CryntheCrow's page

Remember to have all the worst monologues. And have all the other party members inform the rest of the world about how great you are and amazing to follow, but don't ever actually show that.

Have really uncomfortable messianic moments of you riding a sea of worshipping brown people, but keep up pretenses of 'freeing' them as you conscript/rule them.

When people bring up the problems with your plan based on history or a lack of foundation with your birthright, imply mass amounts of dragon fire will solve all of these. Then assure all possible detractors that you'll be different from the OTHER dragon people who ravaged their countryside for centuries.

Use your birthright to justify your claim to rule at every possible moment, but deny any connection to the history of that birthright, because that would be unfair. :(

You are now ready to go forth and 'break the wheel.'

Paladin is a strong choice, given the nature of his conflict. Admittedly, he's simply using a good-aligned weapon to pierce Aku's insane DR, but if you can't really go wrong with a tortured crusader paladin. Charisma is easily Jack's weak point, but Tortured Crusader lets him sub Wis as his casting stat, as well as provide static, generally powerful bonuses when fighting evil that can represent his righteous rage since the beginning of the series, or the armor proficiency from later in it. Not to mention, the Wis combos well with monk for the additional ac if you go the kimono route.

Power Attack->Damnation Feats->Intimidate Feats Fighter.

Fully decked out, a fighter can use soulless gaze to intimidate as a swift action, move action, and standard, and also bring them below shaken into the frightened status. High damage by merit of 2-handed power attacking/Hurtful. Immunity to multiple elements based on your devil patron. Outsider status to make them immune to humanoid targeting spells. This man can chop you up, resist a lot of what you throw at him, and turn even the most hardened warrior into a cowering mess just by staring him down for a round. As a fighter, he'll also be surprisingly quick in his hellknight armor. Trading his soul to emulate the powers of the infernal, this agent of hell IS the law.

Thats how I run my BBEG warrior anyways.

Huh. Strange. I came to a thread about he worst class, but Swashbucklers don't get a Rage ability. You might want to reread their entry, Cryn, I think you got the names mixed up.

But in all seriousness. Unchained Barbarian is at least functional. Stances as a move action is annoying and the really should have a way to make it a Swift at some point, but you're otherwise dealing with a 4 skill, full BAB chasis with a ready supply of toggled better-at-fighting buffing and access to a modest list of talents.

Hah, I actually really liked the Swashbuckler when it came out. Still do, even if its got some glaring weaknesses. At the time, I remember actually thinking it to be a definitive example of power creep, since if was a high ac, full bab dex fighter who could deflect touch attacks with a riposte (infinitely, before the signature deed faq), and it was our first true example of dex to damage that didn't involve a scimitar.

I remember in-game getting my swashbuckler mind-controlled, and making the power gamer shocking grasp magus a little angry as I idly brushed his touch attacks away like he was an annoyance.

If you've seen my unhappy ass trolling the forums now and then, you may have noticed me occasionally bringing up my unbridled contempt for what I consider the worst class to ever slink its was into an official book. I am talking, of course, about the Unchained Barbarian.

I love the Unchained Monk, and its one of my favorite classes. I think the core rogue is a lot more customizable, but generally less focused than the Unchained rogue, and I enjoy it. The unchained summoner was necessary, and while I think the nerfs might have been a bit overboard, as someone who loves pet classes, its nice to have an incarnation of the summoner that will actually be welcome at tables, and won't earn me eyerolls from my fellow players. But the unchained barbarian... its the sort of thing you look at and say 'I can't believe I paid for this.' Its downright AMATEURISH. Its the trash feats you're never going to use and gloss over after reading once, expanded into an entire class. I'm not just talking from a power perspective, either (though it absolutely fails in that regard). I'm talking flavor. The designer of this class clearly doesn't even understand the general THEME of the barbarian.

When you think barbarian, what words come to mind? Power? Unbridled? Rage, obviously. Primal? Savage? Strong, almost universally. Maybe for one character, its a righteous fury that quells evil, Beowulf style? The core barbarian has you covered to express almost any basic concept you can conceive. And they're POWERFUL options as well. Want your barbarian to throw self-preservation to the wind and sacrifice his body to see his enemies culled? Reckless Abandon. Herculean acts of power, shattering the chains that bind him or grappling giants? Strength Surge. While not every rage power the Core Barbarian has access to is great, it does possess almost all the tools you need to realize your concept. The unchained barbarian takes away so many powerful options and replaces them with substandard substitutes, its not even funny.

