D&D (2024) Asians Represent: "Has WotC Fixed the D&D Monk?"

[Snarf Zagyg]

I have never been to Vancouver, but it is a place I want to.

Or you can go to the Bronx.

They are very similar, after all!

 

[Sacrosanct]

I have never been to Vancouver, but it is a place I want to.

Just make sure you're going to the one in Canada, not the one in Washington (across the river from Portland). Unless you happen to be looking for meth.

 

[Incenjucar]

I know it won't happen with WotC's current design philosophy, but having a second class that uses ki/chi/focus/etc. and gives something for the monk to share a few mechanics with would go a long way toward making them feel like they belong in place. As a bonus, it could be developed with consultants from the beginning and without a ton of baggage. And no I don't mean wu jen.

 

[Alzrius]

@Charlaquin the eyes are a not so subtle hint of the target being mocked with their efforts to avoid fitting the theme of the setting

I'm comfortable positing that Rock Lee's eyes are drawn differently from other characters in Naruto because the creator of the series wanted to focus very heavily on ocular presentation. Just look at how many characters throughout the series have some sort of particular visual design to their eyes, often (though not always) because of some ocular jutsu that they have:

Orochimaru has slit pupils to indicate his association with snakes.

Gaara has black circles around his eyes both as a reference to Shukaku (his bijuu, who's a tanuki), but also as an indicator of how (when we first meet him) he doesn't ever sleep in order to avoid losing control of himself.

Killer Bee never takes off his sunglasses, which goes to his wider presentation as a rapper.

Hinata (and the rest of the Hyuuga clan) have white eyes, in keeping with their byakugan.

Jiraiya gets horizontal-slit pupils when using Sennin Mode, since he takes on the characteristics of a frog.

Naruto himself gets vertical slit pupils when using Kurama's power, horizontal slit pupils when using Sennin Mode, and cross-shaped pupils when using both.

Don't even get me started on the various sharingan (mangekyou and otherwise) that characters have.

Oh, and the rinnegan too.

None of this is particularly surprising (beyond perhaps how much the series creator relied on different visual designs). In Japanese art, eye presentations such as tareme, tsurime, and sanpaku, among others, are fairly common ways of connoting aspects of a character's personality and presentation. In the case of Rock Lee, round eyes are a symbol of guilelessness and exuberance. He's a character who's completely forthright in everything he does and is overflowing with energy, and his eye presentation reflects that.

...ahem. Sorry for the ranting, but this hits very close to what I spent my undergraduate career working on.

 

[mamba]

@mamba wrt your post58 comment, there would almost certainly need to be some mechanical changes to fit the themes and tropes of one or the other even if those are mostly replaced equipment spell & maybe feat lists.

adding some spells and feats (and obviously equipment) is making the class generic enough. My point was I do not need a Samurai class, I can fit that under Fighter or Paladin, with a little tweaking.

There is no need to have a D&D West and a D&D East, all it takes is minor revisions to become sufficiently generic to allow for both

 

[overgeeked]

Verisimilitude vs fantasy. Another prime example of 5E trying to be too big of a tent. Some hate verisimilitude with the fire of a thousand suns, others can’t be bothered to care about something without at least a modicum of even faux-realism. The designers should pick a side on this and go all out. But they won’t because it would be jettisoning some fans. So they try and fail to design for both.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Because having even a tiny iota of understanding of martial arts find its way into the game can be cool and fun unlike the places where D&D nerds try to force verisimilitude.

Making martial arts more like the real world isn't the answer though. In the real world MMA often devolves into two dudes rolling around on the ground grappling, as opposed to suplexing a train!

 

[Incenjucar]

You bring in someone who knows martial arts traditions as part of the community, someone who knows Wuxia traditions as part of the community, and someone who knows broader spiritual and historical matters of part of the community as consultants.

Martial arts knowledge gets you a baseline of what doesn't even need powers

Wuxia knowledge gets you a baseline of what the powers should do

Spiritual/Historical gets you a baseline of how this intersects with sensitive areas of culture.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Some hate verisimilitude with the fire of a thousand suns,

Only a thousand? And none of them are exploding?

Amateurs.

 

[Vaalingrade]

You bring in someone who knows martial arts traditions as part of the community, someone who knows Wuxia traditions as part of the community, and someone who knows broader spiritual and historical matters of part of the community as consultants.

Martial arts knowledge gets you a baseline of what doesn't even need powers

Wuxia knowledge gets you a baseline of what the powers should do

Spiritual/Historical gets you a baseline of how this intersects with sensitive areas of culture.

You want a big tent, then fill it with people.