The Way of the Astral Self Monk: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

Would you like to play a character who can channel their inner spirit to manifest physical abilities? If so, the Way of the Astral Self Monk might be just what you’re looking for in your next Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

This unique subclass allows monks to summon aspects of their own spirit, creating powerful astral projections that enhance their combat abilities and senses.

Imagine extending spectral arms to strike foes from a distance or unlocking hidden senses to perceive the world in entirely new ways.

In this guide, we’ll delve deep into the features and strategies that make the Astral Self Monk a standout choice. Whether you’re a newcomer eager to explore the mystical side of martial arts or a seasoned player seeking a fresh take on the monk class, we’ll provide insights to help you make the most of this intriguing subclass. From understanding the importance of your Wisdom stat to selecting the best feats and tactics, we’ve got you covered.

So grab your character sheet, open your mind, and let’s embark on a journey to master the Way of the Astral Self.

Subclass Features

Arms of the Astral Self

Unlocking Your Inner Power (3rd level):

At 3rd level, you tap into the wellspring of your spirit, gaining the ability to summon the Arms of your Astral Self. With a simple action and the expenditure of 2 ki points, spectral arms emanate from your shoulders or back, glowing with an otherworldly light that reflects your inner essence.

These arms last for 10 minutes and provide several benefits:

• Extended Reach: Your unarmed strikes can now reach enemies up to 10 feet away, giving you an edge in combat by keeping foes at a distance.
• Wisdom-Fueled Attacks: Instead of using Dexterity or Strength, you use your Wisdom modifier for attack and damage rolls with these arms. This makes Wisdom not just a mental attribute but also a physical one for you.
• Area Attack: When you summon the arms, each creature of your choice within 10 feet must succeed on a dexterity saving throw or take force damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die.

Example in Play:

Imagine you’re surrounded by a horde of goblins. By summoning your astral arms, you can strike multiple enemies without getting too close. Your Wisdom-driven attacks ensure you’re hitting hard, relying on your spiritual training.

Visage of the Astral Self

Seeing Beyond the Physical (6th Level):

Reaching the 6th level enhances your connection with your spirit. You can now summon the Visage of your Astral Self for 1 ki point, which can be done simultaneously with your arms or separately. The visage provides:

• Astral Sight: You gain darkvision out to 120 feet, allowing you to see in non-magical darkness as if it were daylight.
• Wisdom of the Spirit: You can add your Wisdom modifier to Charisma (Intimidation) and Charisma (Performance) checks, letting your inner strength shine through your interactions.
• Word of the Spirit: You can understand all spoken languages, and any creature that can understand a language can understand you.
• Insightful Perception: You have an advantage in Wisdom (Insight) and Wisdom (Perception) checks, which make you more aware of your surroundings and the intentions of others.

Example in Play:

You’re navigating a dark cavern filled with hidden traps and secret doors. With your visage active, you can see clearly and spot dangers before they become a problem. If you encounter creatures speaking an unknown language, you can communicate effortlessly.

Body of the Astral Self

Embodying Spiritual Resilience (11th level):

At the 11th level, your mastery over your astral self extends to your entire body. Summoning the Body of your Astral Self for 1 ki point grants:

• Deflecting Armor: You gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, making you tougher against physical attacks.
• Empowered Strikes: Your unarmed strikes deal extra damage equal to your Martial Arts die, increasing your offensive capabilities.
• Deflect Energy: As a reaction, you can reduce elemental damage (acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder) by 1d10 + your Wisdom modifier.

Example in Play:

Facing a fierce dragon? Your Body of the Astral Self can help you withstand its powerful bites and claw swipes. When it breathes fire, you can use your Deflect Energy to reduce the impact of the flames.

Awakened Astral Self

Achieving Spiritual Perfection (17th level):

At the 17th level, you’ve unlocked the full potential of your astral self. For 10 minutes, you can summon all aspects (arms, visage, and body) simultaneously for 10 ki points, gaining:

• Astral Barrage: When you take the Attack action, you can make two additional astral arms attacks as part of the same action.
• Phase Step: You can teleport up to 60 feet as a bonus action, allowing you to move effortlessly across the battlefield.
• Armor of the Spirit: Your resistance to physical damage is now immunity, and your Deflect Energy reduces elemental damage to zero.

