Battle monks styles

I just wanted to add flavor to the battle monks warband...

Feel free to comment !!!





Combat styles: The monks of Cathay are split in different schools. Each one has his own ways to think and they develop different kind of abilities. Before being a full master in a school, a monk must have 2 pre-requisites: a statistic increased to sufficient level and a particular skill. Thereafter, the monk can acquire the style as he acquires a skill. A monk can only have ONE style ever and can only be used with certain weapons. Monk styles are all special skills.

The 7 Monk Styles :

The drunken monkey : Requirements: WS (5), Jump up / Unarmed only

The drunken monkey style is named after the (un)balanced movements the monks do when fighting as they seems to ‘’roll’’ with the hits. Monks of this school require being drunk in order to use the style and you have to pay them a full bottle of cheap spirits before each battle or they will not participate in battle (5 Gc).

The monk ignores any pain in combat and thus all stunned results are considered as knocked down instead. It is used in conjunction with the jump up skill so the monk will be standing even after being stunned!



The spitting dragon : Requirements: T (4), Resilient / Special

Monks of the spitting dragon can swallow a strange (and disgusting) inflammable mixture that they can spit on their enemies to burn them. In combat, they carry a pair of torch (count as clubs that cost 10 Gc). The monk cannot drop those weapons and so will not fight barehanded. If by any means he drops both of them he will not be able to use his special ability for the rest of the battle.

The monk can forfeit all his hand-to-hand attacks to spit fire instead. The attack hit anyone on base contact on a roll of 4+ (roll once for each target). The flame has a strength of 3 that can set afire without armour save. (See BTB supplement for rules on setting afire).

The monk can also unleash a breath within 4’’ if not in close combat. Anything within the 4’’ range line (one inch wide) will be hit on 4+. The attack causes a S3 hit that can set afire without armour save).



The charging bull : Requirements: S (4), Energy focus / Unarmed

The charging bull style focuses on raw power of the mind and body.

The monk can now forfeit all his attacks to instead use a special attack that ‘’pushes’’ his enemy. Roll to hit and wound as normal a single attack. If the target is not OOA, it will be sent directly away from the monk D3+1 inches and land in stunned or knocked down (automatic if the wound roll fails or the armour save is made). If it falls from height it will take falling damages as normal and if it encounters an obstacle (one inch or higher), it will take an extra 3 strength hit and stop there. If the obstacle is another character (friend or foe), this one will also take a 3 strength hit.

The monk also doubles his strength when trying to break objects (like a door).

Obviously, using this ability on a mounted character will result in the rider being dismounted.



The quiet mantis : Requirements: I (5), Avoid blows / Unarmed

The quiet mantis is a defensive art. The warrior will stand there waiting for his enemies to approach and will then retaliate with the speed of a hunting mantis.

Master at avoiding blows, the monk will now step aside with 4+ instead of 5+. The monk can also forfeit all his attacks to wait for all his opponents to attack before using their blows against them. The monk will strike after all his opponents have attacked if he his still standing. For each attack directed at him, the monk fully retaliates with one attack + one free. So if a monk is attacked by three warriors with a total of 5 attacks he will retaliate with 6 attacks. Those attacks can be split at any enemy.



The spinning spider : Requirements: A (2), Lightning reflexes / Unarmed, Quarter staff, Sword), Chain sticks

The spinning spider style is named after the very fast spinning movements that a monk does when fighting that give the impression of being attacked by a creature with many arms.

The monk gets an extra kick attack in hand-to-hand. This attack is unarmed without penalty but will not score critical on 5-6 with the Art of the silent death ability.



The raking tiger : Requirements: WS (5), Weapon training / All weapons

Monks of this style can use all weapons with a deadly efficiency. Combining strength, speed and training, they can cut a fly with a sword.

The monk now causes critical hits with rolls of 5-6 with ALL weapons he uses.



The choking snake : Requirements: S (4), Human shield / Unarmed

Monks of this style are specialist in grabbing their victims like a snake and stick to them so they will not be able to fight back.

The monk can grab his enemy instead of attacking as normal. Resolve the hit as a normal single hit. If touched, the target will not be able to fight back as long as he do not pass a Strength test on his recovery phase with a -1 penalty (the target counts as knocked down for hand-to-hand combat). The monk itself can be attacked as normal (roll to hit) but will not fight back. The monk can release his target during his own recovery phase if he wishes.

Using this ability on a mounted opponent will result both rider and the mount being stopped for moving.

I like your ideas a lot, especially the requirments since they mean you will not these skills too soon in a campaign. Have you playtested the skills?

Sadly, not yet.

I'm currently painting my battle monks warband and I never play with an unfinished warband.

Playtesting 7 styles that have so specific requirements will be nearly impossible for a single guy...

