Hey, I'm in the middle of creating a couple of potential characters I want to try out in the future and I'm playing around with a couple of ideas in my head. One of them is a monk, but while creating them, I started to wonder...
Does a monk need a monestary background? Or to put it differently, do they need a master that taught them? Or can they be self-taught?
On the one hand, having them learn all those skills without anyone teaching them, seems o be a bit hard to believe. Then again, the first creators of martial arts didn't have anyone to teach them either.
This character probably wouldn't be all to refined starting out, more of a brawler than a proper martial artist, but maybe I can have them pick up some skills on the way to guide them to become a proper combatant.
maybe they failed out of monk school. and it wasn't till your character sets out on they own that the lessons from the monestary start to sink in. you could then slowly come to terms with the monastic traditions, maybe even returning to take on a difficult student I.e. karma
I don´t know if this is helpful, but I have a monk, who got orphaned and then taken in by a priestess, who in turn brought her up in the faith... if that makes any sense ;)
The background can be anything you envision for the character. Unless the DM is forcing some monastery background, your fighting style/learning can be whatever you want.
I've heard many creative ideas regarding monk backstories...
The monastery background is usually a favorite, as the monastery usually has a purpose for existing...to combat evil, to provide sanctuary to travelers, or to pursue enlightenment...usually your monk's personality or goals mirror the same goals of your monastery. Maybe your monk received a vision during meditation, forcing you to go out on an adventure. Maybe your monastery was destroyed by a warlord, and you were the sole survivor, and so the knowledge of your martial skill remains with you alone...
Conversely, maybe your monk was indeed self-taught...a slave who was forced to fight in the gladiator pits? A drunken brawler who accidentally challenged a tavern filled with members of the City Watch to a fight and was forced to abandon the city to avoid arrest? Maybe they're just an acrobat or performer, like Dick Grayson. Lots of options.
Long Death Monks are a personal favorite of mine, because they can be creepier with their backstories...one of my Long Death monks was experimented on, and possessed by a wraith, and so cannot be mortally wounded if they use their ki. She can be riddled with arrows, burned or bludgeoned, but refuse to die....and so she seeks vengeance on those who caused her condition. Another person had another idea of a Long Death Monk who trains in graveyards and cemeteries, learning the martial arts from the souls of deceased warriors. That's a cool concept; a monk who is merely studying the best fighting styles...
A Monk I have lined up to use has a 2 level dip into Warlock (starting level 3), so her Monastic Tradition comes from the Otherwordly Patron. No monasteries involved.
A Monk I have lined up to use has a 2 level dip into Warlock (starting level 3), so her Monastic Tradition comes from the Otherwordly Patron. No monasteries involved.
This is a really cool concept and I think I might borrow this idea for a future character.
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"A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence."
Conceptually, a "monastery" could an isolated cave where a monk with a small library studies and practices and prays. The essence of the monk is discipline and practice leading to a mastery of the body and the vital energy flowing through it.
A Drunken halfling monk with the Sailor background. He learned to fight and brawl, and how to nimbly climb ship rigging.
An Open Hand wood elf monk with the Outlander background. Parents were slaughtered by goblins, toddler monk was left for dead. A mother wolf found the baby after recently losing one of her cubs, and raised him. Runs around on all fours, fights without weapons, eventually discovered as a teen by a ranger and taught humanoid ways.
An Astral human monk with the Hermit background. He discovered some old ruins that re-aligned the energy inside him, allowing him to project his astral self.
In settings where the dead can be raised and people can warp through dimensions and throw fireballs from their fingers, someone running up a wall without "monastery training" shouldn't really stretch belief.
I play a 350 year old Firbolg Drunken Master monk that's retired from his pirate days after spending a few decades training with a Tortle after washing ashore on his island due to a bad storm at sea causing him to dive into the water to try and save a crew member that'd fallen overboard.
My character's main background is Pirate and his personality is set around that, but with his lifespan thus far he did have a few decades worth of training in "isolation" from the outside world so he's trying to integrate into society again hopefully as a respectable member this time rather than the criminal he was before.
Hey, I'm in the middle of creating a couple of potential characters I want to try out in the future and I'm playing around with a couple of ideas in my head. One of them is a monk, but while creating them, I started to wonder...
