Monk

Class Traits

From high in forbidding mountains to deep in the alleys of a city’s meanest district, the ascetic warriors known as monks practice their art. By focusing on their minds and bodies, honing both to near perfection, they master a psionic fighting art that allows them to deliver a punch with the force of a giant’s club and to absorb attacks as easily as a heavily armored knight. Monks tap into the psionic potential that rests within themselves, turning that energy further inward to fortify their bodies and sharpen their minds.

Perhaps you set out on this path to put a dark past behind you. Or your village was victimized one time too many by an evil lord or marauding beasts, and you now seek justice. No matter what your motivation, the path of the monk transforms you into a living weapon.

The road opens wide before you. With little more than a walking stick and perhaps a satchel of food, you are ready to take on whatever the world can throw at you. Your years of training taught you to turn your eye inward. Now it is time to look outward and test yourself against the world’s dangers.

“An existence unburdened by limitation demands harmony among body, spirit, and mind.”

YOU STAND between the material world of the body and the enlightened realm of the mind, and within you, both these worlds meet. You are a monk, trained in unique fighting methods passed down through generations. You might have spent your life refining your prowess in a secluded monastery, far from worldly distractions. Or you might have learned your unique fighting style on the darkest city streets, testing your endurance and cunning in a desperate fight for survival. You might have tapped into your power from ancient manuscripts, a mysterious master, or the memory of a lost tradition hidden within your mind.

Although any well-trained warrior can drop a foe with the power of a fist, you invest psionic power in your attacks—the inner energy you call your ki. This energy allows you to deliver attacks as punishing as any spell or armed martial exploit, even as it expands your physical capabilities with swift movement, amazing leaps, and even flight. This chapter offers new options to expand your power and your presence on the battlefield and beyond.

Class Features

Monks have the following class features.

Monastic Tradition

Monks train in a number of traditional techniques, with each monastery focusing on a specific style.

Choose either Centered Breath or Stone Fist as your tradition. The choice you make grants you a Flurry of Blows power and a defensive benefit.

Centered Breath

The Centered Breath tradition emphasizes honing your mental awareness to better harness psionic magic. This tradition teaches that only by controlling yourself can you control your environment. The tradition’s adherents are typically ascetics, whose monasteries stand in quiet corners of the world where the monks can train and study without distraction. In some of these monasteries, speech is forbidden except for one hour each day.

This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 21st level.

Stone Fist

The Stone Fist tradition is one of physical mastery, relentless exercise, and athletic perfection. Its adherents seek to master their bodies, turning themselves into living weapons capable of supernatural feats of strength, agility, and speed. Monks of the Stone Fist prefer to study among the trappings of civilization. Some Stone Fist monasteries are small schools built in towns and villages, where students work as laborers and artisans when they aren’t training. Other Stone Fist monasteries stand in the most forbidding regions of the world—from the bitter cold of the tundra to the edge of a rumbling volcano—to test their students’ endurance day after day.

This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 21st level.

Iron Soul

When you choose your Monastic Tradition, you can choose the Iron Soul tradition instead of another option, such as the ones in Player’s Handbook 3.

Iron Soul is a Monastic Tradition option from Psionic Power.

Unarmed Combatant

You can make unarmed attacks with much greater effectiveness than most other combatants can. When you make a weapon attack such as a melee basic attack, you can use the monk unarmed strike, which is a weapon in the unarmed weapon group. This weapon has the off-hand weapon property and a +3 proficiency bonus, and it deals 1d8 damage. You must have a hand free to use your monk unarmed strike, even if you’re kicking, kneeing, elbowing, or headbutting a target. Your monk unarmed strike can’t be turned into a magic weapon, but it can benefit from a magic ki focus if you have one (see “Implements” below).

Unarmored Defense

While you are wearing cloth armor or no armor and aren’t using a shield, you gain a +2 bonus to AC.

Implements

Monks usually channel their psionic energy through an item called a ki focus, which is a wooden practice weapon, prayer beads, a manual of lore, or some other object a monk studies or uses during training or meditation. After you attune yourself to a ki focus, you can use it as an implement when it is on your person (see “Ki Focuses,” page 203).

When you wear or hold your ki focus, you can add its enhancement bonus to the attack rolls and the damage rolls of monk powers and monk paragon path powers that have the implement keyword.

You can also add its enhancement bonus to the attack rolls and the damage rolls of weapon attacks you make using a weapon with which you have proficiency.

You can also use a weapon with which you have proficiency as an implement. When wielding the weapon as an implement, the weapon’s characteristics— proficiency bonus, damage die, and weapon properties like defensive or high crit—are irrelevant to your implement powers.

If you have both a magic ki focus and a magic weapon, you choose before you use an attack power whether to draw on the magic of the ki focus or the weapon. Your choice determines which enhancement bonus, critical hit effects, and magic item properties and powers you can apply to that power. You can’t, for example, use the enhancement bonus of your ki focus and the critical hit effect of your magic weapon with the same attack.

Creating a Monk

You can make your monk however you like. The builds here provide suggestions based on the monastic traditions of Centered Breath and Stone Fist.

All monks use Dexterity for their attacks. Wisdom increases the effect of attacks associated with the Centered Breath tradition, and Strength is important for attacks associated with the Stone Fist tradition.

