The Righteous Order of the Stone Fist is an order of monks. Most members of the order are Lawful Neutral but there are some members of Lawful Good, and some members of Lawful Evil alignment.
The order is based in Blue Mountain. They have a secret monastery deep below the main cavern that houses the city of Blue Mountain. There are multiple entrances and exits to the monastery. Novices of the order know of only one entrance. As the monk rises in stature in the order, he learns more of the monastery's secrets, including the location of additional entrances.
The order is dedicated to the rule of law. Individual freedoms are not nearly as important as a lawful society. Society must be orderly and the foundations of that order must be rock solid. Thus, a lawful evil government that rules its people through fear and intimidation, and brutally suppresses dissent is preferable to a Chaotic Good government that rules its people very loosely and allows absolute freedom of speech and dissent. For this reason, most monks of this order do not like elves (who are generally chaotic good in nature).
Most monks of this order prefer a government like that of Blue Mountain, that maintains a large police force and rules strongly and has the respect of its people.
Monks of this order can be male or female, although most are male. Monks of this order must be human. Collectively they are known as Guardians of the Stone Fist.
Guardians of the Stone Fist all have a tattoo on their body that indicates their order and their rank within the order. Most Guardians have the tattoo on the back of their right hand but that is not a requirement. The tattoo starts as a simple fist when the Guardian is a Novice of the Rock. The tattoo is embellished as the Guardian rises in rank within the order.
Titles of the Order |
Rank | Title | Number | Tattoo |  |
1 | Novice of the Rock | Unlimited | Stone Fist Outline | |
2-3 | Initiate of the Rock | Unlimited | Add Finger Details | |
4-7 | Brother of Stone | Unlimited | Add Thumbnail | Arek |
8-10 | Disciple of Stone | 12 | Red Halo over Fist | |
11 | Adept of Stone | 6 | Realistic Lines on Fist | |
12 | Master of Stone | 3 | Purple Armband under Fist | |
13 | Master of the Blue Stone | 1 | Blue Stone on Armband | |
14 | Master of the Malachite Eye | 1 | Malachite on Armband | Master Frieda |
15 | Master of the Obsidian Orb | 1 | Black Orb on Armband | |
16 | Master of the Crystal Spear | 1 | Crystal Spear on Armband | |
17 | Master of the Black Opal | 1 | Black Opal on Armband | |
18 | Master of the Opal of Fire | 1 | Red Opal on Armband | |
19 | Master of the Emerald Sceptre | 1 | Green Emerald on Armband | |
20 | Grand Master of the Diamond Throne | 1 | Diamond Stones on Armband | |
Metal and Mineral Lore
Because of their affiliation with stone as the foundation of law, monks of this order are required to have Metal and Mineral Lore of the same or higher rank as their Martial Artist rank in order to advance in the order. For example, if a monk is rank 3 in martial arts, but rank 1 in Metal and Mineral Lore, he is still considered a Novice. A monk of this order cannot improve their Martial Artist skill to rank 8 or higher until their Metal and Mineral Lore skill is already at the higher rank (i.e., in order to advance to rank 8 in Martial Artist, the monk must first improve his Metal and Mineral Lore skill to rank 8).
Stone Strike
Monks of the Righteous Order of the Stone Fist emphasize power over accuracy in their martial artist training. As such, monks of this order gain a +1 to damage with Unarmed Combat, but suffer a -5 to their strike chance (use the Magic Item section - Unarmed Combat SC & Unarmed Combat Dmg - to reflect this and have it automatically compute SC and Dmg correctly).
Limited Advancement
A monk of this order cannot advance to rank 8 unless there is an opening. There can only be 12 Disciples of Stone (rank 8 to 10 martial artists). If all 12 positions are filled, the monk cannot advance until one of the 12 dies, retires from the order, or goes missing. For PC monks of this order, contact the GM to determine whether you can advance beyond rank 7.
Similarly, there can only be 6 Adepts of Stone and 3 Masters of Stone so a monk cannot advance to rank 11 or 12 until there is an opening. Beyond rank 12, there is only 1 monk of each rank above 13th.
The limited advancement is primarily intended to add flavor to the order, not to prevent PC monks from advancing, at least as far as rank 12 so the GM is expected to give the player the opportunity to advance once his character is ready.
The ranks above 12th are known collectively as the Named Masters
Special Abilities
At rank 13 and above, there are unique magical artifacts of the order that are in the care of the Named Masters. For example, the Master of Blue Stone wears the Amulet of Blue Stone that is rumoured to provide magical abilities but only the Named Masters of that rank and higher know what these enchantments are. Once the Named Master advances to the next rank in the order, he surrenders the magical item of his previous office and gains the item of the new office. It sometimes happens that one of the Named Masters goes missing and is eventually stripped of his rank. The new Named Master will then have the task of trying to recover the magical item for his new office from the missing Named Master. |