Kazumetsa Raijin's page

Kazumetsa Raijin, glad the guide is useful to you! That sounds like an interesting build, but it might be a bit complicated for the guide, and I'm not clear on where everything is coming from. How are you flanking with yourself? Are you taking the Dimensional Savant line based on abundant step? And which 1-handed weapon are you using that both has the monk property and qualifies for use with Rogue's Finesse (or are you not using Finesse)? Sickened on crit from Kyton bloodline, Dispelling Attack is an advanced rogue talent, and Wild Flanking and Outflank are teamwork feats - where are the rest of the debuffs and flanking bonuses coming from?

I'm very happy to answer your questions!

It very well probably may be too complicated, but I'm happy to share anyways.

Dimensional Agility/Assault/Dervish/Savant is needed, yes. That's where the "Flanking with yourself" comes from. This is based off of Abundant Step. Outflank and Wild Flanking(from the Drill Sergent Fighter levels for those sweet sweet bonus feats) work stupid good with it too.

Personally I prefer and recommend a one-size-bigger-than-you Waveblade, with an Effortless Lace applied to it. This qualifies it as a One Hand when swinging it since it's oversized, giving you the Monk quality, 18-20x2 crit range, and Piercing or Slashing damage. You get the bonus PA damage from it too.

Sadly Rogue's Finesse kind of goes to waste. It's a bummer :T

So if you take the bonus feat(because any monk can) Hamatulatsu, and you have the Kyton blooded ability Painful Strike; They both basically activate at the same time, so choose Kyton to activate first, then Hamatulatsu -> Sicken then Stagger in that order. No saves from either. Which means any Crit will frequently occur and trigger Medusa's Wrath too. Super good stuff.

The Unchained Rogue portion is GREAT. Double Debilitate, Shield of Blades, and Dispelling Attack are a must IMO. Kinda stinks you have to waste two talents on the way, on Minor/Major magic, but the end result is pretty convenient.

SO, the rest of those bonuses and things I mentioned; The Extra attack/dam/con/init comes from Bloodrage + Furious enchant + Pitfall enchant. Flanking at +7 comes from Flank + Outflank + Menacing enchant + Militia Trait. The Extra Natural Armor and Fort save, then healing for 20 on Crits from worshipping Minderhal and taking the Deific Obedience (exalted) and Diverse Obedience (sentinel). He's an LE deity. The SLow Reactions Rogue Talent stops your opponent from taking AoOs.

Here's an old but good gestalt version character sheet for an example; https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1517190

it's slightly different from what I was talking about as the GM gave us additional Feats if I remember correctly.... so just pretend Snake Style, Snake Sidewind, Snake Fang, Martial Focus, and Weapon Style Mastery don't exist on the sheet. Also ignore the Race and Point buy. Either way the sheet should give you a general idea of Class Features and standard Feats, then the action economy in the Abilities section.

Link to the Guide

I've been working on this thing on and off roughly since the ACG came out. I wanted to wait to share it until I'd finished a few more classes, but with P2E coming out soon I thought that an unfinished guide is better than a complete but obsolete one - might as well let people get some use out of what I have so far.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

You should definitely consider adding Unchained Rogue(15) // Unchained Monk (scaled fist)(15-20), then a splash of Drill Sergent Fighter(2) // Bloodrager (kyton)(1) // and Insinuator Antipaladin(2).

The synergy is VERY high between them. Imagine being able to Crit on a 15-20 with a 1H weapon, use all of your abilities through that weapon, power attack and all, automatically flanking for a +7 with every strike, getting all of your sneak attacks, double debilitate, dispelling strike, halting their AoO ability, and SA damage with every attack. Then follow that up with sickening, staggering, healing(your char), with every crit, wild flanking with yourself and only hitting yourself on a crit(at the worst), outflanking with yourself and getting up to your AoOs in extra attacks, and having one solid use of Smite(any) on hand per day. Bloodrage to make it a little stronger. Did I mention none of those provide a save? There's also the option of Conductive+Domain with maybe some Cleric levels squeezed in there in place of other worthless ones. Anatomical Savant is also a worthy investment though. Anything immune to flanking would cause problems. Obviously no spells here though, which stinks, but for a pure marshal build, it's quite outstanding to play. Echolocation is a great spell to have scrolls of or have active for cheap.

Thanks a lot for your guide btw. I'm glad to see something like this out there. I shared it with 11 other fellas in a level 20 mythic gestalt game so they could all get really fun and badass ideas if they wanted something new.

Retraining says that if you retrain a class feature choice you are stuck with the option available at that level. So retraining your lv2 class feature bonus feat is limited to your level 2 options.

Is this what you're referencing?

If the old feat is a bonus feat granted by a class feature, you must replace it with a feat that you could choose using that class feature.

Hey All! It's been quite a while since I've been here... anyways;

To preface this, I've seen a lot of banter back and forth on this subject. I don't know if it's ever been officially answered or not either... but I would love to know if that's not the case and there is something official out there. This is an old subject I'm sure, ...

Bonus Feat: At 1st level, 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a monk can select a bonus feat. These feats must be taken from the following list: Catch Off-Guard, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Scorpion Style, and Throw Anything. At 6th level, the following feats are added to the list: Gorgon’s Fist, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, and Mobility. At 10th level, the following feats are added to the list: Improved Critical, Medusa’s Wrath, Snatch Arrows, and Spring Attack. A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.

So, Monk Bonus Feats; The Monk has a short list of them to choose from to start, and eventually gains access to more. Very handy. However, once you have access to other additional Feats after level 6, 10, 14, or 18, you can take much more important Feats instead of settling for the lesser ones available initially. This brings me to the probably age-old question now;

When you Retrain a Bonus Feat, is there anything written(developer, FAQ, RAW, frowned upon by DM, James Jacbos, PFS, etc) against putting a higher level available bonus feat, into a lower level slot?

In Example;

A level 12 Monk wants to move the Level 10 Bonus Feat:Medusa's Wrath into the Monk Level 6 bonus Feat slot(basically removing his Deflect ArrowsImproved Trip that was there), so that he can put Improved Critical into the Level 10 Bonus Feat Slot.

Thank you in advance for anything you provide! Please keep this discussion civil and constructive :)

Note I also have this post on Reddit due to the different audiences.

Benefit: When you use Pummeling Style to make an entire full attack or flurry of blows against a single target, if you hit with any of your attacks, you can attempt a reposition or trip combat maneuver check as a free action.

One free Trip or Reposition, for the entire attack(s), sure.

Otherwise, I think the context is just to make sure you stick to using only Pummeling Style for your Full-Attack(as opposed to using some other form of a full-attack like a Normal Flurry or normal Full-Attack), in order to be allowed to use the Trip/Repos "if you hit with any of your attacks" during that sequence of attacks.

It sounds like the Giant-Blooded trait reduces the entire -4 penalty down to -2. Seems any penalty that is the direct cause of Over-Sized weapons, would be reduced by half based on "the penalty on attack rolls for using inappropriately sized weapons is reduced by half".

