Dwarf-Monk, Re-Building before Level 2 - Looking for comments good / bad / ugly

[Scosu PFS]

Dwarf-Monk, Re-Building before Level 2 - Looking for comments good/bad/ugly

My wife and I are playing exactly the same build, so before we sit for the first game as Level 2's, I want to see if this is a "good" build, or if I'm missing something HORRENDOUS, or just get some additional ideas.

Character Block Output here:

Name:09-Mojo-Mojo
Dwarf Monk 2
LN Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+1 shield, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +2 untyped)
hp 19 (2d8+6)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +5; +2 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities
Defensive Abilities defensive training (+4 dodge bonus to AC vs. giants), evasion
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee masterwork cold iron temple sword +5 (1d8+3/19-20) and
unarmed strike +4 (1d6+3)
Ranged shuriken +3 (1d2+3)
Special Attacks flurry of blows,
+1 on attack rolls against goblinoid and orc humanoids,
stunning fist (2/day, DC 13)
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Statistics
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Str 17, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 8
Base Atk +1;
CMB +4 (+6 grapple);
CMD 19 (23 vs. bull rush, 21 vs. grapple, 23 vs. trip)
Feats Dodge, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Snapping Turtle Style, Stunning Fist
Traits observant, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +6 (+2 jump), Climb +7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +0, Knowledge (religion) +3, Perception +8 (+10 to notice unusual stonework)
Languages Common, Dwarven
SQ ac bonus, stunning fist (stun), unarmed strike
Other Gear masterwork cold iron temple sword, shuriken (50), wayfinder, 1,225 gp
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Special Abilities
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AC Bonus +2 The Monk adds his Wisdom bonus to AC and CMD, more at higher levels.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Defensive Training +4 Gain a dodge bonus to AC vs monsters of the Giant subtype.
Evasion (Ex) If you succeed at a Reflex save for half damage, you take none instead.
Flurry of Blows +0/+0 (Ex) Make Flurry of Blows attack as a full rd action.
Hatred +1 Gain a racial bonus to attacks vs Goblinoids/Orcs.
Improved Grapple You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when grappling a foe.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Snapping Turtle Style +1 Gain +1 shield bonus to AC when at least one hand is free
Stunning Fist (2/day) (DC 13) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
Stunning Fist (Stun) (Ex) At 1st level, the monk gains Stunning Fist as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the monk gains the ability to apply a new condition to the target of his Stunning Fist. This conditio
Unarmed Strike (1d6) The Monk does lethal damage with his unarmed strikes.
Wayfinder (empty)

Thanks in advance for your time. (also, if this was the wrong forum for posting this, please redirect me so I can fix!)

[Derwalt]

It seems good! ...have you thought of archetypes though?

[DesolateHarmony]

The best forum for this is the Advice Forum, under pathfinder roleplaying game. Just mark in the title that it is for PFS, so people will follow the campaign rules when they give helpful advice.

Is this monk meant to be primarily a grappler? Look at the Tetori archetype.

Edit: spelling

[YogoZuno]

Don't you need a feat to use the Temple Sword? It's a martial weapon, and not explicitly on the list of monk weapons? And the monk weapon trait just means you can flurry with it, not that you have training?

[Rusty Ironpants]

YogoZuno wrote:

Don't you need a feat to use the Temple Sword? It's a martial weapon, and not explicitly on the list of monk weapons? And the monk weapon trait just means you can flurry with it, not that you have training?

You are correct, the monk weapon quality only means you can flurry with it, not that all monks are proficient. However...

PRD wrote:

Temple Sword: Heavy blades typically used by guardians of religious sites, temple swords have distinctive crescent-shaped blades, appearing as an amalgam of a sickle and sword. Many have holes drilled into the blade or places on the pommel where charms, bells, or other holy trinkets might be attached. Monks are proficient with the temple sword.

So, in this case, it is all good since the weapon description explicitly gives proficiency to all monks.

[YogoZuno]

A-ha! Had missed that. Thanks.

Also, not having this guy be a Drunken Fist is a crime against Dwarven nature - it would be enough to drive any other Dwarf to sobriety ;)

[BigNorseWolf]

Dump cha. Like, 5 dump it. You're a dwarf, you've been sheltered in a monastery your entire life, and you're not making any cha based skill checks anyway.

