I was wondering what are the backgrounds you made for a monk that isn't related to a temple or learned under a master? If possible something isn't related to karate or kung fu or regular fighting martial art.
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Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
Town drunk and / or street fighter. They call themselves a pugilist, others call them a thug. (also look at streetfighter for background ideas)
Magically created 'perfect specimen' physically superior to all others, their entire body a weapon.
City kid who fought to survive and not starve, taken in by a killer. They taught them how to kill and where to strike, but you trained yourself to run faster, hit harder and evade your rivals
Eunach, you have no genitals, and are a favoured servant of court, your royal duties involve caring for the royal harem, and protecting them, no weapons are allowed in the harem.(unfortunate incidents of them taking there own lives or those of their rivals) You were trained how to subdue without leaving a mark on Royal property.
Slaver. You are a hunter of (men?), you are a student of anatomy you know a bodies pressure points and how to break or inflict pain in over 300 different ways, yet you crave more
Agori (indian style holy man) an ascetic living in graveyards meditating on the boundaries of life and death and surviving on the blessing offerings of food left for the deceased by their relatives. You see things others do not, you can see death coming, plucking missiles from the air. pressure points that are weak and will inflict tremendous pain, when you tryuly have to move its as though the world moves out of your way.
Gregorian, You have a terrible haircut, subject yourself to terrible itchy robes, live in a church monastery and sing hymns to the glory of (whichever diety you like). You probably also partake a lot in consuming the wine the Brothers / Sisters produce.
Assassin. Some think that an assassin is a shadow cloaked figure that kills with a poisoned blade. They are amateurs, you are an artist. You have no weapon that will be traced back to you, and when they find your victims, they may not even understand how they died, rupturing internal organs with a precision kite strike, Choking someone with a deft palm to the throat, Or staging a body so it looks like an unfortunate drunken fight ended badly in an alley. You are the hunter who stalks the wolves in sheep's clothing.
I chose Boxer, but for my backstory I still added that I was taught & a monastery because that's just something I was kept for my character. I'm going for a mix of a female Goku & Johnny Cage.
My monk has the Anthropologist background. She is fascinated with the natures of mortal beings, since every civilization before the current itineration has gone through the same cyclical struggle. She also wonders how to break the cycle, and has come to the conclusion that the most efficient way is to burn down the old restrictive beliefs that carry on from culture to culture and allow new ideas to spread. On some level, she blames the gods for the restrictions on mortals; were they not to exist, mortals could live unfettered and explore their potential uninhibited, for good or ill.
She became a monk when a friend and rival tossed her off a cliff. She survived, barely, and was nursed to health (sort of--constantly crippled because low strength) by a nearby reclusive monastic tradition that shares and fosters her "burn it down, start fresh" mentality.
My elf monk is turning out to be almost entirely self-taught. He decided to leave his homeland because he morally disagreed with his birth culture's practice of slavery, and he spent the next several centuries wandering the land mostly alone (he's also a bit prickly (Cha 9) and prefers solitude). During his wanderings, two important things happened:
1) He had to learn how to defend himself against bandits, hungry predators, etc.
2) He discovered scattered archaeological evidence of a lost (alien??) civilization, and he started studying it in earnest.
It's the combination of these two things that has led to him developing his monk skills - a combination of a practical need for combat skills and pondering ancient wisdom, and allowing both of these things to develop over a couple hundred years.
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"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
Someone once thought of a private investigator / detective style character, using the "City Watch / Investigator" backround.
Sort of a classical noire detective, old-fasioned pugilist...and the monk being naturally insightful with their Wisdom bonus, they are good at spotting liars. Their monk speed is attributed to their natural ability to chase down thugs in a city, leaping off rooftops and darting through alleys. They are brawlers, beating the information they need out of dirtbags.
Perhaps amusingly, when their physical prowess begins to grow more "supernatural" (running on water...falling from great heights...catching arrows...), they become somewhat disturbed by how awesome they're becoming.
This Monk I've made is basically a discredited medical student who grew obsessed (and remains so) with unlocking and understand the mysteries and secrets of what happens after we die after his parents died in a fire. In this mad pursuit he became more and more unhinged until it culminated in a depraved attempted autopsy of a live specimen: his younger brother. Carrying this shame, he was both banished from the university and his city both and found himself impoverished and downtrodden in the alleys of a neighbouring city until he was approached by a woman representing an order of similarly discredited researchers and scholars who also believed that death could be understood on an academic level, not just as a psuedo-science. She offered him a place to live and recover from his shame and his troubles and that was how he joined the Hollow Seekers, a secluded order of well-intentioned necromancers, researchers and scholars.
