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2006-07-18, 11:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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Disciple of the Crane: Staff Monk PrC (PEACH)
Disciple of the Crane
Gristle sneered as he twirled his twin, rusty daggers menacingly. The young girl in front of him was beautiful and sensuous, with a tanned, tightly toned body. She wore simple wool clothes, with a simple bamboo walking stick (though strangely it seemed a bit too long) and a straw hat tucked over her smooth, bald head tattooed with a crane… kinky. He licked his lips in anticipation- he would enjoy this very much. “Take off yer clothes, harlot” he growled.
“Please sir; I am a simple servant of the monastery”
“I said strip!” roared Gristle, as he lunged forward with one of his daggers. He liked it when they were bleeding. The dagger shot into air. What?! Gristle’s head snapped upwards- the woman had thrust her bamboo staff into the ground, and was now perched atop her staff like a crane.
That was the last thing Gristle saw.
These martial artists have trained extensively using the most unassuming of weapons- the quarterstaff. By mimicking the grace and strength of the crane, a simple wooden stick becomes a deadly tool in their hands. Most disciples are monks who have decided to focus on using their staff, rather than their fists, as their primary means of heightening their physical prowess. But there have also been many cases of mercenaries, fighters and barbarians traveling to monasteries so that they may learn this deadly art, and defeat their foes not with steel, but merely simple wood. Even Rogues have been known to study this path.
Requirements: Combat Reflexes, Improved Trip, Weapon Focus (Quarterstaff), Base Attack Bonus +6
Base Attack Bonus: Good
Saves: Fortitude Bad, Reflex Good, Will Bad
Hit Dice: d8
Skill Points: 4 + Int Modifier
A Disciple of the Crane gains no weapon or armor proficiencies.
Special: A Monk who takes level of Disciple of the Crane can still continue to take levels of Monk.
Special Abilities
1: Crane’s Defense
2: Staff Twirl, Fast Trip
3: Fury of the Crane
4: Ki Weapon
5: Improved Staff Twirl
6: Eyes of the Crane
7: Crane’s Reach
8: Swift Trip
9: Way of the Crane
10: Greater Staff Twirl
Crane’s Defense (Ex): When wearing no armor and using a quarterstaff, the Disciple of the Crane can add one point of his dexterity modifier to his AC for every level of Disciple of the Crane he has. This stacks on top of the already existing dexterity bonus to AC inherent in all characters. He retains this armor bonus against touch attacks, but not when flatfooted. This stacks with the monk’s wisdom AC Bonus, as well.
Staff Twirl (Ex): When wearing no armor, as long as the Disciple of the Crane is wielding a quarterstaff, he can make double weapon attacks at a lowered penalty, as if he had the Two-Weapon Fighting feat.
Fast Trip (Ex): When wearing no armor, the Disciple can now make trip attacks using his quarterstaff as a move action.
Fury of the Crane (Ex): The Disciple gains the fighter feat Weapon Specialization for the Quarterstaff
Ki Weapon (Su): The Disciple of the Crane can transfer his Ki energies into his Quarterstaff, but cannot be encumbered by armor while doing so. A Disciple of the Crane can, if he had these abilities before entering the prestige class, make Stunning Fist, Ki Strike and Quivering Palm and all other unarmed special attacks using his quarterstaff.
Improved Staff Twirl (Ex): During a full attack action, a Disciple can make an extra attack with his quarterstaff, albeit at a -5 penalty to the attack roll, when using his quarterstaff as a double weapon and wearing no armor.
Eyes of the Crane (Ex): The Disciple gains the fighter feat Greater Weapon Focus for the Quarterstaff
Crane’s Reach (Ex): The Disciple has learnt how to extend the reach of his staff to the very limits. This requires the Disciple to stretch and flex his body unencumbered. When using a quarterstaff and wearing no armor, he doubles his natural reach.
Swift Trip (Ex): When wearing no armor, the Disciple can make trip attacks using his quarterstaff as a swift action.
Way of the Crane (Ex): The Disciple gains the fighter feat Greater Weapon Specialization for the Quarterstaff
Greater Staff Twirl (Ex): During a full attack action, a Disciple can make a second extra attack with his quarterstaff, albeit at a -10 penalty to the attack roll, when using his quarterstaff as a double weapon and wearing no armor.
