Evil monks organizations.

[loky1109]

I was thinking about evil monks monastery. And... I can't imagine it. I simply don't understand this concept. In my head monks are good, maybe neutral, maybe evil individuals from non-evil group, but evil organization... What paths do they follow?

I look for organizations of evil monks. I mean in official books.

[Rebel7284]

Aren't the Sith from Star wars kinda monk-ish? Well more like psychic warrior I guess.

[loky1109]

Aren't the Sith from Star wars kinda monk-ish? Well more like psychic warrior I guess.

Siths are some alike. But SW is different setting. PsyWar is class, not organization.
I'm looking for philosophy, teaching, but not only name.

[Silly Name]

The Order of the Long Death (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Order_of_the_Long_Death) is kind of an official example. They include Neutral members, but they are generally creepy and mean and just the right kind of "mentally unhinged" brand of Evil.

To be honest, I share the sentiment that actively Evil monk organisations are a bit silly, in that they are either a bit vaguely Evil but not really threatening, or they end up in the campy villain from an 80s Kung-Fu movie aesthetic. Which isn't bad, just kinda silly.

[loky1109]

Not really threatening actually isn't bad. I don't need threat all world, only threat PCs. )

[Ronin Duelist]

The Sisters of the Golden Erinyes in Pathfinder also fit the bill, being strong adherents to the Church of Asmodeus.

[Particle_Man]

Well the easiest way might be Monk/Assassins. So they are devoted to death (and wealth), get "donations" from people that want other people eliminated, etc. And they don't even need weapons to activate their death attacks! Since these are NPC opponents to be slaughtered by your Heroes, you don't have to worry too much about the "never advance as a monk ever again" rule - just have them be monks as long as you want, then assassins.

As for what they are like, well they could be devoted worshippers of a figure (could be a good, could be an LE dragon, for example, that takes the wealth generated); they could be hard core about personal discipline, obedience to the leadership of the temple, and purity, and try to "test" their abilities through service. They could look down haughtily on "outsiders" (which would be pretty much everyone not part of the temple structure) as "impure" and thus feel no compunction against killing them in exchange for for donations to the temple.

[Troacctid]

As far as canonical examples, there's also the Dark Moon (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Order_of_the_Dark_Moon) in the Forgotten Realms and the Flayed Hand (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041213a) in Eberron.

[Saintheart]

The Faceless Men of Braavos?

[Seerow]

Not really threatening actually isn't bad. I don't need threat all world, only threat PCs. )

I mean in that case do they have to be a monastic order?

I mean, you can totally lean into the 80's cheese and basically have Cobra Kai as an in-game villain group.

[Maat Mons]

Couldn't you just have a monastery located within an Evil culture? Then it would just kind of inherit the Evil-ness.

I've always felt that ninjas are kind of Evil monks. Though the 3.5 Ninja class doesn't represent this very well, since it doesn't give Unarmed Strike. But then again, the 3.5 Monk class doesn't represent its trope very well either.

Whatever lore you decide on for your Evil Monks, you can probably use the Ascetic Rogue feat to realize it mechanically. Or better yet, the Tashalatora feat combined with Psychic Rogue.

[Elves]

A close-knit cult with an esoteric philosophy based on order and with little regard for the earthly world who practice elite fighting arts and wear special uniforms and you have trouble making them villains?

[Particle_Man]

Fwiw, Hextor has monks among his followers. So that would less esoteric and more blatantly martial. Monks could be town guards and jailers in a Hextor controlled area.

Another idea (maybe more for monk/assassins): the guild of butlers. They have the service ethos but also the class-based arrogance. They learn all the secrets (useful for indirect blackmail) and are also poised to strike to take out a nuisance if necessary. They are completely unsuspected until the pcs stumble upon their secret . . .

[Elves]

Another idea (maybe more for monk/assassins): the guild of butlers. They have the service ethos but also the class-based arrogance. They learn all the secrets (useful for indirect blackmail) and are also poised to strike to take out a nuisance if necessary. They are completely unsuspected until the pcs stumble upon their secret . . .
Idk about monk but that's hilarious. I guess it's a twist on the evil vizier trope, but funnier because what butlers do is so domestic.

[Saintheart]

Fwiw, Hextor has monks among his followers. So that would less esoteric and more blatantly martial. Monks could be town guards and jailers in a Hextor controlled area.

Another idea (maybe more for monk/assassins): the guild of butlers. They have the service ethos but also the class-based arrogance. They learn all the secrets (useful for indirect blackmail) and are also poised to strike to take out a nuisance if necessary. They are completely unsuspected until the pcs stumble upon their secret . . .


Idk about monk but that's hilarious. I guess it's a twist on the evil vizier trope, but funnier because what butlers do is so domestic.

For further inspiration, review the Kingsman movie series (if not the comics), because it's basically this.

[redking]

It is better to think of "monk" as a lifestyle rather than an alignment. Is every vegan you meet a nice guy/girl? No. Nor are monks. All monks do meditation, self-discovery and self-actualization. It just that some monks, on their journey to self-discovery, realize that 'the true path' is evil. There are your evil monks.

