He's got a lot to kick about!
by Philip Meyers
| Special abilities | Note on quasi-psionic monk abilities | Other suggested changes | Upper-level advancement options | Rationale for rule changes |
| Dragon | The monk | - | Best of Dragon, Vol. III | Dragon 53 |
Of all the character classes in the
AD&D™
game, the class of monks is the
most difficult to qualify for. A monk
must
have exceptional strength, wisdom, and
dexterity, and — if he or she wishes to
survive for very long — constitution.
The odds of rolling up such a character,
even using the various “cheating methods” listed in the Dungeon Masters
Guide, are not favorable. Given this,
one
would expect a monk to be a powerful
character indeed. At first glance this
would appear to be true. The Grand Master
of Flowers can reasonably claim to be
the most powerful fighter around, able
to
inflict 128 points of damage in a single
round. This superiority, however, is more
theoretical than real. In actual practice,
the monk is the weakest of the character
classes, not the strongest.
The sources of a monk’s weakness are
many. First, monks are severely handicapped
in armor class. The Novice starts
at AC 10, is denied the use of any armor,
and receives no armor class adjustment
for dexterity. This situation fails to
improve for a long time — at 5th level the
hapless monk is a mighty AC 7.
As for hit points, the average 1st-level
monk with a 16 constitution has 9 hit
points. The extra hit die at 1st level
is not
enough to allow the monk to keep up
with clerics, fighters, or even thieves,
for
very long. At 5th level the monk with
a 16
constitution has an average 25 hit points,
where the cleric has 32½, the fighter
37½,
and the thief 27½. (No one should
play a
monk with a constitution of less than
16;
the figures will humiliate. the monk.)
The multiple attacks with open hands
that are supposed to be the monk’s forte
are still negligible at 5th level, becoming
appreciable only at 6th level, where the
monk receives 3 attacks every 2 rounds.
Fighters are, however, quick to catch
up;
at 7th level they also acquire this ability.
The spell-like powers of monks are
laughable when compared to the spell
abilities of clerics or magic-users. Just
as the 6th-level magic-user is acquiring
a
second Fireball with which to destroy
the enemy, the 6th-level monk is learning
to feign death.
The ability to stun or kill an opponent
is next to worthless at low and middle
levels because the monk’s chance of doing
it is so small, and because the monk’s
awful armor class and hit points prevent
the character from spending too much
time in melee. Also, monks advance
more slowly in level than any other character
class at middle and upper levels.
Practical experience with monk characters
reinforces the conclusion. In this
author’s experience, there seem to be
two ways for a monk character to survive
to reach upper levels. The first is for
the
monk to acquire a powerful magic item
that offsets one or more of the monk’s
weaknesses, like a Ring of Regeneration,
Bracers of Defense AC 2,or a Cloak
of Displacement. The other way is for
the
monk to cower at the back of the party,
avoiding combat wherever possible. This
means the monk is generally useless
and, aside from opening a few locked
doors now and then, does nothing besides
siphon off experience points from
more deserving characters. Neither of
these situations is wholly satisfactory.
Of course, one can always argue that,
once the monk finally does make it to
the
upper levels, the long wait was worth
it.
An 8th-level monk is just about competitive
with 8th-level characters in the other
classes, and is clearly superior to an
8thlevel thief, or even a 9th-level thief.
However, it is by no means certain that
the monk character will ever get to 8th
level, even should he or she honestly
earn the 200,001 experience points required.
This is due to the requirement
that a monk of this level or higher must
fight and defeat the present title holder
in order to advance in level. Thus, every
time the player-character monk attempts
to advance in level beyond the 7th, the
character must ran a basic 50% chance
of losing and failing to achieve the level.
Worse still, the price of defeat is a
full
level’s worth of XP, just as
if the monk had been energy-drained. A
wealthy fighter who has been struck by
a
wight can pay a large sum for a Restoration
spell. The defeated monk has no
such option. In effect, this limits the
monk to 7th level, or at best means that
the monk will ultimately need 2 or 3 times
as many experience points as listed,
since the luck of the die will invariably
cause the monk to be defeated a number
of times. Worst of all, the monk may have
to stand off challenges by NPC monks,
and who can say how many Superior
Masters will be out looking for the character
who finally makes it to Master of
Dragons?
