CydKnight
Explorer
I made a Way of the Open Hand Monk behind the idea of the Old Order. The issue I'm having is that there isn't a whole lot of anything that I can find on the order other than this from The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting published by Wizards of the Coast 2001:
"Monks of the Old Order do not worship any deity, but are devoted to the philosophy espoused by a deity who is either now dead or has never existed on the material plane of Toril. The monks contradict themselves on this point, but the deity's identity isn't important to them, it's the message they care about. The Old Order never has huge monasteries, but has spread widely through Faerun."
Specifically related to 5th Edition, I have found nothing.
My dilemma comes in that I am playing this monk in a campaign. The DM has allowed me to play the character with the background I have come up with but says the order has not existed in the Forgotten Realms except to the extent that my character has created it from scratch. I suppose I am OK with doing it this way but I'm not sure how to proceed with this in a long campaign going forward.
Here is the background so far as it relates to the Old Order for the Monk known simply as Pavel :
Pavel very much embraced the Old Order teachings from an early age. He ultimately came to believe (or realize) that all living things, even celestials, devils, and fiends, originate from the same infinite source which he called The One. As he understands it, this realization leads to Enlightenment but not exclusively and not without further self realization.With his realization of The One, he came to understand Being which meant that potential for all creatures was infinite. He also came to realize that it was thought that limited potential. Excessive thought often led to fear and it is fear that leads to conflict and violence. This did not mean that Pavel would not pursue violence as an option. What it meant was that if you remove excessive thought from your actions, there may be no predicting how one may act as your actions would now originate from the Source of all, The One. Such actions are pure as they are not influenced by the emotions which normally accompany thought. It was not long afterwards that Pavel came to understand that he must leave the the monastery in order to continue his Path. The realization of The One was his purpose at the monastery and now his purpose was somewhere out in the world. He did not know where this path would lead but he also didn't mind not knowing.
Please let me know of any other source material on the Old Order specifically related to the Forgotten Realms and/or 5th Edition in general. In lieu of that I would be pleased to read any other ideas for this monastic order.
"Monks of the Old Order do not worship any deity, but are devoted to the philosophy espoused by a deity who is either now dead or has never existed on the material plane of Toril. The monks contradict themselves on this point, but the deity's identity isn't important to them, it's the message they care about. The Old Order never has huge monasteries, but has spread widely through Faerun."
Specifically related to 5th Edition, I have found nothing.
My dilemma comes in that I am playing this monk in a campaign. The DM has allowed me to play the character with the background I have come up with but says the order has not existed in the Forgotten Realms except to the extent that my character has created it from scratch. I suppose I am OK with doing it this way but I'm not sure how to proceed with this in a long campaign going forward.
Here is the background so far as it relates to the Old Order for the Monk known simply as Pavel :
Pavel very much embraced the Old Order teachings from an early age. He ultimately came to believe (or realize) that all living things, even celestials, devils, and fiends, originate from the same infinite source which he called The One. As he understands it, this realization leads to Enlightenment but not exclusively and not without further self realization.With his realization of The One, he came to understand Being which meant that potential for all creatures was infinite. He also came to realize that it was thought that limited potential. Excessive thought often led to fear and it is fear that leads to conflict and violence. This did not mean that Pavel would not pursue violence as an option. What it meant was that if you remove excessive thought from your actions, there may be no predicting how one may act as your actions would now originate from the Source of all, The One. Such actions are pure as they are not influenced by the emotions which normally accompany thought. It was not long afterwards that Pavel came to understand that he must leave the the monastery in order to continue his Path. The realization of The One was his purpose at the monastery and now his purpose was somewhere out in the world. He did not know where this path would lead but he also didn't mind not knowing.
Please let me know of any other source material on the Old Order specifically related to the Forgotten Realms and/or 5th Edition in general. In lieu of that I would be pleased to read any other ideas for this monastic order.
