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<blockquote data-quote="Paul Farquhar" data-source="post: 9328912" data-attributes="member: 6906155">The main reason D&amp;D doesn't often have medieval monasteries is it doesn't have medieval Christianity. Greco-Roman style polytheism that is the standard in most D&amp;D settings didn't go in much for monasteries. Where monastery-analogues do exist, such as Candlekeep, they will look different, because the religion is different. The main reason for the growth in power of the monasteries was the belief that the monks' prayers for the souls of the dead could shorten their time in Purgatory. Thus encouraging the wealthy to give money and land to the monasteries in exchange for prayer. Without this belief system your monasteries would need another source of wealth.Then there is the security issue. From the 8th to 11th centuries monasteries were easy pickings for the Vikings. In your typical monster-infested D&amp;D settings monasteries need to be able to defend themselves. This is why shaolin monasteries practice martial arts. This would be a problem for strictly pacifist monks. In Europe, the Vikings were eventually defeated by the civil powers, allowing monasteries to thrive (but making them vulnerable if the civil authorities stop backing them).Which brings us to printing. With the development of printing, the civil powers no longer needed the monasteries as knowledge-banks, which meant the civil powers (i.e. Henry VIII and some others) could loot them for their wealth. Printing presses are known and used in some D&amp;D settings such as the Forgotten Realms and Eberron.Coming to Disney+/Hulu soon: Shardlake.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Paul Farquhar, post: 9328912, member: 6906155"] The main reason D&D doesn't often have medieval monasteries is it doesn't have medieval Christianity. Greco-Roman style polytheism that is the standard in most D&D settings didn't go in much for monasteries. Where monastery-analogues do exist, such as Candlekeep, they will look different, because the religion is different. The main reason for the growth in power of the monasteries was the belief that the monks' prayers for the souls of the dead could shorten their time in Purgatory. Thus encouraging the wealthy to give money and land to the monasteries in exchange for prayer. Without this belief system your monasteries would need another source of wealth. Then there is the security issue. From the 8th to 11th centuries monasteries were easy pickings for the Vikings. In your typical monster-infested D&D settings monasteries need to be able to defend themselves. This is why shaolin monasteries practice martial arts. This would be a problem for strictly pacifist monks. In Europe, the Vikings were eventually defeated by the civil powers, allowing monasteries to thrive (but making them vulnerable if the civil authorities stop backing them). Which brings us to printing. With the development of printing, the civil powers no longer needed the monasteries as knowledge-banks, which meant the civil powers (i.e. Henry VIII and some others) could loot them for their wealth. Printing presses are known and used in some D&D settings such as the Forgotten Realms and Eberron. Coming to Disney+/Hulu soon: Shardlake. [/QUOTE]

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