Hello mortals!

I don't understand why monks and paladins refuse rewards. I know they are supposed to practice humility but you can't get by on being a nice person. Monks and paladins need a place to sleep, they need clothes and supplies and food. People either don't or can't give you things for free. It's why churches have tithe.

I think I recall the AD&D 2nd ed. book saying that paladins can't make a profit. But it also said you were allowed to keep enough to feed and cloth yourself and keep just a little on the side for a rainy day. I recall something about castles too. That's not a luxury item. Paladins are usually military officers so they need something to function as a command center.

I could be wrong about this. A person can only see the world through his own eyes. It's why you get a lot of noobs talking like they know a game inside and out. And I have to admit, I'm a pretty big noob.

This is an Icewind Dale thing only. Per the AD&D handbook, a paladin must forfeit all of his/her excess funds, except for a contingency equal to 2-3 times his/her normal budget. For any excess, the paladin may refuse it ( exclusively so in IWD), donate it to the church, or another worthy cause. None of these causes include player character, or team members.

I'd say that's simply the way the developers interpreted the idea of "practicing humility" in terms that work within the game.

Could it have been done better? Probably.
But I think it's not a bad idea to give the classes some extra roleplaying flavor beyond the basic mechanics provided by the ruleset.
Granted, maybe I'm biased because it doesn't really bother me during playing. I simply select a different character to do the "reward talks". ;)

I have nothing against class specific dialogue. It gives the Icewind Dale games a certain je ne sais quoi. I just thought that portion was a little ridiculous.

Agreed.

well the RP value is very very very low.
But yes, is a little strange that the monks are forced.

Monks and paladins are both based on historical warrior monks that have given a poverty wow.
Paladins would be like templars or hospitalers, belonging to a holy order, monks a mismatch of european and oriental monks.

Both are also hilarious attempts at compromising between poverty and players human wish to gather loot.

Basically, a paladin or monk shouldn't have any belongings, whatever they need would be provided by the church or monastery, so all the loot would go there. Of course, when traveling and adventuring, some cash would be required to pay at inns, purchase gear and so on. That's what the various "give excess wealth away" are about.

If one wanted to roleplay that properly, the player would need to be given tasks by the church or monastery and nothing else, also be provided with proper equipment. Maybe a chain mail and a sword to begin with, magical versions at later levels.

But that would make hauling loot pointless, so it's never implemented too strictly.

And monks. The character is even made so you don't need any equipment at all. Robes and a walking stick is all. But of course they have items because D&D is half about looting corpses.

Considering that in DnD games, evil characters are supposed to be played stupidly so it shouldn't be a surprise she same can apply to paladins and monks.

"Evil" (stupid would be a better word) character traits:

Always delcare you only care about lining your pockets
Sacrifice your party members for personal gain
Be more bloodthirsty than the next guy
Be rude to everyone you meet
Threaten to kill when you don't get your way
Always say ".......for a price" in dialog options
Narcissism is a virtue


"Good" (stupid works best here) characters traits:

Always keep your word, even if if the whole world burns doing so
Smite any party members who would even think of breaking the law, even jaywalking
See evil monster, just charge in blindly so matter what your odds are
Refuse rewards to buy better equipment because continuing to fight with lousy equipment is the paladin way
Help others even when it's impractical



Still, IWD isn't an RPG and really shouldn't be treated as such. But whoever said "good" and "evil" characters should act in such a way really needs an arse kicking.