Paths of the Monk

Starting at 3rd level many Monks look to specialise their talents, depending upon their particular personal goals.

The options open are:

* Generic Monk – all rounder
* Warrior Monk – Improved combat abilities
* Guardian – Improved defensive & protection abilities
* Invigilator – Improved knowledge abilities
* Blackfist - Posion and fast kill

Training in any of these options requires tuition, generally only available from specific individuals who may be able to provide training in only one specific path. Training generally costs around 40gp. Should the Monk achieve 6th level, without any specialisation then he has lost the opportunity.

(There are other paths, but these need to be discovered)

## All Paths

4th lvl and above: Open hand attacks function as +1 weapons

6th lvl and above: Open hand attacks do not risk touch attack effects (e.g. you can punch a Mummy without catching disease)

8th lvl and above: Open hand attacks function as +2 weapons

10th lvl and above: Open hand attacks function as +3 weapons and take best form for damage dealing (e.g. blunt vs. skeletons)

## Generic Monk

All normal Monk rules apply, the Monk will gain +1 Str, +1 Wis or +1 Con (player choice) at 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter.

## Warrior Monk

The Monk stops any development of his thief abilities in order to focus on improving their combat skills. The Monk will continue to have the basic thief skills (as a 2nd level thief only).

In addition the Monk loses abilities A (speak with Animals), F (speak with Plants).

Warrior Monks gain the following benefits:

* Their open hand attacks are made on the Fighter table (weapon attacks still use Thief)
* Flurry of blows, at 5th level the monk gains the ability to have a number of open hand attacks as a monk 4 levels higher, but doing damage as a monk 4 levels lower
* Open hand attacks gain Dexterity bonuses to hit and Strength bonuses on damage
* They gain Con bonuses to HP as a fighter
* They retain their immunity to slow spells, but can elect to be subject to a haste spell (not that if hasted, the monks immunity to slow will not prevent a slow spell from cancelling the haste)
* At third level the Warrior Monk gains +2 to any initiative rolls, unless surprised
* At eighth level the Warrior Monk gains the ability: 1/day – automatically gain initiative and act first in any given situation

Warrior Monk gains +1 Dex, +1 Con or +1 Str at 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter.

## Guardian

The Guardian focusses on providing improved security and defending others.

The Guardian loses the following Monk abilities:

* Additional weapon damage is capped at +2 (4th level)
* Open locks and Climb walls abilities are capped at 2nd level thief
* D (catalepsy), E (self heal), J (immunity to Quest/Geas)

The Guardian gains the following benefits:

* They can apply their Dex bonus to hit as a negative modifier to a single opponents attack which they are in h2h combat with – even if the opponent is attacking someone else
* They gain +1 hp/dice
* They are able to intercept opponents attacks (20%+3%/lvl chance) of taking an attack that was intended for another (this includes missile attacks if the intended target is within 10’ of the Guardian)
* They can apply Dexterity bonuses to their own AC
* At 7th level the Guardian gains the ability to heal himself or others, once per day. The damage healed is 1hp/lvl + Wisdom bonus to save
* Guardians make saving throws on the best possible table (exception the Petrification save vs. missiles remains on the thief table)

Guardian gains +1 Dex, +1 Con or +1 Wis at 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter.

## Invigilator

A more mystic route, followed by the more religiously dedicated monks.

The invigilator loses the following Monk abilities:

* Can no longer stun or use quivering palm with open hand attacks
* No additional damage when using weapons

At 4th level and above, the invigilator gains the ability to use clerical spells, a total of (Invigilator level -3 + Wisdom-14) levels of spell can be cast per day. These spells do not need to be pre-selected, but can only be Divination spells.

At 5th level and above the Invigilator gains access to druidic spells (against the same limit of levels)

At 7th level and above the Invigilator gains access to magic user spells (against the same limit of levels but with Intelligence-14 as an additional bonus)

At 9th level and above the Invigilator gains access to illusionist spells (against the same limit of levels)

(Clarification: Only divination spells, doesnt matter what list they are drawn from. It is a common pool)

Invigilators gain new skills at the rate of +1 Skill per 3 levels

Invigilators gain +1 Int, +1 Wis or +1 Cha at 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter.

## Blackfist

The Monks focus shifts towards effective ways of killing swiftly, generally looked down on by most of the other Monk subclasses because of what is seen as their lack of mental discipline.

The Blackfist loses abilities B (ESP Block), D (Self coma), G (Resistance to Charm etc.), H (Mental Discipline), J (Quest/Geas Immunity).

Blackfists gain the following benefits:

* If they surprise or attack an unaware opponent, their attacks that round gain double damage in addition to any other bonuses
* Their open hand attacks stun if they exceed the to hit roll by 4 (as opposed to 5)
* Their kill %age is calculated as Enemy AC + Monk Level-5
* At Level 4 the Blackfist can safely handle poisons and can envenom weapons with only a 5% chance of failure
* Focussed Blow, at 6th level the monk gains the ability to focus their multiple blows/round into a single attack. The single attack has a to hit bonus of +2 (+3 at 10th lvl, +4 at 14th lvl) and the damage inflicted is multiplied by the number of attacks the monk would normally have.
* Ability ‘I’ (Immunity to poison) is gained at level 9, this allows the Blackfist to envenom his hands

Blackfist gain +1 Con, +1 Int or +1 Str at 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter.