A little help?

[CIDE]

I've dabbled in AD&D a little bit here and there prior to 3.X. Since though most of the experience has been 3.X until my newest group. Where we alternate who DM's each week. One particular DM has had a world set up for over two decades. While he is switching it over to 3.X slowly it is still very much AD&D.

That said I know virtually nothing about it. Already attempted a Cleric that got forcefully separated from the party by such a distance and with a lack of knowledge that getting back together is pretty much on the verge of impossible. Meanwhile my Thri-Kreen Gladiator replacement for that character has since been utterly DESTROYED upon pissing off a deity.

So I'm moving on. My question is this: Is there a way to build a psionicist monk in AD&D? There isn't a limit to the 2nd edition books involved at all and custom stuff is allowed (sometimes encouraged) as long as it's fair and set up properly.

Also, for any builds I'd appreciate specific books being listed too for individual aspects for the character.

[LibraryOgre]

The most straightforward version of the psionic monk comes from the Dark Sun supplement "The Will and the Way", which is the Sensei kit. This is Complete Psionics Handbook psionics, and works best with Psychometabolism, naturally.

IIRC, there were Skills and Powers modifications made to the Psionicist, but they were in a Dragon magazine, and I cannot recall which one (One of the annuals?). That would allow you to strip psionicist of certain aspects, to beef up the fighting.

You might also consider a multi-class fighter/psionicist. Ask your DM what version of Martial Arts he's using, though... I can think of 3 or 4 in 2e sources (Complete Fighter, Complete Ninja, Combat and Tactics, Complete Gladiator).

[CIDE]

Specifically I was more after an unarmed warrior that used psionics. I don't want to say a brawler but I wanted to avoid the religious aspect of monks as much as I could. So the divine magic and all that is stuff that I wanted to avoid.

[LibraryOgre]

Then your best bet is a psionicist or fighter/psionicist, possibly using the sensei kit (sensei carries the drawback of not letting you wear ANY magic items that improve your AC, nor any magical weapons; I don't think a bonus weapon proficiency and a +1 to hit are worth that). There are other options out there, but those are going to be your best.

Since you've expressed unfamiliarity, let me explain the martial arts styles.

No, it take too long, let me sum up.

Complete Fighters: The Complete Fighters Martial Arts system is a simple table, similar to the punching/wrestling table in the PH. Depending on what you roll on the table, that determines the move you do. If you roll a 20, you punched them in the head, doing 3 damage (plus mods, which I'll talk about in a moment), and with a 15% chance of stunning them for 1d10 rounds. If an 11 is a successful hit, you do 0 damage, with a 1% chance of stunning. This is creates a pretty fluid system, where the Martial Artist uses a variety of maneuvers, depending on what they roll.
Now, when you spend the first slot to specialize in this system, you get an additional attack (provided you're not carrying anything in your hands), +1 to hit, +1 to damage, and a +1 Chart bonus. What the chart bonus means that, if you ROLLED an 11, you could choose to have it count as a 10 or 12 on the chart. Each additional slot put into specialization this system gives you another +1 to hit, another +1 to damage, and another +1 Chart Bonus, which you can apply in whole or in part. Note that you can only put 2 slots in at 1st level.
Now, there's a few downsides to this. First of all, because you're unarmed, an armed opponent gets a free shot (think Attack of Opportunity) at a +4 to hit and damage. Secondly, if you wear any armor heavier than leather, you take penalties to attack.

Complete Gladiator: The CG system is arguably more realistic, but it's also very complex. You have to declare each attack and defense, and which side you're doing it from. If I kick with my left leg, there's a different result if you defend with your left arm or your right. Also, they're only effective against Small, Medium, or Large Humanoids. I wouldn't suggest this system, as the DM is likely to kill you off just to get rid of it. :smallbiggrin:

Complete Ninja: The Complete Ninja system is based on the old Oriental Adventures system. I really like it, though it has a large degree of abstraction. You pick a style from the list in the book (there's also rules for creating your own style). That provides you a number of attacks, a base damage (from 1pt to 1d4), an AC mod (from -1 to -3), and a list of allowable weapons and special maneuvers. You have to learn proficiency with weapons and ability to use them in martial arts separately... so you might be proficient with the staff, but not able to work it into your martial arts. You also spend weapon proficiencies to learn a variety of special maneuvers... everything from basic meditation techniques to using a scarf as a spear.
This style does not mention the usual penalties for attacking an armed opponent while unarmed; I would assume they apply, since it doesn't say those rules don't apply, and they're supposed to work the same, otherwise.

Combat and Tactics: Combat and Tactics has 4 Martial Arts styles, imaginatively called A, B, C, and.... wait for it... D. A is about punching. B is about kicking. C is about throwing. D is about avoiding people. If you're proficient in A, you can make an extra punch each round if unarmored and unarmed. Proficient in B, and you can make an extra kick each round if unarmored and unarmed. Proficient in C, you can pull and trip with your unarmed attacks, using either Dex or Strength. Proficient in D, and you get a -2 to AC when unarmed and unarmored. Those are cumulative, so if you're proficient in all of them, you can kick/kick/punch in a single round, choosing to make your punch a pull. And, if you're specialized in one of them, you can explicitly make unarmed attacks against armed opponents without penalty.
For a full-on martial artist in this system, I suggest starting with A, B, and D, and specialize in one of them (A or B, since specialization will only apply to attack and damage rolls for one of them), since that will let you hit anyone and make 7 attacks every 2 rounds (3 on round one, 4 on round 2).

Obviously, my favorite system is Combat and Tactics, partially because it lets you be a straight up martial artist. It's still worth looking at Complete Gladiators for some neat and unusual weapons, and Combat and Tactics has some weapons that can be used as part of martial arts.

For reference, you might take a look at a PBEM character of mine from back in the day:

http://www.editors-wastebasket.org/nexx/tsr/zeren.html

I remembered him as I was typing this up. He uses the Combat and Tactics system.