[PF] Monk (PEACH)

[Apalala]

Author's Note: Here's is the umpteenth "fix" to the monk class. The goal here was to create a class that hits the "sweet spot" of power in Pathfinder. Better than the fighter, worse than the druid, and around the same level of power as the Paladin. As well, I wanted the class to be a lot more customizable than the standard Monk, give it some options similar to the Barbarian's Rage Powers and the Rogue's Talents. And as for the role, I wanted the Monk to be a capable front line fighter first and foremost, whose good saves make it able to stand up to the nastiest of monsters. While unarmored, I didn't want his AC to be negligible either. Add in a focus on mobility and some powers that are kind of de facto encounter abilities, and this is what I ended up with.

Role: Monks excel at overcoming even the most daunting perils, striking where it's least expected, and taking advantage of enemy vulnerabilities. Fleet of foot and skilled in combat, monks can navigate any battlefield with ease, aiding allies wherever they are needed most. Outside of combat, a monk aids the party with ancient wisdom and the ability to do and survive things ordinary heroes cannot.
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d8
Starting Wealth: 1d6 × 10 gp (average 35 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.
Class Skills
The monk’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+2|
+2|AC Bonus, Flurry of Blows +1d6, Ancient Wisdom, Unarmed Strike

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+3|
+3|Wholeness of Body, Ki Power

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+3|
+3|Flurry of Blows +2d6, Ki power

4th|
+4|
+4|
+4|
+4|Ki Power

5th|
+5|
+4|
+4|
+4|2 Stunning Fist per day, Flurry of Blows +3d6, Ki Power

6th|
+6/1|
+5|
+5|
+5|Ki Power

7th|
+7/2|
+5|
+5|
+5|Flurry of Blows +4d6, Ki Power

8th|
+8/3|
+6|
+6|
+6|Ki Power

9th|
+9/4|
+6|
+6|
+6|Flurry of Blows +5d6, Ki Power

10th|
+10/5|
+7|
+7|
+7|3 Stunning Fist per day, Advanced Ki power,

11th|
+11/6/1|
+7|
+7|
+7|Flurry of Blows +6d6, Ki Power

12th|
+12/7/2|
+8|
+8|
+8|Advanced Ki Power

13th|
+13/8/3|
+8|
+8|
+8|Flurry of Blows +7d6, Ki Power

14th|
+14/9/4|
+9|
+9|
+9|Advanced Ki Power

15th|
+15/10/5|
+9|
+9|
+9|4 stunning fist per day, Flurry of Blows +8d6, Ki Power

16th|
+16/11/6/1|
+10|
+10|
+10|Advanced Ki Power

17th|
+17/12/7/2|
+10|
+10|
+10|Flurry of Blows +9d6, Ki Power

18th|
+18/13/8/3|
+11|
+11|
+11|Advanced Ki Power
19th|
+19/14/9/4|
+11|
+11|
+11|Flurry of Blows +10d6, Ki Power

20th|
+20/15/10/5|
+12|
+12|
+12|5 stunning fist per day, Advanced Ki Power, Perfect Self[/table]

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the monk.
Weapon Proficiency: Monks are proficient with the brass knuckles*, cestus*, club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shortspear, short sword, shuriken, siangham, sling, spear and temple sword*.
Armor and Shield Proficiency: Monks are not proficient with any armor or shields. When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses his AC bonus and flurry of blows abilities.

Unarmed Strike (Ex):At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk's attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.

Usually a monk's unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.