The school of the Iron Soul is a new monastic tradition that stands alongside the traditions introduced in Player’s Handbook 3. Iron soul monks are no less deadly than their kin in unarmed combat, but they have learned to incorporate weapon use into their powers with devastating effect.

Centered Breath Monk

You search for the flow of energy within yourself, the world, and each battle. Calmly anticipating your enemy’s attacks, you move swiftly across the battlefield and excel at projecting your psionic energy outward to control your enemies and foil their plans. Dexterity should be your highest score, Wisdom should be your second, and Strength can be your third, since you will probably want to select a mix of powers that use Wisdom and Strength.

• Suggested Class Feature: Centered Breath

• Suggested Feat: Pointed Step Style

• Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Perception

• Suggested At-Will Powers: dancing cobra, five storms

• Suggested Encounter Power: drunken monkey

• Suggested Daily Power: masterful spiral

Iron Soul Monk

The use of simple weapons is the cornerstone of the Iron Soul tradition, founded long ago by oppressed peasants denied access to military weapons by the tyrants who ruled them. Adherents of the Iron Soul master common tools, transforming them into potent implements of war. Over time, monastic warriors have refined these primitive techniques and incorporated them into a range of powerful psionics disciplines.

Devotees of the Iron Soul often come from common stock, taught to defend themselves with whatever weapons they have on hand. Iron soul schools are found within established communities, typically alongside temples dedicated to peaceful gods and philosophical concepts.

You are a cunning warrior, adapting your combat style to meet whatever threat you face. You leap into battle, ripping through your opponents with blindingly fast attacks designed to distract and confuse. Before your foes can react, you settle into a ready posture, deflecting counterstrikes with your weapons.

You are a monk, trained in fighting techniques that transform your hands and feet into deadly weapons. You differ from your kin in the Centered Breath and Stone Fist schools by virtue of the dedication you put into weapon training. You choose the weapons of the common folk, including the mace, staff, spear, and dagger. Your unique training then allows you to treat those weapons as extensions of your body, making them far more deadly than they would be in the hands of any other warrior. Your psionic power infuses your strikes with speed and accuracy.

Like other monks, you should put your highest score in Dexterity because you depend on it for your attacks. Its origin among the common folk means that the Iron Soul tradition focuses on toughness, so make Constitution your second highest score. Aside from the specific full disciplines that rely on Constitution, additional hit points and healing surges are useful for keeping you in the fight. Consider making Wisdom your third highest ability score to increase your battlefield awareness and your Will.

• Suggested Class Feature: Iron Soul*

• Suggested Feat: Still Water*

• Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Endurance, Insight, Perception

• Suggested At-Will Powers: lion’s den, steel wind

• Suggested Encounter Power: stinging nettles*

• Suggested Daily Power: steel avalanche*

**New option presented in Psionic Power.*

Stone Fist Monk

Your fighting style is aggressive, emphasizing powers that eliminate your enemy quickly, rather than powers that help you control the battle. Though capable of rapid movement, your combat maneuvers are more likely to consist of a couple of quick steps, rather than a rapid shift across the entire battle. As with other monks, Dexterity should be your highest score. Choose Strength as your second-highest ability score, followed by Wisdom.

• Suggested Class Feature: Stone Fist

• Suggested Feat: Crashing Tempest Style

• Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Perception

• Suggested At-Will Powers: crane’s wings, dragon’s tail

• Suggested Encounter Power: awaken the slumbering hurt

• Suggested Daily Power: spinning leopard maneuver

Monk Overview

Playing a Monk

“Find what you need, strangers?”

The figure approached the two nondescript travelers in the all but deserted library. A bear of a man, he sported a thick black beard and a gapped-tooth grin. They had been warned about the local sheriff but had hoped to complete their research before running into him.

“Indeed,” Lenaris said carefully. “Ioun’s temple is a veritable font of knowledge.” “Ain’t a free font,” the sheriff quipped. “There’s a tax for outsiders.”

“We were told of no such tax,” Inelda protested.

“I’m telling you now.” The sheriff pushed his cloak aside to show the sword at his belt, glancing down as if to say he’d already noted that both traveling companions were unarmed. Lenaris reached into his pouch for a handful of silver. The grizzled warrior sneered as he sauntered away.

Inelda glared, but Lenaris only shrugged. “A fight here might destroy irreplaceable texts. I’ve told you, Inelda, your temper undermines you. A bit of discipline—” He was interrupted by the angry voice of the sheriff a short way off, berating the old priest who served as the temple’s librarian. The burly warrior had a fragile tome in his hand, raised as if he was ready to throw it.

Lenaris was suddenly gone from his seat, vanishing as quickly as the book subsequently vanished from the sheriff’s fingers. The grizzled face had time for a puzzled look before Lenaris’s leg came up, striking with the force of a battering ram.

Inelda was smiling by the time the sound of the beating faded away. “You were proclaiming the virtue of discipline,” he said as Lenaris returned to the table.

“I showed substantial discipline,” Lenaris said quietly. “I stopped hitting him the instant he struck the floor.”

Each day is a step on a lifelong journey toward a spiritual awakening—the ultimate melding of body, mind, and soul. If pursued with discipline and dedication, the odyssey brings success, contentment, and greater understanding. Perceptive allies gain insights about themselves as you follow your path. For your enemies, each day brings the vital, life-altering revelation that standing against you is extremely unwise.

