#monk rp

[worrentigre]

@thetaleofoldmanmaruud Now the master, but forever a student. For the glory of Rhalgr.

[neverordinary]

You are NEVER ORDINARY ; each and every one of you is EXTRAORDINARY

Multimuse sideblog -> Featuring muses from medical drams and procedural dramas

Sideblog to @oceansfirst <- all follows come from here

[laurenwalshart]

Druids, Shamans, Monks, and Naturalists: The Distinction of Nature Magic Users in Warcraft

As a Druid roleplayer I run into this question a lot “why can’t my mage be a druid?” “Why can’t x be a druid?” To be honest I get it. The distinction between nature magic users in the universe of Warcraft (Naturalists/Green Mages, Shamans, Monks, and Druids) can be extremely confusing especially when they also have a lot of overlap and no clear canon guides like most TTRPGs do. It can feel like you are getting a “No” with a confusing explanation behind it. As you dive into each of these versions of Nature magic users there is a clear distinction between them. Once broken down it comes down to two things 1)How you get your power and 2) what goal your character has/what goal they serve.

Shamans The main goal of Shamans is to bring harmony to the elements and to serve as spiritual leaders in their communities. This is done through the use of totems and the elements of Spirit or Decay to commune with the Elements or bind them to servitude and access the Elemental Plane. It’s likely through this bond with Spirit that they are able to transform into a ghost wolf and access other planes of existence to commune with their ancestors.

Their distinct traits are the following:  Goal: Creating harmony or disharmony with the Elements and Spirits Source of Power: Using totems or Spirit/Decay to commune with or bind the Elements and tap into the Elemental Planes, or commune with the spirits of the land or their ancestors.

Monks Monks are the masters of Chi or their inner Spirit and the self, making their journey a very personal one outside the bounds of say protecting Pandaria. Receiving boons from the August Celestials, which are Wild Gods and bound to the Dream, may give them some access to the flowing spirit of the Emerald Dream and lead to the appearance of their magic being a Jade/Emerald color. There is some evidence to support that the Dream is “near’ in Pandaria based on the Faerie Dragon Sprites in the Jade Forest which are a clear sign of the Dream being “near” and the rare encounter Nuoberon in the 10.2 Dream patch where a Pandaren child dreams up wild things into existence in the Dream.

Their distinct traits are the following:  Goal: Creating harmony and balance with your inner spirit and mastering the self. Source of Power: Chi, the mastery of the self and inner spirit, the August Celestials/Wild Gods/Loa, and possibly the Emerald Dream (see Jade Forest).

Naturalists/Nature Magic Users Some of our best examples of Naturalists come from the Valewalkers, Naturalists in Suramar, the High Botanist Tel’arn, and Shen’dralar Milicent Serene and her Naturalist experiments. From the High Botantist Tel’arn we learn that his power is achieved through the use of Arcane, Light, and Nature which also lines up with what we’ve learned in Palawltar’s Codex of Dimensional Structure that magics anchored to one or more magic types makes them more stable. Everything done by Naturalists seems to be through standard mage/arcane means through their more Orderly understanding of magic.

Their distinct traits are the following:  Goal: Entirely up to the user. In some cases it is mastery of the art, seeking knowledge, or experimentation. Source of Power: Everything is through Knowledge of Order magic/Arcane and tethering one or more magic types like Light and Arcane.

Druids These shapeshifters are caretakers of the wilds. They have strong bonds with the Wild Gods/Loa, Nature, and the Dream. All of the cultures that practice Druidism are bound to the Wild Gods in some way through worship or curses. One of their main tenets is to maintain the balance, a delicate equilibrium of the cycle of life and death. All of the current races that can play as them have extremely close ties with the Earth, the Dream, or the Wild Gods/Loa. Even the Drust, which at first seems to be an outlier, are connected to the Dream and Thros, the Blighted Lands. Much like how the afflicted of Gilneas were able to learn how to become Druids because of their previous knowledge of “the Old Ways” after essentially being bound to the Wild God, Goldrinn, and there by the Dream via the Worgen curse, so too are the Kul Tiran Thornspeakers through their same Gilnean understanding of the Old Ways and their bloodline connection to the Drust and Thros. Their distinct traits are the following: Goal: Maintaining the balance of nature and the cycle of life. Source of Power: Connections to the Wild Gods/Loa, the Emerald Dream, and the Spirit of the land (see previous posts on Spirit magic in nature).