A monk's unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
AC Bonus (Ex):Despite wearing no armor, monks are among the most durable of warriors, evading the most accurate of blows and deflecting the most powerful. When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds his Wisdom bonus to his AC. Additionally, a monk gain a +4 Armor bonus. At 3rd level and every two levels after, a monk may choose to raise this armor bonus by 1, or gain a +1 dodge bonus.
Stunning Fist (Ex):
At 1st level, the monk gains the ability to deliver stunning blows. Once per day, after a successful attack, a monk can declare the use of Stunning Fist. Once declared, the enemy hit by the monk must make a fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ Character Level + Wisdom Modifier) or be stunned for one round. At level 5 and every 5 levels after, a monk gains an additional use of Stunning Fist. A monk may regain all uses of this ability by taking a full round action to focus. At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the monk gains the ability to apply a new condition to the target of his Stunning Fist. This condition replaces stunning the target for 1 round, and a successful saving throw still negates the effect. At 4th level, he can choose to make the target fatigued. At 8th level, he can make the target sickened for 1 minute. At 12th level, he can make the target staggered for 1d6+1 rounds. At 16th level, he can permanently blind or deafen the target. At 20th level, he can paralyze the target for 1d6+1 rounds. The monk must choose which condition will apply before the attack roll is made. These effects do not stack with themselves (a creature sickened by Stunning Fist cannot become nauseated if hit by Stunning Fist again), but additional hits do increase the duration.
Flurry of Blows (Ex):As a standard action, a monk may make a Flurry of Blows attack. Roll to attack twice. With one hit, you deal normal weapon damage plus extra precision damage. With two hits, this precision damage is doubled. This extra damage starts at 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 every two monks levels after. A monk may use his Flurry of Blows as part of a charge and similar actions, and Flurry of Blows counts as a single attack for the purpose of Vital Strike and similar feats. Should the monk score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied. Flurry of Blows can never be used as part of a Full Attack.

Ancient Wisdom (Ex):Monks are wise. At 1st level, choose three knowledge skills. Once per day, you may make a knowledge check with a bonus to the roll equal to your monk level plus wisdom modifier.
Wholeness of Body (Su)

Wholeness of Body (Ex):At 2nd level, a monk gains a bonus equal to her Wisdom bonus (if any) on all Saving Throws. This stacks with the normal wisdom bonus to will saving throws.

Ki Power (Su):As a monk gains experience, she learns a number of talents that aid her and confound her foes. Starting at 2nd level, a monk gains one ki power. She gains an additional ki power for every level of monk attained after 2nd level, until level 10, after which she only gains a ki power for every two monk levels . A monk cannot select an individual power more than once.


Combat Kata: Gain any one combat feat for which you meet the prerequisites.
Slow Fall: So long as you have a wall within reach, you never take falling damage. At level 8, you no longer need to have a wall within reach. At level 12, you are constantly under the effects of a Glide spell.
High Jump: Add your monk level to all acrobatics checks made to jump. You are always considered to have a running start when jumping. Additionally, as long as there are at least two vertical surfaces within your routine jump distance, you gain a climb speed equal to your movement as you bounce between the walls, so long as you end each turn with an appropriate handhold. Once per day, you can add a +20 bonus to a single jump check. You may regain use of this ability by taking a full round action to focus.
Purity of Body: You gain immunity to all diseases.
Evasion: Whenever you succeed on a reflex saving throw against an effect that deals half its damage on a miss, you instead take no damage. A helpless monk does not benefit from this ability.
Still Mind: You gain a +2 bonus to will saving throws. This bonus increases by at level 6 and every 6 levels after.
Flowing Body: You gain a +2 bonus to reflex saving throws. This bonus increases by at level 6 and every 6 levels after.
Strong Heart: You gain a +2 bonus to all fortitude saving throws This bonus increases by at level 6 and every 6 levels after.
Improved Evasion: You only take half damage on a failed reflex save. A helpless monk does not benefit from this ability. You must first have the Evasion ki power before selecting this.
Double Jump: The DC of all jump checks you make are halved. At level 8, the DC for all vertical jumps becomes the same as the DC for horizontal jumps. At level 12, you may end your turn in mid-jump and continue to make jump checks while in the air. You must first have the High Jump ki power before selecting this power.
Fast Movement: You gain a bonus to your movement speed equal to 10ft per three monk levels.
Defensive Flurry: Whenever you successfully hit an enemy with an attack of opportunity, you may deal your Flurry of Blows extra damage.
Timeless Body: You no longer takes penalties to your ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that you have already taken, however, remain in place. Age bonuses still accrue, and the you still die of old age when your time is up. You also gain a +2 saving throw bonus against effects that last longer than an hour. This bonus increases by +1 at level 6 and every 6 levels after.
Tongue of the Sun and Moon: You can speak with any living creature. You may use your Ancient Wisdom ability when making Bluff, Intimidate, or Diplomacy checks in addition to Knowledge checks.
Diamond Body: You gain Immunity to all poisons.
Ki Slam: The extra damage from your Flurry of Blows is no longer considered precision damage.
Magic Hands: Your unarmed attacks gain a +1 enhancement bonus. At the start of each day, you may transform this bonus into an equivalent effect (example: flaming, frost, etc). This bonus rises by +1 at level 7, and every six levels thereafter.
Ki Strike: At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to be treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Ki strike improves with the character's monk level. At 10th level, his unarmed attacks are also treated as lawful weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. At 16th level, his unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and bypassing hardness. modifier.
Untouchable: You gain a +1 dodge bonus. This bonus increases by 1 at level 5, and every five levels after.


