#honored monk

[maskerat]

traditional art of clouded monk. I really like this guy

I'm generally surprised and disappointed people don't draw him much, I can barely find any fanart online. it's odd to me becuz he's one of the More Humanoid Abnormalities, and ppl love those (take into notes: Little Red, Der Frei, Butterfly man, The magical girls, I'd even dare to say Army in Pink). but this guy? everybody forgot about him even though I believe he's genuinely intriguing and good-looking. I know I'm rambling but I'm quite sad, I feel like I'm the only one who's kinda obsessed with him. bro even made me learn what śarīra means lmao.

[chanza-panza]

Fragrant time of the month...

[wormheamer]

been sitting on the draft for this one since august

[jellisdraws]

Penumbral Prayer

[creaturefrom0uterspace]

Crime-solving Neurodivergent Characters I Enjoy!

(canon and not canon)

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

I’m sorry if this has been asked, but what Jedi (besides Yoda) represents the best of what a Jedi could be in your opinion?

That's… a complicated question 😅. Very hard to answer, considering I love them all 💕.

The answer is that… well, the best of the Jedi is the Order itself. I know it sounds ridiculous but… they are all awesome 😍.

Shaak Ti is… the clones' mom, basically (or close enough). She also took ✨baby Ahsoka ✨ on her akul hunt. She's kind and compassionate, she stands up for the clones and doesn't stop pushing the Kaminoans until she saves Fives' life (who at the time was believed to have gone rogue).

Plo Koon adopts/mentors every curious being he comes across (which we stan) ♥️, and loves the clones so much. Do you still think about the "we are supposed to be expendable" "not to me" exchange, or ✨baby Ahsoka✨ trusting him immediately because she knows he's safe to be around? Yeah, me too 🥺.

Ki-Adi Mundi is the most stern out of the Council (save for perhaps Mace), but that doesn't stop him from goofing around with the kids (Anakin and Ahsoka) and caring a lot towards his men (and people say he's an emotionless robot and proof of everything wrong with the Order 🙄).

Mace Windu walks close to the Dark Side every day yet chooses not to Fall every single time ✊. He has a temper, but keeps it under control and doesn't let his anger outweight his kindness. In TCW he's shown putting himself in danger for his men in nearly every moment he's on screen, and is even compassionate towards Boba after he's killed his men 🥺. He loves the Republic, loves Depa, and holy fuck he defeated Sidious!

Even Ima-Gun Di, the guy who's literally named "I'm gonna die 😂", seems to be a good Jedi. He's close with his men and dies protecting Ryloth (the Twi'leks owe him their planet, their freedom and their lives!).

But the Jedi who exemplifies the best of them? It's tricky, but I'm gonna pick Obi-Wan and Luke.

Obi-Wan remains kind and compassionate even after his whole family, culture and way of life is burned to the ground by the men he fought three entire years to protect and his Padawan/brother at the lead. He, even when dirt poor, gives some money to a veteran of the 501st! Anakin's legion! The same legion that stormed the Temple! This man is amazing 😍🥹.

And Luke 🥹, what hasn't been said about Luke? He overcomes his difficulties, he finds a present to stand on, he sacrifices himself to save the Rebellion and his father, his kriffing Sith-Apprentice-Jedi-Killer-Emperor's-Fist father, and he succeeds! He tells the Emperor to fuck right off and that he's a Jedi and will die a Jedi before he becomes a Sith. He offers Jabba the Hutt the opportunity to surrender and get out of the situation without bloodshed.

But anyways 😅. Luke and Obi-Wan are, along with Yoda, the representation of the best of the Jedi, but everyone else is not so far behind (except Anakin and Ahsoka).

[kaelatargaryen]

I was fine before I knew Ewan Mitchell existed.

[dungeons-and-dorics]

Costume Design

im a simp for 2 things, historical fashion/costumes and paladins.

