Troll Monks? pre-mop?

[Deleted]

Do you guys think there is any possibility of Troll Monks being present before Mists of Pandaria? Come to think of it. Trolls are an ancient race. It might be possible that they have learned some Martial Arts via Mogu history since they were allied (during Pandarian occupation) Not to mention that trolls can utilize almost any kind of magic and fighting style:

I main a Troll monk and I was thinking of the following ideas:

1) Seeing Chi as another Loa aspect, one that encourages self improvement for whatever the reason.
2) Being a bloodthirsty type of hunter (monk style) that believes in old Gurubashi teachings (utilizing Troll Cannibalism habit) as a way to become a stronger being. (pretty much like Amazonian tribes eating animal parts to become stronger)
3) Being a physically strong (Loa Priest) that utilizes animal powers to greatly empower attacks. Like the Amani ones.
4) Believing that Chi is the source of Loa power.
5) Combaining their Voodoo ancestry with hand to hand combat.

(the last one doesnt seem strange at all as many trolls utilize their voodoo powers to control demons, gods, loa, increasing their physical and magical strength) – I am also considering being a troll from a different tribe...

I recall, the Troll starting zone is the only one where the racial NPC is an actual Monk trainer, rather than a Pandaren (though one is stood sparring with him) I think its fair to assume from that a few of them have been putting Da Voodoo Shuffle to good use.


What are your thoughs? is it possible to have Pre-Mop Monks? Not necessarily following Celestials?
I don't want to be snowflake... I just want to create a good and interesting background for my character :P

[Denpepe]

A monk is basically a healer/melee fighter with extreme selfcontrol who fights as a last resort, looks like the comlpete opposite of what a troll is (just my 2 cents)

[Deleted]

A monk is basically a healer/melee fighter with extreme selfcontrol who fights as a last resort, looks like the comlpete opposite of what a troll is (just my 2 cents)

Yet you can have Troll monks and there needs to be a way to introduce them properly...

I could say the same thing 'bout Paladin Zealots. You might think that they are fighting for "justice" but the truth is that some of them fight for their personal needs.

[Deleted]

Mogu never knew about monks until the Pandaren uprising.

so even if the Trolls lived alongside the Mogu, they wouldn't have had monks because that's not the mogu way.

[The Madgod]

Yet you can have Troll monks and there needs to be a way to introduce them properly...

I could say the same thing 'bout Paladin Zealots. You might think that they are fighting for "justice" but the truth is that some of them fight for their personal needs.

Thaaat's not as accurate as you think. If they were fighting for personal reasons they couldn't wield the Light, which, while morally ambiguous, only works if you believe in your cause and if you are fighting for a selfless reason. Doesn't matter the cause, but as long as it isn't for you personally and you believe it to be just, you can wield the Light.

Mogu never knew about monks until the Pandaren uprising.

so even if the Trolls lived alongside the Mogu, they wouldn't have had monks because that's not the mogu way.

Also basically this. Monks were very much a pandaren thing, born out of a desire for freedom. Trolls wouldn't really have that.

[Venziir]

Troll monks pre-mop? No. Trolls fighting in a way similar to the monk (minus the drunken brawl, Celestial thing, chi, tea and all that)? Yes.

[Deleted]

It's a huge stretch, a troll monk that wasn't taught by the pandaren, for the reasons outlined by others before me. I'd advise you to steer clear of it.

I myself roleplay my troll monk as a shadow hunter who just happened to be really intrigued by the Celestials during his stay in Pandaria. He saw them as very powerful loa and formed a bond with Xuen in particular, learning unarmed combat during the White Tiger's tournaments.

As it stands now, he's a shadow hunter with some monk skills, including a special loa-inspired version of Storm, Earth, and Fire. In-character, he turns into three different shapes, a Spider-based Earth form (representing the body), a Serpent-based Fire form (as life force) and a Tiger-based Storm form (as spirit).

Also, the way he views the path of the monk is very troll-like at its core; it's another aspect of loa-worship, and especially the path shadow hunters take. They have to balance the needs and whims of several loa at the same time, not tie themselves to a single one like the priesthood does. As such, they know exactly the value of keeping a cool head, since slipping in your dealings with the loa can have disastrous consequences.

I do agree that other troll lore classes are usually reckless and too unbalanced to have much to do with the path of the monk. But shadow hunters with their iron will are a definite candidate for learning at least some monk tricks. Mind you, they're supposed to be rather rare and can quickly be perceived as too powerful, since they are the pinnacle of the Darkspear in terms of combat prowess, as well as being very stealthy and quite powerful casters to boot.

[Deleted]

It could be that I came into RP from D&D, but generally I think of classes as metagame fun constructs more than plot fixtures. Obviously there are exceptions, and grey areas, but this is mostly how I handle RP in WoW. Fo example, I've got a Dark Iron brewmaster and brawler. His class is monk, but Chi and what not is just an OOC combat mechanic. For him he's just a dwarf with a big beard and propensity for colliding fists, faces, and tankards. Insisting upon literal interpretations of game mechanics is severely limiting to RP.

Up until MoP Blizz took the time to 'paint in' and explain the class choices with viable in-world examples. For example, giving dwarves shaman is explained nicely with Dark Iron and Wildhammer Dwarves joining the alliance proper. But this time, it looks like they really didn't. Well, they wanted to get the most bang for their buck out of this new class, so they just made it available to everyone with the lore excuse 'a wandering pandaren taught you in your starting zone'. What would've been nice is if each race that was given access to monk had much more their own martial fighting tradition that was engaged and brought into the light- and sure, even interfaced and improved by cross cultural engagement with Pandaren. Trolls, for example, should totally have a capoeira fighting tradition, and animations to match. You could have a lot of fun assigning and adapting various martial arts styles to each of the races.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Getting to the point, if you want to RP a troll monk without the pandaren theming, then just forget about the chi stuff. Your character doesn't have a 'class', he's just a troll with certain attitudes and skills. In your case, he's good at hand to hand combat. Classes aren't real, is the heart of what I'm saying. There are in-world orders that superimpose perfectly over metagame classes, like the Blood Knights, but there's a lot outside of that sort of thing. Not every class needs an order to match, and not every character must belong to an order indicating his class.

[alexday14]

Yet you can have Troll monks and there needs to be a way to introduce them properly...

I could say the same thing 'bout Paladin Zealots. You might think that they are fighting for "justice" but the truth is that some of them fight for their personal needs.

Well I think that the word Paladin is more of a title than it is a fighting style. As in, a Paladin is an honour, not an art.