My variant human monk just reached level 2 and I'm starting to think about monastic traditions. An orphan raised in a monastery in the snowy mountains of Shinkoku (Kara-Tur), Toji trained for many years until the Grand Master sent her to Faerun to open a martial arts training center for young women from Kara-Tur immigrant families. She spent several months at sea to get to Faerun (sailor background). After arriving in Athkatla, Toji spent two years on planning, construction, and recruitment. She then opened the Purple Snow Monkey Monastery in the Snowflake Mountains. Life was great for a while. However, the monastery/training center was built (unknowingly) in a highly contested region ... rival ice dragons had been fighting for control of the Snowflake Mountain peaks for centuries. A bloody battle (among the dragons) destroyed the monastery and killed all the trainees. Toji was the only survivor. She feels responsible for the horrible tragedy, fears she has lost her way in the world, and seeks to regain her confidence and sense of peace (Bond). She started adventuring to figure out if she should return to sea, remain a monk, or do something else entirely.
Toji is Lawful Good. She can't talk her way out of difficult situations nor tell lies without feeling sick to her stomach (Personality Trait). Physical and spiritual growth are more important than material wealth (Ideal). Toji's mind wanders to memories of life at sea when she meditates (Flaw).
Stats: 13, 18, 16, 13, 17, 11
Mobile Feat
Preferred weapon: Bo staff
As far as monastic traditions are concerned, the following seem to make the most sense:
1. Way of the Open Hand (desire to become a better monk)
2. Way of the Drunken Master (ties in with sailor background, maybe?)
3. Way of the Long Death (obsessed with death because of what happened to her monastery/trainees)
Not sure Shadow, Four Elements, Sun Soul, and Kensei fit the character ... but open to suggestions.
FYI - The rest of the party includes a fire genasi draconic sorcerer, high elf bard, mountain dwarf war cleric, and half-elf rogue. Currently playing the Sunless Citadel. Not sure what the DM will run next.
Of the 3 options you feel make the most sense for your character I agree with #1 and #3 the most. Maybe just my own personal biases, but I see the Drunken Master Monk (currently playing one as a matter of fact) as a more comedic relief stereotype and that doesn't seem to fit with the brief description you've provided here.
In my opinion if I wanted to play a "redemption" arc I'd go for the more "pure" Monk subclass of Open Hand, but if I wanted a darker thematic of someone "breaking" I'd lean towards Long Death. Obviously I'd opt to choose which subclass seemed the most fun, but assuming you like all subclasses equally or want to choose purely the most thematic subclass for the character's story that would be how I'd do it.
My variant human monk just reached level 2 and I'm starting to think about monastic traditions. An orphan raised in a monastery in the snowy mountains of Shinkoku (Kara-Tur), Toji trained for many years until the Grand Master sent her to Faerun to open a martial arts training center for young women from Kara-Tur immigrant families. She spent several months at sea to get to Faerun (sailor background). After arriving in Athkatla, Toji spent two years on planning, construction, and recruitment. She then opened the Purple Snow Monkey Monastery in the Snowflake Mountains. Life was great for a while. However, the monastery/training center was built (unknowingly) in a highly contested region ... rival ice dragons had been fighting for control of the Snowflake Mountain peaks for centuries. A bloody battle (among the dragons) destroyed the monastery and killed all the trainees. Toji was the only survivor. She feels responsible for the horrible tragedy, fears she has lost her way in the world, and seeks to regain her confidence and sense of peace (Bond). She started adventuring to figure out if she should return to sea, remain a monk, or do something else entirely.
Toji is Lawful Good. She can't talk her way out of difficult situations nor tell lies without feeling sick to her stomach (Personality Trait). Physical and spiritual growth are more important than material wealth (Ideal). Toji's mind wanders to memories of life at sea when she meditates (Flaw).
Stats: 13, 18, 16, 13, 17, 11
Mobile Feat
Preferred weapon: Bo staff
As far as monastic traditions are concerned, the following seem to make the most sense:
1. Way of the Open Hand (desire to become a better monk)
2. Way of the Drunken Master (ties in with sailor background, maybe?)
3. Way of the Long Death (obsessed with death because of what happened to her monastery/trainees)
Not sure Shadow, Four Elements, Sun Soul, and Kensei fit the character ... but open to suggestions.
FYI - The rest of the party includes a fire genasi draconic sorcerer, high elf bard, mountain dwarf war cleric, and half-elf rogue. Currently playing the Sunless Citadel. Not sure what the DM will run next.
If you would like to go Drunken Master, maybe Toji turned to drink after the attack and destruction of the monastery (Bond) feeling responsible. Toji cannot tell a lie because she's too drunk to obfuscate or mislead (Personality Trait). Though she tries to refrain from drink, her skills seem grow and her technique and fighting ability soar while imbibing spirits (Ideal). And her mind is too fuzzy with drink to focus on her meditations.
Be aware that you can work with your DM to rebrand something to use the same existing game mechanics but with different labels. None of my Monks identify as Monks - no monastic Monks - but use the Monk game mechanics for fighting.
Also, Drunken Master is a fighting style that draws inspiration from the flowing, flexible, uncertain movements of the inebriated and does not require one to be a drunk to perform it.
