Shukenja (Labyrinth Lord)

The following is adapted mostly from 1E Oriental Adventures, but the special martial arts abilities are entirely the work of Matt at Land of Nod and I can take no credit for them.

Shukenja

Requirements: Con 9, Wis 12

Prime Requisite: Wis

Hit Dice: 1d4

Shukenja are humble priests who wander the land dispensing aid and advice to the common man. Shukenja uphold virtuous principles, and must be Lawful in alignment. They are able to meditate, 1 hour of which is as restful as 2 hours of sleep. They remain aware of their surroundings and take no surprise penalty for being asleep. They can react as if awake to any threats. A Shukenja can apply a +3 bonus to any saving throw a number of times per day equal to his or her level. This must be declared before the saving throw is rolled.

Shukenja are unable to use shields or wear any kind of armor. They are able to use the following weapons: axe (hand), boku-toh, chain, gunsen, jitte, kama, kiseru, sai, sling, sling staff, quarterstaff, spear, tetsubo, three-piece rod, tui-fa.

Shukenja are also trained in self-defense; a shukenja can choose one of the following special abilities: 


1) Unarmed attacks do 1d6 damage; 

2) Flurry of blows – you can make 1 attack against a secondary opponent every other round; 

3) Iron Hold - With a successful attack you wrap your opponent up using your arms and even legs; equivalent of a hold person spell until your opponent makes a successful saving throw (penalty equal to difference between your strength and their strength). If your attack fails, you suffer a 1 point penalty to Armor Class until your next turn; 

4) Parry Blows – You can trade an attack during a round for a +1 bonus to your AC or the AC of a creature or object no more than 3 feet away from you; 

5) Parry Death Blow – Once per combat you can make a saving throw to retain 1 hp when a successful blow would otherwise have killed you.

The training a shukenja undergoes at a temple or monastery allows him or her to perform religious rituals, such as marriages, funerary rites, holy day officiations, and purifications. This last function can be used to lift curses and ward off evil influences. A Shukenja has a base chance of 5% per level to remove any curse, and when warding off evil, can sanctify an area with a radius of 5 feet (75 square feet); at the end of the purification ritual, everyone within this area gains a +1 to hit and on saving throws when fighting evil spirits. The effect lasts as long as the Shukenja remains within the purified area. Multiple rituals have no cumulative effect.

Shukenja use the Cleric experience table. They use the combat progression and saving throws of Clerics. Shukenja have their own spell list.

The Shukenja must follow a code of conduct set forth by his or her religion:

• Cannot initiate violence – defending oneself is allowed
• Must avoid killing whenever possible
• Cannot eat meat
• Must avoid immoderate eating and drinking
• Cannot own more than he or she can carry