That makes the most sense to me. Although the intention could still be reducing just the over-sized weapon penalty, and not the penalty from the class ability of GWW.

Eh, it's arguable since it's a free action. Either way, you'll have to confirm a landed attack and finish it up(triggering your feat), but you get a free reposition/trip maneuver after it.

I was reading this thread about non-lethal damage builds: http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/34507/using-sap-adept-master-feat-as -a-rogue-in-pathfinder/36070#36070?newreg=56cef1ccea0e45abaae56c4f8b9520f5

The person who makes the third post about the unarmed ninja build says this:

"Start out with one level of monk, Flowing Monk to be exact. By doing this you get Improved Unarmed Strike for free, as well as Weapon Finesse as your free bonus feat. This build is very feat heavy, so this is key. As a bonus, you get the monk's unarmed damage tree for your whole career, as well as those extra bonuses to saves by going one level of monk."

This implied to me that you get the Monk's unarmed dmg progression even when not taking Monk levels, but I can't find anything to support that. Am I just misreading this or is he wrong?

The only way to get the Unarmed Strike progression that Monks get, is to have the Monk levels for it. Otherwise, you've got a few other options; Monk's Robe, Monastic Legacy, Ascetic Style/Form/Strike, and I feel there is one more I'm leaving out. I don't know that there is more than that out there.

You take a hefty -5 attack penalty to every attack that round, similar to Power Attack would do with a high enough BAB. Then with every attack that lands, it would force the opponent(s) to make a Fort save or be stunned. It looks like this would also apply to an AoOs you make too, since it's effects last until the start of your next turn.

So if you did land 4 attacks, they'd have to save against all of them, or as many until they ended up failing one.

Okay so I know about the bracers of protection, the amulet of natural armor, and monk robes. So what else is there that I can use? I don't mind taking feats to increase it but if at all possible I'd like to avoid it.

Wand of Mage Armor + Wand Keyring

Not sure what else....

I am currently playing a sylph flowing monk, 12,18,10,12,16,7 stat array. I grabbed improved trip for my monk feat, and weapon finesse for my normal feat. Currently playing with kamas for tripping, using the flowing monk abilities with it when i want to trip things. I am looking for any other advice, things i should buy/learn feat wise, or just general useful information. What should i focus on first? I know i dont need an aomf since most times i will use my kamas, allowing me to go natural armor for neck slot, and i need combat reflexes next , but any other suggestions or thoughts?

As a Flowing Monk, your damage will probably be quite poor even with Agile enchant on stuff. You should try and invest into a harder hitting weapon that still utilizes Weapon Finesse though. In general your AC is probably going to be very high, especially the more surrounded you are thanks to Flowing Dodge. You may want to consider the Snake Style/Sidewind/Fang Feats as with every AoO you make your opponents flat-footed and this would further and more often make them flat-footed. Any "Sneak Attack" ally would greatly appreciate this. You may want to invest in the Feat named Elusive Redirection too as this can come in handy and further makes your Elusive Target ability more useful. Invest into Mage Armor/Shield wands with or without a Wand Keyring(+10 to umd check for specific spell). You'll be a walking wall of AC for sure. Stand Still would be an amazing feat for you, as you can take AoOs, stop opponents completely, then end up flat-footing them at the same time. Also keep in mind that Redirection should be used frequently, as it will not only screw up an opponents Full-Attack either by tripping or they suddenly move 10+ feet away after their first swing; but it can also put them in serious flanking danger with your allies.

Flowing Monk brings a LOT of synergy to a party with even 1 other Melee combatant. I played one very successfully and he was only hit 3 times ever in his first 7 levels. The hard part was keeping attention of opponents at all or long enough - which is where Stand Still helps keep them there if they become frustrated from the misses.

Damage-wise... not a whole lot you can do other than put Agile on a weapon and maybe pick up Piranha Strike. You'll want some more static damage if you can get it. Martial Focus is an easy +1. Enchanting is always good when you can afford it. Bane Baldric would give you a +2 static and 2d6 for each attack. Belt of Incredible Dexterity is always good. Not sure what else...

Most Flowing Monks end up completely sucking on damage, but that's not their main purpose anyways.

When I make a full attack with pummeling style as it is (at least thematically) a single attack, how do I handle these combat triggers?

Corrosive / Flaming "extra 1d6 points of ____ damage on a successful hit"
Once per full attack, or once per dice roll?

Invisibility (as per the spell) "The spell ends if the subject attacks any creature."
Which attacks are the target flat footed for? How long does the +2 for attacking while invisible last?

Invisibility (as per the Special Ability) "If an invisible creature strikes a character, the character struck knows the location of the creature that struck him"
Same question, which attacks are the target flat footed for?

Wrecking Wrath "Once per day, after successful hitting a foe with a melee weapon, you can add your Strength modifier to the damage roll a second time"
Does it double the Pummeling style's strength mod, or does it double one of the rolls?

Charge Attacks In general, does the +2 from the charge attack carry over for every attack? Or just the first?

Corrosive/Flaming - 1d6 damage added per successful Pummeling hit. These will not multiply on a crit, so just add them separately.

Invisibility (both) - It would end after the first attack. You'd want Greater Invisibility for the +2 and attacks vs flat-footed to apply to each of your attacks.

Wrecking Wrath - It would just double one of your rolls.

Charge Attack - Well you can't combine a Charge with Pummeling Style anyways, so this doesn't apply. I assume if you got the ability to Pounce or otherwise had Pummeling Charge, then you'd get a +2 to each attack for that charge/pounce. Unless they've changed that ruling/FAQ.

@ Kazumetsa Raijin: But what if they're affected by one of those conditions mid-Full Attack?

For example, if I have Shatter Defenses, and I affect somebody with an Intimidate check from the Enforcer feat with one of my attacks (presume a Sap Master build that emphasizes Unarmed Strikes), wouldn't I then qualify for applying Medusa's Wrath?

Or hell, what if I hit them with an Unarmed Strike and they fall Unconscious, wouldn't I then qualify for applying Medusa's Wrath?

It applies all the same. Even if you're very final attack with it's likely pitiful BAB somehow hits, and say it was a Stunning Fist and successfully stunned them, you'd get two extra attacks afterwards at full BAB.

With Shatter Defenses; Definitely a Yes there.

With Unarmed Strike and them falling unconscious, definitely a yes there too. Medusa's Wrath is pretty nasty, and is really a bonus feat always worth grabbing as soon as possible. Especially if you have one level in Cleric and the Repose Domain(and Conductive on your weapon or the Domain Strike feat)!

Hi all,

I posted the other day about Fighting Defensively and Pounce.

There doesn't seem to be consensus on whether one can Pounce Defensively, other than maybe don't plan on using it in PFS because of table variance, and ask your GM.

