A player in an upcoming campaign submitted this to me for approval. I have my own comments, to come, but I wanted to submit it here for your tender mercies before I point out my own thoughts.
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THE SUN MONKS OF CORELLON LARETHIAN
Alignment: Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills
The monk's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Table: The Monk
Class Features
All of the following are class features of The Sun Monks Of Corellon Larethian:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Monks are proficient with club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling.
The Sun Monks Of Corellon Larethian are not proficient with any armor or shields
When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses her AC bonus, as well as her special movement and flurry of blows abilities.
AC Bonus (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds her Intelligence bonus (if any) to her AC. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC at 5th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every five monk levels thereafter (+2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, and +4 at 20th level).
These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. She loses these bonuses when she is immobilized or helpless, when she wears any armor, when she carries a shield, or when she carries a medium or heavy load.
Flurry of Blows (Ex): When unarmored, a monk may strike with a flurry of blows at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, she may make one extra attack in a round at her highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a –2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. The resulting modified base attack bonuses are shown in the Flurry of Blows Attack Bonus column on Table: The Monk. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the monk might make before her next action. When a monk reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to –1, and at 9th level it disappears. A monk must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of blows.
When using flurry of blows, a Kung Fu monk may attack with unarmed strikes or with any melee weapon with which she is proficient. She may attack with unarmed strikes or weapons interchangeably as desired. When using weapons as part of a flurry of blows, a monk applies her Strength bonus (not Str bonus x 1-1/2 or 1/2) to her damage rolls for all successful attacks, whether she wields a weapon in one or both hands. The monk can use any weapon with which she is proficient as part of a flurry of blows.
In the case of the two-headed weapons, each end counts as a separate weapon for the purpose of using the flurry of blows ability. Even though two-headed weapons require two hands to use, a monk may still intersperse unarmed strikes with weapon strikes, assuming that she has enough attacks in her flurry of blows routine to do so.
When a monk reaches 11th level, her flurry of blows ability improves. In addition to the standard single extra attack she gets from flurry of blows, she gets a second extra attack at her full base attack bonus.
Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with either fist interchangeably or even from elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may even make unarmed strikes with her hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply her full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all her unarmed strikes.
Usually a monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but she can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on her attack roll. She has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A monk’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
Student of Martial Science: Because of her focus on the Art of Martial Science, a monk deals damage differently with her attacks than a normal person would. All melee attacks, whether with or without a weapon, deal either normal damage or as shown on Table: The Monk, whichever is better. The damage on Table: The Monk is for Medium monks. A Small monk deals less damage than the amount given there with her attacks, while a Large monk deals more damage; see Table: Small or Large Monk Damage.
Bonus Feat: At 1st level, a monk may select either Improved Grapple or Stunning Fist as a bonus feat. At 2nd level, she may select either Combat Reflexes or Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat. If she takes "Deflect Arrows" she can use this feat even when holding a weapon. At 6th level, she may select either Improved Disarm or Improved Trip as a bonus feat. A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.
Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher if a monk makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a monk is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a monk gains an enhancement bonus to her speed, as shown on Table: The Monk. A monk in armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.
Awareness of Body (Su): At 3rd level or higher, a monk with an Intelligence score of 13 or higher and the Heal skill can use her knowledge of the body to heal wounds (as the Heal skill). Each day she can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to her monk level x her Intelligence bonus. A monk may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and she doesn’t have to use it all at once. She must make a successful Heal skill check in order to use this special ability.
Focused Strike (Su): At 4th level, a monk’s unarmed attacks are empowered with her Internal Energy. Her unarmed attacks are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. Ki Strike improves with the character’s monk level. At 16th level, her unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction and bypassing hardness.
Light Step: At 5th level, a monk is no longer limited by her height when using the Jump skill. When falling, she can attempt a Jump skill roll to avoid all or part of her damage from the fall.
Purity of Body (Ex): At 6th level, a monk gains immunity to all diseases except for supernatural and magical diseases.
Improved Evasion (Ex): At 8th level, a monk’s evasion ability improves. She still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth she takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.
Improved Light Step: At 9th level, a monk learns to focus her Internal Energy into a Bounding Flight, similar to the effects of the spell Fly, a number of times / day = Intelligence modifier.
This ability works as the fly spell in all particulars except that the monk must come into contact with another solid, stationary object once each round, and must remain moving or the effect will end. Duration is one round per + Intelligence modifier, provided the monk obeys the stricture to touch something else at least once each round. Directional changes are only possible by coming into contact with another object. The monk may continue this effect by coming into contact with a non-stationary object (such as an airborne item, thrown weapon, water, etc) or a successful melee strike against another creature, but the distance that can be traveled is halved. If the monk fails to come into contact with another object, cannot move more than 5 feet in one round using this ability, or fails to successfully strike another creature, the effect ends. Using Light Step is a move equivalant action.
