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Name: One. Race: Human. Class/Level: Zen Qinggong Monk 1. Favoured Bonus: H∞.
Age: 25. Height: 6’1”. Weight: 180lbs. Alignment: LN. Pointbuy: 14/14/14/7/17/7 = 20.

Strength 14, Dexterity 14, Constitution 14, Intelligence 7, Wisdom 19, Charisma 7

Initiative +8
Perception +8
Hit Points 14
Armour Class 16, touch 16, flatfooted 14 (class 4, dex 2)
CMD 18 (class 4, dex 2, str 2)
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +6

Speed 30
Base Attack +0, Base Flurry +1 (-1/-1)
CMB +2
Fist +2 (1d6+2)
Bow +2 (1d6/x3, 60’)
Bow flurry +1/+1 (ditto)

Traits: Exile, Resilient
Feats:
1st: Toughness
Human: Improved Initiative
Monk 1st: Improved Unarmed Strike
Monk 1st: Perfect Strike (bow, special)
Monk 1st: Precise Shot
The Way of One:
* Bow Flurry: no flurry with any other weapon
* Perfect Strike: 1/day, once/round, as part of attack; roll two d20s for one bow attack, with the discard as confirmation if the first threatens

Skills: Acrobatics +6 (1 rank, 3 class, 2 stat), Perception+8 (1 rank, 3 class, 4 stat), Stealth +6 (1 rank, 3 class, 2 stat)

Gear (35gp): shortbow (30gp, 2lb), 20 arrows (1gp, 3lb), 20 blunt arrows (2gp, 3lb),
cold iron knuckles (2gp, 1lb)
Encumbrance (light 58lb): 9lb

Name: One. Race: Human. Class/Level: Zen Qinggong Monk 6. Favoured Bonus: H∞. Age: 30. Height: 6’1”. Weight: 180lbs.

Strength 14, Dexterity 14, Constitution 14, Intelligence 7, Wisdom 20 (22), Charisma 7

Initiative +8
Perception +15
Hit Points 54
Armour Class 20, touch 20, flatfooted 18 (class 7, dex 2, def 1)
CMD 28 (base 16, class 7, dex 2, str 2, def 1)
Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +12

Speed 50
Base Attack +4, Base Flurry +4
CMB +6
Fist +6 (1d8+2, cold iron, magic)
Bow deadly +12 (1d8+11/x3, ignore less than total concealment/cover, -1 attack & damage beyond 30’, magic)
Bow flurry +12/+12/+7 (1d8+11 & ditto)
Bow ki flurry +12/+12/+12/+7 (1d8+11)

Traits: Exile, Resilient
Feats:
1st: Toughness
Human: Improved Initiative
Monk 1st: Improved Unarmed Strike
Monk 1st: Perfect Strike (bow, special)
Monk 1st: Precise Shot
Monk 2nd: Weapon Focus (longbow)
Monk 2nd: Point Blank Shot
Monk 3rd: Point Blank Master
3rd: Deadly Aim
5th: Defensive Combat Training
Monk 6th: Specialisation (longbow)
Monk 6th: Improved Precise Shot

The Way of One:
* Bow Flurry: no flurry with any other weapon
* Perfect Strike: 6/day, once/round, as part of attack; roll two d20s for one bow attack, with the discard as confirmation if the first threatens:
* Zen Archery: One uses Wisdom to determine ranged attacks
* Vows of Cleanliness and Truth: no lies, must remain clean, +2 ki
* Ki Pool: 11/day swift and one round unless stated:
1= (i) extra bow flurry [one attack], (ii) +50’ bow increment, (iii) +4 dodge armour,
(iv) unarmed bow damage, (v) +20 speed or jump, (vi) +3 barkskin [stnd, 60 mins]
* Grasshopper: +6 jump, with constant running start

Skills: Acrobatics +11, jump+37 (6 ranks, 3 class, 2 stat/6 class, 20 speed), Perception+15 (6 ranks, 3 class, 6 stat), Sense Motive+10 (1 rank, 3 class, 6 stat), Stealth +10 (5 ranks, 3 class, 2 stat)

Gear (16,000gp): composite str14 longbow+2 (8600gp, 3lb), headband of wisdom+2 (4000gp), ring of protection+1 (2000gp), cloak of resistance+1 (1000gp), 2 potions of mage armour (100gp), 10 smoke arrows (100gp, 10lb), masterwork backpack (50gp, 4lb), 200 arrows (10gp, 30lb), 10 monk’s outfits (50gp, 10lb), 40 blunt arrows (4gp, 6lb), cold iron knuckles (2gp, 1lb), soap (1gp, 2lb), 83gp

Encumbrance (light 66lb): 66lb

Name: One. Race: Human. Class/Level: Qinggong Zen Monk 20. Favoured
Bonus: H∞. Age: 30. Height: 5’. Weight: 130lbs. Alignment: LN. Pointbuy: 14/14/14/7/17/7 = 20.

Str 18 (24), Dex 18 (24), Con 14 (20), Int 7 (9), Wis 28 (34), Cha 7

Initiative +13
Perception +41, Darkvision
Hit Points 233
Armour Class 53, touch 40, flatfooted 46 (class 17, arm 8, dex 7, def 5, nat 5, ins 1)
CMD 67 (base 30, class 17, dex 7, str 7, def 5, ins 1)
Fort +24, Ref +27, Will +30; +2 magic & poison; evasion
Spell Resistance 30, Damage Resistance 10/Chaotic

Speed 90, fly 40
Base Attack +15, Base Flurry +20
CMB +22
Fist +22/+17/+12 (2d10+7, 1d6 energy, cold iron, magic, lawful, adamantine)
Fist vital strike +22 (2d10+7, 4d10, and ditto)
1. Bow deadly +32/+27/+22 (1d8+24, +1 per previous hit/19-20x3, 1d6 nonlethal, nonprovoking, threaten 5’, ignore less than total concealment/cover, all DR bar Epic, ki focus, -1 attack and damage beyond 30’)
2. Bow ki deadly vital strike +32 (2d10+24/19-20x3, 4d10, and as 1)
3: Bow deadly flurry +33/+33/+28/+28/+23/+23/+18 (1d8+28, and as 1)
4: Bow ki deadly flurry +33/+33/+28/+28/+23/+23/+18 (2d10+28, and as 1)
5: Bow ki deadly flurry haste +34/+34/+34/+29/+29/+24/+24/+19 (2d10+28, and as 1)