In essence, then, the monk is a useless
character at lower and middle levels,
and
is extremely difficult to maintain at
upper
levels. The player with visions of Bruce
Lee or David Carradine dancing in his
or
her head is in for a big letdown when
such a player tries to run a monk
character.
The idea of a character class of martial
artists is undeniably a good one, and
monks deserve a place in the AD&D
system. But how, then, can monks be made
competitive and (if possible) more interesting?
It is possible to cure the defects in
the
present system without changing the nature
of monks at all, as the following
suggested system demonstrates.
First, in place of Tables
I and II on page
31 of the Players Handbook, use
the revised tables given herein.
MONKS TABLE I: EXPERIENCE POINTS AND LEVELS
MONKS TABLE II: MONKS ABILITY TABLE
| Level | Effective Armor Class | Move | Open hand attacks/round | Open hand damage | Special abilities |
| 1 | 6 | 15" | 1 | 1-4 | A |
| 2 | 5 | 15" | 1 | 1-6 | B |
| 3 | 4 | 16" | 1 | 2-7 | C |
| 4 | 3 | 16" | 3/2 | 2-7 | D |
| 5 | 3 | 17" | 3/2 | 2-8 | E |
| 6 | 2 | 17" | 3/2 | 3-9 | F |
| 7 | 2 | 18" | 2 | 3-9 | G |
| 8 | 1 | 18" | 2 | 2-12 | H |
| 9 | 1 | 19" | 2 | 3-12 | I |
| 10 | 0 | 20" | 5/2 | 3-12 | J |
| 11 | 0 | 20" | 5/2 | 4-13 | K |
| 12 | -1 | 21" | 5/2 | 4-16 | L |
| 13 | -1 | 22" | 3 | 4-16 | M |
| 14 | -2 | 23" | 3 | 5-17 | N |
| 15 | -2 | 24" | 3 | 5-20 | O |
| 16 | -3 | 25" | 3 | 4-24 | P |
| 17 | -3 | 26" | 4 | 4-24 | Q |
| 18 | -4 | 27" | 4 | 6-24 | R |
| 19 | -4 | 28" | 4 | 5-30 | S |
| 20 | -5 | 29" | 4 | 8-32 | T |
| 21 | -5 | 30" | 4 | 6-36 | U |
Special abilities
A: The ability to feign
death, as the
present monk ability D:
B: The mind-masking ability (resistance to ESP), as present monk ability B.
C: The Speak
with Animals ability,
present monk ability A.
D: The self-healing ability (present
monk ability E); plus immunity to disease
(present ability C), also including
immunity to Haste and Slow spells.
E: Body
Equilibrium, as the psionic
ability, except that it can be used but
once per day, for 1 round per level of
the
monk. Also, the monk acquires Mind
Over Body, usable for up to 1 day per
level of the monk.
F: Empathy, as the psionic ability, but
usable once a day.
G: Invisibility, as the psionic power,
but usable once a day for 1 turn per level
the monk has achieved beyond the 6th.
H: Molecular Manipulation, as the
psionic power, usable against inanimate
objects only, once a day. Monks are limited
to the 8th level of mastery in this
power.
I: Resistance to charms, hypnosis, etc.
as present monk ability G, plus 18 intelligence
for purposes of Telepathic and
Mind Blast attacks, as present ability
H.
J: Retarded aging, as though the
monk were using a Phylactery of Long
Years, plus immunity to poison (present
ability I), and immunity to Geas and Quest
(present ability J).
K: Body Control, as the psionic ability,
once a day for a maximum of 1 turn per
level of the monk beyond the 10th.
L: The "Quivering Palm," present ability K.
M: Dimension Door, once a day, as the
magic-user spell.
N: Speak with Plants, as a druid, present
ability F.
