Way of the Circus Star (5e Monk variant of the Drunken Master)
by Marc Saindon(Monk: Way of the Drunken Master)
While Drunken Master can be played as is easily, and you can re-enact Jackie Chan, this variant path focuses more on Jezmine from the Conan the Adventurer animation. I thought of doing a stereotypical irish bar-room brawler, but that's what it would have been: a stereotype picked from the lowest hanging fruit.
Jezmine seems at first like to be in the 1e Thief-Acrobat character as a circus performer, with her circus being sort of her "guild", although the show makes the point that she and her fellow artists are honorable performers, not thieves. Training as a circus acrobat or a ballerina might not be martial, but it takes as much physical dedication as being a Monk. In an episode where she trains with ninjas (yes, there was Conan as a ninja), she makes the point that all are circus training already prepared her. She might not be the best fighter, but she uses shurikens, and the circus has a long history of knife-throwing performer, so this Monk type could be built around Thrown Weapons (darts, shurikens, chakras, boomerangs, throwing knives, etc.) combined with high mobility. These people will be Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral, although very few evil people will bother to have crowds like them as acrobats (egos can still happen).
"Drunk" is taken out of the equation. And it's more like "clown" and "tumbling" that allows a "Circus Monk" to work Drunken Style. Drunkard's Luck becomes "Fool's Luck", Intoxicated Frenzy becomes "Slapstick Frenzy", Drunken Technique is just "Circus Technique". Brewing proficiency is ditched by a proficiency of the character's choice (reflecting his life before the circus or a skill picked up in a side-show, so having a sideline as mime might boost your Move Silently skill).
There's no shortage of places to set a circus in Mystara, besides those magical circuses that also pop up in D&D (two in Ravenloft, 1 in the Feywild), the various vacation kingdoms (Serraine, Ierendi, Alphatia's Gaity). "Circus" might present more sophisticated stages, like Darokin's commedia dell'arte scene. Potential team ups between this type of Monk and (the more honorable) Rogues or Bards are also evident.
Notes:
Jezmine
(Image from: https://www.deviantart.com/frozendreamer/art/Jezmine-356323632)