The Warrior Monk

The warrior monk is a member of the clergy who has followed religious and philosophical pursuits other than those of the priest. A monk engages in prayer, meditation and good deeds, but does not say mass, lead religious ceremonies, cast spells, evoke miracles nor perform many of the other duties and services of the priest. The monk can make preparations for a ceremony and participate in it, but cannot perform it. A monk can testify or present arguments for or against a law or an accused person, but he cannot sit in judgement of him. Likewise, monks rarely advise the heads of church or state, seldom lead and are generally regarded as humble or lesser members of the church.

The monk might be considered the working man's clergy and his duties are of a general assistant to the church, priest, gods and people. Most monks are always subservient to any priest above third level. This is the standard, unless the monk is young and has not yet learned his place (a lesson in humility will be quick in coming), he is stubbornly impudent regardless of age and experience (in which case, those who know him try to tolerate his pridefulness), or if the monk feels a great injustice will occur unless he speaks up or takes a stand, even if it means he is likely to be chastised and/or punished. All acts of impudence or defiance will be subject to punishment by the church leaders. Such punishment is typically public chastisement and assignment of hard labour, the least desirable work, or a difficult assignment often in remote or dangerous areas. In some cases, the monk is effectively expelled by sending him on an impossible mission or to a distant post for an indefinite period of time. Occasionally, a monk unjustly accused and/or harshly punished for wrongdoing he did not commit, or who becomes fed up with local politics, will become a rogue and wander the land trying to serve his god(s) and people in his own way the best he can.

The monks' philosophy of life makes them acutely aware of the human condition with both its strengths and frailties. His duty is to nurture a person's strengths and goodness and to help him overcome his weakness and base or cruel desires. Part of the monk's training is to first learn to understand himself and learn to control his emotions to try never to react in word or deed in anger, and try to understand the other person's position. This makes most monks quite philosophical, as well as alert, friendly, understanding and compassionate. After they have learned to understand and control their own inner demons (as best they can), they are sent out into the world to help others do the same. A humble and self-effacing clergy, they seldom associate with the rich or nobility but live and work among the common man, the poor and the downtrodden for the monks believe that these are the people who need them most. This also means the monk has little use for nobility, wealth or politics.

As a servant of the people, the monk is often privy to the injustices of the poor, particularly at the hands of tyrant kings, compassionless nobility, callous employers and cruel task masters. This unique view of the world leads to occasional disputes within the church between monk and priest, and frequent clashes with Kings, nobility, wealthy merchants and civil authorities. A monk will often travel alone, in pairs or join adventurers to wander the land helping others and engaging in a number of academic and charitable pursuits. These loners will frequently help villagers by watching over and entertaining children while the adults tend to their crops, offer advice to the heads of households, may attempt to negotiate on a villager's or farmer's behalf with their landlord (petitioning for better work conditions, food, etc.), help prepare for festivals, to minister the ill, mend fences, tend to animals, harvest crops and assist in all kinds of manual labour, as well as report news and gossip, discuss philosophy, and tell stories of courage, wisdom, and the gods. Likewise, they'll accompany, defend, and help travelers.

A warrior monk will not hesitate to confront, chase away, and fight demons, monsters, sorcerers, bandits and evildoers to defend innocent people (they care little about property, even church property; people come first). This often puts a monk in the company of other warriors and adventurers to battle against tyranny, slavery and evil. During times of war, entire armies of warrior monks may gather to join in the fight to defend a temple, village, region, or kingdom from rival factions, ravaging monsters, or foreign invaders. To attack a monastery is pure folly, as these warriors have been known to easily disarm and beat experienced knights using their deceptively simple wooden staves or deadly spears (the traditional weapon of war for the warrior monks). A typical monastery will have 2D4 martial arts masters (lD4+8th level; all heads of the monastery), 4D6 experienced monks (1D4+4th level), 6D6 young monks (1D4+1 level), 1D4x10 new monks (all first level) and 1D6x10 novices (not even first level yet they have 1D6 years of training and practice to go). Large monasteries may have three times as many, while a particularly small one will have half as many. Monasteries are usually found in remote regions of the world.

