Here is a tweak of the earlier monk I described. This thread got me thinking on whether the full BAB was really necessary. So I made a few other tweaks. Main differences are as I noted before: added bonus feats. However, I also gave them another ability called flawless flurry at 17th level which basically removes the penalty for iterative attacks when making a flurry.
MONK
Alignment: Any lawful.
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), 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) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
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Table: The Monk
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Flurry of Blows Attack Bonus Unarmed Damage1 AC Bonus
1st +0 +2 +2 +2 Flurry of blows, unarmed strike –2/–2 1d6 +0
2nd +1 +3 +3 +3 Bonus feat, slow fall 10 ft. –1/–1 1d6 +0
3rd +2 +3 +3 +3 Evasion +0/+0 1d6 +0
4th +3 +4 +4 +4 Ki strike (magic), slow fall 20 ft. +1/+1 1d6 +0
5th +3 +4 +4 +4 Bonus feat, purity of body +2/+2 1d8 +1
6th +4 +5 +5 +5 Slow fall 30 ft., still mind +3/+3 1d8 +1
7th +5 +5 +5 +5 Wholeness of body +4/+4 1d8 +1
8th +6/+1 +6 +6 +6 Bonus feat, Slow fall 40 ft. +5/+5/+0 1d8 +1
9th +6/+1 +6 +6 +6 Improved evasion +6/+6/+1 1d8 +1
10th +7/+2 +7 +7 +7 Ki strike (lawful), slow fall 50 ft. +7/+7/+2 1d10 +2
11th +8/+3 +7 +7 +7 Bonus feat, diamond body +8/+8/+3 1d10 +2
12th +9/+4 +8 +8 +8 Abundant step, slow fall 60 ft. +9/+9/+4 1d10 +2
13th +9/+4 +8 +8 +8 Diamond soul, greater flurry +9/+9/+9/+4 1d10 +2
14th +10/+5 +9 +9 +9 Bonus feat, Slow fall 70 ft. +10/+10/+10/+5 1d10 +2
15th +11/+6/+1 +9 +9 +9 Quivering palm +11/+11/+11/+6/+1 2d6 +3
16th +12/+7/+2 +10 +10 +10 Ki strike (adamantine), slow fall 80 ft. +12/+12/+12/+7/+2 2d6 +3
17th +12/+7/+2 +10 +10 +10 Bonus feat, flawless flurry, timeless body +12/+12/+12/+12/+12 2d6 +3
18th +13/+8/+3 +11 +11 +11 Slow fall 90 ft., tongue of the sun and moon +13/+13/+13/+13/+13 2d6 +3
19th +14/+9/+4 +11 +11 +11 Empty body +14/+14/+14/+14/+14 2d6 +3
20th +15/+10/+5 +12 +12 +12 Bonus feat, perfect self, slow fall any distance +15/+15/+15/+15/+15 2d8 +4
1 The value shown is for Medium monks. See Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage for Small or Large monks.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the monk.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Monks are proficient with club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling.
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 her AC bonus, as well as her fast movement and flurry of blows abilities.
AC Bonus (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the monk adds her Wisdom 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 monk may attack only with unarmed strikes or with special monk weapons (kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, and siangham). She may attack with unarmed strikes and special monk 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 x1/2) to her damage rolls for all successful attacks, whether she wields a weapon in one or both hands. The monk can’t use any weapon other than a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows.
In the case of the quarterstaff, each end counts as a separate weapon for the purpose of using the flurry of blows ability. Even though the quarterstaff requires two hands to use, a monk may still intersperse unarmed strikes with quarterstaff strikes, assuming that she has enough attacks in her flurry of blows routine to do so.
When a monk reaches 13th 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.
When a monk reaches 17th level, her flurry of blows is perfected. She takes no penalty on her iterative attacks whenever striking with a flurry of blows.
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.
A monk also deals more damage with her unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown on Table: The Monk. The unarmed damage on Table: The Monk is for Medium monks. A Small monk deals less damage than the amount given there with her unarmed attacks, while a Large monk deals more damage; see Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage.
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Table: Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage
Level Damage (Small Monk) Damage (Large Monk)
1st–4th 1d4 1d8
5th–9th 1d6 2d6
10th–14th 1d8 2d8
15th–19th 1d10 3d6
20th 2d6 3d8
Bonus Feat: At 2nd level and every three levels thereafter (5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 20th level), a monk gains a bonus feat, which must be selected from the following list: Acrobatic, Agile, Alertness, Athletic, Axiomatic Strike†, Blind-Fight, Clever Wrestling†, Close Quarters Fighting†, Combat Intuition‡, Combat Reflexes*, Danger Sense‡, Defect Arrows*, Defensive Strike†, Defensive Throw†, Diehard, Dodge, Earth’s Embrace†, Eagle Claw Attack†, Endurance, Extra Stunning†, Eyes in the Back of Your Head†, Fists of Iron†, Fleet of Foot†, Flying Kick†, Freezing the Lifeblood†, Greater Kiai Shout†, Great Fortitude, Improved Disarm*, Improved Grapple*, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip*, Iron Will, Karmic Strike†, Kiai Shout†, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Negotiator, Open Minded‡, Pain Touch†, Prone Attack†, Rapid Stunning†, Roundabout Kick†, Run, Snatch Arrows, Spring Attack, Stealthy, Stunning Fist*, Toughness, Weakening Touch†, Weapon Finesse, and Zen Archery†. A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for feats marked with a *.
†New feats found in Chapter 3 of Complete Warrior.
‡New feats found in Chapter 3 of Complete Adventurer.
Slow Fall (Ex): At 2nd level or higher, a monk within arm’s reach of a wall can use it to slow her descent. When first using this ability, she takes damage as if the fall were 10 feet shorter than it actually is. The monk’s ability to slow her fall (that is, to reduce the effective distance of the fall when next to a wall) improves with her monk level until at 20th level she can use a nearby wall to slow her descent and fall any distance without harm.
Evasion (Ex): At 3rd 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.
Ki Strike (Su): At 4th level, a monk’s unarmed attacks are empowered with ki. 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 10th level, her unarmed attacks are also treated as lawful weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. 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.
Purity of Body (Ex): At 5th level, a monk gains immunity to all diseases except for supernatural and magical diseases.
Still Mind (Ex): A monk of 6th level or higher gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against spells and effects from the school of enchantment.
Wholeness of Body (Su): At 7th level or higher, a monk can heal her own wounds. She can heal a number of hit points of damage equal to twice her current monk level each day, and she can spread this healing out among several uses.
Improved Evasion (Ex): At 9th 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.
Diamond Body (Su): At 11th level, a monk gains immunity to poisons of all kinds.
Abundant Step (Su): At 12th level or higher, a monk can slip magically between spaces, as if using the spell dimension door, once per day. Her caster level for this effect is one-half her monk level (rounded down).
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.
Quivering Palm (Su): Starting at 15th level, a monk can set up vibrations within the body of another creature that can thereafter be fatal if the monk so desires. She can use this quivering palm 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 quivering palm attack succeeds. Thereafter the monk can try to slay the victim at any later time, as long as the attempt is made within a number of days equal to her monk level. To make such an attempt, the monk merely wills the target to die (a free action), and unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the monk’s level + the monk’s Wis modifier), it dies. If the saving throw is successful, the target is no longer in danger from that particular quivering palm attack, but it may still be affected by another one at a later time.
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 18th level or higher can speak with any living creature.
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.
Ex-Monks
A monk who becomes nonlawful cannot gain new levels as a monk but retains all monk abilities.
Like I said dude, no problem.
