>How do you fit monks into Occidental campaigns?
Some of this is repetitious, but what the hay...
The short answer: It's my world.
The slightly longer answer: The same way I put elves and dragons and sorcery and unicorns. It's a D&D world. There is no Occidental or Oriental. There is no West vs. East other than the kingdoms, races and cultures you chose to put there (or the campaign setting designers of the world you chose to play in put there).
On some points by other posters: The flavor you use to integrate them can make as much sense or be as fantastical as you like (I esp. liked the one about the Githzerai being exiled to the Prime plane and teaching martial arts to others.)
Having "martial arts" monks does not mean HAVING to have a real world Far-Eastern Shaolin/Taoist/Feudal Japan realm in your world. Doesn't mean having a "martial arts" monk demands yellow skin and a Silk Road to travel.
As for the kibitzing about the term "monk." Hey, look, call them whatever you like, but that's the name of the class from editions immemorial, so I call them monks.
I am ALSO capable of referring to those clerics in the monastery up the hill transcribing their manuscripts in brown robes "monks" if I so chose (and I do, too
The monastic order of THIS deity is composed of scholarly aesthetics. The monastic order of THAT deity is into the whole mystical martial arts thing. Yes, the latter is more rare and often more remote than the former, but that's just for flavor. My world doesn't have (as of yet hehe) a separate "eastern continent/culture".
That is not even going to get into the very simple (and "real world" accurate) fact that you can easily establish MULTIPLE ORDERS for a SINGLE religion/deity who engage in very different styles/practices/devotions in their monastic life.
If it's easier for you, then sure, say he learned his techniques from some mystic/hermit/temple/master far far away. But using monks in a campaign setting really doesn't require a whole lot of "justifying."
Just my two coppers.
--Steel Dragons