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.
Now thinking the Way of the Ascendant Dragon (UA) might be a perfect fit for Toji. Perhaps she can’t shake what happened to her monastery/training center, which was destroyed by rival ice dragons. The tragedy consumed her so much that she began to manifest some of the dragons’ abilities. However, Toji is determined to use her dragon-based abilities for good not evil.
Is Way of the Ascendant Dragon as strong as I think it is? Seems like it would be more fun to play than Way of the Open Hand (my default choice at this point). I’ve ruled out Drunken Master and Long Death for Toji.
Your bond and your ideal just scream way of the astral self to me. It's hard to articulate, but achieving inner peace and physical/spiritual perfection allow you to tap into the power of your Ki in ways usually reserved for those who transcend the physical world.
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My variant human monk just reached level 2 and I'm starting to think about monastic traditions. An orphan raised in a monastery in the snowy mountains of Shinkoku (Kara-Tur), Toji trained for many years until the Grand Master sent her to Faerun to open a martial arts training center for young women from Kara-Tur immigrant families. She spent several months at sea to get to Faerun (sailor background). After arriving in Athkatla, Toji spent two years on planning, construction, and recruitment. She then opened the Purple Snow Monkey Monastery in the Snowflake Mountains. Life was great for a while. However, the monastery/training center was built (unknowingly) in a highly contested region ... rival ice dragons had been fighting for control of the Snowflake Mountain peaks for centuries. A bloody battle (among the dragons) destroyed the monastery and killed all the trainees. Toji was the only survivor. She feels responsible for the horrible tragedy, fears she has lost her way in the world, and seeks to regain her confidence and sense of peace (Bond). She started adventuring to figure out if she should return to sea, remain a monk, or do something else entirely.
Toji is Lawful Good. She can't talk her way out of difficult situations nor tell lies without feeling sick to her stomach (Personality Trait). Physical and spiritual growth are more important than material wealth (Ideal). Toji's mind wanders to memories of life at sea when she meditates (Flaw).
Stats: 13, 18, 16, 13, 17, 11
Mobile Feat
Preferred weapon: Bo staff
As far as monastic traditions are concerned, the following seem to make the most sense:
1. Way of the Open Hand (desire to become a better monk)
2. Way of the Drunken Master (ties in with sailor background, maybe?)
3. Way of the Long Death (obsessed with death because of what happened to her monastery/trainees)
Not sure Shadow, Four Elements, Sun Soul, and Kensei fit the character ... but open to suggestions.
FYI - The rest of the party includes a fire genasi draconic sorcerer, high elf bard, mountain dwarf war cleric, and half-elf rogue. Currently playing the Sunless Citadel. Not sure what the DM will run next.
Of the 3 options you feel make the most sense for your character I agree with #1 and #3 the most. Maybe just my own personal biases, but I see the Drunken Master Monk (currently playing one as a matter of fact) as a more comedic relief stereotype and that doesn't seem to fit with the brief description you've provided here.
In my opinion if I wanted to play a "redemption" arc I'd go for the more "pure" Monk subclass of Open Hand, but if I wanted a darker thematic of someone "breaking" I'd lean towards Long Death. Obviously I'd opt to choose which subclass seemed the most fun, but assuming you like all subclasses equally or want to choose purely the most thematic subclass for the character's story that would be how I'd do it.
Check out my latest homebrew: Mystic Knight (Fighter) v1.31
To make things more confusing for you:
shadow if the character wants to be able to hide from such a fight in the future
four elements because a fight with dragons would clearly demonstrate the elements
sun soul or kensei could both be the continuation of the pure traditions of the monastic order, kensei especially since you have a chosen weapon
If you would like to go Drunken Master, maybe Toji turned to drink after the attack and destruction of the monastery (Bond) feeling responsible. Toji cannot tell a lie because she's too drunk to obfuscate or mislead (Personality Trait). Though she tries to refrain from drink, her skills seem grow and her technique and fighting ability soar while imbibing spirits (Ideal). And her mind is too fuzzy with drink to focus on her meditations.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Be aware that you can work with your DM to rebrand something to use the same existing game mechanics but with different labels. None of my Monks identify as Monks - no monastic Monks - but use the Monk game mechanics for fighting.
Also, Drunken Master is a fighting style that draws inspiration from the flowing, flexible, uncertain movements of the inebriated and does not require one to be a drunk to perform it.
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.
Now thinking the Way of the Ascendant Dragon (UA) might be a perfect fit for Toji. Perhaps she can’t shake what happened to her monastery/training center, which was destroyed by rival ice dragons. The tragedy consumed her so much that she began to manifest some of the dragons’ abilities. However, Toji is determined to use her dragon-based abilities for good not evil.
Is Way of the Ascendant Dragon as strong as I think it is? Seems like it would be more fun to play than Way of the Open Hand (my default choice at this point). I’ve ruled out Drunken Master and Long Death for Toji.
Your bond and your ideal just scream way of the astral self to me. It's hard to articulate, but achieving inner peace and physical/spiritual perfection allow you to tap into the power of your Ki in ways usually reserved for those who transcend the physical world.