Amanda Monk, the costume designer of DnD: Honor Among Thieves, deserves some fuckin awards. It’s sooooooo good. Nothing is too noticeably analog to real world cultures so it’s fantastical (but if any of y’all did notice something please tell me im fascinated by this stuff), but the parts meant to show excess and wealth are fancy and intricate and ornate and colorful (specifically thinking of the background actors in the castle of Neverwinter) and comparatively the armor and clothing worn by characters who care less about wealth (Doric, Holga, and those with the Emerald Enclave) have muted, dark, and neutral color palettes because dyed fabric isn’t cheap.

But the ultimate standout design out of all of it is XENK’S ARMOR. It’s fucking spectacular. It’s magnificent. It might be the best set of armor I’ve ever seen in a live action fantasy movie in general. It’s just. SO GOOD.

usually im not that obsessed with armor in costuming, im a femme that loves pretty gowns, but we didn’t get much of that in this movie aside from Kira’s adorable dress in the castle (which i did LOVE it’s so cute) but the armor in this movie was amazing and it made me so happy

i just. love costumes. i love dramatic, fantastical, detailed costumes. and i especially love well designed costumes being worn by actors who know how to use the image of a character to tell that characters story. love it all.

[justabiteofspite]

Not to sound too Dark Urge-y, but a huge part of the fun of doing harder difficulties and honor mode in BG3 is finding new, scary ways to kill enemies that play out like a horror movie.

For example, let me introduce you to the melee combination of Astarion as a open hand monk/thief rogue with the Sussur Dagger and Lae'zel as a warlock/paladin with the Doom Hammer.

So imagine this. You're a guard at Moonrise Towers Minding Your Damn Business. Suddenly, you feel the sharp sting of cold steel slip through your ribs, and you can't move (stunning strike) and can't speak (silenced condition from the Sussur Dagger). You can only see out of the corner of your eye a glimpse of a silver-haired twink punching you multiple times in the kidneys.

Then, a scary gith lady beats you over the head with a massive hammer that prevents you from healing yourself or getting healed by anyone else (bone chilled from the Doom Hammer).

You can't move, can't scream, and realize far too late as everything goes dark that these were the last six seconds of your life.

[molagboop]

Mawkin children undergo several maturity rites before they're granted full tribal citizenship. The first occurs around eight years old, involving a basic academic evaluation and the child's choice between a physical fitness test or a dream-walk.

The evals are simple: how much has the child learned, what do they know, where can we supplement their education, etc. How can we stimulate their curiosity and foster a lifelong love of learning? Have they displayed any skills or passion for any particular subject? How can we encourage their hobbies and interests? Those are the kinds of questions the adults involved in carrying out the evaluation are asking themselves.

The evaluations help parents figure out (or reaffirm what they already know) ways to engage their childrens' interests in a fun or productive way, and how to help their child along the path to success, academic or otherwise. Every child is different: they have their own needs, and while 8 years old isn't old enough for anyone to ascertain exactly what they wanna be when they grow up, the evaluation is a good starting point for the rest of their academic track until their next formative rites.

The next part of the rites is a branching path. The fitness test is typically favored by more outdoorsy or athletic types, as well as children who are afraid of specters or arent very interested in the old ways. That's fine: old people stuff can be boring! The priests go on and on about the ancestors during holidays, but you're eight years-old and you've never seen the ancestors show up before, so big whoop. You've got toys to play and things to learn.

Another general assumption is that children who are likely to grow into steadfast warriors or athletes may pick the fitness test enthusiastically and without thinking about it, but again, this is an evaluation, and the kids are like, eight. Nothing is set in stone. Eight year olds also typically love playing outside.

A number of kids, hearing about all the cool things their elders know and are capable of, or just being curious about what their ancestors might have to teach them, opt for the dream-walk.

The dream-walk involves exposure to psychoactive fumes, but is nonetheless completely safe: the kid is monitored and made as comfortable as possible.

The dream-walk is overseen by priests and doctors. The burners are lit and the trial-goer falls asleep, entering a state similar to lucid dreaming.