But as each monk can get only one style I dont think they will be be overpowered. Still, they need playtesting for sure. The one I have more doubt is the choking snake style (the way its made, you can use your monk to ''paralyse'' an opponent than attack with another of your warrior immediately without a chance to escape).

If you want to share your tought about the specific styles I'd be grateful. Thx

Nice stuff, Goglutin. I really like some of those ideas.

Thx Cianty.

Knowing how much work you've done for the game in the BTB supplement your opinion is really welcome !

If you could be more specific I'd be grateful... your experience with the game and designing is tremendous so ...

More specific... Well, I just REALLY liked some of the equipment/skill/effect combos. Very flavourful ways of adding new options for this warband without going kung-fu-crazy if you know what I mean. Some simply didn't feel as inspired as others ("the charging bull" being one of the weaker ones, also reflected in its brief fluff explanation).

By the way, do you have any photos of your warband(s) up in here?

Well... I trust your experience in designing but I tought it was strong enough ! ... Just imagine pushing a character down a 7'' ravine or something... it also stops any retaliation if the monk strike first ! Also, the auto hit if you the target meet something can be really advantageous if you push it on one of his friend.

Tell me .. why do you think its underpowered ?

About photos... I'm currently planning to put pics of my 9 warbands (yes 9 ! ) on the site soon... but I'm a bit shy.. I'm not a pro painter neither a good modeler :S ...

I also have doubts about the quality as my Kodak is very low grade... hmmm ...

I really like the idea here. Especially as you need to unlock them and then buy a style as a skill. The only two things here are:

(1)

The charging bull : Requirements: S (4), Energy focus / Unarmed

The charging bull style focuses on raw power of the mind and body.

The monk can now forfeit all his attacks to instead use a special attack that ‘’pushes’’ his enemy. Roll to hit and wound as normal a single attack. If the attack hits, and wounds, the enemy must pass a strength test. If failed, it will be sent directly away from the monk D3+1 inches and land in stunned or knocked down (automatic if the wound roll fails or the armour save is made). If it falls from height it will take falling damages as normal and if it encounters an obstacle (one inch or higher), it will take an extra 3 strength hit and stop there. If the obstacle is another character (friend or foe), this one will also take a 3 strength hit.

The monk also doubles his strength when trying to break objects (like a door).

Obviously, using this ability on a mounted character will result in the rider being dismounted.

This skill will not work on ogre sized creatures

Even with a direct hit, a strong enemy should be allowed to grit his teeth and weather the blow. Furthermore, if the blow fails to wound, why should it send someone flying? And finally, a monk shouldn't be able to send an ogre flying through the air.

(2)

The quiet mantis : Requirements: I (5), Avoid blows / Unarmed Step Aside, Dodge Blow

The quiet mantis is a defensive art. The warrior will stand there waiting for his enemies to approach and will then retaliate with the speed of a hunting mantis.

Master at avoiding blows, the monk will now step aside with 4+ instead of 5+. The monk can also forfeit all his attacks to wait for all his opponents to attack before using their blows against them. The monk will strike after all his opponents have attacked if he his still standing. For each attack directed at him, the monk fully retaliates with one attack + one free. So if a monk is attacked by three warriors with a total of 5 attacks he will retaliate with 6 attacks. Those attacks can be split at any enemy. For attacks made past his A profile, they will be at -1 to hit, as the monk pushes himself past his limits.

The more attacks you make in Mordheim, the more likely you are to win. This skill can take a 1 attack monk up to unlimited attacks. Having a small penalty seems to be in order for me. If for nothing else than erring on the side of caution with house rules, so that they are more likely to be underpowered than overpowered.

All of that said, I love what you did here. Really a great idea.

oh !!! Yes !! Youre quite right here !! The charging bull should NOT work on large size creature !
Thx for pointing this !! But I'm not sure about the STR test... after all, the monk need to forfeit all his attacks to use this ability... as always, this need playtesting to balance it...

I also agree for the to to hit penalty for the quiet mantis. However, I tought it was all right because the most attack the monk takes, the higher the chances it will be out of combat and thus it will simply be unable to retaliate... this need playtesting.

Typo for the quiet mantis ... step aside is the right skill here...


I thk you alot for your comments ! They are most welcome.

Here are e few erratas:


The charging bull :

Will not work on large target. (Obviously, pushing an ogre is a bit too much!!)


The choking snake :

Add chain sticks to the style weapons.

Change the name of the style to ''The coiled serpent', - Indeed snakes are poisonous creature and serpents are ''chokers''.

Change ''the target is considered as knocked down'' to ''the target is automatically hit in hand-to-hand combat''. (A knocked down target is automatically OOA if wounded in hand to hand and this makes the style too powerful)


The quiet mantis:

The avoid blow skill is indeed the step aside skill. (typo)