A
Warhammer Quest Profession by Art Franklin
Human civilization has been at war against the forces of
Chaos and other militant races for millennia, often against races and creatures
that are bigger, stronger, more aggressive and more numerous.
But human kingdoms still exist and indeed thrive against
all odds in
Bretonnia, the Empire,
But this sort of discipline is easy to achieve in a walled city that
knows the business of war. It is
another thing to train in oneself. Dotting
the wilderness between Settlements wherever men are found, are walled keeps of
many sorts. Some are the holdings of
one lord or another, built to keep trade routes open and busy.
Others are outposts built to secure an area for military campaigning.
Still others, however, function as monasteries.
These monasteries serve different purposes in different cultures, and the
resident monks and nuns serve different deities in different lands.
However, they all have one thing in common.
They serve as bastions of Order itself, and thus present the ultimate
affront to the Lords of Chaos.
It is interesting
how similar these monasteries are in nature.
Many have completely different origins, yet all end up serving a similar
function in their respective societies.
While adherents of Chaos (as Monks see Wizards)
learn to harness the Winds of Magic to cast spells and change the world,
monasteries teach their members how to train and harness their natural
abilities. Monks
work to hone their body and mind so that they do not need many other tools.
And if a Wizard gains power from the corrupting forces that permeate the
world, and if Clerics draw power from their gods, then Monks learn to recognize
that latent power that everyone has.
Recognize it, and hone it to sharpness.
This power they call ki.
Monks are noted for their martial prowess, their ability to fight
effectively even without arms and armor, and their seemingly supernatural
abilities. Monks themselves,
however, know that nothing they do is supernatural.
Knowledge is power, and Monks know the greatest power of all, for they
know themselves. Welcome to an
introspective journey, the Path of Discipline.
STARTING
AS A MONK
Monk start with the following profile:
Wounds: | Roll 3d6, drop the lowest die, Reroll all dice once if result is 6 or
less |
Move: | 4 |
Weapon Skill: | 3 |
Ballistic Skill: | 5+ |
Strength: | 3 |
Toughness: | 3 |
Initiative: | 3 |
Attacks: | 1 |
Willpower: | 4 |
Pinning: | 3+ |
Save vs. Death: | 14 |
Save vs. Spell: | 15 |
Weapons:
Quarterstaff
or Bo: (1d6+Strength) Damage, +1
Toughness. Quarterstaves can be spun
and either end can be used to attack
with. The Monk can therefore make an
extra Attack each round with this weapon as long as all attacks are at -1 to
hit, though the Toughness bonus would then be lost for the rest of the Turn.
A staff is a Monk’s favored weapon since it can double as a walking
stick and allow him to traverse the countryside unhindered in peasant garb and
yet be ready for action at any time.
Equipment:
Headband
of Ferocity: This headband made
of wild boar leather lets the Monk keep going when he would normally collapse of
his wounds. The wearer can act
normally even when reduced to 0 Wounds, but still dies as normal if he cannot
heal himself or be healed before the next Turn starts.
Special Skills:
Unarmed
Fighting:
An unarmed
Monk is still a force to be reckoned with!
The damage for an Initiate Brother is still only 1d6 (no Strength bonus),
but he gets an extra +2 Attacks when fighting with no weapons.
Furthermore, there are many skills that a Monk can only utilize if he is
fighting unarmed. Unarmed
damage will increase as the Monk gains Battle-levels as shown in the chart at
the end of these rules.
Evade
6+:
The Monk has a chance to evade any kind of attacks (melee, ranged,
magical) that don’t hit Automatically as long as there is a free adjacent
square for him to move to.
If the Monk is prone, immobilized or penned in, he obviously cannot make
this roll.
Stunning
Attack:
If the
Monk is fighting unarmed, he may try to stun most Monsters.
A Monk can attempt this Once per Adventure for each Battle-level he has.
A stunning attack must be called in advance, at which time the Monk
attacks bare-handed. If
he misses, the attempt is wasted and lost.
If he hits, he tries to roll a 4,5 or 6.
If he succeeds, the attack still does normal damage as well as stunning
the Monster. The
Monster will be stunned for one full Turn and other Warriors are +2 to hit it.
MONKS AND TREASURE
Monks do not
wear armor or shields, and use mainly simple weapons, such as Maces, Crossbows,
Daggers, Javelins, Spears, Staves, Throwing Axes and Throwing Stars.
A Monk can use magic items as long as they do not require arcane
knowledge to activate, but will not deign to rely on blessed items that are
dedicated to a god they don’t worship. (Some
Monks are religious and some are not – it is assumed that the Monk is not
unless roleplay dictates otherwise.) Due
to their limited use of Treasure, a Monk does not have to abide by the BDEW
designations and instead must stick to what seems appropriate to the class.
A Monk may
possess no more than two magic weapons and three other magic items at any time.
The Monk will seek to bestow unusable magic items (and treasure beyond
what is sufficient for their modest needs) on religious institutions and other
good causes.
