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Forgotten Realms Wiki has an article about: Monks

Monk is a base class in NWN2.

PHB35 PG41 WEB

Description[]

The key feature of the monk is his ability to fight unarmed and unarmored. Thanks to his rigorous training, he can strike as hard as if he were armed and strike faster than a warrior with a sword. Though a monk casts no spells, he has a magic of his own. He channels a subtle energy, called ki, which allows him to perform amazing feats. The monk's best-known feat is her ability to stun an opponent with an unarmed blow. A monk also has a preternatural awareness that allows him to dodge an attack even if he is not consciously aware of it. As a monk gains experience and power, his mundane and ki-oriented abilities grow, giving him more and more power over himself and, sometimes, over others.

Alignment restrictions: Any lawful - a monk's training requires strict discipline.

  • Ex-monks - A monk who becomes non-lawful cannot gain new levels as a monk but retains all monk abilities.

Class Features[]

Hit die : d8
Base Attack Bonus progression : Medium
Saving Throws :
High = Fortitude, Reflex & Will.
low = NONE
Proficiencies :
Weapons: Monk ~ club, crossbow (light), crossbow (heavy), dagger, handaxe, kama, quarterstaff, shuriken, and sling.
Armor: NONE
Skill Points : ( 4 + Int modifier ) ×4 at 1st Character level.
Class Skills : Concentration, Craft alchemy, Craft trap, Diplomacy, Hide, Listen, Lore, Move silently, Parry, Spot, and Tumble


Monks are not proficient with any armor or shields - many of the monk's special features have specific equipment-related conditions. When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a monk loses his AC bonus, as well as his fast movement and flurry of blows abilities.

Additional progressions[]

Level Features gained Flurry of blows attack bonus Unarmed damage AC bonus Unarmored speed bonus (ft)
 1 AC bonus, Flurry of blows, Improved unarmed strike, Stunning fist, Unarmed strike -2/-2 1d6/1d4 +0 +0
 2 Evasion, Deflect arrows -1/-1 1d6/1d4 +0 +0
 3 Still mind, Monk speed -0/-0 1d6/1d4 +0 +10
 4 Ki strike (Magic) +1/+1 1d8/1d6 +0 +10
 5 Purity of body, AC Bonus +1 +2/+2 1d8/1d6 +1 +10
 6 Knockdown, Improved knockdown +3/+3 1d8/1d6 +1 +20
 7 Wholeness of body +4/+4 1d8/1d6 +1 +20
 8 +5/+5/+0 1d10/1d8 +1 +20
 9 Improved evasion +6/+6/+1 1d10/1d8 +1 +30
10 Ki strike (Lawful), AC Bonus +2 +7/+7/+2 1d10/1d8 +2 +30
11 Diamond body, Greater Flurry +8/+8/+8/+3 1d10/1d8 +2 +30
12 +9/+9/+9/+4 2d6/1d10 +2 +40
13 Diamond soul +9/+9/+9/+4 2d6/1d10 +2 +40
14 +10/+10/+10/+5 2d6/1d10 +2 +40
15 Quivering palm, AC Bonus +3 +11/+11/+11/+6/+1 2d6/1d10 +3 +45
16 Ki strike (Adamantine) +12/+12/+12/+7/+2 2d8/2d6 +3 +45
17 +12/+12/+12/+7/+2 2d8/2d6 +3 +45
18 +13/+13/+13/+8/+3 2d8/2d6 +3 +50
19 Empty body +14/+14/+14/+9/+4 2d8/2d6 +3 +50
20 Perfect self, AC Bonus +4 +15/+15/+15/+10/+5 2d10/2d8 +4 +50
21 +15/+15/+15/+10/+5 2d10/2d8 +4 +50
22 +16/+16/+16/+11/+6/+1 2d10/2d8 +4 +50
23 +17/+17/+17/+12/+7/+2 2d10/2d8 +4 +50
24 +18/+18/+18/+13/+8/+3 3d8/2d10 +4 +50
25 Bonus feat, AC Bonus +5 +18/+18/+18/+13/+8/+3 3d8/2d10 +5 +50
26 +19/+19/+19/+14/+9/+4 3d8/2d10 +5 +50
27 +20/+20/+20/+15/+10/+5 3d8/2d10 +5 +50
28 +21/+21/+21/+16/+11/+6/+1 3d10/3d8 +5 +50
29 +21/+21/+21/+16/+11/+6/+1 3d10/3d8 +5 +50
30 Bonus feat, AC Bonus +6 +22/+22/+22/+17/+12/+7/+2 3d10/3d8 +6 +50
  • A monk's flurry of blows attack bonus is still affected by multi-classing. Characters may gain additional attacks by taking a higher BAB progression class (e.g. fighter levels), or reduced attacks from taking a lower BAB progression class (e.g. wizard levels).
  • The first unarmed damage stat is for medium size, and the second stats is from small size.
  • Unarmed damage for (potential) large monks in game is larger than for medium sized monks (eg. 6d6 on levels 28-29).

AC bonus[]

A monk has a sixth sense that lets him avoid even unanticipated attacks. When unarmored, the monk adds his Wisdom bonus (if any) to his AC. In addition, a monk gains a +1 bonus to AC at 5th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every five monk levels thereafter (+2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, and +4 at 20th level). He loses these bonuses when he is immobilized or helpless, when he wears any armor, or when he carries a shield.

