by For the female monk miniature on the right, I attached a Reaper metal miniature to an orc base, primed it with white spray primer, and painted it with Sanguine Highlight Formula P3 paint to match the "hero red" of the HQ miniatures.
I found this female monk illustration from Pathfinder artist Eric Belisle which matched both the miniature, and was a closer match to the "realism" fantasy style in HQ art.
As far as the character stats and attributes, a DM friend of mine recommended making a "glass cannon" character; high attack, low health/defense. I liked this idea, as it was quite different than anything I've seen before in HQ characters. I also wanted to make her a sort of combo unarmed fighter/healer/undead specialist, just for more variety. She has similar equipment restrictions as the Wizard; no heavy weapons or armor.
Below is a rundown of her special skills, a bit more elaborate than what can fit on her card. The other Heroes have special skills as well, but I will post those some other time.
MONK SKILLS
Rainbow Healing: On your turn, you may exhaust a number of Mind Points to heal any Hero you can “see.” You may also heal yourself. Two Mind Points heal one Body Point of damage. Each Body Point healed for a Hero besides yourself counts as one “Karma.” (See Monk Skill: Meditation) Rainbow Healing counts as an action. If you reach zero Body Points, you may immediately heal yourself as long as you have at least 2 Mind Point. If a Hero has zero Mind Point she cannot perform any actions, attack or defend. She rolls one die for movement.
Admonishing Light: You may also exhaust a number of Mind Points to harm any Undead Monster you can “see.” Two Mind Points inflict 1 Body Point of damage. If a Hero has zero Mind Point she cannot perform any actions, attack or defend. She rolls one die for movement.
Karmic Bliss: During your turn, you may exhaust “Karma” to recover a number of Mind Points. Rainbow Wisdom counts as an action. To perform Rainbow Wisdom, you must not “see” any Monsters. The amount of “Karma” you decide to exhaust during Rainbow Mind is the maximum amount of Mind Points you can recover from the roll of one red die, but you cannot recover more Mind Points than the sum of your roll. (e.g. You exhaust 3 “Karma,” roll one red die, and roll a 4. You receive 3 Mind Points.) Also, when a Monk inflicts a critical hit, she recovers 1 Mind Point.
Ghost Money: On your turn, you may perform Ghost Money as your action. Ghost Money is a reverent ceremony which may earn “Karma,” or reveal the location of a number of Undead Monsters on the game board, at the cost of a number of gold coins. For every 25 gold coins you wish to offer, roll one combat die. The gold coins offered are removed from your character sheet and cannot be recovered.
White Shield = One Undead Monster is revealed by Zargon. The Undead Monster’s figure is placed on the game board, but it does not move toward a Hero until it can “see” a Hero. Zargon may decide which Undead Monster to reveal by assigning each a number, and rolling the red dice. If there are no Undead Monsters in the Quest, and you have rolled at least one white shield, Zargon will tell you that you sense no Undead Monsters.
Black Shield = One “Karma” is earned; no Undead Monsters are revealed.
Skull = No Undead Monsters are revealed, no “Karma” is earned. If only skulls are rolled, the mocking laughter of the dead will be heard.
Meditation: You may not select spells at the beginning of each Quest like the Wizard or the Elf, but you can obtain a number of spell cards that have been cast during the Quest through Karmic Meditation. Karmic Meditation counts as an action, and exhausts 2 Mind Points each time it is performed. When you perform Karmic Mediation, the Wizard will stack his cast spell cards into a deck, the Elf will add his cast spell cards to the deck, and finally Zargon will add 3 Chaos spell cards from the shuffled Chaos spell card deck to the deck. This deck of cast spell cards and Chaos spell cards is "The Cosmos." Zargon shuffles the deck, and fans out the spell cards facedown in front of you. You may choose one spell card. If you cast the spell on a future turn, record one tally on your character sheet under the heading “Karma.” Casting a Chaos spell subtracts one tally. You may have negative “Karma.” If you have zero “Karma” before casting a Chaos spell, you must subtract two tallies. This can happen only once per quest. If the Elf or the Wizard are absent from the Quest, Zargon may assume their roles during Karmic Meditation with the Quest’s unselected group(s) of spell cards.
Almsbowl: Between Quests, you may go on an Almsround and receive alms from the laypeople of the village in the form of gold coins. Choose an amount of “Karma” to exhaust, and roll one combat die for each “Karma.”
Village Almsround:
Skull Shield = 5 gold coins
White Shield = 10 gold coins
Black Shield = 15 gold coins
Add the sum of gold coins to your character sheet, and remove the exhausted “Karma” from your character sheet. You may go on only one Almsround between each Quest.
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There's also a special shop and "training facility" where the Monk may spend the Karma she earns.
Relic Vault
Remove Curse = 50 gold coins. Remove the curse from one Cursed Weapon.
Holy Water = 5 Karma + 1 x (gem or jewels) + 1 Potion of Healing. This shimmering water cures and heals up to 2 Body Points of damage caused by Rotting Flesh, or inflicts 2 Body Points of damage to an Undead Monster you can “see,” or removes a Mummy’s Curse. When carried by a Hero, it may be used immediately to remove a Mummy’s Curse. Gone after one use.
Spirit Staff = 10 Karma + 1 x jewels + Staff. One combat die, hit on a black shield or a skull; 2 combat dice against Undead Monsters, one die can hit on a skull or black shield. Can attack diagonally. Cannot be used when using a shield.
Totem Beads = 10 Karma + 1 x jewels + 108 gold coins These precious beads protect the wearer against the effects of Rotting Flesh and the Mummy’s Curse, and keeps Skeletons from reassembling.
Auspicious Symbol +1 = 15 Karma + 1 x gem + 108 gold coins This holy artifact allows you to roll one extra combat die when defending against Undead Monsters, roll white shields or black shields to defend.
Armor of Healing = 15 Karma + 2 x (Non-enhanced pieces of armor) + 1 x jewels + 2 Potions of Healing. The wearer of this magical armor can restore 2 of his lost Body Points once per Quest. A Hero may wear only one piece of Armor of Healing at a time. The armor retains its original protective properties. If the wearer's Body Points are reduced to zero, this artifact can be used immediately to restore 2 Body Points as long as it has not already been used in that Quest.
Elixir of Life = 20 Karma + 1 x gem + 3 Potions of Healing. This small bottle of pearly liquid will bring a dead Hero back to life, restoring all of his Body and Mind Points. Gone after one use.
Tower of Silence
Shadow Form = 15 “Karma” Attack diagonally; roll 1 less Attack Die.
Diamond Form = 20 “Karma” Roll one extra Defend Dice; roll 2 less Attack Dice.
Luminous Form = 25 “Karma” Decrease Body Points by 1, increase Mind Points by 2.
NOTE: Treat each “Form” learned as a weapon to be noted on your character sheet. You may use only one “Form” at a time, and you must follow the rules for changing equipment to change “Forms.” Only the Monk may use "Forms."
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For my group's purposes, the monk was created as a 5th character, in the event more than 4 people wished to play a quest. So far, my group has play-tested with the monk in one quest, and she was a good addition. This was during a quest when the Wizard was absent, and the player found the monk to be an enjoyable and challenging character to use. I'll report the update from our next session where we'll hopefully be joined by the Wizard again.
