Quote from ChoirOfFire >>

This new Monk is so complicated. The base class is now approaching Warlock numbers of pages.

I like the idea of making AC based on your choice of STR or DEX, representing an identifiable school of fighting, like "Mountain Defense."

 I'm sorry if you feel it is so complicated, that wasn't my intention. I did want to add options to the class, yet not too many as to make it overly complicated. And try to fit in the "next evolution" of D&D we are heading toward.

The things I added to the core class are:

1. Added one skill proficiency as well as adding Medicine as an option to choose from. I can see monasteries teaching anatomy and medicine as part of their training.
2. Two methods of calculating AC to allow STR builds
3. Martial Arts die damage increase 1d6 to 1d12.
4. Also to Martial Arts, the ability to wield two light monk weapons so you can use your martial arts bonus action attack to attack with the second light monk weapon instead of an unarmed strike. Allows dual wielding but you get the damage modifier without needing the fighting style. (Gives options so if you want to play Bruce Lee fighting with two nunchakus, you can). Although now that I think about it, this might create an issue of people dipping 1 level of monk just to get this?
5. To the Ki feature, you get a once per long rest ability to regain ki by spending a turn focusing on your breathing. People were saying the number of ki points was an issue and this helps with that.
6. Flurry of Blows gets the Way of the Open Hand's Open Hand Technique ability. And rolling a critical hit you regain a Ki point so basically that FoB was free that turn. Which also helps with the number of Ki issue.
7. Centered Mind is a new ability to gain part of the Skill Expert feat for 1 minute. Helps with people's concerns about out of combat identity. Tapping into your ki can help you recall information, for a History check, or sharpen your senses to help you locate a trap or secret door (perception check) for example.
8. Gain an ASI at level 10
9. Stunning strike is phased in with -2 to attack rolls, ability checks, DEX saves, and no reactions at level 5 and the current stunning strike at level 9. Added in a suggestion from Aanx to grant an automatic stun on a crit at level 17.
10. Changed Stillness of Mind to Advantage on saves against charmed and frightened, initial on ongoing saves. Simplifies the ability so we don't have to argue if you have to be aware or not that you are under these conditions, or have access to your Action, etc...
11. Then at 20th level, regain 6 ki when you roll initiative (you don't have to be at zero Ki). And your Flurry of Blows is now free all the time and you make three attacks instead of two.

So that is quite a bit. only a few are completely new, while the others are alterations to existing monk features.

Was there anything in particular that you found complicated? Or was it just the fact that there were this many changes to the PHB monk?

Psychic Slash

At 3rd level, when you channel ki into your attacks you augment your soul knives to inflict devastating psionic blows.

Whenever you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows and that attack inflicts psychic damage, you can impose one of the following effects on the target:

• Life Drain. You gain temporary hit points equal to half the damage your attack deals.

• Invoke Terror. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn.

• Invoke Wrath. The target suffers disadvantage on all attack rolls against targets other than you until the end of your next turn.

• Astral Slide. You teleport the target up to 10 feet to a destination you can see.

• Synaptic Overload Tender Flesh. The target gains vulnerability to psychic bludgeoning damage until the end of your next turn.

• I'm partial to utilizing the effects of the UA Soulknife for FoB since it ends being additive to the open hand Monk as oppsed to reductive in the effort of boosting the entire class.
• For names of the new AC calculations why not The River for Dex and The Boulder for Str?
• Yeah the whole free two weapon fighting style opens up the issue of single level dipping,also it makes more sense to me that it would be a Kensei monk Feature.
• I feel 3 attacks for FoB comes online way too late why not 15th? I don't think it really steps on the toes of Fighter when it reaches that point and its high enough level that it can't be combined with the fighters 11th level extra attack. 
• Free FoB at 20th is great but 6 ki still seems low, I myself feel 10 would be perfect but i can understand if 8 seems more reasonable.

Heres my two CP but I do like the rest of the stuff you wrote.

Honestly I belive that simple tweaks are more likely to occur than full changes.

 The psychic slash abilities seem very strong to me. I would see them more as an addition in the subclass. 1d10 hit points is taking the monk's class into a semi-tank role, his speed would be of little use or at maximum only to be the first to attack. This is my point of view.

There are a lot of changes, maybe too many, but I followed what you think and added a little of my own.

But if I had to make big changes, I would do this:

 The amount and at what level you can take ki techniques is still to be reviewed.

