About Humble PathDwarven Unchained Monk 1 Appearance:
It is rare to see a dwarf without a beard. Humble Path shaves his to symbolize his absolute devotion to his monastic oath and his rejection of worldly concerns. On Irorian holy days he presses a blue-dyed palm to his forehead, which fades slowly over weeks. Weather permitting, he wears little but loose-fitting black pants, though he has a heavy cloak to see him through mountain winters.
Many people find Humble Path's habit of speaking in riddles and parables incredibly annoying. Believing that anyone worth knowing rises above such petty irritations, Humble Path does little to amend these impressions. Background:
Once there was a simple fisherman, as poor as a dwarf of the Five Mountains could be. His ramshackle hut by a mountain stream seemed in danger of constant collapse; his roughspun clothes one thread away from unravelling. His distant neighbors believed he had not drunk himself to death only because of his valiant dwarvish liver and a lack of hard coin to buy very much of the rotgut liquor he preferred.
He was pitied by all...but no noble of Highhelm was more content. Fresh food, mountain air, and the glorious view of the peaks were all he wanted from life. He had achieved a sublime happiness by the expedience of not wanting anything out of his grasp. Perhaps he would have lived his centuries in such quiet joy, had he not one day met the legendary wandering monk of the Ghost Dragon school called the Benevolent Master. The Benevolent Master, stopping by his fishing hut, remarked that the fish he had caught must not have realized how soon their happiness would end. The fisherman, somewhat discomfited, rejoined that the Benevolent Master was not a fish, and could not know whether a fish was happy or not. "But you are not me," replied the Benevolent Master, "So how can you know if I know whether a fish is happy?" Those words unlocked something in the fisherman, who cast down his pole and followed the Benevolent Master from that day forward. To become his disciple, he had to leave everything behind: His possessions, his friends, his family, his home, even his name. Now called Humble Path, the former fisherman prostrated himself before the Benevolent Master and dedicated himself to the perfection of body, mind, and soul. His greatest challenge has been believing he could ever reach anything approaching perfection. Humble Path is keenly aware of his failings--his ill-proportioned body, his slow and fumbling mind, his idle and trifling soul. But the writings of Irori as interpreted by the Benevolent Master teach that training the body can help bring the mind and soul into balance, so he pushed himself to his limits to learn the fundamentals of martial arts, in preparation for being inducted into the ancient and secret wisdom of the Ghost Dragon. But before the Benevolent Master could begin to teach Humble Path the great mysteries of ki passed down to him by generations of monks stretching back to the fabled Ghost Dragon itself, a chance encounter with a family of trolls ended with the Benevolent Master dying horribly to win his student a chance to flee. Humble Path mourned his lost teacher, but saw little point in seeking revenge on a pack of brutes, little more than animals. Instead, he swore to rediscover the lost lore of the Ghost Dragon school, so that the wisdom of the Benevolent Master would not be lost forever. Belhaim is a stop along a journey to the heart of the Verduran Forest, where the Ghost Dragon is said to have lived near a long-abandoned Irorian monestary. Humble Path hopes to find someone along the way who knows more. Stats:
STR 17 (+3)
DEX 14 (+2) CON 15 (+2) INT 8 (-1) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 5 (-3) AL: LG
Defenses:
Offense & Weapons:
Feats:
Weapon Focus: Monk Weapons: +1 bonus on all attack rolls made with weapons from the selected group. Dodge: +1 dodge bonus to your AC. This bonus increases to +4 against attacks of opportunity caused by moving out of or within a threatened tile. Losing the Dex bonus to AC also loses the benefits of this feat. Improved Unarmed Strike: Considered to be armed even when unarmed. Does not provoke attacks of opportunity when attacking foes while unarmed. Unarmed strikes can deal lethal or nonlethal damage. Stunning Fist: 1/day. Must declare this feat before making an attack roll (thus, a failed attack roll ruins the attempt). Stunning Fist forces a foe damaged by the unarmed attack to make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 13), in addition to dealing damage normally. A defender who fails this saving throw is stunned for 1 round. A stunned character drops everything held, can’t take actions, loses any Dexterity bonus to AC, and takes a –2 penalty to AC. Constructs, oozes, plants, undead, incorporeal creatures, and creatures immune to critical hits cannot be stunned. Traits:
