• Monks in Penderyn
• Creating a Monk
  • Minimum Scores
  • Race
  • Alignment
  • Thief Skills
  • Hit Points (HP) & Level Progression
  • Abilities
    

	Art used by gracious permission of the copyright holder, Todd Lockwood, © 1999 Click here to visit artist Todd Lockwood's website.

Monks in Penderyn are a class found mostly in the north; originally from the Kyriss Region, but in modern days found also in the Myracin territories. They're ascetics who train mind and body to be in harmony, and they're dedicated to a philosophy or cause above all worldly concerns. The goal of a monk is to find perfection in life, action, and being.

Penderyn monks had their origins in human, dwarven, humanoid, and goblinoid martial arts practitioners in the hard northern lands. As the homeland to many of the chaotic races such as orcs, ogres, bugbears, and gnoll, the Kyriss was always a region of warfare, violence, battle, and bloodshed. From this martial lifestyle arose many methods of stylized combat, many with weapons, but just as many without. It was literally a matter of life or death for a combatant in the Kyriss to know how to fight against an opponent who had disarmed him, or when a weapon wasn't available. A few half-orcs learn this austere and brutal lifestyle from their orc parent, thus it's not as unusual as some might think to find a half-orc monk.

With these systems of combat, many tribes produced fierce warriors who were renowned for being just as deadly with their bare hands as with a broadsword. And despite what many southerners believe, humans were not the only ones who developed highly effective empty-hand martial arts styles. Even today, there are tribes of orcs and hobgoblins who follow the strict codes of monks, living simple lives revolving around martial practice, perfecting their skills, and conquering others.

Humans, however, have bent their energy towards developing the more philosophical aspects of the monk’s lifestyle. While any human monk is a potent adversary in combat, most spend at least as much time studying, teaching, and exploring as they do practicing to fight. To most human monks, the martial art is merely a path towards the goal of understanding themselves, protecting themselves, and bringing their mind and spirit into harmony with their body. Kicking ass is secondary.

Dwarves in the Kyriss have martial disciplines, to be sure, but their bodies are not suited well to fight the larger, more agile humanoids in open-hand combat. Therefore, some modern dwarf clans have family martial art styles involving the specialized use of weapons, but they aren't monks.

While incredibly rare, there are some elvish monks. They're formidable opponents, as one can imagine! While popular belief is that they learned from humans, the fact is that the elves have had a style of unarmed combat for thousands of years. They have never taught this style to non-elves, but there are many reliable accounts of its use during the Dark War, so it's known to exist.

Human monks have, over the centuries, drifted down through the Kalimar Range and into the kingdoms. While exceedingly rare as a class, monks are fond of wandering, exploring, and meeting new cultures and ideas. Therefore, while practically all monks are northerners by birth, it’s possible to find them literally anywhere on the continent, living or passing among the people in an unassuming and quiet manner. (Of all the human classes, monks are most easily accepted into elven societies, due to their harmonious and respectful personalities.) Most monks travel alone, although they're very friendly. Many can be found as instructors in northern armies, as most monks are experts in close combat tactics with or without weapons.

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Note that the monks of the eastern continent of Jata are not the same as a Penderyn monk. The Jatanese class is as described in Oriental Adventures; still a warrior-priest style of character, but the skills, abilities, and some basic precepts are different. While a Penderyn monk and a Jatanese monk would get along quite well when played in the same campaign, the technical differences make the two separate and distinct classes for game play.
 

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Creating a Monk

Create monks using the following rules from Philip Meyers' "He's Got a Lot to Kick About" (Dragon Magazine #53).

Minimum Scores

Str 14   Int 7   Wis 15   Con 11   Dex 13   Chr 7

Race

Monks must be human, half elf, half orc, high or grey elf.

Alignment

Monks must be lawful, but may be neutral, evil, or good.

Thief Skills

Monks have Move Silently, Find Traps (but not remove), Hide in Shadows, Hear Noise, Climb Walls.

Hit Points (HP) & Level Progression

Experience Points (XP)	Level	HD (d6)	AC	Move	Level Title	# Attacks	OH DamageI	Abilities
0	1	2	14	15"	Novice	1	1d4	A
1,501	2	3	15	15"	Initiate of the Rudiments	1	1d6	B
3,001	3	4	16	16"	Initiate of the Elements	1	1d6+1	C
6,001	4	5	17	16"	Initiate of the Principles	3/2	1d6+1	D
12,001	5	6	17	17"	Brother	3/2	2d4**	E
25,001	6	7	18	17"	Disciple	3/2	2d4+1	F
40,001	7	8	18	18"	Disciple of Secrets	2	2d4+1	G
70,001	8	9	19	18"	Disciple of Mysteries	2	2d6	H
110,001	9	10	19	19"	Immaculate	2	3d4	I
160,001	10	11	20	20"	Master	5/2	3d4	J
220,001	11	12	20	20"	Superior Master	5/2	1d10+3	K
400,001	12	13	21	21"	Master of Dragons	5/2	4d4	L
650,001	13	14	21	22"	Master of North Wind	3	4d4	M
900,001	14	15	22	23"	Master of West Wind	3	4d4+1	N
1,150,001	15	16	22	24"	Master of South Wind	3	5d4	O
1,400,001	16	17	23	25"	Master of East Wind	3	4d6	P
1,650,001	17	18	23	26"	Master of Winter	4	4d6[	Q
1,900,001	18	19	24	27"	Master of Autumn	4	2d10+4	R
2,200,001	19	20	24	28"	Master of Summer	4	5d6	S
2,500,001	20	21	25	29"	Master of Spring	4	8d4	T
2,800,001+	21	22	25	30"	Grand Master	4	8d4	U

I Halve open hand damage (round up) when monks strike opponents 10'+ tall, or with a natural AC of 20+.

[ At 10th level, a monk's hands become the equivalent of +1 weapons to determine which creatures they may hit.
    At 18th level, they become +2 weapon equivalents.
 

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Abilities

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