Monk Weapons

[Jesse Vindiola]

I always felt the list of 'Monk Weapons' was somewhat silly and redundant. It may be done for game balance but the way I see it the game balance achieved is minimal at best.

The thing is, most 'Monk Weapons' are just Asian versions of pre-existing simple weapons.

Kama=Sickle
Nunchaku=Light Flail
Siangham=Arrow/Dagger (Honestly, really, what is a Siangham but a Dagger that can be used for special Monk Attacks?)

How about instead of going through this extra redundancy, just let the Monk use Simple weapons, then they'd actually be able to use Spears, weapons that actual Shaolin and Wudan Monks (The main inspiration for this class) train with.

It may seem imbalanced but I've seen a Shaolin Monk 'Flurry Of Blows' with a spear in a demonstration before, and it'd get rid of the necessity to have a bunch of extra exotic weapons that are nearly identical to previously existing weapons.

If letting Monks use all Simple Weapons is too unbalancing to game mechanics, then perhaps a more moderate proposal is to list Sickle, Light Flail, Dagger, and the Spears as Monk weapons which can be used to perform Special Monk Attacks and Flurry Of Blows.

[hida_jiremi]

Jesse Vindiola wrote:

I always felt the list of 'Monk Weapons' was somewhat silly and redundant. It may be done for game balance but the way I see it the game balance achieved is minimal at best.

I agree. Monk weapons hurt the flavor of the game (which is largely European fantasy) much worse than the monk itself does. They're also not reflective of the environment that breeds unarmed martial arts, which is an environment in which "real" weapons are not available to people that want to defend themselves. I think that monks should just be able to use their monk abilities with simple weapons, which would cut out a lot of weird bullcrap.

The two thing that I would add to this, though are:
1) A swordbreaker-type weapon (like the sai or jitte) on the simple or martial list, so that monks who wanted to be able to fight with them could get them.
2) A feat that allows a monk to add a martial or exotic weapon with which he is proficient to his "monk weapons." That way, you could have your orders of monks with weird, nonsensical weapons, but normal people wouldn't have to put up with them. ;) More to the point, you could actually get a martial arts master with a longsword, which is a big part of Asian cinema (especially modern wuxia, with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

Just my two cents.

Jeremy Puckett

[Zombieneighbours]

Personally i would like to see a wider variaty of 'Monk weapons' However, i would like to see these be mechanicially different from other similier weapons.

[David Jackson 60]

I do something similar to this...it's been a houserule forever, just to add flavor because I don't typically put Asian weapons in my game unless they are near a copy of asian culture.

I don't allow the entire list, just a replacement list with some oddball weapons thrown in.

You have to remember than many of the Iconic Asian weapons were things lying around...basically farming tools and whatnot. :P

[Jesse Vindiola]

This is a copy-paste of an article I found on Shaolin Monks and weapons:

Shaolin monks train in martial arts for several hours every day, perfecting the art of hand-to-hand and weapons combat.

Each monk is required to achieve an extraordinarily high level of proficiency in each of the temple's 18 traditional weapons and become a master of one. However, it is the daily practice of seated meditation, which enables each monk to sustain a demanding physical regimen.

There are more than 20 weapons used by the Shaolin monks today, including the common axe, cudgel, spear, halberd, sword and broadsword, 3-section staff, dart, dagger, black tiger hammer, plumblossom broadsword, Bodhidharma staff and tiger hooks.

These weapons are equally divided between short and long. The cudgel, spear, sword and broadsword, are known as the four major weapons of Shaolin.

Traditionally, Shaolin monks were not just armed with the major four. They had many short weapons hidden on the body such as the dart, iron fan and flute. The Bhodhidharma staff and many others are unique to Shaolin practices. The use of these hidden weapons gave the Shaolin monks additional power over their enemies.

In addition to the use of these weapons virtually any common, everyday object can be used by a Shaolin monk.

Most of the weapons that they use are off of the simple weapons list. Shortsword can easily be used to represent the Jian in a pinch, or or the Dao, one is light and long, and one is broad and short.

War Fan would be nice, as would taking the spiked chain, reducing it's damage, and making it a lighter weapon. That's definately a monk weapon.

I think the Iconics that you'd usually see this sort of character using in a Wuxia film, though, are:

Jian (Rapier-like, Light Sword)
Dao (Short, curved Broad Sword)
Mace
Staff
Spear
Seven Ring Staff
Tiger-Hooks

Maybe the path to making the monk feel right lies in focusing more on his/her weapons.

[arkady_v]

Great idea. I, too, never liked adding the asian flavor to the basic european fantasy. Just leave it as simple weapons and maybe add 1 or 2 exotic weapons, with each monk getting proficiency in one exotic weapon off of a special monk list of warfan, 3 piece staff, light chain, etc.

[Walking Dad]

You are right. My slight fix to mke monks wanting to use weaoons

Add to improved unarmed damage:
For melee weapons you can use in flurries, you can choose to deal unarmed or standard weapon damage.

[Raymond Gellner]

Monks should have at least four more weapons added to their special monk weapons list: the three-section staff, the straight sword (use longsword stats), the spear, and the jo stick.