Monk

The Monk class, as it appeared in the D&D 3rd edition Player's Handbook.

A monk is a member of a monastic order who has taken vows to eschew the material world for a more "spiritual" path. In Europe this usually refers to a Catholic priest devoted to living a humble life separate from normal society in a monastery. In Asia, it's a Buddhist priest; in Islam it would be a sufi or dervish.

The medieval European monk is more in line with the Priest/Cleric class, but the Irish Catholic monks were highly proficient in drunken boxing. Despite this fantasy gaming's usually setting in middle-ages Europe, the term "monk" usually refers to the Asian version of a monastery dweller, specifically from the Shaolin temples of northern China, who were self-organized into a legendary militia to defend the temple against barbarian Mongol raiders. This is thanks to Dungeons & Dragons, which introduced the Monk class as a martial arts expert, much in line with kung-fu movies where people dance on bamboo leaves while beating each other up with super-fast punches and kicks.

With the proper feats and items, you can turn any D&D Monk into a veritable machine of death, destruction, and holy Jesus fucking Christ fists (3rd Ed Hint: The tripping line of feats + spiked chain) but that's only after you've gotten over the horrible hump of single-digit levels, and you will still be the fifth wheel in a party that has a Cleric or Wizard. You're better off using a Barbarian, Bard, Ranger, Swordsage... pretty much any other class if you're starting from level 1.

Dungeons & Dragons

Originally introduced in Dave Arneson's Blackmoor supplement. Appropriately enough, it was a sub-class of cleric. A lot of the familiar tropes for the class were already present in 1975: High Wis required, largely lawful, no armor but AC that improves with level, multiple unarmed attacks and scaling fist damage (that tops out at 4d10 at level 16), slow fall, dodging ranged attacks, charm resistance, Quivering Palm... yet curiously had thief skills, a d4 hit die, and proficiency with ALL weapons. ALL of them. Clearly the class had not yet settled.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

The monk class seems to be an afterthought, even appearing last in the list of classes instead of in alphabetical order. The monk class required four ability score minimums, started with an average of (2d4 +1 CON bonus) 6 hit points and COULD NOT WEAR ARMOR... but had a natural AC of 9, whoop-de-doo. The oh-so-awesome unarmed combat licked taint, since even a magic-user could do more damage with darts, and do it at range. However, the powers they got at higher levels were over the top, with immunity to disease, poisons and eventually aging, AC that was better than plate while they're still naked, fists that counted as magic weapons for hitting ghosts and undead, nigh-invulnerability to falling damage, and the quivering palm attack that could make your target's heart stop immediately (or days later if you felt like it.)

Also, their fists went from taint-licking suck to the only d20 weapons in the game.

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition

Monks: You're doing it right.

The monk was revamped and brought into line with the rest of the melee classes, but still treated as a weeaboo kung-fu master in a world of Merlins and knights. The power curve was more gradual and didn't start with suck, though it most certainly ended with it. They also got the "weapon proficiency: exotic" so they could use weird weeaboo horse-stickers and nunchucks, and their abilities were associated with this quasi-magic stuff called "ki." They're a tier 5 class, meaning that they are in the same pit of shame as the Healer, Soulknife, and unoptimized fighter. Why, you ask? Because anything they can do can be done with magic items that they probably won't even be able to use, they do shit for damage, their armor class is shit, and they can't hit shit (3/4ths BAB.) Oh, and they're the damn poster boys for MAD (srsly, just look at that page.)

Also, they're not proficient with unarmed strikes. Seriously. Look it up.

Dungeons & Dragons 4e

The first Monks were an errata from Wizards, suggesting you could have a Monk class if you used a dual-wield Ranger build with a few changes to use "fists" as the dual weapon.

Monks were published in the PHB3, and they are a Psionic Striker. They are built to bounce around the battlemap with every strike, shifting and teleporting all over the damn place like a rubber ball fired out of a shotgun. They also get a lot more fantastical fighting game/anime inspired attacks, like turning invisble or throwing hadokens. Monks use ki focuses to power their abilities, meaning they can get attack bonuses regardless of the weapon they are wielding at the time. They also have "disciplines", which confer defense bonuses and determine the type of Flurry of Blows they have. Instead of Flurry of Blows being multiple attacks, it is a second attack as a free action after the first that doesn't require an attack roll and does set damage (so a melee magic missile without the 'force' keyword). As your level progresses, you can do more damage with the flurry and target more people.

Monks also have some abilities that should've been errata'd at some point, including one that when read as written results in one of your targets exploding into a pile of gibs, and the other possibly gibbing too, but at the least will be near-dead.

