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Warhammer Quest: The Monk

by Colen McAlister

Here is another 'priestly' character for Warhammer Quest, based on the Monk class from AD&D- 1st edition.

The Monks are a little-known religious sect who have a fortress-monastery high in the Worlds Edge Mountains. They place a high emphasis on discipline and combat, the result being that few monsters are foolhardy enough to attack them- even the marauding Orcs fear the Monks, and would not dare to fight. Once they did, but the army was so devastated by the snowstorms, landslides etc. en route (that should not really have happened in the middle of summer) that before they even got half-way there they had to turn back.

Equipment: Prayer Beads.

Weapon: Heavy Dagger, causing 1D6+3 Wounds. Monks can use a limited selection of weapons- see below.

Armour: Nun (ho ho, ahem). The Monk cannot use armour or shields, helms etc.

Pinning: Breaks from pinning on a roll of 5+.

Special Rules: Lots- see below. Monks roll an extra dice for their Wounds, discarding the lower roll, at every level in which they gain extra wounds.

Advanced Rules

Note that 'Attacks' and 'Damage Dice' apply to weapons, not to open handed damage (see below).

Like any other warrior, the Monk can gain Specialist Actions with every level.

Monks cannot visit the Alehouse or Gambling House.

The Monk has the same chance for roleplaying actions (e.g. interrogate, identify etc.) as the Wizard.

Weapon Limitations

The Monk is limited to the following weapons: Crossbow, Throwing Axe, Halberd, Spear, Club (as sword) and Heavy Dagger (as sword). He cannot wear armour.

Special Skills

Monk Skills

These skills are rolled somewhat differently from other warriors. The Monk starts the game with one of these, and gains an extra one every level. To find out which one your monk has, follow the following procedure:

1. Choose one of the skills. Roll a dice- on a 6, you have this skill.
2. If you don't roll a 6, choose another skill. Roll a dice- on a 5+ you have this skill.
3. If you don't roll a 5+, choose another skill. Roll a dice- on a 4+ you have this skill.
4. If you don't roll a 4+, choose another skill. Roll a dice- on a 3+ you have this skill.
5. If you don't roll a 3+, choose another skill. Roll a dice- on a 2+ you have this skill.
6. If you can't roll a 2+, choose one of the skills you have not tried for- it is yours.

If, at any level, you run out of skills (e.g., you fail to get one with a X+ and you have all the ones you haven't rolled for), just choose one. In moderated games, the Gamesmaster may choose a skill for you if he wishes.

List O' Skills

• Weapon Master: Add your battle-level to damage from weapons.
• Tough / Agile: Add your battle-level to Toughness, take no damage from falling into pits and can climb out of them without a rope.
• Healing Powers: Heal any warrior back to full wounds, (Battle-level + 1) times per adventure.
• Mighty Blow: When using open-handed fighting, ignore Toughness and Armour on a 5+ to hit.
• Divine Protection: Immunity to diseases, plagues, poisons etc. (and all events which make use of them, including hazard rolls, settlement events, mummies, etc).
• Danger Sense: Negate Ambushes on a 4+. When you are not ambushed, all warriors get +1A in the first round of combat.
• Fast: +1M and +1I. Dodge Missile Weapons on a 4+.
• Holy Aura: Undead only hit on a 6 if they are adjacent to the Monk. Pay no living expenses, no evil settlement events (except Witch Hunt, or whatever the damn thing near the end of the table is).
• Dodge Blow: Gain a Dodge 6+ Skill (improves by one if you have either of the Fast or Tough and Agile skills- if you have both, it improves by +2, e.g. a Monk with all three has a Dodge 4+ ability).
• Healing Trance: Regenerates (Battle-Level)D6 wounds if you do nothing for a turn.

Open-Handed Fighting

Instead of using a weapon, the Monk may fight open-handed. This does a number of damage dice equal to the level of the user, but without being modified for Strength. E.g., a 5th level monk would do 5D6 damage per hit.

The Monastery

The Monastery can be found on a 8+ in a Town or City. The Monk can perform the following actions at the Monastery:

• Convert Gold to experience points- it cannot be spent but cannot be lost to hazards, either.
• Donate Magical Items to his cause- he gets the experience points for such a gift.
• Charge up an extra D6 prayer beads, at the cost of D6*100 for the lot. This can only be done once per settlement, and takes D6 days to complete, which the Monk spends praying and fasting.

Prayer Beads

Monks start the game with 4D6 prayer beads on a necklace (re-roll if you get less than 10), only 1D6+3 of which are magical. More can be enchanted at the Monastery, Roll 2D6 to see what type of magic each contains:

• 2-4: Bead of Healing. Restores one warrior to full wounds.
• 5-6: Bead of Paralysis. Paralyses all monsters in one board section for D6 turns.
• 7-8: Bead of Luck.Automatically suceed on one roll (cause maximum amount of damage, don;t fall into the Firechasm, etc).
• 9-10: Bead of Light. Can either be used as a lantern for one dungeon or to blind all monsters on a board section for D6 turns (blinded monsters have -2 to hit, cannot move, cannot cast spells or use other powers and opponents get a +2 to hit bonus).
• 11: Bead of Travel. Can transport the entire party to the settlement of their choice.
• 12: Bead of Invisibility. The Warrior this is used on becomes Invisible (as per the ring) for the rest of one event.

Moderated Games

The Monk is zealous in his determination to 'purge the unclean', and will not leave the dungeon unless things are looking really desperate. He should donate money to temples, good causes etc., as much as possible.

Disclaimer

Warhammer Quest is a trademark of Games Workshop, and its use here does not constitute a legal challenge to that status. This article may be considered copyrighted by nobody, so anyone can use and / or alter it. Ha!

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