Be a monk for a day

The four things you protect as a Monk

• 🕊️
  Peace

  If Peace reaches zero, your day ends early with “Lost your calm”. Peace broke and you spent the evening in the garden with the goat. Biscuit did not judge.

  31% of the choices in this role lower it, and 46% raise it.

• 🔔
  Discipline

  If Discipline reaches zero, your day ends early with “The monastery lost its rhythm”. The bells, the meals and the chores slipped out of step. The elders asked for a long talk.

  29% of the choices in this role lower it, and 48% raise it.

• 🤝
  Community

  If Community reaches zero, your day ends early with “The monastery felt empty”. Community faded and the visitors stopped coming. The gate stood open and quiet.

  17% of the choices in this role lower it, and 60% raise it.

• 📿
  Wisdom

  If Wisdom reaches zero, your day ends early with “The big questions won”. You ran out of answers and out of words. The elder gave you tea and said nothing, which helped.

  2% of the choices in this role lower it, and 60% raise it.

Tips for a better day as a Monk

1. Do not chase one number. In every role, a day with all four meters between 50 and 70 beats a day with one meter at 95 and another at 10. As a Monk, the danger is rarely the big mistake. It is the quiet neglect of one meter.
2. Watch Peace most closely. In this role, 31% of choices lower it, which makes it the meter that slips away fastest. Wisdom is the most forgiving, with 2% of choices lowering it.
3. Read your advisors as opinions, not answers. Each one backs the option that helps the meters they care about, so when they disagree, ask which meter you can least afford to lose today.
4. Look for the choice that gives you something back. Many of the best options cost one meter a little and help two others. The tempting “easy” option often costs more than it seems.
5. Remember that choices can come back. A decision in the morning may return as a follow-up situation later in the day, so a quick fix early on can be expensive at six in the evening.

A sample day, step by step

Here is one example of how a careful player might get through a day as a Monk. It uses six of the sixteen situations, picks the option with the best overall balance each time, and shows what each choice did. Your own day will be different, because situations are drawn at random and some choices bring follow-ups later.

1. 7:00 AM

   A stranger in the library

   You find a young man reading late. He says he is not a monk, not a tourist, and not sure what he is.

   Chosen: “Offer him a bed and a task for tomorrow”. Practical and kind.

   🕊️ Peace +2🔔 Discipline +2🤝 Community +2📿 Wisdom +2

   The road not taken: “Gently ask him to leave at closing time”. Rules are rules, and the lamp stays on a little longer.

   Standing after this call: 🕊️ 52 · 🔔 52 · 🤝 52 · 📿 52

2. 9:30 AM

   A donation arrives

   A wealthy donor offers a large gift, but asks to have the new library named after his family.

   Chosen: “Accept the money, refuse the name”. He is polite. He is also a little hurt.

   🕊️ Peace +2🔔 Discipline +2📿 Wisdom +6

   The road not taken: “Accept it gratefully”. The library is built. The name above the door is very large.

   Standing after this call: 🕊️ 54 · 🔔 54 · 🤝 52 · 📿 58

3. 12:00 PM

   The cook runs out of rice

   The rice store is nearly empty and the supply truck is a day late. Twelve monks and nine visitors will want dinner.

   Chosen: “Share what you have and eat less”. Everyone leaves the table a little hungry and surprisingly cheerful.

   🕊️ Peace +2🔔 Discipline +2🤝 Community +6📿 Wisdom +2

   The road not taken: “Skip dinner and fast together”. Quiet and very focused.

   Standing after this call: 🕊️ 56 · 🔔 56 · 🤝 58 · 📿 60

4. 3:00 PM

   The new meditation app

   A visitor suggests the monastery makes a meditation app. “It could reach millions,” she says.

   Chosen: “Ask the monks to decide together”. A very long conversation and a very good answer.

   🔔 Discipline +2🤝 Community +6📿 Wisdom +6

   The road not taken: “Say yes with conditions”. The monks nod, slowly.

   Standing after this call: 🕊️ 56 · 🔔 58 · 🤝 64 · 📿 66

5. 6:00 PM

   A letter from a former friend

   An old friend from the city writes: “Come back, I have a job for you. A real one.”

   Chosen: “Write a warm reply and stay”. A kind letter. You miss him for the rest of the day.

   🕊️ Peace +2🔔 Discipline +2📿 Wisdom +2

   The road not taken: “Burn it unread”. Dramatic and a little sad.

   Standing after this call: 🕊️ 58 · 🔔 60 · 🤝 64 · 📿 68

6. 9:00 PM

   The long wake-up

   Your alarm is the dawn bell. You wake up thirty minutes late. The sun is already on the wall.

   Chosen: “Walk calmly and own the mistake”. You speak to the elder after prayers. He nods.

   🕊️ Peace +2🔔 Discipline +2🤝 Community +2📿 Wisdom +2

   The road not taken: “Skip the morning and do extra work later”. The day is busy. The morning is missed.

   Standing after this call: 🕊️ 60 · 🔔 62 · 🤝 66 · 📿 70

Situations you may face

Every game uses six of these sixteen situations, so you will not meet them all in one day. There are also 4 follow-up situations that return after specific choices and 3 surprises that can appear without warning.

• The bell is cracked. The morning bell makes a strange rattling sound. The senior monks say it is a sign. The cook says it is a crack.
• A loud visitor at the gate. A tourist arrives shouting into his phone, asking where the “famous silence” is being held.
• The goat in the garden. Biscuit the goat has eaten half the cabbages and is now looking at the herbs. The gardener is close to tears.
• The young novice is homesick. A new novice sits alone by the well. He has not eaten breakfast and keeps looking at the road.
• A donation arrives. A wealthy donor offers a large gift, but asks to have the new library named after his family.
• A storm on the mountain. A heavy storm has cut the road. Seven hikers are stuck at the gate and want somewhere to sleep.
• A question without an answer. A schoolgirl on a trip asks you, “What is the point of everything?” Her class is waiting.
• The argument in the kitchen. Two monks are arguing over how much salt goes into the soup. It has been going on for twenty minutes.
• The long wake-up. Your alarm is the dawn bell. You wake up thirty minutes late. The sun is already on the wall.
• A letter from a former friend. An old friend from the city writes: “Come back, I have a job for you. A real one.”
• The new meditation app. A visitor suggests the monastery makes a meditation app. “It could reach millions,” she says.
• The leaking roof. Rain is dripping onto the library floor. The books are in danger and the ladder is old.
• A reporter wants a photograph. A magazine reporter wants a photo of you meditating in the garden at sunrise. She promises “just five minutes”.
• The village festival. The village below invites the monastery to its yearly festival. Several monks want to go, but the day is also a day of silence.
• A stranger in the library. You find a young man reading late. He says he is not a monk, not a tourist, and not sure what he is.
• The cook runs out of rice. The rice store is nearly empty and the supply truck is a day late. Twelve monks and nine visitors will want dinner.

Every ending (spoilers)