Monks of the Long Death

[One_With_Nature]

I'm playing my first monk, and i'm not sure i'm approaching it entirely correctly. In particular i'm playing a Monk of the Long Death so i was hoping some of you more experienced with playing Monks could give me a few pointers.

Thanks in advance.

[Coldburn]

In general, Monks care about higher aesthetics than the physical and emotional needs. They seek to transcend to a higher level, something called the 'soul'. IMO not many concepts would make good Monks, and I've never touched one until recently. But one thing I *have* learned about Monks that you should give them a crazy philosophy or doctrine to make them most interesting. A 'generic' Monk has never hold my own interest, which is why in 8 years of NWN I only played my first one until now.

Another thing to remember is that you have 'down to earth' characters on one spectrum, and Monks on the opposite side. Druids, feral Barbarians, happy-go-lucky characters wouldn't understand a Monk's distachment to the physical world, and vice versa.

Just my view. I'd really enjoy to hear other opinions though, as there may be angles I hadn't approached them with. And by all means, what I said shouldn't be conclusive or even true.

[tropic]

I'm playing a relatively generic monk at the moment. It's fun in a sort of "appreciate-the-small-things" kind of way, which is a pretty good mindset for playing a good-aligned monk.

My advice, and I think Coldburn is doing a really good job of this, is to think of ways to integrate your monk into the unique setting of Ymph. The canon monk orders are good guidelines but the most successful EfU characters are extensions of the setting - and this is extra true for religious or dogmatic characters.

Another thing he mentioned is the idea of monks being transcendent, which ties into the "crazy philosophy" kind of thing. Transcendence is a great spiritual pursuit, but what it translates to in EfU is being "above" a lot of the (lower-level) inter-player conflict that drives what a lot of people find compelling about EfU.

If you make a monk who's deeply invested in an objectionable or indefensible philosophy, you get around that problem.

Another thing, and this is generally good for any lawful character, try to have an idea of what your monk will and won't do and how rigidly he adheres to his doctrines. You have flexibility here, but don't go too far with it. For just a minor example, my Ilmateri monk won't use poisoned gloves.

Sorry for the length of the post, hopefully its useful.

[Never-Again]

I have played a few monks, the following helped me to develop them.

1. Philosophy: Create a philosophy for your monk based upon your deity / order, the more interesting you make this the more fun you have. Spend a day or two on it, trust me it helps. Make sure this philosophy gives something to work towards and is outward focused to some extent (something to work for on the server). For example, lets use a monk of Ilmater.

- Philosophy 1 (Inward): The body is damaged by the world around us, what damages our bodies damages our souls. The duty of the faithful is to suffer as little damage as possible to free our souls.

- Philosophy 2 (Outward): The soul is the center, but the body is the vessel of the soul. We live in a hostile world that seeks to damage the body and by extension the soul. This damage chains the soul, preventing it from reaching it's full power. The duty of the faithful is to heal themselves and those around them, lessen the damage done to the body and by extension aid to free the soul within.

Slight difference between the two on the surface, but RP wise the second gives a -ton- more things to do.

2. Profession: Determine what the profession of your monk is, in other words what is his path. This will determine how he pursues that philosophy. To continue our example, two possible ways to go.

- Profession 1 (Warrior): A warrior monk of Ilmater who will seek out those that harm other's needlessly. He will use his training to end their ability to harm while causing as little pain as possible to himself or the others around him.

- Profession 2 (Researcher): A studious monk of Ilmater who will seek out new ways to heal the wounded or sick. He is not very skilled at actually applying those methods, but will hire herbal doctors and the like to do so.

Behind the philosophy, I find the profession the second biggest area of focus. You dont want to get silly, but the more effort you put into finding an interesting way to pursue your philosophy the better. In our two examples, plenty of people have seen warrior monks before but the researcher is a bit more of a twist.

3. Background: How did your monk get his training and his start? Why did he choose to take up this path? Frankly, in this I find the more "normal" you make your background the better. Remember your monk is -only- level 2, he didnt slay any dragons before he arrived on the isle. In fact a level 2 monk is weaker than almost any other level 2 character out there with the possible exception of a mage. I am not even convinced of that. Second, the more exotic the background the harder you have to work to make him shine now. "You destroyed the Temple of Doom on the mainland but you got knocked out by a -kobold- here?" I find stories along the lines of "acolyte of a small chapter of brotherhood x" work well.

4. Goals: Ok you have your philosophy, the profession you use to apply that philosophy, and your background. Now, how are you going to use that to rock the server? My advice, aim as high as possible. First, it ensures you never lack anything to do no matter how many levels you get or how long your character is around. Second, it means the same thing for any allies you pick up along the way. Finally, make these goals something you can pursue at any level (kill all the mist ogres is probably not a good one). To stick with our example from above. (Outward Philosophy / Researcher / Trained in a Small Chapter House in the capital of Damara)

- Main Goal 1: To catalogue and find a cure for every known disease / poison / curse on the isle of Yhpm. Once these cures are found, stockpile a supply of the cures and train people in their application.

Main Goal 2: Establish a hospice that trains people to apply the cures for everything form minor sword cuts to the most deadly curse. Have the hospice divided into wings, one focused on applying the cures and the second on researching them.

Main Goal 3: Change the legal structure of the Dominion and the Docks to outlaw the needless harming of anyone on the isle.

As you can see, with just a few minutes of thought you can easily come up with major goals that will take a long / long / long time to complete. But will be -major- fun along the way for not just yourself but others as well.

4. Mechanics: Study up OOC on what potions / items / feats do what and learn them. Monks can be a bit hard to play, at least know OOC what does what. My recommendation is to download one of the character builder modules online and test out your builds. Dont let a great rp concept go up in flames because it is to hard mechanics wise.

5. Class: Playing a base class well is extremely hard and rewarding in my view. You dont need a exotic background or killer backstory to shine. Work on doing something simple / relatively normal very very well!

[One_With_Nature]

Thanks guys, nice break down Never-Again :D