*** This is a bit of a work in progress and is for a guild of sorts for a future campaign. If you like the sounds of it feel free to incorporate it in your own game and leave any comments, suggestions etc ***
The Monastery of Nagin At’a.
Those that live at Nagin At’a are worshippers of a powerful Oni called Nagin, At’a simply means Home. Over time Nagin has cultivated a large cabal of followers and from time to time sees fit to bestow training on those that entertain or otherwise please him.
The Monastery itself lies deep within a dark and gloomy forest and is akin to a soldiers training facility with basic amenities where a survival of the fittest regime is implemented but wuthin some caverns are quiet orchards of cherry blossom trees where lessons in meditation and contemplation take place. All those that wish to learn are trained in the use of the glaive. From there they go on to learn a brawling style of martial arts and learn how to use the glaive in conjunction with this style, additionally they study the spell casting arts of the Oni. Once they have mastered this are they permitted to request instruction into the higher mysteries or are free to return to their previous lives and live them as they see fit but they are expected to show deference, loyalty and respect to any other member of the Monastery they encounter and extend aid and lodgings when needed. Failure to do so has led Nagin to send out “reminders” in the past.
Whilst studying at the Monastery all dress in a dual layer of simple robes in a kimono style with the under layer being a light grey and the outer layer being either dark red for those that have just joined (level 1 Monk or Sorcerer), midnight blue for those studying the higher mysteries of the Monk (level 2+ Monk) or dark grey for those studying the magic of the Sorcerer (level 2+ Sorcerer). Those have studied both Monk and Sorcerer (and attained at least level 2 in each) wear an outer kimono that is half midnight blue and half dark grey.
The higher mysteries take the form of training in Monk leading to the Way of Shadows or as a Sorcerer with the Shadow Origin, those that become Sorcerers all strive to manifest/learn spells that are common to Oni (see page 239 of the Monster Manual) and view it as a matter of pride to have mastered the full range of the Oni spell casting ability.
Spending so much time in close proximity to an Oni invariably leads those that follow his teachings to become Lawful Evil in alignment and highly secretive but also leads to a highly regimented comradrie which does enable them to work well with others. Additionally as they advance in Nagins teachings they take on various cosmetic changes to appearance with skin colour changing to hues of dark blue and green, finger and toe nails becoming black and claw like, teeth turning black and more fang like ad the growth of two small ivory horns from their foreheads. These changes become more pronounced as they grow in power.
Nagin occasionally sends out his followers to indulge in whatever activity has roused his interest, this ranges from the traditional folklore associated with Oni (stalking people, abducting people etc.) to aiding local nobles in border disputes and even, on the very rare occasion, helping local farmers with their crops but more frequently he sends them out into the world on some personal quest.
If a member of the monastery leaves they are given a ceremonial sash which they are expected to wear as a way to show their affiliation, the belt is made up of parts of their previous kimono and emblazoned with the Monastery’s symbol (a Hexagon containing 3 horizontal lines) stitched with golden thread.
When the Monastery take to the battlefield in numbers they refer to themselves as The Order of the Celestial Shadow and they have been known to hire themselves out as mercenaries.
Basic fluff/rationale:
This is loosely based around the idea of the Sohei warrior monks of feudal Japan whose weapon of choice appears to have been the Naginata which is closely related to the glaive and as glaive and claw are the method of attack for the standard Oni combining the two into a Monastery seemed appropriate.
In character creation terms this means anyone wishing to have a Monk or Sorcerer character trained at the Monastery of Nagin At’a gains glaive as a bonus weapon proficiency but must have Monk or Sorcerer as their first character class and glaive is additionally considered a monk weapon for them. Nagin only trains Monks in the Way of Shadow and Sorcerers in the Shadow Origin (EDIT: if you don;t like the idea of giving them a glaive then reflavour the spear into a slashing weapon and term it a short glaive).
They can then choose to continue to learn the ways of the Monk taking the Way of Shadow at level 3 or Sorcerer taking levels in Shadow Sorcerer or they can multi-class from one to the other or elect to have left the monastery and take up whatever profession they want. If they chose to learn the Sorcerer class then they look to take Charm Person and Sleep at level 1, then Darkness, Invisibility, Gaseous Form and Cone of Cold as soon as they are able to manifest the required level of spell slots but these could be swapped out as normal as they advance in level.
It is important to remember that anyone who has chosen to leave the Monastery to pursue other life goals, such as other character classes or subclasses, is expected to show respect and deference to any other member of the Monastery they encounter. This is largely for role-play purposes but if a player forgets to do so then they may be punished in some way once Nagin hears about it.
Alignment wise it is not necessary to be Lawful Evil to study at the monastery but prolonged exposure tot eh Oni leads people studying there to become Lawful Evil.
For the Oni side of things consider Nagin to be more akin to an evil Arch-fey having evolved, either naturally or magically, beyond the normal Giant type described in the Monster Manual in a way similar to how a Hag can change from one type to another.
