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Message: <blockquote data-quote="doctorbadwolf" data-source="post: 7874269" data-attributes="member: 6704184">Totems aren’t exactly a global thing. The closest thing in Europe are horse poles of Scandinavia, but they aren’t remotely the same. However, dnd monks are East Asian inspired mystical martial artists. The class, yes, is steeped in pop culture kung fu mythology, like exaggerating the idea of the iron fist (actress Ming-Na Wen is an example of a real person with the RL version of hardening ones striking surfaces through reptitive micro-fracture, but dnd takes that and turns it up to 11), or harnessing your inner power or Chi and using it to perform incredible feats. But these tropes come from Chinese kung fu movies. The Drunken Master is inspired primarily by an old Jackie Chan movie, and by the Style that inspired that movie. Step of The Wind is straight outta Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and movies like it. But the class doesn’t disrespect any of these concepts, any more than the Paladin disrespects the European Questing Knight, and less than the Totem Barbarian disrespects Indigenous peoples. It’s not perfect, but the idea that the Monk is Dex based because of stereotypes about Asians is completely, and I do mean completely, ridiculous. They’re Dex based because the things they do are more based in Dex than Strength, and because it makes the class simpler to not add Strength on top of Dex, Wis, and the always necessary for melees Con, requirements.  Things like deflecting missiles and throwing them back, evasion, being better at Dodging (monks can Dodge as a bonus with a Ki point), being able to defend oneself without armor or even weapons, etc, is all very very strongly Dexterity-based in dnd, and especially in 5e. That is why monks are dexterity based. There are genuine criticisms to make about the monk, and I think they should have hired more sensitivity consultants (i hope they hired...any? But I dunno) for things like the monk and totem barbarian, but “Dex is because Asians are seen as less masculine”? No. Utter nonsense.</blockquote>

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