Traits: Exile, Resilient
Feats:
1st: Toughness
Human: Improved Initiative
Monk 1st: Improved Unarmed Strike
Monk 1st: Perfect Strike (bow, special)
Monk 1st: Precise Shot
Monk 2nd: Weapon Focus (longbow)
Monk 2nd: Point Blank Shot
Monk 3rd: Point Blank Master
3rd: Deadly Aim
5th: Defensive Combat Training
Monk 6th: Specialisation (longbow)
Monk 6th: Improved Precise Shot
7th: Lightning Reflexes
9th: Vital Strike
Monk 10th: Improved Critical (longbow)
11th: Hammer the Gap
13th: Stunning Fist
Monk 14th: Pinpoint Targetting
15th: Improved Vital Strike
17th: Ability Focus (Stunning Fist)
19th: Mantis Style

The Way of One:
* Bow Flurry: no flurry with any other weapon
* Perfect Strike: 20/day, once/round, as part of attack; roll three d20s for one bow attack, with a discard as confirmation if the first threatens
* Zen Archery: Wisdom determines ranged attacks
* Mantis Style: swift, combat duration, +2 stunning DC. One bonus stun/day
* Vows of Cleanliness, Fasting and Truth: no lies, no potions, must remain clean, +11 ki
* Ki Pool: 33/day, swift, self only and one round unless stated:
1= (i) extra bow flurry [one attack], (ii) +50’ bow increment, (iii) +4 dodge armour, (iv) unarmed bow damage, (v) +20 speed or jump, (vi) +5 barkskin [standard, 200 min]
2 = (i) bow ignores total concealment, (ii) restoration [standard], (iii) dimension door 1200’ [move]
3 = (i) bow ignores total cover [shoot round corners], (ii) etherealness [move, 1 min], (iii) shadow walk [standard, 20 hours, self and 20 passengers, DC28w]
* Grasshopper: +20 jump with constant running start
* Reflexive Shot: One makes (and by default does not incur) bow opportunity attacks
* Stunning Fist (Ex): 21/day, once/round, as part of unarmed or bow attack: dc34/36w, stun
* Diamond Soul: Spell Resistance 30
* Quivering Palm (Su): 1x/day, as part of unarmed or bow attack: dc32w, death * Ki Bow: any arrow One fires becomes a Ki Focus weapon
* Hammer the Gap (Ex): cumulative +1 damage/previous hit uninterrupted by misses in a round; this damage is critiplied
* Perfect Self: immune to spells targetting humanoids. DR10/Chaotic

Skills: Acrobatics +27, jump+71 (16 ranks, 3 class, 7 stat, 1 luck/20 class, 24 speed), Fly+17 (1 rank, 7 stat, 1 luck, 4 item, 4 man), Heal+16 (3 ranks, 12 stat, 1 luck), Knowledge Planar+20 (20 ranks, -1 stat, 1 luck), Perception+41 (20 ranks, 3 class, 12 stat, 1 luck, 5 item), Sense Motive+17 (1 rank, 3 class, 12 stat, 1 luck), Stealth +30 (19 ranks, 3 class, 7 stat, 1 luck)

Gear (880,000gp): belt of physical perfection+6 & dwarvenkind (166,350gp, 1lb), tome of wisdom+4 (expended, 110,000gp), manual of strength+4 (expended, 110,000gp), manual of dexterity+4 (expended, 110,000gp), composite merciful str24 longbow+5 (73,100gp, 3lb, hardness 15, hp55), vest of armour+8 (64,000gp, 1lb), ring of protection+5 & counterspells (56,000gp; greater dispel 660gp), headband of wis+6 and int+2 (Know: Planar, 42,000gp, 1lb), ring of evasion & counterspells (31,000gp; greater dispel 660gp), greater bracers of archery (25,000gp), cloak of resistance+5 (25,000gp, 1lb), luckstone (20,000gp), broom of flying (17,000gp, 3lb), boots of speed (12,000gp, 1lb), bottle of air (7250gp, 1lb), ioun stone+1 armour (5000gp), eyes of the eagle (2500gp), handy haversack (2000gp, 5lb), 2 ioun torches (150gp), mwk backpack (50gp, 4lb), 300 arrows (15gp, 45lb), cold iron knuckle (2gp, 1lb), 2 weapon cords, 7gp

In the haversack: 20 monk’s outfits (100gp, 20lbs), 2 holy waters (50gp, 2lb), 2 unholy waters (50gp, 2lb), 5 smoke arrows (50gp, 5lb), 40 blunt arrows (4gp, 6lb), soap (1gp, 2lb), waterskin (1gp, 4lb)

Encumbrance (light 266lb): 67lb with broom. Encumbrance for broom (light 200lb): 194lb

Perfect Stun : at 1st level One gains Perfect Strike, which ‘replaces Stunning Fist.’ At 11th level he qualifies for Stunning Fist and takes it. Now, monks get beefed-up versions of various feats, and Stunning Fist is a case in point. Monkhood gives extra stuns as well as an assortment of alternative effects, from fatigue to paralysis. When a zen archer monk takes the feat, does he treat it as a beefy monk feat - does he gain a use per level and the alternative effects?

It’s worth noting that the official online site links Perfect Strike’s replacement of Stunning Fist to the feat, not the class ability. This seems to suggest that zen archers have dormant beef-up class potential, which becomes active when the feat is taken. I’m going to make a judgement call here, though: I think the intention is that One gains a stun per level (as per the feat description) but not the alternate effects (as per the class text). This means that, when he eventually gains Ki Focus Bow, One can shoot stunning arrows but not paralysing ones. Do mark this guide for faq if you think this is a point worth clarifying.

Ki Arrows : at 17th level One gains Ki Focus Bow, and treats ‘all arrows fired from his bow as if they were ki focus weapons, allowing him to use his special ki attacks as if his arrows were unarmed attacks.’

What is a special ki attack? The ki focus weapon quality gives a list, which ‘includes’ ki strike, Quivering Palm and Stunning Fist - but it doesn’t give a definition. This is a shame, because the new material gives us various feats that look like they might well be ki attacks, too. The use of ‘include’ does seem to leave room for additions, but it’s impossible to be sure. For example, several monk archetypes get a beefed-up feat as a straight replacement for Stunning Fist - are these ki attacks? Elemental Fist and Touch of Serenity both look likely candidates. Then too, Ultimate Magic describes ki powers in its treatment of the qinggong archetype - is an offensive ki power a ki attack?

Again I’m going to make a judgement call here for the time being: I reckon the Stunning Fist substitute feats are ki attacks, because they replace a ki attack class ability. To avoid greyzoneness, though, I’m not going to use either Elemental Fist or Touch of Serenity in One’s build. Again, mark this guide for faq if you think a definition of kit attacks would be nice to have.