O: Mind Bar, as the psionic ability,
100% chance of success, usable once a
week, maximum duration 1 hour per level
of the monk.
P: Object Reading, as the psionic ability, once a day.
Q: Dimension Walk, as the psionic
ability, 1 hour per 2 levels the monk
has
achieved, usable once a day.
R: Astral Projection, once a week, as
the cleric spell, but only the monk may
so travel.
S: A premonition of death or serious
harm occurs to the monk 1-4 turns before
the harmful event, 90% of the time.
T: The monk acquires the ability to
generate a Tower of Iron Will or an Intellect
Fortress about himself or herself,
duration 1 round per level of the monk,
usable once a day. The monk must concentrate
to use this power, and cannot
do anything else besides walking slowly.
If the monk's concentration is broken,
the defenses disappear.
U: Planeshift, as the cleric spell, twice
a day.
Note on quasi-psionic
monk abilities
The powers in the above
list that refer
to the psionics
section of the Players
Handbook should be played as though
the monk were psionic with regard to
computing level of mastery, range, etc.
Instead of expending psionic strength
points to use the abilities, the monk
simply abides by the use restrictions
given above. If the monk character is
actually
psionic, attack/defense totals and
modes may be used normally, but the
psionic monk never receives disciplines
other than those inherent in the class's
special abilities.
Other suggested
changes
1: Open hand damage
done is halved,
rounding up, when the monk is attacking
a creature 10 feet or more in height,
or
otherwise very large, and against creatures
with a natural armor class of 0 or
better.
2: A monk’s thieving abilities are limited
to Moving Silently, Finding (but not
removing) Traps, Hiding in Shadows,
Hearing Noises, and Climbing Walls.
3: Single combat as a means of advancement
is not required until the monk
reaches 12th level, and then only if the
title is occupied (see below). A monk
who loses a challenge loses 100,000 experience
points and cannot challenge
again for 1 year.
4: At 10th level a monk’s hands and
feet become the equivalent of +1 weapons
for purposes of determining what
creatures they can do damage to. At 18th
level they become the equivalent of +2
weapons. (Moral: You can’t karate-chop
an iron golem.)
Upper-level advancement options
Monks can be either lawful
good, lawful neutral, or lawful evil. The Players
Handbook makes no mention of separate
monastic orders for these alignment
types; it follows that all monks are part
of
one big brotherhood, whether they be
good or evil. In many respects, this does
not make a great deal of sense. For instance
(and this is a relatively minor
point), the title names for monks sound
like they were designed for lawful good,
or lawful neutral, monks only. An evil
Grand Master of Flowers? Hmmmm.
Either we must do away with evil
monks, which would be a loss, or the
system can be altered to more appropriately
account for them.
One solution to this problem is to allow
the existence of separate, parallel
monastic orders, at least three of them
and perhaps more. There could then be
more than one of each of the upper-level
monks, but only one per title per order.
Each order would then decide how to
solve the advancement problem. Lawful
neutral orders might opt for the present
system, as modified by “3” above.
Lawful evil orders might insist that
combat be to the death, thus solving the
problem of rematches constantly plaguing
upper-level figures.
LG orders might forbid advancement by combat,
requiring candidates to wait until vacancies occur.
When, for instance, the reigning Master
of Winter dies, all lower masters could
advance upon obtaining sufficient experience
points. A panel of masters would
decide whom to promote from among
the three Masters of Dragons and the
current Superior Masters.
Advancement by default should indeed
occur on a fairly regular basis in any
sort
of monastic order, if only because the
reigning Grand Master of Flowers is
probably close to death (being old), divine
ascension (being powerful), or both.
