The Quintessential Monk Review -- January 10, 2003

By Joe G Kushner, Staff Reviewer

Available from FRP Games for only $15.95 (save $4.00)!!

The Quintessential Monk

Written by Patrick Younts

Published by Mongoose Publishing

128 b & w pages

$19.95

I haven't enjoyed all of the Quintessential series but reading this book was like walking into a candy store filled with goodies that you didn't have to buy, but wanted to. The book covers all of the standard Quintessential standards and adds some goodies just for the monk.

To start the book offers character concepts. This functions as a mini-kit that a starting character takes, gaining some penalties and disadvantages, but remaining a 'Monk' core class character. These concepts hit many of the monk archetypes including the wandering monk, healer, temple orphan, and even secret society membesr. The penalties and bonuses tend to cancel each other out in terms of game play but GMs should always read over the concepts not only to insure that it meets his requirements for game balance but that it fits into his campaign.

The Prestige Classes offered are all five level ones that represent a short detour in a character's career. Some of the character concepts are expanded upon with The Master of the Gentle Fist being perfect for the Bonesetter (healer) concept and the Street Acrobat being perfect for the performer concept. Other classics are touched upon like the Elemental Fist Boxer who gains numerous elemental based abilities to increase his fighting abilities and the Deadly Venoms Boxer, a master of unleashing poisons against her enemies. The concepts here are sound and familiar at the same time. Who hasn't seen the Iron Body Master, a monk who shrugs off tremendous amounts of damage, or the Five Animals Fist Fighter who emulates the creatures of the wild?

Perhaps more important to those who wish to remain in the monk class however, are the Alternative Fighting Schools. Here, the monk remains a monk, but at different levels, gives up some of his innate abilities for other abilities in the new school. These paths are broken up and grouped by name like the Ancestor's Illustion, Ghost Fist, Way of the Titans and Smoke Sword, among others. Take for example the Double Hammer. Here, the user gains Weapon Focus at 2nd level instead of Deflect Arrows and at 6th level gains the Hammer Blow feat (in this book), instead of Improved Trip. This adds a lot of options to the monk character class, helping make it more like the fighter core class where the customization abilities rests in the player's hands.

In addition to allowing characters to customize the paths they take in the monk arts, the book provides a "Tricks of the Trade" section, further customizing the monk. In many cases, the abilities require the monk to use a stunning fist ability and range from pressure point attacks to specific areas, to new grappling options. Those not satisfied with martial art abilities alone will enjoy the section on dirty tricks, which include ideas on how to use poison, especially for higher level monks who are immune to it, to standard dirty tricks like kicking up dust, and breaking floors under enemies.

Some of the more intriguing ideas come in the new uses for existing skills. Here, monks with high ranks in balance can use 'cat creep'. This allows the character to walk on his big toes and provides a bonus to move silently skill checks and gives trackers a penalty to their own roll. My favorite part here though is the new rules for Concentration. Ever want to break boards? Lots of 'em? Then Breaking is a new use for concentration you'll love. Here the character makes a skill check and depending on how high he rolls, can break through various materials. Completely useless in most combat situations, it can still add to the monk's abilities if the GM isn't careful ahead of time and takes this new ability into consideration. A variant rule for breaking items not at the top of the pile is also included to really showcase a monk's mastery.

We all know that in addition to prestige classes, most players are going to be looking for new monk feats and they won't be disappointed here. A lot of these feats have strange sounding names like Clever Monkey Spins the Brach, Chin Na, and Break the Breath, which adds to the atmosphere surrounding such a character but rule wise, most of them are dead on. Unfortunately, we're still getting skills where the benefit is a +2 bonus on two skills but it's a standard these days. Among the more interesting feats are Monkey Taunts the Emperor where the character makes a bluff check and unnerves his opponent into charging him, allowing the character to strike the rusher with a fearsome blow. Another one sure to be a favorite is Iron Body, where the monk doesn't suffer as much damage from critical hits and sneak attacks.

Another standard in the Quintessential series are the Tools of the Trade. Numerous new weapons for the d20 system are introduced and if you don't own Oriental Adventuers, all of these will be new to you. Want to use a butterfuly sword? How about a Tai Chi Sword? Finger Razors? Monk Spade? Whatever your taste in exotic weapons, if it's from the East, chances are good that it'll be here. Most of the weapons seem sound in terms of damage and critical threat but let the GM beware. Some of them have special abilities available to those who spend an Exotic Weapon Proficiency can use.

New magic items include weapon ability Shadow Stab. Now this is an old classic that I recall from the Thieves World series where the character, using a Kris, stabs a shadow and does damage to the person casting the shadow. Same weapon and its nice to see it given stats in d20 terms.

The last bit of crunch comes in the Legendary Forms. If the character meets the prerequisites, and spends both time and experience points, he gains a special ability. Most of these abilities aren't overwhelming and the time necessary would probably prevent most from being taken in an ongoing campaign. Anyone see that movie 'Kiss of the Dragon' last year? It's a Legendary Form and here, using needles, the character stabs pressure points that cause the victim to bleed when he's struck in combat for 1 extra point of damage. Bad news is that it's cumulative so if you hit the guy four times, that's an extra 4 points of damage per round for 1 + the character's Wisdom bonus.

One of the things I enjoyed about the book was the inclusion of non-crunch material. I'm a big fan of GURPS Martial Arts and Hero's Ultimate Martial Artists, so to see more stuff and get a better feeling for the genre and setting is a nice bonus. For instance, the Lion Dance gets three pages of information in addition to equipment to actually use the Lion Dance itself. This material could be used in any setting with monks. Another useful section for any game system is on tournaments. For instance, with San Shou, I didn't know that these events were held above ground on platforms. The section on martial arts traditions also provides some good material that players can incorporate into their background. The various tests characters undergo prior to even getting training would make for some great role playing material, especially for character's who weren't first level.

While renown and the section on building monasteries and schools relies on D20 levels and the gold piece standard, much of the information could port over easily to other games. The section on monasteries includes information on training equipment like plum flower polls and iron palm pots, as well as monthly costs for upkeep. Important if you want to have specialized individuals at the monastery like mages and weapon smiths.

The book uses standard two columns for layout. Pictures and text are cleanly separated. The artwork in the series continues to improve but use of the same artists by many d20 publishers leaves the book with a generic feel that is only saved by the numerous Eastern style clothes, weapons and stances that the characters have. The use of fiction to provide the reader with a 'feel' for the book is kept to a minimum. Editing is fairly good and only a few typos have gotten past the proofreader.

The changes and additions are minor ones that replace powers with similar strength abilities. The book doesn't work to redesign the monk as much as it does to expand it. If you don't like the monk and don't like the whole concept of how the traditional Western based cultures of most fantasy worlds have the monk, this book isn't going to change your mind. It's not a book that focuses on providing reasons to play the monk. In the end, if you feel that the Monk in the Player's Handbook isn't 'kwel' or 'robbed' and works as a core class, than the Quintessential Monk is perfect for your campaign.