An idea for how to make Monks more playable.

[Dughal]

The Vows

The Monks Vows are what mark his progression along the path. No one “enforces” these vows on the monks who take them, and while it is understood that we will all err from time to time, a Monk should consider long and hard which of the Five vows he wishes to take. Every time a player wishes to take the class “Monk” they must take another vow to go along with it. The reason for having many vows is to allow each person to play the monk in his or her own way.

Vow of Poverty- The Monk may carry no more with him than he may comfortably carry. This can include a backpack with a tent, sleeping roll, a change of clothes, food and so on. A Monk having taken this vow may not own slaves or any sort of beast of burden, and furthermore he may not own land.

Vow of Equanimity- The Monk will conduct himself in such a manner that is in harmony with the universe as a whole. This is normally seen in the form of a distancing from the world, in order to conduct himself in such a manner that is free from personal passion or emotion. A Monk having taken this vow refrains from eating meat unless there is a risk of starvation.

Vow of Humility- The Monk will not presume to be better than, less than, or equal to any other person. All situations and conditions are unique and should be viewed as such. No one person is more than or less than any other. A Monk having taken this vow will not treat people differently no matter their race, profession or social class.

Vow of Charity- The Monk will make an effort to increase the overall stability of those around him, in whatever way he or she chooses. This could involve conversation, training or any other number of forms. A Monk having taken this vow must offer what help and guidance he can to someone in need at least once a month.

Vow of Silence- The Monk will attempt to channel thoughts and forms of communication into a direct experience, eschewing the need for conversation and idle banter. Up to hour of every day may be spent in conversation depending on the need, but this will never be simple chatter. A Monk having taken this vow will not indulge in any form or communication unless it is necessary.

Vow of Pacification- The Monk will not use his training to bring harm to others, no matter the situation. A Monk attains great physical prowess as well as deep mental insights, both of which could be used to cause a great deal of suffering and violence in the wrong hands. A Monk having taken this vow will not knowingly cause harm to anyone else, even if it means his or her own suffering.

Vow of Isolation- The Monk will continue to train himself alone and away from the distractions of the larger world. Some Monks might choose to do this by living in the arena and training endlessly, others still might seek out a quiet spot in the woods to sit and ponder over the shape of a cloud. A Monk having taken this vow will not seek out the company of any other person without good reason, such as needing a healer.

Vow of Chastity- The Monk will form no romantic or long term sexual relationships. This does not mean that the Monk will not have sex entirely, only that if he does so it will not be for an emotional reason. Sexual arts are very useful for training discipline in the mind and body, and applying bondage in the proper manner to a person can help them as well as the Monk, for example. A Monk having taken this vow will not seek out long term relationships, nor will he engage in wanton acts of sexual debauchery for no reason.

[miyuka]

Sounds pretty interesting to me. I've no input good or bad on the subject but I do like the idea.

[DehanCoer]

Sounds interesting but I hope it's not something every monk will have to take. I plan on having my barbarian go the way of Monk and the only things I see him and I being comfortable with doing is the Vow of Isolation and the Vow of Poverty. Other than that it's a big no go on the rest of them. They do sound neat for those who don't mind it, if it's an optional thing to do than kudos but if it's not than I'm sure it'll continue to be a underused class.

[kyie]

Sounds interesting but I hope it's not something every monk will have to take

I believe the idea is you would pick and choose which vows you want to take, I like it its an interesting concept and from what I've read of monks they never all have the same disciplines anyway, some are poor, some are silent.. most usually only vow one or two things. To be sure it would be interesting seeing a Monk owning property and such.

[DehanCoer]

I see that, but from what he's suggesting hypothetically Jason Dehan(my barbarian) would end up taking five vows. Once I get the ability to evolve my class I'll be going full monk and thus have to automatically select one vow and have to repeat the process under Dughal's suggestion.

And only two of which I as a player would enjoy playing and my character would actually do, Poverty since he's not big on owning things and enjoys hunting game for food and food only. Though it is a interesting list of vows that should be available to serve as a guide or maybe a list of choices to provide for some potential players of monks or IC monks who are having a tough time selecting or choosing vows to lead by. It just shouldn't be mandatory.