*ADVANCED
RULES*
MONKS
AND GOLD
The archetypical Monks are much less concerned with the materialistic goals
that many humans have. Therefore
Gold is of much less value than normal. The
Monk can carry no more Gold on him than half the amount he would need to train
to the next level. (For example, a
Battle-Level 2 Monk can carry no more than 2000 Gold at any one time.)
However, at Monasteries and tranquil locations such as the Pool of Dreams
and Chapels Monks can convert Gold to Experience, which can be used to train to
the next Battle-level, but cannot be spent or lost.
(This means that it will be useful to keep track of both your
character’s Gold and Experience amounts.)
MONKS AND
SETTLEMENTS
When visiting
settlements, a Monk may visit all the standard locations such as the various
traders and the following special locations:
The Alchemist, Gambling House, Temple, Fighting Pit, Alehouse (no
modifier), and a Monastery.
The Monastery can be found on an 8+.
Monks, although proud, will often make a conscious attempt to behave in a
humble fashion at all times, and tend not to get into TOO much trouble in
settlements.
Monks may not hire or retain any henchmen or disciples until they attain the rank of Master (Battle-level 5).
The Monastery:
·
Convert Gold
to experience points- it cannot be spent but cannot be lost to hazards, either.
·
Donate
Magical Items to his cause- he gets the experience points for such a gift.
·
Donate
an appropriate amount of Gold to attain the use of the following possessions
:
Three-section
staff: Three-equal length
sections of staff, joined by chain, rope or leather.
This weapon does 1d6+1 damage and the Monk can get three Attacks per
round regardless of what his profile says.
Donation: 500 gold
Stock roll: 9
Donation: 350 gold
Stock roll: 10
Skills:
To learn a skill, simply choose whichever you would like to try to learn.
Then make a Willpower test at the difficulty level listed for the skill.
For example, say you would like your Monk to learn a skill rated at Diff.
7. Simply Roll 1d6 and add the
Monk’s Will score. If the number
equals or beats the difficulty he has succeeded in learning this new skill!
If he fails, he may pick a second skill to try to learn.
If the Monk fails both times, then he is lacking either the discipline or
the aptitude to incorporate a new ability at this time and must wait until the
next time he trains to a new Battle-level. If
the Monk succeeds on his first try with a natural 6, then he not only
learns the new skill, but he also gets to try to learn a second (with no second
tries) skill this level, so great is his concentration!
1.
Evasion (Difficulty 7):
The Monk can increase his Evasion ability by 1 each
time he successfully works on this skill. So
a Monk that takes this skill 2 times has the ability to Evade 4+.
2.
Deflect Arrows (Difficulty 7):
Once per Turn when the Monk is hit by a missile weapon (except bullets
and the like), he can try to deflect it and take no damage.
To do so, he must succeed at an Initiative test at Difficulty 7.
If the shooter or his bow has a magical bonus to attack, the Difficulty
of the test is raised by that amount.
3.
Still Mind (Difficulty 8):
The Monk can
improve the strength of his mind to ward against mind-affecting spells such as Confusion.
When hit by such a spell, the Monk can either improve an existing chance
to save by 2, or make a save against effects (on a 5 or 6) that automatically
affect everyone else.
4.
Slow Fall (Difficulty 8):
Monks with this
ability can halve the damage they take from falling into pits and the like, as
long as they are reasonably near a wall.
5.
Purity of Body (Difficulty 8):
Through intense
internal focus, the Monk learns complete control over his immune system.
He then gains complete immunity to all diseases except for magical ones
such as Tomb Rot, lycanthropy and vampirism.
A Monk can be infected with a normal disease that is cast like a spell,
(for instance if a Greater Daemon of Nurgle were to cast upon him), but he would
be able to cure himself in the time it takes to travel to a settlement.
(Any loss of statistics may be permanent, however.)
6.
Trip (Difficulty 7):
The Monk gains
the ability to replace any of his normal Attacks with a Trip attack once per
Turn. (This doesn’t work against
Large Monsters and spiders of course!) If
the Monk hits, simply make an opposed Strength check (both Monk and Monster roll
1d6 and add their Strength) with the Monk adding +2 to the roll.
If the succeeds, the Monster falls Prone for the rest of the Turn!
7.
Wholeness of Body (Difficulty 8):
The Monk is actually able to mend his own Wounds by
forcing his body to work faster! The
Monk is able to cure up to 4 times his current Battle-level in Wounds each
Dungeon. This does not have to be
done all at once, and the healing can be rationed out over time.
8.
Leap of the Clouds (Difficulty 8):
A Monk with this
ability can Jump up to three Squares horizontally or vertically without having
to make an Initiative test. If the
Monk wishes to Leap further, he must make an Initiative test following the
normal rules but treating Square 4 as Square 2.
9.
Ki Strike (Difficulty 8):
A Monk with this
ability is now putting all their spirit into their attacks.
All the Monk’s unarmed attacks count as Magical when attacking Ethereal
and Daemonic Monsters. In addition,
the Ignore Pain ability is no longer useful against the Monk’s unarmed
attacks.