I can't say for sure now, given the expanded options of the fighter, but for the majority of this game's life, the Core Barbarian has been the bar by which other martials are judged. Its powerful, flavorful, and fun. Honestly, for all the talk of caster-martial disparity, if I'm playing a barbarian, I always feel like the strongest member of the party. I'm the huge, damage-dealing, high-save juggernaut that leads the charge, breaks down the castle wall and shatters the lich upon the massive slab of iron he calls a greatsword.

The unchained barbarian, however, is just a mess. No, I'm serious, its genuinely terrible. Set aside the supposed problem of dying when your rage stops (which I never had a problem with, fighting through mortal wounds and succumbing to them after your rage subsides is VERY thematic), this so-called barbarian simply doesn't have the options a chained one does. Seriously, what unique powers did this version of the barbarian add that better realizes the concept of an unstoppable force contained in a human form, an unbridled beast contained in the guise of a man? Nothing? Oh, okay, well what did it take away? Most of the most iconic and powerful rage powers of the class? Interesting.

The unchained barbarian is a glorified (but substandard) fighter. And you want to know what makes this the most obvious? The abomination that is stance powers. Glorified style feats that cost a move action (and don't reduce this with levels, for reasons I can only assume were the designers intentionally trying to piss me off), someone working under the name of paizo thought to themselves: "Whats the best way to encapsulate pure fury towards an opponent? Ah, I know, what about a series of mutually exclusive powers that can't be combined, shoehorning barbarians into a series of numbers they want to focus on? I mean, what embodies rage more than spending the first round of combat assuming a battle stance and maybe getting into range or swinging a weapon once? Man, I bet this'll scale really well into high levels. A move action tax on a martial class, the most dependent section of classes on the action economy? People are going to LOVE this." I mean, the idea of a rage power that lets you gather your strength for a single burst of power would be pretty awesome. None of these stances reflect that, but it could be an effective way to pull off a move action cost.

I'm going to reiterate. The Unchained Barbarian is garbage. Prestige classes at least provide flavor most of the time. Most everything paizo offers seems well-meaning, if sometimes ill-conceived. This class is just terrible. I genuinely can't tell if its a product of laziness or incompetence, but I sure as hell expected a lot more out of something I paid money for. I know I'm a bit late, but then, so is Paizo's apology on printing this worthless class. Its really, REALLY that bad. They didn't even try.

If you're playing a druid and just want the overall strongest Animal Companion, yeah, a big cat is frankly unrivaled (except by the warcat, an even bigger cat). However, the 'ultimate animal companion' class, the hunter, appreciates the stronger single blows from the single attack companions, as he'll be dealing far more damage through attacks of opportunity than a single pounce. It really depends on what you're looking for. Damage? A mount for lancing? Transport? An off-tank? Teamwork feat shenanigans? Theres a lot of strong options, and its really just a matter of need.

So, a bit late to the party, but recently there was a thread asking for the strongest conceivable build dipping a ton of classes. I hate multiclassing to any great degree, as keeping track of a thousand class features slows down play for me. But it seemed like a fun exercise. After spending a couple hours theorycrafting, this is the best I could come up with, and I have to say, I think its truly powerful. Without further ado, this is the strongest multiclass build I could come up with, condensed to the essentials, no items.

Halfling 12 Monk (Sensei), Hunter, Fighter, Cavalier

Stats: Str - 8 (-2 Racial), Dex 16 (+2 racial), Con 10, Int 10, Wis 21 (+3 levels), Cha 8 (-2 Racial Bonus)

HP - 78
AC - 20 (20 Touch, 11 Flat), 30 Fighting Defensively
Saves - 15/12/11

Traits: Helpful (Halfling), Fools for Friends

Monk 1: Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Dodge , Cautious Fighter; Advice
Monk 2: Combat Reflexes
Fighter3: Blundering Defense, Crane Style
Fighter 4: Bodyguard
Hunter 5: Crane Wing; Spell Level 1, Animal Companion, Animal Focus
Hunter 6: Outflank
Hunter 7: Dirty Fighting, Pack Flanking
Cavalier 8: Broken Wing Gambit
Hunter 9:Boon Companion; Spell Level 2
Hunter 10: N/A
Hunter 11: Paired Opportunists, Lookout
Hunter 12: N/A; Spell Level 3

So, quick rundown on how this works. Basically, level 1, you're just a little chained monk who can't even flurry. Low hp, low to-hit, low damage, the best thing you've got going for you is your advice ability to buff, your surprisingly high DC on your stunning fist with 18 Wis, and your incredible AC of 18, which jumps to 22 when you fight defensively.

