Way of the Astral Self Monk 5e

Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold

What an odd duck of a Monastic Tradition. Way of the Astral Self provides monks with an otherworldly look where you conjure astral limbs to whack people around within reach.

It, like many monastic traditions, has some core problems that Wizards of the Coast seems incapable of dealing with, mainly in their ability to give monks something unique and interesting to do that doesn't cost a ton of ki or engage in something beyond just punching better.

3rd Level: Arms of the Astral Self

For how long Arms of the Astral Self is, I'd expect it to do so much more. Mechanically, you get a bonus action for a 10 ft. area 2d4 damage burst and ten minutes of reach with Wisdom-based unarmed strikes that costs you a ki to start. Weird.

Fundamentally, this is starting in a bad place. It competes with Flurry of Blows for ki, which deals potentially 2d4 + twice your Dex mod on hit. On top of that, it offers you an opportunity to favor Wisdom over Dexterity yet gives you no payoff for doing so. There isn't any mechanical reason to consider using Wisdom beyond now getting to use Wisdom instead of Strength when you're trying to grab somebody.

A cute thing to consider with them is the increase in reach stacks with other ways to get reach on your unarmed strikes, namely in the case of Bugbear. 15 ft. melee attacks is silly. Not particularly practical in a casual build, but a neat addition at least.

I think more often than not Arms of the Astral Self is going to be worse to use than just spamming Flurry of Blows. This being the only 3rd level feature you're given, then sets this up for failure out the gate.

6th Level: Visage of the Astral Self

Visage of the Astral Self gives you an “opportunity” to spend MORE ki points, rewarding you with 120 ft. magical darkvision, advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Charisma (Intimidation) checks, and a nifty communication tool.

120 ft. magical darkness certainly is the most interesting feature offered, as it can work on multiclass builds that can create their own Darkness. If you can't create your own Darkness, which this option can not, you're relying on the DM to put magical darkness around for this to do anything.

The next most interesting ability is enhanced communication. I'd consider it about as relevant as the Thaumaturgy or Message cantrip. That certainly isn't worth a ki point to get, nor is it worthy of costing you a 6th level subclass feature.

This just leaves the skill advantage, which fundamentally isn't that good because of the mere existence of the Help action. Intimidation is one of the most helped skills in the game, as it usually is happening as part of a team effort to dissuade conflict or press somebody for answers. Insight, too, tends to be done as a party when engaging in social encounters, making it something multiple characters will participate in doing, often through the Help action.

All three of these don't make much then. If you started with five levels in something like Sorcerer or Wizard for the Darkness spell or are a Drow or another race/species with Darkness available to them, this will at least do something. If not, this feature provides next to no meaningful text, and certainly doesn't justify its limitations or cost.

11th Level: Body of the Astral Self

Body of the Astral Self is the first time in this subclass you get something for free, and it is a meaningful expansion. Now, only eight levels later, your Astral Self has an advantage over using the competitive Flurry of Blows bonus action beyond the reach traits.You get Deflect Energy, a defensive block for elemental damage, and empowered arms.

The defensive reaction to shrug off elemental damage is great, as is a free bonus die of damage each turn. Neither is so powerful I'd gate them at eleventh level, nor are they exciting enough to get me to pick this option, but at least this feature meaningfully enhances a character who commits 11 levels into a pretty bad archetype.

17th Level: Awakened Astral Self

Awakened Astral Self closes out the option with a shield and a third attack with your Arms of the Astral Self. I can't say these are bad, as a 3rd attack is a big deal, as is +2 AC, but for an option dedicated to presenting an ethereal star-like form pulling power from an otherworldly place, this is too mundane for me. 17 levels in monk requires you take a lot of stinker levels where you're getting a bonus ki point and some ribbon feature. This being the eventual pay out isn't ideal. 11 levels in fighter will get you their 3rd attack, and +2 AC is easily obtainable with access to shield proficiency or Shield of Faith. Hell, Haste gives you a 3rd attack and +2 AC and can come with five levels in a full-caster class, giving you the bonuses a full level early without needing to waste a level on Timeless Body.

All Together

Body of the Astral Self feels like it should be attached to the base feature if it's always going to take ki to start. There are cool ideas here, but it seriously lacks incentives or payoffs for using these over just vanilla monk options. It doesn't add much out of combat beyond cantrip level utility, nor does it really satisfy the fantasy I want when I think of a monk ascending to an out of body form.

If you love the look and are fine with missing out on features that give you more than reach on your attack rolls, this technically gives you some things to do. You can build towards it by seeking out ways to empower the magical darkvision and energy deflection, but even with those considerations, you're never going to get this to be much more than what base monk provides. Way of the Astral Self is seriously lacking; I wouldn't try it.

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