As a monk, you seek mastery of your entire being. Others think of body, mind, and soul as separate, but you understand that self, absent division, is the highest truth. Mortal weakness and misunderstanding separate the aspects of a person. Only through iron discipline can you shatter false barriers and attain true unity.

Your final goal is not at issue. How far along you are and whether you are advancing or regressing are less certain. How you pursue your spiritual passage toward enlightenment also varies. Did you seek out a monastic order to gain the control that you previously lacked, or were you already disciplined and looking only for purpose? Are styles of combat tools by which you achieve unity, an end in themselves, or just a few of many steps on the path to wholeness?

Body, Mind, Soul

Discipline is central to the life of a monk. You cannot obtain self-mastery if you lack self-control. Through total understanding—mental, physical, spiritual—you break down the false demarcation between the different aspects of your being. You understand that your powers originate from your will, from the muscles and blood of your body, and from the spark of your soul. You strive to integrate all that you are into one seamless whole.

The physical prowess achieved by many monastic orders is legendary. Not as well known is the profound spiritual nature of being a monk. Although not all monks are religious, they are all keenly attuned to the vital essence of their being.

The mental aspects of the monastic lifestyle manifest psionically. Your power comes from within, not from any outside source. In no small part, it is a function of supreme willpower. Monastic schools might be zealously religious, located in or near pious communities. Alternatively, they could minimize ceremony, proclaiming that their teachings are derived entirely from ancient martial styles. Whether presented as rigorous exercise, unparalleled focus, or divine calling, monastic art and practice are ultimately psionic powers.

Your Life Before

Many individuals who eventually train as monks have long felt that something is missing in their lives. You might have lacked discipline, regularly acting from anger or on whim. You might have suffered a spiritual hollowness that traditional religious practices failed to fill. Your life might have been directionless, lacking meaning or purpose. You might have experimented with numerous professions, but discovered that excellence or fulfillment in them was unattainable. Any of these frustrations might prove sufficient motivation to drive you to the doors of a monastery.

Some monks show an inkling of psionic power before they ever make their way to a monastic order. You might have experienced visions, sporadic heightened awareness, or a capacity for extraordinary physicality if sufficiently impassioned. You might have displayed the rudimentary powers of one of the less focused psionic classes, such as an ardent or a battlemind. Whatever your initial response to these developments, you found comfort in discipline. You discovered that your talent responded best to focus and regimen. Whether you instinctually arrived on the monk’s path or happened on it only after attempting other approaches, you discovered control as you trained. Your studies gave your life meaning, sated that unfulfilled need, and defined your existence in a way that gave you a measure of peace.

Your gravitation toward discipline can be motivated by any number of factors. You might be seeking the corporeal power that monastic training provides—whether for vengeance against an enemy, to battle evil, or as a challenge to perceived limitations. You understand that spiritual and philosophical integration is necessary, but your passion lies with the combat styles and physical exertion of your training.

For some monks, faith and intellect are the initial inspiration. You might have sought the peace of your soul through discipline, or been compelled to challenge your mind in order to overcome the rigors and temptations of the flesh. On the other hand, you might well have stumbled into monastic training by accident. Many monasteries stand in dangerous regions in which they are the only shelter for explorers and adventurers. You might have staggered into such a place wounded or seeking shelter, only to become caught up in the traditions you found there. Some monasteries, schools, and orders are particularly famous. If you were lucky enough to have dwelled near one of these notable bastions, you might have sought admittance out of a desire to serve and expand their legacy. Otherwise, you might have spent substantial effort seeking out a mentor or a sensei. Research in historical and religious texts would have pointed you to a particular tradition. Rumors of individuals showing preternatural fighting abilities might have drawn you to a school hidden in a city’s back alleys. Whether your monastic training came through quick acceptance, painstaking endeavor, or something in between, it has become a core part of who you are.

Roleplaying a Monk

Discipline, discipline, discipline. Your training, your powers, your spirituality, your life—all are centered on and enriched by discipline. You’ve strengthened your willpower to the point where once you’ve chosen a course, little can cause you to deviate from it. More than anything else, this dedication to discipline epitomizes the core aspect of the monk.

Discipline does not mean lack of passion, however. Your focus does not require you to be an emotionless automaton, without loves or fears or ambitions. Monks are creatures of the world, and nothing in their training alters that. You lose your temper. You make mistakes. You have desires beyond enlightenment.

In the end, complete control is more an aspiration than a reality. You strive for mastery of self, accepting that you will not always succeed. You prefer to plan and foresee rather than simply react. You try to avoid extraneous temptations. You’re not necessarily a slave to tradition, but you respect it.

Because you believe that body, mind, and soul should be one, no endeavor is outside your interest. You seek to improve yourself in a variety of ways. You enjoy learning new skills, experiencing new sensations, studying new topics and cultures, and practicing new forms of art. You will never be an expert in all things, for such goals are not in keeping with your focus. Still, each personal advancement or improvement is a step toward enlightenment.

Regardless of how far you’ve yet to go, you have identified your path and begun your journey along it. At the very least, you are content with your direction. That self-understanding sets you apart from lost and drifting souls. You might offer to share the measure of enlightenment you have achieved, aiding your friends in discovering their own potential. Rather than proclaiming the lessons of virtue, you teach by example.

