With monks being required to be Lawful is this a viable class to have in this AP? With piracy being such a chaotic action I am having a hard time coming up with how a monk could be played.
I currently GM S&S, and one of my players has a Vanara PC that is a Drunken Master Monk.
He has played the lawful aspect as being extremely respectful of the "code of the sea" and following a Besmara-inspired "pirate code" along with most of the rest of the party.
He's been very consistent with his decision making and his alignment has not been a problem so far. In the few instances where he has possibly crossed the line, an admonishment from the Inquisitor of Besmara in the party has gotten him back on track and made for some amusing roleplay between my players.
Now, that being said, while I feel that a PC in S&S can get away with a LN alignment, I did not allow my players to choose to play a paladin as a character, nor did I allow any LG alignments, in order to help me keep the group more in line with (what I feel is) the spirit of the AP.
As a note, here is the party I GM for:
Human Sea Reaver Barbarian
Human Ape Shaman Druid w/ Monkey Animal Companion
Human Black Powder Inquisition Inquisitor of Besmara
Human Black Blade Magus
Vanara Drunken Master Monk
Dwarf War Priest of Besmara
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Ninja'd already I see, but +1 to the LN alignment. This is the description from pfsrd. Emphasis mine.
A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount. She may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or she may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government.
Lawful neutral means you are reliable and honorable without being a zealot.
The Shackles has its own code of law and even has a monarch. A monk could hold more strictly to the pirate code than a regular pirate ("They really more like guidelines")
With monks being required to be Lawful is this a viable class to have in this AP? With piracy being such a chaotic action I am having a hard time coming up with how a monk could be played.
Monks have to be Lawful, but the Martial Artist monk archetype very explicitly does not. You give up some things, but get others.
The Monk in my S&S game has a Vow of truth- he can't speak falsehoods. I thought it would create some fun RP moments in an otherwise scoundrel-filled party.
It didn't.
A much better suggestion would be as others have already offered- have the monk be a strict adherent to the code of the sea (etc).
Another option is to either play an Agathion-Blooded Aasimar, or be Adopted by one, so you can take the Enlightened Warrior Character Trait.
Then you can be Neutral (or Neutral Good, but this is a pirate campaign).
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Another option is to either play an Agathion-Blooded Aasimar, or be Adopted by one, so you can take the Enlightened Warrior Character Trait.
Then you can be Neutral (or Neutral Good, but this is a pirate campaign).
Neutral good shouldn't be much of a problem once the party can set its own course and choose its own targets, as long as the party is a mix of neutral and good characters. If the neutral good character is the only outlier in a group of neutral and evil characters, that might cause some friction.
Lawfull could also mean that the PC allways follows the captains orders, and is opposed to general cheating. No rigged games of dice, potentially no underhand tactics to lure in passing merchantmen, no lying to get out of trouble.
In my game, the captain was LE. For her, it meant she allways kept her word, even when breaking it would obviously be much more beneficial to her, and that she allways allowed Sargavan ships to sail by, as they had paid their protection money. It was very unpopular with the rest of the officers, and made for great fun.
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We're enjoying the monk in the campaign I'm running. Very much sticking to the personal code interpretation of lawful. You know, that rigorous discipline required to train/eat/sleep properly for an athlete who can tap into ki powers. As well as the discipline required for extended life at sea and the running of a ship. The monk PC has so owned every match (welcoming committee, the bilges, Owlbear) that he has a couple of followers who are keen on honing their pugilistic skills. If he gets Leadership, there may well be a ship of monk pirates!
(Also, piracy is *not* illegal in the Shackles. Plus, many of the PCs' opponents *are* pirates and therefore criminals somewhere. So fighting them is upholding the law in at least one country.)
I'm playing monk in this AP right now. Background wise he is red mantis trainee who escaped to seas to look for cyclop ruins. I play lawful as strong respect to chain of command and honoring their own ship over anything. If something threatens the ship and its crew, it must be dealt with. Captains orders are law but having argument with captain isn't wrong. Opposing slavery and providing enough freedom to crew mates is also important. This is more personal code and having two CN's (other being captain himself) is fun as very often our CN shadowdancer doesn't see eye to eye with monk. I can recommend playing monk in Skull&Shackles.
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Another interpretation for a monk's Lawful requirement is that the monk follows the edicts of his or her monastery, but the monk is not so much concerned with the law of the land (or even the ship). If the monastery's edicts are concerned with things like rigid physical training, keeping the soul clean from the stain of lying, and exploring the broader philosophical implications of life and death... none of those things have much to do with a government's laws or a pirate captain's commands.
Thanks for all the feedback!
and surely we have all seen pirates of the Caribbean. in the 3rd movie Jack Sparrows Father " keeper of the Code" is quite strict and unforgiving about not following the code
