Holmes-Style Monks of Different Traditions

Hard at Work

I'm working on this Welsh Marches setting for OSR D&D which I would make compatible with my Mythical Journeys game, and it's starting to come together in my head. The setting is the borderlands between England and Wales in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Here are some of the ideas I have had about this setting.

• I want Druids. If Merlin had a character class, it would be Druid. And he was from Wales. You can even go to the town where he was born.
• I want it to be low-magic without a bunch of crazy miracle workers running around. At most 1-2 spell casters per party and none necessary.
• The same characters can do both military campaigns and dungeoneering.
• The story should be dynastic and generational and capture the broad sweep of history in the 11th to 13th century in England and Wales.

A lot of these ideas are coming together in my head as I discover or develop associated mechanics.

Thanks to Father Dave and some inspiration from commentor Starbeard this last week, I had the idea of a Holmes style Monk who does simple miracles rather than spells. You can see the base Monk class I developed here.

By re-skinning the class and changing the Wonders he can do, I've developed a number of different shaman-style classes from various cultures you might find in the realm. 

The first thing is that I'm nicking the Pendragon system for Virtues and Vices. I think this is a great system for enforcing the cultural norms and traditions of different cultures and making culture matter.

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Once you have this, then you can switch out the Wonders to make them line up with the appropriate culture.

In this setting, the Outlaws (those who have been removed from society by decree) end up acting a lot like Pagans because they are allies against the civilized peoples. Therefore I grouped Outlaw monks and Druids together even though they are coming from different racial stock.

Here are the different kinds of Monks I have come up with, with their spell lists. 

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Furthermore, the skins will change slightly to differentiate the several holy men a little more.

Roman are Roman Catholic Monks - clergymen who have been ordained and take their orders from Rome (Or Canterbury) rather than an Abbot in the countryside or directly from God. They are allowed to use the Mace, Lucerne Hammer (a bludgeoning pole arm) and Sling.

Pagan Tradition has Outlaw Monks and Druids. Outlaws use the Quarterstaff, Guissarme and Bow (the best weapon selection overall.) Druids use the Quarterstaff, Dagger, and Spear.

Additionally, Outlaw Monks are always Chaotic and Druids are always Neutral. Both kinds are arrested on sight and usually sent to the gallows to put on a thrilling show for the peasantry.

Brthonic Tradition Monks are called Shamans. They use the Spear and Hand Axe and fight in a similar manner to other Saxon and Pictish warriors.