Her vibrostaff a blur as they deflect an incoming hail of blaster bolts, a human springs over a barricade and throws herself into the massed ranks of pirates on the other side. She whirls among them, knocking their blows aside and sending them reeling, until at last she stands alone.

Taking a deep breath, a zabrak covered in tattoos settles into a battle stance. As the first charging mercenaries reach him, he exhales and a blast of negative energy courses from his hands, engulfing his foes.

Moving with the silence of the night, a black-clad mirialan steps into a shadow beneath an arch and nimbly climbs to the balcony a stone’s throw above her. She slides her blade free of its cloth-wrapped scabbard and peers through the open window at the warlord, so vulnerable in the grip of sleep.

Whatever their discipline, monks are united in their ability to harness the energy that flows in their bodies. Whether channeled as a striking display of combat prowess or a subtler focus of defensive ability and speed, this energy infuses all that a monk does.

The Power of Focus

Monks make careful study of a mystical energy that most monastic orders call focus. This energy is an element of the power that suffuses the galaxy�specifically, the element that flows through living bodies. Monks harness this energy within themselves to create powerful effects and exceed their bodies’ physical capabilities, and some of their special attacks can hinder the flow of focus in their opponents. Using this energy, monks channel uncanny speed and strength into their unarmed strikes. As they gain experience, their martial training and their mastery of focus gives them more power over their bodies and the bodies of their foes.

Training and Asceticism

Most monks live entirely apart from the surrounding population, secluded from anything that might impede their spiritual progress. Others are sworn to isolation, emerging only to serve as spies or assassins at the command of their leader, a noble patron, or some other power.

The majority of monks don’t shun their neighbors, making frequent visits to nearby towns or villages and exchanging their service for food and other goods. As versatile warriors, monks often end up protecting their neighbors from monsters or brigands.

For a monk, becoming an adventurer means leaving a structured, communal lifestyle to become a wanderer. This can be a harsh transition, and monks don’t undertake it lightly. Those who leave their cloisters take their work seriously, approaching their adventures as personal tests of their physical and spiritual growth.

As you make your monk character, think about your connection to the monastery where you learned your skills and spent your formative years. Were you an orphan or a child left on the monastery's threshold? Did your parents promise you to the monastery in gratitude for a service performed by the monks? Did you enter this secluded life to hide from a crime you committed? Or did you choose the monastic life for yourself? Consider why you left. Did the head of your monastery choose you for a particularly important mission beyond the cloister? Perhaps you were cast out because of some violation of the community's rules. Did you dread leaving, or were you happy to go? Is there something you hope to accomplish outside the monastery? Are you eager to return to your home? As a result of the structured life of a monastic community and the discipline required to harness focus, monks are typically lawful in alignment.

Quick Build

You can make a monk quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Dexterity your highest ability score, followed by Wisdom. Second, choose the agent background.

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background

• (a) a vibroweapon with which you are proficient or (b) a simple blaster and a power cell
• (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
• 10 vibrodarts

None unless take the Vow of the Devoted subclass

Martial Arts

Monk: 1st level
Your practice of martial arts gives you mastery of combat styles that use unarmed strikes and monk weapons, which are vibroweapons with which you are proficient that lack the dexterity, heavy, special, and two-handed properties.

You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:

• Your unarmed strikes and monk weapons gain the finesse property.
• You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the monk table.
• You can use Dexterity instead of Strength whenever you would make a Strength (Athletics) check to grapple, shove, or trip a creature.
• 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.
• You can take the Dash or Disengage actions as a bonus action.

Variant: Monks with Lightweapons

If monks gain lightweapon proficiency, consider letting them use lightweapons as monk weapons, provided the weapon lacks the dexterity, heavy, special, and two-handed properties.

Unarmored Defense

Monk: 1st level
While you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom or Charisma modifier (your choice).

Focus

Monk: 2nd and 11th level
Your training allows you to harness the mystic energy of focus. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of focus points. Your monk level determines the number of points you have, as shown in the Focus Points column of the monk table.