Quote from Aanx >>

Class Features

As a monk, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per monk level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per monk level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons, shortswords
Tools: Choose one type of artisan's tools or one musical instrument
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Choose three from Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Religion, and Stealth

<<I like the concept that monks study nature to find enlightenment.>>

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

The Monk
Level	Proficiency Bonus	Martial Arts	Ki Points	Unarmored Movement	Features
1st	+2	1d4	–	–	Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts
2nd	+2	1d4	2	+10 ft.	Ki, Unarmored Movement, Dedicated Weapon (Optional)
3rd	+2	1d4	3	+10 ft.	Monastic Tradition, Deflect Missiles, Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)
4th	+2	1d4	4	+10 ft.	Ability Score Improvement, Slow Fall, Quickened Healing (Optional)
5th	+3	1d6	5	+10 ft.	Extra Attack, Stunning Strike, Focused Aim (Optional)
6th	+3	1d6	6	+15 ft.	Ki-Empowered Strikes, Monastic Tradition feature
7th	+3	1d6	7	+15 ft.	Evasion, Stillness of Mind
8th	+3	1d6	8	+15 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
9th	+4	1d8	9	+15 ft.	Body Cultivation, Unarmored Movement improvement
10th	+4	1d8	10	+20 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
11th	+4	1d8	11	+20 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature
12th	+4	1d8	12	+20 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
13th	+5	1d10	13	+20 ft.	Tongue of the Sun and Moon, Stunning Strike improvement
14th	+5	1d10	14	+25 ft.	Soul Cultivation
15th	+5	1d10	15	+25 ft.	Timeless Body, Flurry of Blow improvement
16th	+5	1d10	16	+25 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
17th	+6	2d6	17	+25 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature
18th	+6	2d6	18	+30 ft.	Empty Body, Unarmored Movement improvement
19th	+6	2d6	19	+30 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
20th	+6	2d6	20	+30 ft.	Enlightenment, Flurry of Blow improvement

Unarmored Defense

Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, you choose a defensive technique for calculating your AC. This choice is part of the school you have chosen and therefore cannot be changed.

                Mountain Defense: your AC equals 10 + your Strength modifier + your Wisdom modifier

                River Defense: 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 - ranged weapons that don't have the two-handed or heavy property. <<I always found it outrageous that simple range weapons weren't monk weapons.>>

You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren't wearing heavy 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.
• Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that deals bludgeoning damage, you can move it 5 feet to an unoccupied space, provided the target is no more than one size larger than you. << I find he still lacks a way to disengage from the enemy without having to use a ki power every time>>
• You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die size increase as you gain monk levels, d6 at 5th, d8 at 9th, d10 at 13th and finally 2d6 at 17th. <<I didn't understand why 1d12 when you can do 2d6, or maybe it's because of the half-orc ability?>>
• When you use a quarterstaff, or a spear, they gain the reach property. <<For those who want to use the weapon with the reach ability.>>
• When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike or an attack with a weapon that has the light property 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, or when you are using two clubs, the second club can be used in your bonus action as if it were a unarmed attack, assuming you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn. <<As already explained this could be abused by other classes>>.

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 Also, you could imagine your unarmed attacks as part of your weapon attacks, as long as it wouldn't change the mechanics of the game.

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. <<From my point of view it's not a problem of the amount of ki, but that many useful ability require too much ki points>>

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 part of the same action. The number of extra attacks increases as you gain monk levels, increasing to three at 15th level and four at 20th level. 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 target: 
  • It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
  • It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
  • It can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn.

• Reactive Defense. You can spend 1 ki point to use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you. <<Maybe it's a little too strong, it's similar to the Defensive Duelist feat. It may conflict with Deflect Missiles>>

• Step of the Wind. You can spend 1 ki point to take the Disengage or Dash or Dodge 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 heavy 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. At 18th level, you gain the ability to move in the air on your turn without falling during the move. <<Gosh, I love the idea of a monk learning to control it's body weight and can lean on the clouds. It would be fun to see a monk meditating on a cloud. I placed it at 18th level because it went well with the "Empty Body" name>>.

Dedicated Weapon (Optional)

Also at 2nd level, you train yourself to use a variety of weapons as monk weapons, not just simple melee weapons and shortswords. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can touch one weapon, focus your ki on it, and then count that weapon as a monk weapon until you use this feature again.

The chosen weapon must meet these criteria:

• The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon.  <<I don't understand, are there other weapons besides these? Or maybe they're afraid someone will get the ability to use a shield as an improvised weapon? I have to say that would be fun.>>
• You must be proficient with it.
• It must lack the heavy and special properties.

Monastic Tradition

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.

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. <<I find it to be a subversion of the rouge Uncanny dodge>>

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. <<The power is already quite limited with reducing the damage to zero and no one ever shoots darts at the monk. So the reflex attack I put it free.>>

Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)

Also at 3rd level, if you spend 1 ki point or more as part of your action on your turn, you can make one attack with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon as a bonus action before the end of the turn. <<This thing is a mess, in my opinion it should be simplified with flurry of blow>>

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 10th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature. <<I hope that with this they will increase the useful feats for monks.>>

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.