Pathfinder

Got a number of buffs and tricks to try to avoid some of the problems listed above, can now equip Cestus weapons to add magical effects to their fists, and they can get a positively retarded amount of attacks, though their MAD issues are still... well, less of an issue, but still present. They get animal fighting styles ranging from classical, historical ones such as tiger and mantis, to djinni, kobold and even stranger things; lots of weird chinese weapons such as monk's spades, nine section whips and so on; "vows", which are self imposed conditions as never talking or try to solve everything peacefully and fight defensively or tell only the truth, and if you do not break'em you gain bonus Ki points; and a lot of archetypes, that either make them into "single class multiclasses" (the sensei is a monk with bardic performances, the qiggong monk can duplicate the effect of spells burning ki points, the sohei is essentially a monk-fighter-ranger-whatever, he is on horseback mostly), which is in line with the "20 level in a single class" paizo policy, or are awesome and hilarious (the drunken monk generates ki points from alcohol, the tetori is a Los Tiburon kind of wrestler).

Many people find the Zen Archer to be pretty broken, but most of those same people are perfectly okay with a Wizard or CoDzilla and willing to ignore the high cost of paying for your own silver/cold iron/alignment/adamantine ammunition.

If, for some insane reason, you want to play a Medieval European "monk", that's a Cleric archetype called the Cloistered Cleric, which trades a buttload of spellcasting and combat prowess for extra prowess as a knowledge skill monkey (and therefore, is useless).

The Classes of Pathfinder 1st Edition
Core Classes:	Barbarian - Bard - Cleric - Druid - Fighter - Monk Paladin - Ranger - Rogue - Sorcerer - Wizard
Advanced Player's Guide:	Alchemist - Antipaladin - Cavalier Inquisitor - Oracle - Summoner - Witch
Advanced Class Guide:	Arcanist - Bloodrager - Brawler - Hunter - Investigator Shaman - Skald - Slayer - Swashbuckler - Warpriest
Occult Adventures:	Kineticist - Medium - Mesmerist Occultist - Psychic - Spiritualist
Ultimate X:	Gunslinger - Magus - Ninja - Samurai - Shifter - Vigilante

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

The 5e Monk is a different sort of beast altogether, although it definitely borrows from the lessons learned in 4th edition. As in 4e, MAD is no longer an issue as their Martial Arts class feature means they can substitute Dexterity for Strength when making attack & damage rolls with unarmed strikes and "monk weapons" - it also bumps up their unarmed strike damage from 1 to level-dependent (D4 at first, then D6 at 5th level, D8 at 11th level and D10 at 17th level) and lets them spend their bonus action after making an attack with an unarmed strike or monk weapon to make another such attack. However, unlike 4e, their unarmed strikes don't count as a weapon in their own right, which prevents them from applying buffs like, say, smearing their fists with poison.

Pretty much all of the iconic monk features are back; flurry of blows, deflect missles, unarmored movement, slow fall, stunning strike, ki-empowered strike (unarmed strikes count as magical), evasion, stillness of mind, purity of body, tongue of the sun and moon (talk all languages), diamond soul, timeless body... However, like all 5th edition classes, monks have to choose a subclass, called a Way, at third level, which determines assorted unique abilities and powers you get. So far, there are five official Ways (3 in the PHB, 2 in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide) and three semi-official ones, two - the Way of the Kensay and Way of Tranquility - via the December 2016 Unearthed Arcana, and The way of the Drunken master via the March 27th 2017 Unearthed Arcana.

Monks in this edition use a mana system called a ki pool, where they have access to a reserve of "ki points" that they can spend to use or buff up various features. Some of these are universal, like Flurry of Blows, being able to throw back a caught missile, or using Empty Body (spend 4 ki to go invisible for 1 minute). Others depend on the Way that you're following.

The Way of the Open Palm is the iconic 3.x Monk brought back to life; its powers are the Open Hand Technique (Flurry of Blows can push, knock prone or immobilize foes), Wholeness of Body (heal yourself 3 time per long), Tranquility (apply a Sanctuary spell to yourself 1/long rest) and the iconic save-or-die killing blow technique, the Quivering Palm.

The Way of the Four Elements is an "elemental" monk, using ki to manipulate the elements in various ways - as a result, it's got the largest amount of unique traits in the form of its selectable Elemental Disciplines, which include both an assortment of spell-like abilities and more unique traits, like creating a Water Whip or hammering someone with blasts of compressed air or fire by punching at them from a distance. It sounds cool, as it's essentially letting you play the titular characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it's infamous as one of the weakest subclasses, mostly due to the complaint that the various Disciplines cost far too much ki to use given how small the monk's ki pool is until higher levels and the fact you need to take a short rest to regain it.

The Way of Shadow is... well, let's not beat about the bush here; it's a ninja. Rather than try and claim that ninjas are somehow different to rogue/monk multiclassing, 5e just makes it a straight-up style of monk, although you can always go for the Rogue (Assassin) multiclass if you really want to boost the theme. It mostly absorbs the Shadowdancer as well, in that its various powers revolve around manipulating darkness; a 5e ninja gets the Minor Illusion cantrip and can cast Darkness, Darkvision, Pass Without Trace and Silence by spending ki points. It can teleport from shadow to shadow via its Shadow Step, become invisible at will by using Cloak of Shadows when in areas of dim or no light, and its Opportunist power lets it get a free attack in on somebody who gets hurt by someone else.

