Install Steam
login
|
language
简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)
繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)
日本語 (Japanese)
한국어 (Korean)
ไทย (Thai)
Български (Bulgarian)
Čeština (Czech)
Dansk (Danish)
Deutsch (German)
Español - España (Spanish - Spain)
Español - Latinoamérica (Spanish - Latin America)
Ελληνικά (Greek)
Français (French)
Italiano (Italian)
Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
Magyar (Hungarian)
Nederlands (Dutch)
Norsk (Norwegian)
Polski (Polish)
Português (Portuguese - Portugal)
Português - Brasil (Portuguese - Brazil)
Română (Romanian)
Русский (Russian)
Suomi (Finnish)
Svenska (Swedish)
Türkçe (Turkish)
Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
Українська (Ukrainian)
Report a translation problem
Discussions Rules and Guidelines
Report this post
It is probably the strongest solo campaign play class if you play them right.
I'll second this, monk is very powerful
(5E mods) Ascendant Dragon and Sun/Radiant Soul (my faves)
(Homebrew) Murim class monks -- my favorite I think is the Shao Lin, but I also like their Kensei variants like Ki Duellist for a sword wielder monk (I just find the base 5E Kensei too boring)
Then for something really insanely OP - I guess you always know you're in for it if they have the word "Cosmic" in the name - check out Cosmic Soul. I mean, but of course, nothing beats a little bit of cosmic power. (I seriously thought that one was by the same dude who did Cosmic Sorcerer, but no.)
As for the vanilla, Shadow Monk is a crappy Ninja, but fortunately modders have done far better Ninja mod classes; Four Elements is nifty, as is Open Hand, but the thing about Four Elements I just find kinda ... meh ... is beyond three base abilities (Fangs of Fire Snake, Water Whip, and Fist of Unbroken Air) it's basically just a spell caster using renamed wizard spells that use ki instead of spell slots. Anyway, Shao Lin is a far better grown up Open Hand monk, LOL.
(True little trivia fact: the origins of the monk class in AD & D come from the fact that Gary Gygax and his buds used to love the 70s show Kung Fu while it was on TV, and the class is based on that. Kung Fu used to feature David Carradine playing a 19th century Shao Lin monk from China wandering through the Old West. That show was originally gonna feature Bruce Lee, but, and I shart you not, the producers said he looked "too Asian" for the role. I mean - the character IS Chinese, LOL.)
(Also, I probably shouldn't mention that David Carradine died from auto erotic asphyxiation. Oh. Whoops. I just did. LOL. As for poor Bruce Lee, he had to go on to be the servile "Kato" in the Green Hornet series instead.)
If you are gonna go Kensei, get some of the many nice mods that add Shuriken, katanas, and ninja-tos to the game like the Eastern Weapons superpack.
Nobody has done nunchuks, but alas, I bet coding the attack animations for those would be really hard.
AD&D 1st edition monk was the worse class in the game, so bad it was unplayable. Couldn't wear armor and started at AC 10 (the worst) and wasn't allowed subtract it's dex modifier to it's AC, unlike every other class (their AC did improve as they leveled, but very slowly). It did start out with 2d4HD, but was only allowed to use it's con bonus on one HD (the con modifier stated it was per HD but there was rules clarification in regards to this for the monk and ranger). There was nothing in the game that would make their unarmed attacks magical which meant they couldn't use their primary attack against any creature that required a +1 or better weapon to harm them (which was a lot of creatures). They could only have 5 magic items at a time and had to give up any money more then needed to support themself and any hirelings. And once they reached a certain level they had to seek out the only other monk IN THE WORLD that was one level higher then them and beat them in a duel to advance to the next level (once they earned enough XP). If they lost they lost enough xp to go back down to the midpiont of their present level (very harsh penalty). There could only ever be one monk of each level IN THE WORLD of each level past a certain level. Oh, and for the smelly cherry on top, their class was one of 4 that was level locked. Only Monk, Bard, Druid, and Assassin were level locked and Bard was a special case.
Yeah, 1st ed. rules were ... jank.
Clerics could only use blunt weapons because ... well, it honestly comes down to Gary's weird interpretation of a tapestry he once saw.
Druid was a subclass of cleric - the only one.
A wizard could be an illusionist, but there were no other schools they could specialize in.
Ranger and paladin were fighter subclasses.
Assassin was the only subclass of thief.
Oh, and THAC0, and the way saving throws worked.
Only demi-humans could multi-class; humans had to dual class.
Experience progression was different for different classes, which also had different level caps.
Could keep going.
JMHO ... not missing it at all.