Deadly Aim : on 07/08/11 Pathfinder released an errata to the effect that, when a monk uses Combat Expertise or Power Attack with flurry, he ‘uses his improved flurrying BAB to determine the effect of these feats.’ This applies equally to Deadly Aim. I’m incorporating this, although it’s worth noting that (a) it’s not a huge change (-2 attack/+4 damage at 20th), (b) it’s not necessarily advantageous to a monk, who doesn’t have attack bonusses out of the wahooly, and (c) it doesn’t change the outcome of any of the Beastmass fights. (I’ll also note that I think this is good errata, but that it’s liable to confuse people, since the monk’s flurrying base attack - +1 per level - isn’t laid out plainly on the monk’s class table, which is where many people will look for it. It would be good if this were made clearer in future printings or versions).

Zen Vows : at 5th level One takes the vows of cleanliness and truth; at 15th level he adds the vow of fasting (‘a monk can take a vow at any level’). Can a zen archer have these? ‘A monk who takes a vow never gains the Still Mind class feature’: zen archers never gain it in the first place. Note, though, that the wording doesn’t say you have to have Still Mind to swap out, and in fact this is careful writing, because ‘any user of ki’ can take a vow - and other users, like the ninja, don’t have Still Mind either. So the zen archer falls into the same category as a ninja here; he doesn’t have Still Mind, and thus has nothing to lose when he avows himself.

Gear : One has a vest of armour , since Pathfinder has no magic slot flavour restrictions: a robe, shirt or vest would fit the bill anyway. This allows him greater bracers of archery . He still misses out on armour and shield slots, of course. He also stacks up some secondary enchantments on their traditional slots, but he pays the 150% secondary rates.

More controversially (in duel terms), One wears two rings of counterspells with greater dispels in them. PCs need magic items, beasts don’t, and at these levels, against at-will greater dispels , item nerf protection is mandatory. He pays for both the rings and spells as normal, of course, and the counterspells are gone for good when they’re expended.

Qinggongness : In place of infinite Slow Fall, One takes barkskin for 1 ki; it lasts 3 hours 20 minutes a pop and gives a +5 natural armour enhancement. By default he simply uses this three times a day at noncombat intervals. He starts off 3 ki down each day to reflect this. He also has restoration (2 ki) in place of Wholeness of Body from 8th, and shadow walk (3 ki) in place of Timeless Body from 17th, though these don’t play much significance in the Trial.

Skills : it won’t matter in the Trial, but I’ll just note here that items built on fly/overland flight give nice bonusses to the Fly skill, just as the spells do, though the items routinely forget to mention half the goodness. One’s broom of flying gives +8 (+4 for half caster level, +4 for good maneuverability). You have a maneuverability, it’s good, you get the bonus.

Perturbed by the trials ahead, One leaves bright and early to see a smart friend, a merman monk - but One is hardly smart himself, being minmaxed, and gets his days mixed up, departing on the first day of Beastmass itself. He’s cruising along through the sunbeamy sea on his trusty broom, taking nips of air from his bottle every four minutes, bow in hand, when he detects a disturbance in the currents and something vast hoves into view. Avast! It is the dread shoggoth, the first of One’s adversaries.

The ocean has 90’ visibility, and this is good for the shog (a nice charge distance) so we’ll use it as the start point. Everyone has smashing Perception, no one is surprised. The shog has +11 Initiative, but One goes first. Also the ocean is studded with tiny harmless jellyfish just where the fight occurs, so everything has normal concealment beyond 20’, which the shog ignores through tremorsense... though in fact One does too, courtesy of Improved Precise Shot. Also, One is half out of air when the fight kicks off: he has 20 rounds, and loses an extra round each time he attacks. The shoggoth is only a CR19, so we’re trying to stack some chips in its favour here.

Ding-ding, round one: One doesn’t shoot, because the water imposes a minus 34 penalty on ranged attacks - bummer. He does ready his pinpoint vital shot when the ooze comes within 5’.

Shog’s turn: it begins its Maddening Cacophony (free action), and charges 90’, trampling. One saves against the cacophony (on a 2), saves against the trample (on a 9) and evades. Is he engulfed? No, because he isn’t trampled - and even if he was (it’s a close save, after all) the shog would need to make a grapple check (as if Swallowing Whole), for which it requires a natural 20. In the meantime One’s readied shot goes off: it hits on a 2 and does 50 nonlethal after DR (oozes aren’t immune to nonlethal). The shoggoth is on 283 hp but immediately heals to 293hp (it’s only nonlethal damage, of course, but the distinction is irrelevant here). One acts immediately before it next round.

Round two: One goes for the Full Monty flurry, haste and all. He hits seven times for 248 nonlethal damage after typeless DR. The shoggoth is immune to the Quivering Palm, the stun and the criticals that One would normally threaten, but it’s on 45hp. What else does it have up its soggy sleeve?

Not enough. The shoggoth fast-heals 10 hp again, but the truth is it can’t hurt the monk. It needs natural 20s to slam or succeed on maneuvers. One saves against the cacophony and saves and evades the trample: we could rule that he fails a save against the latter, since it’s borderline, but he can survive it and won’t be engulfed. The shog can’t flee in this fight and has no ranged ability. Engulf is its trump, and since it’s none too bright, it’s going to fast-heal and try that again. One reduces it to unconscious primeval sludge in 3 rounds (conservatively) and kills it stone dead with a few more rounds of unmerciful flurries thereafter. 6 ki (including the day’s natural armour) and 2 charges of the boots of speed used, and the Quivering Palm wasted, but job done!

One falls unconscious and wakes to find himself on his damp broom, in a charred cavern, 10’ by 10’ and 100’ high, lit by guttering candles. As he explores there is a sound like the shrieking of flensed souls and the towering balor appears in midair before him! The combatants are 10’ apart, One wins initiative, but we’ll say the demon gets a surprise round, because I don’t want Beastmass to come down to initiative. The Balor is big on brains, so we’ll say he’s done his homework on One, too, and we’ll do it for him now.

The balor is a SMACC - a Spellcaster on a Mighty Awesome Combat Chassis. He’s pretty offensive toe-to-toe, but his real strengths are his spell-likes - implosion, fire storm, at-will greater dispel and dominate , quickened telekinesis , and the CR17 marilith he can summon. Boojah!

Actually, none of this is going to work on One and the balor knows it. The offensive spell-likes need 10s to go through One’s Spell Resistance (which equals success for the balor, per fight rules), but One then saves on a 2 against anything. Telekinesis fails against One’s AC, CMD and saves, and the marilith is a one-round road-bump - she can’t hit or grapple the monk barring natural 20s, and One’s flurry hits her seven times and crits once for 408 nonlethal damage, which doesn’t do wonders for her health.

