Page 1 of 1

The Monk class

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:01 pm
by Rookie555
So I've been wondering if anyone here has come up with a monk archetype using BFRPG. A player wants to be this class for his character and I was stumped to let him be that class. So in anyway, What should I do about this if he wanted to play the class?

Re: The Monk class

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 6:53 am
by chiisu81

Re: The Monk class

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:01 am
by SmootRK

Re: The Monk class

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:56 pm
by Dimirag
Not a monk per se, but close -> Martial Artist

Re: The Monk class

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:40 pm
by orobouros
I came up with a monk subtype for a similar reason. One of my players wanted a monk. I'm loathe to upset the balance of the game. With certain rules a 1st level monk can take on monsters that would otherwise absolutely pulverize them if they were any other class. So I create subtypes: variants of a class that have certain drawbacks and advantages. Since to me a monk is an unarmed combat specialist, to me that only makes sense as a fighter subtype. So the basis for a monk is a fighter.

I gave the monk bonuses for unarmed combat, with the option of a 1d6 quarterstaff and a 1d4 sling, but no other weapons. Unlike any other class, the monk can strike armored foes and cause damage; otherwise they'd be pretty useless in a lot of situations. No armor, either! But they naturally get an AC bonus equal to their attack bonus. And an AC bonus against kicks and punches. And a few other things.

Is it worth playing this character? Depends. If you're a min-max player then almost certainly not. The generic fighter is going to be on average the better character. But there's roleplaying to think about, and in certain situations (captured and stripped of weapons, armor and weapons stolen from inn, etc) the monk (as I created it) is going to have an advantage.

But that was kinda the point. A subclass is not and should not be the overall better choice. But for limited cases the monk is going to be a better option and may suit the play style of certain characters more.

Re: The Monk class

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 12:17 am
by Metroknight
Have you thought about using one of the core classes such as cleric or fighter and snipping some of the material from the optional combat supplement like the weapon/armor specializations and a few other things? A little tweak here or there, probably won't be to OP, along with some descriptive text should come close to what will work.

Re: The Monk class

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:47 pm
by teaman
We had an old school monk in a BFRPG a few years back and after a few levels, he became WAY powerful. This was not the Great Way Adept or Martial artist from BFRPG, but using the old school references.

So just think about how powerful you would like him or her to be and tread lightly. As a previous poster noted, start with a fighter and carefully add some things from there, adjusting the XP accordingly.