Why are all monasteries human?

[weckar]

In "Hero builders guidebook" a recurring theme is that all monasteries are in human lands only, with the book not even mentioning the idea of other races founding them. This makes it unlikely for any other race to become a monk.

Where does this idea come from? Does it have roots in deeper D&D/Fantasy lore?

[Tzardok]

Two guesses: a) in older editions, many classes were restricted to certain races. It was 3.0 that removed those. Monk was a purely human thing, so maybe it's a call-back. b) Monks draw on Chinese mythology/fantasy, on Wuxia and Xianxia stories. Elves, dwarves, gnomes and so on are Western fantasy. There's not a lot of overlap here.

[Doctor Despair]

With regard to them being for humanoids, maybe there's an in-universe thought that monk involving developing IUS is less compatible with monstrous races that tend to have more deadly natural weapons? After all, there's much less attraction to the idea of spending years in solitude training in hand-to-hand combat when you can more effectively just rip things up with your claws and teeth anyway.

[ShurikVch]

Why are all monasteries human?
To disprove this statement - the quick list:
Black Raven Monastery (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Raven_Monastery) - the two most notable current members are both half-drow, and the founder could be a half-drow too
Brotherhood of the Scarlet Scourge (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Brotherhood_of_the_Scarlet_Scourge) - an Orc monastic order (!)
Hin Fist (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Hin_Fist) - Halfling monastic order
Order of the Even-Handed (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Order_of_the_Even-Handed) - mixed membership: dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, halflings, humans
Order of the Sun Soul (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Order_of_the_Sun_Soul) - mixed membership: half-elves, halflings, humans
Standing Tree Monastery (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Standing_Tree_Monastery) - one of two most notable current members is a half-elf
The Shaarat'khesh (https://web.archive.org/web/20161101150304/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041213a) - a Goblin order (!)