Quickened Healing (Optional)

Also at 4th level, as an action, you can spend 2 ki points and roll a Martial Arts die. You regain a number of hit points equal to the number rolled plus your proficiency bonus.

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. The stunning Strike is limited to one attempt per enemy hit during your turn. <<I have simplified it, because there is already a table of conditions and to invent a new condition does not seem correct.>>

Beginning at 13 level, you are no longer limited in the use of your stunning Strike, and at 17th level every time you make a critical hit the enemy is automatically stunned until the end of your next turn.

Focused Aim (Optional)

Also at 5th level, when you miss with an attack roll, you can spend 1 to 3 ki points to increase your attack roll by 2 for each of these ki points you spend, potentially turning the miss into a hit. <<Is this skill really necessary? In my opinion it is a trap to waste ki power.>>

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. <<I am of the opinion that something is missing here, after all at this level almost everyone has a magic weapon. So it's a necessary ability, but it doesn't receive anything more>>.

The magic bonuses you receive from your primary weapon can also be used by your unarmed attacks. This skill cannot be added to other magic items such as tattoos, etc.<<I would add this. Maybe it's too much, but after all, it's like receiving one magic item and using two.>>

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.

Stillness of Mind

Starting at 7th level, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. This applies to initial saves as well as ongoing saving throws. If you become aware that you are charmed or frightened you can use your reaction to end one of these effects on yourself. <<maybe reaction is a bit too strong, I would leave it as an action or at most as a bonus action>>.

Body Culitvation

At 9th level, your mastery of the ki flowing through you makes you immune to disease and poison. <<I moved this skill because at 10th level we have "ability score improvement" and this one usually goes alone... Yes, I didn't like the name!>>.

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. <<This is another not-so-useful monk ability. Basically a pair of the 3rd level tongue spell.>>

Ki Master

You gain the ability to use your Ki to duplicate the effects of certain spells. As an action, you can spend 1 ki points to cast Darkvision, Detect Evil and Good, Tongue,  Detect Poison and Disease and Longstrider. Additionally, you learn the guidance and invisible mage hand cantrips if you don't already know it. You cast this cast without any somatic or verbal components and without providing material components. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. <<maybe a little too much, but I'd be more for this type of ability>>

Soul Cultivation

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. <<I didn't like the name!>>

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. The Ki power that you wield causes you to age more slowly. For every 10 years that pass, your body ages only 1 year. You no longer need food or water, but you can still die of old age, however. <<This is another not-so-useful monk ability. There are very few abilities and spells that cause aging.>>

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. You can spend 6 ki points to open your third eye and have the same effects as the True Seeing spell. 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.

<<I find the spell "Astral Projection" very much like a monk who goes into meditation for several years to overcome his limitations.Unfortunately, it is not a useful power, it is merely aesthetic, and not very usable.>>

Enlightenment

At 20th level, when you roll for initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier ki points. <<I didn't like the name! Something that is perfect, cannot improve anymore, it is practically the death of any being that tries to improve itself... In a philosophical sense perfection does not exist but it is something that we try to achieve, even if impossible. Not even the gods of dnd can call themselves perfect, why can a 20th level monk?>>

 The psychic slash abilities seem very strong to me. I would see them more as an addition in the subclass. 1d10 hit points is taking the monk's class into a semi-tank role, his speed would be of little use or at maximum only to be the first to attack. This is my point of view.

There are a lot of changes, maybe too many, but I followed what you think and added a little of my own.

•  By letting FoB not consume a BA it actually does trigger Ki-Fueled attack.
• The Defensive duelist style of Paitent Defense just offers a diffrent option, deflect attack is damage reduction while Paitent Defense makes the attack less likely to land.

Quote from duh7 >>

 Martial Arts: same as PHB with the following change and addition:

The second benefit now reads:

• You can roll a d6 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die changes as you gain monk levels, d8 at 5 level, d10 at 11 level, d12 at 17

New fourth benefit to Martial Arts:

• When you take the Attack action while wielding a monk weapon that has the light property in one hand, you can use your Martial Arts bonus action attack to make an attack with a different light monk weapon you’re holding in the other hand, instead of an unarmed strike.

 I would like idea to multiply d4 in monks atacks so at lvl 5 that will be 2d4 at 11lvl 3d4 and at 17lvl 4d4.

Beware 4d4 does a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 16 damage. Following your reasoning would be something like this. 

