Friar

Numerous amongst the population, friars and nuns represent another aspect of the Creed’s presence in the daily life of the Kingdom. In particular, among the Kingdom’s many monastic rules – which include the limping, beggar, mendicant, itinerant, praying, preaching, minorite and minorbrained, hermit, barefoot, and chained orders – friars most often encountered in bands and engaged in legal-ish jobs are those of the Brawly Orders.

Many of these ascetics are simple brothers and sisters who roam the countryside preaching and engaging in merciful tasks. But since “Inferno knows no fury like a good person turned bad”, it is wise not to push one’s luck with these people. Having turned the other cheek but once, their mandate establishes that, in self-defense, these “brawly monks” may use their natural instinct and experience, as well as actual techniques acquired in their monasteries – there are times when the good shepherd must kick the wolf to defend his flock!

Brawly friars belong to many currents and affiliations. The best-known and most widespread of these is the Order of the Calloused Hand, but their number is considerable and climbing: the Rule of the Travertine Hand, taught in the Monastery of Cefalea; the Order of the Holy Right of Castigate, in Zagara; the Order of Capocollo Monastery in Ausonia; and the Rule of the Feisty Friars of Piccadora are but a few of the most famous congregations.

Whatever order they belong to, these nuns and friars all practice the Brawly Rule, whose precepts are loudly known to brigands and robbers: “Ora et Thumpora”, “Turn the other palm”, “May your hand know how to be iron-strong and feather-gentle” and so on.

The Friar Table

Class Features
As a Friar, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per friar level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per friar level after 1st

Proficiencies
Armor: Light
Weapons: Simple weapons, punching daggers, shortswords, throwing daggers
Tools: Choose one type of artisan’s tools or one musical instrument
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Perception, Religion, and Stealth

Equipment
You begin the game with 30 silver which you can spend on your knave's starting weapons, armor, and adventuring gear. You can only purchase shoddy quality equipment.

Level 1

Brutal Defense
While you are wearing light armor, you replace your Dexterity modifier with your Strength modifier for AC.

Martial Arts
Your trail to perfection gives you mastery of combat styles that use unarmed strikes and friar weapons, which are quarterstaffs, punching daggers, shortswords, and any simple melee weapons that don’t have the two-handed or heavy property.

You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only friar weapons and you aren’t wielding a shield:

• You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and friar weapons.
• You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or friar weapon. This die changes as you gain friar levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Friar table.
• When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a friar weapon on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action. For example, if you take the Attack action and attack with a quarterstaff, you can also make an unarmed strike as a bonus action, assuming you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn.

Level 2

Exertion Focus
Your training allows you to harness your mental energy into a supernatural state of focus. Your access to this energy is represented by your exertion pool.

You can spend exertion points to fuel various focus features. You start knowing three such features:

Flurry of Blows
Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 exertion to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

Long Step
You can spend 1 exertion to take the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action on your turn, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.

Patient Defense
You can spend 1 exertion to take the Dodge action as a bonus action on your turn.

Heavy Stance
You set yourself firmly in place, determined not to move.

You use a bonus action to activate this stance. You gain a knack die on Athletics checks that use Strength, you gain a knack die on saving throws made to resist the effects of a creature's combat actions, and you ignore the first 10 feet of difficult terrain when you move on your turn. This stance remains active until you are knocked unconscious, stunned, activate a different stance, begin a short rest, or choose to end it on your turn.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Religious Training
You are proficient with the Religion skill. When you are in contact with a holy relic, religious artifact, or any kind of similar object or structure, you can spend 2 exertion to learn something about it.

You receive a correct answer from the Game Master for a question about the object that can be answered with a yes or no.

Level 3

Hand of Healing
Your mystical touch can mend wounds.

As an action, you can spend 1 exertion point to touch a creature and restore a number of hit points equal to a roll of your Martial Arts die + your Wisdom modifier.

When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can replace one of the unarmed strikes with a use of this feature without spending an exertion point for the healing.

Mind Over Body
You can use a bonus action and spend 2 exertion to gain temporary hit points equal to your martial arts die plus your friar level.

Turn the Other Cheek
While you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, you replace your Dexterity modifier with your Strength modifier.

Also, when an opponent hits you with a melee attack, you can spend 1 Ki point to make an unarmed strike using your reaction.

Level 4

Ability Score Improvement
You can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Battle Meditation
As an action, you can spend 1 hit die to regain 1d4 exertion.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Power Tumble
You can always choose to use your Strength modifier for Acrobatics checks.

Take Weapon
You snatch your enemy’s weapon and use it against them.

When a creature misses you with a melee weapon attack against you using a weapon, you can use your reaction to flip it out of the creature’s hands. The creature makes a Dexterity saving throw, and on a failure it drops the weapon and you grab it from mid-air. The DC to resist this effect is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier.

You can spend 2 exertion points to immediately use the weapon to make a melee weapon attack against the creature.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Level 5

Extra Attack
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Warding Dance
When you are fighting unarmed or with one weapon in one hand and nothing in the other, you can use a bonus action and spend 2 exertion to start a warding dance. Until the end of your next turn, you have resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

Level 6

The Iron & Feather Hand Technique
Whenever you hit a creature with an attack using your Flurry of Blows, you can impose one of the following effects on that target:

• You force that creature to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is knocked prone.
• You force that creature to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, you push the target up to 10 feet away from you. If the pushed target hits an obstacle, it takes damage equal to your unarmed strike. If the obstacle is another creature, that creature must make a Strength saving throw or take the same damage.
• You force that creature to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, until the start of your next turn, that target has disadvantage on any attack roll.

The DC to resist these effects is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.

Reactive Knockdown
Putting yourself in just the right position as you strike, your unbalancing hit sends a retreating opponent into a reeling stumble and then the ground.

When a creature within your reach provokes an opportunity attack, you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack. On a hit, the creature makes a Strength saving throw or it moves 10 feet in a straight line and is knocked prone. The DC to resist this effect is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Shockwave
You can use an action and spend 3 exertion to hit the ground so hard it sends a shockwave in a 40-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 4d6 bludgeoning damage and falls prone on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The DC to resist this effect is equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.

Slow Fall
You can use your reaction when you fall to reduce any falling damage you take by an amount equal to five times your friar level.