The MAIN benefit however, comes from your traits. The halfling version of the helpful trait boosts your aid another to a whopping +4, and the Fools for Friends adds an additional +1, plus a little bonus against charms and compulsions. This gives us a total of +5 to our nearest big guy's AC or attack rolls. But for now, just try not to get killed.

Level 2, our Sensei Archetype gives us Insightful Strike, which basically lets us use our wisdom for attack rolls and combat maneuvers. Since we're not looking to output the damage, this lets us hit far easier with our stunning fists, and will be useful at later levels.

Level 3 is where we really start to come online. With three ranks in acrobatics, crane style, and cautious fighter, our fighting defensively gives us a whopping +6 to ac. Blundering defense lets us extend half of this benefit to our allies, giving anyone we stand next to a +3 to AC.

Level 4, we get bodyguard. This is huge. Now, spending our attacks of opportunity whenever an opponent attacks an adjacent ally, we can aid another. Which, you'll remember, comes at a massive +5. With bodyguard proccing on an adjacent ally, we're giving them +8 AC.

Level 5 is where we're officially little badasses, and fully online for the support side of this build. Crane Wing allows you a massive +4 dodge bonus to your AC when you fight defensively, so long as no one gets close to hitting you that turn (easier said than done with a +10 fighting defensively). Now, remember how Blundering gives your adjacent allies half that? Yeah, defending with bodyguard, you're now giving your barbarian friend a +10 to AC. You're also giving it to the mount you just acquired.

Now, there are two main choices for your animal companion. Pick wisely, as he's going to be the main source of your damage for the rest of this build.

Wolf will give you greater supression on enemies through tripping, and will have stronger attacks of opportunity through his stronger power attack, as he only has one natural attack, and its primary. This is a more supportive, more teamwork focused choice. I recommend the bodyguard archetype if you're planning to get to high levels.

A big cat, such as a lion or a tiger, will eventually gain pounce, and will simply have the best all-around stats to serve as a damage machine. With the massive boosts to AC you'll be giving it, and the ability to augment its attacks through animal focus, teamwork feats, and magic, this will be one terrifying kitty. I recommend no archetype for this one, as evasion and multiattack are more useful.

Either way, you can ride both the first level you get them, as you're small. Just mind their low hp, and your lack of the mounted combat to protect them. Don't bring them near if you're expecting fireballs. Level 6 is pretty much a dead level for us. We get outflank, but without a means to share it, its pretty much only useful if the barbarian or fighter took it, which given how much they love you, they might have!

Level 7, we get the important ability to share our teamwork feats with our animal companion. This is a MASSIVE power boost. Allow me to explain. Dirty Fighting lets us bypass the prerequisites for Pack Flanking, and gives us a huge boon itself. Now, at this point, you've got a high wisdom, and your wisdom counts as your offensive stat for all combat maneuvers. Dirty Fighting lets you whip out any combat maneuver you want, so long as you're flanking an enemy. Pack flanking lets you flank an enemy from any position so long as you're adjacent to an ally who shares the teamwork feat. Your mount is always adjacent, and shares this feat. Outflank raises the bonuses for flanking to +4. So, what does this all mean? YOU AND YOUR MOUNT RECEIVE A CONSTANT +4 ON ALL ATTACKS AND MANEUVERS, AND YOU CAN WHIP OUT ANY MANEUVER YOU WANT USING YOUR STRONGEST STAT, WITHOUT PROVOKING ANY ATTACKS OF OPPORTUNITY. You're now genuinely terrifying, and your mount has some much-needed offensive love.

Level 8, we get Broken Wing Gambit through the cavalier's tactician ability. Very simply, you only want your mount to be using this at this level, as you don't get as much benefit from provoking attacks. Your mount, however, can now lash out every time its attacked.

Level 9, your animal companion is now fully badass. Boon companion brings our effective druid level up to our character level, making our mount of choice large-sized, and bearing some rather massive boosts in stats, feats and overall power. Your mount is an absolute monster now. Consider Narrow Frame, to let him go into the dungeons you may be treading with more ease.

Level 10 is another dead level, but we're getting stronger, and should be well above the curve in terms of power.

Level 11 is truly obscene. Paired opportunists gives you and your animal companion ANOTHER +4 to attacks of opportunity. Combined with broken wing gambit, which I encourage both you and your companion to starts using at this point, BOTH you and your animal companion get to use an attack of opportunity when EITHER of you is attacked. And since you can use any type of maneuver you like, this can take the form of you knocking an enemy on their ass with the +8 trip while your wolf power attack bites them. Its a preventative measure for damage with even more offense, as no one will want to take a swing when they see what you can do. In addition, if you took the bodyguard archetype, lookout will now ensure that BOTH you and your animal can take full rounds in any surprise round. Theres no surprising either of you. If you took the cat, consider trading this out for toughness. More HP will always be appreciated.

