So why monks?

[Wombat]

I think monks showed up in Strategic Review for OD&D, but my memory that way is a bit hazy anymore. Hold on (...goes to gaming closet...) -- I was wrong. They show up in Supplement II: Blackmoor, right on page 1. Shows how closely I've paid attention to monks...

In any case, I've always found them rather out of place in most D&D games.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Fusangite has mentioned that Gygax responded to a question he sent him in this regard by saying it was meant to be a sort of wandering foriegner class.

But it's Fusangite's story so he should tell it.

 

[trancejeremy]

The TV show "Kung Fu" was popular at the time.

"Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting..."

My best guess, anyway. (But I really do suspect it was the case. It was big right around when it first showed up, 1975 or so. As were Martial Arts in general, thanks to Bruce Lee.)

Basic D&D had the "Mystic" class which was basically a monk. It's in the Rules Cyclopedia, not sure if it showed up anywhere else first.

I dunno how true the books are, but there is a series of historical mysteries (Sister Fidelma) about a Celtic Nun in Ireland who uses martial arts quite frequently.

http://www.sisterfidelma.com/

(Just to prove I'm not making it up. Though that now that I read the FAQ on the site, it seems likely the author has used artistic license somewhat).

 

[Steve Jung]

I'm not fusangite, but I remember it from the Gary Gygax Q&A threads. Here's the post.

 

[DrZombie]

Another one of my 'if you don't like it then don't use it' rants. I don't see the point, really. If you want to play a purely medieval european fantasy setting, then don't allow your players to play monks. Simple.
Or use your imagination. On the boards I play a monk, DrZombie style. A barbarian who considers weapons to be for weaklings. For him, stunning fist is a knee in the groin. Flurry of blows is a full-out hands elbows forehead fists knee attack, hit'em where it hurts. Still mind is mind of rage, he's so worked up, almost in a frenzy that mind attacks aren't really having an effect on him,a grapple isn't so much a nice aikido-lockhold, its grabbing a fistfull of hair and repeatedly punching the opponent in the face. And so on.

 

[erian_7]

Basic D&D had the "Mystic" class which was basically a monk. It's in the Rules Cyclopedia, not sure if it showed up anywhere else first.

The Mystic class appeared before that in the Dungeons & Dragons Master Set, with an entry in the Monster List for Human, Mystic and also with a separate section before that on Mystics (inlcuding Clositer Life, PC Mystics, and Martial Arts).

 

[Testament]

Dr Zombie nailed it, just file off the serial numbers/Haiku-like names and you've got yourself a good old fashioned brawler! Stunning Fist works just fine as a Glasgow Handshake/Liverpool Kiss.

Or you can go the Arcanis method, with two of their monastic orders being people who decided that their Gods gave them all the weapons they needed, and have dedicated themselves to perfecting the use thereof.

Its not hard people!

 

[MoonZar]

Monk can be use as western setting

Hello,

Of course monk are an idea from martia artist of the oriental culture. But you can use the class as you see fit. If u read the description of the monk you won't see something who refer to the oriental world.

Monk are something who want to achieve perfection by experience. So this could be a gang of Lawful street fighting in a medieval city, or an elite of city guard, or a religious order of one of the Lawful good of your setting.

You just have to ajust the weapon they use if u don't want oriental stuff in your campaign.

Personnaly i love the oriental setting and in my personal world i have a whole country of samurai and monk.

 

[Henry]

Think of it this way: We have Bruce Lee to thank for our image of the Monk. He was, after all, the one who came up with the series concept for the "Kung Fu" TV series, which Gary drew his inspiration from. How much cooler would it have been had Bruce Lee been Kwai Chang? We'll never know...

EDIT: Doing some look up, I find myself victim to an urban legend. The series pilot was done by two other people who had no connection with Lee, though he was apparently considered for the role at one point. Ah, well - still would have been cooler with him in it, though.

 

[fusangite]

I'm not fusangite,

Lucky you!

but I remember it from the Gary Gygax Q&A threads. Here's the post.

Thanks for looking that up. I didn't know where it was and am currently so fatigued from my monk bashing that I wasn't going to post to this thread at all.