Worse, the balor knows it can’t touch One physically. It too needs natural 20s to succeed on all maneuver checks (telekinetic or otherwise), and ditto on attack rolls. It needs consecutive natural 20s to slay One with its vorpal weapons. If One was a normal monk he might take fire damage when flurrying, but that’s someone else’s problem. The balor can’t bullrush One off the broom, or sunder his bow, or disarm it, or telekinese it, or get One in a grapple where he can’t shoot and gets burned. The balor can’t even quick-telekinese itself a tower shield out of some conveniently handy steel plate, because it happens to know that One can shoot around total cover for 3 ki a round.

So what can the demon do?

Plan A: targetted greater dispels at will against One’s gear (area dispels won’t work on items). Per fight rules it’ll succeed against One’s SR and will easily succeed on dispel checks against the bow, belt and headband (on a 7, 6 and 2), which it has identified as One’s key items. Unfortunately, the balor also knows that One wears two rings which will automatically counter its first two greater dispels , but still, this plan has merit. It’d be better if the balor could sunder the suppressed bow, but that won’t be an option... curses...

Plan B: if the balor can do 83 damage, it can use power word stun - no save - but it’s going to have the devil of a time doing that much damage.

Finally - Plan C - the balor can just make full attacks, hoping for vorpal strikes. It gets seven chances a round, but the likelihood of getting consecutive 20s is miniscule.

The balor goes for Plan A. The greater dispel bounces but one ring of counterspells is emptied. For pride’s sake, the demon uses quickened telekinesis to throw up a mass of cave rubble between One and itself, but the rubble is cover, not total cover, and the monk ignores it (Improved Precise Shot).

Round One, One’s turn: he flurries. He hits five times, critting once, for 306 nonlethal. The balor saves against the stun (on a 9) but has 64hp remaining, and is unconscious unless it can stop One shooting next round, which it can’t (it can’t flee, has no healing or buffing to make teleport a viable temporary retreat and it can’t hide from the perceptive monk). Next round it gets porcupined and, some ki-less-, haste-less flurries thereafter, explodes in a blinding flash of demonic fire, but One saves against it (on a 6) and evades. 7 ki and 3 haste used so far...

Again One passes out, but doesn’t wake to find himself free - he’s still in the cavern, though the candles have gone out and it appears altered when he explores, 60’ by 60’ by 60’. Maybe this is a different hellhole?

Anyway, bummer. He could turn ethereal or (possibly) shadow walk his way out of here, but instead he waits for his next Beastmass beast, meditating on his ioun torches . Suddenly a gate opens, its hinges weeping blood, and the indomitable force that is the pit fiend steps into the darkness. The combatants are 50’ apart, One has darkvision, but the devil wins initiative for real.

Round One: the fiend may be the smartest beast in the Bestiary, so we’ll give it advanced knowledge.

Like the balor, the pit fiend is a SMACC. Its combat chassis is less offensive but better defensively, and its spellcasting is superior - it has wish . It can also summon a CR16 horned devil, but it has no silver bullets that’ll shoot down zen archers. For starters, the fiend is (surprisingly) only Caster Level 18, and so needs a 12 to overcome One’s Spell Resistance. It’ll fail that check under fight rules, but then One will make all his saves on 2s anyway. The horned devil won’t hit and will go down in a round (Perfect Strike gives seven hits, with one crit, for 408 nonlethal). The fiend has some touch spells ( scorching ray and the initial portion of meteor swarm ) but the ranged touch attacks fail against both SR and AC; and like the balor, the fiend needs natural 20s to hit One with melee attacks or maneuvers. Its poison, disease and constrict are useless. So what can it do?

Plan A: targetted dispels. It’s heard its demonic opposite tried this and failed, though. Damn those slightly cheesy rings! It could cast invisibility and a persistant image of itself to gain time, but the monk’s range mean the illusion will only buy off one bowshot, and the invisibility will fail as soon as the devil targets One’s attended items with a dispel.

Plan B: wish for the worst.

The fiend likes the second option. It wishes .

Our zen archer plays by the book (rings aside), so ditto the beasts (initiative aside): the devil can do anything on the normal wish list. Destruction will do 35 damage on a save, the humble true strike more next round if the fiend survives that long, since it could then Vital bite for 57 (after One’s DR is applied) - but a chunk of damage is no good if the devil can’t follow up. Summon monster viii is nothing but a round of unhelpful flanking. Waves of exhaustion? The monk’s SR will nerf it, and anyway, the fiend happens to know One has restoration ; besides, he’d still be able to use his bow at a flat -2 penalty. Wind wall? The monk will just run into it, or fly into it, or shoot up the apertures at the top or bottom of the cylinder...

(Point of law for zen archers to remember and mention in a non-confrontational manner if and when necessary: a wind wall has to be vertical. Not horizonal, not diagonal. The fiend could make it a cylinder or square, but not a cube or a cone. This means it can’t close off the top or bottom with arrow-negating wind. In the cave the bottom might be closed by rock, but there is likely a 10’ wide aperture at the top: were One up there, he’d be looking down a 90’ wind tunnel at the devil. For a 3rd level spell this is still a formidable obstacle to archers...but it’s not the 100% arrow-negator it’s sometimes presented as being.)

...But wait! The diabolical genius has a better plan - deeper darkness . As a devil it has See in Darkness. The monk may have darkvision, but he can only overcome supernatural darkness if he has daylight or the like - which he lacks - and despite appearances the pit fiend is horribly quiet (Stealth+28) and its spell-likes are silent. In deeper darkness it can throw quickened fireballs and get dispels off unseen while flying around. It can nerf One’s belt and for two rounds and he’ll be at -6 on all physical stats, which means -60 hp, -3 AC, saves and CMD, -2 bow attack and -3 damage; then it can take out his headband, for another -3 bow attack, Will, Perception and AC, and then ...

Muahaha. The ioun torches wink out: the entire cavern goes utterly black. The devil flies up 30’, using Stealth, and ends its surprise round with a quickened fireball for the hell of it, but One evades (on a 2). One gets a reactive Perception check as the devil moves, or perhaps as the fireball pellet whirrs towards him; either way, his result (51) beats the fiend’s Stealth result (46 with distance): he has pinpointed its squares.

Still Round One: One’s first turn. The fiend is 50’ away laterally and 30’ up. One can’t see it, but he knows the squares it occupies.

He flurries. He spends 2 ki to ignore the total concealment miss chance for one round (swift action) and hits five times (because of Perfect Strike), critting once, for 254 nonlethal damage - a reduced figure, because he lacks the swift action to gain unarmed arrow damage and is also beyond Point Blank Shot range. (Note that there’s no rule to stop him using ki twice a round - what he lacks here are two swift actions).