*** This is a bit of a work in progress and is for a guild of sorts for a future campaign. If you like the sounds of it feel free to incorporate it in your own game and leave any comments, suggestions etc ***
The Monastery of Nagin At’a.
Those that live at Nagin At’a are worshippers of a powerful Oni called Nagin, At’a simply means Home. Over time Nagin has cultivated a large cabal of followers and from time to time sees fit to bestow training on those that entertain or otherwise please him.
The Monastery itself lies deep within a dark and gloomy forest and is akin to a soldiers training facility with basic amenities where a survival of the fittest regime is implemented but wuthin some caverns are quiet orchards of cherry blossom trees where lessons in meditation and contemplation take place. All those that wish to learn are trained in the use of the glaive. From there they go on to learn a brawling style of martial arts and learn how to use the glaive in conjunction with this style, additionally they study the spell casting arts of the Oni. Once they have mastered this are they permitted to request instruction into the higher mysteries or are free to return to their previous lives and live them as they see fit but they are expected to show deference, loyalty and respect to any other member of the Monastery they encounter and extend aid and lodgings when needed. Failure to do so has led Nagin to send out “reminders” in the past.
Whilst studying at the Monastery all dress in a dual layer of simple robes in a kimono style with the under layer being a light grey and the outer layer being either dark red for those that have just joined (level 1 Monk or Sorcerer), midnight blue for those studying the higher mysteries of the Monk (level 2+ Monk) or dark grey for those studying the magic of the Sorcerer (level 2+ Sorcerer). Those have studied both Monk and Sorcerer (and attained at least level 2 in each) wear an outer kimono that is half midnight blue and half dark grey.
The higher mysteries take the form of training in Monk leading to the Way of Shadows or as a Sorcerer with the Shadow Origin, those that become Sorcerers all strive to manifest/learn spells that are common to Oni (see page 239 of the Monster Manual) and view it as a matter of pride to have mastered the full range of the Oni spell casting ability.
Spending so much time in close proximity to an Oni invariably leads those that follow his teachings to become Lawful Evil in alignment and highly secretive but also leads to a highly regimented comradrie which does enable them to work well with others. Additionally as they advance in Nagins teachings they take on various cosmetic changes to appearance with skin colour changing to hues of dark blue and green, finger and toe nails becoming black and claw like, teeth turning black and more fang like ad the growth of two small ivory horns from their foreheads. These changes become more pronounced as they grow in power.
Nagin occasionally sends out his followers to indulge in whatever activity has roused his interest, this ranges from the traditional folklore associated with Oni (stalking people, abducting people etc.) to aiding local nobles in border disputes and even, on the very rare occasion, helping local farmers with their crops but more frequently he sends them out into the world on some personal quest.
If a member of the monastery leaves they are given a ceremonial sash which they are expected to wear as a way to show their affiliation, the belt is made up of parts of their previous kimono and emblazoned with the Monastery’s symbol (a Hexagon containing 3 horizontal lines) stitched with golden thread.
When the Monastery take to the battlefield in numbers they refer to themselves as The Order of the Celestial Shadow and they have been known to hire themselves out as mercenaries.
Basic fluff/rationale:
This is loosely based around the idea of the Sohei warrior monks of feudal Japan whose weapon of choice appears to have been the Naginata which is closely related to the glaive and as glaive and claw are the method of attack for the standard Oni combining the two into a Monastery seemed appropriate.
In character creation terms this means anyone wishing to have a Monk or Sorcerer character trained at the Monastery of Nagin At’a gains glaive as a bonus weapon proficiency but must have Monk or Sorcerer as their first character class and glaive is additionally considered a monk weapon for them. Nagin only trains Monks in the Way of Shadow and Sorcerers in the Shadow Origin (EDIT: if you don;t like the idea of giving them a glaive then reflavour the spear into a slashing weapon and term it a short glaive).
They can then choose to continue to learn the ways of the Monk taking the Way of Shadow at level 3 or Sorcerer taking levels in Shadow Sorcerer or they can multi-class from one to the other or elect to have left the monastery and take up whatever profession they want. If they chose to learn the Sorcerer class then they look to take Charm Person and Sleep at level 1, then Darkness, Invisibility, Gaseous Form and Cone of Cold as soon as they are able to manifest the required level of spell slots but these could be swapped out as normal as they advance in level.
It is important to remember that anyone who has chosen to leave the Monastery to pursue other life goals, such as other character classes or subclasses, is expected to show respect and deference to any other member of the Monastery they encounter. This is largely for role-play purposes but if a player forgets to do so then they may be punished in some way once Nagin hears about it.
Alignment wise it is not necessary to be Lawful Evil to study at the monastery but prolonged exposure tot eh Oni leads people studying there to become Lawful Evil.
For the Oni side of things consider Nagin to be more akin to an evil Arch-fey having evolved, either naturally or magically, beyond the normal Giant type described in the Monster Manual in a way similar to how a Hag can change from one type to another.