Level 12, we simply get 3rd level spells. Which at least scale with our obscene wisdom, and will likely be mostly buffs. We are a walking +5 bonus to pretty much everything attempted, riding a tempest of fangs. Fear us.

TLDR:

Pros - Powerful by 5th level, great saves, amazing ac, versatile with the ability to get class skills in all knowledge, social and physical skills. Pretty much everything you'd want is on the list. Awesome team player who will be the favorite of your front liners. In addition, the focus on only two stats and innately massive ac lets you focus your wealth into decking out your animal companion, more than even a full hunter could.

Cons - Squishy, unless min-maxxed for extra con. Which is definitely an option, you don't need the strength or charisma. Level 9 before you truly start dealing a lot of damage by yourself.

So, been theory crafting a lot recently, and I recently came up with this build in response to a need to see a truly powerful, not just competent, Ascetic Style build. I thought about applying reach, and found that of the two weapons that were both monk weapons and reach, one of them was actually semi-coherent!

The Kusarigama is a sickle/chain weapon that, for all intents and purposes, we're going to ignore most of the traits of to avoid confusion. Two hand it, swing the chain or the sickle depending on the damage type you like, enjoy smashing skulls with naught more than a small iron ball and momentum. If they get close, don't start the debate with your GM on whether you can use the sickle. You're a monk. Kick them in the dick. Now, on to the build:

Wia Buu Turashu
LN Human Unchained Monk 12
Init +1, Senses: Perception +14

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Defense
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AC - 17, Touch 17, Flat 10
HP - 106
Fort +10, Reflex +10, Will +7 (+9 vs enchantment spells and effects)

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Offense
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Ki - 9
Speed - 70 ft.
Melee Flurry - Kusarigama +18/+18/+18/+13/+8 (2d6+7)
Unarmed Strike +17/+17/+17/+12/+8 (2d6+5)
Melee Flurry w/ki and successful Trip w/Leg Sweep - Kusarigama - +18/+18/+18/+18/+13/+8 (2d6+7)
Melee Flurry w/ki and successful Trip w/Leg Sweep vs vulnerable opponent - +18/+18/+18/+18/+18/+18/+13/+8 (2d6+7)

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Statistics
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Str 20(+2 Racial, +3 levels), Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8

Traits: Indomitable Faith, Honored Fist of the Society
1: Weapon Focus (Kusarigama
Human: Ascetic Style
Bonus: Improved Unarmed Strike
Bonus: Stunning Fist
Bonus: Combat Reflexes
Bonus2: Scorpion Style
3: Power Attack
Ki Power4: Empty Body
5: Ascetic Form
Style Strike5: Leg Sweep
6: Improved Trip
Ki Power6: Sudden Speed
7: Dirty Fighting
Ki Power8: Abundant Step
9: Greater Trip
Style Strike9: Knockback Kick
10: Medusa’s Wrath
Ki Power10: Ki Hurricane
11: Lunge
Ki Power12: Qinggong Power (Whirlwind Attack (2 Ki))

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In summary, this build has a number of perks. It is powerful at all levels and sees constant bumps in strength, starting with being able to flurry with a two handed reach weapon at level 1 with combat reflexes, getting power attack and a ki pool for stronger flurries at 3, getting style strikes at 5, plentiful maneuver options at 7, strong trip game at 9, obscene numbers of attacks against vulnerable enemies at 10, and the ability to damage everyone around you in a large area at 12.

Weapon enhancements cost literally half of what an amulet equivalent will cost, and this style only needs to go 2 feats in, as the final ascetic feat is redundant for monks. Knockback kick, lunge, and strong trip maneuvers give us a greater ability to play keep away with enemies. Its not quite as good at tripping as a purely focused fighter, but we make up for it with far better damage, mobility and the ability to fight with most of your effectiveness at close range. Of course, this build is shown without items other than a normal weapon. Apply gold generously in the areas you feel fit, and you've a template for a powerful reach fighter with a stylish weapon. I will suggest heavily investing in your weapon and strength, as the use of power attack takes a dent in the build's accuracy, but is a literal increase of +12 damage to the listed calculations of each of your numerous attacks. Its worth it, just make sure you invest for it.