Special Monk Training & Mastery

1. Stick Fighting: The art of fighting with a staff or spear is a form of martial combat. A simple piece of wood, often referred to as the monk's "stick," is used to remind the monk of his humble station. A spear, but not pole arms, is also acceptable as it is only a modest enhancement. "Stick" Power Strike: A powerful thrust with the point of the staff, or blunt end of a spear, to the temple. The blow is so painful and jarring that it inflicts an extra 1D6 damage and, for a moment, everything goes black: the victim of the stick power strike loses initiative, loses one melee action and there is a 01-50% chance that he will drop whatever weapon he was holding (only drops one weapon if using a pair victim's choice of which). The monk must focus and deliberately aim at and strike the temple (the player should announce his intentions before he rolls to strike). A roll of 18 or higher (including bonuses) is necessary to have full effect. Any roll that hits his opponent, but is under 18 misses its mark and only inflicts normal damage. Parry Arrows with Staff or Spear: The monk can attempt to parry arrow attacks! He is -2 to parry arrows, darts, or thrown objects, and -6 to parry gunfire. The character can only attempt to parry the projectile attacks of one opponent at a time and must see the attack coming. Stick Fighting Bonuses: In addition to W.P. staff and W.P. spear bonuses, the monk is +1 to parry at levels 4, 8, and 12. One extra attack per melee round when using a staff or spear of any kind!
2. Spirit Strike (special): An attack that draws on the character's inner spirit with mystical effect. It can only be used against dragons, elementals, demons and other supernatural beings and creatures of magic! It can be inflicted with a punch, kick, staff or spear and does triple the character's normal damage!
3. Other O.C.C. Bonuses: +20 S.D.C., +1 to save vs horror factor at levels 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15, +1 to save vs disease, +1 to save vs illusions and mind control, and +4 to save vs possession.
4. Monks, Armour & Combat: Same as the priest.
5. Allegiance to a God: Same as the priest.
6. Temple Skills: The warrior monk also gets the following skills.
   • Begging: Although learned as a monk, this skill can be particularly useful either as a disguise, or to collect emergency money when things are desperate. The base skill determines the chance of collecting a donation from each passerby. On a crowded street it could be pretty lucrative. The amount of money depends on the economy of the country and community where the begging is taking place. Base Skill: 20%+3% per level of experience.
   • Fasting: The ability to go for long periods of time without food. So long as the character has sufficient water, he can easily survive for two weeks without food. After that, the character will have to roll under the fasting skill to avoid becoming weakened or sick. The character can also go for three days without water and not show any serious effects from dehydration. Base Skill: 40%+3% per level of experience.
   • Deep Meditation: Involves engaging the mind and body, so that the body remains motionless, but without fatigue or pain, and the mind stays in a clear, calm and rested state. While meditating, a character recovers I.S.P. and other internal resources at an accelerated rate (three times as fast as normal). Although it is not a substitute for sleeping, characters will usually feel alert and refreshed after any period of meditation. When in a meditative state, the character is, at a subconscious level, well aware of what is happening in the environment and can instantly leave the meditation position with no combat penalties. Base Skill: 20% +6% per level of experience. Base Meditation Time: The amount of time that a character can continue to meditate: One hour at first level, plus one additional hour per additional level of experience. Note: Each particular church, religion and/or god is likely to have its own laws, practices, dogma and rituals. Roughly 70% of all monastic orders require celibacy and are segregated by gender, although there are male and female monks.

Attribute Requirements: P.P. 11 and P.E. 11 or higher. A high P.S., M.E. and M.A. are helpful but not a requirement.
Alignment: Any.
Gender: Male or Female
Race: Any
O.C.C. Skills:

Languages: Native tongue at 98% and two languages of choice (+20%).
Literacy: One of choice (+15%)
Basic Math (+20%)
Climbing (+10%)
Lore: Demons & Devils (+15%)
Lore: Monsters & Animals (+15%)
Lore: Religion (+20%)
Land Navigation (+15%)
Play Musical Instrument of Choice (+20%)
Swim (+10%)
Wilderness Survival (+15%)
W.P. Staff
W.P. Spear
Hand to Hand: Martial Arts only (no substitution allowed)

Communications: Any (+5%)
Domestic: Any (+15%)
Espionage: Any.
Horsemanship: General.
Labour: Any (+5%)
Medical: Any (+5%)
Military: Heraldry only.
Naval: Any
Performance Arts: Any
Physical: Any, except Acrobatics & Wrestling.
Rogue: Any
Science: Any
Scholar/Technical: Any (+10%)
Weapon Proficiencies: Any except longbow.
Wilderness: Any

Secondary Skills: Choose 4 at level 1, plus 1 per level starting at level 2. All new skills start at Lvl. one proficiency. These are additional areas of knowledge that don't get the O.C.C. bonus.

Starting Equipment: A set of traveling clothes, a dark traveling robe with a hood (typically brown or grey), a ceremonial robe, sandals or moccasins, belt, bedroll, backpack, a medium-sized to large purse/satchel, four small sacks, a water skin, one or two symbols of the monk's god or pantheon, a wooden cross, six wooden spikes, a small mallet, 30 feet (9 m) of rope, 1D6 vials of holy water, small mirror, a tinder box, and food rations of 2D4 weeks.

Armour: Starts with soft leather (A.R. 10, S.D.C. 20) worn under the robe.

Weapons: Warrior monks most commonly use staves, spears, forks/tridents, blunt weapons, and the bow (though some orders allow for bladed weapons). Starts with a sturdy staff or spear, a dagger or a hatchet (mainly for utilitarian purposes rather than combat) and one of choice. All are basic S.D.C. weapons of good quality. Magic and holy weapons and other items must be acquired later.

Money: The character starts with 110 in gold. Additional money will come from payment for services rendered and/or the acquisition of booty. Those living at monasteries have all their basic needs taken care of, and everybody in the community works to keep the place up. The character's founding monastery will usually supply them with all their basic needs: clothing, food, and staff. Traveling monks can always find shelter, food, drinking water, a new robe or sandals, and basic facilities (a well, bathing area, a place to wash clothes, a place to sleep, library, and so on) at any monastery that worships the same god(s). Even some rival monasteries will offer a fellow monk basic amenities. Likewise, farmers and villagers will usually offer the monk similar hospitality. In all cases, payment for such hospitality is a small donation or general help, like cleaning, stacking boxes, tending the garden, etc. If the monk has performed some special service for an individual or community, especially defending them against danger, he is usually given some small amount of money (occasionally a large amount, but most communities are very poor) and free food and lodging. Some monks live lavishly and have a weakness for alcohol and books, but most live quiet, modest lives, giving much of their earnings to the less fortunate (40-50%) and their monastic order (25%).