Does a monk need a monestary background? Or to put it differently, do they need a master that taught them? Or can they be self-taught?
On the one hand, having them learn all those skills without anyone teaching them, seems o be a bit hard to believe. Then again, the first creators of martial arts didn't have anyone to teach them either.
This character probably wouldn't be all to refined starting out, more of a brawler than a proper martial artist, but maybe I can have them pick up some skills on the way to guide them to become a proper combatant.
Any opinions?
What race are you considering? I could imagine an elf spending several decades to develop martial arts on their own.
Perpetually annoyed that Eldritch Knights can't use Eldritch Blast, Eldritch Smite, and Eldritch Sight.
maybe they failed out of monk school. and it wasn't till your character sets out on they own that the lessons from the monestary start to sink in. you could then slowly come to terms with the monastic traditions, maybe even returning to take on a difficult student I.e. karma
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
Backgrounds can also be where you started out then went into monk life.
Doctor strange was a surgeon before he became a magic user.
I don´t know if this is helpful, but I have a monk, who got orphaned and then taken in by a priestess, who in turn brought her up in the faith... if that makes any sense ;)
My monk was traveling and happened upon an old man who took a liking to him and taught him.
The background can be anything you envision for the character. Unless the DM is forcing some monastery background, your fighting style/learning can be whatever you want.
I've heard many creative ideas regarding monk backstories...
The monastery background is usually a favorite, as the monastery usually has a purpose for existing...to combat evil, to provide sanctuary to travelers, or to pursue enlightenment...usually your monk's personality or goals mirror the same goals of your monastery. Maybe your monk received a vision during meditation, forcing you to go out on an adventure. Maybe your monastery was destroyed by a warlord, and you were the sole survivor, and so the knowledge of your martial skill remains with you alone...
Conversely, maybe your monk was indeed self-taught...a slave who was forced to fight in the gladiator pits? A drunken brawler who accidentally challenged a tavern filled with members of the City Watch to a fight and was forced to abandon the city to avoid arrest? Maybe they're just an acrobat or performer, like Dick Grayson. Lots of options.
Long Death Monks are a personal favorite of mine, because they can be creepier with their backstories...one of my Long Death monks was experimented on, and possessed by a wraith, and so cannot be mortally wounded if they use their ki. She can be riddled with arrows, burned or bludgeoned, but refuse to die....and so she seeks vengeance on those who caused her condition. Another person had another idea of a Long Death Monk who trains in graveyards and cemeteries, learning the martial arts from the souls of deceased warriors. That's a cool concept; a monk who is merely studying the best fighting styles...
A Monk I have lined up to use has a 2 level dip into Warlock (starting level 3), so her Monastic Tradition comes from the Otherwordly Patron. No monasteries involved.
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This is a really cool concept and I think I might borrow this idea for a future character.
"A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence."
In a similar vein, I've got an air genasi monk concept that is of a sailor background; the genasi heritage replaces the monastry.
Conceptually, a "monastery" could an isolated cave where a monk with a small library studies and practices and prays. The essence of the monk is discipline and practice leading to a mastery of the body and the vital energy flowing through it.
Your background is wide open.
A Drunken halfling monk with the Sailor background. He learned to fight and brawl, and how to nimbly climb ship rigging.
An Open Hand wood elf monk with the Outlander background. Parents were slaughtered by goblins, toddler monk was left for dead. A mother wolf found the baby after recently losing one of her cubs, and raised him. Runs around on all fours, fights without weapons, eventually discovered as a teen by a ranger and taught humanoid ways.
An Astral human monk with the Hermit background. He discovered some old ruins that re-aligned the energy inside him, allowing him to project his astral self.
In settings where the dead can be raised and people can warp through dimensions and throw fireballs from their fingers, someone running up a wall without "monastery training" shouldn't really stretch belief.
I play a 350 year old Firbolg Drunken Master monk that's retired from his pirate days after spending a few decades training with a Tortle after washing ashore on his island due to a bad storm at sea causing him to dive into the water to try and save a crew member that'd fallen overboard.
My character's main background is Pirate and his personality is set around that, but with his lifespan thus far he did have a few decades worth of training in "isolation" from the outside world so he's trying to integrate into society again hopefully as a respectable member this time rather than the criminal he was before.
Check out my latest homebrew: Mystic Knight (Fighter) v1.31