Overlap and Distinctions As we can see many of these classes have some overlap in a few areas. 

Connections to the Dream and Wild Gods Both Monks and Druids have varying degrees of connections to Wild Gods and the Dream. While a Monk is not as directly tied to the Wild Gods and the Dream like Druids, they are present forces in one way or another in Pandaria. The distinction between these two classes then is in how they access their power and their goals.

A Monk while possibly influenced by or receiving boons from an August Celestial (Wild God/Loa) and the Dream does not directly gain their power from them like a Druid, rather it is from the harmony and balance of their own spirit. Another example of this is the Zandalari; their racial allows for boons/buffs from the Loa, but this does not make all of them Druids. The goals of Monks reflect this as they appear to be personal ones or aiding the personal goals of their people or others. In contrast the goals of Druids is specifically in maintaining the balance of nature and the cycle of life. 

Shapeshifting Ability Both Shaman and Druids have some sort of shapeshifting ability in game, however, one is incorporeal and the other physical. The Shaman ability then might be a transformation of their body into pure Spirit as is not bound to any specific Wild God, more of a manifestation of one’s spirit like with Wild Shape in Ardenweald. Whereas Druids after being bound to a specific Wild God/Loa are able to take on the physical form of spirit they are bound to or hold a totem or relic of. 

Use of Arcane and Light Druids and Mages both use forms of Nature, Arcane, and Light magic. As discussed before, Mages approach to Nature magic is through the lens of Order magic and the Arcane. Druids still use the Arcane in some Balance spec spells, but it is distinctly named “Astral magic” which is defined as a combination of Nature and Arcane. We can assume then that Druids are accessing Arcane magic through the pathways of Nature, similar to how Sunwalkers (tauren paladins) access the Light through their devotion to An’she.

Connections to Spirit and Decay Druids, Monks, and Shamans all share a connection with the element of Spirit and their “darker” counterparts inversely with Decay.

The easiest way to think about these connections to the element of Spirit and Decay is based on the class - Monks are in tune with their own inner Spirit or Decay, Shamans are in tune with the Spirit and Decay linked to the Elements, and Druids are in tune with the Spirit and Decay linked to nature and wildlife. 

Monks very clearly have a link to Spirit through their use of Chi. The inverse of this and their manifestation of Decay may be the Sha which has ties to the Old Gods and possibly madness (see my previous post on The Nature of Memory Magic). Shamans are easy as well since Spirit is one of the elements and Shamans may use it to commune with the elements and access the Elemental Planes and Dark Shamans use Decay to bind and enslave them. Druids also have access to the element of Spirit through its flow through nature and the Emerald Dream (see my previous post on The Nature of Memory Magic). Obviously for life to be in balance Druids must walk a fine line between Spirit and Decay, but out of control Decay in Druidism presents as the Nightmare and Thros/the Drust. You could also make the argument that the Druids of the Flame is Spirit out of control, but that’s for another paper on another day.

A quick little fun addon after my exploration of teleportation, memory, and Spirit in my previous post on The Nature of Memory Magic, this connection to this element of Spirit may explain how Monks are able to cast Zen Pilgrimage, Shamans are able to Astral Recall, and Druids are able to cast Dreamwalking.

All of this lines up with what we recently found in Palawltar’s Codex of Dimensional Structure. Each one of these classes have their connection to Spirit, Decay, and Nature magic, but they are all from different pathways to access that power. Once again proving that it’s how the magic is acquired that makes you one of these classes in a similar way to Clerics, Sorcerers, Wizards, and Warlocks in D&D 5e.

