question on the role of monks in ravenloft

[28Hz]

hello,

this is my first post, and I've been somewhat active on the server for ~3 days now. I'm brand new to rp, and online play, though i've been playing the game sp for over a year now.

my first char isn't quite working for me the way i had envisioned, mostly due to a lack of backstory planning/inexperience (the guy just doesn't feel right, lol). anyway, i'm a big fan of monks, and was wondering what there is for them to do in barovia. do they have a specific temple that they congregate to, is there an "in house" order to belong to, or would it be recommendable to simply choose an outworld order and rp based on those precepts?

i've looked through the data on the site, and didnt see any info specifically for monks, so if i missed something, kindly point it out please.
or if there's another site for me to see, again, please direct me.

all help is appreciated.

[Helaman]

It depends on if you want to be an outlander (not native) or a Barovian/Gundarikite.

Outlanders can be any philosophy etc you can imagine. Any combat style.

Gundarikites are forbidden weapons larger than a dagger, like the Brazilian slaves who evented Capocia (spelling) they may have been forced to study unarmed combat techniques to an extreme level.

Barovians? Thats a tough one... maybe an orphan with an outlander foster parent.

[28Hz]

i was thinking outlander.

i suppose one would have to train oneself in that case...

that or hope to find another of the same sect.

[Helaman]

Self train and cross train - by which I mean fight with monks of other philiosphies. Duel with them. Try other Ki artists, like WMs.

One of the best duels I fought was with a 2nd or 3rd level monk... I had to use a FAN so as not to kill him by accident (I think I was 8th at that stage) but he was persistent in studying and training and challenging others. Great RP.

[kanedellesk]

Capoaira, Helaman  . And not all monks have to be of the "devout monastic" type. You can have a barroom brawler monk. If you can find the book The Quintessential Monk it would be a great help. There's a lot of different monk concepts in that one. Raywyn and Lo'Pah are good examples of traditional monks. Kane on the other hand . . . has actually beaten someone up for calling him a monk.  Hit me up for any advice or help on doing your monk with a tell in game (Kane Delllisk).

[Bluebomber4evr]

You could also play a monk native to another part of Ravenloft:

  In Hazlan and Nova Vaasa, there are monks devoted to the Lawgiver (Bane), they are either LN or LE and subscribe to an odd mix of Banite theology and arcane mysticism

  Monks from Paridon are Celebrants of the Divinity of Mankind, who believe humans are the pinnacle of sentient races and that humanity is essentially divine. These monks feel that their class abilities and ki powers are proof of this belief

  Rokushima Taiyoo is very much like feudal Japan, and monks from this domain encompass a wide range of Asian monastic archetypes

[28Hz]

thank you for all the replies!

i've chosen to play one from the 'order of the long death' from faerun, and ive been having a blast making notes in my journal about the way things are dying (searching for hidden meaning as the eyes go blank etc.)

i foresee excellent conflict between my character and all the undead in this world, seeing as how 'the natural order' is very perverted here. 

[Doom]

Monks in Hazlan? Very interesting, i'll look into that.

[Elo-EF]

And not all monks have to be of the "devout monastic" type. You can have a barroom brawler monk.

Wouldn't a bar room brawler be a pugilist? That is, a fighter with unarmed fighting feats?

[kanedellesk]

It's also in the Quintessential Monk. And really, what here could a fighter focusing on unarmed attacks take on besides rats and gremishkas? He'd have to have a level of rogue or bard to get a rank of 1 in UMD so he could wear monk gear. And say he did go fighter/bard to get greater magic weapon, well, that doesn't work with unarmed strikes. And I think someone did do a Bar Room Brawler monk a while back and was pretty good role playing with it.

[Elo-EF]

That's exactly the point though. There is no reason for a bar room brawler to have magical abilities. Those abilities in a monk come from their strict discipline allowing them to focus their spiritual energy.

I don't have access to the book you're mentioning, so how does it claim a bar room brawler gains monk abilities?

[28Hz]

perhaps hes thinking of a drunken master?

[Bluebomber4evr]

It's not an official D&D book so it's kind of iffy...personally I don't see how a barroom brawler could be a monk, that offers NO explanation to all the monk's abilities such as ki strike, immunity to disease, becoming an outsider at 20th level, etc., and thus would fall under cheesing.

[Elo-EF]

It's a bit like having a druid that hates animals, can't stand to leave cities and thinks nature is for hippies who can't stand to see progress. Or a paladin who acts like a cut throat thief who claims to get their paladin abilities from just being shit hot awesome.

[Doom]

That last one is technically possible thanks to the DP's. Elena Faithhold anyone? but point taken, a Monk is someone who focus's their inteir lifeforce into self mastery, which is why they get so many crazy abilities at later lvls (especially in PNP)

[kanedellesk]

Ah, now I see your point, Elo. What I meant is someone can start out as a bar room brawler, then become a student under a teacher, learn to meditate and gain their stuff. Not someone who starts as a brawler and stays there.

[ethinos]

Somehow, I don't see barroom brawlers having the lawful alignment requirement to begin with to progress into the monk. I've always seen barroom brawlers as more of the Barbarian type anyways.

[Elo-EF]

I had a bar room brawler barbarian on a previous ravenloft server. Awesome character. Would use weildable items like bottles and bar stools as well as his fists.

Once ripped the arm off a mage that was terrorising people, then beat him to near death with it before he got away. Even got a weildable dismembered arm... Actually maybe that was a different character with the arm... either way, good times. Useless against normal weapons resistant enemies, but that's the choice you need to make if you want to play an unarmed combatant that doesn't have magical abilitiies.