''Monastyr'' is a Polish role-playing game published in 2004. It is set in a dark fantasy world of Dominium. Its

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...

features a fantastic equivalent of the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. Most often, the game plots are

cloak and dagger "Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common in the Renaissance involving a knife hidden beneath a cloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage, or mystery. Overview In " Th ...

-like and involve plotting, intrigue, and struggle in the name of

honor Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

. The game has been inspired by such authors as Alexandre Dumas, père,

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...

and H. P. Lovecraft. It is published by the Polish company Wydawnictwo Portal (Portal Publishing House) and it is currently available only in Polish. The game does not shy from dealing with serious issues such as

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

. The players have to play

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

s, and they are all followers of a certain monotheistic religion, known as Karianism. The religion is based on Christian faith in one god mixed with reincarnation and the cycle of life known from Hinduism. The human countries, tied together with that religion, are involved in a long struggle against all other races (elves, dwarves, orcs, etc.), as Karianism dictates that all of those races are doomed beyond salvation, therefore must be exterminated as minions of evil god Kusiciel (Tempter). Magic is also considered a sign of a devil or demons, so there are no (overt) mage human characters. The corebook, ''Monastyr'', does not describe the lands of non-humans, instead, it concentrates on the human empire, which, while united by a single faith and church, is composed of over fifty autonomous countries, each involved in various struggles, political or military, against others. ''Monastyr'' mechanics are based around the 3d20 system.

References

External links

''Monastyr'' official website

Reviews

Monastyr Spełnienie oczekiwań?
9 May 2004, polter.pl Polish role-playing games Fantasy role-playing games Horror role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 2004 {{rpg-stub