I hope this exploration of how these four nature magic users are distinct and how they intersect is helpful to you. Aside from the workload of making a bunch of new assets for Druids to be available to all races it seems to me that there is a need for a culture to have some sort of deep connection to the Dream or Wild Gods/Loa for them to access that ability. I do find it interesting that Druidism only seems to occur on Azeroth. We do see Shamanism on both Draenor and Argus, but curiously no form of Druidism. It seems that only the native races of Azeroth (Tauren, Trolls, and subsequently Night Elves) and those cursed to be bound to the Dream or Wild Gods (the Drust and Gilneans) have access to this ability. Races that are alien to Azeroth, descendants from Titan constructs afflicted by the “curse of flesh,” or those that were altered by Order (the High Elves and Nightborne) all lack this ability or pathway to Druidism. I’m interested to see if Blizzard ever explores this, perhaps in future patches with Elun’ahir and the Harronir. If and when they do I’ll be fervently exploring the topic. The Nature of Memory Magic As always my intention is never to police the roleplay of others, but rather to provide more canon centered explanations for those interested

[missggullet]

babe you're so quiet what's on your mind?

[miqojak]

[ffxivau]

"L'yn Lagshee, bringing you her latest dance show on Thavnair's biggest scene!" he reads before staring at her smile, overcome by a bittersweet feeling.

I couldn't help myself when Noot showed me this post on twitter and had to redraw it. Original artwork is from "Veil" by @_K0TTERl_

[muses-of-the-memory]

"And that's the last milk delivery." Zizzi would soon gave a bottle as she would soon started to walk back to Krillin to let him know. And to return the crate to him.

"Nice work, Zizzi! You're even doing better than I did when I was doing milk training from Master Roshi." Krillin smiled as he took the crate from his friend.

@bluemajingirl

[rainworld-rivulet]

Who's your favorite slugcat friend?

they dont actually have a favourite they like everyone

featuring @rainworld-saint & @rainworld-enot

[martyrette]

My Pandaria Remix Character since you got bitches can’t get enough-

Xin is a Runemistress of Chi-ji, drawing on the mystic scribe aspect of him.

Enjoy~! 💕

[pekmez-art]

Lore accurate gameplay

[ask-kennyo]

Like shipping two people together

To where? Wouldn't it be wrong to ship people to somewhere they are not from... unless they want to go there?

[meistoshi]

hmmmm.. storm sorcerer & swap monk for a nature domain cleric class.....

[vestigesofperversion]

[ CAMPAIGN 2, EPISODE 108 ]

[ EMPIRE KIDS SAFETY MEETING, TRAVELERCON EVE ]

BEAU: Maybe not vigilante justice. Maybe we do it all above the board.

CALEB: Sure.

VETH: How would— you mean, work for your organization?

BEAU: Maybe.

VETH: You’re gonna deputize us?

BEAU: Can I do that?

VETH: I think maybe?

BEAU: I think I can. I think we just decided that I can. Yeah, I could do that, yeah…. We’re not like the guard, by the way. We’re like, librarians. I just want to point that out. So you could be like, deputized librarians.

VETH: I must admit, we’ve been talking about your organization for a lot of this “campaign” or whatever you call it. But I don’t know very much about it at all.

BEAU: It’s pretty enigmatic, yeah. We have like a god, Ioun. Yeah, totally… I’m technically kinda like a religious person, it’s just like whatever.

CALEB: You are like a cleric, then.

BEAU: No… I’m not like that at all. It’s just like, um… you know, like, um… like Platinum Dragon School? Or like

CALEB: Yah.

BEAU: It’s like, Ioun School.

CALEB: I’ve only ever seen you reverse-heal people.

[yael-art-den]

Another Ankh doodle, this time, I have his Lore way more figured out.