The woman would become his master, tutoring and teaching him to temper his emotions and reforged him into an almost entirely new man. He was taught in the very basics of necromancy but could only apply it physically, such as sapping the life essence of whatever he struck and killed. He is now traveling around the world dissecting whatever he is allowed to, research whatever knowledge he can get his hands on, and honing his medical abilities as well as his own martial skills. He hopes to one day understand death: for if death can be understood and quantified, perhaps it can be manipulated and grant him the knowledge needed to bring back his long-dead parents.
My monk is an inquisitive bounty hunter, always trying to figure out what people are hiding and such. she also comes from a society (egyptian themed) where her order was exiled and cursed to not have children. So the only way to pass on her people's legacy is to make a name for herself, so she is a bit reckless in order to leave behind a tall tale or a legend in any city she visits. She started out as more of a grappler (idea is to apprehend) but now she is more of a boxer as the grappling does very little to help her allies these days.
Custodian ("janitor") who was thrust into the life of adventuring through no desire of his own—his real desires being catching naps, eating cheap food, and not getting caught napping or eating when working. (Roger Wilco trope.)
Monk class made the most sense for a min-INT janitor who knows how to use a mop and has more luck (and video-game logic) than sense.
I see classes as a ruleset but not how the character is identified. A pirate will most likely use the Rogue rules but would likely prefer to be called a captain, first mate, etc. (if not outright called a pyrate).
He's a Monk class, but he's just a custodian.
EDIT: I have another "Monk" who's a pirate but one of them brawler types of pirates who likes to get his fists bloodied. Monk rules made more sense to me than rogue.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I RPed a Way of the Drunken Master Monk based on the Squatting Slavs in tracksuits meme page ^^ His weapon was a Baseball bat (quarterstaff stats) and his meditating position a squat. He was sent by the Babushka's Council to make "big biznis" in the realm and bring the money he made back to slavic lands! Was wearing full adidas trackies. Always drinking vodka.
How about a young Noble who took up the way of the sword and learned the art of the Braavosi Water Dancers at the feet of a master like Syrio Forel from Game of Thrones? Way of the Kensei, of course.
I'm currently playing a Gnome Monk with the Guild Artisan background. She is a trained chef, who was taught how to fight by members of her former adventuring group. She's a Drunken Master as it fit pretty well. It's been pretty fun to play so far.
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The ever growing document of character concepts can never be too long, can it?
Currently playing a Half-Orc Monk that was raised by a Halfling Monk, in a Halfling Monastery, after her mother died during childbirth. My character was just a servant in the monastery but after being given a letter on her 16th birthday by her adoptive father, he trained her to be a Monk to prepare her for her journey to find answers.
Custodian ("janitor") who was thrust into the life of adventuring through no desire of his own—his real desires being catching naps, eating cheap food, and not getting caught napping or eating when working. (Roger Wilco trope.)
Monk class made the most sense for a min-INT janitor who knows how to use a mop and has more luck (and video-game logic) than sense.
I see classes as a ruleset but not how the character is identified. A pirate will most likely use the Rogue rules but would likely prefer to be called a captain, first mate, etc. (if not outright called a pyrate).
He's a Monk class, but he's just a custodian.
EDIT: I have another "Monk" who's a pirate but one of them brawler types of pirates who likes to get his fists bloodied. Monk rules made more sense to me than rogue.
I have a warforged Monk that was created as the Last War ended. As such, he was given no purpose. So he wandered for a while then found a monastery, locked himself in a room and meditated for over a year on his purpose and looking inward. He is now moving out into the world to seek more answers about himself and his purpose.
My monk Gob has the entertainer background. He is pretty much the living embodiment of a ray of sunshine, as all he wants to do is make people happy. He does this by playing music and telling stories.
How about someone forced to mine by slavers or a corrupt lord (pick your villain). After a few years, the character and the rest of the miners have had enough and decide to fight back. To do so they train to fight with what they have: pickaxes and their bare hands. They don't have armor so they had to learn how to dodge. The character is either the sole survivor/escapee of the failed uprising and is looking for someone to help liberate his/her town, or the uprising succeeded and the character is adventuring to earn money to help the town rebuild.
How about someone forced to mine by slavers or a corrupt lord (pick your villain). After a few years, the character and the rest of the miners have had enough and decide to fight back. To do so they train to fight with what they have: pickaxes and their bare hands. They don't have armor so they had to learn how to dodge. The character is either the sole survivor/escapee of the failed uprising and is looking for someone to help liberate his/her town, or the uprising succeeded and the character is adventuring to earn money to help the town rebuild.