What about Pounce and Medusa's Wrath? RAI, this seems like it should work, but the wording in Medusa's Wrath is the same as Fighting Defensively; it requires a "Full-Attack Action":

Medusa's Wrath wrote:

Whenever you use the full-attack action and make at least one unarmed strike, you can make two additional unarmed strikes at your highest base attack bonus. These bonus attacks must be made against a dazed, flat-footed, paralyzed, staggered, stunned, or unconscious foe.

Pounce wrote:

When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can make a full attack (including rake attacks if the creature also has the rake ability).

We have the Spell Combat FAQ (thank you @Ascalaphus), which is somewhat helpful, but still doesn't address the larger RAW question:

FAQ wrote:

Magus, Spell Combat: Does spell combat count as making a full attack action for the purpose of haste and other effects?

Yes.

Edit 9/9/13: This is a revised ruling about how haste interacts with effects that are essentially a full attack, even though the creature isn't specifically using the full attack action (as required by haste). The earlier ruling did not allow the extra attack from haste when using spell combat.

So, does the RAI feel of Medusa's Wrath make us think that Pounce + Medusa's Wrath should be OK? Or is there still the larger RAW issue of the discrepancy between "making a full attack" vs. "taking a full-attack action"?

Considering you can still perform a full-attack while fighting defensively; I'd say you can pounce since that's essentially the same thing. Otherwise there would be a lot of Crane Style/Pummeling Style folk that couldn't attack, ever.

"Fighting Defensively as a Full-Round Action: You can choose to fight defensively when taking a full-attack action. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC for until the start your next turn." - Just keep in mind once you fight defensively for that round, you're stuck with it for that round - Much like if you Power Attack or Attack with a Shield and lose the Shield bonus.

Considering Medusa's Wrath requires nothing other than the target to be dazed, flat-footed, paralyzed, staggered, stunned, or unconscious; you get 2 more attacks if you pounce someone that qualifies. Pretty simple.

I can't help you on the Spell Combat thing... not familiar enough.

Kyton Style wrote:

Your fighting style emulates the disciplined nature of the kytons, with passion and pain held tightly in chains.

Prerequisite(s): Wis 13, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (spiked chain), Knowledge (planes) 3 ranks, ki pool class feature.

Benefit(s): When using this style, you treat spiked chains as if they had the monk special weapon feature. Additionally, if you have Stunning Fist, you can spend 1 point from your ki pool to make a Stunning Fist attack with your spiked chain instead of an unarmed strike. This still costs a use of Stunning Fist as normal.

Ascetic Style wrote:

You blend arms and martial arts, using weapons with the same ease as unarmed strikes.

Prerequisite(s): Weapon Focus with the chosen melee weapon; base attack bonus +1 or monk level 1st.

Benefit(s): Choose one weapon from the monk fighter weapon group. While using this style and wielding the chosen weapon, you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite, as well as effects that augment an unarmed strike, as if attacks with the weapon were unarmed attacks.

Special: A 5th-level monk or character with the weapon training (monk) class feature can use Ascetic Style with any monk weapon, in addition to the chosen melee weapon.

The question I have is after reaching 5th level would I be able to apply Ascetic style to my spiked chain?

You can also get this to work with a normal or unchained monk - Ascetic Style + Weapon Focus + Martial Focus + Kyton Style + Weapon Style Mastery.

I don't think these would work together, as Spiked Chain falls into the Flails weapon group and not Monk. Even though you gave it the Monk quality, that doesn't mean it is a part of the Monk group.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Doing everything through your Spiked Chain(including augments)?

They added the clause "This ability works only with unarmed strikes, no matter what other abilities you might possess." so that there would be no possible way to use anything but unarmed strikes with this ability. This was intentional.

Crusader's Flurry just allowed you to do a Flurry using your Deity's favored weapon, one not normally to flurry with. Essentially it just turns it into a "Monk" weapon.

Negative.

Standard can be substituted for a Move, but that's it for action exchanges that I know of.

What is really the point of Monkey Style? I am absolutely enamored with the idea of a character who can fight effectively while prone, but I'm not sure what, mechanically, is the benefit to doing so (besides not providing soft cover to enemies, I suppose?). I am building a drunken monk, and I envision staggering drunkenly up to an enemy, taking a wild swing at his face... and then falling over prone in front of him as a free action like I've tripped (only to surprise him by being just as competent on the floor as on my feet).

Look past Monkey Style by itself. You can literally trip without fear of tripping yourself, and you'll laugh at others when you do get tripped by them. Being tripped is one of the worst as a martial. That and how cool is it to just crabwalk around and not suffer penalties, while kicking ass? Zoidberg style.

Monkey Moves actually let's you climb with a climb speed, bonus to climb checks, gives you a bonus 5foot step, and allows you to do some willy nilly monkey-ing around. Great for getting above an opponent and dropping down on them.

Monkey Shine is... well when it works it's fantastic, but it's relying on that damn Stunning Fist to be successfully delivered. If you can take a level into Cleric and somehow magically convince your GM to let you have the Chaos Domain... Touch of Chaos is what will give your SF a much better chance to succeed(you may want Domain Strike with this or Conductive on an AoMF). Otherwise Ability Focus if your GM allows it, ki intensifying, wisdom bonuses, etc. It's still good to try and keep the DC up. A cheaper way around it is to take the archetype of Hamatulatsu Master as you can get a couple different effects with your SF that actually make it a Will save instead of Fort. Though I don't think that will combine with Drunken Master. +4 to AC and Attack is ridiculous, top it off if they leave that square they provoke, and if they try to leave your threatened area they provoke again.

AoOs are great for Monks... welcome to Trip/Disarm city. That's why I love Snake Fang so much.

...So then TWF doesn't work with UCFlurry?

Pure common sense with Pathfinder game balance in mind, would be that it absolutely does not work. Same for Natural Attacks in addition.

On the original Monk's FoB, it was more evident. It calls out a couple times that FLurry is being used "as if using TWF", which means it's basically TWF. Ironically, it really is TWF reskinned as Flurry of Blows and having a Full BAB progress. If you're a BAB +1 and are using TWF and a Light Weapon in the offhand, you're at a -1/-1 much like the Monk starts with his FoB... but they can get away with bigger weapons and don't count as having an offhand. Then the other restrictions as what you can combine with it, etc.

Unchained Monk:

At 1st level, a monk can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action. When making a flurry of blows, the monk can make one additional attack at his highest base attack bonus. This additional attack stacks with the bonus attacks from haste and other similar effects. 1. When using this ability, 1a. the monk can make these attacks with any combination of his unarmed strikes and weapons that have the monk special weapon quality. 2. He takes no penalty for using multiple weapons when making a flurry of blows, but 2a. he does not gain any additional attacks beyond what’s already granted by the flurry for doing so. (3. He can still gain additional attacks from a high base attack bonus, from this ability, and from haste and similar effects).

