[quote=Dungeons & Dragons Player Handbook, Page 39]MONK
Dotted across the landscape are monasteries—small, walled cloisters
inhabited by monks who pursue personal perfection through action
as well as contemplation. They train themselves to be versatile
warriors skilled at fighting without weapons or armor. The
inhabitants of monasteries headed by good masters serve as
protectors of the people. Ready for battle even when barefoot and
dressed in peasant clothes, monks can travel unnoticed among the
populace, catching bandits, warlords, and corrupt nobles unawares.
In contrast, the residents of monasteries headed by evil masters rule
the surrounding lands through fear, as an evil warlord and his
entourage might. Evil monks make ideal spies, infiltrators, and
assassins.
The individual monk is unlikely to care passionately about
championing commoners or amassing wealth. She cares primarily
for the perfection of her art and, thereby, her personal perfection.
Her goal is to achieve a state that is beyond the mortal realm.
Adventures: A monk approaches an adventure as if it were a
personal test. While not prone to showing off, monks are willing to
try their skills against whatever obstacles confront them. They are
not greedy for material wealth, but they eagerly seek that which can
help them perfect their art.
Characteristics: The key feature of the monk is her ability to
fight unarmed and unarmored. Thanks to her rigorous training, she
can strike as hard as if she were armed and strike faster than a
warrior with a sword.
Though a monk casts no spells, she has a magic of her own. She
channels a subtle energy, called ki, which allows her to perform
amazing feats. The monk’s best-known feat is her ability to stun an
opponent with an unarmed blow. A monk also has a preternatural
awareness that allows her to dodge an attack even if she is not consciously
aware of it.
As the monk gains experience and power, her mundane and kioriented
abilities grow, giving her more and more power over herself
and, sometimes, over others.
Alignment: A monk’s training requires strict discipline. Only
those who are lawful at heart are capable of undertaking it.
Religion: A monk’s training is her spiritual path. She is innerdirected
and capable of a private, mystic connection to the spiritual
world, so she needs neither clerics nor gods. Certain lawful gods,
however, may appeal to monks, who may meditate on the gods’
likenesses and attempt to emulate their deeds. The three most likely
candidates for a monk’s devotion are Heironeous (god of valor), St.
Cuthbert (god of retribution), and Hextor (god of tyranny).
Background: A monk typically trains in a monastery. Most
monks were children when they joined the monastery, sent to live
there when their parents died, when there wasn’t enough food to
support them, or in return for some kindness that the monastery
had performed for the family. Life in the monastery is so focused
that by the time a monk sets off on her own, she feels little connection
to her former family or village.
In larger cities, master monks have set up monk schools to teach
their arts to those who are interested and worthy. The monks who
study at these academies often see their rural cousins from the
monasteries as backward.
A monk may feel a deep connection to her monastery or school,
to the monk who taught her, to the lineage into which she was
trained, or to all of these. Some monks, however, have no sense of
connection other than to their own path of personal development.
Monks recognize each other as a select group set apart from the
rest of the populace. They may feel kinship, but they also love to
compete with each other to see whose ki is strongest.
Races: Monasteries are found primarily among humans, who
have incorporated them into their ever-evolving culture. Thus,
many monks are humans, and many are half-orcs and half-elves who
live among humans. Elves are capable of single-minded, long-term
devotion to an interest, art, or discipline, and some of them leave the
forests to become monks. The monk tradition is alien to dwarf and
gnome culture, and halflings typically have too mobile a lifestyle to
commit themselves to a monastery, so dwarves, gnomes, and
halflings very rarely become monks.
The savage humanoids do not have the stable social structure that
allows monk training, but the occasional orphaned or abandoned
child from some humanoid tribe winds up in a civilized monastery
or is adopted by a wandering master. The evil subterranean elves
known as the drow have a small but successful monk tradition.
Other Classes: Monks sometimes seem distant because they
often have neither motivation nor skills in common with members
of other classes. Monks do, however, work well with the support of
others, and they usually prove themselves reliable companions.
Role: The monk functions best as an opportunistic combatant,
using her speed to get into and out of combat quickly rather than
engaging in prolonged melees. She also makes an excellent scout,
particularly if she focuses her skill selection on stealth. [/quote]