P.S. Also, a tip when facing rogues or spellcasters: Dirty fighting is more than a tool to bypass combat expertise. Get your fellow party members to flank, and you can pull out any maneuver you want without provoking an attack of opportunity. An impromptu grapple against the enemy wizard is an instant 'no spells with somatic components' You're a high strength character with full bab. Don't be afraid to exploit that.

Let's try to stop this discussion going in circles by making an utterly clear, absolute statement.

If you do something your players would not like if you told them, and only get away with it by not doing so, you are a bad GM.

Objectively, whether or not you agree.

Haven't kept up with the thread much since I posted, but I thought I'd respond to this as a fervent advocate of the "pro-fudge" movement. When I mark down the damage on the boss' attacks just a bit to let you keep standing for one more round at 3 health, securing the vital damage necessary to win the encounter? I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to spoil the intense scenario, wondering if you should call a retreat, whether you should run alone, whether I'll just knock you out with the next attack or focus my full attack to ensure you're dead. I'm going to let you breath a huge sigh of relief when the damage trends on the lower end of the spectrum, letting you feel like serendipity looked kindly upon you at the most clutch moments.

If I played the rules as they were, 100% of the time, a fairly significant number of my encounters would end in tpks. Period. I know the system at least better than most who play at my table, and if I used every ability the creatures had as smartly as I could, I'd wipe them the majority of the time. And I SHOULD. After all, they're a seperate series of motivations and power levels, and I'm a single hive-mind controlling an assortment of monsters all working towards the singular goal of ending them. Its not fair from the start if I play to the best of my ability.

Does that make me a bad GM? Maybe. Maybe I suck at estimating encounters, maybe you'd prefer me to open my games, including new players, with 'I'm going to subvert reality in your favor or against your favor if I think it necessary.' But I'm not. Because at the end of the day, whats important is that my players BELIEVE the fight was hard-fought and hard-won, with luck and tactics salvaging the day. Sure, in reality, they'd probably be dead. But every one of my players who have been with me a year or more can list an encounter they were heavily invested in, where their favorite character pulled out the strategy that just barely killed the dragon before his fire breath ended the party. At the end of my games, they can feel HEROIC. Who cares if the risk is an illusion? It FEELS real.

And yes, sometimes the power-gamer with the monster manual pdf on his computer casts me a dirty look. Because I'm not 'playing by the rules.' I've got news for you. The rules are a hot mess of unbalanced crap that come together beautifully through the aid of the GM towards the ultimate goal of a good story we craft together for several hours, all with a good time in mind. That, and only that, is the sign of a 'good gm,' imo. If you can meet that conclusion. Maybe you can facilitate a consistently satisfying session without fudging, ever. But I bet you'd arrive at that a little easier if, once in a blue moon, a few numbers were adjusted on the fly.

born_of_fire wrote:

Many, many, MANY games involve "lying" to your friends. You must have great fun playing poker with your pals, Deadmanwalking, what with this expectation of complete and absolute honesty at all times. Because playing your cards wisely is the same as sleeping with your friends' wives or swindling them out of their retirement savings...

Right. But that's the equivalent of lying in-character. It's an expected assumption of the game.

What's being discussed (ie: ignoring HP to keep enemies alive after they should be dead without telling the players) is the equivalent of stacking the deck in poker to cause dramatic plays rather than what would ensue naturally. Even if you're not doing it to win, it's still cheating and completely inappropriate unless people are aware that this is a game where that's acceptable.

born_of_fire wrote:

Part of Pathfinder is the DM having knowledge that the players don't as well as the ability to manipulate the game in ways that the players don't. DM's deceiving their players is not a bug, it is a feature.

GMs deceiving the players about IC stuff (ie: who the real main villain is in a campaign) is a feature. GMs deceiving the players about what they are doing OOC? Not so much.

Indeed, a GM lying and saying they want to do a social interaction heavy game and then doing a dungeon crawl is a very equivalent situation. It's flat-out lying about what the game is and how it will work, and is likely to result in people who wouldn't want to play the game you're actually running playing under that false assumption, and then being upset when they find out a bait and switch is involved, and other people being equally upset even if they would've played in either just because they were brought in under false premises. The 'fudging stuff' version is less likely to be found out, but as noted in my last post (and again, below) if the only justification you have for something not being wrong is 'they'll never find out' you're almost certainly doing...

I consider myself an okay GM. Not every game is stellar or top-tier, but I can run a campaign that is interesting enough that people return, and I've introduced a lot of new players to tabletop gaming through a gaming group I run. We have about 20 active players, and over 90 throughout our 5 year history.