Original Monk:

A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands. A monk may substitute disarm, sunder, and trip combat maneuvers for unarmed attacks as part of a flurry of blows. 4. A monk cannot use any weapon other than an unarmed strike or a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows. 5. A monk with natural weapons cannot use such weapons as part of a flurry of blows, nor can he make natural attacks in addition to his flurry of blows attacks.

By no means am I thinking this should work, as that would be most certainly overpowered from a Martial standpoint(and RAI standpoint)... but the OP makes a good point. The entry that denies Natural Attacks and TWF is denied from being combined from the Original Monk(4. and the fact that Flurry counts as TWF) vs the Unchained(1./1a., 2a.).

Unchained Flurry has 1 as it's subject where 1a refers to it, and just let's us know we can use any combination within the flurry, using unarmed strikes or monk weapons.

Unchained Flurry has 2. as it's subject where 2a refers to it, and let's us know there are no penalties for multiple weapons within our flurry AND we don't gain any additional attacks beyond what's already granted by the flurry for doing so. Then it gets to 3 and reminds us that we can still receive more attacks from "haste and similar effects".

That's where it gets weird for interpreting. I know the intention, but it doesn't change how this can be variably viewed. Who's to say that Haste and Polymorph aren't similar? They're both spells, and technically Wildshape is too(though using Beast Form and whatnot), and undoubtedly grant access to more attacks from both of those sources and also alter stats to some degree.

On the same note, the Original Monk specifically disallows Natural Attacks from being additional or mixed in. Feral Combat Training let's us mix those in, so that's easy to take care of. As a Monk, you'll be using Unarmed or Manufactured weapons... so really only Claws on the Hands would be an issue if you wanted to use in combination with your attacks... but there are many other natural attacks than Claws to be had.

I'm essentially imagining a Monk that has gone partial Druid. Turning into a Giant Squid or Giant Octopus. That'd be a Flurry + Bite + 8 Tentacles... and since the Octopus could make an "Unarmed Strike" in the form of a headbutt or hitting with a different part of the Tentacle... that'd be horrifyingly legit. That'd be something like +20/+20/+20/+15/+10/+5(realistically only 4 of these hit)... then +15/+15/+15/+15/+15/+15/+15/+15/+15/ for your tentacles and bite... then Medusa's Wrath for another +20/+20...

Horrifying... and I intend to break someone's game on Roll20(as long as Munchkining is legit) one day. Gotta find one of those Gestalts or higherpowered games. That's 17 attacks in a round... and you could still Flying Kick to opponents. That's broken as hell and I know there wouldn't be even one GM that would allow it if he realized the intent.

My point is; They should add clause 5. from the Original Monk into the Unchained. Problem solved.

Don't rage on me too hard guys :)

Also give the OP a FAQ click...

I was wondering if there is any guidelines that anyone has posted whats a good amount of damage at any given level. I guess what i'm trying to say is whats the minimum amount of damage at certain levels that would be passable (so say you wanted to work on something else when I hit X my damage is good enough) and what would be well optimized damage at various levels lets say 1 5 10 15 20 to get a good range.

Personally, I find that if you have Power Attack + 2H or 1H with 2h and a decent Str value - That'll last you the entire game or quite a while. So long as you're gaining some extra attacks of course. Works great with TWF or just being an Unchained Monk(flurry).

1 1d8+9(str4,strbonus2,pa3)
5 1d8+12(str4,strbonus2,pa6)
10 1d8+16(str5,2hbonus2,pa9)
15 1d8+19(str5,2hbonus2,pa12)
20 1d8+27(str6,2hbonus3,pa18)
I'd recommend a weapon with 18-20 crit range as a x2 or a 19-20 x3(falcata)

This does not include magical items(ie weapon enhancements or enchantments, belt of strength, ascetic style, spells, bane baldric, augmenting fist damage, etc). As-is, this is GOOD. Not great or supreme like a Monk or Fighter can achieve between feats and class features, but still good and generalized for any Str based class you use.

Keep in mind PA damage goes up every 4 BAB(plus what you get from initial first level) and you get a bonus attribute point every 4 levels.

Ok, to put this in context I have done 2 PFS sessions with this monk and he has a little money. I am trying to tweak him slightly and wanted some advice.

1. Thinking of selling my Kama, Nunchaku, Siangham and shuriken and getting a monk's spade and a rope dart. Spade to minimise the number of weapons I have on me (I feel like I must clang when I walk) and rope dart because it has twice the range and twice the damage of a shuriken.

2. Trying to decide between a wand of mage armor, or bracers of armor +1. The wand could also be short term replaced with pots of mage armor until I have the PP for the wand. I have already spent 2 of my 3 PP so far on a wand of cure light wounds. My thinking is +4 armor is better than +1 and the 1 hour duration is not overly onerous.

3. I am also looking at switching out Improved Initiative or jabbing style, but otherwise I am fairly happy with his performance thus far.

1. I'd get a Temple Sword or Sansetsukon

2. I'd get a Wand of Mage Armor, let someone with UMD or the spell on their list cast it on you every hour inside a dungeon, and otherwise at the start of combat. Save the bracers of armor until you can afford a +4

3. Styles are always fun. Personally I just stick it out with with a low init and I do just fine in combats. Snake Style/Fang is my personal favorite, along with Ascetic Style.

The weapon channels and amplifies the wielder’s ki, allowing her to use her special ki attacks through the weapon as though they were unarmed attacks. These attacks include the monk’s ki strike, quivering palm, and the Stunning Fist feat. The save DC for ki abilities used through the weapon increases by half the enhancement bonus of the weapon (minimum 1).

After a successful strike with a ki intensifying weapon, the wielder can spend 1 ki point as a swift action to perform a combat maneuver to bull rush, disarm, reposition, or trip as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. Any bonuses or penalties applicable to the weapon attack also apply to this combat maneuver check. The wielder cannot move from her space as a part of the chosen maneuver.

Only melee weapons can have the ki intensifying ability. It cannot be placed on an amulet of mighty fist or similar non-weapon item. Weapons with the ki focus ability can be upgraded to be ki intensifying.

Yep! The Monk's Ki Strike happens to be the thing that overcomes DR and applies with this!

Personally, I think Scorpion Style is awful. Not only is it not super useful, but it actually requires a Standard Action as opposed to being part of a Melee Attack like a Stunning Fist. Then, of course, it's a Fort save... the easiest for most creatures to save against. I have no idea where you think it adds 1-2 to a save... it simply slows your target to 5ft speed, aside from the mythic stuff.

I'd rather take Dodge, Combat Reflexes or even Deflect Arrows any day before I took this. Gorgon's Fist is equally as awful as Scorpion Style too. Medusa's Wrath is always worth it though.

Looks legit to me.

