Post B2kTKLIF3Aw5RH1g1o by thevhswizard@retro.pizza
 (DIR) More posts by thevhswizard@retro.pizza
 (DIR) Post #B2kTIjiLHaOabGT6pM by kyonshi@dice.camp
       2026-01-28T15:47:20Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Monks in #dnd have a bit of an image problem, stemming mostly from being called specifically monk, and nobody quite agreeing to what that should mean and how it should be expressed in game terms.Notably, for a game that otherwise has a very western idea of society, monks are taken directly from Chinese wuxia and plopped in with barely an explanation of how that works.1/?#ttrpg
       
 (DIR) Post #B2kTIsS0nfgFhDth7g by kyonshi@dice.camp
       2026-01-28T15:53:50Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Worse: when monks actually do show up in scenarios set in standard DnD settings, those are almost always some variation on western monks in the style of The Name of the Rose.Because the location of a monastery or abbey is firmly entrenched in the cultural mindspace of people, and wholly seperate from the concept of the monk class.2/?
       
 (DIR) Post #B2kTJ1JppRUHCT8n7w by kyonshi@dice.camp
       2026-01-28T15:55:19Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Also: why is the class called monk and female members of it are also monks and not nuns?3/?
       
 (DIR) Post #B2kTKLIF3Aw5RH1g1o by thevhswizard@retro.pizza
       2026-01-28T16:02:13Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @kyonshi Western/European traditions do have our own "warrior monks", but they were closer to the Paladin class - while still being monks and priests, they fought with swords and shields and other typical weaponry.  Templars, crusaders, that sort of thing.
       
 (DIR) Post #B2kTMaUnUyZRASyAOe by kyonshi@dice.camp
       2026-01-28T16:01:09Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Ok, we know why that all is. The monk was one of the first additional characters that appeared for DND, in D&D supplement II: Blackmoor, right after the thief (in Supplement 1: Greyhawk, yes the thief wasn't one of the original classes) and together with the assassin.Blackmoor was the name of Dave Arneson's home game, the famous first fantasy campaign, and the book contained basically nothing about the setting, just some additional rules Arneson had come up with for his game.4/?