(02-21-2013, 08:01 PM)Merri Wrote: Seeing as Monk is my main and forte, I feel comfortable giving a brief history lesson here~

Obviously, this is just lore and a bit of personal suggestion. Take it with a grain of salt.

It really depends on what type of character your boyfriend wants to play. Monks follow a rather specific discipline that heavily incorporates religion. That isn't to say there couldn't be Monks who aren't necessarily religious, but the teachings of the Monks are very deeply rooted in worship of Rhalgr, the Destroyer. If some one were to be seasoned enough to be a teacher of the art, chances are they'll have hailed from Ala Mhigo or the surrounding area. I'd recommend doing some research into Ala Mhigo as a whole. There's plenty of lore surrounding it's history. Wrote out the established background on the Monks themselves fairly recently, which can be found over here on the wiki.

Again, though, there's always room for interpretation. For example, my character doesn't necessarily consider himself a true Monk. He was actually trained by a real Ala Mhigan Monk. He's mastered the art of the Coeurlfist, and even was nearing completion of forging a pair of Sphairai before the coming of the Seventh Umbral Era. However, he has more of a scientific mind due to his background and doesn't necessarily believe the fount of his power is influenced by Rhalgr himself.

Now, if your boyfriend planned on playing some old Lalafellin Monk, I'd say statistically it would be much more likely for them to have been a devout follower of the Fists of Rhalgr until it's eventual destruction.

If he's going to be younger, it'd be much more likely for him to have been say..  ...taught by a Monk as a child and over the years developed his own modern approach to the art that isn't so heavily tied to old traditions. The Fists of Rhalgr has been all but destroyed in this day and age, so most Monks that are around are learning from what little remains of the culture. Most won't get the real experience of being trained as a full-fledged "Monk".

But that's just Monk itself. If the whole religious deal isn't your boyfriends bag, he could always have a martial artist that isn't a Monk per say, but studied their forms and styles. Or whatever he wants, really.

Wood Wailers are simply a specific unit of Gridania's defenses (The Twin Adders being their actual millitary force) that specialize in using the lance. Their primary and pretty much only concern is the defense of Gridania and the Twelveswood. Being a Wood Wailer would be perfectly fine. You're actually able to join the Lancer's Guild in-game.

(02-21-2013, 08:25 PM)Kylin Wrote: I can't give you any advice on monk related stuff. So instead I'll give you some advice on another, perhaps unexpected, facet that came up in your post: RPing with a significant other.

I've seen a lot of RP between couples over the years, and there are some things such couples should be made aware of. It can certainly be a very rewarding experience to RP with your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife. But it can also be very damaging if you're not careful.

For starters, you run the risk of isolating yourselves from others. This doesn't happen intentionally obviously. But it's the number one problem I tend to see with real life couples who RP a relationship between their characters. The reason this happens? Because outsiders looking in become increasingly intimidated to approach either of the two players or characters. They know that they're not just approaching or coordinating anything with one person, but instead TWO. That's double the amount of effort and stress and can be a huge turn-off for the outsider. They often deem it not worth the effort and headache and target their RP toward someone who's more approachable.

The other big issue is the risk of crossing IC with OOC. I'll use myself as an example. In another MMO, my character (let's call him Kylin for easy reference even though that wasn't his name xD) developed feelings for another character. This other character was ICly in a romantic relationship with her OOC romantic partner. Anyway, Kylin had feelings for her that were 100% IC onry. When I started to RP this more publicly in hopes for some interesting dynamic interactions, the couple started to mix OOC and IC. The girl's real life/IC boyfriend got really defensive and jealous OOCly. Long story short, the interactions were disastrous and I was more or less told (OOCly) that I had to stop ICly pursuing Kylin's feelings. This left a very bitter taste in my mouth seeing as I was 100% IC and had no OOC feelings toward this person. I was merely RPing, but the couple (because they were a real life couple) were incapable of handling this type of RP situation. Obviously this may not be a problem with all RL couples. But it's something to be aware of. Somewhere along the line, someone may ICly fall for your character regardless of your IC relationship status. So make sure the IC and OOC remain separated at all times if/when this happens.

I'm not telling you it's a bad idea to RP a relationship with your significant other. I'm just asking you to be aware of the position it puts you in and how less approachable it may make both of you in the RP world. So just be aware of that. You may have take the initiative in reaching out to other RPers to avoid that kind of isolation rather than hoping people come to you for the RP.

(02-21-2013, 07:39 PM)Nako Vesh Wrote: My knowledge about lore is still a bit fuzzy, but reading through these boards have helped a lot, and I'm really excited to be role playing with you all soon!

Yet I still have questions:

The first is for my boyfriend who I will be RPing with right off the bat because we would like our characters to have history. We will both be working toward Monk so he thought his Lalafell might be my Miqo'te's teacher in martial arts. He would be taking the role of a curmudgeonly "sensei" of sorts and my character would be the somewhat bratty student. How viable would that situation be?

Second, I would like my character, Nako, to be a Wood Wailer. Is that a viable profession someone (from Gridania) might have within the lore, or would I be stepping into Mary Sue territory with that?

That's it for now! I'm sure I'll have tons more later. I appreciate any help that can be offered!