Finding the Path: Not From Around Here

Those of you who read my post on the classes of Pathfinder may have noticed that I left out a rather important core class: the monk. Monks have been a part of RPGs for a long time, but, being based on the Shaolin monks of China, they don't quite fit in with the rest of the base classes. And Pathfinder has acknowledged this to a degree - Sajan Gadadvara, Pathfinder's iconic monk character, is from the far land of Vudra, come to the Inner Sea in search of his missing sister. He is very much a stranger in a strange land. But...he is not the only one who has traveled far from home to the Inner Sea. The ninja Reiko walks beside people who think ninja only fairy-tales, while the ronin samurai Nakayama Hayato sticks to the code of 'honour is strength' despite his exile from his homeland. Both hail from Minkai, a place on the other side of the world to the Inner Sea.



Joining these three is the kineticist, the only class from the Occult Adventures book that has nothing to do with psychic magic. Apparently they were originally based on Steven King's Carrie, which would make sense in a book primarily dealing with psychic powers. But at some point they morphed instead into benders from the Avatar tv series, and their iconic charater, the young Yoon, is a firebender from...yes, Minkai.

These are pretty cool classes, and there is a place for them. You just need to find the right adventure. I mean, seriously, Pathfinder has elven ninjas. That is the best thing ever.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Monk
Moderate Attack * Strength, Wisdom
Like the rogue, the monk suffers from trying to be a martial class without a full attack bonus. They do have a lot of cool stuff to make up for it, however, like the ability to deal lethal (and even magical) damage with nothing but their fists, a wisdom bonus to their armour class, many different 'style' feats, and a pool of ki energy they can spend to gain various bonuses. They can also wield a number of exotic weapons, if they wish to hit things with more than just their fists.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Ninja
Moderate Attack * Dexterity, Charisma
The ninja is based on the rogue class, and as such, shares many of its strengths and weaknesses. The most important thing to note is that the ninja has none of the rogue's trapfinding skills, so it can't serve as complete replacement. Instead, the ninja, fittingly, is better at using stealth and poison than most rogues, and, like the monk, has a pool of ki that they can spend to gain a number of different bonuses. They can also gain the ability to go completely invisible mid-combat, allowing them a way to pull off multiple sneak attacks without needing the help of flanker - something that most rogues would kill for.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Samurai
Full Attack * Strength
The samurai is based heavily on the cavalier class, giving up tactical teamwork powers for sheer stubbornness, and losing a lot of his mount abilities for better weapon skills (including proficiency in some exotic weapons such as the katana and naginata). I've never seen a samurai in action, but on the face of it, both of those changes look like improvements. Unlike the base cavalier, who relies on being mounted, it seems like the samurai can fight on the ground without losing anything important to their offense.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Kineticist
Moderate Attack * Constitution, Dexterity
The most unusual class in the game, the kineticist's offense consists entirely of spell-like abilities, involving the manipulation of air, water, earth, or fire - or just forgoing the elements completely and focusing on pure telekinesis. Their main attack is a ranged blast of elemental or kinetic energy, based on the element they specialise in. At they grow in power, they can expand their knowledge of thier primary element, or instead learn about other elements - allowing them to fire composite blasts made up of of multiple elements. The lengthy rules section for the kineticist is quite daunting, but the class is pretty cool, and not as complicated as it first seems.