Example in Play:

In the final battle against a powerful lich, you activate your Awakened Astral Self. You’re immune to its skeletal minions’ attacks, can teleport to avoid spells and unleash a flurry of astral strikes to bring down the villain.

Ability Scores and Races

Building an effective Astral Self Monk revolves around prioritizing the right ability scores.

• Wisdom (Primary): This is your most crucial stat. It powers your astral abilities, affects your attack and damage rolls, and boosts important skills like Perception and Insight.
• Dexterity (Secondary): Essential for your Armor Class (AC), initiative, and Dexterity-based skills. It also influences your unarmed strike attack rolls when not using your astral arms.
• Constitution (Important): A higher Constitution means more hit points, which is vital for close combat. It also helps with Concentration checks if you multiclass into a spellcasting class.
• Strength (Situational): Less important due to your reliance on Wisdom and Dexterity, but can be useful if you find yourself in situations where physical strength is needed.
• Intelligence and Charisma (Low Priority): These stats are less critical for your subclass but can be tailored based on your character’s background and roleplaying choices.

Races

Choosing a race that complements your abilities can enhance your effectiveness.

• Wood Elf:
  • Stat Bonuses: +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom.
  • Features: Increased speed, Mask of the Wild for stealth, and darkvision.
  • Why It’s Good: The stat bonuses align perfectly with your needs, and the additional features support your mobility and stealth capabilities.
• Variant Human:
  • Stat Bonuses: +1 to two abilities of your choice.
  • Features: An extra skill proficiency and a bonus feat at 1st level.
  • Why It’s Good: The flexibility in stats allows you to boost both Wisdom and Dexterity, and the early feat can provide a significant advantage.
• Aarakocra:
  • Stat Bonuses: +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom.
  • Features: Flight speed of 50 feet.
  • Why It’s Good: Flight offers unparalleled mobility, allowing you to position yourself advantageously in combat and avoid ground-based hazards.
• Halfling (Ghostwise):
  • Stat Bonuses: +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom.
  • Features: Silent Speech allows telepathic communication, and Halfling Nimbleness lets you move through spaces occupied by larger creatures.
  • Why It’s Good: Telepathy aligns with your spiritual theme, and the mobility features complement your monk’s abilities.
• Firbolg:
  • Stat Bonuses: +2 Wisdom, +1 Strength.
  • Features: Firbolg Magic for invisibility, Speech of Beast and Leaf, and powerful build.
  • Why It’s Good: A strong Wisdom bonus enhances your key abilities, and the magical features add utility outside of combat.
• Custom Lineage (Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything):
  • Stat Bonuses: +2 to one ability (choose Wisdom).
  • Features: Darkvision or a skill proficiency, plus a feat at 1st level.
  • Why It’s Good: Highly customizable to fit your character concept, with the ability to select a feat that boosts your build from the start.

Feats and Multiclassing

Feats

Selecting the right feats can significantly enhance your capabilities.

• Mobile:
  • Benefits: Increases your speed by 10 feet, and when you make a melee attack against a creature, you don’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the rest of the turn.
  • Why It’s Good: It enhances your hit-and-run tactics, allowing you to dart in and out of combat without fear of retaliation.
• Tough:
  • Benefits: Your hit point maximum increases by an amount equal to twice your level when you gain this feat. You gain an additional 2 hit points every time you level up.
  • Why It’s Good: It improves your survivability, ensuring you can stay in the fight longer, which is especially important since monks have a d8 hit die.
• Observant:
  • Benefits: Increase your Wisdom by 1, and you gain a +5 bonus to your passive Wisdom (Perception) and passive Intelligence (Investigation) scores.
  • Why It’s Good: Enhances your already strong Perception skills, making you the party’s eyes and ears.
• Alert:
  • Benefits: You gain a +5 bonus to initiative, can’t be surprised while conscious, and other creatures don’t gain an advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen.
  • Why It’s Good: Getting the drop on enemies allows you to set the pace of combat, and avoiding surprise attacks keeps you safe.
• Fey Touched (Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything):
  • Benefits: Increase your Wisdom by 1, learn Misty Step and one 1st-level divination or enchantment spell of your choice.
  • Why It’s Good: Adds teleportation to your toolkit before you reach higher levels, and the extra spell can provide utility.