Hey Everyone! I've hopped into a Gestalt campaign recently, starting at level 1, and I just wanted advice on what to best combine with the Unchained Monk! He will likely be a weaponized Monk for the most part and rarely use unarmed strikes. The plan is to utilize Snake Style(or whatever) + Ascetic Style + Weapon Style Mastery to aid in this. So the rules we have to stick to, we pick one class and that'll be the class that stays pure, then for the second part of gestalt, we can combine whatever classes we like along the way. We rolled our stats, and I got two 18s and a 17, followed by a 13, 7, and 3... which worked out great for the Monk. Any race is OK, but I ended up going with Kasathas for the extra defense, and having four arms to hold stuff is convenient.

That being said, what should I do with my gestalt levels?

Originally I thought about UMonk/Druid(8+ and Shaping Focus) primarily for Strong Jaw access, Wild Shape into an Elemental Form(Earth or Air), and the ability to use armor and it not counting as actual armor mostly to get the AC and the Brawling enchant. Unfortunately that whole armor thing is out the window since now you do count as wearing armor while wild shaped(if you actually have some on), which screws up my Monk pretty badly. There's a whole "Wild Armor" thread somewhere on it too..

Would multi-attack reduce that to -2?

It should...

Hello, everybody :)

I'm going to join a Pathfinder-group out of Gestalt characters. (Combining 2 Classes per level) Powerplaying is expressively allowed. Starting at lvl 2
The last time I played Pathfinder is some years, so I'm a bit out of form and not up to date. So I thought myself, I'll ask the well-educated community for advice^^
Does anyone know the most powerful combinations? Experiences? Calculations?
Since in the SLs world are magic items pretty rare, but creating them not prohibited or disadvantaged, I've built a mage/cleric to go for the mystic thaumaturge at fourth lvl and probably fighter for some feats. Everything necessary to create loads of magic items for the group and to be the groups "knowledge (all)-character". But I'm not really satisfied with the result. My stats are horrible, although we have 30 points to invest in attributes (instead of 25 on Epic-Fantasy).
We are also allowed one single magic item, which costs 4000 GM in max. Other money is just the 140 GM from lvl 1.

I hope there are some good ideas :)
Advices to improve my mage/cleric-character would also be cool.
But I can totally understand everyone, who doesn't want to deal with the strange houseruling^^'

Personally my favorite is a UnchainedMonk/Druid/Barbarian. UnchainedMonk 20, Druid 8+, Barbarian 4+, Fighter 5+. It's even reasonable to add in Crusader Cleric for the free weapon focus, then pick up Crusader's Flurry. Personally I like rolling with Shizuru so you can Daze stuff when you hit it, with no save. Plus dat Katana tho. It's a feat-starved build, but that's why the fighter levels come in handy and give you some +1s.

By level 10 you can reach 12d8 Unarmed Strike damage(not including all of the strength damage and power attack damage and many others), but if you include Ascetic Style that US damage can be used with a weapon instead. Personally I enjoy tossing my weapon in the air as a "distraction" that doesn't really do anything than make cool moments, transform into a huge air elemental, catching the sword and it auto-resizing, then swinging(next round) for horrendous damage on top of ridiculous defensive stats. It's very powerful, but I don't know that it's the "most powerful". It's definitely a martial build too, less such a caster.

I can email you or link you a spreadsheet if you want.

this is the character i'm planning to play in S&S campaign

** spoiler omitted **

i would like him to be the best AoO character, with a good threatened area and with some cool way/utility for AoO
( I like dex over Str for flavour and int and cha quite good, always for flavour).

I don't know what qualifies as "Best AoO Character" but I know a way to beef it up.

Take Master of Many Styles Monk, probably just 1 level; or two if you want Evasion and another free Style Feat(or substyle).

Snake Style and Snake Fang is what you want. Anytime they miss you, you make an AoO. You can do a lot of fancy helpful things with an AoO besides damage. You can then look at getting Ascetic Style + Weapon Style Mastery + Weapon Focus + Martial Focus, to then use your Rapier with your Snake Fang(and apply the abilities of Snake Style/Fang to your Rapier) instead of your Unarmed Strike, use it with your Stunning Fist instead of your Unarmed Strike, and any other Feat that calls out Unarmed Strike. Then look at taking the Stand Still feat... stops anything from going past you with an AoO. You'll essentially be stopping them and forcing them to attack you, which will only further make them suffer, and be slinging those AoOs and probably use all of them every round.

I typically don't encourage other classes to dip into MoMS... but I just love the idea of this combo.

With the right Charisma... it's free ;)

Grappling is broken. It's not too bad with monsters but for a player character specced for grappling it can be insane (Seen a Grappling specced character in that level range with a +42 grapple check). Think I read some where that Grappling is on the list of things Piazo wants to take a look at and maybe do a complete re-write of the grappling rules.

There's a number of different ways to help out vs Grappled condition (for the players). The cheapest are the spells Grease & Liberating Command, both first level spells.

I bet you money that the Grappling Player was a Tetori!! haha

I too can't find this in the FAQ. Can we get the "answered" tag removed so it can continue collecting FAQ votes?

Oh good, so I'm not going crazy. I too saw the "Answered in FAQ" but I cannot locate it so far...

Personally, I feel anything that Grapples you, deserves the attention of your Party aside from you handling it on your own. Grapples are scary, but the creatures grappling suffer the penalties as well unless they have Feats or Class Feats that say otherwise. So it creates an opening for party members to get an advantage against the creature grappling you... assuming they can reach you. Grapples in general are pretty powerful(probably intentional), which is why they're so scary. It shuts opponents down, and if you can't get out somehow you're essentially doomed.

Well, typically when it comes to Grapple, usually the Frontline fighters are targeted since they're in the way. Anyone who is weak to that sort of thing, should be in the middle or back(relatively speaking). If for some reason they get grappled, then everyone should support them to stop the grapple somehow.

I feel that most creatures don't Grapple naturally or just aren't specialized in it. Which is totally fine. It's good to have a "Surprise Grapple!" here and there to spice things up. Now, a creature that can grapple multiple foes at a time... or a horde of grappling poisonous abberations... is nothing to scoff at. I'd say at that point it's too powerful.

Edit: One addition here; I will say I don't particularly like the way CMB scales with CR... or CMD really. That is what kind of breaks things for me and can really hurt a lot of builds.

If someone is grappled within the party, everyone should treat it like that party member is literally going to die in 2 turns or less.

nope, it been discussed before and it doesn't.

Your US is not a one-handed weapon used with two hands.
Your US is not a two-handed weapon.
Your US is not a primary natural weapon.
Since those three are the only three ways to get 1.5 damage, and you don't meet any of them, you don't get the increased damage.

Ah, I see now. IUS counts as a natural weapon, but not as a Primary nor Secondary since it's an Unarmed Strike. Is that essentially what you're pointing out?

Now, back to your specific comments:

1. Tongue has been useful to me at least. A lot of creatures will forgo combat if you give them a reason not to, but most of them speak Giant or something that nobody else talks.

2. I try to use Class Analysis to have players see the deficiencies and potential of a class. Once we get to Ki Power selection, if they read that part, they'll figure out how Ki Leech is useful to them.

