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Monks of the long death are members of a macabre, secretive order of scholars seeking to understand the true nature of death.

Requirements

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Monks of the long death gain no proficiency with any weapon, armor, or shield. Armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Sleight of Hand, and Tumble, and double the normal armor check penalty applies to Swim checks.

Deathguard (Ex): At 1st level, the monk of the long death gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against death effects. This bonus increases by 1 at every odd-numbered level (to +2 at 3rd level, +3 at 5th level, +4 at 7th level, and +5 at 9th level).

Monk Abilities (Ex): A monk of the long death has the unarmed damage, AC bonus, and unarmored speed bonus of a monk whose level is equal to his monk of the long death level (see Table 3—10: The Monk on page 40 of the Player's Handbook). If he also has monk levels, his levels in the two classes stack for the purpose of determining these abilities.

Poison Use: Monks of the long death are trained in the use of poison and never risk accidentally poisoning themselves when applying poison to a blade.

Macabre Shroud (Ex): Monks of the long death are disturbing and even frightening to most people, so those who see them tend to forget them as quickly as possible. When a monk of the long death reaches 2nd level, the DC of any Gather Information, bardic knowledge, or similar check made to learn about him increases by an amount equal to his monk of the long death level.

Death Knell (Sp): At 3rd level, a monk of the long death may use death knell once per day (caster level equals monk of the long death level).

Death Attack (Ex): At 6th level, the monk of the long death gains the ability to make a death attack. This ability functions like the assassin ability of the same name, except that the save DC is 10 + monk of the long death level + the monk of the long death's Int modifier (see page 180 of the Dungeon Master's Guide for more information).

If the monk of the long death also has the death attack ability from another class (such as assassin), levels of that class stack with his monk of the long death levels for the purpose of determining the save DC.

Death Touch (Su): Once per day, a 10th-level monk of the long death may make a death touch attack. This ability functions like the Death domain's granted power, except that the required die roll is 1d6 per monk of the long death level.

If the monk of the long death also has the death touch ability from another class (such as cleric), levels of that class stack with his monk of the long death levels for the purpose of determining the save DC.

EX-MONKS OF THE LONG DEATH

Any monk of the long death who betrays the secrets of the order, or even attempts to leave the organization, immediately becomes the target of assassins. These assassins begin with a EL equal to the monk of the long death's character level (whether a single assassin of the same level, or several of lower levels), but each failed assassination attempt increases the EL of the next group sent out by 1. If the former monk of the long death survives an assassination attempt by a group with an EL 5 higher than his character level, the monks of the long death stop wasting their resources on him.

Advancement