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Discussion: Roleplaying a Monk

Tags: #roleplay  #Class: Monk  #Duvain 
  • Member
    October 24, 2017

    Greetings, adventurers. Recently I started playing a character who ended up having a Monk type of class playstyle and this is also a build I will be posting for the Halloween Seventeen event and was looking on different ideas to enrich his roleplay. That being said I was wondering what do other people think as a Monk class in Skyrim regarding skills and roleplay. How would you roleplay a Monk? Do you focus on the religious aspect of the class or view the Monk roleplay in another way and have something else that you believe in or follow like being a healer or a vigilante helping and protecting those in need, someone following a martial path and improving your martial prowess or even being a darker type of monk. So, people what are your opinions - thoughts regarding the Monk class in Skyrim from a roleplay, skills, character development, alignment perspective; what is your type of Monk? Feel free to comment on the Monk class in general as well not only by Elder Scrolls/Skyrim standards.

     

    My General Monk class

    Skills: Archery, Unarmed Combat, Alteration, Restoration, Alchemy, Speech.

    My general roleplay

    Personally I do not always focus just on the religious aspect of the class when playing a Monk being a Monk of Mara for example etc. Sometimes I set a certain path, way of conduct and purpose my Monk character will follow. Such an example is my recent character that I mentioned above who is some sort of an Arcane Monk and his purpose is to unravel the mysteries of magic, take out one way or another those who use magic in order to harm the innocent (hags, necromancers, vampires etc) and make the people of Skyrim understand that not all magic is to be feared and not all those who practice magic are wicked. He also strives to improve the opinion the people of Skyrim have for the College of Winterhold which is the place he is affiliated with. You could say he is a Monk of Magic. Looking forward to hear about yours! 

    Note: I might make a general Monk profile in the future something like a class profile gathering different monk archetypes and roleplays and other cool things regarding monks in general rpg gaming but that 's just a thought for now. 

  • Member
    October 24, 2017

    I once played this build: http://www.tamrielvault.com/groups/topic/view/group_id/3/topic_id/4777 and the best item I ever got was a non enchanted blue robe from the innkeeper in Falkreath after saving the hunter, Valdr.

  • Member
    October 24, 2017

    @Cold Steel - Yeah this is a great build, I 've also played The Arrowsworn and it was one of my favorite monk type playthroughs!

  • Member
    October 24, 2017

    Can't really say I've ever been a fan of monks; I prefer to hit stuff with heavier stuff rather than with my fist, so I've incorporated parts of the Monk class into my characters without actually playing a Monk, if you get my meaning.

    I think there's a certain ridigity to RPing one though - they'd follow their moral compass/guidelines closer than a run-of-the-mill adventurer, either for religious purposed or because I feel like Monks are a lot more committed to stuff like that than the average joe (I mean with a haircut like this you've gotta think they're willing to make some sacrifices).

    Also, do you think a Monk is more focussed on the grand scheme of things as opposed to the every day? Maybe because there's a certain mystical serenity to them, or again because of the whole devoted religious vibe, but I feel like if I'd play a Monk I'd have to have some overarching goal for the playthrough - world peace or some other optimistic shizzle.

  • Member
    October 24, 2017

    I wanted to make a Ternion Monk for ages. These monks are pretty Nordic through and through, revering and said to be able to embody the aspects of three gods; the wold, fox and bear. The only substantial and compelling monks with a fleshed out spirituality we meet in Skyrim are the Greybushes but they are pretty much pacifists and hard to play as in a game requiring combat.

    I never really left the concept stage despite many attempts and writings, but I find the thought of culturally-specific monks to be interesting. Like, I imagine a big Nord tattoed and war-painted up, holding a sword and axe... yet this character is a monk by virtue of his spirituality and asthetic lifestyle. I really do want to explore these outsider concepts at some stage.

  • October 25, 2017

    Paws said:

    I wanted to make a Ternion Monk for ages. These monks are pretty Nordic through and through, revering and said to be able to embody the aspects of three gods; the wold, fox and bear. The only substantial and compelling monks with a fleshed out spirituality we meet in Skyrim are the Greybushes but they are pretty much pacifists and hard to play as in a game requiring combat.

    I never really left the concept stage despite many attempts and writings, but I find the thought of culturally-specific monks to be interesting. Like, I imagine a big Nord tattoed and war-painted up, holding a sword and axe... yet this character is a monk by virtue of his spirituality and asthetic lifestyle. I really do want to explore these outsider concepts at some stage.

    You totally should, Phil. 

    Ah, Mr. Buttons, so many happy memories of my little monk. 

