D&D General Monastaries in dungeons and dragons

[Ancalagon]

Well...

I did write an adventure that featured a monastery that was going to be robbed...

THE DEFENCE Of SAN FLORIA: A Short Glog adventure/Session Recap

THE DEFENCE OF SAN FLORIA I had a GLOG session a while ago that was quite interesting. I wrote a recap, and I told myself: why not just sli...

slugsandsilver.blogspot.com

 

[Reynard]

Sack them, obviously.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The idea of monastery as the cloistered type cut off from society was in fact a minority of monasteries, far more were open communities were the monks engaged in teaching and healing of the poor, travellers and soldiers.

Most of Europes oldest universities started as monastic schools

FWIW, my HS was such an institution, founded by Cistercian monks and also employing Dominicans and civilians (who didn’t need to be Christians).

As to RPGs? Most often, I’ve seen monasteries used as scenes where stuff already happened: recently attacked & destroyed or ruins that were sacked ages ago. Occasionally, I’ve seen them used as libraries, schools or hospitals. Only rarely have I seen them integrated as commercial entities, selling cheeses, beer/spirits, honey, or other typical goods…which many did and indeed still do today.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

For all their prominence in traditional history, Monasteries/Nunneries seem to be completely regulated to at best mock kung fu temples and often ignored.

The fact that these locations were wealth generators and religious sites of potential magics, how would you use them in your game?

also how have they been used in your favorite worlds?

They feature in important ways in the Forgotten Realms, often with religious and/or philosophical segnifence and occasional politically important.

Monastery

A monastery was a type of religious community consisting of a building or complex of buildings.[1] Monasteries with a solely female clergy were referred to as a nunnery. The mixed clergy exceptions to this were the Church of Sharess and Church of Sune.[1] In the Tabotan language, monasteries...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Only rarely have I seen them integrated as commercial entities, selling cheeses, beer/spirits, honey, or other typical goods…

Not a lot for a bunch of murder hobos to do then...

 

[J.Quondam]

Not a lot for a bunch of murder hobos to do then...

What?? Your group never spends the first three hours of a four-hour session shopping for hats and picnic supplies?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What?? Your group never spends the first three hours of a four-hour session shopping for hats and picnic supplies?

You have met them then?

Do monasteries sell hats?

 

[Voadam]

Ptolus has some religious orders for its Holy Lothian Church. The one that comes to mind as the most like a nunnery is The Sisters of Silence. They have a vow of silence with special powers and eunuch slaves which is exotic and weird but not really stuff I want to deal with in a game a lot.

There is also Warhammer 40K’s Sisters of Battle which are their own thing.

The closest I have featured in my games was the Athenaeum an order dedicated to preserving knowledge in libraries with a scholarly spell casting tradition. They take in orphans to raise as members and have rumors that they have hidden motives as a secret society and their use of the knowledge they hoard.

I have not focused on monasteries in my games because I mostly try to keep things not sex segregated which is the case for a number of historical monastic brotherhoods and nunneries and I mostly find them to be less interesting aspects of religious stuff to explore in games as well as being less familiar aspects for me.

 

[Alzrius]

It's not a monastery/nunnery per se, but in terms of detailing the seat of a religious order (one not dedicated to martial arts training), I still think that AD&D 2E's Bastion of Faith (affiliate link) is a stand-out product.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Indeed, and Candlekeep is a good example of how different religion and society change the monastery. Firstly, it's "monks" do not spend their time in prayer. Instead they study, because study is an act of devotion to Oghma. Secondly, it can defend itself from both raiders and civil authorities. It has fortified walls, guards, and magical defences. They are not pacifists - thier religion doe not ask that of them. It generates wealth by charging fees to study, and selling copies of books in it's collection.

Exandria has it's cobalt soul monks, who combine martial arts with the collection and preservation of knowledge. It's a dangerous world, it's monks need to be able to defend themselves, and Ioun does not teach pacifism.

So does that mean all the "festhouses" around the Realms are basically monasteries too, with their "monks/nuns" being very deep in their "studies" as an act of devotion towards Sûne and Sharess?

It would fit the Elizabethan slang meaning for "nunnery", though...