Some monks see it as their duty to protect those unable to stand against the hazards of the world. Others feel justified in leaving the morass of mortal society to its own devices as they focus exclusively on their own goals. Some decide that by virtue of their skill and discipline, wealth and power are rightfully theirs for the taking. Whatever path you choose, your abilities and determination mark you as a force that the world must reckon with.

Spirituality and Religion

True enlightenment encompasses aspects of being such as heart, essence, and spirit that are neither mental nor physical. For this reason, many monastic traditions embrace a spiritual element. They focus on the soul as an integral part of the whole individual. With the Dungeon Master’s assistance, you can determine whether your spirituality is derived from an organized religion, separate from the trappings of a particular deity or pantheon, or incorporates both. Some monasteries consider themselves religious sects. If you are a member of one of these orders, you include prayer sessions and sacred ceremonies as part of your training and daily rituals. You attribute your powers to the gods—either indirectly, claiming that psionics aptitude is a gift from above, or through a belief that your abilities are divine, not psionic, in origin.

Spirituality does not require piousness, however. Even if you are a religious monk, your faith can be as loosely defined as that of any other nondivine class. You might revere one or more gods on a personal level, but that worship need not be integral to your practices. Your faith might play little part in your discipline. In that case, you view your abilities as personal gifts whose ultimate expression depends only on you.

School Spirit

Unless something abnormal undermined your relationship, you profoundly respect and support your school, monastery, or monastic tradition. You quickly recognize students trained in the same styles, considering them brothers and sisters until they prove unworthy.

Your loyalty might show itself as a quiet strength—a belief that your tradition is superior only because your practice makes it so. In this case, your allegiance would be a matter of modest pride that comes out only under select circumstances. Alternatively, you might feel that the preeminence of your school should be manifest to all—particularly monks of competing schools. You might be determined to spread the word of enlightenment as you see it. You might encourage rational debate, strongly arguing your position. You might be arrogant or expressive, boasting about your tradition constantly. You might even engage in all three approaches—modesty, discussion, and bluster—at different times. But no matter what your approach, your school spirit is always present.

Your monastic tradition and the lessons imparted by your masters represent not only a body of knowledge but a spiritual pathway—a way of life and a road to enlightenment. Your dedication to this tradition is as fundamental as faith or culture is to others. Only something dramatic and profoundly disturbing can shake that devotion.

Full Disciplines and Fighting Styles

Many monk disciplines are full disciplines—powers that integrate movement and attack. They define your fighting style, training, and approach to combat. Each full discipline power represents a combat technique passed down by the masters of your order. It carries the weight of tradition and embodies profound lessons that you must internalize before reaching enlightenment. These disciplines underpin the physical and mental exercises that you practice repeatedly to maintain your edge.

No single full discipline encompasses an entire monastic fighting style. The particular combination of techniques taught by a given school constitutes the spine of that group’s traditions. By watching another monk in combat and noting the combination of techniques displayed, you might identify his or her tradition.

Consider making cosmetic changes to your full disciplines to give them a unifying feel and highlight the cohesive tradition that brings these techniques together. For instance, one order featuring crane’s wings might teach its students to spin during the leap granted by that power, attacking with a spinning back-kick. Another style could use the power to perform a flying kick. If monks from these two orders were to learn furious bull, the student of the former might move in tight circles around foes when passing through their spaces; the latter practitioner might shove them aside. Giving your full discipline powers an element of description in common enriches your combat style and brings it to life.

Monks in the World

Although scholars, sages, and religious leaders understand the holistic nature of a monk’s training, many common folk view monks primarily as religious figures. They consider the monk’s ascetic lifestyle and spiritual philosophy as a product of strict religious fervor. This opinion is reinforced by the overtly religious nature of many monastic traditions. Such folk expect you to be part of a formal ecclesiastical hierarchy, and to display holy symbols or other religious trappings. If your tradition does not include those features, you could be viewed with suspicion. Locals might wonder if your lack of religious accoutrements hides an allegiance to an unholy or a disfavored deity.

If your tradition emphasizes teaching enlightenment or correcting misapprehensions, you might find that your explanations concerning the trinity of body, mind, and soul only confuse or annoy people. Monks whose spirituality does not include a religious dimension avoid these social difficulties by adopting a quiet presence. They act rather than talk, speaking only when a situation calls to mind a parable or a homily that might provide instruction. This approach leads many folk to view nonreligious monks as inscrutable. Although they don’t entirely understand monks, commoners grant monks and their monasteries a measure of respect. Monks are recognized as the embodiment of discipline—highly learned and physically exceptional. Moreover, most folk have heard of (or seen firsthand) a monk’s prowess in combat, and so are eager not to make enemies of those who follow that path. Exceptions do exist, particularly among religious or militant organizations that view the monastic traditions as a challenge to their own power. Monasteries and schools have their own rivals and enemies, but even the foes of a particular monastic tradition acknowledge the capabilities of that tradition’s members.

Most commoners assume that all monks are members of a larger sect—a monastery, an order, a school, or a temple. This impression might be accurate in many cases, but any given monk might live, train, and travel alone. He or she might have abandoned an order or been trained by a lone master. People who encounter such loners often refuse to believe they do not belong to a larger faction.