[Lucas-Kain]

(This is Du`ghal logged in on his laptop, FYI)

Right now all Monks are required to take the "Vow of Poverty" which, in my opinion, is rather restrictive towards certain styles of RP. By allowing a bit more freedom in how a person might play a Monk, I think you are opening it up to more players overall. While a person who wants to take Monk x5 might be somewhat restricted, by having it opened up to a choice, you offer them the ability to tailor that restriction to fit their character. I view this as something similar to the knight's code, and as such it shouldn't be "the same" for everyone. There is no order of Monks that are recognized in TLI so attempting to have them all follow the same rules and guidelines is something that needs to be changed to be more inline with the game setting.

Perhaps you might want to suggest a couple of vows, Dehan? I am only thinking about this from my own point of view, and so you might be able to offer another set of ideas that could be added to this list for the more "martial" monks to be able to take. Having some more choices might help quite. As you said, your hypothetical Monk wouldn't find five vows to take on that list (or so you seemed to say) so please do help this idea along by offering a few of your own thoughts. I primarily looked at this list from a "spiritual" Monks' point of view, but it sounds like you might be going a more holistic or martial route, which would give you a different insight.

Perhaps a "Vow of Protection" where they try to see that no harm comes to others while in a particular area, even if those others are just animals or trees. Maybe a "Vow of Servitude" where the Monk must continually seek to act as a guide and assistant to those around him. There are a lot more options that could be thought up by folks, and ideally I would think the Ops and dev teams would like a nice fat list to pick from, perhaps selecting 10 total, so that way, at least in theory, you could have two monks who took two sets of totally different vows and were played as very different characters within the same class.

I like the idea of an "evolving restriction" that goes along with the power increases of the class, but then again I find that these "restrictions" add to RP more then they take away in my own experience, as they force me as a player to think of things in new and creative ways. The trick is to make sure the player is not made to feel unnecessarily hampered, while still having an effect on RP.

[Dughal]

To build on my previous ideas in this regard, I came up with a few more "Vow" ideas that might appeal to a more broad spectrum of play styles, but I am finding that trying to come up with more than these is not easy, so I really would enjoy if someone else might have a few ideas to add to them.

Vow of Service- The Monk will dedicate himself acting on behalf of others, even if that action means acting in direct contradiction to an order or edict previously established. This could be the act of creating a community garden so even the most wretched are given food, or it could be working for no pay as an inn-servant or taking on the role of a slave in the place of another. A Monk having taken this vow will voluntarily seek to work for the benefit of others around him, even if it comes at cost to himself.

Vow of Education- The Monk will seek out a worthy pupil(s) that he might educate and train. While many monks seek solitude and isolation, it does happen that there are those with skills and understandings they would seek to pass on. Sometimes this will be in the form of a single pupil to whom he can teach the arts of combat, or other times he might choose to give a talk on the nature of the universe to a group that is willing to listen. A Monk having taken this vow will dedicate himself to educating others as part of his own training.

Vow of Excellence- The Monk will seek to conduct himself in the most excellent manner he can in any given situation. This vow means that everything the Monk does, is done with attention paid to the act and striving to do it better. Everything from how to breathe to how to fight and even how to die can be made better with the right kind of mindfulness and and attention. A Monk having taken this vow will refuse to engage in any activity unless he is willing to give it his full attentions for as long as is required to see it completed.

Vow of Ecstasy- The Monk will seek to create the greatest happiness and pleasure wherever he is found. This means that the Monk will do whatever he feels will create the most joy and cause the least suffering given his understanding of the situation, and within the confines of his vows. This vow could be something as simple as giving a kind word to a stranger or helping to alleviate the loneliness of some newly freed slave with all manner of distractions. A Monk having taken this vow will seek to do what he can to offer those around him joy and comfort while not causing obvious suffering on others with those same actions.
(Example: You cannot have sex with a slave if the Master has forbidden it, for then both the Master and the slave will suffer as a result.)

Vow of Purity- A Monk having taken this vow will refrain from taking in anything which is “polluting” such as tobacco, drugs and alcohol, but also the potentially beneficial effects of any potion or spell. While a Monk under this vow can still be enchanted and cast upon as normal, he will never invite or welcome such effects even if they are of benefit to him. A Monk having taken this vow will seek to avoid anything from having any sort of pronounced effect upon his mind or body.