This post is all about me scratching an itch. For a couple of weeks or so now the idea of creating a halfling monk has been niggling away from the back of my mind. Distracting me from the prep I need to do for the imminent session 2 of our campaign.
The inspiration for this character comes from my childhood and teenage years.
I’m a child of the seventies, among many of the tv series from that time one of my favourites, and still have fond memories of is Kung Fu.
It was a very popular tv series at the time, even breaking in to the comedy acts of popular comedians at the time.
Kung Fu told the story of a Shaolin monk called Caine, that wondered from town to town in the old west, searching for a half brother. Along the way he helped people in his unique way using his martial art skills. Caine had ended up in the US after killing the Emperor’s nephew in revenge for that nephew having killed his elder and mentor.
A bit later in my youth I came across the Marvel comic The hands of Shang- Chi Master Of Kung Fu (also to set to join the MCU in Phase 4 iirc as well). Which I loved. Shang-Chi was the son of Fu Manchu, who he did everything he could to oppose.
Another influence also from that time is Bruce Lee (who also I believe was an influence for the Shang-Chi character). Mainly his characters who like Caine did everything to avoid combat. But usually as a last resort after being pushed to the limits has to use their superior martial art skills to get justice.
For creating our halfling monk I’m going to be using options from the Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide.
1. Choose a race
Naturally this is a halfling. Which means we get the following ability score increases.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Age: Let’s have Tye just entering adulthood. Which for a halfling is 20.
Size: Tye will be the race average of 3ft tall, and 40 pounds.
Speed: halflings walk at a speed of 25ft.
Halflings are lucky. Which basically means they get to reroll a natural 1. They are also brave, which means they have advantage in saving throws against being frightened. Tye also being a halfling has Halfling Nimbleness. He can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than him.
Tye knows common and halfling. Being a lighfoot he is also Naturally Stealthy. Tye can attempt to hide even when he’s obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than him.
2. Choose a class
Once again we have already determined this.
The quick build advice for creating a monk is to have dexterity as our highest score, followed by wisdom. And to have the hermit as our background. We’ll follow that advice.
As a monk our hit points as a first level character is 8 + our constitution modifier. Our hit die is a d8, and we get 1d8 per monk level.
We now need to make some choices as we work through the rest of our class traits. First up our monks proficiencies.
Sadly Tye isn’t proficient with armor. Which is common sense. Armour would just get in the way of doing all those martial arts moves. Our AC equals 10 + Dexterity modifier + Wisdom modifier.
Naturally all those years in the monastery training means Tye is proficient with Simple weapons and shortswords.
Tye gets the “following benefits while unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and not wearing armor or wielding a shield:
- can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolIs of unarmed strikes and monk weapons.
- can rolI a d4 in place of the normal damage of his unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die changes as Tye gains monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.
- use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on your turn, Tye can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.”
Tye is keeping with Caine as our template will be proficient with the flute.
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
As a monk we can choose to be proficient from two of the following skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, History, lnsight, Religion, and Stealth. I think for Tye we will chose Stealth and Acrobatics. Our background will give us Religion.
Being a monk means we get some starting equipment decisions to make. Our first choice is between a shortsword or any simple weapon. I think in keeping with our inspirations Tye would have a quarterstaff as his weapon of choice. This does 1d6 bludgeoning damage, weighs 4lbs and has Versatile (1d8) as its property.
An explorer’s pack I feel is the natural choice for Tye over a dungeoneer’s pack. Our halfling monk is wandering around Faerun just like Caine. In the explorer’s pack Tye gets “a backpack, a bedroll,a mess kit, a tinderbox, 10 torches, 10 days of rations, and a waterskin. The pack also has 50 feet of hempen rope strapped to the side of it.”
Finally monks also get 10 darts (1d4 piercing, finesse, thrown (range 20/60 feet)
The hermit background also comes with some extra proficiencies.
Skill Proficiencies: Medicine, Religion
Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism kit
Languages: One of your choice – this is a difficult one I feel this needs to fit in with Tye’s background. Draconic the language of dragons and Dragonborn.
Equipment: A scroll case stuffed full of notes from your studies or prayers, a winter blanket, a set of common clothes, an herbalism kit, and 5 gp
3. Determine ability scores
I rolled the above dice to allocate to abilities.
Strength = 12 Modifier +1
Dexterity = (16 + 2) = 18 Modifier +4
Constitution = 15 Modifier +2
Intelligence = 14 Modifier +2
Wisdom = 16 Modifier +3
Charisma = (15 + 1) = 16 Modifier +3
4. Describe your character
Gender: male
Background
Tye grew up and trained at a monastery in the Sword Mountains that was part of the halfling monastic order called The Hin Fist.
The monastery had been carved into the mountainside on the southern side of the Sword Mountain range where it looms over a treacherous pass.
Tye’s parents had died when he was very young, when a goblin raiding party attacked their farm near Triboar. Villagers arrived too late to save them, but in the destruction left behind found Tye hidden, scared, crying, cold, and hungry in a bush. Fortunately back in Triboar monks had been visiting from the Hin Fist monastery. Once the villagers arrived back in Triboar with Tye, a debate took place about what to do with him. The monks seeing that they were discussing a halfling child, said they would take Tye in.
Tye has been following the Monastic tradition Way of the Open Hand. There is a Way of the Drunken Master which I’d love to use. It’s very Jackie Chan and of the movie with the same name. It’d be fun to play a character using that fighting style. But Way of the Open Hand is our tradition of choice fitting in with our inspiration.
“Monks of the Way of the Open Hand are the ultimate masters of martial arts combat, whether armed or unarmed. They learn techniques to push and trip their opponents, manipulate ki to heal damage to their bodies, and practice advanced meditation that can protect them from harm.”
Due to the number of dragons in the area the monks revere them, and speak dragonic, and use a dragon icon as their monastery’s emblem.
Tye has passed the final test for his monastic order to become a monk of The Hin Fist, which is shown by a dragon icon branded on the inside of both of his wrists. This harks back to the marks that Caine got completing his final test.
Like our inspiration Caine, Tye is on the run. On one of the monastery’s regular visits to Triboar Tye and his Master/instructor where amongst the monks on the visit. A group of guards that were part of a party from Waterdeep had a run in with Tye’s Master. The result of this run in was a relative of one of the Lords of Waterdeep killed the Master with a crossbow bolt in the back. Tye killed the relative when he grabbed one of the guards daggers and threw it at them. And yes this is the Kung Fu backstory! The Masters dying words to Tye were to flee, not to go back to the monastery.
There is naturally a price on Tye’s head by the Lord of Waterdeep.
I’m leaving this bit open about which Lord and how much the reward is to the DM so that it can be used to fit in with any plot hooks the DM wants to use.
Alignment: lawful
Personal characteristics
3ft tall, and 40 pounds.
Tye has a full head of brown hair.
Harking back to his monastic order Tye dresses in lose garments, that are coloured yellow and green. Naturally Tye wears long sleeved garments or if short sleeved bandages of some sort to cover up his dragon icon markings.
Tye like our influence tries to avoid conflict and using his martial art skills. When confronted Tye will take a lot of abuse. So that bully pushing him around in the tavern, Tye will just turn the other cheek. After all he is on the run, and has to disguise that he is a monk.
Like Caine, Tye is conflicted between wanting to remain anonymous and a sense of social responsibility.
Tye plays the flute as his only pastime apart from meditating.
Tye like Caine is humble, intelligent, inquisitive, and usually very soft-spoken.
5. Choose equipment
See above. It’s the basic starting equipment for our race, class and background that I’ve already discussed.