1-4th level (1d4 )

5-8th level (1d6)

9-12th level (2d4)

13-16th level (1d10)

17-20th level (3d4)

If it were up to me it would be the same as before, maybe 1d12 for those in strength and 3d4 for those in base dexterity. 

But going by classic, it would be 1d4-1d6-1d8-1d10-1d12 (to let even half-orc monks have fun)

Quote from Avantura >>

Quote from Aanx >>

Class Features

As a monk, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per monk level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per monk level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons, shortswords
Tools: Choose one type of artisan's tools or one musical instrument
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Choose three from Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Medicine, Nature, Religion, and Stealth

<<I like the concept that monks study nature to find enlightenment.>>

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

The Monk
Level	Proficiency Bonus	Martial Arts	Ki Points	Unarmored Movement	Features
1st	+2	1d4	–	–	Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts
2nd	+2	1d4	2	+10 ft.	Ki, Unarmored Movement, Dedicated Weapon (Optional)
3rd	+2	1d4	3	+10 ft.	Monastic Tradition, Deflect Missiles, Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)
4th	+2	1d4	4	+10 ft.	Ability Score Improvement, Slow Fall, Quickened Healing (Optional)
5th	+3	1d6	5	+10 ft.	Extra Attack, Stunning Strike, Focused Aim (Optional)
6th	+3	1d6	6	+15 ft.	Ki-Empowered Strikes, Monastic Tradition feature
7th	+3	1d6	7	+15 ft.	Evasion, Stillness of Mind
8th	+3	1d6	8	+15 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
9th	+4	1d8	9	+15 ft.	Body Cultivation, Unarmored Movement improvement
10th	+4	1d8	10	+20 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
11th	+4	1d8	11	+20 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature
12th	+4	1d8	12	+20 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
13th	+5	1d10	13	+20 ft.	Tongue of the Sun and Moon, Stunning Strike improvement
14th	+5	1d10	14	+25 ft.	Soul Cultivation
15th	+5	1d10	15	+25 ft.	Timeless Body, Flurry of Blow improvement
16th	+5	1d10	16	+25 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
17th	+6	2d6	17	+25 ft.	Monastic Tradition feature
18th	+6	2d6	18	+30 ft.	Empty Body, Unarmored Movement improvement
19th	+6	2d6	19	+30 ft.	Ability Score Improvement
20th	+6	2d6	20	+30 ft.	Enlightenment, Flurry of Blow improvement

Unarmored Defense

Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, you choose a defensive technique for calculating your AC. This choice is part of the school you have chosen and therefore cannot be changed.

                Mountain Defense: your AC equals 10 + your Strength modifier + your Wisdom modifier

                River Defense: 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 - ranged weapons that don't have the two-handed or heavy property. <<I always found it outrageous that simple range weapons weren't monk weapons.>>

You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren't wearing heavy 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.
• Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that deals bludgeoning damage, you can move it 5 feet to an unoccupied space, provided the target is no more than one size larger than you. << I find he still lacks a way to disengage from the enemy without having to use a ki power every time>>
• You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die size increase as you gain monk levels, d6 at 5th, d8 at 9th, d10 at 13th and finally 2d6 at 17th. <<I didn't understand why 1d12 when you can do 2d6, or maybe it's because of the half-orc ability?>>
• When you use a quarterstaff, or a spear, they gain the reach property. <<For those who want to use the weapon with the reach ability.>>
• When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike or an attack with a weapon that has the light property 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, or when you are using two clubs, the second club can be used in your bonus action as if it were a unarmed attack, assuming you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn. <<As already explained this could be abused by other classes>>.

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 Also, you could imagine your unarmed attacks as part of your weapon attacks, as long as it wouldn't change the mechanics of the game.

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. <<From my point of view it's not a problem of the amount of ki, but that many useful ability require too much ki points>>

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 part of the same action. The number of extra attacks increases as you gain monk levels, increasing to three at 15th level and four at 20th level. 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 target: 
  • It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
  • It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
  • It can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn.

• Reactive Defense. You can spend 1 ki point to use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for that attack, potentially causing the attack to miss you. <<Maybe it's a little too strong, it's similar to the Defensive Duelist feat. It may conflict with Deflect Missiles>>

• Step of the Wind. You can spend 1 ki point to take the Disengage or Dash or Dodge 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 heavy 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. At 18th level, you gain the ability to move in the air on your turn without falling during the move. <<Gosh, I love the idea of a monk learning to control it's body weight and can lean on the clouds. It would be fun to see a monk meditating on a cloud. I placed it at 18th level because it went well with the "Empty Body" name>>.