The Oldest Tradition

Legends and the myth-histories of ancient scholars suggest that monastic traditions first appeared in the late years of the Dawn War. Such traditions began as sects within larger faiths, beholden to the oldest deities. Warriors horrified by the destruction wrought by primordial soldiers and aberrant creatures created schools in which new techniques were developed to fight such opponents. Dedicated martial arts styles, defined by specific fighting techniques, were not a new concept. But these practitioners buttressed their physical prowess with the mental and spiritual focus that would grant them an edge against their otherworldly foes.

For generations, monastic traditions remained a part of the faiths that spawned them. These religious orders, and new ones founded on similar principles, continue to this day. Some of these holy monks, however, began to question whether the path to enlightenment necessarily led through the domain of any specific deity. They grew to believe that their duties to the priesthoods distracted them from personal studies. These monks considered a religious approach unbalanced toward spirit and not sufficiently respectful of body and mind.

Some temples attempted to stop their monks from leaving, denouncing them as heretics and traitors. Other faiths shook their heads at the foolishness and hubris of these ascetics. A few denominations blessed their endeavors, offering reintegration should the monks desire it at a later time. Whatever the response of their hierarchies, these independently minded monks set off on their own, forming new traditions based on purely spiritual—not religious—paths. The custom of building monasteries in remote locales arose at this time, as the new orders sought to escape the influence—whether hostile or well intentioned—of their former faiths.

Monastic traditions spread across the world with surprising speed. Although the training was too demanding to become widely popular, candidates who sought purpose, discipline, and personal empowerment could be found everywhere. Some of these seekers proved receptive to the idea that power could be cultivated internally, rather than obtained from the gods or obscure mystical formulas. Just as important to the spread of monastic schools was their ease of formation. An order could be started with one or two masters and a handful of students. With little more than the ability to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves, monks could prosper while practicing their arts. Over time, many orders adopted the virtues of austerity and endurance as a reflection of the dedication needed to pursue a monastic life.

Few of the oldest of the monastic traditions exist today in anything close to their original form, but legends claim that deep in the Cloudroot Mountains, in a valley made inaccessible by weather and ambient magic ten months out of the year, a monastery stands whose inhabitants practice the Fist of the Weeping Earth. Some sages believe this style to be one of the oldest of all monastic traditions—second only to the Breath of the Sun and Moon (page 66), a style known solely from the contemporary orders that have borrowed from it.

Monks Today

Since their initial expansion, the spread of monastic traditions has waxed and waned. During epochs of relative peace and stability, new orders arise and old orders expand. Monks are found wandering through all lands, spreading the example of enlightenment. Candidates interested in monastic training can travel freely to the schools of their choice.

During dark times such as the contemporary era, monks hole up in their strongholds, as hard-pressed to survive as all other folk. Adventuring monks still make sojourns across the dangerous wilds between the isolated enclaves of civilization, but these travelers can sometimes go for months or even years without seeing others of their kind.

Whatever their individual traditions, monks remain widespread but go largely unseen throughout the world. Orders exist across all civilized lands, but individual schools typically boast a mere handful of members—at most a few dozen. Travel is difficult in these troubled times, and communication even between significant outposts of the same tradition is infrequent.

In the first years after the fall of Nerath, the influx of new acolytes to the monasteries was slow. But the number of such petitioners has increased in recent years as psionics aptitude has become more widespread. The total number of monks in the world remains low, but it does not seem likely to stay so for long.

The current state of their membership does not minimize the sway of individual monasteries. Although most monastic orders and schools are not large communities, they often have influence over their immediate surroundings as places of learning, stability, and safety. Refugees and others gather in monastic environs in the hope of improving themselves and escaping the increasingly dangerous lands where civilization once held sway.

Monk Lore

Breath of the Sun and Moon

Little recorded history remains from the days following the Dawn War. Still, some sages claim that the Breath of the Sun and Moon is the earliest known formal monastic tradition. The specifics of this tradition’s teachings are lost to history, but it retains a place of great honor and veneration among monks.

The influence of the Breath of the Sun and Moon can be found in all contemporary orders. Followers of this tradition are said to be the first practitioners to gather disparate techniques into a set of consistent thematic disciplines. They first enunciated the ideal of unity between body, mind, and soul. They began the discussion of ki, although they used Supernal terms to do so. Finally, they established the completely immersive, monastic way of life and first practiced it in isolated communities. Disciplines developed by the monks of the Breath of the Sun and Moon are still taught today in one form or another.

Numerous contemporary monastic traditions claim direct descent from this ancient order, though no clear evidence for such claims exists. Many monasteries use the rank titles that the Breath adopted in ancient times. Titles such as “Master of the North Wind,” “Master of Autumn,” and “Grand Master of Flowers” reveal the influence of the Breath of the Sun and Moon.

Daily Ritual

Monks strive not to perform any act accidentally or carelessly. Their efforts are methodical and precise, requiring complete attention. Such concentration is most obvious during training or studying, but it is not limited to those activities. A monk gardening, cooking a meal, painting a picture, building a wagon, or tabulating a monastery’s yearly income is just as focused. The maxim that anything worth doing is worth doing properly is part of a monk’s creed. For a monk, everything in life, from the mundane to the magnificent, takes on an aspect of ritual.