I will be putting him through The Horrors (having friendships, opening up to people, leaning that he can, in fact, do good things) in the future, but overall backstory info bellow

Ankh-Ruhak, or "babe would you still love me if I got corrupted by the elemental chaos of the Cataclysm". Got left to die by his old group in the Cataclysm, survived the whole scuffle but got permanently corrupted by it, and the whole world turned it's back to him.

Getting abandoned at the end of the world had a toll on him, and that started his whole mentallity of "If I dont get what I need, I Will take it by force", and a world view of just, living day to day until another apocalypse happens and finally wipes us all out.

After he met one of his party members (made by one of my friends), he started leaning into the whole "aventurer" thing as a way to make money, not because he believed an asshole like him could actually be a hero. In his mind, he is just "pretending" to be one of the old heroes to scam people.

... But apparently, being able to keep whatever kind if darkness he has at bay, and being.. fine with it, actually, making him a being of both dark and light and not trult leaning into either, makes him certainly.. interesting to certain God of Balance

[demonheartsworld]

Hearts of the Stars: A Sci-Fi Romance Pt.5

As she held her shoulder, there were so many questions in Liora’s mind. Who were these people? They are attuned to the Force and yet we have almost no knowledge that this planet is inhabited. It’s no surprise that they reacted to me thus, since we are the ones who appear to be trespassing on their territory. She winced a little at the pain, but she could sense that the bleeding was beginning to stop. She was not aware of how the poison was affecting her, but her heart had unknowingly begun to react physiologically to the foreign substance.

Still crouched in the dark cave, Liora kept herself a good distance away from his plasma staff, observing his stance. At this point, she also glanced curiously at the stranger’s face, illuminated with the light emanating from his eye. His eyes were.... not fully human, and the one that was blue seemed to be scanning her. I wonder what happened to him, he has scars that suggest an injury... Liora felt rather exposed under his gaze, and stared back whilst raising her eyebrows.

Her eyes shifted as he took out the oval instrument and blew on it. The music was oddly calming, and she was filled with curiosity about this race. So they use music as a method of communication. He has not spoken a word and I do wonder if their main methods of communication are mind to mind. Maybe that’s why I could sense them so strongly... Liora tilted her head as the notes stopped, surmising that it was a signal to summon more of his brethren.

She delved into the force once more, connecting her mind with Master Valin. Master, I have made contact with the inhabitants of this planet. Preliminary communication suggests that they are an advanced race, wary of us and prone to defending themselves by attack. I would urge extreme caution to the others.

Before she could send more information about her location to Master Valin, several female monks arrived as if by command and Liora looked cautiously at them. As two of them approached her, she held her right hand up. “Wait- I have thus far not drawn my weapon as a gesture of good faith. Before you come any closer, I would ask the same of you  - show me that you are not carrying any weapons.”

She was surprised when he spoke and assured her she would not be harmed further. His voice sounded stern and commanding. He must be ranked highly to be so respected by the others. Yet, he spoke her language well, albeit with a foreign accent. “I am glad to hear that I won’t be killed immediately. My name is Liora. And what is yours?”

As the monks guided her towards the stranger, she spotted another small group of veiled monks standing guard, and she noticed that the caves were becoming more well lit. Ah, it must almost be daybreak. From what little I can see of his maroon robes, I cannot guess what discipline he is from. I would dearly love to ask all sorts of curious questions, but perhaps at a later time when enough trust has been built between our people.

[miqojak]

When I walk up in the piece I ain't gotta even speak

I'm a bad mamajama goddammit motherfucker

You ain't gotta like me

(- Gossip Folks, Missy Elliott )

I made myself finally hit max level on monk, and celebrated with the new crafted set, and some pics! The poses are just base monk abilities... with the tail maneuvered a little for a more dynamic shot! Canonically, Jak can be considered both a monk, and a DRK - though I don't think I consider her to have a soul crystal for monk. It's just a combat style - though I've considered having her look deeper into the monk arts as they pertain to chi... and learning to, effectively, chi-block casters in a fight.