Dedicated Weapon (Optional)

Also at 2nd level, you train yourself to use a variety of weapons as monk weapons, not just simple melee weapons and shortswords. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can touch one weapon, focus your ki on it, and then count that weapon as a monk weapon until you use this feature again.

The chosen weapon must meet these criteria:

• The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon.  <<I don't understand, are there other weapons besides these? Or maybe they're afraid someone will get the ability to use a shield as an improvised weapon? I have to say that would be fun.>>
• You must be proficient with it.
• It must lack the heavy and special properties.

Monastic Tradition

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.

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. <<I find it to be a subversion of the rouge Uncanny dodge>>

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. <<The power is already quite limited with reducing the damage to zero and no one ever shoots darts at the monk. So the reflex attack I put it free.>>

Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)

Also at 3rd level, if you spend 1 ki point or more as part of your action on your turn, you can make one attack with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon as a bonus action before the end of the turn. <<This thing is a mess, in my opinion it should be simplified with flurry of blow>>

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 10th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature. <<I hope that with this they will increase the useful feats for monks.>>

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.

Quickened Healing (Optional)

Also at 4th level, as an action, you can spend 2 ki points and roll a Martial Arts die. You regain a number of hit points equal to the number rolled plus your proficiency bonus.

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. The stunning Strike is limited to one attempt per enemy hit during your turn. <<I have simplified it, because there is already a table of conditions and to invent a new condition does not seem correct.>>

Beginning at 13 level, you are no longer limited in the use of your stunning Strike, and at 17th level every time you make a critical hit the enemy is automatically stunned until the end of your next turn.

Focused Aim (Optional)

Also at 5th level, when you miss with an attack roll, you can spend 1 to 3 ki points to increase your attack roll by 2 for each of these ki points you spend, potentially turning the miss into a hit. <<Is this skill really necessary? In my opinion it is a trap to waste ki power.>>

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. <<I am of the opinion that something is missing here, after all at this level almost everyone has a magic weapon. So it's a necessary ability, but it doesn't receive anything more>>.

The magic bonuses you receive from your primary weapon can also be used by your unarmed attacks. This skill cannot be added to other magic items such as tattoos, etc.<<I would add this. Maybe it's too much, but after all, it's like receiving one magic item and using two.>>

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.

Stillness of Mind

Starting at 7th level, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. This applies to initial saves as well as ongoing saving throws. If you become aware that you are charmed or frightened you can use your reaction to end one of these effects on yourself. <<maybe reaction is a bit too strong, I would leave it as an action or at most as a bonus action>>.

Body Culitvation

At 9th level, your mastery of the ki flowing through you makes you immune to disease and poison. <<I moved this skill because at 10th level we have "ability score improvement" and this one usually goes alone... Yes, I didn't like the name!>>.

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. <<This is another not-so-useful monk ability. Basically a pair of the 3rd level tongue spell.>>

Ki Master

You gain the ability to use your Ki to duplicate the effects of certain spells. As an action, you can spend 1 ki points to cast Darkvision, Detect Evil and Good, Tongue,  Detect Poison and Disease and Longstrider. Additionally, you learn the guidance and invisible mage hand cantrips if you don't already know it. You cast this cast without any somatic or verbal components and without providing material components. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. <<maybe a little too much, but I'd be more for this type of ability>>

Soul Cultivation

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. <<I didn't like the name!>>

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. The Ki power that you wield causes you to age more slowly. For every 10 years that pass, your body ages only 1 year. You no longer need food or water, but you can still die of old age, however. <<This is another not-so-useful monk ability. There are very few abilities and spells that cause aging.>>

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. You can spend 6 ki points to open your third eye and have the same effects as the True Seeing spell. 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.

<<I find the spell "Astral Projection" very much like a monk who goes into meditation for several years to overcome his limitations.Unfortunately, it is not a useful power, it is merely aesthetic, and not very usable.>>

Enlightenment

At 20th level, when you roll for initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier ki points. <<I didn't like the name! Something that is perfect, cannot improve anymore, it is practically the death of any being that tries to improve itself... In a philosophical sense perfection does not exist but it is something that we try to achieve, even if impossible. Not even the gods of dnd can call themselves perfect, why can a 20th level monk?>>

 The psychic slash abilities seem very strong to me. I would see them more as an addition in the subclass. 1d10 hit points is taking the monk's class into a semi-tank role, his speed would be of little use or at maximum only to be the first to attack. This is my point of view.

There are a lot of changes, maybe too many, but I followed what you think and added a little of my own.

•  By letting FoB not consume a BA it actually does trigger Ki-Fueled attack.
• The Defensive duelist style of Paitent Defense just offers a diffrent option, deflect attack is damage reduction while Paitent Defense makes the attack less likely to land

Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)

Also at 3rd level, if you spend 1 ki point or more as part of your action on your turn, you can make one attack with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon as a bonus action before the end of the turn.

