Monk Subclass Design

I think of all the classes, the biggest gap between “fun to design” and “effective in play” might belong to the monk. Yes, I know that stunning strike is probably broken, especially at 5th level, but beyond that the class needs help to fill its niche. In fact, I think its lack of a niche is its core problem.

Getting to the Root

The monk has never had a clear identity. Back in AD&D, it was a collection of somewhat random abilities cribbed from the lead character of a series of 1970s paperback novels. As was the style at the time, the monk was brutally pathetic at low levels and a juggernaut at high ones.

Carrying that concept over to the modern day, we end up with a character that has poor armor, mediocre hit points, and the ability to make many, somewhat low-damage attacks. On the upside, they can deflect arrows, avoid damage from falling, and a few other random abilities. The monk’s class features are scattered, forced to carry the burden of matching up with the class was capable of in the past to maintain (narrative) backward compatibility.

If you stare the monk’s features long enough, you get the sense that the monk is supposed to be good at moving around. That’s not a great power set, as casters can easily outdo the monk thanks to misty step and similar magic. Moreover, it seems like almost every character gets a teleport feature at high levels.

The monk is a character class without a great, compelling role. Can we fix that in subclass design? Yes, but it takes some work to move beyond what subclasses have traditionally brought to the class.

Subclass Design Approach

Since the monk character class lacks a clear niche, its up to the subclass to deliver it. I think this approach works because the first two monk levels give the character access to their core martial arts and ki features. The subclass should build on top of those features to give the monk a specialization.

The Way of the Open Hand is a good model of how to not do this. This subclass fails to introduce meaningful damage boosts. The control effects of open hand technique are nice, but they don’t speak to any sort of specialization. Later features of this subclass give the monk some healing, give it access to a 1st level spell, and grant a one-shot kill effect for 3 ki points at 17th level. This subclass is far too generic to stand up to design scrutiny and does nothing to give the monk a niche. If anything, it further muddles the picture.

So, what should we do? We need to give the monk a clear identity with a subclass.

3rd Level: Choosing a Focus

A good focus provides a clear identity, one that gives you an idea of who the character is. For the monk, think in terms of the fighting style they adopt. What makes it unique? What does it say about the monk’s non-combat abilities? What’s the exciting new trick that this specific monk has mastered?

A good specialization does something that gives the monk their moment to shine. The barbarian’s rage and the fighter’s action surge both pull attention to that character. They signal that something impressive is about to happen.

The monk’s steady expenditure of ki, in my experience, tends to push the monk to competence, rather than greatness. When the monk runs out of ki, you’re stuck with a character who lags.

As a rough example, compare the monk to the rogue. The rogue’s sneak attack has a conditional trigger that is easy enough to achieve that the system assumes the rogue gets it every round. The monk needs to spend ki to use their core ability.

Comparing a monk without ki to a rogue making sneak attacks, the monk delivers about 80% of the monk’s damage (assuming every flurry hits). While its true that the monk has more attacks, and thus a lower whiff factor, consistent, lower damage is worse in the game than less consistent damage with a higher ceiling (except in extreme cases).

That leaves us with an interesting design opportunity: I think that at 3rd level, the monk subclasses should augment all the monk’s attacks, not just the ones empowered with ki. This approach also frees up ki for use on non-flurry of blows features, giving the monk more flexibility.

The great thing about this approach is that it can deliver a significant upgrade, a +2 damage total bonus from level 1 to 4, +4 total from level 5 to 10, +10 from level 11 to 16, and +15 from level 17 to 20. Keep in mind that this bonus needs to be spread across multiple attacks, and the option you add needs to use a bonus action to compete with the monk’s offhand strike and flurry of blows. Since the jumps significantly at 11th level, and we have a slot there for a class feature, consider holding off a further upgrade for later.

Otherwise, at this level the monk does not need any other damage boosts. Find some fun utility that competes well with 2nd-level spells. I suggest a nifty, at-will feature equivalent to a cantrip that can be boosted to the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell with a point of ki.

6th Level: Flexibility

At 6th level, you don’t need a powerup to keep the monk competitive. Consider finding features that deliver the same damage the monk can generate with their normal attacks, but with a flourish that speaks to their specialization. For instance, a monk who is good at handling large groups of foes might gain an area of effect attack that can be boosted by ki.

For utility, keep effects on the range of cantrips for at-will up to 3rd level spells for 2 ki points.

11th and 17th Level: Power Boost

At these two levels, the monk needs significant power boosts to their non-flurry of blow attacks. +10 damage at 11th and +15 damage at 17th gives you a fair amount of power to work with for an at-will ability, so consider adding new options here such as an area of effect attack or the option to grant condition to creatures.

17th level is also where the monk can gain a significant new way to spend ki. Quivering Palm costs 3 ki and is delivered after hitting with an attack, though it does require a saving throw. Roughly speaking, at this level 3 ki is worth about 32 points of damage. Killing something outright, or inflict 55 necrotic damage, is a hyper-efficient use of ki (though still not quite as good as stunning for 1 point).

Given the monk’s overall lack of killer uses for ki, I recommend finding a similar outlier ability roughly in line with a 7th to 9th level spell and costing 3 ki. I’d also consider a similar ability at 11th that is in line with a 4th or 5th level spell.

Bonus Topic: Ki is a Mess

Ki point scale with level, and I think that’s a severe weakness of the monk design. A 1st-level monk can spend 1 ki to make two extra attacks at 1d4 damage. A 5th level monk can spend 1 ki to stun a creature for a round, clearly a far better use of ki. Meanwhile, at 18th level you can spend 4 ki to become invisible and gain resistance to non-force damage. That’s the equivalent of a 4th level spell, plus damage resistance. However, the damage resistance is not super useful considering that you are harder to hit while invisible. On top of that, stunning an opponent is far more useful than reducing their damage by half.

The weird economy of ki undermines the entire class. Would the monk have been better as a caster, gaining access to spells like shield and a variety of smite-style effects? I think so. We tried to get too cute with the design, and ended up with a class that needs to burn through its core resource to remain viable, and leans heavily into a few, heavily discounted effects. There’s a reason why the elemental monk in the 2014 PHB is so thoroughly reviled. It takes the class’s core weakness and puts even more weight on them.

The approach described in this article, bolstering the monk’s at-will output, provides half the solution. The monk no longer needs to burn through ki to be competent. That hopefully then opens up the option to use ki on a wider variety of effects, though stunning fist still remains the best option.