Light Step and Grapples.
Monks who Grapple during Light Step cannot achieve pins unless they find a solid object to pin against. Grappling monks will start to fall (as fly spell ending) unless they use their grapple attack opportunity to control their Light step direction instead of making an attack (the monk making the attack action must win the grapple in order to control the direction of the light step, if the opponent wins the direction remains unchanged until one round has passed with no-one winning a direction controlling light step)
Self-Knowledge (Su): At 11th level, a monk gains the ability to Heal herself and others of poisons of all kinds through use of the Heal skill. In addition to any other bonuses she may have, she gains her monk level as a bonus to her Heal skill checks for this purpose. Additionally, when attempting to rid herself of any poison, she may use the Heal skill as a free action, incurring no penalties.
Diamond Soul (Ex): At 13th level, a monk gains spell resistance equal to her current monk level + 10. In order to affect the monk with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the monk’s spell resistance.
Crippling Strike (Su): Starting at 15th level, a monk can strike in such a way as to paralyze another creature totally or in part. She can use this crippling strike attack once a week, and she must announce her intent before making her attack roll. Constructs, oozes, plants, undead, incorporeal creatures, and creatures immune to critical hits cannot be affected. Otherwise, if the monk strikes successfully and the target takes damage from the blow, the crippling strike attack succeeds.
Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 17th level, a monk no longer takes penalties to her ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that she has already taken, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and the monk still dies of old age when her time is up.
Tongue of the Sun and Moon (Ex): A monk of 17th level or higher can speak with any living creature.
Energetic Leap: At 18th level, the monk has perfected the art of weight negation. A monk may Fly (as the spell) a number of times = Intelligence Modifier / day as a caster of ½ the monk’s level.
Empty Body (Su): At 19th level, a monk gains the ability to assume an ethereal state for 1 round per monk level per day, as though using the spell etherealness. She may go ethereal on a number of different occasions during any single day, as long as the total number of rounds spent in an ethereal state does not exceed her monk level.
Perfect Self: At 20th level, a monk becomes a magical creature. She is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the monk’s creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the monk gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows her to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the monk can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.
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THE SUN MONKS OF CORELLON LARETHIAN
Alignment: Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills
The monk's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Table: The Monk
Class Features
All of the following are class features of The Sun Monks Of Corellon Larethian:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Monks are proficient with club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling.
The Sun Monks Of Corellon Larethian are not proficient with any armor or shields
When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses her AC bonus, as well as her special movement and flurry of blows abilities.
AC Bonus (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds her Intelligence bonus (if any) to her AC. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC at 5th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every five monk levels thereafter (+2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, and +4 at 20th level).
These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. She loses these bonuses when she is immobilized or helpless, when she wears any armor, when she carries a shield, or when she carries a medium or heavy load.
Flurry of Blows (Ex): When unarmored, a monk may strike with a flurry of blows at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, she may make one extra attack in a round at her highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a –2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. The resulting modified base attack bonuses are shown in the Flurry of Blows Attack Bonus column on Table: The Monk. This penalty applies for 1 round, so it also affects attacks of opportunity the monk might make before her next action. When a monk reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to –1, and at 9th level it disappears. A monk must use a full attack action to strike with a flurry of blows.
When using flurry of blows, a Kung Fu monk may attack with unarmed strikes or with any melee weapon with which she is proficient. She may attack with unarmed strikes or weapons interchangeably as desired. When using weapons as part of a flurry of blows, a monk applies her Strength bonus (not Str bonus x 1-1/2 or 1/2) to her damage rolls for all successful attacks, whether she wields a weapon in one or both hands. The monk can use any weapon with which she is proficient as part of a flurry of blows.
In the case of the two-headed weapons, each end counts as a separate weapon for the purpose of using the flurry of blows ability. Even though two-headed weapons require two hands to use, a monk may still intersperse unarmed strikes with weapon strikes, assuming that she has enough attacks in her flurry of blows routine to do so.
When a monk reaches 11th level, her flurry of blows ability improves. In addition to the standard single extra attack she gets from flurry of blows, she gets a second extra attack at her full base attack bonus.
Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with either fist interchangeably or even from elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may even make unarmed strikes with her hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply her full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all her unarmed strikes.
