BCF: Unburdened Teachings

The ways of the Monk are filled with learning one's surroundings and learning of oneself.

All your Monk weapons have the Finesse ⚙️ and Zen⚙️ traits if they don't already, and they all gain any benefits that you gain for the Unarmed Weapon Group (such as Unarmed Scrapper's Damage dice).

Additionally, your Ancestry Weapons are considered Monk Weapons to you, too.

Finally, you gain the Determined Defense common feature, and the Animal Handling skill talent. The former allows you to set your base AC to a high number (10 + Half Proficiency + DEX + CON or WIS (more if you have a certain common feature)), while the latter allows you to communicate more easily with animals and even speak to them, eventually.

Animal Handling

You have a way of speaking to animals that others do not possess.

You may use your Intelligence attribute instead of Wisdom or Charisma to use Diplomacy on Beasts, Mythical Beasts, Fabled Creatures, and similar, and add a Bonus Dice (base D4) to all skill checks made with those creatures. Those creatures must not be players, and can be immune to this talent at the gm’s behest.

At Character Level 3, you may communicate with animals, as if you had Speak with Animals cast on you with an infinite duration and no Magical trait. You may also understand anyone who uses the Speak with Animals spell.

Determined Defense

Your natural defenses rely on your steadfastness, rather than your agility.

If you choose, your base AC is 0 + Half-Proficiency + DEX + either your CON or WIS modifiers. You can use a Shield and still gain this benefit.

If you have the Natural Armor Common Feature, you may addyour Proficiency Bonus, instead of your Half-Proficiency.