Old Order (Neutral, Sometimes Good, Rarely Evil): Monks of the Old Order do not worship any deity, but are devoted to the philosophy espoused by a deity who is either now dead or has never existed on the Material Plane of Toril. The monks contradict themselves on this point, but the deity’s identity isn’t important to them, it’s the message they care about. The Old Order never has huge monasteries, but has spread widely throughout Faerûn. Monks of the Old Order can multiclass freely as rogues, sorcerers, and shadowdancers, but must maintain more monk levels than their combined levels of other classes.

Robes of the Old Order: Whatever the motives of the Monks of the Old Order might be, no one doubts that they are keenly, defensively minded. Rumor has it that the masters of the order attain ranks by being able to survive a beating by an Ogre, without ever raising a hand in defense. True or not, these robes, produced by the order to fund monasteries, are the trade mark of any monk who would survive in the frontlines of combat, against an enemy clad in armor.

Personally, I would steer clear of the order and invent one of my own.

What, if anything, goes into making a monk order? Is it just an extension of one's strong personal code/ethics/beliefs and trying to get others to follow them? Is it an order even if you're the only one?