Lockdown build, need some advice.


Advice


So I'm making a 6th level character for a home game, and the basic concept here is lockdown (and buffing).

Basically a drunken master monk with bewildering koan and fast drinker allowing him to try to make an enemy lose their actions every other round. I also took the Monk of the lotus archetype to get Touch of serenity for even more lockdown.

So here is the build so far:

Point buy is 15 points, and I included an item that boosts bluff (modeled on the same lines as a cloak of elvenkind, the Mask of the Mysterious Teacher)

Spoiler:
Unnamed Hero
Male Aasimar Cleric 1 Monk (Drunken Master, Monk of the Lotus, Sensei, Qinggong Monk) 5
LG Medium Outsider (human, native)
Init +1; Senses Darkvision; Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 20, touch 18, flat-footed 18 (+1 Dex, +2 natural, +1 dodge)
hp 72 (6d8+24)
Fort +11, Ref +6, Will +12; +2 vs. death, +2 vs. death, energy drain, negative energy, or necromancy spells
Resist negative energy 5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Unarmed strike +8 (1d8+1/x2)
Special Attacks Advice: Inspire Competence +2, Advice: Inspire Courage +2, Ki Strike, Magic
Spell-Like Abilities Age Resistance, Lesser (1/day), Barkskin (self only, 1 Ki), Scorching Ray (2 Ki), Touch of Law (8/day)
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 1, 4 melee touch, 4 ranged touch):
1 (3/day) Protection from Chaos (DC 16), Bless
0 (at will) Detect Magic, Guidance, Enhanced Diplomacy
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 12, Con 16/18, Int 12, Wis 18/20, Cha 10
Base Atk +3; CMB +8; CMD 22
Feats Bewildering Koan, Dodge, Fast Drinker, Improved Unarmed Strike, Monk Weapon Proficiencies, Racial Heritage (Gnome), Touch of Serenity (1 rd) (5/day) (DC 18)
Traits Fast-Talker, Wisdom in the Flesh (Acrobatics)
Skills Acrobatics +14 (+19 to jump), Bluff +20, Diplomacy +14, Intimidate +5, Linguistics +10, Perform (oratory) +6, Sense Motive +14
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal, Sylvan, Undercommon
SQ AC Bonus +6, Advice (10 rounds/day), Aura, Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (3/day) (DC 10), Cleric Domain: Conversion Inquisition, Cleric Domain: Law, Deathless Spirit, Drunken Ki, Immortal Spark, Insightful Strike, Ki Defense, Ki Pool, Maneuver Training, Scion of Humanity, Spontaneous Casting, Unarmed Strike (1d8)
Other Gear Belt of mighty constitution +2, Bronze gong (1 uses), Cloak of resistance +1, Flask of endless sake (1/day), Headband of inspired wisdom +2, Mask of the Mysterious Teacher

So just a couple of questions:

1.) I've been investing in linguistics quite a bit, what are the main languages that I need to take so that everyone possible can understand me? (Required for Zen Koan)

2.) Anyone have zen koans they want to share?

3.) Great googly moogly! This character isn't going to suck is he?

Thanks for the help,

prototype00

Shadow Lodge

A haiku

Auxiliary,
nanotechnological,
cornucopia!

People at your table should be bewildered after you say that.


I like that bluff has the transmit secret message option and I can auto succeed at it immediately.

Since this character is lawful, and I don't particularly want to lie, I could just constantly tell the truth, but only one or a couple of characters understand what the truth is, and to other people, the account sounds completely different from what I am saying.

Kind of like when Sun Wukong's teacher berated him and hit him on the head three times, and the other students laughed at him. But Wukong realized that his teacher meant for him to meet up at the third bell and receive extra training.

prototype00


Why is touch of serenity any more "lockdown" than just stunning them as a normal monk?

In order to do lockdown well, you need a sizeable area of it, which means reach weapon.

If going Aasimar, take scion of humanity so you can at least be enlarged...

Not sure what bewildering koan does exactly, but only locking down every other turn sounds unreliable to me.


Touch of serenity I chose because it's a will save, which many a bruiser is hopefully susceptible to.

I did take scion of humanity, it's in fact a requisite of this build (you need racial heritage:gnome).

Bewildering koan does this:

Quote:

You can pose unanswerable questions that leave creatures momentarily dumbfounded as they dwell on their significance.

Prerequisites: Bluff 1 rank, ki pool class feature, gnome.

Benefit: As a swift action, spend 1 point from your ki pool and make a Bluff check by asking a creature one of the impossible questions you ponder when meditating. If the creature fails its check, you choose whether it loses its next action or you gain a +2 bonus on all damage rolls you make against that creature for 1 round.

Its just a concept build I was trying out, if it doesn't work I'll switch it out for a solid 6 level build (possibly with healing).

What are your thoughts, Stream? It's more a single person lockdown rather than an area lockdown, which I admit, isn't great.

prototype00


I just think you'd run out of ki too quickly...

Have you considered Ninja instead of Monk? Their pool is cha-based, as is the bluff skill, seems like better synergy. Though there's probably some Inquisitor archetype or Inquisition that would make bluff wis-based if you dipped it...

Maybe it'd work. IMO, the only good non-caster lockdown in PF is Pin Down and Dazing Assault on AoOs with reach weapons, both of which requiring about level 12.


Thats what the drunken master, fast drinker and the flask of endless sake is for. Bascially infinite ki points (regenerated at a rate of a 1/round as a swift action).

Also, the level of cleric is there so I could take the conversion inquisition which makes my bluff check based on wisdom. So basically bluff is as maxed as it can be for this level (without racial bonuses or skill focus bluff which I mean to take next level).

prototype00

Scarab Sages

prototype00 wrote:


So here is the build so far:

Point buy is 15 points, and I included an item that boosts bluff (modeled on the same lines as a cloak of elvenkind, the Mask of the Mysterious Teacher)

** spoiler omitted **...

I guess it depends on your GM's interpretation of things. From Gnomes of Golarion...

"Since these feats involve gnomes using their innate flair for conversation, magical effects which temporarily improve Bluff checks such as glibness cannot modify these particular checks."

Your GM could consider the Mask's bonus ineligible or could consider the mask sufficiently 'permanent' to work for the purposes of Koan.

Regardless, no matter how much you stack your Bluff your GM will dictate how useful this ability will be. There has to be at least 100 languages in Pathfinder canon and you'll never learn them all. Plenty of monster types, individual monsters, and special effects are effectively immune to mind-affecting powers and are thus not susceptible to Koan. And turnabout is fair play — your GM may choose to lock YOU down before you can lock down his or her key creature.

It should be good for a few laughs, but shouldn't be game-breaking.

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