Reskinning d20 Monk Weapons
I recently started playing a monk in a 3.5 game. The setting is fairly well-defined, and there weren’t any asian-analogue cultures to draw from. Monks didn’t exist in the setting until I wanted to play them. Then they became a martial order within the church of the sun god that had its origins in a clan of Eagle Totem barbarian-types who were assimilated.
Of course, the special monk weapons didn’t make much sense, thematically, for this. It isn’t that this group shouldn’t have special weapons, but monk weapons tend to be based on agricultural implements… which (given conversations I’ve had with the GM) fit neither the origins of the order nor their role in the church.
So, instead, my character can use… ummm… monk weapons that have different appearances:
- The Sai. This does 1d4 bludgeoning damage, is good at disarming and can be thrown. My version? A sun-shaped cross between a blunt wind-fire wheel and a chakram.
- Shuriken. Small throwing weapons that do 1d2 damage, but can be used as swiftly as ammunition. My version? Throwing needles modeled on eagle talons.
- Nunchaku. Similar to the sai, but does more damage and cannot be thrown. This easily becomes a larger, differently-balanced version of the sun-wheel, above.
- The Kama. 1d6 slashing+tripping. This will look similar, with the blade being a stylized eagle’s head with a sun pattern and a sharpened beak.
Great idea. This can easily be extended to other classes or cultures. A seaside ranger may use weapons that are stats-equivalent to the bow, sword, etc, but which have a more nautical theme. So long as one is careful to match not only the weapon damage, but also its abilities and intended usage, it should work well.
I should note that this is easily transferable to 4e… and would actually be really useful there considering the stringent weapon restrictions on some classes.