Way of the KenseiMonk Monastic Tradition — D&D 5e
Way of the Kensei takes the monk’s empty-hand philosophy and hands it a weapon — you pick a set of melee and ranged weapons that count as monk weapons for you, then spend ki to squeeze extra effects out of every hit they land. It’s the tradition for players who want martial arts flavor without giving up a sword, bow, or spear, and it scales weapon damage right alongside the class’s usual unarmed progression.
Level by level
Way of the Kensei Features
Level 3 — Kensei's Weapons
You choose a small set of weapons, including one ranged option, that count as monk weapons even if they normally wouldn’t, and you gain a bonus to damage rolls with them, so your bow or longsword now scales like your fists instead of falling behind.
Level 3 — One with the Blade
After hitting with a Kensei weapon you can spend 1 ki point to either add extra damage, knock the target prone, or raise your AC by 2 until your next turn, letting you decide on the fly whether a given hit should be about damage, control, or defense.
Level 6 — Sharpen the Blade
As a bonus action you can spend up to 3 ki points to grant a Kensei weapon a stacking bonus to attack and damage rolls for a minute, turning a single ki expenditure into a temporary magic-weapon effect for the rest of an important fight.
Level 11 — Unerring Accuracy
Once per turn, if a Kensei weapon attack misses, you can reroll it, quietly smoothing out the bad-luck turns that would otherwise waste a bonus-action flurry or a ki-fueled follow-up.
Swear the Oath
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