After a trawl through the lore forum, I couldn't find anything on whether or not a monk's eye glow is IC, and if so, what it represents or what you can tell from it. I've always played it as OOC since I hate nailing someone to an alignment and thus making generalizations about them, but I realize it may well be different here.

Any clarification from the DMs would be wonderful, thank you.

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~Diana de Priondragas - Enigmatic druid, Arbiter, Counselor, Bear.
~Corinn Aldaine - Just a girl with a big heart... who can turn you into a newt.
~Vigdis Haldorsdottr - Walk softly and carry a big axe.

I've always treated it as such. Monk eye glow is a visual representation of devotion and the power of a monk's ki. In this regard, its just like a palemaster's bonearm which represents their own brand of devotion. Both are consequences of a given path. Its not metagamey to respond to either ICly.

And, a general rule of thumb to go by is WYSIWYG.

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Playing:
Marcus Valis

From what I have been told int he past in the old Lore Thread, they are unfortunately an IC thing imposed by Bioware's silly notions of adding 'cool things'. You can tell everyone (and put it in the character bio) that the eyes are not there, but others have to play along. They eyes are not present in canon DnD, and unfortunately it's hardcoded so we cannot change it at all

By all accounts, it's perfectly reasonable to assume the eyes are not glowing 24/7, and I would play along with someone RPing that 100% because I agree the unavoidable meta-info is annoying lol

edit: relevant posts from the thread
viewtopic.php?p=1055755#p1055755
viewtopic.php?p=1055757#p1055757
viewtopic.php?p=1055764#p1055764

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Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play:
Salema Nefahri :: A penny for your thots
Zrae'a'stra'fryn :: That which nightmares are made of
Khasir :: From the East a storm is coming

I've always understood that the ki is a physical glow manifested by sheer wholeness of self to the point of the supernatural (figuratively), but I imagine there isn't an IC book or something that says "monks with glowy red ki are evil!" Through IC interactions, you might be able to understand and conclude things about it, which is why, for example, my character Zelly will freak out and avoid monks with red ki, but be quite friendly with monks that have blue or purple ki.

...In other words, while it is an IC representation of something that is there, I would think only a scholar or someone who's been burned a few times could attach a meaning to it in regards to alignment.

As long as the glowy eyes are there and we prescribe to the aforementioned WYSIWYG rule-of-thumb, I would think the glow is actually there IC.

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Mathus, Void Apostle of the New Moon

I've always seen the glow as a physical manifistation of Ki radiating from the invididual. Determining alignment on it isn't that far fetched, concidering how different Ki can be from person to person and it makes sense that the Ki energy changes based on the personality and alignment of the invididual.

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Adair - Druid and part time treant cosplayer

Okay, wait, I have a constructive question to add after all...

Since everyone can look at a red-eyed monk and instantly know their alignment, does that mean red-eyed monks are banned from most cities that ban worshippers of evil deities, et al?

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Mathus, Void Apostle of the New Moon

IIRC, we have the house rule that a monk can suppress the ki from their eyes at will. So it's IC, but before you react to it, you'd be nice to ask the player if they have it suppressed or not.

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No.

DM Ruling here, I presume, or is the House Rule correct?

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Mathus, Void Apostle of the New Moon

But people are still aware that said monk is Up To No Good (tm)?

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Mathus, Void Apostle of the New Moon

Nivo is the DM, not DI, so I will let you figure that out. However, any rule or house rule that has you talking OOC to other players is a bad one.

And maybe. Depends on the individuals.

Well to be fair, it doesn't have to be OoC. It's not that hard to go *Regards you with a solemn nod, the ki of his eyes suppressed*.

I distinctly remember that being said be one of our DM's at one point and time, but granted it was a while ago and the thread that had a lot of other important monk lore in it seems to have vanished. If our stance has changed or that was never the case, feel free to disregard. But I will say I'd find it thoroughly silly to damn our monks to live by a short-sighted feature added by the all wise Bioware.

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For what it's worth, I dislike just about anything that reveals alignment. Monk eyes, the alignment specific generic summons (Planar and undead lists should still be a giveaway, though), The Divine Might and Shield alignment specific glows, The ruling that BG aura is always on. It's also been hinted that Shadow summons might get color-coded, too. Not fond of that at all. My two coppers. People wonder why I dislike the "must hunt in groups" mindset the server is fixated on, and color-coded abilities is a big reason for it.

Well, the BG aura was already explained as not a dead giveaway, but a goosebumpy feeling. You can get that just about anywhere, and nothing says it's that character giving you the feeling. Hell, the Paladin aura is always on as well, you forgot to mention that. As for Divine Might/Shield, it's a divine gift so it makes sense that the color is different based on alignment, though I agree in some cases it is annoying and might be reasonable to consider the aura to not be a giveaway depending on the situation or deity in question (ie like Shar or Mask or something, they would like it to b e kept a secret I would think). I haven't heard anything about Shadow summons getting color-coded, but that sounds silly. As for the summons, it's been said they are being worked on, and everyone will like how it turns out.

And hunting is groups is to make things more RP-driven and less Action-driven anyways ;p Just means you have to be more careful. Heck, my Lolthite drow fooled everyone she hunted with for a long time. Not a single person questioned if she was evil or not. Just meant she didn't use Divine Shield or summons if she was with people she didn't trust (read: everyone) lol.

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Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play:
Salema Nefahri :: A penny for your thots
Zrae'a'stra'fryn :: That which nightmares are made of
Khasir :: From the East a storm is coming

I resonate with this. I dislike the notion of alignments being readily discernible in a persistent world where everyone is essentially immortal. You can't even get rid of the witnesses if your evil gets outed.

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Sion of Nimlith
Shadow Disciple

There are many more hints for alignment-curious people. Summons, whether spells and effects work on somebody or not, whether or not they get bonus damage. I don't find it all that interesting compared to what characters are like and how they choose to act.

A good guy who is a total dogmatic asshole, an evil guy who is fiercely protective of the people he cares about. How boring is a Paladin who is never made to blame the wrong guy and raises his sword out of reflex when something's glowing red?

The world of D&D is largely black and white thanks to the main mechanics of alignment. Since that won't change, just make it work in your favor and create something interesting out of it. Just don't lay the moral relativism on too thick.