Everyone's experience is different. Some kids have profound surreal experiences: others spend the entire time sitting at a table with a long-dead ancestor having a meal. Some kids are shown events from the past by an old ghost: some even experience said event from the perspective of someone who was there when it happened.

For others, the dream is of an old-fashioned hunt, typically guided by a departed grandparent or neighbor. It's not unusual for Mawkin kids to have experienced the act of hunting for food or sport by this point in their lives: many who hunt take their babies out with them on their backs. The quarry during the dream-walk, however, is typically more than your mundane game beast.

Tribal scholars and doctors of psychology have posited that the dream walk largely reflects the experiences of those involved. Formative memories and strong feelings, they believe, greatly affect the appearance of conjured apparitions in the dream. If a kid is fighting any demons at eight years old or harbor any powerful fears, they may very well be forced to face them head-on during this trial.

Therein lies the value of the dream-walk: it's not just a curiosity to get the kids to engage with cultural practices of yore, it has utility in teaching children valuable lessons through experience without actually making them fight the six-eyed serpent of a hundred and seventeen mouths. And they're usually not facing it alone: the ancestors quite literally walk with plenty of kids during these trials.

There are some truths a given child must face alone, and plenty do. But when they wake, they will find themselves among familiar company, the sweet smell of wood smoke permeating the air and a feast awaiting back home to celebrate their first milestone towards becoming an adult.

Some kids don't fight any major bosses or experience the heat death of the universe through the eyes of a slug, instead deriving value from the dream-walk in the form of sensory-guided introspection. The lesson they learn may not even be apparent to them until six years down the line. It doesn't have to be deep: it can just be an experience that gives then a new perspective on the world.

The senses are heightened supremely during the dream-walk, allowing the dreamer to experience the world in a whole new way. Tasting color, feeling the vibration of every sound beneath one's skin, perceiving the shape of every smell. Even if the kid walks away thinking "huh, I've never experienced the world that way before", the trial will have been a success. In the very least, a child should come out of that dark room with a unique memory for them to examine later on.

Several minor rituals and evaluations occur around twelve and fifteen years, but the foremost citizenship rites occur around seventeen, when an individual's stomach is strong enough to handle sap wine in greater quantities without suffering catastrophic liver failure. The dream-walk is a requirement this time around, as well as a combat test. The combat test is the actual rite that determines one's status as an adult: the mandatory dream-walk occurs beforehand as a way to shed all doubts about the strength of one's resolve if they have any insecurities, and perhaps gain some personal insight in the process. Introspection assisted by psychoactive substances.

You may be wondering how those with varying degrees of disability come of age if they can't engage in the rite of combat. There are alternatives to the combat test if the participant doesn't feel able enough to fight, or otherwise can't exert themselves without experiencing undue pain and discomfort.

There are alternative rites for individuals of every combination of physical and cognitive impairment, and all are treated with the same gravity and dignity afforded to the typical rites. Poetry recitals, music, research projects, an oath of maturity: these are a few examples of things disabled Mawkin have done to establish their claim to adulthood in place of the rite of combat. An individual doesn't have to be "good" at something: they just have to show that they accept the responsibility that comes with being an adult, or are otherwise committed to their community and the tribe at large.

For some people, that commitment comes in the form of thriving to the best of their ability. Surviving to the next day, striving for tomorrow to hurt a little less than yesterday. It doesn't matter whether they can "contribute" or be a "productive member of society": all are one, and one serves all. The Mawkin take community very seriously. There's an age-old adage that says something to the effect of "if one is suffering, all are injured", and "when one is deprived of dignity, we are all cast naked face-down into the mud".

Anyways, that's how juvenile Mawkin are granted all the rights, responsibilities and privileges that come saddled with being an adult. It's worth noting that most of these rites line up with a typical Chozo's molting cycle, with the final rites occurring just as young warriors are shaking off the last loose feathers of their old coat and displaying their first (clear) adult patterns.

[maskerat]

I was re-reading his wiki again and thought to myself "hey, he sounds like a ghoul/zombie, so why not incorporate it into his design. " thus, I tried to make his skin look more ashy and textured.

