PATH OF THE WANDERING MONK discussion

[LucaRocks]

Another player ran the monk again this past weekend. Same as before. Even a very inexperienced player used him to great effect. I don't think he got hit once! Everyone agrees that he is OP and think AH will eventually nerf him.

[wallydubbs]

Asides from buying a crossbow the Monk can't really elevate himself. This is an example of a hero that is starts out practically maxed out. Adding any additional weapons to the Monk negates his Strength of Mountain and Eye of the Storm techniques, which only works if he's unarmed, which additionally causes him to lose the unarmed attack dice. He's overpowered, yes, but as the quests get harder he probably won't be as effective. The Game System, Return of the Witch Lord, Prophecy of Telor and Spirit Queen's Torment should be extremely easy for him. Some areas of Keller's Keep might be tense, but I'd imagine Against the Ogre Hoard, Frozen Horror and Mage of the Mirror might be challenging.

[Kurgan]

When captured, we take away his Styles.

[Markus Darwath]

How do you rationalize/explain that? Say the captors drugged him, or just stick with "Boardgame!" ??

[Kurgan]

They physically took the styles away and locked them in a room, just like the Elf and Wizard's (and Bard, Warlock, Druid, etc's) spells.

[Markus Darwath]

In terms of player immersion, what does a "style" physically look like, or for that matter, a "spell" if it's not a scroll? For my playing style I tend toward needing some explanation of how, exactly, does one take away another's knowledge and experience and lock it up.

[Macula]

So in wuxia, this tends to be done by either poisoning, or blocking qi points, usually either needing meditation, healing herbs (alchemy components?) or relearning the skills from scratch.

[SirRick]

The Monk has shackles around his wrists and ankles, both sets attached by a short chain so the Monk has to shuffle around awkwardly until he finds the key (which happens to be in the same room as the heroes’ equipment). A ball gag may be included in case the players argue that they can activate styles using a kiai.

[Markus Darwath]

That actually works. A similar example from D&D 5e... under those rules spellcasters can employ a casting focus item to eliminate the need for most material spell components. Taking away their focus item and any components they do have greatly reduces the number of spells they can cast. Tying their hands and gagging them as well then pretty much eliminates their ability to cast spells at all, even though they still know how.
I had a character once who was stripped of his possessions and imprisoned, but had no spells without a material components requirement. He was able to cast one spell (I forget what it was) simply because the material component was a single drop of blood, which he obtained by grating a knuckle on the stone wall.

[Kurgan]

In terms of player immersion, what does a "style" physically look like, or for that matter, a "spell" if it's not a scroll? For my playing style I tend toward needing some explanation of how, exactly, does one take away another's knowledge and experience and lock it up.

The scrolls are locked up until he picks them up again.