Yeah, loved it back in the day but I wouldn't play AD&D 1st edition anymore. Game designers have learned a lot since then.
However, I personally just didn't think the monk was fun to play. Or to role-play.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(1972_TV_series)#Question_of_Bruce_Lee's_involvement
In her memoirs, Bruce Lee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, asserts that Lee created the concept for the series, which was then stolen by Warner Bros.: "Even before this [Longstreet], Warner Brothers had suddenly caught on to the fact that kung fu itself had captured the public's imagination and decided to launch a TV series," she writes. "Bruce himself had been working on the idea of a Shaolin priest, a master of kung fu, who would roam America and find himself involved in various exploits. The studio contacted him and he was soon deeply involved. He gave them numerous ideas, many of which were eventually incorporated in the resulting TV success, Kung Fu, starring actor David Carradine." (Linda Lee, The Man Only I Knew, pp. 130–31.).[74] There is circumstantial evidence for this in a December 8, 1971, television interview that Bruce Lee gave on The Pierre Berton Show. In the interview, Lee stated that he had developed a concept for a television series called The Warrior, meant to star himself, about a martial artist in the American Old West (the same concept as Kung Fu, which aired the following year), but that he was having trouble pitching it to Warner Brothers and Paramount.
(but now back to the other question ... "Casting Controversy")
[snip]
Kung Fu has been called an example of yellowface and a prominent case of whitewashing.[90]
Most of the controversy lies in the allegation that the series' idea was stolen from Bruce Lee, but also in the fact that he was not cast for the leading role, and that decision had racial connotations. The "steal" theory has become widespread, both in academia[91][92] and in the media, even internationally.[93][94]
The casting for the leading role when the project was still a feature film had considered (among others) James Coburn, who was preferred by Ed Spielman. When the script became an ABC Movie of the Week, the casting process considered (among others) Bruce Lee, Mako, and George Takei. After having "sought every Asian in Hollywood, because you didn't have to be super bright to know what was coming," and found none that could carry the series, they turned to the American side of the character and began auditioning white actors, including William Smith[95] and John Saxon.[96] Just two weeks before the pilot's filming started, David Carradine obtained the role at his second audition.[74]
At the time, George Takei and the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists (AAPAA) filed a formal complaint for unfair hiring practices. They wanted an Asian actor in the leading role and a Chinese historical advisor; only the second demand was conceded. The Asian acting community was initially displeased, but with so few opportunities for Asian actors at the time, many felt it was better to have a successful show that could be a steady source of work for them in secondary roles than having none at all. Actor James Hong (who was the AAPAA's president), said: "As the show went on, we realized it was a great source of employment for the Asian acting community."[81]
[snip][end]
According to the producers, they claimed they considered Takei and Lee for the role, but felt, quote, "they couldn't carry the series"; but in Bruce Lee's memoirs, he says the producers told him "he looked too Asian for the part."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucWasm6EVMM
He says Gene Roddenberry considered having a gay character, but because he was afraid of the backlash of showing the inter-racial kiss between Kirk and Uhura (something I've mentioned before -- airing that episode caused some Southern TV affiliate stations to cancel that episode, and in a few cases, the entire series), he was worried that could get the show cancelled.
I love Takei, for his political commentary on Trump, of course, but also the way he discusses his childhood growing up in Japanese concentration camps here in the U.S. during WW II.
(AFA political commentary, I love Mark Hamill's youtube videos and commentary for the same readon.)
I mention all this to note while arguments about representation in video games are relatively recent, arguments about representation in other media have been going on .... well, probably since the first motion pictures in the early 20th century.
Oh and one more thing. Gary always says when people first played D & D and tried out the monk class, they figured that since it was "medieval European" the D & D monk would be like a Cistercian or a Franciscan or something like that. Well, most of the monastic orders didn't do much fighting or adventuring. It wouldn't be very fun to RP a Cistercian who just stays in his monastery and prays. The one kind of monastic order that did any actual fighting were groups like the Knights Templar ... warrior knights who also had monastic vows.
Alas, those guys got accused of heresy after the Crusades, and their GM Jacques DeMolay was burned at the stake in 1314. But it seems that Gary largely based the paladin class on groups like the Templars. The monk class, as I said, meant from the very beginning D & D was going to feature both Asian and European elements. And as I've said, Gary & TSR first released Oriental Adventures in 1985 -- it added classes like Samurai, Kensei, Yakuza, Wu Jen, or Ninja, and races like the "spirit folk" which I guess were kinda like Shinto Kami beings. Four Elements in 5E is basically an updated adaptation of Wu Jen.