Multiclassing

While the Astral Self Monk is powerful on its own, multiclassing can offer additional benefits.

• Druid:
  • Why Multiclass: Access to spellcasting, including healing spells, utility spells like Entangle, and wild shapes for versatility.
  • Recommended Levels: 1-2 levels can provide key spells without sacrificing too much monk progression.
  • Considerations: Wisdom is already high, so spellcasting is effective. Be mindful of the armor restrictions to keep your Unarmored Defense.
• Cleric:
  • Why Multiclass: Gain access to healing and support spells, as well as domain features that can complement your abilities.
  • Recommended Domains: Knowledge (for additional skills), Peace (for buffs), or Trickery (for stealth and deception).
  • Considerations: Similar to the druid, keep multiclass levels low to maintain monk progression.
• Ranger (Tasha’s Revised):
  • Why Multiclass: Gain access to hunter’s mark for extra damage, fighting styles, and additional skills.
  • Recommended Levels: 2-3 levels to get key features without delaying monk abilities too much.
  • Considerations: It requires some investment in dexteritydexterity but offers versatility.

Playstyle and Tactics

Offensive Tactics

• Distance Striking:
  • Use your astral arms to keep enemies at bay, attacking from 10 feet away. This allows you to hit melee-focused foes without immediately provoking counterattacks.
• A flurry of Blows:
  • Combine your extended reach with Flurry of Blows to make multiple attacks in a single turn, overwhelming your opponents.
• Target Weaknesses:
  • Utilize your high Wisdom to make Insight checks, identifying enemy vulnerabilities and exploiting them in combat.
• Elemental Adaptation:
  • At higher levels, use your Deflect Energy to reduce elemental damage, allowing you to stay in the thick of battle against spellcasters.

Defensive Tactics

• Mobility is Key:
  • With high speed and the Mobile feat, you can reposition yourself as needed, avoiding being surrounded or trapped.
• Use Cover and Terrain:
  • Your ability to see in darkness and your enhanced senses allow you to navigate challenging environments better than most.
• Protect Allies:
  • Position yourself between weaker party members and threats, using your abilities to intercept attacks and draw attention.
• Resource Management:
  • Be mindful of your ki points. Use them strategically for defense when facing tough opponents or when you’re low on health.

Roleplaying an Astral Self Monk

Beyond mechanics, consider how your character’s connection to their astral self influences their personality and interactions.

• Spiritual Journey:
  • Perhaps you’re on a quest to understand the nature of the soul or to achieve enlightenment. This can drive your decisions and quests.
• Inner Conflict:
  • Manifesting your spirit might reveal hidden aspects of yourself. Roleplay moments where you grapple with parts of your identity.
• Cultural Background:
  • Maybe your abilities are tied to a specific tradition or culture in your game world. Discuss with your DM how this fits into the setting.
• Interactions with Others:
  • Your unique abilities might awe or unsettle NPCs and even fellow party members. Use this to create interesting social dynamics.

Equipment and Magic Items

While monks don’t rely heavily on equipment, certain items can enhance your abilities.