In some instances, the focus on mundane acts facilitates meditation and the clearing of the mind (page 70). For the most part, however, monks view complete engagement as a way of life. Concentration is a means of achieving perfect discipline. True control over the self cannot be obtained through a divided focus. Working toward perfect understanding of any task, even everyday routines, brings one closer to enlightenment. With this approach, any activity required by day-to-day living becomes a spiritual accomplishment.

Finding the Path

Monastic acolytes might face significant challenges seeking out a desirable order or school before they arrive at the monastery’s gate. Although some schools and their locations are famous, at least locally, other traditions are secretive or geographically isolated. Some regions hold no monastic orders at all. In these cases, a candidate must search far and wide, both by traveling and in terms of introspection. In the end, such effort might be wasted if the potential master finds the petitioner unsuitable.

Despite these barriers, locating a monastery or a school is sometimes easier than might be expected. Candidates who have sufficient discipline can feel drawn to a particular locale or building, stumbling upon the monastery with an accuracy that cannot be dismissed as coincidence. Many scholars theorize that characters destined to become monks unconsciously tap into a psionic or a spiritual connection that subtly guides them toward a suitable tradition and a willing master.

Meditation

Monks and psions meditate in a variety of ways to maintain discipline and to reinvigorate their bodies and minds. For roleplaying purposes, you might decide exactly what those practices entail and describe your character performing them during periods of rest or downtime. You can adopt one of these suggestions or devise your own.

There is no pain; there is only warning.

There is no fear; there is only caution.

There is no retreat; there is only delay.

There is no defeat; there is only death.

There is no me; there is only what I do.

The Nature of Ki

Although monks are not the only masters of the psionic energy known as ki, the common understanding of this energy originates in the older monastic traditions. The term “ki” is believed to come from early days when scholars were attempting to develop a common word for a concept that at the time existed only in the Supernal language. The term draws together two related notions:

• The separation of self into body, mind, and soul is artificial, and disrupts the proper flow of spiritual energy.

• Assimilating the unity of body, mind, and soul taps into a profound source of internal power.

All monastic traditions teach that body, mind, and soul are one. Monks must attempt to set aside their concept of the separate aspects of the self and envision a point at which body, mind, and soul are anchored to one another. By considering and nurturing that metaphysical node, monks hope to increase their understanding of the nature of ki.

The One Who Walks

Legends from the oldest monastic traditions speak of the One Who Walks, a monk of superhuman discipline and power on the edge of enlightenment. The One Who Walks follows teachings that have passed from the Breath of the Sun and Moon and other ancient traditions.

These practices, the legends say, grant the One Who Walks near-immortality. This monk wanders the world, looking for a single student to whom he or she can pass this wisdom. The student then assumes the mantle of the One Who Walks, who can finally achieve true enlightenment and leave the mortal realm behind.

More than one unscrupulous monk has claimed to be the One Who Walks, gaining money or influence over adherents eager for their teachings. Even if the legend has any basis in truth, the identity of the One Who Walks remains a subject of much speculation and few hard facts.

Taxes, Tithes, and Thievery

Many isolated monasteries exist completely apart from the bounds of civilization, independent from any supervisory, affiliated, or beholden group. On occasion, a small settlement grows up near an otherwise remote monastery, eager for the protection the monks offer from the hazards of the wild. Over time, a formal relationship might develop between the order and the community. The monks might become landlords, collecting taxes or tithes. They might become overlords, passing laws and serving as both religious and secular leaders for the local population. Many arrangements bear equal measures of benefit and responsibility, but some dependencies are more extreme.

A school dedicated wholly to discipline might subordinate itself to a local settlement, perhaps as a means of achieving enlightenment through service. Another order might exert a cruel dominion, inflicting crippling taxes and growing wealthy off the labor of its subjects. Such an evil-aligned monastery might also send students roaming beyond their own environs to engage in banditry, waylaying travelers and raiding neighboring communities.

Traditions and Taboos

Monastic teachings can include restrictions that seem nonsensical to outsiders. These requirements might be designed to help adherents mentally prepare for enlightenment, to aid in the maintenance of discipline, or to show reverence to a particular faith, creed, or deity.

To determine what, if any, teachings and taboos your tradition includes, you can select from the following examples or use them as models in designing your own:

• You must not partake of certain foods, or you must ingest certain foods at certain times.

• You must not retain more wealth than you can carry.

• You must practice certain chants, katas (martial exercises), or ceremonies at certain times of the day or on certain days of the year.

• You must never (or always) wear garments of a certain color, style, or fabric.

• You must never strike a blow against a certain sort of creature. Some traditions create an exception to this rule for self-defense.

• You must teach the basic tenets of your tradition to anyone who expresses honest interest.

• You must observe all the religious ceremonies of a particular god as thoroughly as if you were a priest.

• You must never strike the first blow in battle.

• You must practice, or avoid practicing, certain forms of fine art (such as playing music, painting, or calligraphy).

• You must not speak at certain times of the day, unless keeping silent would result in harm to others.

• You must render aid upon request to any member of your tradition, even at the expense of your immediate goals.

Monk Powers

Your monk powers are called disciplines. They rely on your physical training, mental focus, and mastery of psionic magic to function.

