Monks?

[Wyatt8000]

Just a random thought.

I think monks, alongside bards, are the most characteristically D&D class - unlike most other D&D 3.5 base classes they generally don't have a clear analogue in other fantasy settings. I don't remember ever seeing a single Monk in the main comic, and only 1 temporary joke of a monk in the origin of PCs (at the recruiting of Belkar). Have I missed any?

[rs2excelsior]

One: Miko. She was a monk who multiclassed to Paladin before meeting the Order. While she was, by the time of the comic, primarily a paladin, she did show some monk skills/abilities as well.

[Mrc.]

I thought that monk was in On the Origins of PCs rather than start of darkness?

[Wyatt8000]

I thought that monk was in On the Origins of PCs rather than start of darkness?

yeah, I noticed the error after posting.

[Tiiba]

One: Miko. She was a monk who multiclassed to Paladin before meeting the Order. While she was, by the time of the comic, primarily a paladin, she did show some monk skills/abilities as well.

Like that ability that lets you jump as far as you want, but for conclusions.

[Finagle]

Yeah, that's pretty much it for monks. The author has shown that monks are useless (prequel monk) and that monks can be useful if combined with something else (Miko). There's not much left to do.

[Malimar]

Somehow I made the assumption that the guy in the last three panels of 730 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0730.html) was a monk.

[MagicalMeat]

That is not an unreasonable assumption. He is clearly a monk.

[Devils_Advocate]

I think monks, alongside bards, are the most characteristically D&D class - unlike most other D&D 3.5 base classes they generally don't have a clear analogue in other fantasy settings.
Huh, I'd have thought clerics and bards. Are priests with magical healing powers really more common in fantasy than vaguely supernatural martial artists?

[Kish]

I wouldn't be surprised (pretending for the moment that Tarquin actually has a class) to learn that Tarquin had a 2-3 level monk dip, too.

[Vinyadan]

I wouldn't be surprised (pretending for the moment that Tarquin actually has a class) to learn that Tarquin had a 2-3 level monk dip, too.

I kinda see him as a straight monk with a lot of feats and items.

[ManuelSacha]

Had I had the money, at the time of the Kickstarter, to get the reward that makes you choose the subject of a PDF story...
I would have gone with that one OotPCs monk.
Or maybe a "What if...?" story: "What if Roy had stepped in, in the humiliated monk's defense, and taken him instead of Belkar in the Order?"

[Rogar Demonblud]

Huh, I'd have thought clerics and bards. Are priests with magical healing powers really more common in fantasy than vaguely supernatural martial artists?

Yup. Especially any setting that requires people *coughHeroescough* to get put back together in a hurry.

[Jay R]

Just a random thought.

I think monks, alongside bards, are the most characteristically D&D class - unlike most other D&D 3.5 base classes they generally don't have a clear analogue in other fantasy settings.

Fascinatingly, that's why I don't consider them a characteristically D&D class. The point to D&D when I started (1975) was to simulate fantasy fiction, and a class that didn't do that seemed un-D&D-like.

[MagicalMeat]

Honestly, I really don't think there IS an iconic class. Fighter, Sorcerer, Rogue and Ranger (especially Ranger, minus the spells) are pretty much taken from LotR and generic folk tales. Druids are romanticized Celtic shaman with shapeshifting, Monks are far eastern martial artists, Wizards are generic magic users, and Clerics are traditional warrior priests/ prophets blessed by God(s) to perform miracles. Bards are the most unique however, as they are a mashup of several cultures' musicians with magic thrown in just 'cause.

The different races are even more generic, with the exception of Drow and Gnomes.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Had I had the money, at the time of the Kickstarter, to get the reward that makes you choose the subject of a PDF story...
I would have gone with that one OotPCs monk.
Or maybe a "What if...?" story: "What if Roy had stepped in, in the humiliated monk's defense, and taken him instead of Belkar in the Order?"

Given my play experience, the monk dies in that scuffle with the kobolds at the end of OOPCs and Belkar immediately joins as his replacement, having probably tagged along due to those legal issues and the attendant need to skip town post haste..

[Skorj]

It's too bad, really. A Monk could be a great character in the OOTS setting. The fact they're almost useless in combat can be dismissed with "you know, that's not why I became a monk - it's about devotion". And that almost useless is ripe with story potential. I always like the concept of a Monk / Horizon Walker with DDoor: the whole "travelled far and seen much" aspect is just neat. Sadly unworkable in a game, but in a story, why not?

[Keltest]

It's too bad, really. A Monk could be a great character in the OOTS setting. The fact they're almost useless in combat can be dismissed with "you know, that's not why I became a monk - it's about devotion". And that almost useless is ripe with story potential. I always like the concept of a Monk / Horizon Walker with DDoor: the whole "travelled far and seen much" aspect is just neat. Sadly unworkable in a game, but in a story, why not?

If I were to put a monk in the comic, I would have it be the character who defies all logic, and can do weird things like walk sideways up a cliff with just his feet because "hes a monk, he can do that."

[Vinyadan]

If I were to put a monk in the comic, I would have it be the character who defies all logic, and can do weird things like walk sideways up a cliff with just his feet because "hes a monk, he can do that."

Great for a fanfic, then.