I lie. A lot. It is probably the only consistent theme in ALL of my sessions. If you play at my table, I am absolutely going to lie to you about the math at some point during the night. I will adjust the boss's health on the fly as I think it needs, I will lower that crit ratio when you're about to get x4 by a scythe, and if the party is about to fall to a series of lucky rolls on my part? I'm going to pretend it didn't happen. I'll roll at random intervals just to make you wonder what you just triggered. If you roll stealth, I may have a cocky, knowing smile on my face even when you've done everything right and nothing is going to effect you.

And here is the thing: I find it absolutely necessary to the fulfillment of a satisfying session. Maybe its just me sucking at cr, but when your players range from experienced to brand new, or power gamer to roleplayer, CR is a very difficult system to get right on the fly. I am going to adjust the math as we play to make sure you succeed in your efforts, provided you've gone through the effort to try and contribute as best you can. Now, if you challenge something that will likely kill you to a fair fight? Let the dice roll as they may. But if you're petrified at low levels by a save or die that you have no means to heal? Guess what, turns out bathing a statue in the still-warm blood of that creature makes you turn back!

The question isn't "Is he lying?" Its "Is he adversarial to me?" I'm not. Trust that I'm not. Trust that if the boss manages to survive two rounds when he really shouldn't have, and launches a powerful fireball that chunks the party before his death, I'm doing it because I need you worn down a bit for the next encounter. Trust that I'm trying to enable the narrative you weave as much as my own, and that my ultimate goal is your enjoyment. It may not be perfect, and if I make the wrong decision while lying to you, I understand your frustration. But if you don't trust me to give you a fair shot and a good tale, why are you even at my table?

The Unchained Barbarian is also DRAMATICALLY worse at one of the defining features of the class: feats of herculean strength. A level 7 Barbarian, with just Shrapnel Strike, Strength Surge and no magic items enhancing him, can bend iron bars with a 4 on his strength check. He can burst free of chain bonds with a 6. With an 8, he can RIP A 2 INCH IRON DOOR OFF THE HINGES WITH HIS BARE HANDS. By level 10, he can do all this with anything but a 1 on his roll. All for one round of rage. The Unchained barbarian can't even approach this. A Barbarian can grapple DRAGONS on a good roll. He personifies power. An unchained barbarian is a fighter worse at his job than a fighter. The Core Barbarian is the standard by which all other martials are measured.

I remember my first DMing session in PF. I brought a module that basically outlined a million details for a massive city, with tons of factions and rules for city building, as well as countless hooks for different adventures. I was overwhelmed. Both my players and I found ourselves bogged down by countless mini-plots going on at once.

The next session, I focused on a single plot from an idea offered in that book. I had them take on a simple task to investigate a village that may have stolen a cornucopia, which in addition to producing delicious fruit, also guaranteed a seat on the city's High Council. Were they doing it for the food, for a third party, to secure the recognition of the council? It was a great opener to introduce some of the mechanics of politics in the city as well as provide some clout to bring their names to those in power. I needed to learn focus, and if they showed interest in another aspect of the world, be it a mercenary company or a convent of healers, I could bring it up organically.

TLDR; Alignment systems are largely futile attempts to institute objective morality in a world where gods exist based on the OOC subjective morality of a world that does not.

Since almost all effects relating to morality are divine, I like to view it simply as 'how the gods view you' rather than objective morality. Binding classes to alignment is simply bad system design, as it removes nuance from roleplay, but if their refusal to free the Unchained Monk from the lawful alignment is any indication, one Paizo is dedicated to.

Case in point: Two paladins have discovered a child, who has been made a living portal to the eldritch beings who should not be gazed upon. In five minutes, the portal will open, and Armageddon will ensue. There is no way to contact the casters necessary to close the rift in time. Killing the host will disrupt the portal. One paladin refuses to slay an innocent, and actively protects the child. The other slays the first paladin, then the child. Who falls? Both? None? One? Unfortunately, the answer is probably the paladin who stopped armageddon, by the system. Alignment is a remnant of a far worse game, and should be carved off with a hack saw.

In Skyrim, my soul was bound to Sithis, Nocturne, the werewolf god, and the nord afterlife by nature of being the dragonborn. Make the deals and let them fight over the shards of your soul.

It wasn't unfair, but as a voice of dissent? I think it was poor DMing.

There is a place for silly or even asinine behaviour in light-hearted campaigns. However, that doesn't mean you are immune to the results of your actions. There are consequences to acting in a stupid manner, including wasting combat turns. All of THAT said...

