Updated Holmes Monk

Now with extra wachamacallit

A few months ago, I took Fr. Dave's idea about Holmes Monks out for a spin and came up with a character class along those lines. It turns out that it's much weaker than the Cleric class. However, it doesn't mess with the Cleric's niche I don't think. 

I updated it below. 

But what you won't see is a Turn Undead ability. That's because in my game, not only Clerics can confront undead. Normal people who are devout and Lawful may use their holy symbol to hold undead at bay (30' radius) by making  a Turning check at half their hit dice rounded up. They can't Turn or Beckon undead but they can hold them at bay with a force of will.

So the Monk doesn't have an inherent Turn ability but he can certainly use the normal man's ability to hold them at-bay.

I think that I would like to introduce this as an NPC class in my Fallen Empire campaign. I could also re-skin them as witches or Druids with different spell-like abilities. Druids will be important at some point so I should have that in my back pocket for when the time comes.

The Monk

A Monk (or Nun)  is a holy warrior who uses his faith in God to explore the realm and to make it safe and sound for Men and their allies. Furthermore, since he owes his strength to a higher power of some kind, he must act within the Lawful alignment, or be sanctioned in some way by that higher power. This means he must work on behalf of Mankind and it’s allies whenever appropriate. On the other hand, his faith in God protects him from attacks, lowering his Armor Class while unarmored and he performs special, powerful miracles called Wonders.

These are not always priests, but rather special individuals from inside and outside the Church who receive— and answer, a special calling from God. A monk is infused with God’s power in order to undertake great and necessary tasks here in the mortal realm such bringing succor to remote communities, solving mysteries, questing for holy relics, and assisting pilgrims.

The Prime Requisite of the Monk is Wisdom. He uses the Cleric’s Attack and Saving Throw charts.

Arms & Armor: The Monk may use Leather armor and carry a shield, but doing so negates his natural Armor Class bonus. He may wear a helm without penalty. He may use the following weapons: Quarterstaff, Footman’s Flail, Club and Sling.

Magic Items: The Monk may use any magic items available to the Cleric, so long as they are not kinds of magical weapons or armor they are forbidden to use. He may read and write Cleric scrolls.

The Monk’s Class Abilities:

Wonder Working: Monks have the powerful ability to perform special actions called  Wonders. As the Monk gains experience levels, he will be able to perform more kinds of Wonders.

Wonders have effects that are identical to spells cast by Clerics or Magic-Users and Elves, but they are not spells.  Rather, they are extraordinary abilities. Anti-magic and Dispel Magic do not work against these Wonders, and they cannot be disrupted by hit point damage like a spell can when it is being cast. The working of Wonders is more akin to the ability to Turn Undead. Use the appropriate spell descriptions to adjudicate these Wonders.

In order to work a Wonder, the Monk rolls 2d6. The Wonder works if this number meets or exceeds the target number for the Wonder in question (see Table 2.) More powerful Wonders are available at higher experience levels, and the ones granted become easier to use.

The Monk may attempt to work a Wonder once per Turn (10 minutes.) He may use each Wonder once per day. If the Monk attempts to work a Wonder and is unsuccessful, he may attempt to work the same Wonder later in the same day until it is successful.

Monks require some object of religious significance like a mirror, a cross or other holy symbol to use their Wonder ability; but the power to it is invested in he himself and not the object.

The Guided Hand: A Monk may substitute his Wisdom score for his Dexterity score at any time.

Smite: Using an allowed weapon, the Monk may attempt to Smite. This special attack must be declared prior to rolling the attack roll. This attack gains a +4 to hit that stacks with any other bonuses, and deals double damage if it hits. He may attempt this once per day at first level, twice per day at third level, and three times per day at fifth level and higher.

Armor of God: A Monk is a special creature, watched over by God. He has a naturally better Armor Class than other characters and that Armor Class gets better as he gains experience levels. However, if he wears armor or uses a shield, that bonus goes away.

Monster Hunting: Upon encountering a kind of monster for the first time, the Monk may make an Intelligence check on 1d20 to see if he has learned something about it in his catechism or travels.

Read Languages: The Monk has a 10% chance per experience level to read any non-magical writing. At level 8, he gains the ability to use Magic-User and Elf scrolls.