Nolgroth

The honorable arts of sElf Defense?
 
As for the original questions: Yes I'm sure the prevalence of martial arts in modern action-adventure media have a lot to do with the popularity of the Monk class in D&D. No, an "Asian" mystic martial artist likely doesn't belong in your setting - but that does NOT mean a mystic martial artist doesn't fit. Or a non-mystic martial artist, or a non-martial artist mystic. You can link the class to a monastic tradition if that seems to fit, or don't if your setting has no monastic traditions or if you don't see a reason to have such a mandatory link.
 
You can have something like the ancient Greek Pankration. Elves, if you have them, or some pacifist cult, if you have such, might have developed techniques for restraining and subduing opponents without harming them. Abilities unlocked by ascetic practices and/or physical disciplines and/or meditative or yogic exercises might be associated with something like a chivalric order, or passed on in a guru to student / master to apprentice fashion or be closely guarded mysteries of some secret society.
 
I am sure something LIKE a "Monk" in the D&D sense can work even in a pseudo-European quasi-medieval setting, but the real question is - do you want to do the work of creating and balancing such a character type? For the answer to that, I suggest you consider who you are doing the work for. If one or more of your players really wants a "mystic martial artist" that gives a reason to invest in it, if none of them do and you don't plan to use it for any NPCs, maybe you can skip it. Or leave it as an open question to be revisited if the campaign moves in that direction or someone turns up who DOES want that.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Order of the Palindromedary

I've always seen it as an "exotic foreign import" thing. Basically, wanderers from a foreign land, or people who studied under them.
 
The roots of the class are obviously related to the impact of Kung Fu in US popular culture in the 70s.
 
Historically, the presence of Eastern fighters in Europe wasn't entirely inconceivable. The Ancient Greeks were in contact with India, and Indian yogis, gurus and Buddhist Monks as least as far back as Alexander the Great. Buddhists seem to have been present in Alexandria during the Ptolemaic era.
 
This contact continued at least sporadically during the Roman period. Furthermore, the Roman and Chinese borders can very close at times. The two civilizations were at least vaguely aware of each other's existence.
 
Christian missionaries travelled eastwards very early on. It is likely that, prior to the rise of Islam, there were more Christians to the east of the Roman Empire than within it. This contributed to the relatively early establishment of Christian populations in India and China, some of which persisted until they were encountered by Europeans much later on.
 
What was possible in one direction was notionally possible in the other. Eastern religions/philosophies, and the martial disciplines associated with them, could, technically, have established a foothold in Europe.
 
The Mongols provide one possible method for this. Mongol successor states existed on the fringes of Europe for centuries. Even now, in Kalmykia, a region within Russia next to the Caspian Sea, Buddhism is the most commonly practiced religion.
 
There's no especial reason why Buddhism couldn't have spread through eastern Europe as a minority religion (like Judaism, for example). In time it could have spread further west. The vicissitudes that it would have endured would have provided plenty of good reasons for the survival and further development of martial traditions.
 
This is speculative history, but it's not entirely impossible within a "fantasy Europe".
 
In a more generic fantasy world? Up to you.

Where he teams up with Emo Flash?

Me three. Well, what I saw of it, anyhow. Which was only the last two or three episodes. (But I've read a number of things online that suggest that S2 was far better than a very rocky S1 for Legends.)
 
Worse, as far as prospects for future CW superhero shows on my tv go, is Supergirl. I watched...half of the season finale. And today I tried to watch the rest, but after a minute or two, I just deleted it unwatched. I. Just. Can't. Bring. Myself. To. Care. Too many flavors of stupid combined to create an unpalatable mess.
 
I've complained before in the Supergirl thread about how virtually every villain can give Kara a real fight, when that should very rarely be the case. That was part of it. Terry Hatcher shouldn't have a chance against her.
Words cannot express how much I detest Mon-El and the whole Mon-El/Kara "romance". (Not to get all SJW about this--since mostly I find those people annoying as hell--but they spent the whole first season showing Kara pining after James, only to dump that plot immediately so she could have a romance with the white dudebro space frat boy? Seriously?)
If we're gonna be subjected to romance (and this is the CW, so that's a big "definitely") I'd much rather watch Alex and Detective Girlfriend (I can't remember anyone's names tonight)
Or Kara and Lena. (I know they're never gonna go there, any more than Supernatural is ever gonna fess up to Dean/Castiel, but the less screen time Space Fratboy gets, the better.)
Plus, the "contaminate earth's atmosphere with lead" to drive away the aliens? Uh, okay, humans don't have an instantly-lethal allergic reaction to lead...but it's still bad for us, okay? Not a great plan.
 
So, I guess...the Flash finale, bad as it was, wasn't THAT bad. I did watch it all the way thru, in bits and pieces. I couldn't sit thru the Supergirl finale.

Because he is still Barry and thus not very bright?

There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for the cowardice that monsters like this display. At least I, for one, cannot articulate in any way the depth of absolute hatred that I feel for these...like I said, words cannot even convey.

There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for the cowardice that monsters like this display. At least I, for one, cannot articulate in any way the depth of absolute hatred that I feel for these...like I said, words cannot even convey.

Looks like the time is near for me to enter a new job as a creepy clown hunter, and rid the world of their evil.  Roaming the country with a band of ruffians sharing my cause.

Don't try to put it into context. There is none. It is just plain Evil. Yes, that is a capital E. 
 