I would probably have flubbed the dice rolls to let the companion live, barely. But I know many are against their DM's doing that. Ultimately, I do understand his frustration. Sometimes a lucky crit with a power-attacking scythe one-shots your character. But there are no levels where being one-shot feels satisfying. Being dead isn't entertaining, and skipping the worry and suspense of combat to a final conclusion is underwhelming and hollow. It may not BE unfair, particularly to optimizers, but when a 'force' simply attacks and ends something you've invested time and effort in, it FEELS unfair. Even if they had not chosen to waste their turns, you put them in a scenario where a single pounce would end some of them, and you picked the member of the party it could. It would have been a hollow victory REGARDLESS of how they acted.

Thats why I make my dice rolls behind a screen. So that when my attacks kill a party that has played smart and do everything right, that last attack doesn't do QUITE enough damage, or one iterative misses that shouldn't have. And I get it, sometimes you misjudge the CR, and you end up with more damage coming out than you expect. But at that point, you have a decision to make as a GM: Am I here to facilitate my players, or the rules? As GM, what I say GOES, and everything I do adds up to that feeling of victory after a tough fight, with treasure and MacGuffin in hand, their wounds aching but their hearts fierce after conquering the dragon. I have failed as a GM if my players feel hollow when the game ends.

So lets talk damage. For the purposes of this build, I'll be using a far more specialized stat array than a typical build. I'll be using dragon style, but as multiple people have disagreed with me, I'll assume power attack with dragon ferocity only has a -1/+2 ratio. And I'll be building how I prefer to build, which is low-ac, which with high hp is only a problem if you're surrounded by enemies, or routinely taking full attacks. We'll build using PFS rules, to the best I know them, to elimate random chance in rolls.

Bigguy McPunchyou
LN Human Unchained Monk 12
Init +1, Senses: Perception +14

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Defense
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AC - 16, Touch 16, Flat 10
HP - 148
Fort +16, Reflex +12, Will +11 (+13 vs mind-effecting)

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Offense
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Speed - 70 ft.
Melee Flurry - Unarmed Strike +3 +23/+23/+23/+18/+13 (2d6+15(+19 first attack)/19-20)
Melee Flurry w/ki and successful Trip w/Leg Sweep and Haste - Unarmed Strike +3 +24/+24/+24/+24/+24/+24/+19/+15 (2d6+15(+19 first attack)/19-20)

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Statistics
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Str 27, Dex 12, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 7

1: Dirty Fighting
Bonus: Combat Reflexes
Bonus2: Deflect Arrows
3: Dragon Style
Ki Power4: High Jump
5: Dragon Ferocity
Style Strike: Flying Kick
6:Improved Trip
Ki Power6: Feather Balance
7: Greater Trip
Ki Power8: Wind Jump
9: Vicious Stomp
Style Strike: Leg Sweep
Ki Power10: Light Steps
Bonus 10: Improved Critical
11: Toughness
Ki Power 12: Sudden Speed

Gear: Amulet of Mighty Blows +3, Belt of Giant Strength +6, Cloak of Resistance +4, Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2, Wand of Cure Light Wounds, Sleeves of Many Garments, Ioun Torch, Potion of Blood Rage, 575 Gold.

Traits: Indomitable Faith, Honored Fist of the Society

With all the key points of the build out of the way, lets talk what you can do with this. First off, I know the first complaint: The AC is way too low! But lets check out if it functionally is. A CR 12 creature has an average AC of 27, and an average HP of 160.

Our monk, pouncing, with just the flanking bonus of another melee, and no buffs involved, hit 3 times for 90% hit chance at his highest BAB. Assuming just the first three hit with no crits, we've dealt an average of 26+22+22. Thats 70 damage. Or near half the health of an equal CR creature. And thats assuming a pounce, with no ki spent, and no iteratives, and no power attack. Surely, though, we're going to get wrecked by the incoming full attack, right? Wrong. The high damage of a CR 12 creature averages around 55. A bit over a third, but nowhere near half our health. We can stomach two full attacks before the third kills us.

But wait, the BBEG showed up! He's CR 15, and ready to kill us! He wins initiative, and has a pounce! He full attacks us for half our health! Or at least, he tries to. See, the damage of creatures per cr only scales +3-5 every cr until the latest levels. Between our con, favored bonus, toughness and 6/hp a level? We get 12. Our durability outscales the enemies to the point we can't possibly be bursted down. His average high damage, 70, is actually against odds to exceed half our health. Which, again, means we can take up to three turns of his focus before dropping. He feasibly can, but it requires jumping into the middle of the party and full attacking us until we die. For two-three turns. Turns he is ignoring my party. Turns he isn't killing my wizard, or my squishies. Turns the rest of the party can go to town.