3. Sandstorm Sandals are fun, Bane Baldric is not better than Monk's Robe in my opinion.

4. Good notes on feature choices.

5. Vanara should be Green, really.

6. Sense Motive by itself is Green because when the GM wants your party to be tricked, you'll be tricked anyway. Snake Style is not withstanding - Knowledge skills are higher for the Perfect Scholar and Bluff is higher for the Sage Counselor, but the base rankings are for base classes.

7. I fail to see the merits of Snake Style over Crane Style, particularly because the former eats up your swift actions.

8. Fate's Favored is cheese; Ancestral Weapon is amazing and I've used it, but it's probably cheese; Wisdom in the...

3. Bane Baldric is not a Body item like Monk's Robe. It's a Chest item!! This makes it even more valuable :D I didn't see a Chest Slot mentioned at all, so that's why I mentioned it.

7. Then at least make Snake a Green item. It just simply doesn't deserve a Yellow. The biggest merit in it, is that every time an opponent misses(this is with Snake Fang), it gives you an AoO to take against them. If you have decent to high dex(or mythic), then that is more damage than Jabbing Style could ever offer realistically. Combat Reflexes is a necessity of course. I really urge you to review it over and consider the change. Between Snake and Crane, it's made every Monk build very enjoyable for me, especially considering the AC options Monks have to choose from(Barkskin, Furious Defense, Defensive Spin, Mage Armor, Wisdom/Dex, AC Bonus(monk), etc.) It really punishes anything, by using defense as the best offense. The Swift actions aren't necessary and are merely optional, but all equally useful swift actions depending on what you need in the situation.

8. They really are cheese, but that doesn't change their usefulness! ;P I managed to convince my GM for the Ancestral weapon, for RotRL at least. It can't be too cheesy...

Also I'm very happy to help you at all! I know that guide was a lot of effort, and it looks damn good!

I appreciate any input and/or FAQ!! Thanks, Secret Wizard.

Power Attack

Benefit: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls.

Dragon Ferocity

Benefit: While using Dragon Style, you gain a bonus on unarmed strike damage rolls equal to half your Strength bonus. When you score a critical hit or a successful Stunning Fist attempt against an opponent while using this style, that opponent is also shaken for a number of rounds equal to 1d4 + your Strength bonus.

Unarmed Strike

A monk’s unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.

If I'm using Dragon Ferocity, hitting with my Unarmed Strike; Does my Power Attack grant the bonus to damage that you'd normally gain with swinging a Temple Sword two-handed?

The way I'm reading this, is that because I'm using Dragon Ferocity, it's granting my Unarmed Attacks a bonus to Strength damage. It's effectively adding 1.5x my Strength modifier on damage rolls, so then I should gain the increased Power Attack damage in combination. I just want to be sure though, so I'm bringing it here.

Introducing...

YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD
A Guide to the Unchained Monk

Discuss.

Forgive me if I'm dragging behind others here and repeating what they already stated... working off of my work desktop so a lot of things are blocked(including google docs :( ) so I had to take a round-about way of getting the guide and looking through it. The reason I'm looking through it though, is because I LOVE Monks in general and always have since I started in 4th, but 1000x more in Pathfinder. 5th is fun too. So I wanted to contribute to your guide here if I can help it.

**** Book; Unchained Monk Class Analysis

Under "Gained at level 13"; I would personally mark "Tongue of the Sun and Moon" as yellow. For Monks it really is useless, but just cute to have around.

Under "Utility"; I think you should make note of "Ki Leech" and it effectively being active at all times, in the same paragraph as "Regarding your Ki Pool size,...". I'd suggest it as a Blue or Green, personally.

**** Book; Unchained Monk Equipment

Kudos on the mention of Blade of the Sword-Saint. God-Tier indeed and one I hope to get one day.

You left out the Chest item - I'd recommend Bane Baldric. +2 to Attack/Damage/Enhancement Value is almost impossible to say no to.

Feet; I'd add in Sandstorm Sandals. Miss Chance stacks nicely with AC :) You can almost always argue there is sand or dirt in the area too.

Everything else looks pretty good.

**** Book; Unchained Monk Feature Choices

Flying Kick; I'd add a note letting others know that you can not only do this at the start of a round, but during mid-flurry as well(assuming you have at least one attack left).

Empty Body; I feel it's more of a green item... since casters still do it better, and the ki cost is a bit high early on. It only lasts 1 minute too, and really with little advantages other than ignoring your surroundings. Great utility item though. Personally I feel like it's better to just wait for Abundant Step.

Ki Metabolism; I feel this should be a yellow or yellow/green item. It's OK at best and the other choices greatly outshine this.

Insightful Wisdom; This definitely should be a Blue item. Anything that allows you to spend a measly 1 Ki to let a party member re-roll a save, is incredibly worthy and powerful. It's a great way for the Monk to contribute to the party too, aside from martial prowess.

**** Book; Unchained Monk Race Selection

Other Races; I feel like Vanara should be Green. Their stats line up perfectly, and they can even get bonuses to CMD vs Trip/Bull Rush on top of the sickeningly great Climb Speed in which a Monk can take advantage of on top of doing really cool stuff.

**** Book; Unchained Monk Skills

Sense Motive; deserves a Blue entry. Snake Style/Sidewind/Fang utilizes and boosts this, using it as AC and Crit Confirmation. Not to mention it's the Monk's only real way to contribute to social situations with their generally poor charisma. Then top it off with preventing bluff/feint, because flat-footed is always a terrifying moment to a monk.

**** Book; Unchained Monk Styles, Feats, and Traits

Snake Style; I'm truly disappointed here. This deserves a Blue. Bonuses to defenses, aids in making opponents miss, truly makes them suffer greatly(repeatedly) when they do miss, and gives you piercing damage. Combines extraordinarily well with Ascetic Style too. Not to mention when you do crit on that 20, it's a guarantee it'll confirm.

Choosing Traits; I'd include Fate's Favored, probably as a Green, in combination with Orc/Sacred Tattoo or 1 level dip of cleric(divine favor).

Choosing Traits; I think Ancestral Weapon is worth including, I just don't know the chances of the GM approving. It'd be a Blue item for sure, but I don't know how GMs generally feel about it.

Choosing traits; Wisdom in the Flesh is a good one worth mentioning. It can open up some UMD doors. Yellow or Green item I feel.

Overall: I'm thinking there should be a "Weaponized Guide" and an "Unarmed Guide" with the same content(a few variations in between) but different ratings for each. Kudos on the guide though, and very well done. I look forward to more!

It'd be great to see Martial Focus and Weapon Style Mastery mentioned too, as those in combination with Ascetic Style/Form and another Style Feat tree would be an optimal combo.

