'Chaotic alignments for Monks

[Rantfiend]

I was wondering how one would go about playing a monk with one of the chaotic alignments?
Any advice or ideas are welcome

[Mechagamera]

CE--the monk's philosophical studies have taken him down a dark path, glimpsing things in mediation that man (or dwarf or elf or whatever the monk is) should never have seen. The monk believes that applying existing martial arts with wanton cruelty will eventually open his mind to creating a qlippoth stance or soul-wrenching ki spells.

CN--before becoming a monk, the person's life was rash and unfocused. At the monastery, she attained discipline, but that discipline was the result of being surrounded by the monastic culture. Now circumstances have forced her out in the world, and without the constant push of her fellow monks, her natural tendency towards capriciousness has returned, aided by the muscle memory of years of martial arts training.

[Deadmanwalking]

You can easily also play a Chaotic Monk as a barroom brawler or the like. Or the rash and impetuous young martial artist beloved by certain kinds of anime. Or lots of other options.

Really, all the Monk class does in PF2 is make you good at unarmed combat, so anything from "I PUNCH BEARS!" to the most esoteric and spiritual martial arts is totally acceptable.

[DomHeroEllis]

Zentropy; the belief that only through chaos and following your whims as they arise can true perfection happen.

[Deadmanwalking]

If examples help, one that leaps to mind, on the philosophical end, is Zaheer, the main villain of Legend of Korra's third season. There's a character who is pretty unambiguously CN philosophically, but also an extremely spiritual and philosophical individual, as well as an expert martial artist.

Chaos isn't always about lack of discipline, after all.

[Riobux]

Deadmanwalking wrote:

Really, all the Monk class does in PF2 is make you good at unarmed combat, so anything from "I PUNCH BEARS!" to the most esoteric and spiritual martial arts is totally acceptable.

Totally agree. That said, if you're itching for what kind of monastic monk could be CG, CN or CE, I would start to look in terms of real world philosophies that could illustrate a disillusionment of societal structures with varying values upon life (from good's high respect for life, to evil's low respect).

So, for instance, I would think about Utilitarianism for CG (the greatest good for the greatest number, although this can veer into NG which is the humanitarian alignment to me), Social Darwinism for CE and maybe Anarchism, Libertarianism or Absurdism for CN (basically more focused on opposition to social structures than the argument about the value upon life).

[James Jacobs]

My favorite archetype of the chaotic monk would be the monk who wanders the earth, choosing their routes randomly at each crossroads and helping people out as they encounter them along their journey. Seems like a really cool concept for a monk of Desna to me.

[The Raven Black]

Chozen Toguchi, the bad guy from The Karate Kid, part 2, is definitely CE.

He enjoys the power and fame that his mastery of the martial arts brings him and cares nothing for honor or loyalty, except when it provides him with an excuse to bully and hurt others.

[Perpdepog]

Another CN example--I was recently toying with the idea of a monk who would MC into aberrant-blooded sorcerer, flavoring it as tapping into the sanity-eroding knowledge provided by entities from the Lovecraft Mythos. As dedicated to learning as any lawful monk, but with a very different emphasis.

Also they could have stretchy arms.

[Tacticslion]

Perpdepog wrote:

Another CN example--I was recently toying with the idea of a monk who would MC into aberrant-blooded sorcerer, flavoring it as tapping into the sanity-eroding knowledge provided by entities from the Lovecraft Mythos. As dedicated to learning as any lawful monk, but with a very different emphasis.

Also they could have stretchy arms.

Maybe he squeaks!

(Warning, I don't know how much language content is in that. It's Team Four-Star's DBZ Abridged.)