The fiend is down to 96 virtual hp, but it’s irrelevant, because One has Stunning Fist on the first arrow and the pit fiend needs a 16 to save. (It would need a 14 to beat Quivering Palm, were it available, though it wouldn’t die because its regeneration is still functioning this round). It’s stunned, with or without One’s Ability Focus or Mantis Style. He flurries again next round without hasting , rendering the fiend unconscious, then kills it with some hasteless, ki-less flurries, because his +5 bow overcomes Good DR. If you rule that he needs an actual Good weapon or spell to stop the regeneration, then he repeatedly coup-de-graces the unconscious form to a mulch of minus-whatever-you-like with his hundreds of arrows, eventually realises the regenerating gobbets need something more, pours holy water on the sizzling goujons, then flurries again. He’s used the boots of speed 4 out of 10 times, has used 5 of 20 Perfect Strikes, 5 of 21 Stunning Fists, and has expended 11 of 33 ki points.

At last One is transported away from the Charred Caverns. He finds himself on a mossy bank, with the moon sailing overhead and a dark mountain lake winking at his feet... quite charming, really. But wait, what’s this? Warship-sized ripples arrow none-too-stealthily towards him and, as he draws his bow, a mighty two-headed drake breaks the surface, sending arcs of spray moonwards: lo! It is the tarn linnorm, and it means business. Everyone ignores the low light on attack rolls, no one is surprised, and One goes first - but that’s going to be dull, so let’s give the linnorm a turn because of its sheer awesomeness.

Round one: the linnorm may be the only creature in the Bestiary bar the tarrasque that has a realistic hope of sticking a combat maneuver on the zen monk: on a 17 it can grapple him. It still needs natural 20s to hit him on melee attacks, though, so the grapple would be a standard action with a minimal chance of success - and anyway, the cunning-but-brutish linnorm believes it has better options. As a full round action it raises its twin heads and breathes two titanic overlapping cones of acid, for 44d8 damage, with 4d6 Strength damage to follow next round...except there’s a DC32 Reflex save against each breath weapon, and One makes them on 5s and evades them both.

One’s turn: he flurries. Five hits, one crit, for 306 nonlethal. The linnorn is on 79 virtual hp, but the opening arrows hit on 2s. The linnorm fails its Will save (it needs a 14), wouldn’t die if Quivering Palm were available (because it’s regenerating this round), but is stunned. One strikes it into unconsciousness next round without haste or a ki point and kills it soon thereafter, because his +5 bow overcomes cold iron DR, and so stops the beast regenerating (though you might rule he needs an actual cold iron weapon, in which case he eventually smacks the arrow-riddled drake with his knuckles). Its Curse of Death falls on One (DC29 Will) but he shrugs it off effortlessly, scratches at a monastic flea (their jump skills are most impressive) and settles down to supper. It’s only tofu, but he’s taken no damage all day so he rewards himself with an extra chunk.

One wakes early and flies up to watch for trouble. He’s 100’ up on his broom, crosslegged, bow athwart his knees, when he perceives the dragon of dragons (well, at least of those fully detailed). The dawn skies are clear and our doughty archer isn’t caught unawares - he sees sun glancing off the gargantuan shining drake at 640’ (maximum sight distance 840’, the average for plains), and at that distance the gold perceives him only on a 20. For the first time we have a favourable surprise situation - though in actual play, in open settings, a hyper-perceptive zen archer can expect these fairly often. One even has the luxury of standing and waiting a round before attacking.

Surprise Round: One single shots. Distance gives him a -10 penalty, but Pinpoint Targetting negates every shred of scaly armour the gold has. It goes from AC39 to AC5 and One hits on a 2 for 59 nonlethal damage. The gold saves against death, but the monk wins initiative.

Round 1: One single-shots again and this time he crits for 130. The dragon isn’t stunned and is on 188hp.

The ancient’s turn. It roars, contorts its vast sinuous coils, and heals to 338 virtual hp ( heal gets it back 150 hp a time; it can cast the spell up to a dozen times). Impudent human! Still, the dragon is smart and its Beastmass quarry is somewhat pricklier than it anticipated. Having healed it sensibly considers its options. Let’s go through it, since One is going to win and it’s going to be a long and repetitive fight. The salient points are;

A: One can always hit the gold. Even if it teleports away and buffs to AC51, the zen archer can use Pinpoint Targetting to take a shot a round against AC9, which he’ll make on a 2 at anywhere up to 640’; and he’ll crit with every other single shot, for 189 nonlethal every two rounds. If the dragon doesn’t buff but stays beyond Point Blank range, One can still flurry and hit five times (with Perfect Strike) at up to 110’, critting once, for 298 damage, or three times at up to 480’, using ki for range and doing 107 a round if he doesn’t crit, 172 if he does (50% chance on first such long distance flurry, 100% on second).

B: The gold needs 17s to hit One in melee. Even if it teleports away and buffs, it can’t get a melee bonus greater than +39 and still needs 14s to hit. The gold’s breath weapons are also useless: One saves and evades the fire (on a 4) and makes the Fortitude save to entirely avoid the weakening breath (with a 7). (I think the Bestiary has an error on the ancient gold’s cone breath range, by the way; it should be 60’, not 120’). Combat maneuvers aren’t viable either (natural 20s needed); nor are offensive plane shifts (One saves on 2s).

C: At some point in this long fight One is going to think about putting up Mantis Style. He’ll do less damage that round, but his stun DC will go up to 36 thereafter. The gold needs a 12 for that, will fail, fall out of the sky for a bit of damage, and will start the next turn prone and probably still within One’s vast range. Since this is a borderline fight-changing save, we’ll say the gold saves against every other stun once Mantis Style goes up, but the stunned rounds are still going to mess it up badly - not least because it reduces it to moving on the ground, while One hovers 100’ above it.

D: The gold has basic dispel magics , which might circumvent One’s rings if you want to rule it that way, but the dragon only has a Caster Level of 15 with its true spells. This means it needs a 12 to nullify One’s belt, his most crucial item. The dragon might eventually nullify the bow for 2 rounds (it needs an 11, so it’ll take two castings to do this using the multiple d20 fight rule; it might quicken to cast twice in a round) and it can easily nerf the headband or broom - but these things aren’t crucial to One. He still bypasses the dragon’s DR/magic (his arrows are Supernaturally ki focus weapons, and gain that quality whenever he shoots) and he still hits with Pinpoint Targetting; he also hits with three attacks of his flurry at up to 160’ with his dispelled bow.

E: The gold has antimagic field , which will take some sting out of One’s arrows, but if it uses this it can’t cast heal - which it has to do repeatedly and urgently, because One is always doing significant damage.

F: The gold has up to 12 uses of heal ; 7 sixth level slots, 5 seventh level ones. This could keep it feeling moderately chipper for about 10 rounds at 150hp healing a pop, assuming it casts no quickened dispel magics . The thing is, this takes up the dragon’s rounds and slots, and One has 30 ki points post- barkskin and only needs one each round, to spend either on unarmed damage or on increased range. Eventually the dragon is reduced to cure moderate wounds if it wants to heal. Each cure heals 19hp, which doesn’t remotely counter One’s damage, and the dragon can’t quicken these, because it has run out of higher level slots.