EDIT: I wrote this class to take up on molonel's challenge that there were no good Monk prestige classes. I tried to create a hybrid between the monk and the fighter, with a weapon focus on the quarterstaff. If this proves popular I might write up some similar prestige classes using the monk's other weapons... like a praying mantis style monk using kamas or something.
EDIT1: Changed the saves so that reflex is good
EDIT2: Switched Crane's Defense from drawing upon wisdom to drawing upon dexterity (double whammy AC for dex! w00t!)
EDIT3: Added "Monks can still take levels of monk after taking levels of Disciple of the Crane"
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2006-07-19, 12:26 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
If this PrC is about "mimcking the grace of the Crane," why is Fort the class's good save and Ref a bad one?
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2006-07-19, 12:27 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
They fail to dodge fireballs in an elegant way?
"'To know, to do, and to keep silent.' Crowley had the first two down pat."
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2006-07-19, 12:32 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by Lord Iames, the CoP
Changing it now, thanks
EDIT: I was basing this class off of the fighter, but crafting the abilities so that it meshes well with the monk... besides, I think the swashbuckler class (which seems to be a reflex based class to me) also uses a good fort save. But no matter, I agree with you that the good reflex save is much better. I was thinking of making ALL the saves good, like a monk, but then that would make the class way too powerful and I would have to lower the BAB.
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2006-07-19, 12:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
I notice that this seems to be more "Fighter" based than "Monk" based... I dunno... that doesn't make all that much sense... Monks are more staff fighters...
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2006-07-19, 12:46 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by Skyserpent
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2006-07-19, 01:08 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
But thw whole unarmored thing is what Monks are all about, the problem I'm seeing, is that a Fighter won't get all that much AC out of this if he wants the staff flavor... how often do you see a full plate guy with a quarterstaff?
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2006-07-19, 01:58 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by Skyserpent
Also if you read the abilities closely, almost all of them require that the character is not wearing armor.
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2006-07-19, 02:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by adriankas
Let a monk using this get his monk damage plus that of the staff, or, better yet, count his size as one bigger while using a staff for the flurry of blows (after all, the staff is harder and a better lever than most body parts).
Ki Weapon (Su): The Disciple of the Crane can transfer his Ki energies into his Quarterstaff, but cannot be encumbered by armor while doing so. A Disciple of the Crane can, if he had these abilities before entering the prestige class, make Stunning Fist, Ki Strike and Quivering Palm and all other unarmed special attacks using his quarterstaff.
Improved Staff Twirl (Ex): During a full attack action, a Disciple can make an extra attack with his quarterstaff, albeit at a -5 penalty to the attack roll, when using his quarterstaff as a double weapon and wearing no armor.
Eyes of the Crane (Ex): The Disciple gains the fighter feat Greater Weapon Focus for the Quarterstaff
The Cranky Gamer
Nexx's Hello
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*"I" is an English pronoun in the nominative case of first person singular. It does not indicate the actions or writings of anyone but the first person, singular.
*Tataurus, you have three halves as well as a race that doesn't breed. -UglyPanda
*LVDO ERGO SVM
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2006-07-19, 02:08 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Fighters rarely have the pointages to put more than a +1 or +2 bonus into Wisdom... a Duelists Intelligence based ability draws off of the many Fighter Feats that go off of Intelligence. Generally speaking, classes focus on 1 main ability score with 2 or three sub-abilities. Fighters, it's Constitution, followed by Strength and Dex. Intelligence is a fourth, and only used in specific builds. Wisdom is almost never used at all...
Monks on the other hand focus on Wisdom or Dexterity with secondary focus in Strength and Constitution.
Also, the "Staff Twirl" is awkward, as any fighter who would have taken the Weapon Focus (Quarterstaff) abilit should have already taken Two-Weapon Fighting.
The Quarterstaff is a sub-par weapon. It's a Simple Weapon, which makes it less viable for fighters anyway...Member of a fanclub.
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2006-07-19, 02:28 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by MrNexx
I'd make staff twirl stackable with flurry of blows, but then that's an insane nine attacks. But I suppose since the monk has no form of additional damage to those eight attacks (except maybe the +4 from the dual staff weapon specializations), it wouldn't be TOO overpowered, and also I guess the dervish can do fourteen attacks.
