About a week ago, there was a writing prompt posted on the GURPS subreddit. This one was looking for users to create martial monks, with a bonus for non-humans and those who are dedicated to their religion as their martial art.
I've been meaning to do some character creation again, since I had not done that in a while. So, I jumped in (alone, apparently) to work out a character for the prompt. The result was Grysel Theodricus, a Christian Monk who studies the martial ways of sword and buckler.
Grysel Theodricus
Grysel was born sometime around mid-April AD1276, the third son of a middling merchant family near Lorsch. As a third son, there was to be no inheritance for him, so in his eleventh year he was sent to the Abbey to enter into religious life and become a monk.
An intelligent (and, importantly, isolated) child, Grysel took well to his studies, taking well to his Theology and proving himself a dependable worker in field, fishery, and fermenting alike. Over the years he has learned to read and write, tend plots, till fields, scare birds, turn beer, pull fish, and the myriad chores of life from sewing to cleaning up after his brothers (as they do him). True to monastic expectations, he is literate in both Latin and his native Germanic tongue (though Greek evidently eludes him), and can scribe these languages - useful, as he spends more than a few hours hand-copying texts.
When he was fourteen he was first introduced to what has become his true passion: the sword.
The abbey had a long history of political entanglement and, somewhat recently, found itself on the losing side of conflict within the Empire, coming now back into Imperial possession. The turmoil - and relative independence prior - had cultivated something of a martial culture within the abbey's confines - that a number of the Brothers (past and present) were former warriors and fighting men of varying description certainly helped shape it.
The study of fighting was already on the wane when Grysel joined, but it still had its regulars, all whom swore to defend the abbey should Imperial influence falter again. One of these - Foric - lead the brothers in martial exercises with sword and buckler, and in unarmed wrestling. Grysel took to these lessons just as well as he did his religious ones, and will spend long hours at practice if able. He ascribes this passion to a gift from the Archangel Michael, that he may defend the righteous and the weak. It is well known that martial exercise makes a man brave and upright, that God may love him.
As of late, a new interest has arisen - that of medicine.
Of course the abbey has its share of scholars versed in the esoteric arts of healing, whom tend the brothers when they are ill or injured. For most of his life, Grysel paid them little mind. For sure, as most do, he gleaned small amounts of wisdom here and there through the years - simple remedy for cough, infusions to treat mouth sores, a poultice for bumps earned in training. Of course he appreciated their services, but it had not be something he had gone so far to learn much about in particular. Beginning about a year and a half prior, Grysel's copy-work of several books of the Bible concluded, and he was given over to making a new, illuminated copy of a handbook - a short medical reference with a variety of advice within. It was in copying these pages that he began to feel a connection to the material within unlike he'd felt before, as if some veil had been lifted for some as before unheard muse spoke to him. He put to mind each word he transcribed - what he could understand, anyways - and before long began to branch out into what the library had to offer, with what time he had for such things.
As the winter came and duties in the fields and copy-house waned, he began to meet with the higher minds of medical wisdom in the Abbey. Armed with questions, texts, notes, and his wits, he sharpened his mind against the stone of their intellect, and began to form himself a greater understanding of the arts of healing - fledgling as it is.
Now with spring's coming, he has plans.
For some time, Grysel has entertained the idea visit the chapel at Stütt - some seven or eight leagues to the North East - to see the somewhat recently acquired relics ascribed to St. Wolfgang of Regensburg. Convincing the Abbot to permit him - or any other of the interested brothers - would be a feat, however, as the roads that way have fallen to brigandage in the last several years and no Lords lay claim or patrol it. Information on the route is scarce, and routes around it would be rather more time consuming. Paying Homage to the relics of saints does much to please God, however, and Grysel certainly wishes to see more of Christendom than the small number of locations the Brothers make infrequent visits to.
His winter of learning with the medically inclined brethren has piqued his interests in the subject. He has since thought back to his youth, traveling with his father, and the memories of village women and townsmen who tended the ill - including once Grysel himself. The Abbey's library has little to say on the medical traditions of the locals. What were they? What were their traditions? What techniques did they use to drive out disease and ward off the devil's clutches? He wishes to know the answers, to perhaps pen his own contribution to medical tradition - or perhaps it is all the superstition of the unlearned?
Yeah, that's enough rambling. On to the real stuff!