Usually a monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but she can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on her attack roll. She has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A monk’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
Student of Martial Science: Because of her focus on the Art of Martial Science, a monk deals damage differently with her attacks than a normal person would. All melee attacks, whether with or without a weapon, deal either normal damage or as shown on Table: The Monk, whichever is better. The damage on Table: The Monk is for Medium monks. A Small monk deals less damage than the amount given there with her attacks, while a Large monk deals more damage; see Table: Small or Large Monk Damage.
Bonus Feat: At 1st level, a monk may select either Improved Grapple or Stunning Fist as a bonus feat. At 2nd level, she may select either Combat Reflexes or Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat. If she takes "Deflect Arrows" she can use this feat even when holding a weapon. At 6th level, she may select either Improved Disarm or Improved Trip as a bonus feat. A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.
Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher if a monk makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a monk is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of evasion.
Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a monk gains an enhancement bonus to her speed, as shown on Table: The Monk. A monk in armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.
Awareness of Body (Su): At 3rd level or higher, a monk with an Intelligence score of 13 or higher and the Heal skill can use her knowledge of the body to heal wounds (as the Heal skill). Each day she can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to her monk level x her Intelligence bonus. A monk may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and she doesn’t have to use it all at once. She must make a successful Heal skill check in order to use this special ability.
Focused Strike (Su): At 4th level, a monk’s unarmed attacks are empowered with her Internal Energy. Her unarmed attacks are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. Ki Strike improves with the character’s monk level. At 16th level, her unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction and bypassing hardness.
Light Step: At 5th level, a monk is no longer limited by her height when using the Jump skill. When falling, she can attempt a Jump skill roll to avoid all or part of her damage from the fall.
Purity of Body (Ex): At 6th level, a monk gains immunity to all diseases except for supernatural and magical diseases.
Improved Evasion (Ex): At 8th level, a monk’s evasion ability improves. She still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth she takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.
Improved Light Step: At 9th level, a monk learns to focus her Internal Energy into a Bounding Flight, similar to the effects of the spell Fly, a number of times / day = Intelligence modifier.
This ability works as the fly spell in all particulars except that the monk must come into contact with another solid, stationary object once each round, and must remain moving or the effect will end. Duration is one round per + Intelligence modifier, provided the monk obeys the stricture to touch something else at least once each round. Directional changes are only possible by coming into contact with another object. The monk may continue this effect by coming into contact with a non-stationary object (such as an airborne item, thrown weapon, water, etc) or a successful melee strike against another creature, but the distance that can be traveled is halved. If the monk fails to come into contact with another object, cannot move more than 5 feet in one round using this ability, or fails to successfully strike another creature, the effect ends. Using Light Step is a move equivalant action.
Light Step and Grapples.
Monks who Grapple during Light Step cannot achieve pins unless they find a solid object to pin against. Grappling monks will start to fall (as fly spell ending) unless they use their grapple attack opportunity to control their Light step direction instead of making an attack (the monk making the attack action must win the grapple in order to control the direction of the light step, if the opponent wins the direction remains unchanged until one round has passed with no-one winning a direction controlling light step)
Self-Knowledge (Su): At 11th level, a monk gains the ability to Heal herself and others of poisons of all kinds through use of the Heal skill. In addition to any other bonuses she may have, she gains her monk level as a bonus to her Heal skill checks for this purpose. Additionally, when attempting to rid herself of any poison, she may use the Heal skill as a free action, incurring no penalties.
Diamond Soul (Ex): At 13th level, a monk gains spell resistance equal to her current monk level + 10. In order to affect the monk with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the monk’s spell resistance.
Crippling Strike (Su): Starting at 15th level, a monk can strike in such a way as to paralyze another creature totally or in part. She can use this crippling strike attack once a week, and she must announce her intent before making her attack roll. Constructs, oozes, plants, undead, incorporeal creatures, and creatures immune to critical hits cannot be affected. Otherwise, if the monk strikes successfully and the target takes damage from the blow, the crippling strike attack succeeds.
Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 17th level, a monk no longer takes penalties to her ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that she has already taken, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and the monk still dies of old age when her time is up.
Tongue of the Sun and Moon (Ex): A monk of 17th level or higher can speak with any living creature.
Energetic Leap: At 18th level, the monk has perfected the art of weight negation. A monk may Fly (as the spell) a number of times = Intelligence Modifier / day as a caster of ½ the monk’s level.
Empty Body (Su): At 19th level, a monk gains the ability to assume an ethereal state for 1 round per monk level per day, as though using the spell etherealness. She may go ethereal on a number of different occasions during any single day, as long as the total number of rounds spent in an ethereal state does not exceed her monk level.
Perfect Self: At 20th level, a monk becomes a magical creature. She is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the monk’s creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the monk gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows her to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the monk can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.
