Martial Artist
Class Description in PDF format
The "Monk" player character class is a very interesting class but turns out to be one of those lacking and whacko classes. Some people are turned off by the very strange abilities the monk gets at higher levels. It also turns out that as a fighter-type at higher levels, the monk seems to be less effective than a cleric. To remedy both of those problems, the class presented here eliminates some of the abilities and gives the monk a little more punch.
The core concept is that the martial artist and fighter are twin brothers, both going to the same fighter academy. One chooses to specialize in weapons and the other chooses to specialize in unarmed combat. In this case, the martial artist can more easily fit into a campaign setting for those who don't like the east Asian characters existing in the same world as medieval European characters. This means that the martial artist class can represent more of a boxer pugilist type if need be to fit into your campaign.
Summary of Changes:
- Removed Abundant Step
- Removed Timeless Body
- Removed Tongue of the Sun and Moon
- Removed Empty Body
- Removed Perfect Self
- Removed Knowledge(arcana) from class skill list
- Reduced Unarmored Speed Bonus
- Increased Unarmed damage
- Increased Hit Die to d10
- Used Fighter Base Attack Bonus
- Added simple weapon proficiency (but is lost when using armor)
- Increased AC Bonus progression (every 3 levels instead of five)
- Ki Strike now adds enchanment bonuses to unarmed strikes
- Added Weapon Finesse (Unarmed Strike) at 1st level