10 years ago, Obsidian made the only D&D-style Monk I've ever really loved⁠—all it took was grounding him in harsh asceticism, mortification of the flesh, Aztec history, and stoner comedies

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...