Monks
HP/level: 1d8
Required stats: 15 str, 15 dex, 15 con, 15 wis
Required Alignments: No form of Chaotic.
Weapon Proficiencies: 2 +1/2 levels
Non-weapon proficiencies: 2 +1/3 levels
Bonus proficiencies: Endurance
Pugilistic seekers of purity in mind, body and spirit. For them, their bodies are their temples. Their hands, feet, knees, elbows are their sword, shield and armor alike. Focus, intense training and deep philosophical soul-searching for one-ness with the self is the driving force behind the Monk. They might have other, worldly interests, sure, but always foremost amongst them (though perhaps rivaled by other interests) is the desire for personal perfection. Most monks will be Lawful, be it good, neutral or evil, reflecting the rigid intensity by which they have learned and steeped themselves in their art, religion, philosophy or whatever it is to them. Those few monks that are self taught, perhaps through hermetical isolation, tend to be neutral in some respect, seeking a balance of all forces within themselves (though perhaps having biased views on what forces are desirable, where neutral good and neutral evil come into play). Regardless of alignment, monks can be extremely capable combatants. Their attack rolls might not be as great as a Warrior’s, but neither must they rely on weapons and armor so heavily.
Monks, unlike any other character class, fight primarily with their martial arts. Kicks, punches, knee and elbow strikes, you name it. As the monk’s level increases, they can focus more and more of themselves into each blow until a single blow from their fist can make a vicious sword wound look like a scratch. The razor honed focus required to attain “perfection” is what they eternally seek, and each monk must find it within themselves. By this token, some types of psions and monks get along extremely well, sometimes even viewing each other as two sides of the same coin; a monk hones their spirit and mind into oneness with their body, and a psion hones their body and spirit into oneness with their mind. Very few monks are psions, however, and very few psions are monks. The focus required for either field tends to make following both paths at once more than a person can handle, although some rare few can and do follow it.
Monks deal normal damage with unarmed strikes, compared to the temporary damage dealt by other character types with unarmed blows. As their levels increase, the monk’s Armor Class will improve dramatically as their awareness of incoming blows approaches and eventually surpasses supernatural. Due to their intense focus on perfection of the physical body through oneness with the mind and spirit, a monk’s rate of movement will increase as they gain in level. Monks also gain level based powers that reflect how much closer and closer to oneness they are.
Level: Power gained
3: +4 to saves v-paralyzation/hold effects and mind control of any form
5: Immune to Slow/Haste effects
7: +4 to all saves v-poison
9: immune to stun/paralyze effects (but not stunning or paralytic poisons)
13: Death Strike: 1/week a monk can strike a victim as normal. If they enact this power, the victim is filled with a trembling feeling that persists for 1 hour per monk level. At any time while this power is active, the monk can reduce the victim struck to 0 Hp’s by a simple act of will, regardless of distance between the monk and victim unless the victim is on another plane of existence. Victims receive a save v-death at a –4 when initially struck to avoid this power, though they still take damage as normal.
15: immune to mind control and mind reading effects
17: immune to poison of any type
19: immune to death spells and effects of any source (such as another monk’s Death Strike)
Monks also gain four thief skills of their choosing. Clans, Monasteries and the like teach their warrior monks these things as a means of enhancing their usefulness and teaching them focus when they are novices, as thief skills require quite a lot of repetitive practice to get good at. They also serve the monks very well when they are out and about in the world. Monks receive 30 points at 1st level to allocate as they wish, and 15 for every level after. Unlike thieves, however, a monk can never raise a skill above 95%. When all of their skills are at 95%, they simply stop gaining points at level advancement.
Monks cannot wear any form of armor, bracers, gauntlets or any item, magical or otherwise, that would hinder movement or open handed combat styles. Cloaks, robes, rings and such are usually not a hindrance for them, although the DM is always free to determine what would be a hindrance and what wouldn’t be. If a monk does don such things, they cannot use their martial arts and their AC bonus due to monk level is wholly annulled. For low level monks, this is not always a bad thing, but no monk of any level would want to have to rely on such trifling things, and higher level monks would hardly ever even consider it within the realm of thinkable to do so.
Monks can hit, with their open hands, creatures that require magical weapons to hit based on their level.
5: can hit creatures requiring silver or less than +1
10: can hit creatures requiring +1 or less
13: can hit creatures requiring +2 or less
16: can hit creatures requiring +3 or less
20: can hit creatures requiring +4 or less
24: can hit creatures requiring +5 or less
1 1d3 0 1 1
2 1d4 +1 1 1
3 1d4 +2 1 1
4 1d6 +3 3/2 1
5 1d6 +3 3/2 1
6 1d6 +4 3/2 1
7 1d8 +4 3/2 1
8 1d8 +5 2 1
9 1d8 +6 2 1
10 1d10 +6 2 3/2
11 1d10 +7 2 3/2
12 1d10 +7 5/2 3/2
13 1d12 +8 5/2 3/2
14 1d12 +9 5/2 3/2
15 1d12 +10 3 3/2
16 1d20 +10 3 3/2
17 1d20 +11 3 3/2
18 1d20 +11 4 2
19 2d10 +12 4 2
20-21 2d10 +13 5 2
22-23 2d12 +14 5 2
24-25 3d8 +15 6 2
26-27 3d10 +16 6 5/2
28-29 4d8 +17 7 5/2
30 4d10 +18 8 5/2
In addition, for every 2 levels a monk has, they receive a +1 to damage dealt with any melee strike, be it open handed or with a weapon. This is in addition to any damage bonuses they might have from strength, and reflects the precision focus and placement of each blow, as well as the razor-honed skill behind each blow. Monks can never attain skill beyond Proficiency with any weapon, though they gain large numbers of weapon proficiencies. Regardless, their number of attacks per round increases with level advancement with weapons.
A monk’s movement rate at 1st level is 16. It increases by 1 at 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 18th, 21st and 24th levels. A 24th level monks will have a movement rate of 24. For every level beyond 24th, the movement rate increases by 1, giving a 30th level monk a movement rate of 30.