10.
Diamond Body (Difficulty 9, Prerequisite is Purity of Body):
A Monk with this
ability is in such control of his own metabolism that he gains immunity to
Poison and Disease of all kinds. Fatal
Damage is still possible.
11.
Diamond Soul (Difficulty 9, Prerequisite is Still Mind):
A Monk with a Diamond Soul can use his Save vs. Spell to completely shrug off and resist enemy spells. Simply make the roll on the leveling chart on a d20 and the Monk will resist a spell cast upon him. (The Monk may not be immune to the physical effects of spells cast on others.)
12.
Quivering Palm (Difficulty 10):
This fabled
technique, also known as Dim Mak, is the ability to hit a pressure point
on an opponent that sets up potentially fatal vibrations.
The Monk with this ability can use it once per Dungeon to try to kill an
opponent instantly. He must announce
the intent before rolling to hit with an empty-hand attack. If
the blow strikes successfully and causes actual Wounds, the Monster must make a
Toughness save at Difficulty (the Monk’s Battle-level) or die instantly.
Monks with this ability can also set up a delayed death touch, in which
they successfully hit and then will the victim to die at a later time.
If the Monk does not will the victim to die within 24 hours, then the
vibrations set up within the target’s body will fade away finally.
The Quivering Palm technique cannot be used without
a good working knowledge of the human(oid) body, and therefore the Monk cannot
use it on Daemons, Chaos Spawn, animals, or any other Monsters that he doesn’t
have a complete knowledge of their pressure points and anatomy.
13. Empty
Body (Difficulty 10):
A Monk with this
ability gets the ability to be Ethereal 1 for 1 Turn per Dungeon per
Battle-level. The time spent can be
used all at once or rationed over the course of an adventure.
14. Perfect Self (Difficulty 12):
The Monk is in such perfect control of his body
that he now appears to be indestructible and other-worldly.
The Monk that has perfected himself gains the ability Ignore Pain 6.
The Monk’s body is being damaged but is literally repairing itself
instantaneously!
*MONK
STATISTIC ADVANCE TABLE*
Level
|
Title |
M |
WS |
BS |
STR |
Damage d6 |
T |
Wounds |
I |
A |
Skills |
Luck |
WP |
Escape Pinning |
Save vs. Death |
Save vs. Spell |
1 |
Grasshopper |
4 |
3 |
5+ |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1d6+7 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
5+ |
10 |
12 |
2 |
Disciple |
4 |
3 |
5+ |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2d6+7 |
4 |
1 |
Special |
1 |
3 |
5+ |
9 |
10 |
3 |
Disciple |
4 |
4 |
4+ |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2d6+7 |
4 |
2 |
Special |
1 |
4 |
5+ |
9 |
10 |
4 |
Disciple |
4 |
4 |
4+ |
4 |
1 |
4 |
3d6+7 |
5 |
2 |
Special |
2 |
4 |
5+ |
7 |
10 |
5 |
Master |
4 |
5 |
4+ |
4 |
2 |
4 |
3d6+7 |
5 |
2 |
Special |
2 |
4 |
4+ |
6 |
8 |
6 |
Master |
4 |
5 |
3+ |
4 |
2 |
4 |
4d6+7 |
5 |
2 |
Special |
2 |
4 |
4+ |
6 |
8 |
7 |
Master |
4 |
5 |
3+ |
4 |
2 |
4 |
4d6+7 |
6 |
3 |
Special |
3 |
5 |
4+ |
5 |
6 |
8 |
Master |
4 |
6 |
3+ |
4 |
2 |
4 |
5d6+7 |
6 |
3 |
Special |
3 |
5 |
3+ |
4 |
6 |
9 |
Grand Master |
4 |
6 |
2+ |
4 |
3 |
4 |
6d6+7 |
7 |
3 |
Special |
3 |
6 |
3+ |
4 |
4 |
10 |
Superior Grand Dragon Master of the Four Seasonal
Winds |
4 |
7 |
2+ |
4 |
3 |
4 |
7d6+7 |
7 |
3 |
Special |
3 |
6 |
2+ |
2 |
4 |
*MONK
OPEN-HAND DAMAGE*
Battle-Level |
Damage |
Attacks |
1-2 |
1d6 |
3 |
3-4 |
2d6 |
3 |
5-6 |
3d6 |
3 |
7-8 |
4d6 |
3 |
9 |
5d6 |
3 |
10 |
6d6 |
4 |
*NOTES
ON THIS PROFESSION*
To give the Monk a more unique atmosphere, I introduced the discipline concept. The player can choose which skills he wants, and has a chance to end up with more than the average fighter-type. No more random rolling to see which skill you learn. This is balanced slightly by depending on the Willpower stat, which goes up every other Battle-level. It still will not be wise to try to get the best skills right away. Also, some extremely useful skills have prerequisites, a new concept to Warhammer Quest, but a useful balancing tool.
written and adapted by Art Franklin
formatted
in html by Old Warrior