The main difference is that actions which don't make attacks but do cost ki trigger Ki-Fueled Attack. For instance, if you are a Way of the Four Elements monk and you use your action to cast a spell, you can still make an attack as a bonus action with Ki-Fueled Attack.

Ki-Fueled Attack also allows you to make an attack with a monk weapon (which could be a ranged attack), so a Way of the Kensei monk who spends a ki point as part of their Attack action could make a bonus-action attack with their ranged kensei weapon.

Ki-Fueled Attack was added to allow subclasses to make a bonus-action attack in situations where they didn't qualify for the bonus-action unarmed strike from Martial Arts.

The version in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything also allows monks to upgrade an unarmed strike to a weapon attack, if they qualify for both (unlike the version in UA: Class Feature Variants, which only allowed an unarmed strike).

Source : https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/177895/how-do-the-ki-fueled-attack-optional-feature-and-the-martial-arts-feature-differ

So if I understand correctly, this feature allows the monk to use the bonus action to attack when he has already used his action to cast (example: a 4 element monk spell) that requires ki power.

Martial Arts feature states: 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.

So, this power could be added to FoB (by paying another ki power) to make 2 unarmed attacks after casting a spell that requires ki power and an action.

Too bad that aside from the "Empty Body" ability to become invisible at 18th level and a few spells given by subclasses, this feature is little used.

Getting back to the monk's ki quantity problem, I think I've come up with a nice solution.

What do you think of a feature of the monk, that after a fight allows him to Ferrying the souls of enemies and make them return to the cycle of reincarnation. Each enemy ferryed makes him recueprare ki equal to 1d4 + bonus of proficiency. Ki power is payment for bringing peace and freeing souls from the earthly world, like a source of karma or virtue. The ferrying mantra could be like a ritual, with a duration of 1 or 10 minutes per enemy.

In my opinion it gives a personality to the monk, not only recharges the ki power, but gives him a role to play outside of combat.

A nice character to play has definitely a good combat mechanic, but also offers insights into roleplaying.

“After all sentient beings are saved, will I attain Buddhahood, before the hell is empty, I will not become Buddha„

Ksitigarbha Ferrying the Soul Scripture

Quote from sfPanzer >>

Quote from Aanx >>

Getting back to the monk's ki quantity problem, I think I've come up with a nice solution.

What do you think of a feature of the monk, that after a fight allows him to Ferrying the souls of enemies and make them return to the cycle of reincarnation. Each enemy ferryed makes him recueprare ki equal to 1d4 + bonus of proficiency. Ki power is payment for bringing peace and freeing souls from the earthly world, like a source of karma or virtue.

In my opinion it gives a personality to the monk, not only recharges the ki power, but gives him a role to play outside of combat.

A nice character to play has definitely a good combat mechanic, but also offers insights into roleplaying.

“After all sentient beings are saved, will I attain Buddhahood, before the hell is empty, I will not become Buddha„

Ksitigarbha Ferrying the Soul Scripture

 

 

Necromancy isn't really a basic Monk thing I'd say. Definitely misses the mark in terms of flavor. Perhaps something for a subclass though.

 I agree. Would fit maybe Long Death Monk or Mercy Monk. Or a completely new monk subclass. 

It’s nice flavor but as the core class it seems a little too niche in its narrative. 

Quote from ThriKreenWarrior >>

Quote from sfPanzer >>

Quote from Aanx >>

Getting back to the monk's ki quantity problem, I think I've come up with a nice solution.

What do you think of a feature of the monk, that after a fight allows him to Ferrying the souls of enemies and make them return to the cycle of reincarnation. Each enemy ferryed makes him recueprare ki equal to 1d4 + bonus of proficiency. Ki power is payment for bringing peace and freeing souls from the earthly world, like a source of karma or virtue.

In my opinion it gives a personality to the monk, not only recharges the ki power, but gives him a role to play outside of combat.

A nice character to play has definitely a good combat mechanic, but also offers insights into roleplaying.

“After all sentient beings are saved, will I attain Buddhahood, before the hell is empty, I will not become Buddha„

Ksitigarbha Ferrying the Soul Scripture

 

 

Necromancy isn't really a basic Monk thing I'd say. Definitely misses the mark in terms of flavor. Perhaps something for a subclass though.

 I agree. Would fit maybe Long Death Monk or Mercy Monk. Or a completely new monk subclass. 

It’s nice flavor but as the core class it seems a little too niche in its narrative. 

What is a monk to you? is he just a martial arts master?