The Way of the Long Death hails from the SCAG, and is essentially a mixture of a monkish assassin (so an alternate ninja) and a necromancer; Touch of Death lets you get temporary hitpoints when somebody drops dead near you, Hour of Reaping lets you spook fools within 60ft for a turn, Mastery of Death lets you spend a ki point to avoid being killed by an attack, and Touch of the Long Death lets you spend ki points to touch a sap and inflict necrotic damage, in a sort of poor-man's Quivering Palm.

The Way of the Sun Soul, also from the SCAG, is probably the most animesque monk so far and is a guaranteed weeaboo magnet. In essence, Sun Soul Monks harness their ki directly as a weapon, which lets them fling around motherfucking hadokens! They can make ranged Radiant-inflicting unarmed strikes at will, spend ki to cast Burning Hands, spend ki to throw around what is essentially a Radiant-inflicting Fireball spell, and produce a brilliant aura that burns anybody stupid enough to strike you whilst it's active. Whether this is awesome or just plain stupid is up for heated debate.

The Way of the Kensei is one of the aforementioned UA paths, and is essentially a monk-samurai, based on the "unarmored weapon master" kits from the earliest editions of D&D and made infamous in Baldur's Gate for how broken they were through dual-classing with wizards. Its big thing is that it grants the monk 3 free martial weapon proficiencies, and any weapon it's proficient with becomes a "kensei weapon". What this means in practice is that any weapon they're proficient with now benefits from all the traits of Martial Arts, including the "key off Dex instead of Str" thing. That's right, this lets you bring back your greatsword-wielding Soaring Blade monk from 4e - at 3rd level. Their other features revolve around bumping up their weapons even further; One With The Blade means that A: the kensei treats all of its kensei weapons as magical, and B: the kensei can double its proficiency bonus on an attack once per short rest, Sharpen The Blade lets it spend ki points to buff up attack & damage rolls, and Unerring Accuracy gives it a free reroll for failed weapon attacks once per turn.

The Way of Tranquility, in comparison to the Way of the Kensei, is a pacifist monk who thusly specializes in diplomancing; an effectively permanent Sanctuary spell on itself at 3rd level, the ability to heal others of wounds, poison and disease with a touch, free proficiency in Performance or Persuasion, Advantage on "Charisma checks made sincerely to diffuse violent situations", a charm attack delivered by touch that temporarily nullifies the victim's ability to fight, and finally a "you pushed me too far!" freak-out you can undergo when somebody kills somebody in your presence that buffs your damage, allowing them to lay down a righteous ass-whupping. While everyone likes the later-level class features, the first two are pure skub. There's just no getting around the fact that they are better versions of other people's class/archetype features, gained, in the case of the at-will sanctuary effect, at a lower level than the other monk archetype that grants it.

The Way of the Drunken master is, as you would expect, the stereotypical drunken master, despite not actually using alcohol in any way, instead opting for acting drunk. Roleplaying may vary. Drunken technique gives you proficiency in the Pefrormance skill, as well as giving you disengage whenever you use Flurry of Blows and increasing your speed by 10 feet for that turn. Tipsy sway emulates the drunken swaying, making it so that, when you are missed by a melee attack, you can use your reaction to redirect it at another creature within 5 feet except the attacker. However it is only once per short or long rest. Drunkard's luck allows you to spend 1 ki to give yourself advantage on any saving throw, but must be used before the saving throw. Intoxicated frenzy allows you to make up to five attacks with Flurry of blows at the cost that every attack must target a different creature.

Warhammer Fantasy

Monk was one of the career choices during character generation, mentioned in the splatbook Tome of Salvation. This is the European style monk, living a ascetic lifestyle in a setting where life is nasty, brutish and short.

• Stat Bonuses: WS+5, S+5, T+5, Ag+10, Int+25, WP+15, Fel+15, W+4
• Acquirable Skills: Academic Knowledge (Theology), Academic Knowledge x2 , Animal Care, Common Knowledge x2, Heal, Perception, Read/Write, Speak Arcane Language (Magick), Speak Language (Classical), Speak Language x2.
• Acquirable Talents: Linguistics.
• Gear: Prayer Book, Religious Symbol, Robes, Writing Kit.
• Previous careers can be: Friar, Initiate, Physician, Scholar, Scribe, Student
• Next careers can be: Abbot, Apprentice Witch, Cantor, Cult Acolyte of Khorne, Cult Acolyte of Nurgle, Cult Acolyte of Slaanesh, Cult Acolyte of Tzeentch, Demagogue, Friar, Physician, Pilgrim, Priest, Scholar, Slave, Steppes Nomad, Steward, Thrall, Wise Woman, Zealot