Take an archetyle. Either tetori or master of many styles. They're a strait out improvement over the monk, and thats not an accident.

[Scosu PFS]

Dump CHA to 5 - can that be done?

I thought in PFS that you could only go down to 7.

How can you go to 5?

[BigNorseWolf]

Scosu PFS wrote:

Dump CHA to 5 - can that be done?

I thought in PFS that you could only go down to 7.

How can you go to 5?

You can go down to 7 before racial modifiers. The -2 from being all dwarfy drops it to 5.

[Scosu PFS]

YogoZuno, DesolateHarmony, Derwalt -

Was NOT designing this build to be a primary grappler.

I had been shying away from Archtypes because both my Wife (very new to ALL role playing) and myself are going to be playing the VERY same build (on two different characters with two different PFS #'s, of course).

I was shying away, wanting to avoid complications / confusion.

Tetori (Archetype) = "The style of the tetori is that of the majestic wrestler—a warrior with a dizzying array of grabs, holds, and locks with which to bewilder and incapacitate his foes."

Reason I didn't pick Tetori: Grappling seems to hang up a LOT of GM's and Players. I know there is "Grapple, Grab, Constrict!: Pathfinder Grapple Rules Explained"which is very helpful, but I'm concerned about making things that complex. She likes 1)Have weapon or unarmed strike 2)5 foot shift 3)FLURRY! (lots of fun dice to roll!) Attack Roll / Damage Roll.

Drunken Fist = Okay, is this the same as "Drunken Master"? I've searched the PRD for "Drunken Fist" and got nada. I'm using Hero Labs, and I buy the PDF's as needed, where do I find the information for "Drunken Fist"?

[YogoZuno]

My bad on the archetype name - it is indeed Drunken Master, and is found in the Advanced Player's Guide (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advanced/coreClasses/monk.html) It's a reasonably good archetype, as you trade away very little, and in the process get something very fluffy. In fact, the excessive drinking could even potentially justify the sudden drop in Charisma :)

[Derwalt]

If you have Ultimate Magic, you could check out the archetype "Qui-gong Monk". It gives you the chance to swap out various "not so cool" monk powers for other cool stuff.

BUT; If you just want to keep it simple, then just ignore the archetypes. You can still have a lot of fun with a monk.

If later in your characters career you feel that you're just not pulling your weight, but still want to keep it simple, then you could start adding fighter levels to the build - that ups the oomph in combat, at least.

[calagnar]

I have a few question. That will help with the advice your looking for.
What do you want your character to do?
What role do you see your character filling in a group?

[Disk Elemental]

Alright, this is how I'd adjust your stat block

stats:

Strength - 17 (+3)

Dexterity - 14 (+2)

Constitution - 14 (+2)

Intelligence - 9 (-1)

Wisdom - 16 (+3)

Charisma - 5 (-3)

Other than that, feel free to play whatever you want. I'm a fan of the Drunken Master archetype. Martial Artist is awesome and opens up some really interesting build paths (Monk/Barbarian, anyone?). But if you want to keep it simple, just stick with the core monk.

[TGMaxMaxer]

Adjust the statblock as Disk Elemental suggested. PFS is very much a MMO style game more than a RPG style game. Has to be since it's a timed box text format. You don't have to really min-max to be successful, but it does reward it unfortunately.

Take the Glory of Old trait(+1 dwarf saves ability), and if you go Drunken Master archetype, take the Fortified Drinker trait(+2 will saves 1 hour after a drink). As a Dwarf Monk, that pretty much means you ignore all saves.

Quingong stacks with anything, you just only trade out abilities the other archetype doesn't. No reason not to have it listed on the sheet, you don't have to trade anything if you don't want to, and if you see something later you like you can grab it.

Other than that, you seem to be pretty solid.

Note: With that Int, you can never get greater grapple or rapid grappler, so you're limited to a standard action or the immediate on a missed attack, since you have snapping turtle style I assume you'll be taking Snapping Turtle Clutch later.

Use 2PP each to buy a wand of CLW, and a Wand of Mage Armor, (someone should be able to cast it on you in any given group).

Later, get a Wand of Shield as well, (and a cracked Vibrant Purple Ioun Stone for 2kg, like a single slot ring of spell storing) for someone to cast into it for even more AC.