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- This month, we welcome D&D lead designer Jonathan Tweet back to our Personality Spotlight to talk about the return of the monk as a character class. Check out this month’s 3rd Edition D&D Real Audio interview with Todd Lockwood, Jonathan Tweet, and host Brian Mitchell. (To hear the clips you will need Real Player G2.)
Q: What prompted the decision to welcome the monk back into the fold of core character classes? A: The monk beats up monsters with her bare hands. She can run, jump, and tumble like nobody’s business. She gains one unique special ability after the other, including the legendary quivering palm. Why wouldn’t we want a character like this in the game? The previous version of D&D was full of restrictions. You can’t buy a simple healing potion because it’s a magic item. You can’t buy a restoration spell because then you’d be getting away with something. You can’t pick locks unless you’re a thief. You can’t play a monk because they’re not medieval. The new game isn’t like that. Q: How difficult was it to unify the martial arts abilities of the monk with the medieval fantasy setting of Dungeons & Dragons? A: It was a breeze. Dungeons & Dragons defines its own world, and monks are a part of that world. They’re not medieval European, but they’re very much D&D. Twenty-five years ago, D&D followed the lead of fantasy novels and movies, but the game has been such a big part of the culture for so long that now D&D defines itself. We didn’t try to make D&D like medieval Europe; we made it like D&D. Q: Can you describe what ki is and how the monk derives her abilities from it? A: Ki is a subtle energy that monks manipulate to perform extraordinary acts. I see it as a pervasive, invisible force. Ki circulates through the environment and through living things. You don’t, however, need to know anything about ki to play a monk or run Dungeons & Dragons. As far as the rules are concerned, it’s just a word that appears in the title of the monk’s ki strike ability (which lets a monk strike with her bare hands as if they were magic weapons). Q: Is ki a form of magic, and if so does this mean that monks are spellcasters? A: The monk uses ki to perform extraordinary and supernatural abilities, such as running at great speed, healing herself, or stunning an opponent with a barehanded blow. These abilities are magical, but they’re not spells. At 12th level, a monk gains "abundant step," her only spell-like ability (like dimension door). Having a spell-like ability, however, doesn’t really make the monk a spellcaster. Q: On a more general note, how much has the new D&D changed between now and the last time we talked (November 1999)? A: Very little has changed. The only changes have been details, such as how rules are worded, where various tables go, what prerequisites a spellcaster needs to create a certain magic item, what monsters go on which encounter charts, and so on. We had a solid game in the fall. Now we’ve got a solid, polished game. |
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Jonathan
Tweet (May)