[the_tick_rules]

there are the arcanopath monks from dragon compendium. they aren't conquest and inflict misery evil but they are severely anti-magic.

[Particle_Man]

Idk about monk but that's hilarious. I guess it's a twist on the evil vizier trope, but funnier because what butlers do is so domestic.

Why monks? Well in some cultures “the help” do not go armed. :smallsmile:

[Luccan]

I don't think they're all strictly monks, but a non-insignificant portion of Greyhawk's Scarlet Brotherhood are monks.

The way I see it is that much like with clerics there are many paths to the abilities of the monk. Yes they seem to involve some level of spiritual and physical "purity" and understanding, but what that means can vary culturally or even between individuals if it's broad enough. An actively Evil monk is not, I think, a cartoonish supervillain. Instead, they are someone who knows exactly what they are doing and are at peace with themselves for doing it. They probably have a non-enlightenment directed goal, but then so do most PC monks. So I'd build an organization by giving them a goal and then making them ruthless in their pursuit of it, while keeping in mind their training makes them insightful enough to recognize what they're doing is harmful but also comfortable enough with who they are that it would probably take quiet a lot of tragic consequences to turn them from their path. And remember that even in D&D you don't have to do evil 24/7 to be Evil. When not pursuing their other goals, their monastery probably acts a lot like a more neutral monk organization would. Maybe a few more spikes, sparring with live blades, and dropping underperforming and disobedient acolytes off clips.

[Dalmosh]

My campaign has an evil Monastic Order commited to transhumanism - they see independent sentience as the worst kind of materialist hubris that keeps the world mired in prideful indolence, and denied from the supreme.

They are dutifully committed to forcefully uniting humanity into the gestalt Hive Mind that they worship, serve and eventually sacrifice their own egos to join entirely. Their creed is that only by surrendering the self and joining the Fungus can one transcend the mortal coil and find enlightenment.

Since they don't value free will or independent mortal life, they adopt fairly fanatical means to advance their goals, which they rationalise as ultimately necessary and the only way to emancipate people from the trap of materialism.

In terms of printed stuff... The Duergar and Sahuagin both have significant monastic traditions; more a case of an already lawful society of evil beings producing martial artists as anything else

[Fouredged Sword]

I could see a monk order that basically exists to prepare themselves for getting as high as possible on the devil foodchain upon their deaths. The whole thing is run by a moderately powerful devil. It's basically boot camp for people aspiring to be devils. The fact that most of them won't become more than Lemure doesn't concern the devil running things, nor does he bother to emphasize this fact to those "following the path he has laid down".

It's your classic "sell your soul" scheme, but what the devil is offering is essentially the benefits of having your soul owned by a devil and training to make your soul worth keeping and turning into a devil in the afterlife as a path to enlightenment and immortality. And in the meantime the devil running things gets an organization of lawful mortal agents.

The most likely devil to be running this scheme is a chain devil, where the monks of the order take exotic weapon prof Spike Chain. The Chain devil isn't actually the devil in charge though. This is merely a scheme by a higher tier devil whom the souls actually end up owned by, like a horned devil. The Horned devil gets a steady stream of souls that may or may not be turned into useful devils. The Chain Devil gets a more powerful devil to arange it to be summoned to the prime material and to be resummoned when the evil order of monks is inevitably wiped out to start over somewhere else. In the meantime it gets to have an order of evil monk followers who are disposable to play with.

[ShurikVch]

Disciples of the White Rod (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Disciples_of_the_White_Rod)
Serpent Guards (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Serpent_Guards)
The Poison Fist clan (Dragon #289)
Reaper's Children (Dragon #299)

[MR_Anderson]

The Hand organization from Iron Fist is basically an organization of Evil Monks with some having prestige classes.

It is probably the best example I can think off that is recent in cinematic history.

[Particle_Man]

I found the missing ingredient in the LE butler build: unjustified racial arrogance! Monk 4/half elf paragon 1/assassin 10/half elf paragon 2/human paragon 3, with a couple of int boosts to help spells and death attack dc.

[Particle_Man]

I could see The Operative in the movie Serenity as an evil monk. Doing really bad things for an alleged higher purpose.

[liquidformat]

It is better to think of "monk" as a lifestyle rather than an alignment. Is every vegan you meet a nice guy/girl? No. Nor are monks. All monks do meditation, self-discovery and self-actualization. It just that some monks, on their journey to self-discovery, realize that 'the true path' is evil. There are your evil monks.

I have rarely met a 'nice' vegan...

Anyways being 'nice' is neither good nor evil. For example a paladin who is constantly shoving their righteous ideals down everyone's throats isn't nice but still fits perfectly well into 'Lawful Good Stupid'.


The Hand organization from Iron Fist is basically an organization of Evil Monks with some having prestige classes.

It is probably the best example I can think off that is recent in cinematic history.

There is also Hand's little brother The Foot which fight the teenage mutant ninja turtles.