drnuncheon
Explorer
One could also look at the reasons that monasteries and the martial arts evolved as they did in the Orient, and incorporate elements of that history into your campaign.
For example, most of the traditional "monk weapons" (much like Western polearms) are evolved from farming implements - the nunchaku from rice flails, the sai from some sort of gardening tool, etc). This happened in Okinawa because the Japanese rulers refused to allow the populace to have any weapons - so the people improvised.
In many cases unarmed martial arts were developed by people who weren't allowed to own weapons, because regardless of what Shaw Brothers films might depict, weapons are a heck of a lot better at hurting someone than puncing or kicking them is. Combine that with the concept of monasteries - isolated spiritual communities in remote places, who will often need protection in a dangeous world - and you have a situation ripe for the development/adoption of the monk class.
In one world I worked on, the first monks were humans who were not permitted weapons by their elven overlords. The monks developed the arts diguised as dance and other religious observances, and formed the core of the rebellion that eventually freed their people.
J
For example, most of the traditional "monk weapons" (much like Western polearms) are evolved from farming implements - the nunchaku from rice flails, the sai from some sort of gardening tool, etc). This happened in Okinawa because the Japanese rulers refused to allow the populace to have any weapons - so the people improvised.
In many cases unarmed martial arts were developed by people who weren't allowed to own weapons, because regardless of what Shaw Brothers films might depict, weapons are a heck of a lot better at hurting someone than puncing or kicking them is. Combine that with the concept of monasteries - isolated spiritual communities in remote places, who will often need protection in a dangeous world - and you have a situation ripe for the development/adoption of the monk class.
In one world I worked on, the first monks were humans who were not permitted weapons by their elven overlords. The monks developed the arts diguised as dance and other religious observances, and formed the core of the rebellion that eventually freed their people.
J