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Monk: The Past, Present, and Questionable Future of an Iconic Class
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<blockquote data-quote="Emberashh" data-source="post: 9063408" data-attributes="member: 7040941"><p>Ive had quite a lot of fun doing the research to try and reinvent the Monk without latching onto any of the traps of Kung Fu. </p><p></p><p>This lead to my take being called the "Disciple", with a clear psionic baseline to its core ability, but differentiated from other psionics (in my game) by having their abilities key off of a "growth" system, meaning the longer the fight, the better (and/or more numerous) abilities they can bring to bear. </p><p></p><p>Each Disciple is a Martial psionic, meaning of course no spellcasting, and their core abilities mostly focus on this, honing in a character molded by (obviously) discipline, in its many forms.</p><p></p><p>The subclasses though are what really push the aesthetics away from the Kung fu trappings. The Palam, a Wrestling type that pulls from Greco-Roman and Senegalese wrestling tropes, and pushes the class towards position controll in combat. The Sage, a Middle Eastern inspired anti-magic and healing type. The Natara, inspired by Hindu mythology and ideas from the wider pool of Indian martial arts, going for a "reflection tank" sort of role, turning the opponents attacks against them through powerful Debuffs. And the Apostate, a sort of "oathbreaker" of sorts, a religious warrior who turns away from their faith and their weapons. This one is steeped pretty heavily in ideas from Christian faiths, but also allows itself to borrow a little from Tai Chi, as a treat, as the Apostate, being the only explicitly "weaponless" Disciple, pushes towards a "deflection tank" role, wielding their opponents as a weapon and shield.</p><p></p><p>The latter two get pretty close to peering back into the Kung Fu territory (especially with how adjacent Indian martial arts are to it and the deliberate allowance of some small influence on the Apostate), but overall you get pretty much what you'd expect out of a "Monk" but with a more global influence. </p><p></p><p>And I say all of this to note that I obviously disagree on the topic premise; the Monk as a tank is a good direction to take it in, <em>especially</em> with the near total practical non-existence of "tanking" in 5e as it is. But even with other Tank characters to pursue, its still worthwhile and distinctive direction that doesn't take away from the fantasy of the class, kung fu based or otherwise.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emberashh, post: 9063408, member: 7040941"] Ive had quite a lot of fun doing the research to try and reinvent the Monk without latching onto any of the traps of Kung Fu. This lead to my take being called the "Disciple", with a clear psionic baseline to its core ability, but differentiated from other psionics (in my game) by having their abilities key off of a "growth" system, meaning the longer the fight, the better (and/or more numerous) abilities they can bring to bear. Each Disciple is a Martial psionic, meaning of course no spellcasting, and their core abilities mostly focus on this, honing in a character molded by (obviously) discipline, in its many forms. The subclasses though are what really push the aesthetics away from the Kung fu trappings. The Palam, a Wrestling type that pulls from Greco-Roman and Senegalese wrestling tropes, and pushes the class towards position controll in combat. The Sage, a Middle Eastern inspired anti-magic and healing type. The Natara, inspired by Hindu mythology and ideas from the wider pool of Indian martial arts, going for a "reflection tank" sort of role, turning the opponents attacks against them through powerful Debuffs. And the Apostate, a sort of "oathbreaker" of sorts, a religious warrior who turns away from their faith and their weapons. This one is steeped pretty heavily in ideas from Christian faiths, but also allows itself to borrow a little from Tai Chi, as a treat, as the Apostate, being the only explicitly "weaponless" Disciple, pushes towards a "deflection tank" role, wielding their opponents as a weapon and shield. The latter two get pretty close to peering back into the Kung Fu territory (especially with how adjacent Indian martial arts are to it and the deliberate allowance of some small influence on the Apostate), but overall you get pretty much what you'd expect out of a "Monk" but with a more global influence. And I say all of this to note that I obviously disagree on the topic premise; the Monk as a tank is a good direction to take it in, [I]especially[/I] with the near total practical non-existence of "tanking" in 5e as it is. But even with other Tank characters to pursue, its still worthwhile and distinctive direction that doesn't take away from the fantasy of the class, kung fu based or otherwise. [/QUOTE]
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