I recently got in touch with former Obsidian writer Eric Fenstermaker to learn everything I could about one of my favorite bits of dialogue in RPG history from Pillars of Eternity's first expansion, The White March Part 1. But this also entailed learning a lot more about Zahua, the character who delivered the line, and it struck me once again how rare he is: A CRPG monk who's actually really well written.
There's usually something so plasticky and Epcot about the monk fantasy in many RPGs, the barest bones of a Shaolin/Wuxia mythos chucked into the generalized fantasy slurry of (usually) The Forgotten Realms or some other cadet branch D&D world—maybe throw in some elements of western monasticism to really confuse things. But Pillars of Eternity monks, especially Zahua, with their mortification of the flesh, hardcore asceticism, and philosophical depth, really did something for me.
