At a young age, either by choice or circumstance, you found yourself a novice in a remote order of monastics. Perhaps you were left at the doorstep of the monastery. Perhaps the monastery was your one refuge when your village was besieged by bandits. Perhaps you merely chose this life for yourself after some monks came to visit your home. Regardless, you have found a family among these unlikely people, each seeking enlightenment in their own way.
What comes next is player-determined. Perhaps you seek enlightenment like your mentors before you--looking to their example on your spiritual journey. Perhaps you merely go through the motions during meditation, eager to prove your worth during martial training. Maybe you seek to unite the divided through scholarship and diplomacy. Some novices seek upheaval of the system itself--to turn the monastery's hierarchy on its head to affect necessary change. Regardless of how you have adapted to life at the monastery, your own path has been irrevocably changed by it.
Wherever you go, your time in meditation and introspection has given you surprising insight on the conflicts that arise among people. This insight, combined with the serenity you exude from your monastery education, makes you a particularly effective mediator. When confronted with two or more parties in the midst of a disagreement, friendly or hostile, you have the remarkable ability to make everyone feel at ease, and more in the mood to reach an agreement. At the DM's discretion, the parties to a disagreement may even give you alms for your services mediator.
Suggested Characteristics
Life in the monastery brings with it many assumptions from others--many true, many untrue. These are as follows:
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | My spiritual training serves mostly to hide the rage that burns within me. |
| 2 | I can recite the wisdom of the old masters by memory, and often do. |
| 3 | Peace supersedes truth. I am not above spinning a white lie or two if it helps bring people together. |
| 4 | I don't have the patience for books and meditation. I'd rather be training! |
| 5 | I haven't been out in the world too much. I tend to baffle common folk, and they tend to baffle me. |
| 6 | "The Novice" tends to refer to themselves in the third person. "The Novice" recognizes that obliterating the self it the most difficult step toward enlightenment. |
| 7 | Meditation has taught me how to always keep a cool head, no matter the situation. I tend to let the small stuff roll off my back like I let the my thoughts pass out of my brain during meditation. |
| 8 | What, you're worried about these mushrooms? They're used in a very important ritual in my Order! Really. Promise. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Peace. I seek to mend the broken, and bring serenity to troubled places. |
| 2 | Charity. I will lift up those who cannot lift themselves. |
| 3 | Power. My master's teachings have given me the strength to bend others to my will. |
| 4 | Oblivion. Self is an illusion. I seek to empty this vessel of all desires, aspirations, and distractions from Enlightenment. |
| 5 | Status-quo. The way of my Monastery has worked for thousands of years. Why should we seek to fix what is not broken? |
| 6 | Outreach. Ours is a message that needs to be heard by all people--whether they want to hear it or not. |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | My master taught me everything I know. I think of them like a child would a parent. |
| 2 | My life before the monastery was taken from me, and I couldn't do anything about it. I will find my old family and friends and get revenge on those who took them from me. |
| 3 | There's a girl/boy/person in the village down the road who makes eyes at me every time we pass through. I wouldn't mind showing them a bit of the stamina that monastery life has taught me. |
| 4 | The knowledge of the old masters has endured for generations, and I will do everything within my power to ensure they survive long after I die. |
| 5 | Somebody stole a priceless artifact from the monastery. I will stop at nothing to see it returned. |
| 6 | I have a rival, and we compete in all of our duties. Whether it's martial training, getting alms, or even meditation--I will stop at nothing to prove my superiority. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | My Order's vows include chastity and temperance, but that's never stopped me from a wild night. |
| 2 | I'd like to be as disciplined as my masters and peers, but it's just too hard to get motivated. |
| 3 | Sometimes I am blinded by my anger. No amount of meditation has calmed the beast within me. |
| 4 | When it comes to a good fight, I don't know when to quit. I'll keep on fighting until my muscles won't let me move. |
| 5 | My discipline and devotion to the Order often leaves others feeling too disconnected from me to form real bonds. |
| 6 | I have no respect for those who do not conduct themselves according to my Order's lifestyle. |
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