People will try to explain it, justify it, excuse it, or just plain understand it, but evil is something that good people can't truly understand. It's why you are shocked and dismayed. Keep being shocked and dismayed. It sucks, but it defines you as a good person.

Don't try to put it into context. There is none. It is just plain Evil. Yes, that is a capital E. 
 
People will try to explain it, justify it, excuse it, or just plain understand it, but evil is something that good people can't truly understand. It's why you are shocked and dismayed. Keep being shocked and dismayed. It sucks, but it defines you as a good person.

Don't try to put it into context. There is none. It is just plain Evil. Yes, that is a capital E. 
 
People will try to explain it, justify it, excuse it, or just plain understand it, but evil is something that good people can't truly understand. It's why you are shocked and dismayed. Keep being shocked and dismayed. It sucks, but it defines you as a good person.

This could be simply Orville if they Don't do it just Wright

Behold! A "foodies" contribution to the art of role playing.

loQ Pony, loQ Pony
ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh.
choS Sparkle
(loQ Pony)
DanoHmeH jIH laH, qatlh nuq Qu' SIv
(loQ Pony)
until SoH magic SoH Hoch HItlhej
rainbow Dash
tIn adventure
pinkie chab
fun tons
rarity
tIq 'IH
applejack
matlh 'ej HoS
fluttershy
wIHHa'wI' maywI' SoH!
choS Sparkle
feat ngeD
'ej 'oH magic Hoch naQmoH wanI'mey
loQ ponies Daghaj
youre DaSov'a' Hoch SoHvaD maqoch?

"You don't really appreciate 'Friendship is Magic' until you've watched it in the original Klingon."

I will wait until it collapses under its own weight and appears on Netflix or something. I have less than zero interest in yet another paywall service.
 
The trailer looks good but not that good.

Yes, finally Jesus Christ is on a ticket himself! Lord knows folks have been claiming him falsely as a sponsor for decades! Maybe now he'll be able to clear the record once and for all....poor guy. 
 
I worry he's a bit too nice for a government position,and there's that whole separation of church and state thing.
 
On the other hand , set him loose on wall street and I would be a happy guy! Since 2008, certain money lenders need chased around a bit!
 
Darn, the mormons have a chance to vote on him... this is a real coup for them denomination wise. The baptists must be envious as heck.
 
 
........ What? 

Well, never was a big fan of Trump. I had some glimmer of hope that his economic policy (or whatever passes for his economic policy) might stimulate something in a sluggish economy but I fear that he is his (and evidently our) own worst enemy. I want to buy into the whole idea that this is all media smoke and mirrors but common sense tells me that where there is this much smoke, there is something burning.
 
Are Congressional leaders willing to extricate Mr. Trump from his position, as President, now becomes the key question. I would say that they are not. Not yet. The Republican majority is going to hem and haw over the right action to take and end up losing the mid-term election. Not all of them, but I see a shift in power from a Republican led Congress to a Democrat one. THEN, we might well see some sort of action taken to remove Trump. Then we will get to see Mr. Pence take over and I always get this whole "Dark Lord of the Sith" vibe from him. Better than Jar Jar Binks I guess.

My suggestion would be, buy the CC book and get the PDFs for 6E1&2.  They are much more usable as a searchable document than as an extra 5 pounds of books in your backpack.

Thanks for the information. You are absolutely correct that "feast or famine" is not a winnable situation. I hope you are correct in the Governor's inevitable veto. I'm not so sure, but stranger things than that have happened.
 
Now, because I realized that I am breaking a self-imposed rule to stay out of political discussions, I'm going to take a hiatus from this thread. To be honest, I'm surprised and really glad everybody was really civil and we had discussions instead of poo flinging. It is an easy thing to become reactionary when our views and beliefs are challenged. You all have a nice day. I got gaming stuff to focus on.

No way does single payer not get vetoed by Jerry Brown even if it passes. I work closely with DHCS and nobody thinks there is any real likelihood of single payer at a state level who I'm talking to. I think that's unfortunate, but there it is.
 
I'm comfortable with spending more on infrastructure than occurs presently, would like to see some of the trillions the Feds have gotten spent there actually. That responsibility is in my estimation not the state's alone. Infrastructure is not the primary function of government in my philosophy, but one of a number of obligations to citizenry though.
 
There's a big chunk of funding going to that in the governor's May revise in any case. $2.8 billion as part of $54 billion over the next decade on infrastructure improvement.
 
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/FullBudgetSummary.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjtrbH55e_TAhUR9mMKHb5_C6wQFgg4MAU&usg=AFQjCNHaOzkvFISal4xM_5y3dSmw2hxMVw&sig2=A5o9fhAw-51VbRfJtqtfXw
 
There's a pretty cautious approach as opposed to surplus years in past cycles, I'm kind of pleased to see them breaking the traditional "feast or famine" cycle.

If I were still capable of weeping, I would have wept when the primaries were over and we were faced with an impossible choice. I chose instead to laugh maniacally at the impending circus. It has still kept me amused.

Regarding Hillary, I have to say that I'm more than willing to believe she's guilty of something, but there just isn't much evidence to support the allegations. And what allegations there are are nothing compared to what Trump has virtually confessed to on record--obstruction of justice, sexual assault. So I can't agree with the assertion that "Hillary would have been just as bad". An evil, perhaps, but surely the lesser one.

Aside: If the only choices we have in an election are differing degrees of evil, are we not forced to conclude that we're living in a Hell of our own making?
 
Okay, back to Comey and the Russians.