Masters of martial arts, Monks are a fun and versatile class inDungeons & Dragons. They might not be the strongest among martials, but they have an easier time avoiding most things thrown their way. Still, creating a character involves coming up with a backstory, and sometimes we’re just out of ideas.
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To help get your ideas started, we have a few backstory concepts to show you. Use whichever you feel like, and feel free to combine some of them together to make your character the way you want them to be.
10Prodigal Student
A good and simple start, you can be a good student from your temple who recently left to adventure. You’ll have interesting NPCs you can add, such as a master and fellow students, maybe a rival, and you’ll have a base you can visit whenever necessary.
You just need a reason for your masters to give you a free pass to adventure around. Someone’s death, a stolen artifact, full destruction of the temple (bye-bye, base). Whatever it is, it’s an effective backstory. Not every backstory needs trauma - unless you’re going for the destruction thing.
Going the other way around, you’re able to actually be a bad student. Someone who fails at most evaluations, and can’t perform techniques right, maybe be a laughing stock for other students. It’s a good backstory for low-level characters.
Time to get out there by yourself and prove your worth through a peregrination. you may travel around the world to find a way to prove yourself, or you can ditch the temple for good and find a place that accepts you. All while using the martial arts you’ve already learned for self-defense.
8Soldier
You know, martial arts were mostly created for warfare in the first place. It’s not difficult to use army training to justify your character’s fighting style. Maybe they’re a sort of elite warriors or fighters who believe in a more traditional type of combat, but still.
A former soldier turned adventurer is an easy premise to go with, as it explains how you’ve learned to fight and even has a background for you to pick up when creating the character. Pretty straightforward.
7Former Criminal
Let’s add more drama to these backstories. Why not be a former criminal who was accepted into a monk temple? Maybe you try robbing the wrong person, who took pity on you and is now your Master. A journey to fix your own life is a very noble one.
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you may have the temptation of using your new abilities for crime again, or you can have NPCs from your past come back and haunt you, though that’s something up to your DM. Regardless, drama is always fun.
6Former Snob
A different type of redeeming yourself is a person who used to be superficial,Perhaps a former noble, who only cared about their wealth. However, either through losing your money or not finding happiness through it, your character only felt empty inside.
A solution to their problems was choosing a life of humbleness; They’re letting go of the material and embracing the spiritual. And resisting temptation can still be a dilemma your characters go through, giving you fun roleplaying opportunities.
5Renegade
Going back on “using your new abilities for crime,” you can be a bad student, but not in the sense of bad grades. You can turn against the principles your masters taught you and use your martial abilities to do whatever you want.
A fun concept for an evil character, and you may have lots of monks to function as your antagonists since there’s a good chance your former masters will want to stop you. May the best monk win.
4Street Fighter
To be fair, you won’t be a monk in title if you use this backstory, but the class is a good fit here because it requires no weapons. Essentially, you’ve lived in a complicated neighborhood, or maybe you’re an orphan, and you’ve learned to fight by yourself.
You can also re-skin some monk weapons with random objects, just to fit the idea even more, like using a cane or a broken broom as your staff. That would give you a fun Jackie Chan vibe for your character.
3Wrestler
Another concept where you won’t technically be a monk, but the class suits the concept well, is a wrestler. Not a real wrestler, as they wouldn’t exist in a medieval setting, but a more professional type of fighter who chooses to fight unarmed. Monks are perfect for characters like this.
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With feats such as Tavern Brawler or Grappler, you can play with this idea quite a lot too. Just be careful since this feat combo will demand a bit of strength, something most monk builds don’t utilize.
2Performer
Did you know you can use different ability scores to roll certain skills as long as the reasoning makes sense? Because that’s a good argument for you to roll Performance using your Dexterity score. That said, you can use your class to be a performer.
Someone who uses martial arts for presentations rather than constant fighting can make for a fun character. You can make a former acrobatic, or something similar, in search of a more profitable lifestyle. Hence, the adventuring around.
1Old Master
The monk cliché is a very fun character to roleplay, though it’ll work best if you’re starting at a higher level - or perhaps a campaign that starts at high levels. you’re able to be a wandering old master who helps people however possible, and speaks through confusing words of wisdom.
It also works to make asomewhat pacifist character- not fully, as you’ll likely beat the crap of a lot of people - but you’re able to be the type of person who only fights when truly necessary and attempt to solve problems through conversation.
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