Now its time for return fire. The fighter/barbarian/rogue/anything else, due to having a higher initiative than me, flanks him. We activate haste as a free action through our boots, gaining an additional attack and +1 to our attacks. Since he's on top of me? I don't have to pounce. Which means I can leg sweep. Admittedly, CMD is probably going to be higher than AC on anything but a caster BBEG. But with dirty fighting and two trip feats, we gain a +8 to our attempt while flanking. Its more likely than not we succeed. Average AC of 30, 220 health on the BBEG. I unleash, spending a ki, and attack my prone enemy with +28/+28/+28/+28/+28/+28/+23/+19. Being entirely reasonable, lets assume I hit 6, and don't crit once. That is 26+22+22+22+22+22. 136 damage. Or, you know, over 60% of the BBEG's health. Without power attack, so far less of a spread with 90% accuracy. Assuming a crit, we can go even higher. With this build? We can feasibly solo a boss 3 CR above us. Not likely in practical play against a smart enemy setting the terms, but he'll be hurting a lot when we're dead. With a party? Its barely a challenge.

This build has weaknesses. But they're weaknesses we'd apply to any two-handing warrior, or primary damage dealer, or anyone not building full tank: Being surrounded by a ton of mooks, alone. Being flanked by two or three high-damage enemies. Our saves against the BBEG only get as high as about 60% for things like will. And like any melee class, a trip-based reach weapon user can juggle us all day. This is not the perfect well-rounded class. This is something better. The Unchained Monk is the ultimate damage dealer.

Weapon Monks CAN deal more damage, but requiring power attack makes them even more feat intensive, they're more reliant on crit fishing have a much higher spread on their attacks, and they can be disarmed, sundered, etc. An unarmed monk is more consistent, with less weaknesses, and is ultimately more thematic.

In short: Deal with your problems like a man. By jumping on top of them and proceeding to beat them down until one of you is dead. AC is a generally inferior stat to put investment in for damage dealers.

Flavor-wise, maybe propose it as a sort-of after the end world, where magical tyrants stifled individuality and nonconformity with a magical virus that kept the population of each race to a physical and mental 'set.' It would remove undesirables who would need to be cared for by the stat, and every person would have been given a number.

The FUN part of that would be playing AFTER the fall of that government, when as a result of that oppression, every child names themselves, and craft a mask to express their true individuality. Everyone looks the same, but every individual is an array of colorful outfits and exaggerated style. Accents that develop based on who they want to appear as, whether than who they came from. I THINK this might have been a Star Trek episode, but I've never actually watched the series, so not sure where the similarities end.

I'd play it. From the perspective of optimization or rp, I think I'd benefit by the time I can afford one +2 stat belt. I'd still think it kind of lame if it were forced on me, though. Like, just an option on the table, I'd jump on it. I'd take it as a sign of mistrust as a player, though. Limiting options as a DM is nearly always an exercise in caution or overcomplicated rule sets. If you can't even trust me to play my stats, we're off to a bad start in the GM-Player relationship.

If you have a group you trust and propose it as an experiment they accept, though? I see no problems.

So after much debate on this topic, I thought I'd just go ahead and make a thread on it. Here is the question: Does an unchained monk's unarmed strike class feature interact with power attack?

One of the ways one can gain bonus damage with your Power Attacks is using a primary natural attack with a strength modifier of 1.5. Although Dragon Style technically just adds an untyped bonus equal to half your strength on the first attack, dragon ferocity actually actively changes the modifier. The UM's unarmed strike class feature allows his unarmed strike to count as a natural or manufactured weapon for the purpose of "spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons."

Now, a natural attack is either primary or secondary, without exception. And if you have only one natural attack, it is automatically primary. However, we know that a monk's unarmed strike is not ACTUALLY a natural weapon, or it would automatically receive the 1.5 str modifier all lone natural attacks get. It is only in relation to certain 'effects' that it counts as one. Is power attack one of those effects? Certainly, it modifies attack rolls and damage, but does it effect weapon dice or enhancement bonuses, or make it count as magic? If not, does that make Weapon Focus (Longsword) an 'effect' that doesn't technically effect a weapon? The very broad interpretation of 'enhance or improve weapons' makes this ultimately DM fiat, but for the purposes of PFS and other RAW-heavy groups, we should probably have a consensus.