These odds are suggested for such events:
| Level | Title | Chance of vacancy
(per Year) |
| 12 | Master of Dragons | 3% |
| 13 | Master of the North Wind | 1% |
| 14 | Master of the West Wind | 1% |
| 15 | Master of the South Wind | 1% |
| 16 | Master of the East Wind | 1% |
| 17 | Master of Winter | 2% |
| 18 | Master of Autumn | 2% |
| 19 | Master of Summer | 4% |
| 20 | Master of Spring | 6% |
| 21 | Grand Master of Flowers | 10% |
Naturally, figures like these will vary
from campaign to campaign. Numbers
are given here only as an example of how
such a system should be set up. Note
that the chance given for each master
level should be rolled for once per year,
10 total rolls to be made. These chances
do not take into account possible deaths
resulting from challenge combats. The
DM will have to establish how often each
master will be challenged. The Masters
of Dragons could each be challenged as
often as 2-8 times per year in a LN order
as described above. There
would be relatively fewer challenges in
a
LE order.
In a LG order not advocating
advancement by combat, a DM might
contrive to say the Grand Master of
Flowers always rules for 1 year only,
and
at the end of that time becomes a divine
being on one of the outer planes — insuring
a steady stream of vacancies.
A lawful good monk would never lose
experience points under this system.
Such a monk would either have his or her
total “frozen” at some point (say, 1 point
short of the level occupied by another),
or the DM could allow the monk’s total
to
continue to increase but deny the monk
the actual attainment of the new level
until a vacancy occurred. The monk
could then save up experience in advance,
but would be limited in this endeavor to a total 1 point short of two
levels beyond the monk’s current level.
No matter how it is managed, there
must be some form of restriction on
monk advancement beyond the 11th level.
Unrestricted advancement in a campaign where experience points are easy
to come by would mean the monk character
would become extremely powerful
too quickly and too easily. Also, monkish
combat has become a traditional many
players may be loath to give up.
Rationale for
rule changes
Certain salient points of this alternative
system need more explanation. It is
suggested that monks receive six-sided
dice for their hit dice instead of four-sided
dice. This is to cure the monk’s
HP disadvantage.
Armor class, attacks per round, and
damage per attack have been for low and
middle-level monks.
The new intermediate experience levels
allow the monk to rise as high as 11th
level before advancement by combat
becomes necessary. This is an important
change, for it allows the monk who has
been unsuccessful in challenging his or
her superiors to go on an upper-level
adventure. Also, it makes the rank of
Master a good deal more formidable,
and puts it on a par with the “name”
ranks of other classes, such as Master
Thief, Lord, or Wizard.
The new special abilities and powers
presume that the inner strength of monks
flows from the mind —that it is a sort
of
psionic power. After all, no degree of
skill or knowledge will let a human being
fall an unlimited distance when within
8’
of a wall and take no damage when hitting
bottom at terminal velocity.
Also, damage from open hand attacks
of upper-level monks is hard to explain
on the basis of physical skill alone.
Can
you imagine Bruce Lee killing a purple
worm in,? melee round with four mighty
karate chops? Present rules let highlevel
masters do just that. The halfdamage rule proposed above is designed
to partially cure this situation; even
so,
some form of magical mind-power is the
only way to account for the things monks
can do. Moreover, the present monk
powers closely resemble the related psionic
disciplines. The new powers given
above simply extend this principle, and
are designed to make the monk a reasonably
powerful and versatile character
even at low and middle levels.
The thieving abilities of Removing
Traps and Opening Locks were deleted
because it is not clear how or why monks
should have such abilities. For what purpose
does a monastic aesthetic learn to
pick locks? Surely not all monks are adventurers;
why then do these monks
learn skills usable nowhere else but on
an adventure?
In game terms, it is no longer necessary
to make the monk act as a secondrate thief so that the monk will have
something to do on an adventure. The
monk as redefined in this article is a
firstrate warrior and scout (if an Infravision
spell is used), and no longer needs such
additional abilities.
One monk too many
Dear Editor:
I’ve been a reader of DRAGON™
magazine
for about a year now, and I really enjoy
reading
everything it has to offer. Issue
#53, however,
had an article that I hope doesn’t become
a trend.
Philip Meyers’ article on monks for me was
a bit of a letdown. I don’t mind that he thought
that the monk class was about the weakest
there is (I disagree), but I did not like the
article as a whole. I would have rather seen an
article about the fine art of playing a monk
character in addition to, or instead of, Mr.