Because martial arts means art of war (Marte, god of war), that is the art of the warrior. The monk, unlike the fighter, is in contact with the spiritual world, that is, life and death.

Geez this is one of the roles of Buddhist monks and according to you this is not monk-like?  So, explain to me what the role of a monk is.

So, there's two main issues with the ferryman idea.

1. You're telling me that without a Monk around, a soul can't move on? I don't buy it. It's demonstrably false in the current state of all published lore, and while there's nothing distinctly wrong with changing the lore so it's true -- putting Monks all over the place, in the process -- it would be uncharacteristically taxing, right? Even the Paladin didn't have to alter the lore that much to get to its current godless state, and it probably did the most. You don't have to rewrite the Realms to fix the Ranger, right? Just feels weird to do it for the Monk.

2. The identity of the Monk is super vague and has been for a long time. So yes, any meaningful expansion of it is going to read as a break from tradition. But also, it's an attempt at creating a spectrum of spiritualities distinct from real world spiritualities -- almost doomed to fail. Every class in 5e has a number of ways to conceptualize the character's outlook, their beliefs. It wasn't always that way -- two editions ago, you couldn't be lawful and be a Rogue, for example. So now the Monk has to include multiple options too, and Fantasy Buddhism can only really be one, I think. (Monk also doesn't have the benefit Cleric has, of a huge compendium of spells to associate, like "sun god = light and fire spells, must be a faith all about revealing and destroying evil.")

In short -- I think the cycle of life thing could work, but it would either require a massive rewrite to the Monk's position in the world -- which you'd want to do market research for, or whatever -- or only be applicable to one subclass. Possibly both. And I'm not convinced it would even help -- your role is still inextricably linked to combat. Unless your campaign is all about walking through battlefields full of dying soldiers or something. Way of Mercy covers similar ground and in my experience it didn't come up at all.

Quote from duh7 >>

I dont see why monk shuld not have his AC from dex + wis + str mod. 

Because that'd be too high? With points buy if you make both Intelligence and Charisma dump stats you could create a starting character with two +3's and a +2 in these these, or at least two +2's and one +3, and probably still manage a +1 or +2 in Constitution. That'd give you a starting AC of 17 or 18, equivalent to a character fully loaded with heavy armour + shield.

If you manage to pick up one of the magic items that give you a 19 in any of these stats (like [Tooltip Not Found] and similar) then by maxing the other two you'd have AC 24, equivalent to a Paladin in full plate, +1, with a shield, +1, having cast Shield of Faith (or plate, +2 and shield, +2), for free with zero penalties and on a class that can Dodge as a bonus action.

It's fine where it is, the main change needed is to allow the higher of DEX or STR, i.e- WIS + DEX/STR, so you can use whichever of those two that you want.

Quote from duh7 >>

I dont see why monk shuld not have his AC from dex + wis + str mod. 

 Nowhere else in D&D 5e does Strength play into AC calculations. Most of the time you add your Dex modifier (to reflect your ability to move out of the way of an attack). For monks, the addition of wisdom I assume is meant to mechanically reflect the theme of a monk being able to read their enemy's moves (like an insight bonus or something). 

I am not sure why you want to add Strength, but I would assume you mean for it to reflect the ability of the monk to "take a hit", but I think thats moreso reflected in the calculation of the AC for barbarians, who get to add their Con modifier. in other words, I think the designers meant for Con to reflect static durability instead of Strength. 

Now, thats all just guessing on my part to mechanics matching theme. If we look at it from a game mechanic standpoint, the reason monk gets to add dex+wisdom for their AC is because Dex and Wisdom are designed as being the monk's primary stats. Having it be Dex+Wis+Str is way too strong, because you are looking at a possible +15 to your AC without any magic items or other boosts. 

Quote from duh7 >>

Still he need to dump 2 stats and Max Str if he want to have that 24 AC.

I wanted to add Str as a Power that he can block enemy atack with his fists/kicks mid air.

For a class that can use dex and str making both is wasting of asi.

Sry im on fone i will edit it later 

 If you were going to change the AC to Str OR Dex + Wisdom to make strength monks more viable then that is fine. But having all three is too much. If anything, having all three modifiers would result in one of two things imo: 1) A monk player will always make Charisma and Intelligence its dump stats because it now uses Str, Dex, Con, and Wis in parts of its kit or 2) If the player elects to make either Str or Dex their dump stat because they are using the other, then they now risk having a negative modifier added into their AC calculation, making their AC worse then if it was just one or the other + wisdom. 

I would still argue that "blocking ability" is better reflected by Constitution than by Strength. Con reflects how much punishment you can take whereas Str reflects how much punishment you can dish out. 