I got it: I'll make it stackable with flurry of blows only if the monk uses his unarmed attacks for all of his flurry of blows. Since the monk/disciple doesn't get improved unarmed strike damage once they start taking levels of disciple, it means that the other attacks will have nerfed damage.
I wouldn't require them to have them before entering the prestige class, or even before getting this ability. It's all about the retroactivity.
I'll think about it. Maybe I'll add "Quivering Staff" as an ability around level 8 or something.
With a name like Eyes of the Crane, it might make sense to be a little bit different than another +1 to strike with it. How about Blindsense 5' when fighting with a quarterstaff? You can tell when people are near either end of your constantly moving weapon.
The majority of power in this PrC comes from the increased reach and the swift trip, making it a battlefield controller like a spiked-chain user. I guess a spiked chain already has high reach, but I wanted to make sure that the swift trip (the move-action trip is pretty useless since you could just use a full attack action and use one of the attacks as a trip attack... but I wanted to make sure there was some sort of progression) had strict requirements- sort of like how the IB's improved uncanny feint requires daggers, the DotC's swift trip requires quarterstaves.
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2006-07-19, 02:37 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by Skyserpent
I think then, instead, I'll make Crane's Defense work off of dexterity, making the class a much more dex-based fighter or monk. By doubling the AC bonus you normally get from dexterity, it would encourage some monks to focus on dexterity instead of wisdom, and help out the dreadfully underpopulated dex-based fighters. Thanks.
Also, the "Staff Twirl" is awkward, as any fighter who would have taken the Weapon Focus (Quarterstaff) abilit should have already taken Two-Weapon Fighting.
Besides, who says all fighters use the quarterstaff as a double weapon? Some might decide to use the quarterstaff as a two-handed weapon for the first six levels, for the x2 bonus to STR mod to damage.
The Quarterstaff is a sub-par weapon. It's a Simple Weapon, which makes it less viable for fighters anyway...
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2006-07-19, 02:42 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Actually, if you read the FAQ on the website, Two Weapon Fighting is in fact stackable with Flurry of Blows... but that's still a -2 penalty on ALL attacks...
Also, Monks can't get specialization. It's Fighter only. or in certain special cases other classes...
Oh and also, make it okay for a Monk to multiclass into this thing and go back to monk...
also, the "8 Levels of Monk" prereq is in fact a bad idea. But still, Monk abilities might be necessary, commonly each class has their own basic requirement.
Divine Prestige Classes: Turn Undead
Combat based ones: BAB possibly a few feats
Monk specific: Improved Unarmed Strike
Rogue Based ones: Skill Prereqs, and Sneak Attack
Arcane: Usually "Able to cast 3rd level arcane spells"Member of a fanclub.
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2006-07-19, 02:44 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by adriankasMember of a fanclub.
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2006-07-19, 02:52 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by Skyserpent
Also, Monks can't get specialization. It's Fighter only. or in certain special cases other classes...
Oh and also, make it okay for a Monk to multiclass into this thing and go back to monk...
also, the "8 Levels of Monk" prereq is in fact a bad idea. But still, Monk abilities might be necessary, commonly each class has their own basic requirement.
Couldn't the Fighter just use something like... oh... a Greatsword? and take Weapon Focus (Quarterstaff) as a fluff feat until he gets to the proper level? I mean there's nothing keeping him from just not having a quarterstaff until that point...
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2006-07-19, 03:23 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
On that note, your grasp of the magic weapons rules are slightly flawed. A Weapon needs a +1 bonus before it can even gain any additional magical properties. And Flaming, Frost, and Shock can only have one of them active at any one time.
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2006-07-19, 03:33 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
Originally Posted by SkyserpentThe Cranky Gamer
Nexx's Hello
*It isn't realism, it's verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
*"I" is an English pronoun in the nominative case of first person singular. It does not indicate the actions or writings of anyone but the first person, singular.
*Tataurus, you have three halves as well as a race that doesn't breed. -UglyPanda
*LVDO ERGO SVM
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2006-07-19, 03:57 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
oh...
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2006-07-19, 03:59 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Staff Monk PrC: Disciple of the Crane (PEACH)
So do you guys think that this class is, in general, overpowered or underpowered?
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2006-08-07, 01:40 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Disciple of the Crane: Staff Monk PrC (PEACH)
Mods: Can someone please move this to the homebrew design forum? Thank you very, very, very, very, very much