Monk
Monk — The Encounter
Fist of the Inner Flame, who breaks stone with breath · a boss your table can run with almost no prep. SRD 5.1-compatible.
Who Is Monk
They say the Fist of the Inner Flame swallowed a coal from the first altar and never let it go cold. He renounced steel young, yet carries a bristling sheaf of spiked maces lashed to his spine, a vow taken in mockery of those who think weapons make the warrior. For decades he breathed at the edge of a waterfall until the breath itself learned to burn, and now when he exhales through his hands the air ignites into a torrent of spirit-fists that hammer faster than the eye can follow. Pilgrims who train at his cliffside fastness speak of a man who can stand in a horse stance through a typhoon and not slide an inch, who deflects a loosed arrow with a single finger and flings it back through the archer's own shield. He answers no king and worships no demon, only the discipline of breath that turns flesh into a furnace and bone into anvil.
Run Monk in Sixty Seconds
- What it is A Tier-2 mobile striker (CR 6): 50 ft. speed, three unarmed strikes a round, and a fire-ki burst. It is an ADD-ON, not a boss, so run it beside a heavier threat.
- Open with Step of the Wind to close, then Flurry Burst to knock the target prone, then unarmed strikes spending Inner Flame to deny their reactions.
- Kill-priority It dives your back line on purpose. Send it at the party's healer or controller and use Inner Flame to lock out their reaction (counterspell, Shield).
- When bloodied Lean on Step of the Wind and Deflect Missiles; kite between targets so the party can never pin it, and keep feeding strikes to the lowest-AC PC.
- Three ways to run it (1) Bodyguard duo flanking your boss, (2) twin-monk ambush from two angles, (3) a lone harasser that prones and disengages to buy your real threat a round.
Monk
Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral
CR 6 · 2,300 XP · GUIDELINEEvasion. When the monk is subjected to an effect that allows a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, it instead takes no damage on a success and only half on a failure.
Inner Flame (Ki Channel). Signature. The monk carries a reservoir of focused breath. Once on each of its turns when it hits a creature with an unarmed strike, it can spend a charge of inner flame to deal an extra 7 (2d6) fire damage and force the target to succeed on a DC 14 Constitution save or be unable to take reactions until the end of its next turn. The monk has 5 charges and regains all of them after a short or long rest.
Actions
Multiattack. The monk makes three unarmed strikes, or two unarmed strikes and one Flurry Burst.
Unarmed Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6+4) bludgeoning damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Strength save or be pushed 10 ft. away.
Flurry Burst. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6+4) force damage as a cascade of spirit fists erupts from the monk's hands, and the target is knocked prone if it is Large or smaller.
Bonus Actions & Reactions
Step of the Wind (Bonus Action). The monk takes the Dash or Disengage action; its jump distance is doubled this turn.
Deflect Missiles (Reaction). When hit by a ranged weapon attack, the monk reduces the damage by 14 (1d10+9). If reduced to 0, the monk may catch the projectile and immediately hurl it back: +7 to hit, range 20/60 ft., dealing the same damage type.
A bald, iron-thewed ascetic plants himself in a rooted horse stance, his palms cupping a roaring geyser of liquid flame-spirit that takes the shape of a thousand striking fists. A bundle of spiked maces rides across his back, untouched, because his bare hands are the deadlier weapon.
Monk, Bound
Companion · acts on your initiative
Bound · GUIDELINEManifest Fists (signature). Monk is a Medium spirit of living flame summoned from the monk's breath. While within 30 ft. of the monk, it grants the monk advantage on saves against being knocked prone or pushed.
Actions
Searing Jab. Melee Spell Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6+4) fire damage.
Reactions
Backdraft. When a creature the monk can see hits the monk, Monk deals 5 (1d10) fire damage to that creature if it is within 10 ft.
A coalescing geyser of golden flame shaped into a swarm of fists, bound to the monk's breath and lashing out at whoever strikes its master.
Guideline numbers — formula-tuned and read from the miniature's design, not yet table-proven. Tell us how it ran in the comments.
How It Fights — by Tier
Same creature, scaled threat. The traits never change; only the numbers move.
Open by closing the gap with the 50 ft. speed and Step of the Wind, then triple-strike the squishiest caster. If a creature clusters near a wall, push it with Unarmed Strike. Pair it with archers or a frontline brute it can flank around; it is a striker, not an anchor.
Open on the back-line: Step of the Wind in, Flurry Burst to knock prone, then unarmed strikes spending Inner Flame to lock out the target's reactions. Use Deflect Missiles to bully ranged attackers. Run it alongside a bigger bruiser or caster as the mobile assassin, never as the lone boss.
Treat it as the flanking specialist beside a true lair-bound threat: it dives the party's healer or controller, prones them with Flurry Burst, then burns their reactions with Inner Flame so the big threat lands uncontested. Use Step of the Wind every round to reposition; pair it with a larger boss or a pack of minions rather than fielding it solo.
Put Monk on the table
Download the presupported STL and run the fight tonight — the model, and the encounter that comes with it.
Get the STL on MyMiniFactory →Clay Cyanide Companion Rules v1
How a bound creature acts
- A companion acts on its owner's initiative, immediately after the owner.
- It uses the Companion block above — roughly ×0.6 HP and damage, no recharge abilities, and at most one reaction trait.
- It moves freely; it takes its Action only while its owner is conscious.
- At 0 HP a companion is broken, not dead — restored on a long rest unless your table rules otherwise.
Original Clay Cyanide material © Clay Cyanide LLC — explicitly not the non-SRD official sidekick rules.
Questions, Asked at the Table
What CR is Monk?
Its home tier is Tier 2, CR 6 (2,300 XP), tuned for a party of levels 5-10: AC 16, HP 120, +7 to hit, save DC 14. Tier 1 (CR ~2) and Tier 3 (CR ~11) numbers are provided so you can drop it into any table without rebuilding it.
Can Monk be a companion or ally?
Yes. As a disciplined martial artist with no evil agenda (lawful neutral), the monk makes a natural ally, mentor, or bodyguard for a martial-minded party. Use the included Ember ki-spirit companion stats if you want the monk fielded as a friendly NPC with his own bound flame.
Is the Monk a spellcaster?
No. His Inner Flame is ki, not spellcasting, so it cannot be counterspelled or dispelled, and it deals fire damage that ignores most armor by hitting on a Constitution save. He has no spell slots and relies entirely on movement, unarmed strikes, and Deflect Missiles.
Tell Us How It Ran
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Clay Cyanide Miniatures is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This content is compatible with the fifth edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Companion rules, lore, names, and original mechanics © Clay Cyanide LLC.
Technical Specifications
32mm, 75mm
STL, Pre-supported STL
Standard or ABS-like resin, 0.05mm layer height
Yes — ready to print, optimized supports included
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