Flurry of blows[]

When unarmored, a monk may strike with a flurry of blows at the expense of accuracy. When doing so, he may make one extra attack in a round at his highest base attack bonus, but this attack takes a -2 penalty, as does each other attack made that round. When a monk reaches 5th level, the penalty lessens to -1, and at 9th level it disappears. When using flurry of blows, a monk may attack only with unarmed strikes or with a kama, a quarterstaff or shuriken (dagger and handaxe don't work with Flurry of blows - the other special monk weapons, namely nunchaku, sai and siangham, are not coded into NWN2 in the official campaign).

The Flurry of Blows mode can be activated as long as the weapon in your main hand is one of the monk weapons listed above, or unarmed strike. It can be activated even when the character is wearing armor, or carries a shield. However, wearing armor/shield negates the extra attacks, although the attack penalty still applies. E.g. If a level 1 monk activates Flurry of blows while wearing armor or carrying a shield, he gets a -2 attack penalty, but does not receive the extra attacks.

Unarmed strike[]

At 1st level, a monk gains improved unarmed strike as a bonus feat. In addition, a Monk does more damage than other characters with unarmed attacks, and can deal lethal damage with his fists.

Stunning Fist[]

At 1st level, a monk gains stunning fist as a bonus feat.

Evasion[]

A monk of 2nd level or higher can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save (such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a fireball), he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a monk is wearing light armor or no armor.

Deflect Arrows[]

A monk of 2nd level or higher can attempt to deflect one incoming missile attack per round. This is treated as a reflex save made against a difficulty class of 20. As long as the monk is not caught flat-footed, the chance to deflect an arrow is automatically applied to the first missile attack in any given round.

Fast movement[]

At 3rd level, a monk gains an enhancement bonus to his speed. A monk in armor (even light armor) loses this extra speed.

Still mind[]

A monk of 3rd level or higher gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against spells and effects from the school of enchantment, since his meditation and training improve his resistance to mind-affecting attacks.

Ki Strike[]

At 4th level, a monk's unarmed attacks are empowered with ki. His unarmed attacks are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. Ki strike improves with the character's monk level, becoming lawful for purposes of damage reduction at level 10 and adamantine for purposes of damage reduction at level 16. These effects stack, i.e. at 16th level the monk's attacks will be magical, lawful and adamantine, bypassing any resistances to these damage types.

Purity of body[]

At 5th level, a monk gains control over his body's immune system. He gains immunity to all diseases.

Improved Knockdown[]

At 6th level, a monk receives both the knockdown and improved knockdown feats for free, ignoring prerequisites.

Wholeness of body[]

At 7th level or higher, a monk can heal his own wounds. He can heal a number of hit points of damage equal to twice his current monk level each day.

Improved Evasion[]

At 9th level, a monk's evasion ability improves. He takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks such as a dragon's breath weapon or fireball, and takes half damage on a failed save.

Diamond body[]

At 11th level, a monk is in such firm control of his own metabolism that he gains immunity to poisons of all kinds.

Greater Flurry[]

At 11th level, a monk receives a second extra attack when using Flurry of Blows with unarmed strikes or his special monk weapons. The only weapons this works with (besides unarmed attack) are kama, quarterstaff or shuriken -- a dagger/handaxe/etc will not work with flurry, and the other special monk weapons, namely nunchaku, sai and saingham, are not coded into NWN2 in the official campaign.

Diamond soul[]

At 13th level, a monk gains spell resistance equal to his current monk level + 10.

Quivering palm[]

Starting at 15th level, a monk can set up fatal vibrations within the body of another creature once per day. Unless the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the monk's level + the monk's Wis modifier), it dies. Quivering Palm does not work on creatures that have immunity to critical hits. Creatures that have higher hit die or level than the monk are also immune to this ability.

Empty body[]

At 19th level, a monk gains the ability to fade from sight twice per day. The monk gains a 50% concealment bonus for a number of rounds equal to his class level.

Perfect self[]

The monk gains immunity to all mind-affecting spells and effects, and damage reduction 10/magic.

NWN comparison[]

  • The discipline skill that was created for NWN was removed in NWN2 and combat feats relating to it now function closer to 3.5 rules.
  • Changes in damage reduction mean that it is no longer only bypassed depending on the level of magical enchantment but by a wider range of values, including materials and alignment.
  • Flurry of blows and unarmed attack bonus were restricted to Kamas and Unarmed attacks only.
  • The monk speed bonus was a percentage increase instead of an absolute number.
  • The monk class in NWN2 does not start out with the Cleave feat, as with NWN.

DnD 3.5 comparison[]

  • The parry skill was created by NWN and is not a feature of DnD 3.5. It has returned in NWN2 for the same reasons it was in NWN.
  • In DnD 3.5, A monk who gains a new class or (if already multiclass) raises another class by a level may never again raise her monk level, though she retains all her monk abilities. In the Forgotten Realms, monks who are members of canon monk orders are granted more leniency.
  • The skills climb, jump and swim are not implemented in NWN2.
  • Knowledge skills are not in NWN2. The collective lore skill is used instead, though without the specific skill synergies.
  • Improved grapple is excluded.
  • Both aging and languages are not in NWN2.Timeless body and tongue of the sun and moon are not implemented.
  • NWN2 does not give players teleportation and the abundant step class feature is not included.
  • Unarmed monk cannot be targeted for any weapon or attack enchanting spell (like magic fang, holy sword, bless-, magic- or flame weapon)
  • Monk (or any other character), for purposes of two-weapon fighting, can't make an off-hand unarmed attack.

Special Notes[]

  • In one PRC hakpack found in the NWVault, there is a feat called Intuitive Attack, which allows Wisdom to modify AB in a similar fashion to Weapon Finesse. It's a hak feature only.

External resources[]

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