The gold’s only other significant ability is geas/quest . This is lethal - no save, and CL26 to counter Spell Resistance - but it has a 10 minute casting time.

The upshot is that One looks like he might take his first Beastmass damage when the dragon dispels his broom, but actually the broom uses overland flight , which uses fly , which means the broom descends gracefully and the drop deals no harm. And that’s all the dragon has. One slays the earthbound gold with an arrow to the eye roundabout round 10 from 110’ altitude. He hasn’t used his boots of speed on the Pinpointed single shots, but he’s probably still used 5 of 10 hastes , 13 of 33 ki (including barkskin ), 10 of 20 Perfect Strikes, 10 of 21 Stunning Fists, and his Quivering Palm. Game on!

How to kill angels? It ain’t easy, that’s for sure - and One is aware of that, because despite being on the thick side, he has Knowledge (Planar). He knows this is the Bestiary’s best shot at a win. The solar - a CR23 SMACC healer-buffer par excellance - is facing off against one measly 20th level human, so we’re not going to let it buff ahead of time. It will do that as soon as it feels threatened, though, because it’ll plane shift to Heaven, magic up to the hilt, then use miracle to plane shift back and wish to greater teleport to the battlefield. Buffed, it defeats One in a dozen rounds, courtesy of DR15/epic, regeneration 15, copious healing, holy aura (+4 all saves), limitless CL20 greater dispels , and the deadly downwards spiral of the power words blind, stun and kill. In short, One has to defeat the solar before it gets a standard action off.

One is transported to the angel’s earthly residence, which is a rustic cottage surrounded by heavenly gardens. The solar is tending its sunflowers. The monk approaches on his broom, flying through the earth 5’ under the angel’s vineyards, ethereal (3 ki) and unperceived, because although the angel’s true seeing spots ethereality, it doesn’t penetrate solid objects. One creeps about, making auditory Perception checks through a foot of earth to hear the solar’s secateurs (results of 51 are eventually good enough), then rises up close or adjacent to the solar (5’ step) and comes out of ethereality (dismissing is a standard action which doesn’t provoke. This is One’s surprise round). Everyone perceives everyone. One goes first.

He activates Mantis Style and flurries. He hits only with the first three shots, doesn’t threaten, doesn’t do unarmed damage (no swift action left) and doesn’t overcome the angel’s epic DR, so that’s a paltry 66 nonlethal. The solar is still on 297 nonlethal hp, but it fails against the stun - it needs a 13 now the monk is making like a mantis. Since this is pretty borderline and a fight-changer I’m going to ignore fight rules and say the angel saves against every third stunning arrow.

Solar’s turn. It’s stunned, but still regenerates to 312 hp.

One’s turn. He flurries against a stunned AC40. With unarmed damage back online again, he hits four times (because of Perfect Strike) and crits once (50% chance from last round, 60% chance this round). That’s a better 196 nonlethal after epic DR, and the angel (116 virtual hp) is stunned for a second time: it still regenerates to 131hp.

One’s turn - and in fact two failed stuns are all he needs. He flurries, hits four times, crits once, and does another 196 nonlethal after DR. The angel is unconscious on minus 65 virtual hp and regenerates to minus 50. One stops expending ki and haste, flurries the carcass awhile longer, then finally gets with the programme, pours unholy water on the divine remnants, flurries some more, rinses and repeats. ‘There can be only One,’ he murmurs contemplatively, as he takes the dead solar’s bow as a memento.

(On the other hand, maybe the angel makes its second save. I think it’s slightly unlikely, but I’m no mathematician and if it does, that’s the only chance a solar requires. It 5’ steps back and vanishes, then reappears fully healed and buffed 12 rounds later, majestically ready to avenge the mortal’s insult. With a buffed AC of 49 and a Will save of +27 it beats the stun on a 9, heals damage almost as fast as One can inflict it (Pinpoint Targetting nets him one hit and one crit every two rounds against AC16 for an averaged 50 damage a round, after DR and regeneration) and once it dispels One’s belt it has him in range of the power words . Our doughty zen archer is stuffed.)

We’ve still got the big guy for One to fight, though, so let’s get a breath of life in him and on with the show, eh?

One has 1 charge of haste , 17 ki points, 6 Perfect Strikes and 8 stuns left for his last fight. He goes first. He flurries, he hits (openers on 2s), he stuns (the tarrasque needs a 20 to save). One spends the next few rounds pumping stunning flurries into the beast, followed by about 340 coup-de-grace vital-strike arrows, reducing the tarrasque to about minus 16,000 virtual hp (taking into account DR and regeneration, obviously), which gives him all the time he needs to shovel the machinegunned remains into four bags of holding he’s hired for the day, then turn ethereal (3 ki) and dump them out on the Ethereal Plane, where the beast drives all ghosts to extinction over the course of a decade, then starves into a permanent coma (because regeneration can’t heal starvation damage).

In recognition of his services to the multiverse, One the Zen Archer is awarded the title Lord Ghostslayer and stewardship of the Nine Kingdoms he calls home, where he lives happily ever after.

So the solar was only a narrow victory. Still, One put on a rather good show, didn’t he? Can a wizard or cleric beat Beastmass? Can a paladin or barbarian? How many builds can do it without taking a single point of damage? Let’s look at why One does well, and then consider some build points.

075 – Can Seapoint be Saved - A small band of pirates, secretly led by a mage and aided by a dragon turtle, threaten local shipping lanes.
078 – Citadel by the Sea - Investigate an ancient citadel recently reinhabited by orcs.
080 – Barnacus: City in Peril - Uncover a ring of spies selling information to raiders, pirates, and bandits plaguing the local trade routes.
318 – Port Royal - Wickedest City in the World - Not an adventure, but rather an overview / semi-gazetteer of historical Port Royal, Jamaica.