Monks and Weapons

Your monk attack powers are implement powers, meaning they are enhanced by the powers, properties, and enhancement bonus of your ki focus or a weapon you use as an implement. All your monk attacks can involve the use of a weapon, whether it’s your monk unarmed strike or a manufactured object. Because the attacks can draw on the magic of your ki focus, they are equally effective whether you wield a quarterstaff or batter your foes with punches and kicks.

You might want to use a weapon so that you can take advantage of feats such as Shielding Whirlwind Style or Crashing Tempest Style. You can switch weapons with ease or pick up whatever is at hand to attack your foes, drawing on the power of your ki focus instead of relying on the strength of magically enhanced steel.

You might also want to carry a sling or some shuriken so that you can make ranged basic attacks.

Full Discipline

Many monk powers have the full discipline keyword (page 217). A full discipline power gives you at least two actions to choose from, usually an attack technique and a movement technique. Attack techniques usually require a standard action, and movement techniques are options for your move actions. For a monk, a full discipline power represents a fighting style, a unique combination of a move and an attack.

Some of the new powers presented in this section have an Iron Soul entry, which provides additional options for monks of the Iron Soul tradition. But these and the other powers presented here provide useful options for any monk character.

Class Features

Monks gain a Flurry of Blows power based on their chosen tradition. Monks of the Centered Breath tradition gain centered flurry of blows, and Stone Fist tradition monks gain stone fist flurry of blows. Monks of the Iron Soul tradition (from Psionic Power) gain iron soul flurry of blows.

Level 1 At-Will Disciplines

Level 1 Encounter Disciplines

Level 1 Daily Disciplines

Level 2 Utility Disciplines

Level 3 Encounter Disciplines

Level 5 Daily Disciplines

Level 6 Utility Disciplines

Level 7 Encounter Disciplines

Level 9 Daily Disciplines

Level 10 Utility Disciplines

Level 13 Encounter Disciplines

Level 15 Daily Disciplines

Level 16 Utility Disciplines

Level 17 Encounter Disciplines

Level 19 Daily Disciplines

Level 22 Utility Disciplines

Level 23 Encounter Disciplines

Level 25 Daily Disciplines

Level 27 Encounter Disciplines

Level 29 Daily Disciplines

Paragon Paths

At 11th level a monk may take one of these paragon paths. Each grants path features at 11th and 16th levels plus the encounter, utility, and daily disciplines shown.

Basilisk’s Fury Adept

“Look into these eyes and see the doom awaiting you.”

The basilisk is renowned for its hunting prowess, and its pitiless gaze. Inspired by both the basilisk’s sinuous movements and the immobilizing effect of its gaze, a group of monks have developed disciplines that mirror this creature’s fearsome reputation.

Your study of the basilisk’s fury has opened your mind to the emotions around and in you. Achieving this state empties your body of thought and draws the sensations of others through your eyes. Foes that peer into your obsidian gaze are drained of hope. All that remains for your enemy are apathy, stasis, and death.

Basilisk’s Fury Adept Path Features

Basilisk’s Fury Adept Disciplines

Four Winds Master

“I am as powerful as the winds and as constant as the seasons.”

Devotees of the four winds strive for peace and tranquility in all that they do. They recognize, however, that violence is sometimes necessary to achieve greater harmony. Just as destructive winds can carry away anything that stands against them, a monk of the four winds is an overwhelming force.

Four Winds Master Path Features

• Mystery of the East Wind: You gain lightning resistance equal to one-half your level. In addition, whenever you shift, you can move 2 squares before or after the shift.

• Mystery of the North Wind: You gain cold resistance equal to one-half your level and a +5 bonus to saving throws against charm effects and fear effects.

• Mystery of the South Wind: You gain force resistance equal to one-half your level and a +4 bonus to initiative checks.

• Mystery of the West Wind: You gain thunder resistance equal to one-half your level. In addition, whenever you spend a healing surge, you can shift 2 squares as a free action.

In addition, whenever you shift, you can instead fly the same distance. If you don’t land at the end of this movement, you fall.

Four Winds Master Disciplines

Ghostwalker

“I watch the souls as they depart this world for the next.”

The Monastery of the Eternal Void stands at a crossroads where the Shadowfell washes against the world’s shores. Some who study in the monastery delve into the Shadowfell’s secrets, but most of the disciples there contemplate the nature of life and death, the soul’s final migration, and the fate awaiting creatures in the afterlife. Proximity to the darkened plane informed the monastery’s fighting techniques as they developed into their current forms.

Your training at the monastery opened your inner eye, allowing you glimpses from this world into the realm of the dead. Those visions left a mark on you; your flesh is pale and dark circles ring your eyes, as if death’s touch draws near. Despite these changes, you are no less vital and have gained uncanny insight into the nature of souls and their movements.

As a ghostwalker, you use psionic power to cloak yourself in shadow and thereby avoid attacks. You can also strike at a foe’s life force, sapping its strength.

Ghostwalker Path Features

Ghostwalker Disciplines

Initiate of the Dragon

“The dragon holds many secrets, and with those secrets, I battle the forces of darkness.”

The monastery you trained at followed a rare discipline, the school of the dragon’s wisdom. Your masters explained that in the ancient days, the dragons taught the mightiest of mortals how to transcend their physical forms and become as mighty as a dragon. Your monastery teaches that with the right focus and discipline, you too can master the secrets of the dragon.