I'm not sure where you can add this; I think maybe Noting a 1 level dip into Crusader Cleric or just Cleric with the Crusader's Flurry ability should be added, so you can Flurry with a Katana if you were to worship, say, Shizuru. You'd then have access to Gentle Rest from the Repose Domain, which if you then get Domain Strike you can deliver that ability as a swift action(and Medusa's Wrath feeds off of this; no saves involved). Conductive weapon enchant will let you just deliver it with a melee attack too. Worthy notes all from a 1 level dip. That and you can take Fate's Favored trait and your Divine Favor will be a +2 on you for attack/dam! Monks get a lot out of 1 level from them. If the GM can swing it, as you can worship as desired but gain access to a domain based off of ideal or culture; the Chaos domain is a good one, with it's Touch of Chaos(no saves again!). Once you get Domain Strike or Conductive, you can deliver it and it'll greatly increase the odds of Stunning Fist working, and also really screwing over targets since every D20 roll they throw out there, has to roll twice for that turn and take the worse result.

That's all for my input for now! I hope it was constructive.

So, I have this concept of a Flowing Qiggong Monk with the Vows of Peace, Truth, and Poverty. I was thinking about taking Bludgeoner, Agile Maneuvers, and Improved Reposition at 1st. The idea is that he doesn't like to hurt people, so that's why I'm taking Agile Maneuvers over Weapon Finesse (and I'm not 100% on which Combat Maneuvers work with Weapon Finesse/Dex). I realize that Bludgeoner probably won't get that much use, since I've got a 10 Strength, but it's thematic.

Also, I'd like to swap out High Jump for Cloak of Winds, but Cloak of Winds isn't available until 6th level. Can I just not take High Jump at 5, then take Cloak of Winds at 6?

You don't have to take a Ki power at that level if you don't want, but that shouldn't forbid you from going back and acquiring one either. Do what you need to do. Your GM shouldn't argue much. Whether RAW allows it or not, I can't be 100% sure.

Personally, I played a Qinggong/Flowing Monk and it was a lot of fun. Although, you do your job the Best if you're jacking up your AC(especially as a Dex/Wis based) to make sure you stay alive, and otherwise hinder opponents as best as you can.

Always have someone in your group pop Mage Armor(from a wand or class) on you, or otherwise stock up on potions for that.

Barkskin is something you should consider as well.

Flowing Dodge will come to very good use.

Don't hesitate to use your Ki points(swift I think) for extra AC as well.

I'd highly recommend Snake Style/Sidewind/Fang in your build, as each AoO for someone missing your high AC, will result in AoOs you can utilize to Reposition/Trip them, or other effects depending on other feats you may take. Also, because you will be taking so many AoOs as a Dex/Wis Monk with Combat Reflexes, each one of those has a chance of Flat-Footing your opponent. This is very powerful and a Reflex save isn't too horrible against most foes. Be thankful it isn't a Fort save haha.

Things of course only get worse for your foes if they continue to attack you or try to get by you. however, why focus on you if you're so tough to hit? They usually will learn very quickly and move on, but that's why you need to keep them in place if you can help it. Stand Still becomes almost a necessity for this, stopping them in their place. Then they have no choice but to attack you and suffer further. Agile Maneuvers isn't needed, as you can already use Dex with Trip/Reposition/Disarm and I think Sunder too. If you're trying to Bull Rush or Grapple you'd want Agile Maneuvers. If you can get Enlarged and increase your Reach, they really won't be going anywhere anytime soon :D

Other Feats you'll want:
Combat Reflexes(definitely)
Dodge(maybe)
Stand Still(definitely)
Snake Style
Snake Sidewind
Snake Fang
Improved Trip
Greater Trip
Improved Reposition
Greater Reposition
Punishing Kick(you get to use it like a normal monk)
Stunning Fist(you get to use it like a normal monk)
Touch of Serenity(you get to use it like a normal monk)
and I'll add more when I can... it's been a while
Edit 1: Weapon Finesse
Edit 2: Ki Throw
Edit 3: Improved Ki Throw
Edit 4: Crane Style/Wing/Riposte (though it'll be harder to hit opponents, but even harder to hit you, but it would be a more "peaceful" style compared to Snake)
Edit 5: Elusive Redirection - super duper fun :)

Overall not only will you be repositioning creatures and totally screwing up any full-attack sequences, redirecting attacks and otherwise making them sickened, but you'll be throwing a lot of AoOs around and keeping them still/ flat-footing them/ tripping them/ etc. You'll basically be the ultimate melee buddy, and legitimately protecting your party from physical harm aside from ranged attacks. It's a really slick combo that really optimizes this archetype. Your damage will be underpar, but defenses and utility will be fantastic. Your teamplay level will be outstanding too. Make sure to get anything that allows you to trip/reposition larger foes, and anything that adds a bonus to that attack.

So overall what I gather for #2, is that technically it's legal from what I understood in my OP, but it definitely was not the intention as it was supposed to be limited to Feats. It would indeed be too powerful with AoMF enchants also stacking with Weapon enchants, for some really nasty effects and effectively turning my Weapon(or anyone else's really) into a +15 item, in a sense. No FAQ/Errata available yet.

I'll make sure to drop it by my GM for his ultimate decision. Thank you again for the responses everyone!

Fairly lengthy post, apologies in advance for any bloodied retinas and if this is the 477th time this has been asked for clarity. FAQ if necessary.

Question 1: It's safe to say, we can have Ascetic Style and Snake Style active at the same time due to Weapon Style Mastery. With that being said, would my Weapon Strikes with the Sansetsukon benefit from all of the Snake Style feats?

+Piercing with Sansetsukon
+Sense Motive check to Confirm Crit with Sansetsukon
+AoO with Sansetsukon if opponent misses me

Question 2: When striking my opponent with my Sansetsukon, what would it's overall effect be?

I was thinking: +3 enhancement, +2 attack/damage(brawling), flaming, impact, ki intensifying; if I'm reading the feats and combining them correctly in my head.

Question 3: Would I gain the DR Bypassing of my IUS via Monk levels, in combination with whatever is on my Sansetsukon?(not stacking, but overlapping)

Question 4: If I'm reading this correctly; Would I make attacks with my Sansetsukon instead of IUS with the abilities of Snake Fang, Punishing Kick(if I happened to pick up this feat too), and Stunning Fist?

Question 5: Would I need Ascetic Form to utilize my Sansetsukon with Style Strike abilities and any other Monk granted ability that normally requires an Unarmed Strike?

Ascetic Style:
Benefit: Choose one weapon from the monk fighter weapon group. While using this style and wielding the chosen weapon, you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite, as well as effects that augment an unarmed strike, as if attacks with the weapon were unarmed attacks.

Snake Style/Sidewind/Fang:
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks, and you can deal piercing damage with your unarmed strikes. While using the Snake Style feat, when an opponent targets you with a melee or ranged attack, you can spend an immediate action to make a Sense Motive check. You can use the result as your AC or touch AC against that attack. You must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed.

Benefit: While using the Snake Style feat, when an opponent’s attack misses you, you can make an unarmed strike against that opponent as an attack of opportunity. If this attack of opportunity hits, you can spend an immediate action to make another unarmed strike against the same opponent.