[tosahobi-if]

what does your itch.io username mean? i tried looking it up but didn't find anything 😅

you most likely didn't find anything because i made it up HAHAHA lijiang (豊江) is the name of the fictional ancient northeastern kingdom where the great calamity occurred and guksa (國師/국사) means royal preceptor! so all together the username means the royal preceptor of lijiang. it's a personal joke of mine^^

[sagesariadnd]

Revisiting Doric's Chase From a Dungeon Mastering Lens

So, we've established by now that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a great movie. Fun, funny, heartfelt, everything genuinely feels like a D&D game from the goofy to the grand. But I wanna talk a little about my pick for the best scene in the movie: the wild shape chase.

A quick recap, if you haven't seen the movie or it's been a while; the party is trying to break into Castle Never in Neverwinter, to try to contact the party leader's daughter, who had been entrusted to the BBEG when he got arrested in a heist gone bad. The BBEG campaigned to become Lord Neverwinter when Lord Neverember mysteriously fell ill (gee, what a coincidence) and rules under the advisement of a bigger BBEG, Sofina, a Red Wizard of Thay. The party is using the goods stored in Castle Never's vault, where nobles from around Faerun are contributing wager money for the controversial High Sun Games, as the payment for helping in this endeavor, but they need to know how to get into the vault. So they hire the druid Doric to spy on them and gather intel on the vault. Sofina senses her presence, and the result is the chase we'll be talking about today.

Now, I could go on forever about how much I love this scene. The tension, the quick thinking of all her different forms, the hilarity of a whole platoon of guards desperately failing to dogpile on a single rat, the music that isn't on the soundtrack cd for some reason (I'm not bitter!), the 'one shot' cinematography, the payoff on Holga's running gag of suggesting she become a deer...but there is a non-wildshaped elephant in the room.

I don't particularly like rules-lawyering, especially for a movie. Especially considering how Doric was in hot water with D&D Nerds (tm) from the moment the trailer was released, because she was white (forgetting that tieflings, by the book, CAN in fact have normal human skin tones), and because she can wildshape into an owlbear, which is a monstrosity, not a beast. (Come on guys, let her have her fun, there's plenty of ways a DM can make that happen.)

But regardless, there is a continuity error, if not a game error. According to Doric's official stat sheet, she can only wild shape five times a day. She wild shapes seven times in this scene - fly, rat, rat again, hawk, cat, axe beak, deer. And that's assuming this was on a different day than their first meeting with Doric, when she had already shaped into a horse and the aforementioned owlbear.

But stow your blades, friends. This isn't a rant about how they got a rule wrong in the D&D movie. In fact, I offer a far more charitable take on this error, by offering a meta perspective. I posit that this error is the Hand of the DM.

It could be as simple as being in the moment. Think about your past battles and encounters in your games; how many times have you forgotten basic things under pressure? Don't lie. My DM and I have both gotten so caught up in a fight scene that we both forget that I already used my bonus action when I try to Flurry of Blows. Hell, I think all of us have been guilty of forgetting entire skills on our sheet that could have been useful at that exact moment. The chase is pretty intense, and I imagine playing it in an actual D&D game would be even moreso; you don't have the privilege of hindsight or time to think. You have to just GO, and it could be very easy to belief that Doric's player and the DM just completely lost track of the number of wild shapes she used. Probably didn't even think of it as they're both biting their nails to see if Doric makes it out. Just imagine the delight and release of tension at the table as Sofina is hot on Doric's heels and the player, in a moment of panic, blurts out "I turn into a deer!!!" Holga's player must have been losing her shit. Even if she wasn't already over budget, if I was the DM in that moment I'd let the extra wild shape slide JUST for that moment of bringing the running gag full circle.

And then, as I was watching the movie last night, an even deeper meta headcanon occurred to me.