034 – Isle of the Abbey - A former island bastion of evil priests has been razed in a costly raid by pirates. Investigate and clear the ruins so that a lighthouse can now occupy the island, but beware of survivors and booby-traps left behind.
034 – Lady Rose, The - Slaver-pirates have been raiding along the coast, but are now making repairs in a port up the coast. Raid their ship and free their captives. But beware, this is no ordinary pirate ship but the flagship of the mighty and highly advanced Navy of Talangran, a here-to-fore unknown empire from across the sea.
035 – Whale, The - Two rival steadings make claim to a beached and dying whale. Negotiate a settlement before violence (and a bloodfeud) erupts. Whether one clan or the other get the whale, if they share it, or if perhaps it is saved and returned to the sea, depends upon your diplomatic skills.
039 – Flowfire - A series of mini-adventures in the Flow (or Wildspace) usable en-route from one adventure to another.
040 – Draven Deeps' Menace, The - Koalinth raid local shipping, causing trouble for the city’s economy. The Prince’s arch-mage has prepared a magical explosive which will destroy the caves of the monsters if placed close enough. Unfortunately, no one knows about the sea-elves who also live “close enough”.
041 – Mammoth Problems - A Mammoth constructed of ironwood drifts through the Void, inhabited by the animated remains of its former crew, and haunted by four Spiritjam Ogre Magi, plus a fifth who’s life force was preserved.
046 – Floating Rock - The Floating Rock tribe of bugbears are vicious raiders who live on an island that seems to move about the seas, and one never knows where they will be encountered next.
047 – When the Light Goes Out - Something has gone wrong in the lighthouse. The Keeper is unable to fulfill his duties, and now people say it is haunted.
048 – Oracle at Sumbar, The - Help “Aunt Marla” pay off a tremendous debt by visiting the Oracle and learning the location of a lost pirate treasure.
049 – Dark Place, The - As your ship takes shelter from a storm and makes repairs you stumble across a deserted city. Investigate the ghost-town, and recover one of your shipmates from the demon that has taken residence there and driven off the townsfolk.
049 – North of Norbel - A revision of “Can Seapoint be Saved?” Pirates aided by a Dragon Turtle disrupt trade between Seapoint and Norbel.
050 – Back to the Beach - Pilgrims have begun visiting and excavating an old monastery, but now crabmen have invaded and threaten the restoration. Are they just savage beasts with a taste for human flesh, or are they perhaps protecting something themselves? The answer lies in the form of a long-lost treaty with the ancient monks.
050 – Vaka's Curse, The - The Vaka is a ship with a curse. Its passengers suffer nightmares and sickness, and on occasion even death plagues its voyages.
051 – Nbod's Room - After the notorious pirate Captain Nbod disappeared, his room at a local inn has been haunted. Investigate the strange noises that come from the room and find the captain’s “escape hatches” to several exotic locations.
052 – Spirits of the Tempest - Adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, in which Prospero is a exiled wizard.
055 – Sea Wolf, The - Passengers aboard the stern-wheeler “Sea Wolf” are turning up dead. The attacks are savage and bloody, and the killer must be found.
059 – Wreck of the Crimpshrine, The - Ride the famed river-boat Crimpshrine, but beware for this will be its last voyage. Lead the survivors of the sinking across the moors and back to the city. But now several interests desire to fund a salvage operation in the wreck, and only you know where it lies.
063 – Beauty Corrupt - Follow clues to the lair of three Sea Hags and marine ogre minions. Defeat them and restore the voice of a sirene and the sanity of a local diplomat.
063 – Huzza’s Goblin O’War - Overcome a pirate ship captained by a Giant, and crewed by Goblins and Margoyles.
064 – Grotto of the Queen - Sneak into a pirate cove to recover a magical naval warship, only to discover that the pirates have been forewarned.
065 – Flotsam - Defeat a marooned pirate sorcerer and rakshasa who claim to be merchants when rescued.
066 – Operation Manta Ray - Infiltrate a Pirate City, survive a run through the pirates test dungeon, and then contact and extract a deep-cover naval operative.
066 – Sunken Shadow, The - Help a Pirate-hunting paladin recover pirate treasure, only to discover that he has fallen under a curse from the slain Pirate-queen and his First Mate and best friend whom he murdered over her artifact.
070 – Maze of the Morkoth, The - A psionic dwarven archeologist is attempting to steal the powers of a morkoth. The monster is enraged, but also curious, and sends it minions to kidnap the leaders of local undersea communities to learn who is mentally assaulting it.
071 – Wildspawn - Explore a newly discovered island and eliminate the monstrous threat which wiped out the first colonists. However, beware of the fact that the entire island is a Syllix/Aartuk trap. Involves Spelljammer elements and monsters.
072 – Deep Trouble in Telthin - The city of Telthin is inexplicably flooding, and watery monsters are ravaging the lakeside while the local water-elementalist/Archmage has gone missing. Journey to the archmage’s retreat on the Elemental Plane of Water and free him from captivity and the grasp of a Marid Caliph who invaded his home.
074 – Scourge of Scalabar, The - Inspired by Capt. Nemo and 20,000 Leagues, a “metal monster” is sinking ships traveling to the port city of Scalabar. Hunt down and destroy the “beast”.
077 – To Walk Beneath The Waves - “Sea Devils” are raiding a coastal town, and adventurers are needed to put and end to the marauder’s attacks.
078 – Lear the Giant-King - Giants run amuck as their King Lear goes insane and his scheming daughters divide his kingdom. Find the king and return him to his senses before the tempest summoned by the Storm Giant King destroys the lands of humans and giants alike.
078 – Peer Amid the Waters - Travel through an underwater portal into a flooded (Egyptian) crypt and rescue the lost daughters of a nixie queen.
079 – Akriloth, The - Recover a powerful Merfolk artifact from the temple of a ruined city. Evade undead and unknown enemies to bring back the “Akriloth”, with whose powers over undead the merfolk can reclaim their lost city from the forces of “The Ravager”.
080 – Frothing Miscreant - An inventive gnomish retired-adventurer with an inferiority complex has turned to piracy. Track down his lair and bring him to justice, but beware his “cruel inventions”.