• Bracers of Defense:
  • Benefit: Grants a +2 bonus to AC if you’re not wearing armor or using a shield.
  • Why It’s Good: Boosts your survivability without conflicting with your Unarmored Defense.
• Ring of Evasion:
  • Benefit: Allows you to avoid damage from area effects.
  • Why It’s Good: Enhances your already good dexterity saves, ensuring you can dodge dangerous spells and traps.
• Amulet of Health:
  • Benefit: Sets your Constitution score to 19.
  • Why It’s Good: Increases your hit points and Constitution saves, making you tougher.
• The staff of Striking:
  • Benefit: A magic quarterstaff that deals extra damage and can expend charges for even more.
  • Why It’s Good: It gives you a weapon option that can deal significant damage when needed.
• Cloak of Displacement:
  • Benefit: Causes attack rolls against you to have a disadvantage.
  • Why It’s Good: It makes you much harder to hit, combining well with your mobility.

Example Build

Levels 1-5

• Race: Wood Elf
• Ability Scores After Racial Bonuses:
  • Strength: 8
  • Dexterity: 16
  • Constitution: 14
  • Intelligence: 10
  • Wisdom: 16
  • Charisma: 8
• Feats:
  • At the 4th level, take the Mobile feat.
• Features:
  • Utilize Step of the Wind for increased mobility.
  • Use ki points sparingly to ensure you have them when you need to summon your astral arms.

Levels 6-10

• Ability Score Improvement:
  • At the 8th level, increase Wisdom to 18.
• Multiclassing:
  • At the 7th level, take 1 level in druid.
    • Benefits: Gain access to spells like Healing Word and Absorb Elements.
• Strategy:
  • Use your visage to enhance scouting and social interactions.
  • Incorporate druid spells for added utility.

Levels 11-15

• Ability Score Improvement:
  • At the 12th level, increase Wisdom to 20.
• Features:
  • Make full use of your Body of the Astral Self for both offense and defense.
• Magic Items:
  • Aim to acquire items like the Bracers of Defense or Ring of Evasion.

Levels 16-20

• Ability Score Improvement:
  • At the 16th level, increase dexteritydexterity to 18.
  • At the 19th level, take the Tough feat.
• Final Features:
  • Unlock your Awakened Astral Self, maximizing your combat potential.
• Gameplay:
  • You’re now a whirlwind on the battlefield, capable of dealing massive damage and avoiding threats.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I use my astral arms to perform tasks like opening doors or picking up objects?

A: Generally, the astral arms are intended for combat and can’t manipulate objects like your regular hands. They don’t replace your normal arms for tasks requiring fine motor skills.

Q: Do my astral self features require concentration?

A: No, they don’t require concentration, which means you can maintain them while also concentrating on spells if you multiclass.

Q: Can I stack the extra reach from Arms of the Astral Self with weapons that have reached?

A: The reach from your astral arms applies to unarmed strikes, not weapons. So, it doesn’t stack with weapon reach.

Q: How does the Deflect Energy feature interact with area-of-effect spells?

A: You can use Deflect Energy against any instance of elemental damage, including area-of-effect spells like Fireball. However, it only reduces the damage you take, not others.

Q: If I multiclass into a spellcasting class, can I use a focus or material components while using my astral arms?

A: Unless specified by your DM, your astral arms don’t negate the need for material components or a focus. You may need to use your regular hands for spellcasting components.

Conclusion

The Way of the Astral Self Monk offers a rich and versatile experience, blending martial prowess with spiritual depth. By harnessing the power of your own spirit, you become more than just a fighter—you become a beacon of inner strength and enlightenment on the battlefield.

Whether you’re striking foes from afar with your spectral arms, perceiving the unseen with your awakened senses, or embodying resilience through your astral body, you have a toolkit that’s both unique and powerful.

Building an Astral Self Monk is about balancing your physical abilities with your spiritual ones. Focusing on Wisdom and Dexterity ensures that you’re both hard-hitting and elusive. Choosing the right race, feats, and multiclass options can further enhance your capabilities, tailoring your character to fit your desired playstyle.

Remember, the true strength of the Astral Self Monk lies not just in mechanics but also in the roleplaying opportunities. Embrace the chance to explore your character’s inner world, their motivations, and how their connection to the astral plane shapes their interactions with others.

So step onto the path of the Astral Self, let your spirit shine, and become the hero you’ve always envisioned. The journey is as rewarding as the destination, and with this guide, you’re well-equipped to make the most of it.