Thursday, January 23, 2014

Let's Make a BXish Monk in 30 minutes.

This was made with help from Feng Shui, the Rules Cyclopedia Mystic, the Swords and Wizardry Monk, and the Labyrinth Lord Monk, on an idea I obviously stole from +Zak Smith and +Reynaldo MadriƱan :


HD: d6
Saves: as Cleric
Attacks: as Cleric
Advances: as Cleric
Prime Requisites: Wisdom and Dexterity
Requirements: Widsom 9 and Dexterity 9
  • May not use armor or shields.
  • May use anything as a weapon, and may use any weapon. Anything used as a weapon, including the Monk's own body parts, does either d4 damage or normal weapon damage, whichever would be higher. EXAMPLE: Xin uses a candelabra as a weapon. The candelabra does d4. Xin headbutts a guy. Xin's headbutt does d4. Xin stabs someone with a sword. Xin does normal sword damage. Xin uses a net, which normally does no damage, and does at least d4 damage. A Monk cannot use a shield to improve her AC, but Xin uses a fallen enemy's shield as a discus and does d4.
  • They subtract their number of Hit Dice from their AC, up to a 9 point AC bonus (since they stop gaining full HD after level 9). They may sacrifice any amount of AC bonus for a round in order for their unarmed or weapon attacks to be considered magical for that round. (So for old D&D monsters that need a +4 magic weapon to hit you'd have to sacrifice 4 pts of AC bonus.)
  • Monks roll only 1d8x10 for their starting gold. (Or silver or whatever your standard is).
  • At level 5 they detect lies from all but magical creatures or monsters automatically. At level 12 they detect all lies automatically.
Monks may advance to level 16. At level 9, if they can collect enough in donations, they may establish a cloister, attracting low-level monks and either fighters or clerics. All disciples will have Morale 12. The Monk and all her disciples receive a +2 reaction adjustment when pursuing donations for the cloister in its holy mission from Lawful persons.


A Monk's tutelage is eclectic and idiosyncratic, and as such while they gain other skills as they advance they gain different abilities and at different rates. Every level, roll d100 twice:

1-15: +1 to hit.
16-30: +1 to saves.
31-35: +10' to speed.
36-40: Extra melee attack every 2 rounds. Rolling this again means you get an extra attack every round, then 3 extra attacks every 2 rounds, so forth.
41-50: Level of Thief abilities/2 Specialist points.
51-60: 1 point AC bonus, whichever way you swing.
61-65: May only be surprised on a 1, reroll are never surprised, reroll you (individually) always have initiative regardless of when party acts.
66-68: Speak with animals, at will; you can communicate with one kind of animal (cat, dog, snake, spider, bird, fish, monkey/ape, etc) freely and 50% for any animal you meet, modified 10% either way by Charisma reaction adjustment. Roll this again and add another type of animal you speak freely with.
69-73: Spend 10 minutes meditating, heal 1d6. Rerolling this grants an additional healing meditation each day.
74-78: Signature weapon, choose an effect: extra 5' reach if appropriate, +1 damage, +2 to disarm, cannot be disarmed, knock prone, move target 10' if their HD equal or less than yours, +1 thief level/+1 specialist point/+2 to ability roll/whatever when using weapon to accomplish a skill task, +1 reaction adjustment, acts as a silvered weapon.
79-80: 2 point AC bonus when wielding a weapon.
81-84: 3 bonus languages. First time you reroll this you instead speak all Alignment languages.
85-88: You gain 2HD this level. May only be rolled once per level.
89-92: 5% bonus XP, or an additional +5% if you already receive bonus XP. May not be rerolled.
93-95: Considered to have infravision/darkvision in that you can see in all light as by bright moonlight. Roll again and immune to being blinded.
96-97: You can see the spirit world, and when confronted with a guise or illusion or hidden being receive a save vs Spells even if unaware of the effect. 1pt bonus each additional time you roll this.
98: You gain a fly speed equal to your speed and +20' every reroll.
99: Your reach exceeds your grasp, and you can use your chi to perform an unarmed attack against an enemy Constitution x10' away from you. Reroll this and it's twice that distance. Reroll again and it's a cone attack.
100: Choose an activity, such as a type of circus performance (juggling, tumbling, fire eating) or an artistic pursuit (flower arranging, calligraphy, acting) or practical skill (carpentry, mapmaking, brewing). You are considered to have mastered this practice to an extent that you could make a decent living with a respectable reputation if you ever settled down and opened a shop, and get +1 to any appropriate rolls when this knowledge helps you in your travels. Choose a new pursuit each time you roll this. If you roll this twice on the same level then never mind all that because once per day you can become A FUCKING GOLD DRAGON for a number of rounds equal to your HD, with an attendant spell list and breath weapon and whole shebang.