An Old Suggestion from our Friend Oroborous

[Spiffy Has]

I would suggest a series of MONK PERKS similar to these regarding MONK ORDERS be implemented...

http://www.escapefromundeath.com/old_forums/viewtopic.php?t=18185&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=tattoos&start=90

Monk Tattoos  
 
These would use the clothing armor base that is a naked chest with a tattoo and poofy pants.  
 
"This mystical tattoo is used by XXX tradition. Monks who gain these  markings are often the most dedicated of their dojo or monastery. As  long as the tattoo is visible, the monk gains mystical bonuses drawn  from a link between their inner ki and the subtle forms of the tattoo  itself as the monk moves, bends, and sways during combat."
 
Various tattoos could be made for various monastic traditions:
 
Monks of the Old Order - +1 Dodge AC
Monks of the Hin Fist - +1 AB vs goblins
Broken Ones - Bludgeoning Resistance -/5
Dark Moon - Bonus 0 level or 1rst level Sorcerer spell
Long Death - +2 saves vs Death Magic
Shining Hand - Bonus 0 level or 1rst level Wizard spell
Sun Soul - +2 AC vs Undead
Yellow Rose - + 1 Persuade, +1 Hide, +1 Lore
Zealots of the written Word - +3 Lore
Monks of Kossuth - Fire Resistance -/5
Iron Gauntlet - +2 Hide, +2 Move Silently
Rune Claws - +2 AC vs Elves
Scarlet Scourge - +2 saves vs Poison
Changeless Face - Immunity Knockdown
Champions of the Pallid Mask - +1 AB vs Undead
Red Knight - +2 Concentration, +2 Discipline
Clangeddin's Monks - +1 AB vs Giants, +1 dodge vs Giants
Gaerdal Ironhand's Monks - +1 AB vs Reptilian
Anhur's Monks - 1d4 bonus slashing damage
Order of the White Rod - OnHit 1 magical damage to attacker
Flaming Star - Bonus 0 or first level Wizard or Sorc spell; +1 Lore and Spellcraft
Children of the Passive Voice - +2 Search, +2 Spot, +2 Listen
Serpent Guard - +1 Natural Armor
 
I'd almost debate making the tattoos  unequipable and they should definitely be no drop. Which means, these  likely should be something you buy or it is assumed that should you  "find one" you're actually finding the dyes and design that you'll  tattoo on yourself.
 
An ((OOC: Please  do not use more than one tattoo for your character.))  note on the item would prevent any one from just switching through his  six or seven tattoos for each variable  situation. You should have only one 'mystic' tattoo since it should  represent your attunement to your discipline.

Modify as you see fit, EFU!

[Bearic]

I'm not sure monks need much for power-ups; but perhaps a sort of meditative ability, or prayer like what clerics can do would be useful.
 
 Perhaps small bonuses after rest, like + 5 hp for ten rounds, or a luck bonus, or even a glow when praying would be interesting; though, such can be done with things like candles, potions, perfect self, and emotes.
 
 Perks are always nice, though. =]

[Egon the Monkey]

When I get round to coming back, there's a good chance I'm playing some sort of monk so of course I'm going to chip in here. They're a badass class on EfU because they combine so well with potions and the loot, but the downside is there's a lack of variety. Partially because Monks require good STR, DEX, CON and WIS scores so they all tend to be similar builds and often dump CHA.

It's not skills, AC or damage that'll add variety to monks, it's weapons access and reasons to play less obviously facepunchy stuff. Fist damage progression and EfU gloves beat the pants off any monk weapon going. Shuriken are a complete joke since they're not Mighty, removing the use of a class-specific weapon. Kama are hugely outpaced by fists and are only useful on a ranger/monk 4 APR cheesebuild.

So, a few idea for "Monastic Styles" that wouldn't make most monks any more powerful but would open up more concepts.

Pilgrim's Defence:
"As you walk the road, Have your staff at the ready, The world is not calm"
L1: Ambidexterity, Two-Weapon Fighting
L5: Epic Weapon Focus Staff (+2AB) Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (to mimic Monk AB)

I'ts a kludge, but it should balance out provided there's a way to stop it being abused with kamas.


Reaper's Harvest:
"Into the field, Of farming or of battle, I cut down with ease"
L5:  Improved Critical: Kama
L8:  Weapon Specialisation: Kama

This turns kamas into a 2-8 dmg 19-20 crit weapon at L8, comparing better to fists which can fairly easily get 2-14 damage with gloves at that level, cannot be disarmed etc.


Philosopher
"Know your mind, then your body, then expand your knowledge to the world beyond"
L1: +2 Lore, +2 Heal, +2 Persuade
L5: +10 EFUSS Herbalism
L8: +2 Charisma


Hospitaller
"Our Order posessses little, but we are ever willing to share it with the needy"
 L1: +4 Heal
L5: 5 free Medicinal Herbs each rest.
L8: Cure Disease 1/day

Drunken Master
L1:-1 AB when sober, no penalties for being drunk, +1 AB when drunk. (Gain bonuses that cancel the drunk penalty out). Never become addicted to Booze.
L5: +5 Taunt when Drunk
L8: -1 AB when sober, +2 AB when drunk
This should be reasonably useful, since booze is an unreliable buff because you have to fail a rather low Poison Save to get it to work. The buffs are balanced by a much slower reaction to anything kicking off as the player has to spam booze until they get lucky.

My major concern with this idea is that it could lead to buffing the standard monk builds, which are pretty damn good as it stands. Good all round saves, fantastic AC, speed, stealth and KD.

[Letsplayforfun]

This is just my opinion, but...

Customization can be fun, but as a whole takes some time to implement and debug for little gain, especially if players start taking customization as means of optimizing builds more than rp.

Why not just rp you have a cool tatoo, and leave it "useless" technically?

[lovethesuit]

That's true! I think one of the coolest things about EfU is that if you have a unique quirk on an interesting character, a DM will pick up that aspect of your character and react to it. It could be loot, it could be a quest, it could just be NPCs commenting on it. Personally, I'm playing someone with a limp who uses a cane, because of my low dexterity. My dream is to someday get a swordcane. Another example from my last character:

"What he lacks in arms, he makes up for in brains!"

EfU is a multiplayer server with active DMs. That means that even if you have a mechanical weakness, there is somebody else around that has strengths in your area of weakness. You need to connect with them and make their power your own.

But mechanics, and building interesting characters, is really fun! I know that you DM folks understand. We players also understand that: (A) things take time; (B) RP comes first. Thank you for the reminders, but let's work on having both!

[Gippy]

Monks are terrible in DnD.

Monks have a place in EFU as nearly mystical warriors with unique philosophies, drawing upon some divine ideal and proselytizing through action sometimes in lieu of words. A PC that takes some aspect of the server and makes it their own through the ridiculous strengths of the class, such as Makumbo, Imnan, Ushanak, Zulfiqar, Westy, Random Bonescreech PC, etc then you will recieve rewards. If you're worthy of getting a bonus as a monk, this exceedingly difficult class to roleplay, believe me -- you'll get it. If you play sharran monk #124124 then you can be content with the fact that your class is stronger than all other classes, with its full save progression, stealth, excellent attack progression, etc.

[Jasede]

The Old Order isn't so bad, and that's only because I have no idea what they are supposed to be about, so you can fill in the blank.

If I knew what it was about it'd probably be lame as well.