DCC Monk Class

 

So, in Hommlett you can run into Turuko, who is a balkuni monk … and if you wander the dim back streets of the city of Greyhawk you might encounter members of the Scarlet Brotherhood, who can kill an opponent with their bare hands.  Wither is the monk class, and how shall we handle it in DCC?

There are quite a few attempts at the monk for DCC in various zines and blogs that I’ve read … but some are overly complex and some are just a slightly tweaked Warrior class.  My thought is, you could always play a Warrior as an unarmed combatant, but the monk is more cerebral … his chi is centered, and he can perform physical acts of prowess that others can’t.  I went back to my AD&D Players’ Handbook, and reviewed their abilities.  Surprisingly, I didn’t recall this but their class is very 3^rd-edition-esque, getting X ability at Y level, and then later gaining Z ability, etc.  But that doesn’t feel right with DCC.  Abilities for other classes tend to be laid out at the beginning of the class, and then just improve as levels are gained, keeping the rules simple and streamlined.

Keeping things in the spirit of AD&D, I put in an armor check penalty to their abilities for using armor, which will strongly discourage them from suiting up in chainmail (unless masquerading as a henchman guard and sneaking into the villain’s lair).  I added their Monk level to unarmed combat damage, so rather than dicing up with an attack that does 1d3, 1d4, 1d6, and so on at higher levels, it just get’s a scaling bonus.  1d3+6 is nothing to sneeze at.  I also stole the halfling’s two-weapon fighting, so a monk can get in a series of blows (technically two x 2-weapon attacks at 5^th level).  They will never be the damage machine that a Warrior is, doing huge amounts of damage, but they will be versatile with multiple attacks, so they’re good for taking out minions and goons aplenty.  I also stayed away from Mighty Deeds, instead giving them a really wide crit range … I think many of the effects of Crit Table III are very monk-ish.  I’d be open to even increasing it more, but I worry about it being too deadly.

Finally, to take all the traditional monk benefits from AD&D PHB without being too fiddly or complex, I added a bonus called Serenity – it adds to AC for being unarmored, but lets them perform heroic feats of jumping, climbing, balancing on ledges, holding their breath underwater, resisting poisons and diseases, charm spells, and what not – it’s a pretty widely used bonus, but being versatile in a number of physical and mental feats seems about right.  It makes the monk somewhat of a skill-fu class, but just being good at natural things rather than giving them new abilities.

Overall, the class seems right for flavour, but might be a bit underwhelming?  It’s a short write up compared to some other classes, so it could be boosted a little if needed.  It’ll have to come out in play to see if it feels fun to a player and right for holding their own beside Warriors or Thieves in the party for hand-to-hand combat and skill-like checks, but being different enough to stand apart from those other classes.

Try out this class and let me know what you find at archadethered@gmail.com

  

MONK

Monks are monastic acolytes who practice rigorous mental and physical training and discipline in order to achieve inner serenity.  While found more commonly in far flung lands, some monks travel to learn of the world and seek enlightenment.  While capable of defending themselves with their bare hands, their true power is the mastery they have over their own body and mind.

Hit Die: Monks gain 1d6 hit points per level.

Alignment: Due to the discipline needed to train as a monk, most are Lawful of alignment, although a few Neutral or Chaotic monks have been known to exist.

Weapon Training:  Monks are proficient with the blowgun, dagger, dart, sling, and staff.  Due to their training requiring unfettered movement, monks cannot easily wear armor or use a shield, and suffer any armor check penalties to both their Open Hand attack rolls and their Serenity bonus.

Open Hand Attack: As masters of unarmed combat, a Monk may add their Monk level to unarmed damage.  Furthermore, a monk does lethal damage with their hands should they choose.

Two-weapon Fighting: Monks are capable of capably using two-weapon fighting, as follows:

• Normally, two-weapon fighting depends on the character’s Agility to be effective (see pages 94-95). A monk is always considered to have a minimum Agility of 16 when fighting with two weapons. This means he rolls at -1 die for his first attack and second, based on the dice chain (typically 1d16 for his first attack, and 1d16 for his second).

• A monk must use his Open Hand Attack as at least one of his two weapons, and the second can be a one-handed weapon such as a dagger, or if proficient in such a weapon, a dagger, shortsword, handaxe, or the like.

• Unlike other characters, when fighting with two weapons, a monk scores a crit and automatic hit on any roll of a natural 16.

• If the monk has an Agility score higher than 16, he instead uses the normal two-weapon fighting rules for his Agility.

• When fighting with two weapons, the monk fumbles only when both dice come up a 1.

Increased Critical Threat Range: When using an open hand attack or a weapon the monk is proficient in, they gain an increased critical hit range, although an automatic hit still requires a natural 20.

Initiative Bonus:  Monks may add the chart bonus to their Initiative.

Serenity: A monk centers their mind and body, and both are finely tuned to perform as the monk wills it.  Add the Serenity bonus to Armor Class, physical skill checks involving Strength or Agility, such as climbing walls, hiding, or sneaking silently.  The Serenity bonus can also be used to save against enchantment effects against their mind, or saving throws against poisons or diseases.

Luck: A Monk often can sense where not to be, predicting actions of others by body language.  A Monk may add their Luck bonus to their Reflex saves.
 

Level	Attack	Crit Die/Table	Threat Range	Action Dice	Initiative	Serenity/AC	Fort	Ref	Will
1	+0	1d6/III	19-20	1d20	+2	+4	+1	+1	+1
2	+1	1d8/III	19-20	1d20	+3	+4	+1	+1	+1
3	+2	2d4/III	19-20	1d20	+4	+5	+1	+2	+2
4	+2	2d6/III	19-20	1d20	+5	+5	+2	+2	+2
5	+3	2d8/III	18-20	1d20+1d14	+6	+6	+2	+3	+3
6	+4	2d10/III	18-20	1d20+1d16	+7	+6	+2	+4	+3
7	+5	2d10/III	18-20	1d20+1d20	+8	+7	+3	+4	+4
8	+5	2d10/III	18-20	1d20+1d20	+9	+7	+3	+5	+6
9	+6	2d12/III	17-20	1d20+1d20	+10	+8	+3	+5	+6
10	+7	2d14/III	17-20	1d20+1d20+1d14	+11	+8	+4	+6	+6