Hey its a new poll! Do you allow monks in your campaign?

[Ace]

Monks are allowed IMC on a case by case basis.
Two societys, My Generic Orient and My Evil Psion Empire have them.

What the heck, they are fun and while the campaign is sort of Midlle ages through an American lense Monks are just too cool not to allow.

 

[BronzeDragon]

But monks have been a part of d&d since ADnD1e 20+ years ago.

Wasn't there a Monk "Prestige" class in DnD? I can't remember what they called those classes, but Paladin and Druid (I think) were also a part of them.

Monks are at the root of DnD.

There was a Mystic class at the D&D Rules Cyclopedia.

What I meant by roots is the foundations upon which the game was built.

That is to mean J.R.R. Tolkien and, through him, the various western european traditions.

Monks were not allowed in the basic set. Then they were introduced (in the guise of Mystics) in the Rules Cyclopedia. Then they remained in 1E, though in a limited role (mainly Scarlet Brotherhood).

I thought they had finally got it right with 2E, where they ceased to please the endless stream of japanophiles and "easternophiles". No monks, no ninjas...but alas! The complete ninja's handbook appeared. But at least it was optional.

The whole Oriental Adventures stuff was produced just for that kind of people, and I didn't care much about it. Nor do I care much about the current setup with the monks allowed again, since I disregard them anyway.

I really believe it would be best for D&D if all that stuff was made optional instead of part of the core rules. The new Oriental Adventures is a good place to start.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

The minute anyone mentions that J.R.R.T. is the root of DnD, I immediately lose all interest in whatever conversation/argument is/was going on.

J.R.R.T. is NOT the root of DnD. Leiber, Howard, Lovecraft, Vance and several other pulp fiction authors (anyone ever read Weird Tales and such from the 30's and 40's?) have just as much input into the DnD game as J.R.R.T. ever did.

I really wish people would quit saying it. I just finished reading the Lord of the Rings books. It had as much resemblance to DnD as the Conan, Fafnir and Greymouser, Corum, Elric and several other stories have, and no more.

Now, back to the Monk debate, if you use any of the other authors I mentioned, you'd still have to toss the Monk from DnD if you want to keep closer to those roots.

 

[Henry@home]

Oriental Adventures is out there for those who want to play oriental-style characters. So the option does exist.

I think general D&D should stay with its roots.

As Doc Klueless said, "Eastern Style" Monks have existed in D&D since 1978 (actually, a little bit before that in various house rules).

In Basic D&D, there was a class called the "Mystic" that was nothing but a thinly veiled 1st edition monk.

THe only three classes that have truly been with D&D from the beginning were Fighting Man, Magic-user, and Cleric. Everything else since has been an add-on, but it is not that important to this discussion.

If 3E Monks don't have a place in your campaign, that's cool. No one should be taking you to task here, or anyone else for that matter.

However, if a DM is aiming for a European Middle ages style campaign, then there should be no monks - there should technically also be no wizards as written, nor druids, rangers, bards, paladins, sorcerers, clerics, or dragons. All would be changed to some extent.

If a DM is planning a Dragonlance campaign, Monks would according to the original setting description, have a place in the background, but not a large one. The god Majere was the god of monks, and had "Eastern" Monk powers. However, there was almost no mention of Majere in any novels, not any modules. He was there I believe in 1st edition just to allow Monks in the campaign. Very little otherwise is said about his followers.

However, no DM should feel as if he or she should necessarily exclude any core class from a homebrew campaign, because as noted earlier, martial arts are not limited to Eastern arts. Any fantasy world can plausibly accomodate an order of beings with great physical powers attainted through spiritual and magical attunement. Even Faerun has the monks of Ilmater in its history, as well as enough gates and portals to allow Kara-Turan monks to wander far and wide across the world.

No world, from Dark Sun to Splljammer to Planescape to Forgotten Realms to Dragonlance, to the simplest home-brew skeleton campaign, has to be written to exclude a concept you want to include - ESPECIALLY if you think it would being fun and enjoyment to the game for you and your players.

Good Gaming, all!