Quote from Kaboom979 >>

I would still argue that "blocking ability" is better reflected by Constitution than by Strength. Con reflects how much punishment you can take whereas Str reflects how much punishment you can dish out. 

Actually I would say Constitution represents more just shrugging off the attacks (hit but not bad enough to register), whereas Dexterity is not being hit at all, so Strength could be somewhere in between (blocked a hit in a way that worst might hurt, but does no meaningful damage).

Put another way; when someone punches you, the Barbarian just stands there and laughs as you punch them in their iron abs, the dexterity Monk (Rogue etc.) isn't there to be hit in the first place, and the strength Monk is swatting your attack aside or taking it on a block with arms, counterattack etc.

Quote from Haravikk >>

Quote from Kaboom979 >>

I would still argue that "blocking ability" is better reflected by Constitution than by Strength. Con reflects how much punishment you can take whereas Str reflects how much punishment you can dish out. 

Actually I would say Constitution represents more just shrugging off the attacks (hit but not bad enough to register), whereas Dexterity is not being hit at all, so Strength could be somewhere in between (blocked a hit in a way that worst might hurt, but does no meaningful damage).

Put another way; when someone punches you, the Barbarian just stands there and laughs as you punch them in their iron abs, the dexterity Monk (Rogue etc.) isn't there to be hit in the first place, and the strength Monk is swatting your attack aside or taking it on a block with arms, counterattack etc.

 Could you not make the same argument for Barbarians then, that they should be able to block attacks thanks to their super human strength and add it into their unarmored defense as well? If anything, if Strength plays into any character's defensive ability then the Barbarian would be better off standing still and comboing between blocks and shrugging off hits than trying to dodge in the first place (i.e, their AC = 10+Str+Con rather than 10+Dex+Con). 

You can make flavor and theme work pretty easily whichever way you want, but mechanically there isnt a precedent to use Str for AC calculations in 5e. The only way Str plays a role in defense so far is determining if you can effectively wear heavy armor or not.

In the end, Im not necessarily opposed to changing the precedent and giving the option for monk to use Str for AC, but with respect to duh7's suggestion, I still maintain that Str+Dex+Wis is a no go. It should either be Dex + Wis, Str+Wis, Dex + Con, or Str + Con for unarmored defense, but never a sum of more than two modifiers. I also do not think Str+Dex should be an option, since you will only ever be using one of them as your primary attack modifier so investing heavily in both for the sake of AC seems like a bad design choice 

Quote from Kaboom979>>

Could you not make the same argument for Barbarians then, that they should be able to block attacks thanks to their super human strength and add it into their unarmored defense as well? If anything, if Strength plays into any character's defensive ability then the Barbarian would be better off standing still and comboing between blocks and shrugging off hits than trying to dodge in the first place (i.e, their AC = 10+Str+Con rather than 10+Dex+Con). 

That depends whether you consider a Strength Barbarian and Strength Monk to represent the same thing; Barbarians don't exactly scream finesse (though they might scream "FINESSE!" while shattering a would-be assassin's skull through a table 😂). Whether a martial art focuses around dodging strikes versus blocking them/turning them away, these are still martial arts, so I can see an argument for the flexibility on Monk but not Barbarian.

There's also arguably less need for the flexibility on the Barbarian mechanically in the first place; a Barbarian doesn't really want their AC to be too high, otherwise it will discourage enemies from attacking them (making them pointless as tanks), you want the AC at a point where an enemy will consider attacking normally, and can't resist when you're using Reckless Attack, because even though you'll end up taking hits, a Barbarian has the baseline HP plus damage resistance to take a tonne of punishment.

That's not how Monks work though; we need our baseline AC to make us reasonably hard to hit normally, and a lot harder to hit when we use Patient Defence, as Monks can't take as much damage as a Barbarian can. Because of this a Strength Monk isn't viable at all, as we have no alternative options; even if we gain heavy armour proficiency we can't use it and still be Monks, so there's no compensating for low unarmored AC, and with lower than normal Monk AC you're just a sitting target with not enough HP to take it.

Besides, even if you never go above +2 DEX, a Barbarian with +5 CON still hits 17 unarmored AC, and with the level 20 capstone can have 19 AC (+2 DEX, +7 CON), if you gave them STR as an option instead of DEX they'd have have equal AC to a Monk at least for every level, and could finish with 24 (+7 STR and CON). But this is just getting off-topic; the issue is not what the Barbarian should get (as it's arguably already a very solid class, it just needs some later features replaced or improved to have less dead levels), this is about making Strength Monk builds viable as there's really no reason they shouldn't be when Martial Arts seems like it's supposed to encourage choice.