Love this idea...seems tailor-made for the "Folk Hero" background...a local hero of humble origin, rebelling against the tyrants that run the mine.
You get a free tool proficiency with it, too...could be a Jewlers Kit (for working with stones), or Alchemist Kit (for explosives to use in mining).
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I was wondering what are the backgrounds you made for a monk that isn't related to a temple or learned under a master? If possible something isn't related to karate or kung fu or regular fighting martial art.
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
Town drunk and / or street fighter. They call themselves a pugilist, others call them a thug. (also look at streetfighter for background ideas)
Magically created 'perfect specimen' physically superior to all others, their entire body a weapon.
City kid who fought to survive and not starve, taken in by a killer. They taught them how to kill and where to strike, but you trained yourself to run faster, hit harder and evade your rivals
Eunach, you have no genitals, and are a favoured servant of court, your royal duties involve caring for the royal harem, and protecting them, no weapons are allowed in the harem.(unfortunate incidents of them taking there own lives or those of their rivals) You were trained how to subdue without leaving a mark on Royal property.
Slaver. You are a hunter of (men?), you are a student of anatomy you know a bodies pressure points and how to break or inflict pain in over 300 different ways, yet you crave more
Agori (indian style holy man) an ascetic living in graveyards meditating on the boundaries of life and death and surviving on the blessing offerings of food left for the deceased by their relatives. You see things others do not, you can see death coming, plucking missiles from the air. pressure points that are weak and will inflict tremendous pain, when you tryuly have to move its as though the world moves out of your way.
Gregorian, You have a terrible haircut, subject yourself to terrible itchy robes, live in a church monastery and sing hymns to the glory of (whichever diety you like). You probably also partake a lot in consuming the wine the Brothers / Sisters produce.
Assassin. Some think that an assassin is a shadow cloaked figure that kills with a poisoned blade. They are amateurs, you are an artist. You have no weapon that will be traced back to you, and when they find your victims, they may not even understand how they died, rupturing internal organs with a precision kite strike, Choking someone with a deft palm to the throat, Or staging a body so it looks like an unfortunate drunken fight ended badly in an alley. You are the hunter who stalks the wolves in sheep's clothing.
I am playing a loxodon monk who was a performer in a circus. He performed feats no one expects of a loxodon.
Would this help?
I chose Boxer, but for my backstory I still added that I was taught & a monastery because that's just something I was kept for my character. I'm going for a mix of a female Goku & Johnny Cage.
My monk has the Anthropologist background. She is fascinated with the natures of mortal beings, since every civilization before the current itineration has gone through the same cyclical struggle. She also wonders how to break the cycle, and has come to the conclusion that the most efficient way is to burn down the old restrictive beliefs that carry on from culture to culture and allow new ideas to spread. On some level, she blames the gods for the restrictions on mortals; were they not to exist, mortals could live unfettered and explore their potential uninhibited, for good or ill.
She became a monk when a friend and rival tossed her off a cliff. She survived, barely, and was nursed to health (sort of--constantly crippled because low strength) by a nearby reclusive monastic tradition that shares and fosters her "burn it down, start fresh" mentality.
My elf monk is turning out to be almost entirely self-taught. He decided to leave his homeland because he morally disagreed with his birth culture's practice of slavery, and he spent the next several centuries wandering the land mostly alone (he's also a bit prickly (Cha 9) and prefers solitude). During his wanderings, two important things happened:
1) He had to learn how to defend himself against bandits, hungry predators, etc.
2) He discovered scattered archaeological evidence of a lost (alien??) civilization, and he started studying it in earnest.
It's the combination of these two things that has led to him developing his monk skills - a combination of a practical need for combat skills and pondering ancient wisdom, and allowing both of these things to develop over a couple hundred years.
"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
Someone once thought of a private investigator / detective style character, using the "City Watch / Investigator" backround.
Sort of a classical noire detective, old-fasioned pugilist...and the monk being naturally insightful with their Wisdom bonus, they are good at spotting liars. Their monk speed is attributed to their natural ability to chase down thugs in a city, leaping off rooftops and darting through alleys. They are brawlers, beating the information they need out of dirtbags.
Perhaps amusingly, when their physical prowess begins to grow more "supernatural" (running on water...falling from great heights...catching arrows...), they become somewhat disturbed by how awesome they're becoming.
