Not exactly an original idea, but the notion appeals to me in a sense. This is all a mishmash of ideas and I decided to toss it out on the forum for feedback. Feasibility is a question, as well as RP justification. This isn't anything requiring mechanics changes or admin oversight (any more than anything else). But it might also benefit from some.

My thought was to have a clan for the Kepheran monk guilds (Celest, Seren). Another for Illithoid monk guilds (Magnagora, Glomdoring). Then another for all monks. That means two additional guilds for each monk to be a part of. Note, membership in these guilds would be wholly optional, unless the individual guilds wanted to impose requirements for or against. The idea is to get some sort of agreement between them. In terms of styles and general level of cooperativeness, racial origins of the styles would seem to have greater influence than being city/commune.

Along with these, implementation of bow emotes. While each guild is responsible for this on their own, I thought it would be interesting to see a bow for each guild (reliant on having their kata weapons wielded), then a separate unarmed bow for commune monks, and another unarmed bow for city monks. IE, two bow emotes for each, with some sharing. Tie ins. In terms of basic approach to civility and ritual, commune/city would seem to have greater influence than racial origin of the guilds.

Here's where it gets most questionable.

Every so often, and I'm thinking 5 or 10 game years, there are formal duels. Each guild chooses a number of combatants and there is a series of tournaments. Kepheran guilds hold a tournament. The top four go on. The winner takes clan leadership back to their guild. Same for the Illithoid guilds.

The top eight then compete in mass battle for control of the third clan. Clan ownership is simply an honor. There would be no benefit beyond that. It's a prize to be had, a ritualized alternative carried over from the Kepheran/Illithoid conflict. Five years later or however else it is determined, the tournaments are held again.

The big questions here are whether there would be sufficient lasting interest in this setup. As well, whether we could avoid some guild or guildmaster getting pissy and not relinquishing clan control. And finally, whether the inherently violently opposed organizations would have a reason to enter into this kind of relationship with their enemies. Just speaking from familiarity with Celest's laws, it seems like this wouldn't go over so well with them. But maybe? It's hard to say. I seem to recall similar tournaments in the past between the Warrior guilds.

What's lacking is a reason to do all this. It seems to me that with the inherently competitive feel of most common monk themes (opposing schools, my kung fu is better than yours, my master can beat up your master, etc), this might be found as a practical means of proving both individual and guild merit.

Thoughts? Pros, cons, ideas for improvement?

FFAs?

The idea seems to have an OOC overtone. OOC monks have tournaments (and there are no OOC mage tournaments), so...let's have monk tournaments! It doesn't seem to tie into the idea of our monks as an ancient racial prejudice rooted in the ethical grey area of imprisonment and enslavement versus the off chance of unleashing an ancient and primordeal evil on the world.

And I assure you, there is not enough competition for "combat tournaments" for one class. We can barely get a decent level with basin-wide tournaments for prizes. It would inevitably come down to like Desitrus vs. Geb. And everyone knows that.

@Xavius

There's OOC overtones, yes. But then, same with when Celest and Magnagora met to settle certain disputes in the past with champions dueling. There's no rationale for it to happen that I can see. I can't imagine the Supernals saying 'Ok, the Taint wins.' Or the Demon Lords saying 'They beat one of our mortals. Pack it in.' Sometimes people like simple solutions, especially in stressful situations (days and weeks of being on the bad end of a conflict), and the notion of champions battling it out winner-takes-all is very appealing. To borrow from a current hot topic, there's no reason for single individuals (Thoros, Narsrim, Krellan or whoever else is being pointed out for it) not to continue attacking and harassing enemy locations to their heart's content except for OOC reasons. And some of those OOC reasons are good enough to take it ingame.

Also, don't mistake the monk guilds for the Kephera and Illithoid themselves. Though there's definite influence, neither the Shofangi or Tahtetso are built around the conflict between the Kephera and Illithoids, as far as I'm seeing. They have their own separate agendas completely unrelated to (though roughly parallel with) the Kephera vs Illithoid conflict. I can only guess for Illithoid monks, but I imagine they'll be more interested in their own goals and the goals of their respective organizations than what's going on in the Undervault.


@Shiri

Maybe, I really wouldn't know. By class I assume you mean archetype. The population was different 'back in the day', but there was a push for this sort of thing between the Warrior guilds (Chade and Valek come to mind). Of course, it's not in existence now so that might prove a point of sorts. Perhaps it's just because the Tahtetso are so new, or maybe it's just because I've been around enough of the time to see them all, but there's a lot of PvP-oriented Tahtetso. But even should there be a lack in Tahtetso at the time of a tournament, that just means more Shofangi are able to participate, or vice versa. If between the two guilds they couldn't come up with 4 combatants during prime time, that's a concern. And of course, the same also would apply for the Illithoid monk guilds, though I suspect it will be a long time yet before we see any of the monk guilds dropping too far in numbers.

Also, the reason I ended the proposed competition with a FFA was so that it wouldn't boil down to who has Geb (or whoever else is the heavy-hitter monk of the day). Given that both sides will know who their opponents are for some time before actually competing, there's plenty of time to devise strategies and temporary alliances. There might even be some strategic backstabbing.



OOC overtones aside, I see some method in the madness.

So far, two of four monk guilds push the self-perfection concept (though in wildly different flavors), in particular making allowances for combatants to use their relative potency as a measuring stick. And I imagine the Illithoid monk guilds will be likewise competitive in nature, more likely in a manner of 'I am more powerful, I get my way' sort of manner. Perhaps not stating some vague 'perfection' as a goal (or maybe, who knows), but I'm sure they'll be every bit as competitive, seeking to dominate through use of their power. Four monk guilds each with members specifically seeking to prove their combat potency. A ritualized competition between the four feels right.

My question about RP justification was, for example, could Celestian and Magnagoran guilds agree to disagree violently, yet still act within certain rules for purposes of a ritual battle? What of Serenwilde and Glomdoring? Holding the initial duels between Serenwilde and Celest, and between Magnagora and Glomdoring was meant in part to address this. But it would still come down to 'are we willing to hand control of a clan to the enemy in the hopes we can get it back later?' Or even 'Do we want to foster an environment where we aren't overtly making every effort to destroy the clear and present danger for the sake of a ritual duel?'