Advanced Ki Power (Su):At level 10, a monk gains an Advanced Ki Power. She gains an additional power at level 12 and every two levels after. No power may be selected more than once.


Ki Blast: You can project your spiritual energy as a destructive wave of force. You may make a ki blast in either a burst (20 feet), cone (40 feet) or line (80 feet) shape. Make three attack rolls and compare all three to the AC of each target within the blast. For each roll that exceeds a target’s AC, that target takes your flurry precision damage.
Abundant Step: You may use Dimension Door as a spell-like ability once per day as a move action. You may regain use of this ability with one minute of meditation to regain your focus.
Diamond Soul: You gain spell resistance equal to your monk level + 10.
Quivering Palm: Once per day as a free action, you can force any target you have physically touched within the past week to make a will save (DC 10 + ½ monk level + wisdom modifier) or die.
Empty Body: You gain the ability to assume an ethereal state for 1 minute as though using the spell etherealness. Using this ability is a move action. You may use this ability once per day, but may regain use of it with 5 minutes of meditation to regain your focus. This ability only affects the monk and cannot be used to make other creatures ethereal. You must first have the Abundant Step power to select this.
Blinding Speed: As a standard action, you can assume the Blinding Speed stance. While in this stance, you may not be targeted by melee or ranged attacks unless the enemy uses the Ready action, you are considered invisible, and your movement speed is tripled. You can stay in the Blinding Speed stance for one round per monk level, though these rounds do not need to be consecutive.
Knockback Blow: Once per encounter, you may make a bullrush maneuver after a Flurry of Blows attack, but before you roll damage. If the bullrush check is successful, you may choose to subtract any number of your extra damage dice to increase the distance your enemy travels by 10 feet each. You may regain use of this power by taking a move action to regain your focus.
Eternal Body: Once per day as a swift action, you may regain up to half your hit points. You may regain use of this ability after five minutes of meditation to regain your focus. While dying, a monk may activate this ability as a free action.


Perfect Self (Su):At 20th level, the monk ascends, becoming more than a mortal. He gains DR10/-, no longer ages, and is treated as either an outsider or humanoid, whichever would be more beneficial at the time.

[Kane0]

Looks solid, one question though. How does Flurry of Blows interact with iterative attacks, full attacks, etc? The way i read it you can only use them to attack twice with a standard action attack.

Edit: Also, i dont know why most people leave the Monk with all good saves even after their fixes. A fair few of your abilities increase them further, which can leave them too high. If you still want to give some decent saves but not have them so high try the medium progression, with the option of using a Ki Power to increase it to the good progression.

[Apalala]

The idea would be that when you full attack, you give up your chance to Flurry. Basically, it makes it so that the monk isn't reliant on standing in place trading blows, but can actively zoom across the battlefield.

The way the flurry works isn't exactly like attacking twice, either. Example, say you're level 1 with 18 strength, your unarmed strike does 1d6+4 damage. Say you use Flurry on an enemy with 15 AC. You roll your attack twice, and the results come up 13 and 17. One hit, so you deal 1d6+4+1d6. If you had rolled 16 and 19 instead, then you would have hit twice and so doubled the extra Flurry damage, so the result would be 1d6+4+2d6. The flurry damage scales pretty fast, but it's balanced--I hope--by the fact that you never get multiple attacks out of it. So whereas Haste would pretty much double some warriors' damage, it would provide a pretty modest benefit to the Monk. I'll go ahead and edit it to clarify that Flurry never works with a full attack.

As for the saves, I think that the monk should be good at shrugging off spells. I used Divine Grace from the paladin as an idea of how good Wholeness of Body should be, and picking the ki powers which boost against more specific saves is quite an investment. If a character spends that many resources maxing out their saves, might as well reward it.