Is one i woud like to see, somone who without usual weapons/armor, only wearing light robes, and using class specific weapons/unarmed The Monk woud gain a bit of resistance with each level, and with time his hands woud harden due to the practice in the monastay (plunging hands/feet into buckets of peas/sand) learning the secrets of near forgotten arts kicks, nerve pressure, palm strikes, nukite, dwelling deeper into meditation gaining a sort of tranclusence, and while beeing unarmed the Monk woud recive the extra power from training with bare hands, but when using weapons that woud vanish, using only what power the weapon provides.

i know this caracter is used in many other places, and for the sake of originality shoud be thought twice about, but it is one that i personally like..

esoel

Going with the whole monk idea, this is one class I'd like to see added. And I think it could still be original despite h2h specs/assassins already serving as semi monks.

The only weapon you'll ever learn is h2h, you will however gain some insight into other weapons to better defend against them, like that certain Paladin virtue. There are no kicks. No kicks.

Say, lev 10 - defend pierce. lev 15 - defend slash. lev 20 - defend blunt. etc.

As was stated earlier, monks would only get two attacks a round. For skills, here's a selection -
Improved Ironhands obviously. Parry, dodge. No shield.
Harden skin: Gives dam redux similar to stone skin. Lev 20+ ish. Also gives slight resistance against heat/cold.
Heightened senses: No assassin jive here. Gives a boost to dodge.
Ability to counter a bash with a throw. And don't start whining about 'waaah, they can't be lagged!' Use cranial or the dozen other laggers.
Immunity to throw assassin/h2h spec style.
And stray away from the ####ty oriental references littered all over the assassin class. There would be no dragon punch, etc. OWAZAAAAA!
Resistance/ability to cure poisons.
Dirt/blindness only gives half the hitroll penalty.
Badass ####: Bonus to defs when fighting multiple foes, possibility to add confuse for x number of hours to opponents affects.
Channel spirit: Area or single foe mental attack.
Weaken weapon: Succesfully parrying a weapon with your hands, you use your 'spirit' to weaken it (lower avg dam for a duration).
Identify potion, and only potion.

Monks should always be neutral. For races, how about - Human, cloud giant, gnome and svirf.

Another possibility would be to simply split the assassin class into two sub classes, removing some skills, adding a few new ones. Whatever.

Like what you said, they would not wield weapons, however they would be quick adept at dodging blows, and parrying them with their hands.

The way I see monks is having only one or two punches per round. Their damage comes from their skills. Also, monks would have say 5 stances that they get from level 1. Along the way they would get special skills which when used would do a different thing depending what stance you're in.

An Example, the skill 'Stroayu'.

In the defensive stance;
Stroayu would prepare the Monk for incoming lagging techniques, like bash or trip. When bashed, the Monk would catch and throw the basher, causing them huge pain and perhaps maladicting them.

In the offensive stance
Stroayu would bring the Monk up close for a headbutt, can cause nose bleed, and hurts, a lot.

In the hold stance
Stroayu will cause the Monk to try and slip around behind his target and wraps his arms around their waist. Making the Monk very hard to hit (For the held victem, very easy for other attackers), but also makes it very hard for the held victem to flee. This hold does not hurt the victem.

Then there could be a maladictive stance, and perhaps a throw stance. Each stance would take a round or so lag to switch to, and can be done in and out of combat. Each stance could also have a passive effect or two. Defence = enhanced dodging, or ehanced resist. Whatever, it's just an idea.

Do a search forum and you'll realise the Monk class has been brought up a few times. The Monk class does not fit into game context, though a H2H specs warrior or even assassin can already fulfil the role of a monk, without creating a new one. It's up to your imagination and roleplay.

yes, i realized as i wrote the post that assassins are almost everything that a monk woud be,

but decided to post it anyhow.

esoel