HalfOgre Monk With Vow of Poverty [Archive] - Wizards Community

HalfOgre Monk With Vow of Poverty [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
TrailOfDead917
07-24-04, 07:38 PM I am having some trouble with role playing this character. How would a Monk with a Vow of Poverty act? All I really know is that he would be very selfless and that he would do almost anything in his power to help someone in need.

The DM is a big fan of Angle so he is giving my character visions of people in need and my first was that a child in need and that happened to be one of the other party member and another was of a Paladin being attacked who also happened to be a party member. Anyway the question here is how would a Lawful Good Monk handle a vision that responding to would have sevre consequences? For instance I get a vision of a Dragon attacking a town and I am only level 5 would I go, help and likely die or not go and live?

EDIT: Also I need a name for him.
Christian Landry
07-25-04, 04:48 AM It's hard to give a detailed answer. I do know that Vow of Poverty is an exalted feat, so you are on the right track. You have to be more than good. You have to be Good with a capital G.

In the example, wouldn't it be more sensible for your character to seek out someone who can prevent the dragon from attacking? Or defeat it if it's already attacking? There's really not much good in going out there and getting yourself killed. It certainly won't help the town. Sacrifice with a meaning is doubtlessly good, but a meaningless sacrifice is not.
Impecunious_Mortal
07-27-04, 11:17 AM If your DM is giving you visions I suspect he wants you to act. Now your actions need not be run headlong to your death, leave that to the paladins of lawful stupid.

There is grey area to exploit: the town may need evacuation you could do that and probably not die. Is the visions in the future or about to happen? If the prior you could get help, hit the taverns and find dragon hunters offer the dragons cache as a reward.
Either way you stayed true to the visions and helped without playing lawful stupid yourself, which is best left to palies they're so good at that sort of thing.

As for a name try : Sum Dom Guy or something without the humor like horgg the dismantler (ok that's a stan winston ripoff) or Feng Shui (and have an urge to rearange things for balance with the stars)
Kitt-su
07-27-04, 11:16 PM So-men Luang (If your looking for a name that doesn't make you sound tough or mean) or Harushk Ken (If your looking for the kind of thing that makes people go "Ahh!" when they hear someone scream Harushk is coming). My two cents:D
Grompa
08-01-04, 04:59 PM It would most certainly depend on whether he in more of a student or master role.

A 'studen't would obviously be a monk questing for enlightenment and selfless living, but struggling slightly to achieve it in which case you could have oodles of fun roleplaying him winning (or losing :smirk: ) against his dark desires and temptations.

In contrast a 'master' role would be this half-ogre who has achieved enlightenment and is trying to better the world. Therefore he would be very generous and patient, and reluctant to enter battle

I would consider the former the more interesting to play as, but it's your choice.
Passionateapathy
08-09-04, 03:05 PM Darnit.. lost my post... so this one won't be as good... The idea was to pattern yourself off of Kane (or was it Kain) from the 'classic' Kung Fu television series. He never cared about money and always went after the badguy (perfect VoP if you as me.)
Rudysseus
08-10-04, 10:35 PM Passionateapathy is 100% correct about patterning your person off Caine (thats how I've found it, although it may not be right).

The vision thing is difficult to deal with, you need to do something, but a level 5 monk running off to fight almost any type/size of dragon is pretty much suicide, at least solo. With the VoP stuff you may be able to deal with a baby or very young dragon though.

Getting burned to dust isn't going to help anyone. You need to help the people there escape the dragon's power first and foremost, and should probably only directly confront the dragon if it would save the lives of others, who could get away while you distracted it for a round or two before you were killed.
You pretty much need to stick up for the little guy in many situations. Just dont start street fights in cities where that is illegal or you'll be breaking the LAW aspect of your character.

Another aspect you could RP with is the desire to constantly test your skills against others, in a serious, but non-lethal fight. That way you can make sure you are always at the top form for combating evil, and you could make it part of your goal to wander through the land visiting any and all monastaries, sparring with any and all monks to learn aspects of as many separate "disciplines" as you can. Kung Fu and Kick-Boxing are both "martial arts" but vary greatly in their teachings. And most have inherent sub-styles or techniques they employ that further differentiate themselves within their own ranks, like Mantis Style vs. Tiger Style.

Now thats largely where the RP part comes in because if you just say "I attack" and roll your d20, thats one thing. You could go that extra RP mile and be more descriptive in your actions. Like if you have crappy rolls and dont hit a target for a few rounds, tell your DM that your opponent knows how to counter Tiger Style, and so you are switching to Wu Shu. It won't alter combat but it adds a little something to your fights and makes your character that much more unique.

Knowledge costs nothing, and most people in a setting like that will share their teachings if they see good reason to do so. A VoP monk that says they devote themselves entirely to the cause of good, and has all those Exalted Feats will likely have no trouble studying under a master of similar views.

You could also incorporate each new level into your RP experience, and say that each time you earn a new level, you have, or you need to study with a master to acquire new skills. (we do this in our campaign, and levels are only ever doled out during times of reflection, after huge battles or events. In which you learn some new info from someone at least a 2 levels higher than you.)
Monks get so many special abilities, that each new one could be learned from a different teacher. Increased damage could come from studying under a member of the Iron Bear Clan, who value durability and strength, maybe like sumo wrestlers. Or you can say that your increased damage comes from knowing exactly where to strike an opponent for maximum effectiveness. You can say this is from the Dim Mok school, where you strike pressure points for maximum damage.

Can watch about a million 1970s-80s martial arts movies for more ideas regarding monks.