You can spend these points to fuel various focus features. You start knowing three such features: Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, and Step of the Wind. You learn more focus features as you gain levels in this class.

When you spend a focus point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you draw all of your expended focus back into yourself. You must spend at least 30 minutes of the rest meditating to regain your focus points.

You use your choice of Wisdom or Charisma for your focus ability. You use the chosen ability modifier whenever a feature refers to your focus ability. Additionally, you use the chosen ability modifier when making an attack with a focus feature or setting the saving throw DC for one.

Focus save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom or Charisma modifier (your choice)

Focus attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom or Charisma modifier (your choice)

Flurry of Blows

When you make your Martial Arts bonus action attack, you can spend 1 focus point to make an additional unarmed strike (no action required). At 11th level, you can instead spend 2 focus points to make two additional unarmed strikes.

Patient Defense

When you use your bonus action to Disengage, you can spend 1 focus point to also Dodge (no action required). At 11th level, you can instead spend 2 focus points to Dodge and gain an additional reaction until the start of your next turn.

Step of the Wind

When you use your bonus action to Dash, you can spend 1 focus point to double your jump distance for the turn. At 11th level, you can instead spend 2 focus points to gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed until the end of your turn, though you fall if you end your speed in the air and nothing else is holding you aloft.

Monastic Vows

Monk: 2nd level
You’ve sworn two vows, as detailed at the end of the class description. You swear an additional vow at 7th, 13th, and 17th level.

Unarmored Movement

Monk: 3rd and 9th level
Your speed increases by 10 feet while you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield. This bonus increases when you reach certain monk levels, as shown in the Unarmored Movement column of 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.

Deflect Missiles

Monk: 3rd level
You can use your reaction to deflect a projectile when you are dealt damage by a ranged weapon attack. When you do so, the damage you take from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level.

If you reduce the damage to 0, and the damage is kinetic, energy, or ion, you can redirect it at another target if you have a weapon capable of doing so. You can spend 1 focus point to make a ranged attack with a range of 20/60 as you deflect the projectile, as part of the same reaction. You make this attack with proficiency, regardless of your weapon proficiencies, and the projectile counts as a monk weapon for the attack.

Monastic Order

Monk: 3rd, 6th, 11th, and 17th level
You commit yourself to one monastic order, which is detailed at the end of the class description.

Ability Score Improvement

Monk: 4th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level
You can increase one ability score by 2, or you can increase two ability scores by 1. You can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Slow Fall

Monk: 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.

Extra Attack

Monk: 5th level
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Stunning Strike

Monk: 5th level
You can interfere with an opponent’s body. When you hit another creature with a melee weapon attack, you can spend 1 focus 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.

Enhanced Strikes

Monk: 6th level
Your unarmed strikes count as enhanced for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to unenhanced attacks and damage.

Evasion

Monk: 7th level
Your instinctive agility lets you dodge out of the way of certain area effects. 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 a saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Stillness of Mind

Monk: 7th level
You can use your action or bonus action to end one effect on yourself that is causing you to be charmed or frightened.

Purity of Body

Monk: 13th level
You are immune to disease and poison and resistant to poison damage.

Diamond Soul

Monk: 14th level
Your mastery of focus grants you proficiency in all saving throws, and when you fail a saving throw, you can spend 1 focus point to reroll it, taking the new roll.

Timeless Vessel

Monk: 15th level
Your focus sustains you so that you suffer none of the frailty of old age, and you can’t be aged abnormally. You can still die of old age, however. Additionally, when you complete a short rest, you can expend a Hit Die to remove 1 level of exhaustion or slowed.

Empty Body

Monk: 18th level
You can use your action to spend 4 focus points to become invisible for 1 minute. During that time, you also have resistance to all damage but force damage.

Perfect Self

Monk: 20th level
You’ve gained perfect control over your body. Your Dexterity and Wisdom or Charisma scores (your choice) increase by 2. Your maximum for those scores increases by 2. Additionally, when you roll for initiative and have fewer than 6 focus points remaining, you regain up to 6 focus points.