Meyers’ article.
I think the subject of monks could have
been better handled by following in the footsteps
of the kind of articles on paladins
in
DRAGON #51 or the articles on clerics found
in issue #52. I enjoyed those articles much <The
Role of the Cleric, This Land Is My Land...,
Sacrifice>
more because they told you the best way to
play, not to change, the particular class of
character to add to the enjoyment of playing
that kind of character.
I hope that future issues of DRAGON magazine
will continue to publish the excellent
articles that have hooked me as a reader.
Malcolm B. Maynard
Delta, B.C., Canada
(Dragon #55)
‘A viable adventurer’
Dear editor:
There is no need to change the monk
character
class of ADVANCED DUNGEONS &
DRAGONS. While there are minor flaws
in the
class, on the whole the monk is a viable adventurer.
Increased hit points and armor class,
as proposed by Philip Meyers (issue #53), are
designed to make the monk the fighting machine
he was not originally intended to be.
Rather, the monk could use his limited fighting
ability for defense, while using his superior
speed, agility, and dexterity as his primary
means of adventuring.
Played effectively, the monk can be a very
dangerous and formidable opponent. For example,
I have a fourth-level monk in one campaign
who used his superior speed and agility
very destructively in one adventure. The details
are too many to go into here, but the
monk managed to single-handedly wipe out a
band of orcs and a rampaging dinosaur
all in
one fell swoop.
Mr. Meyers also states that the abilities of
monks, compared on an ability-for-ability basis
with other classes, are pitifully weak. This
result is bound to be obtained when one considers
all of the monk’s abilities separately.
However, when the many abilities are combined,
the monk becomes a deadly opponent
to be reckoned with.
Kevin Morgan
Colton, N.Y.
(Dragon #56)
‘Sorely needed’
Dear editor:
I’ve been playing AD&D for over
3 years,
and have experimented with other systems as
well, and must say that AD&D is the best. The
article in DRAGON #53 on monks was sorely
needed. I’m not sure who designed the class,
but as a practicing martial artist for the past 8
years, it seemed a little off-center to me. The
revision by Philip Meyers straightens out
many of the discrepancies between the monk
and other classes, as well as being a realistic
portrayal.
Ronald Breth
Wichita, Kan.
(Dragon #56)
Meyers on monks
Dear Editor:
In DRAGON #53 there are some changes
in
the monk class. Special ability “S” says the
monk will get a premonition of death 1-4 turns
before it happens. How does the DM go about
doing this?
Confused
The following reply was provided by Philip
Meyers, the author of the article in question:
The original “premonition of death or serious
harm” comes from page 163
of the
DMG, Table V, prime power Q under artifacts
and relics. There are two problems inherent in
this question: how to play the premonition in
the case of a non-player character monk, and
for a player character. The case of the NPC is
the simpler one. If the party is about to encounter
a NPC monk with the premonition
power, the DM must make a determination of
whether the party has the power to kill or
seriously harm the monk, and if it does,
whether the party is likely to attack the monk,
or may even possibly attack the monk. If the
party is sufficiently powerful and there is a
reasonable chance the party will attack, the
roll for the premonition should be made. The
monk to whom the premonition occurs will be
ready and waiting when the party arrives.
The case of the PC monk is more difficult,
because the DM cannot predict what a player
character will do, and thus cannot predict
with certainty whether a dangerous situation
will arise in the future. The power is therefore
only applicable when it appears to the DM
that the PC monk is headed for a dangerous
encounter, and there is a substantial chance
the encounter will occur. The character should
always be able to avoid the encounter if circumstances
permit, so that the event likely to
bring about death or serious harm never
happens. In any event, the premonition is always
simply a vague feeling that great danger
is imminent, not a specific vision of a future
event. For player character monks the premonition
should not occur often, since a
monk of such high level is seldom in great
danger, particularly when the monk is surrounded
by similarly powerful companions.
(Dragon #58)