Weapon Style Mastery:
Benefit: Choose one weapon style (a style feat that lists Weapon Focus as a prerequisite) that you have. You can have the chosen style and a second style active at once. Starting a stance provided by a style feat is still a swift action, but you can assume both the chosen weapon style’s stance and another style’s stance simultaneously using this action. This ability doesn’t stack with other abilities that allow you to have multiple styles active at the same time.

Amulet of Mighty Fists:
This amulet grants an enhancement bonus of +1 to +5 on attack and damage rolls with unarmed attacks and natural weapons.

Alternatively, this amulet can grant melee weapon special abilities, so long as they can be applied to unarmed attacks. See Table: Melee Weapon Special Abilities for a list of abilities. Special abilities count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of the item, but do not modify attack or damage bonuses. An amulet of mighty fists cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +5. An amulet of mighty fists does not need to have a +1 enhancement bonus to grant a melee weapon special ability.

+2 Enhancement Bonus with Flaming

Sansetsukon:
+3 Enhancement Bonus with Impact and Ki Intensifying

Bracers of Armor:
+1 Armor and Brawling Enchant (is this legal?)

All Definitions pulled from Archives of Nethys

No, you may utilize the +2 to Saves and Charging through Difficult Terrain as needed as those apply to all situations while in the Style.

Dragon style and 2hw are giving the same thing. 1.5 str for you damage. Ferocity does add .5str to damage.

but you left out a line in ferocity.
"to a total of double your Strength bonus on the first attack and 1-1/2 times your Strength bonus on the other attacks."
Which sets a hard limit to how much damage it can do.
So this does nothing for 2hw, but works well with 1hw like a swashbuckler.

I didn't catch that initially. Good find!

Thanks guys. So at best, it'd be 2x on the first attack, and 1.5x on the rest of the attacks?

Ascetic Style + Weapon Style Mastery
Benefit: Choose one weapon from the monk fighter weapon group. While using this style and wielding the chosen weapon, you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite, as well as effects that augment an unarmed strike, as if attacks with the weapon were unarmed attacks.
Benefit: Choose one weapon style (a style feat that lists Weapon Focus as a prerequisite) that you have. You can have the chosen style and a second style active at once.

Dragon Style:
Benefit: While using this style, you gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against sleep effects, paralysis effects, and stunning effects. You ignore difficult terrain when you charge, run, or withdraw. You can also charge through squares that contain allies. Further, you can add 1-1/2 times your Strength bonus on the damage roll for your first unarmed strike on a given round.

Dragon Ferocity:
Benefit: While using Dragon Style, you gain a bonus on unarmed strike damage rolls equal to half your Strength bonus.

Question:
So, somehow combining all of these Feats together: Would these actually end up stacking the Str multiplier for damage between Wielding a two handed weapon and Dragon Ferocity?

If it does, would it look like 1st Attack: 2.5x Str All other Attacks: 2x Str?

The logic I'm seeing behind this so far: 2H weapon or one-handed weapon being swung with 2 hands = 1.5x for all attacks in that way, Dragon Style + Ascetic Style bumps it up to 2x for the first attack, Dragon Ferocity bumps the first attack up to 2.5x and the rest of the attacks up to 2x. All of this due to "you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite, as well as effects that augment an unarmed strike, as if attacks with the weapon were unarmed attacks." clause in Ascetic Style.

No matter what set of dice we give this guy, he's rolling on the high side. I watch him. It's gotten so bad that even he wants it to stop, because he knows he's stealing the spot light during combat.

He's tried an online dice roller, which he claims seems to be more fair (and I believe he's honest, for the most part. I can never tell.) and asks to use it instead. (can't provide link, don't ask, I don't have it.)

But I need to cover my bases! What if the dice roller app thing likes him too?

What I need is advice on downplaying his impact when he's getting rolls +5 higher than everyone else, every time. Anyone have any tips on how to do this effectively, without kneecapping him?

This sounds silly, but seat him in a different spot than where he normally sits. I bet the luck will change.

I have a friend that used to play, and whomever sat to his Right, suddenly rolled very poorly - and he rolled high often. He even rolled 4 20s in a row once. We gave him the nickname of "Luck Vampire". We even went to the extent of testing it out in different areas of the house, and sure enough as soon as someone was to his right he started rolling with a high average; with the other poor soul rolling low average. As soon as they left, he just rolled average.

It also definitely has to do with how you roll the dice and how it's held beforehand.

After we moved him to a spot where no one was to his right anymore, his rolls were average.

I hope that helps clear up any confusion for you.

What Grabbing Style is essentially setting you up to do, is grapple Multiple foes at the same time with less of a penalty. It let's you grapple one-handed without the painful -4... so you have a hand free for whatever for another grapple. Personally I feel it's greatly catered towards the Tetori Monk.

Look at the entry under Graceful Grappler:
At 8th level, a tetori gains the grab special attack when using unarmed strikes (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 301), and can use this ability against creatures his own size or smaller by spending 1 point from his ki pool, or against larger creatures by spending 2 points from his ki pool. At 15th level, a tetori gains the constrict special attack (Bestiary 298), inflicting his unarmed strike damage on any successful grapple check. This ability replaces flurry of blows.

Using a standard action to grapple isn't even something to think about anymore after that. Your regular Unarmed attacks just get free grapples upon hitting a target.

Grappling on it's own is still a standard action, and cannot be used in place of an attack or FoB attack.

I'd have to say Yes.

So I was talking to my DM about my spare character which was going to be a monk. I made mention that I was going to be making him a long spear user. The reason was that I could strike with reach the if they tried getting close (AOO or close combat) I would be able to use my legs or knees with out dropping the spear or without penalty. Do you guys know if this is correct or if there is a FAQ? My DM doesn't fully agree with me and wants to see something rule wise that proves my thinking.

Thanks for all responses!

I recommend pelvic thrusts, headbutts, or butt-butts; but Yes, you're thinking is correct. This is one of the great joys of being a Monk :)

Thought I'd throw this out to those that know.

I have a player who wants to play an unchained quiningong monk.

My question is (two actually): as he is referencing the Unchained rules material can he choose ki powers from Ultimate Magic, Ultimate combat and other etc? Or is he limited to the Ki Powers from unchained only?

Second question: If he chooses the Ki power barkskin, it uses one ki point right? How long does the bark skin last? Rounds? Minutes etc.

Thanks in advance!

I speak in laymans terms here:

If those books are allowed, he has access to all of them as a choice in Ki Powers.

Barkskin costs 1 Ki Point. It lasts 10min per Level. As a Qinggong/Unchained Monk, his effective caster level for this spell-like ability is equal to his total of Qinggong/Unchained levels. If he's a level 5 monk, it's going to last 50 minutes. Also it is a Standard to activate and I don't recall whether or not it requires a concentration check - but I haven't seen a DM ever ask for one.

I hope that helps!