These are just suggestions, and are somewhat useless if you do not adventure in a world with large, well known monastaries. One way around this, is you could say that you already HAD all this knowledge, and were once a powerful monk, but had your memories magically altered, and each new level allows you access to those memories and you can "remember" how to accomplish certain feats you used to have.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
TrailOfDead917 07-24-04, 07:38 PM	I am having some trouble with role playing this character. How would a Monk with a Vow of Poverty act? All I really know is that he would be very selfless and that he would do almost anything in his power to help someone in need. The DM is a big fan of Angle so he is giving my character visions of people in need and my first was that a child in need and that happened to be one of the other party member and another was of a Paladin being attacked who also happened to be a party member. Anyway the question here is how would a Lawful Good Monk handle a vision that responding to would have sevre consequences? For instance I get a vision of a Dragon attacking a town and I am only level 5 would I go, help and likely die or not go and live? EDIT: Also I need a name for him.
Christian Landry 07-25-04, 04:48 AM	It's hard to give a detailed answer. I do know that Vow of Poverty is an exalted feat, so you are on the right track. You have to be more than good. You have to be Good with a capital G. In the example, wouldn't it be more sensible for your character to seek out someone who can prevent the dragon from attacking? Or defeat it if it's already attacking? There's really not much good in going out there and getting yourself killed. It certainly won't help the town. Sacrifice with a meaning is doubtlessly good, but a meaningless sacrifice is not.
Impecunious_Mortal 07-27-04, 11:17 AM	If your DM is giving you visions I suspect he wants you to act. Now your actions need not be run headlong to your death, leave that to the paladins of lawful stupid. There is grey area to exploit: the town may need evacuation you could do that and probably not die. Is the visions in the future or about to happen? If the prior you could get help, hit the taverns and find dragon hunters offer the dragons cache as a reward. Either way you stayed true to the visions and helped without playing lawful stupid yourself, which is best left to palies they're so good at that sort of thing. As for a name try : Sum Dom Guy or something without the humor like horgg the dismantler (ok that's a stan winston ripoff) or Feng Shui (and have an urge to rearange things for balance with the stars)
Kitt-su 07-27-04, 11:16 PM	So-men Luang (If your looking for a name that doesn't make you sound tough or mean) or Harushk Ken (If your looking for the kind of thing that makes people go "Ahh!" when they hear someone scream Harushk is coming). My two cents:D
Grompa 08-01-04, 04:59 PM	It would most certainly depend on whether he in more of a student or master role. A 'studen't would obviously be a monk questing for enlightenment and selfless living, but struggling slightly to achieve it in which case you could have oodles of fun roleplaying him winning (or losing :smirk: ) against his dark desires and temptations. In contrast a 'master' role would be this half-ogre who has achieved enlightenment and is trying to better the world. Therefore he would be very generous and patient, and reluctant to enter battle I would consider the former the more interesting to play as, but it's your choice.
Passionateapathy 08-09-04, 03:05 PM	Darnit.. lost my post... so this one won't be as good... The idea was to pattern yourself off of Kane (or was it Kain) from the 'classic' Kung Fu television series. He never cared about money and always went after the badguy (perfect VoP if you as me.)
Rudysseus 08-10-04, 10:35 PM	Passionateapathy is 100% correct about patterning your person off Caine (thats how I've found it, although it may not be right). The vision thing is difficult to deal with, you need to do something, but a level 5 monk running off to fight almost any type/size of dragon is pretty much suicide, at least solo. With the VoP stuff you may be able to deal with a baby or very young dragon though. Getting burned to dust isn't going to help anyone. You need to help the people there escape the dragon's power first and foremost, and should probably only directly confront the dragon if it would save the lives of others, who could get away while you distracted it for a round or two before you were killed. You pretty much need to stick up for the little guy in many situations. Just dont start street fights in cities where that is illegal or you'll be breaking the LAW aspect of your character. Another aspect you could RP with is the desire to constantly test your skills against others, in a serious, but non-lethal fight. That way you can make sure you are always at the top form for combating evil, and you could make it part of your goal to wander through the land visiting any and all monastaries, sparring with any and all monks to learn aspects of as many separate "disciplines" as you can. Kung Fu and Kick-Boxing are both "martial arts" but vary greatly in their teachings. And most have inherent sub-styles or techniques they employ that further differentiate themselves within their own ranks, like Mantis Style vs. Tiger Style. Now thats largely where the RP part comes in because if you just say "I attack" and roll your d20, thats one thing. You could go that extra RP mile and be more descriptive in your actions. Like if you have crappy rolls and dont hit a target for a few rounds, tell your DM that your opponent knows how to counter Tiger Style, and so you are switching to Wu Shu. It won't alter combat but it adds a little something to your fights and makes your character that much more unique. Knowledge costs nothing, and most people in a setting like that will share their teachings if they see good reason to do so. A VoP monk that says they devote themselves entirely to the cause of good, and has all those Exalted Feats will likely have no trouble studying under a master of similar views. You could also incorporate each new level into your RP experience, and say that each time you earn a new level, you have, or you need to study with a master to acquire new skills. (we do this in our campaign, and levels are only ever doled out during times of reflection, after huge battles or events. In which you learn some new info from someone at least a 2 levels higher than you.) Monks get so many special abilities, that each new one could be learned from a different teacher. Increased damage could come from studying under a member of the Iron Bear Clan, who value durability and strength, maybe like sumo wrestlers. Or you can say that your increased damage comes from knowing exactly where to strike an opponent for maximum effectiveness. You can say this is from the Dim Mok school, where you strike pressure points for maximum damage. Can watch about a million 1970s-80s martial arts movies for more ideas regarding monks. These are just suggestions, and are somewhat useless if you do not adventure in a world with large, well known monastaries. One way around this, is you could say that you already HAD all this knowledge, and were once a powerful monk, but had your memories magically altered, and each new level allows you access to those memories and you can "remember" how to accomplish certain feats you used to have.