Monk Awakened

The Dream

Monks are agile warriors who use their superior mobility in combat to take out vulnerable priority targets behind the enemy's front line. Monks aren't casters, healers, or rogues, so they must be fighters by default. In fact, the introductory text in the Player's Handbook makes this quite clear as two of the three examples are straight combat, and the final blurb extolls their use of ki for "a striking display of combat prowess".

That's what most of us think when we pick Monk for the first time. And everything is great for the first 4 levels. Monks are the only class able to consistently attack multiple times per turn without dual wielding, their damage is solid, and they can move around the battlefield spreading that damage as needed. After 5th level, you may notice that the other classes start doing noticeably more damage than the Monk. But you can still zip around the field like a bumblebee on crack, hunt down those squishy enemy casters, and occasionally nail the big guys with Stunning Strike, so you don't mind too much.

The Nightmare

But then 11th level rolls around, and you watch everyone else get big new boosts to their fighting power while Monk gets to... start the day with Sanctuary? spend 2 ki to remove disadvantage on one roll? spend 1 ki to emulate a Half-Orc trait? What is this crap? Where's our damage scaling to keep up with the other combatants? Well, there isn't any. That Extra Attack at 5th level is the last jump you'll see, and all you get now are a couple tiny bumps to your Martial Arts die. Welcome to the Monk, kid.

Monks have a role they are supposed to fill in combat. They are fast - crazy fast - and they're supposed to be able to use that speed to outflank the enemy and take down those dangerous-but-none-too-durable enemies like casters. They're also supposed to be able to do a little bit of crowd control and contribute to taking down tough enemies. The problem is that Monk damage scaling is downright stagnant after getting the Extra Attack at 5th-level, so they slowly lose the ability to do two of those three things as they level. Enemies get tougher, but the Monk doesn't hit much harder.

Fighters get a third attack using better damage dice and better chance of having a magical weapon, and they don't even have to spend their bonus action to do it. Barbarians have their offbeat growth of improving their critical hits and getting more/stronger rages on either side of 11th-level. Paladins get smitier. Rogues continue their steady Sneak Attack progression. Even the much-maligned (and with good reason) Ranger can get stronger/more attacks. Monk just hangs around getting relatively weaker with each level as enemies and the other classes leave it behind.

Waking Up

Monk Awakened is a simple modification to the core Monk class. It adds a couple lines to just two of the Monk class features to give Monks the damage scaling they need to stay competitive with other classes after 10th level. The final result is a damage progression that suits a mobile striker inhabiting the second tier of damage-dealers (Paladins, Revised Rangers, and damage-focused Rogues). They won't ever hit as hard as Fighters and Barbarians, but they still have their other tools (and subclass features) to make up for it. Keep in mind that Monks are still glass cannons since they don't have the survivability tools of the other melee combatants.

The Additions

Ki

Starting at 11th level, when you use Flurry of Blows, the number of unarmed strikes increases to three.

Ki-Empowered Strikes

Starting at 6th level, you gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls with monk weapons and unarmed strikes. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level, +3 at 15th level, and +4 at 20th level.

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