This Monk I've made is basically a discredited medical student who grew obsessed (and remains so) with unlocking and understand the mysteries and secrets of what happens after we die after his parents died in a fire. In this mad pursuit he became more and more unhinged until it culminated in a depraved attempted autopsy of a live specimen: his younger brother. Carrying this shame, he was both banished from the university and his city both and found himself impoverished and downtrodden in the alleys of a neighbouring city until he was approached by a woman representing an order of similarly discredited researchers and scholars who also believed that death could be understood on an academic level, not just as a psuedo-science. She offered him a place to live and recover from his shame and his troubles and that was how he joined the Hollow Seekers, a secluded order of well-intentioned necromancers, researchers and scholars.
The woman would become his master, tutoring and teaching him to temper his emotions and reforged him into an almost entirely new man. He was taught in the very basics of necromancy but could only apply it physically, such as sapping the life essence of whatever he struck and killed. He is now traveling around the world dissecting whatever he is allowed to, research whatever knowledge he can get his hands on, and honing his medical abilities as well as his own martial skills. He hopes to one day understand death: for if death can be understood and quantified, perhaps it can be manipulated and grant him the knowledge needed to bring back his long-dead parents.
Whomsoever reads this: you matter, you are loved, and I wish you the best.
Griffith did nothing wrong.
My monk is an inquisitive bounty hunter, always trying to figure out what people are hiding and such. she also comes from a society (egyptian themed) where her order was exiled and cursed to not have children. So the only way to pass on her people's legacy is to make a name for herself, so she is a bit reckless in order to leave behind a tall tale or a legend in any city she visits. She started out as more of a grappler (idea is to apprehend) but now she is more of a boxer as the grappling does very little to help her allies these days.
Custodian ("janitor") who was thrust into the life of adventuring through no desire of his own—his real desires being catching naps, eating cheap food, and not getting caught napping or eating when working. (Roger Wilco trope.)
Monk class made the most sense for a min-INT janitor who knows how to use a mop and has more luck (and video-game logic) than sense.
I see classes as a ruleset but not how the character is identified. A pirate will most likely use the Rogue rules but would likely prefer to be called a captain, first mate, etc. (if not outright called a pyrate).
He's a Monk class, but he's just a custodian.
EDIT: I have another "Monk" who's a pirate but one of them brawler types of pirates who likes to get his fists bloodied. Monk rules made more sense to me than rogue.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I RPed a Way of the Drunken Master Monk based on the Squatting Slavs in tracksuits meme page ^^ His weapon was a Baseball bat (quarterstaff stats) and his meditating position a squat. He was sent by the Babushka's Council to make "big biznis" in the realm and bring the money he made back to slavic lands! Was wearing full adidas trackies. Always drinking vodka.
How about a young Noble who took up the way of the sword and learned the art of the Braavosi Water Dancers at the feet of a master like Syrio Forel from Game of Thrones? Way of the Kensei, of course.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I'm currently playing a Gnome Monk with the Guild Artisan background. She is a trained chef, who was taught how to fight by members of her former adventuring group. She's a Drunken Master as it fit pretty well. It's been pretty fun to play so far.
The ever growing document of character concepts can never be too long, can it?
Currently playing a Half-Orc Monk that was raised by a Halfling Monk, in a Halfling Monastery, after her mother died during childbirth. My character was just a servant in the monastery but after being given a letter on her 16th birthday by her adoptive father, he trained her to be a Monk to prepare her for her journey to find answers.
Hong Kong Phooey
I played a monk once that had no idea where her abilities were coming from. It turned out that she was part alien.
I have a warforged Monk that was created as the Last War ended. As such, he was given no purpose. So he wandered for a while then found a monastery, locked himself in a room and meditated for over a year on his purpose and looking inward. He is now moving out into the world to seek more answers about himself and his purpose.
My monk Gob has the entertainer background. He is pretty much the living embodiment of a ray of sunshine, as all he wants to do is make people happy. He does this by playing music and telling stories.
How about someone forced to mine by slavers or a corrupt lord (pick your villain). After a few years, the character and the rest of the miners have had enough and decide to fight back. To do so they train to fight with what they have: pickaxes and their bare hands. They don't have armor so they had to learn how to dodge. The character is either the sole survivor/escapee of the failed uprising and is looking for someone to help liberate his/her town, or the uprising succeeded and the character is adventuring to earn money to help the town rebuild.
Love this idea...seems tailor-made for the "Folk Hero" background...a local hero of humble origin, rebelling against the tyrants that run the mine.
You get a free tool proficiency with it, too...could be a Jewlers Kit (for working with stones), or Alchemist Kit (for explosives to use in mining).