I don't mean what I'm about to say as a putdown of Sophia Lillis; I think she did great and she definitely resonated with people as a favorite character in the movie. But Doric as a character is a little strange. She's a bit stiff and seems nervous, her lines have a slightly uncanny tinge, she generally seems kind of awkward...

Call me crazy, but doesn't that sound like a new D&D player to you?

I don't know if this was a deliberate choice on Lillis or the director's part, but Doric's awkwardness feels like a great representation of what it's like first getting into the hobby. Even if you've been interested in roleplaying before, it can feel weird when you first start out, getting used to talking out loud as your character, on top of the ongoing D&D struggles of getting to know your character as it is, and of course figuring out and memorizing all of your character's abilities. As a new player, I can imagine Doric's player latching onto "I can turn into animals" and considering that in every problem, because not only is it cool and useful, it's a simple concept to remember.

The spy mission was Doric's big moment. Her first non-combat scenario at the table. On top of that, it's a solo mission, and one that the entire plan relies on. This is Doric's player's time to really cut her teeth on D&D. Not only is the pressure on her to succeed, but the pressure is on the DM to give her a good experience to boost her confidence and have her wanting to keep playing.

So, the DM encourages her. He praises her quick thinking when she tries to sneak away in the armor, even when the guard passes his insight check. He reminds her as she's about to hit the ground that she can fly. He puts obstacles in her way as she flies off, watching her excitement and anxiety rise as every bow shot misses her. She gets tangled in the flag and could have tanked the fall damage because she'd just revert back to herself, but she wildshapes into a cat. She's getting into the groove!

And that leaves her spent on wild shape slots, slipping out the door thinking that if she stays hidden, she'll be safe to escape. But it's not over. She still needs to make it to the gate, and there's Sofina - she followed her out. Doric's player asks if there are animals around - the axe beak flock. The DM could have checked if she could still wild shape, but Doric's player is coming out of her shell. He could make her find another way out, but she's so deeply on a roll that stopping it now could not only get Doric killed, but possibly snuff out that light that's hit the player's eyes at every triumph. So, the DM calls for Rule of Cool - just one wave of the wild shape count, because hiding among the axe beaks is a cool idea, even if Sofina can ultimately see through it. The one axe beak lifts its head at exactly the wrong moment to take the hit meant for Doric - warning shot; the DM wouldn't just kill her like that. She just needs to book it to the gate - if she can make it that far, then the DM will call it a win.

And then there's the last wild shape - a deer. It would give her the speed she needs to outpace Sofina's horse. And Holga had clearly planted the idea in her head. It's too perfect to not use. And probably worth a point of inspiration, at that! The DM has to let it happen now. And besides, she's so close. A few more nail-biting rounds of chase, and Deer-ic power slides under the portcullis and gallops away. Cheering, screaming, claps on the shoulders. Doric's player collapses into her chair, a frazzled mess but the biggest smile on her face. She just had pure, concentrated D&D and now she's hooked. And after the game they can have a talk about how this was an exception for the sake of a good story and rewarding good roleplay.

Of course, nobody can know for sure how the game really happened, or how the writers imagined the D&D game to go. But Honor Among Thieves has such a special balance on the line of the in-universe story and the real world that I think it's good to look at these kinds of gaffs. No DM is perfect, no player is perfect, not everything goes according to plan or in perfect adherence to the rules. But I've said it before and I'll say it again; sometimes that just makes a better story. It's always important to be clear with your players that you won't always have kid gloves with them, but it's also important to make your players feel appreciated and rewarded for their choices, which is ESPECIALLY vital with new players. Their experience in moments like this could make or break the hobby for them; make the experience a good one.

[gayestcowboy]

help. i just killed orin solo in the duel. no slayer form required. the monk is unstoppable

[boyswhowawa]

Request #4: Meeting

done for a friend from discord for those who don't know, Monk and Saint are both my favorite characters :D

[just-a-girl-that-likes-stuff]

Omg June!!!! Arden Cho was so good as June!

I don’t see a lot of people talking about her but she was great!

Also, I don’t think I can mention enough times how much I love the casting for Gyatso and Aang!