084 – Demonclaw - A paladin and his squire have disappeared while petitioning a reclusive wizard for help against pirates. Now the priests of the order need more powerful adventurers to see what has happened to their emissaries.
092 – Razing of Redshore, The - Savage storms and elemental attacks are destroying Redshore. Find the cause of the destruction, learn howit is tied to a cult of assassins that supposedly doesn’t exist, a secret cult of druids, and an artifact for creating demi-gods hidden away by the gods millenia ago.
096 – Hollow Threats - A vicious dragon turtle is raiding up and down the coast, attack small villages at dawn with everyone fleeing in panic before it, much to the thanks of the marauding orc clan inside the boat made from a dragon turtle shell and their halfling ally.
099 – Fish Story - Locathah have invaded the docks and mill of a small lakeside town, but have attacked no further. Good diplomacy might learn why they have abandoned their home in a long-flooded human village, leading onto the trail of an obsessed ghost, a dead wizard and a bound lonely elemental.
106 – Tammeraut’s Fate - The guardian priest of an island watchpost called up a storm to destroy an oncoming ship full of attackers. Turned undead, the drowned sailors overwhelmed the small garrison and returned to the sea. Years later, the abandoned post was turned into a hermitage, but now that a priest of the same god has joined the hermits the undead rise once more. Survive a night on the island, then journey to the ocean floor to put their ghostly master to rest and seal a vault of slumbering evil.
111 – Strike on the Rabid Dawn - Cultists of Asmodeus are attempting a ritual aboard a ship that will summon a foul aspect of the Devil Lord into Hardby. Stop them before they finish the ritual.
113 – Practical Magic - A magic-item crafter has gone missing in Marsember, and the clues point to her boyfriend, an aquatic elf. Lately, he’s the thrall of a merfolk vampire, but might point you to the real kidnapper, a mysterious necromancer who is animating a workforce of “expert zombies” to do mundane labor. He needs the help of the crafter, but this is not really a rescue, as she wants his secrets for herself.
116 – Death of Lashimire - A psion cast out of his secret order plots revenge, but has betrayed his githyanki allies while plotting with sahuaghin. Now a githyanki strike team plans to kill him for the theft of a silver sword as the PCs visit his remote, island home, possibly with similar intentions. Throw in necromantic traps and sahuaghin allies for loads of fun ...
120 – Forsaken Arch - The Shoalbury community of pearl divers is turning into a ghost-town as bandits have raided their last four shipments. A cult of kenku worshipping the demon-lord Pazuzu is responsible, tipped off by a traitor among the divers. Track the bandits to their lair and wipe them out within the natural stone arch in the surf.
123 – Salvage Operation - The lost ship of a ruined merchant has been spotted adrift, and he hopes it can be recovered with enough cargo to save his business. However, the boat is currently held by a half-orc druid who worships the deity of crawling poisonous things.
125 – Seekers of the Silver Forge - Githyanki heretics escaped the lich-queen by shifting their entire city to the bottom of the ocean, but their civilization was ultimately corrupted and destroyed by necromantic forces. Now a silver forge is becoming tainted and affecting all sea life around it as the lone, surviving necromancer builds his power.
132 – Down at the Docks - A collection of side-treks & Adventure Hooks set at the Wharf of a large town or city.
134 – 7 Treasure Chests - Seven different and unusual magical chest for storing treasure or other valuables ...
149 – Twisted Night - Viking-type raiders use an insanity and despair-causing bush to take captive slaves.

GAZ 04 – Kingdom of Ierendi - Overview of a kingdom composed of ten islands which have become famous as the retirement retreats of successful adventurers, and training ground for the up-and-coming. Includes several adventure hooks and ideas.
X-1 – Isle of Dread - Wide-open exploration of a mysterious island, with opportunities for various types of interactions and roleplaying

107 – Dead Man’s Quest - A friendly but obnoxious pirate ghost needs help recovering a gem he promised to deliver to the Pirate God. Steal it back from the sahuagin raiders who sank his ship, deliver it to Freeport, and then recover it once more from cultists.
109 – Hardby: City of the Scorned - Hardby (or Hard Bay) is still under the thumb of the dying Despotrix and the Gynarchy, though technically the Lords of Greyhawk rule. A port city of much intrigue.

Start with 18 strength.

At level 1, you take a level in Master of Many Styles monk. Grab Dragon Style.

Grab whatever feat you want at level 1.

So, feat-wise you now have: IUS, Stunning Fist, and Dragon Style. Yum.

2nd level, take Beastmorph / Vivisectionist Alchemist.

3rd level, grab Feral Mutagen discovery, and grab Weapon Focus (claws).

4th level, nothing to do here but to put the point into Str.

5th level, grab Feral Combat Training.

6th level, take a level of monk again, and select Dragon Ferocity.

Your mutagen will give you +4 strength, for 40 minutes per use. You will have 3 attacks at +4 to hit (unless you use a sane method of BAB from multiclassing, at which point it'll be +6). Add those together, and we have +2 to hit from the mutagen.

When under the effect of our mutagen, we'll have 4 (str base bonus) + 4 (BAB) + 2 (mutagen) + 1 (belt) for +11 to hit. +12 for our claws. Our strength will be 25 (19 base + 4 mutagen + 2 belt). So, that's a bite at +11, and 2 claws at +12.

A fighter at this level with the same Str will have 6 + 4 (base str) + 1 (belt) +1 weapon focus +1 weapon training = +13 to hit with one attack, and +8 with his second attack.

Lets say our first attack, a claw attack, hits. We'll be doing 1d6+7(strength)+3 (dragon style's 1-1/2 Str) + 3 (dragon ferocity) = 1d6+13 damage. Our second claw attack will be doing 1d6+10 damage. Our bite will be just doing 1d8+7 damage.

Greatsword Fighter: +13 2d6+5(str)+2(1.5 str)+2(wepspec)+1(wep training)

At 7th level, we have a few options for our alchemist. We could grab Weapon Focus (bite) to later grab Feral Combat Training with that. Or we could add power attack. Let's just choose power attack.

Oh, and let's say that we have a potion of greater magic fang. Since this is theoretical, let's say it's a potion of greater magic fang with a CL of 20, so it gives +5 to hit and damage to one type of natural attack. In this case, that's going to be Claws.

Oh, and we have Alchemical Allocation, so we never run out of that thing. Drink it in the morning, and it'll last for 20 hours. No reason it should never be up. And if it gets stolen? It's only 3k.

8th level! Alchemist. That means we get Beast Shape I's effects when we use the mutagen! Huzzah. Let's just grab Darkvision and Fly.

Fast forward to level 12. Beast Shape 2! Grab pounce, obviously. And fly. Here's the beauty of this archetype. You aren't restricted to a specific animal. You pick the abilities you want.

+8 (BAB) + 9(str) + 1 (wf) + 5 (gmf) -3 PA = +20 for claws, 19 for bite. Let's just throw an Amulet of Might Fists in for +2, so +22 Claws, +21 Bite.

1d6 + 9 (str) + 4(Dragon Style) + (4 Dragon Ferocity) + 6 (power attack, which turns into +9 for the first one, since we have 1-1/2 str on that attack) + 5 (Potion of GMF) + 2 (Amulet of MF) = 1d6+30, or 1d6+33 on first attack.

1d8+9+6+5+2= 1d8+22.

Str: 25 (base of 21 + 4 belt)
To-hit: +12 +7 (str) - 4 PA + 2 (weapon) + 2 (wf / gwf) + 2 weapon training = +21

Damage: 2d6+7+3(1-1/2 str)+2+4(wep spec)+12 PA = 2d6+28

Instead of those WF Bite and FCT bite, we could take Medium Armor Prof. And then Heavy Armor Prof. Then go around in Full Plate, with +4 AC from Shield, and +2 from Mutagen. Or we can just drip a level into Fighter, and pick up an extra feat. We can take a -3 CL hit for all the damage and defenses those three dips will give us. We could make it just 2 levels of Dip if we do it right, taking a level of fighter once we would meet the pre-reqs for Dragon Ferocity. Get Heavy Armor Prof, and that Dragon Ferocity!