Grounded: You are well balanced, both physically and mentally. You gain a +2 trait bonus on balance-related Acrobatics checks, and a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves. Martial Manuscript: You have memorized a sacred text from your monastery, and its wisdom gives you insight that makes your attacks more devastating. You gain a +2 trait bonus on rolls to confirm critical hits when you’re using an unarmed strike or monk weapon. You're Hunting Dragons: You jumped at the opportunity to venture into the Verduran Forest, where you know that the remnants of Taldor’s dragons still dwell…as you seek the Ghost Dragon, you'll surely have to handle other dragons along the way. Fortunately, in the Ghost Dragon school you learned how to fight dragons and defend yourself against their fearsome attacks. You gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC against creatures with the dragon type and a +2 trait bonus on Reflex saves against breath weapon attacks. Dwarven Racial Abilities:
Slow and Steady: Base speed of 20 feet, never modified by armor or encumbrance. Hardy: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities. Stability: +4 racial bonus to Combat Maneuver Defense when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground. Greed: 2 racial bonus on Appraise checks made to determine the price of non-magical goods that contain precious metals or gemstones. Stonecunning: +2 bonus on Perception checks to notice unusual stonework, such as traps and hidden doors located in stone walls or floors. Receives a check to notice such features whenever they pass within 10 feet of them, whether or not they are actively looking. Darkvision: Sees perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet. Iron Within: +1 ki point. In addition to other ways to use ki, the dwarf can expend the ki point as a swift action to either gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round or increase base speed by 20 feet for 1 round. The bonus ki point does not allow the dwarf to make a ki strike unless she has another ability that allows her to do so, such as the ki pool from the monk class. Like other ki points, this ki point is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation. This replaces defensive training and hatred. Shadowhunter: Characters with this trait deal 50% weapon damage to incorporeal creatures when using non-magical weapons (including natural and unarmed attacks), as if using magic weapons. They also gain a +2 bonus on saving throws to remove negative levels, and recover physical ability damage from attacks by undead creatures at a rate of 2 points per ability score per day (rather than the normal 1 point per ability score per day). Dwarves can take this trait in place of weapon familiarity. Class Features:
AC Bonus: When unarmored and unencumbered, adds +3 Wisdom bonus to AC and CMD, even against touch attacks or when the monk is flat-footed. He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, when he carries a shield, or when he carries a medium or heavy load. Bonus Feat: Dodge. Flurry of Blows: Can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action. When making a flurry of blows, the monk can make one additional attack at his highest base attack bonus. When using this ability, the monk can make these attacks with any combination of his unarmed strikes and weapons that have the monk special weapon quality. He takes no penalty for using multiple weapons when making a flurry of blows, but he does not gain any additional attacks beyond what’s already granted by the flurry for doing so. Stunning Fist: Gains Stunning Fist as a bonus feat. Unarmed Strike: Gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks can be with fists, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk can make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk can apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes. A monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, although he can choose to deal nonlethal damage with no penalty on his attack roll. He can make this choice while grappling as well. A monk’s unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons. The damage dealt by his unarmed strike is 1d6. Skills:
[4 (Monk) + 2 (Background) - 1 (Int)] x 1 (lvl) = 5 skill points Acrobatics +6 [1 rank + 3 class + 2 Dex] Lore (Irori) +3 [1 rank + 3 class - 1 Int] Perception +7 [1 rank + 3 class +3 Wis] Profession (Fishing) +7 [1 rank + 3 class + 3 Wis] Sense Motive +7 [1 rank + 3 class + 3 Wis] Gear:
Combat Gear:
Double-Chained Kama Sansetsukon 15 Shuriken Other Gear:
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