You learn to focus your psionic power outward, unleashing the dragon’s fiery breath and turning your skin into an armored hide of dragon scales. You move with the dragon’s speed, dancing on the wind with wings of psionic power. Once you master this discipline, you learn how to transform into a dragon for a brief moment.

Half-orc monks are frequently drawn to this paragon path, since their agility and strength serve them well on this path. By the same token, their fiery rage matches the dragon’s anger when it is called to battle.

Initiate of the Dragon Path Features

Initiate of the Dragon Disciplines

Mountain Devotee

“The mountain possesses quiet strength and an unfailing resilience that stands against the cruelest storms, but when it is moved to action, nothing can stand against it.”

You spent years studying at a remote mountain monastery where your masters taught you to reflect on the mountain’s strength and majesty. Through your meditations you learned to become as the mountain, to stand fast against your enemies and repulse their attacks with your unflinching resolve. When not contemplating the mountain’s great power, you put your efforts into mastering the fighting techniques your masters taught, and in time, you became like the object of your veneration.

Your fighting style captures the mountain’s strength and makes it your own. By focusing your psionic power into your body, you harden your fists, so that you can punch through stone or flesh with equal ease. You also learned to ground yourself, to bind your feet to the ground so that not even the most vicious storm can dislodge you. While so grounded, you can catch your enemies and hurl them away.

Mountain Devotee Path Features

Mountain Devotee Disciplines

Radiant Fist

“My power comes from within, and I wield it in the name of the gods.”

You studied in a monastery devoted to the gods, guiding your mastery of psionic magic with the discipline and study of your faith. You likely worship Pelor or Bahamut, but most non-evil deities have at least one monastery dedicated to the fighting arts.

Your monk abilities are touched by divine power, allowing you to channel radiant energy and tap into the astral realm. Like other monks, you move with incredible speed and hit with unmatched power.

In addition, the gods provide you with the ability to quash those who follow the gods of evil.

Dwarf monks are frequently drawn to this paragon path, since their piety and endurance allow them to withstand the mental and physical demands placed on a radiant fist.

Radiant Fist Path Features

Radiant Fist Disciplines

Soaring Blade

“My sword is more than a weapon—it is my spirit.”

Battle is not just a physical contest—it is a spectacle, a dance of parries and thrusts, of slashes and ripostes. True mastery of the blade adds soaring form and motion, transporting the struggle into aerial art.

What sets you apart from earthbound combatants is your melding of discipline and precise swordplay. Your training and your psionic power grant you incredible mobility; your focus hones your edge.

Soaring Blade Path Features

Soaring Blade Disciplines

Tiger Claw Master

“I am the hunter. You are my prey.”

The tiger claw style is an ancient, honored path. Its practitioners have incorporated techniques from different traditions, but the style retains a central feature: the tiger claw. A practitioner curls his or her fingers toward the palm to make a claw. Through iron discipline, the monk transforms each digit into a rigid talon capable of raking and rending.

Mastering tiger claw maneuvers builds your strength and hardiness, and your strikes shred enemies. You spring at your foes with astounding speed. With true mastery, you take on the characteristics of the celestial tiger. Coarse orange and white striped fur covers your body. Your hands become clawed paws and a tiger’s visage replaces your features. With great green orbs for eyes and a mouth filled with sharp teeth, you embody the tiger claw style.

Tiger Claw Master Path Features

Tiger Claw Master Disciplines

Transcendent Perfection

“I am more than this flawed vessel.”

The mystics of transcendent perfection believe the mortal body is a faulty receptacle that prevents them from attaining a higher form. They strive to overcome the body’s limitations and attain their true potential. Just as importantly, they believe that they must foster reason and enlightenment, and help others transcend the body to embrace a state of harmonious existence.

By following the transcendent path, you learn to overcome your physical limitations by solving the riddles of past masters. Each conundrum you unravel opens your mind to greater possibilities. You first learn to shape your words to encourage behavior and alter impressions, to move without interference, or to deny movement to those who oppose you. You learn to close wounds and vanquish ailments with a touch. Upon mastering the techniques of transcendent perfection, you can deny your enemies’ attacks by elevating your consciousness above pain and despair.

Transcendent Perfection Path Features

Transcendent Perfection Disciplines

Unseen Hand

“I am the unseen blade, the killer in shadow, the final reckoning.”

A covert clan of enigmatic monks engage in assassination, espionage, and sabotage. They are mercenaries, taking commissions from the powerful or the vengeful. Members of the Unseen Hand are bound to the order for life—the clan’s mysteries are too sensitive to allow any member to withdraw or resign.

Secrecy and subtlety lie at the heart of your training. As long as your enemies cannot identify your purpose, you have them at a disadvantage. You might achieve this subterfuge through cunning disguises, skulking through shadows, or misdirection. Mastering the higher mysteries helps you manipulate darkness, leap across vast distances, and penetrate your enemies’ minds.

Being a trained killer is not so different from being any other kind of warrior, but you must ensure that your tactics and techniques do not alarm your companions. At the same time, you must maintain friendly relations with the Unseen Hand clan or face ostracism, retribution—or worse.

Unseen Hand Path Features

Unseen Hand Disciplines

Monk (PHB3 + Psionic Power) —