning Bolt |
| 43-49 | Melf's Minute Meteors |
| 50-56 | Thunder Step |
| 57-63 | Tidal Wave |
| 64-70 | Wall of Sand |
| 71-77 | Wall of Water |
| 78-84 | Water Breathing |
| 85-91 | Water Walk |
| 92-98 | Wind Wall |
Way of the Open Hand
You are a master of the martial arts, using special techniques to push, trip, and daze your opponents.
1Monastic Mantras
Add the following four mantras to your list of mantra options:
Will of the Dragon
When you make an ability check and use Acrobatics or Athletics, you can roll 1d6 and add it to the result. You can wait until after you roll your check before deciding to use this mantra, but you must decide before the GM says whether your check succeeds or fails.
Greater Will of the Dragon: (5th-level) Your bonus increases from 1d6 to 1d8.
Superior Will of the Dragon: (9th-level) Your bonus increases from 1d8 to 1d10.
Pinch of Death
Once per turn, when you hit a Large or smaller creature with a melee weapon attack, you can attempt to hit a nerve cluster. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature's speed is reduce to 0 until the end of its next turn.
Greater Pinch of Death: (5th-level) You can use this mantra on Huge creatures.
Superior Pinch of Death: (9th-level) You can use this mantra on Gargantuan creatures.
Snake Fist
Once per turn, when you hit a Large or smaller creature with a weapon attack, you can attempt to make the creature drop an item. The creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. If it fails, the creature drops one item of your choice that it is holding.
If you are adjacent to the creature, you can catch the dropped item if you are unrestrained and have at least one free hand.
Greater Snake Fist: (5th-level) You can use this mantra on Huge creatures.
Superior Snake Fist: (9th-level) You can use this mantra on Gargantuan creatures.
Circle of Steel
When a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against the creature. If the attack hits, you deal an extra 1d6 damage with your weapon.
Greater Circle of Steel: (5th-level) The additional damage increases from 1d6 to 1d8.
Superior Circle of Steel: (9th-level) The additional damage increases from 1d8 to 1d10.
3Open Hand Technique
Whenever you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows, you can impose one of the following effects on that creature:
- Axe Kick: The creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw. If it fails, it is knocked prone.
- Fists of Fury: The creature must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
- Palm Strike: The creature can't take reactions until the end of your next turn.
6Wholeness of Body
As an action, you can regain hit points equal to three times your monk level. You can use this feature once, and you regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.
10Quivering Palm
When you hit a creature with an unarmed attack, you can attempt to create deadly vibrations within their body. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw. If it fails, the creature is afflicted with imperceptible vibrations that last until you next finish a long rest.
You can spend an action to resonate these vibrations—at which point, the vibrations end and the creature suffers 5d10 necrotic damage. If the creature is reduced to 0 hit points by this damage, it dies immediately.
You can use this feature once, and you regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.