Cloistered Cleric (Western Monk)

[daryen]

After making the Monk class (which I based off the various versions in the original game), it occurs to me that it could also be fun to make the "western monk", too. In the SRD, this class is called the Cloistered Cleric, which is also the name I'll likely use, too. Kinda trying to work through the broad strokes, and I end up with something like this:
1) They use the magic-user hit dice, but the cleric experience point progression. (They are more frail than a typical cleric.)
2) They use the magic-user attack bonus, but the cleric saving throws. (They are clerics, still.)
3) They lose armor use, though maybe they keep leather.
4) They use the cleric spell progression and spell lists.
5) They cannot turn undead.
6) They get a Legend Lore type capability. (I don't think BFRPG has that, so it'd have to be made. If the Bard has it, I'd steal it from there.)
7) They gain the Read Magic spell like a Magic-User. This lets them read Magic-User scrolls, though they can't actually prepare any Magic-User spells; it has to be from a spell scroll.

Does this seem like a fun idea? (If it is, I'll update this post with an odt for the class.)

[SmootRK]

https://www.basicfantasy.org/showcase.cgi?sid=122

Showcase item, feel free to snag ideas.

[Seven]

Have you ever read the Canterbury Tales?

The characters include a Prioress, 2 Nuns, 3 Nun's priests, a Monk, A Friar, A Parson, A Summoner, a Pardoner, a Canon and the Canon's Yeoman.

To state my point directly, a Cloistered Cleric would be a bit of a satire character.
If he's really cloistered, then he's not playable.
Authority figures with vague roles and vague powers make good NPCs though.
What you got there looks a lot like a Sage to me.

I find the opposite, the wandering priest, a lot more interesting, because the characters can encounter him without seeking him out.

Also, religion is terribly campaign specific. For example, in my campaign there is a religious body whose purpose is to oversee the activities of all foreign religions in the territory.

Monks often brew/distill unique alcohols.
If I was doing a monk, I would definitively hook him up with a decent supply.

[daryen]

OK, a few things:
- OK, so the name sucks. I'll figure out a new name if anything is salvageable.
- I was trying to go in a different direction of the Priest. Rather than someone how serves (like a proper priest), this is someone who gets lost in research and magic.
- It isn't a pure Sage. To me a Sage would be someone who would be more along purely arcane lines. I wouldn't expect a "true" Sage to be of a clerical heritage.

What I was really trying to go for was a cleric that can read and cast, but not prepare, arcane/Magic-User spells. The inspiration was the SRD cloistered cleric, which, really, isn't an actual cloistered cleric, either. That was a magic-focused cleric, which is what I was aiming for. I'd say "mystic theurge", but that's not right, either, as I am not trying to make anything with *that* many spells immediately available. So, more of a "studious cleric" than anything.

Also, I know there are whole classes of careers and peoples who are "not adventurers". The point of a class like this is to make someone who is theoretically not supposed to adventure, but make them equipped to do so if they end up adventuring anyway. This is not be be a satire character, but rather one who was thrust into a difficult situation, but is (without necessarily realizing it) equipped to deal with it.

As for a wandering priest, that class already exists in the Core Rules.

[SmootRK]

There is a Sage quasi-class,
perhaps pull from both Priest supplement and that quasi-class to achieve what you are going for.

Perhaps name like Scholar or Theologian

[Bumblepig]

Out of curiosity, why can't they turn undead? I would think that should be a broadly understood part of clerical training. But I'm sure I'm unconsciously thinking of my own campaign.

[Dimirag]

If I'm understanding right, the idea is that of a Religious Arcanist Scribe (maybe just Scribe), a sub-cleric that can cast Magic-User's spell from scrolls with the use of a spell.

Lets star with the Core, the Cleric, what should be stripped?
-HD: Yes, a bookworm life, lets use a d4
-Weapons: No combat training, no weapon weapon training, not even knives. Just staves? None at all?
-Armor: As above, none due to no training.
-Turn Undead: I like the idea of every sub-cleric keeping this, as its a manifestation of their faith rather than a granted power.
-Spells: Maybe lowering to 1/2 cleric level. Maybe they don't depend or train to much with them.

Now, what can we give them?
-Lore Skill: Should it cover several topics or just be an Arcane Knowledge skill?
-Arcane spells: Should it require a new spell for each spell level? Meaning higher spell levels will be out of reach. Should it be treated as a clerical spell and be done? Should it use a separate table telling what arcane scroll level he can cast at each level? (I like option 2 here)

I feel like their special abilities are to circumstantial, maybe a save bonus against arcane spell? I would let him add a bonus to a Magic User research rolls if assisted by this character, maybe 2% per level.