Grysel's (Uninteresting Really) Player Sheet
Commentary on this Character
In spite of my recent spat of character template building, I haven't built an actual full character in a while. This one was tossed together kind of quick, as most of my GURPS time last week was spent finishing up all those Nod templates I put out. It was more to put a little activity on the prompt, so hopefully to get a few more to jump in on it (no one else did, interestingly, in spite of it being an easy prompt to write for!).I wanted to make someone on the realistic side of the scale, especially on the low point side. At 75 points (though with -64 in Disadvantages), Grysel is not exactly a super power. And with -64 in Disads I suspect he wouldn't quite be legal in most campaigns - but keep in mind I built him to a writing prompt, not a campaign guideline!
His (Dis)Advantages reflect what I could figure a Monk would have - most people would probably shelter him, and the abbey would provide for his basic needs and what he needs to go elsewhere for a while, if required, hence Patron. They'd also not let him be tried in whatever passes for "public" court, so he has some degree of legal immunity. In exchange he does owe Duty to them, though perhaps I could phrase that better. His subject to Canon Law would probably be its own Disadvantage, though. Maybe. He's a Good Guy™, so by nature he's inclined to help those who cannot help themselves - especially if they're Good Christian Folk. Not the type to hack up randos, either. Brave and Upright, he's liable to speak the Truth - even if it should mean his death. He is capable with two languages - his native low-German and Latin. Greek should definitely have been on that list (d'oh), however! His post-combat shakes would be something of a surprise to him - sure, he trains with sword and buckler, and can wrestle well enough for his purposes. He's even got what it takes to slay the wicked...but he's never actually done it. He'll find out after the adrenaline wears off, though.
Grysel's skillset is I believe fairly justified. He fences well enough, though in retrospect I think it's a little odd I did not give him any techniques. I studied I.33 sword and buckler years ago, and I remember there being a lot of strikes at the head, so maybe he should have (Targeted Attack: Broadsword Swing/Head) in his repertoire. Ah well. Wrestling also features in I.33 a bit - most Medieval European Martial Arts, really - and is a pretty handy athletic skill besides. Beyond that he's not especially fighty (though definitely a martial artist, as par the prompt). Even the Sling skill is mostly there to represent basic ability to cast stones at the ground area (for +4!) that birds try to flock upon. This is a common thing to have in agricultural settings, I'm lead to believe.
Medical capability - in his context - might be a bit inflated for someone with a bit under two years in, though (original version had Dabbler for a lot of it, but I thought that might be Too Basic to be of much interest to the regulars of r/GURPS - not that Grysel does a great job of being very exciting anyways). What constitutes his skillset in this regard is scattered over quite a few skills - which is intentional, because at this point it's whatever he can get his hands on. This is why Hermetic knowledge is in there (or at least that's the story I'm sticking with all the way to the pyre).
Speaking of heratical teachings, I had in an earlier draft had more magical skills in there - very basic Herb Lore, for instance. Dropped it in favor of a realistic style character, though, since I figured it was more likely any other submissions would already have their magical flairs.
Beyond these more "adventure friendly" skills, he is of reasonable expectation for life skills like sewing, tending crops, etc. Cloistered monks usually had some kind of asset to help support themselves, such as fields, gardens, or even bloomery furnaces and mills. Brewing, of course, is classically monkish!
Grysel's possessions are meager. I figured a monk would have little, but not nothing, to their name (hence Poor wealth). It's all the more practical stuff he could have picked up over the years from time in town - it's an abbey, not a hermitage. While there is for sure plenty to tempt a man at market, it's not like his cell is particularly large, nor would he have much use for most of it - he likes to fence with swords and he still doesn't own one. I figure there still is opportunity for a little coin to come his way. Christ may or may not have had a purse and all that. He can teach - so perhaps he tutors some locals?
Were I to actually run this character, I would probably make some slight alterations. First, his age would probably need to come down a bit. Not sure why I felt 26 was right. He'll probably need Greek. Maybe Pharmacy could come down a bit, but in retrospect maybe his medical skills are in a good place to represent a relative newcomer - again, home remedies and whatnot may have lain a foundation already. There's bound to be some skill, Advantage, or whatnot that would be perfectly apt that I managed to totally overlook. And of course campaign-specific alterations like Disad limits, availability of magical skills like Herb Lore (etc) would come in to effect, which may require considerable reshuffling across the board.
If it were on Earth, I'd actually have to research Monastic Orders and whatnot, which I kept mum on this originally, because I did not feel much like delving into the particulars at the time!
Closing
Well, that's that. I have been meaning to practice writing up characters again, so here's a start. I've never been terribly good at telling back story, so I hope this one was at least coherent, if a little dull. At some point in the future, I intend to start putting out some more characters, mostly based off of the Tiberian Dawn setting campaign I've been working on - classic example types. I'll get to those eventually - it sounds like it could be a fun little exercise - assuming I keep it little, writing as I do!Thanks for reading!
Cheers!
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