  • October 25, 2017
    I like the idea of playing as a monk, but the developers really dropped the ball when it comes to unarmed combat in Skyrim.
  • Member
    October 25, 2017
    A monk can follow a number of paths. It really depends on what direction you, the player, want to take the character. I once ran a modded build which focused on Shouts and unarmed combat. The mod in question revamped skill trees to allow numerous other styles of play, so by choosing Speech and Light Armor I had an extremely fast pugilist with high damage and rapid-fire Shouts. Frankly it was a little dull. Unarmed combat is a lot more fun when there are combos and flips than when you’re basically hitting right and left click over and over. I eventually chose a different route and made a character who used only a single dagger and at a time, with his only invested skills being Blade, Block, and Enchanting. Other than two daggers, a set of clothes, a staff, and some healing potions, he was allowed one artifact to meditate on. Made for fun dungeon exploring.
  • Member
    October 25, 2017

    I 'll respond to everyone's comments in this one.

    @Zonnonn - I just love anything related to martial arts so playing a character using them in a game feels pretty damn good for me, I have to say though that I don't like to the point of hating the way hand to hand combat animations are in skyrim so I do what you mention and make unarmed a secondary skill with my main being archery or modded restoration and rarely destruction.

    Regarding the roleplay of a monk what I like is exactly that commitment to certain rules, way of conduct and certain purpose/path the monk has set in place for himself. They kinda feel like part of the world. Also a big part of my liking to the monk class is that I keep the roleplay more open and not focusing at all on the religious part for most of my monk builds but still keep a type of roleplay that befits a monk. Lol yeah, you need some serious ballz to go around in that haircut! :D

    Regarding the last part of your comment I would say that a monk can be anything you want and even have any kind of morality you want. For example you might be a monk of the divines, a monk dedicated to a certain divine only, or a drunken monk who is still kind/good but a bit or a lot weird, a darker monk who serves the deadra, a monk on a pilgrimage to seek where his path/faith will take him, a monk who is lost and has set out to test his faith, there are these and many more types of monks. So, I think it depends mostly on the player's imagination, for example take a monk of Talos like Heimskr who preaches all day f*ck the Elves etc and a random kind monk of Mara who would treat everyone equally regardless of their race, background etc. not the best example but you get the point I think. Another example is the character I 'm playing at the moment in his character profile you 'll see that he is no saint by any means and he is not a monk due to religious beliefs as well. It is more accurate to say that he compares himself to a monk because he has an understanding of himself and a certain understanding of the world and an absolute path he will follow until the end no matter what, this is also what I think as a Monk when I 'm making a monk character regardless if it is right or wrong with the classic rpg model of a monk. :P

    Edit: I am also trying to achieve in most cases that feeling of inner serenity you mention and most of the times in a non religious approach. This is mostly the end result of those three things I said above towards the end and these are also what make my monk characters.

    @Paws - Yes! I was also thinking for quite some time to make a Ternion monk it would be an interesting one as far as monks go for sure. Totally agree on the cultural-specific monks being interesting.

    @Lissette - Mr Buttons is the bizniz!!! :D

    @Kodaav - Totally agree Kodaav they killed unarmed hard and cast it to the darkest corner of oblivion! Thankfuly as far as perks go there are some perk overhaul mods with unarmed combater perks. What I 'm using at the moment is ordinator there a few more though.

    @Mercurias - Yeah Mercurias the unarmed combat animations and everything just suck in Skyrim that 's why what I 'm doing is making unarmed a secondary skill (modded perks of course) and my main is most of the time archery or modded restoration and rarely some destruction. It gives the build a lot of variety and it still stays within the boundary of a monk class as far as gameplay goes.

    Sorry for the long post and thanks for your input in the conversation!

  • Member
    October 25, 2017

    Duvain said:

    Regarding the last part of your comment I would say that a monk can be anything you want and even have any kind of morality you want. For example you might be a monk of the divines, a monk dedicated to a certain divine only, or a drunken monk who is still kind/good but a bit or a lot weird, a darker monk who serves the deadra, a monk on a pilgrimage to seek where his path/faith will take him, a monk who is lost and has set out to test his faith, there are these and many more types of monks. So, I think it depends mostly on the player's imagination, for example take a monk of Talos like Heimskr who preaches all day f*ck the Elves etc and a random kind monk of Mara who would treat everyone equally regardless of their race, background etc. not the best example but you get the point I think. Another example is the character I 'm playing at the moment in his character profile you 'll see that he is no saint by any means and he is not a monk due to religious beliefs as well. It is more accurate to say that he compares himself to a monk because he has an understanding of himself and a certain understanding of the world and an absolute path he will follow until the end no matter what, this is also what I think as a Monk when I 'm making a monk character regardless if it is right or wrong with the classic rpg model of a monk. :P

    Edit: I am also trying to achieve in most cases that feeling of inner serenity you mention and most of the times in a non religious approach. This is mostly the end result of those three things I said above towards the end and these are also what make my monk characters.

    Sounds like you've got an interesting character brewing, looking forward to the profile! You make an interesting point regarding monks and the philospohy behind them, so do you think the primary characteristic that makes a monk a monk is the mindset (like your pilgrimage example) behind their actions? And is it the paths they've taken that create the mindset, or the mindset that creates the paths they take?