Priest

Monk - by T.A. Saunders ©2013 v2.0

Summary A rare sight outside the lands of the Taijuni people, monks are wanderers and spiritual teachers. They maintain a threadbare life and keep only what they need to survive. Rather than relying on fancy weapons or armor to protect them, monks have developed many hand to hand and weapon fighting styles that allow them to protect themselves and others. Augmented by faith in much the same way knights are a monk can survive incredible odds without so much as the robes they wear and their walking stick. While Monks cannot turn undead as other priests do, they may Disrupt them using their unarmed fighting technique. Monks may wear light armor and may only carry one weapon. Monks are the least powerful at healing, able to heal serious wounds on a single target and stabilize the those near death, but little more. Monks cannot dual-class.

Class Skills Strike of the Devout

Monks learn an Unarmed Combat style at Proficient skill level without use of EP. They progress beyond Adept at their chosen unarmed combat style at half the total EP one would normally expend. Additionally, because of the divine/infernal nature of a monk's inner power, monks use their spell hit with a 85% base rather than their melee hit to decide whether or not their blows land. Regardless what unarmed combat style they choose, monks also have an innate 75% chance to Disrupt Undead and Infernal (or Divine if a monk of a dark god) creatures when fighting them unarmed (check made once per round). Disruption will stun such creatures for 1d4 a total of 1d4 rounds, making any action other than retreat impossible for that time. Because of the exhaustive training Monks undergo, they are able to attack armored opponents as they would unarmored opponents, ignoring the penalty unarmed attackers have against armored adversaries.

For most Taijuni monks, the preferred fighting style is Ki Miju, or the Dancing Flame. The style involves many sorts of fluid kicks and punches that focus on pressure points and vital areas to defeat an opponent, while weaving in and out of striking range. Monks from other lands, while rare may or may not follow this fighting style and may have one of their own, though the same bonuses will apply.

Use of an unarmed fighting style does not allow for successful attacks against creatures that require Bane Weapons to wound (unless those creatures happen to be undead or infernal/divine creatures), but will work on creatures that require magical weapons to hit. (Learn an unarmed combat style at adept level, progress at half Event Point cost, armored opponent penalties negated, monks use spell hit for unarmed combat hit, Disruption of undead and Infernal/Divine creatures).

Weapon of the Faithful

Just as the monk uses physical training in an unarmed fighting style, a monk may choose a single sort of weapon to carry with them always that they may specialize in. This weapon is considered blessed and will strike targets that otherwise require magical weapons to hit. This weapon can be anything from a farmer's sickle to a sword or a walking stick. Nothing is off the table, but this is the only weapon the monk will ever carry.

This Weapon of the Faithful has a +25% to hit and allows the Monk to attack four times per round with the option to lose one attack to block an incoming attack with their weapon. This blocking has a 75% chance to reflect/riposte an attack, where appropriate. This obviously does not apply to area of effect or Catastrophic damage. Like their unarmed combat, Monks do not use their melee hit base, but rather rely on their spell hit base of 85% to calculate their hit chance. (+25% to hit, 4 attacks per round with the option to block at the lose of one attack. 75% to reflect/riposte, Monks use spell hit base of 85% rather than melee hit).

Focused Spirit

Once per day, a monk may focus all of their Spiritual Energy into one offensive strike. This offensive strike must be done unarmed and suffers the same penalties unarmed combat suffers in regards to giant and bane weapon-required creatures. This offensive strike has a +50% to hit and a 35% chance to outright kill its intended target. Failing to kill the target of Focused Spirit still renders the opponent unconscious for 1d6 rounds. Using the Focused Spirit attack is exhausting however and the Monk cannot attack for one round after using the Focused Spirit ability. (+50% to hit and 35% chance to kill outright. unconsciousness for 1d6 rounds caused by the attack should a kill not be achieved. Exhaustion penalty).