Taleek's page

L3 hit points: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Skewering wrote:

This special ability can be placed only on light or one-handed piercing melee weapons. Weapons with this enhancement are particularly devastating in the hands of a swashbuckler.

Anytime the weapon threatens a critical hit, the wielder can spend 1 panache point as an immediate action to automatically confirm the critical hit. When the swashbuckler confirms a critical hit in this fashion, she doesn't regain panache for confirming the critical hit, though she can regain panache normally if the attack is a killing blow.

Slashing Grace wrote:

Benefit: Choose one kind of one-handed slashing weapon (such as the longsword). When wielding your chosen weapon one-handed, you can treat it as a one-handed piercing melee weapon for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon (such as a swashbuckler's or a duelist's precise strike) and you can add your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to that weapon's damage. The weapon must be one appropriate for your size.

Since a weapon enchantment is not a class ability or feat, I don't believe it can be placed on a slashing weapon, unless that weapon is also a light or one-handed piercing weapon. So Morningstar yes, dagger yes, scimitar no.

Yeah that's about what I figured. Well, does anyone think making a slashing version of this would be too game-breaking? And what would a slashing version be called? Severing? Vivisecting? :-P

Simple question: Can skewering, or any of the other magical weapon properties made for use with panache/a swashbuckler, be placed on a weapon that a Swashbuckler uses with Slashing Grace? Or are those properties very specifically for rapiers and other light weapons?

This is probably a pretty easy question, but I'm not seeing it in the feat description: What happens after you select the Leadership feat?

I don't mean when you initially gather your cohort and followers, but instead I'm referring to what happens as you level. Do you gain the benefit of Leadership just the once, or do you recalculate your leadership score every time you gain a level, and then can add to your number of followers that way? Or do you have to take have to take the feat more than once?

I have a character that is looking into perhaps starting his own Pathfinder Lodge, but I'm trying to figure out the logistics of doing so and Leadership seems to be the first start. Guidance on any other rules and/or systems would be greatly appreciated as well.

Nezumi wrote:

I would suggest going full Kensai and using a wakasashi instead of a katana. It's quite similar in both form and function, and you can finesse it, if I recall correctly.

This is the worst idea of all. You can't Slashing Grace a Wakizashi, so you don't get Dex to Damage, but you still pay all the feat taxes as if you were using a Katana. Where's the benefit?

I'm confused, why can't he use the Wakizashi? It's pretty much the katana but light, so it's finessable and it is also slashing so you can use it with Slashing Grace. Kensai gets all of the requisite feats (exotic weawpon prof., weapon focus), so you're also covered there. Or am I missing something else?

I do see where the Flamboyant Arcana states that arcane points-as-panache does not function for deeds gained from other classes and feats, but it seems weird that in a feature that appears as if it's suppose to provide synergy between the Magus and the Swashbuckler that there's no "if you already have X ability from Y class, then <insert differing bonus>" sort of statement.

Interesting thought as I consider multiclassing Swashbuckler (Inspired Blade) and Magus:

1) If I take Swashbuckler at 1st level, then multiclass into Magus and take the Flamboyant Arcana magus arcana, is there any synergy between the two or do I have two completely different power sources fueling the same abilities?

2) Also, in taking Swashbuckler at 1st level and Magus thereafter, do I even have to take the Flamboyant Arcana, or can I take Arcane Deed instead since Flamboyant Arcana and 1st level Swashbuckler offer the same exact deeds?

3) Does a multiclass Swashbuckler/Magus with the Flamboyant Arcana regain Panache points the way a Swashbuckler normally does, as opposed to the specifics in the arcana? I guess this feeds into whatever answer is arrived at for question #1.

I would be really intrigued to see how this turned out, since I am considering a similar character for a homebrew game. What about another level or two in Swashbuckler? It doesn't look like you're banking on spells quite that much.

Hello everyone!

I am attempting to create a ninja for a homebrew setting using the Pathfinder ruleset. The only constraints that I have are the following: 1) the character has to be female, 2) 18, 16, 12 10, 10, 8 and 3) she has to be a half-elf, 4) we have to start at 5th character level.

I'm leaning towards strength as a dump stat and making use of weapon finesse, the agile enchantment, and sneak attack to support most of the damage. The setting is mostly low magic/monster, so there should always be sneak attackable creatures for the most part. I've also been really considering levels of monk to go unarmed, but I don't know how viable that would be. Here's a sample build:

Str: 8
Dex: 18
Con: 10
Int: 10
Wis: 14 (12 +2 half-elf bonus)
Cha: 16

Ninja 3/Monk 2 (Master of Many Styles)
1st CL: Weapon Finesse
3rd CL: Adder Strike
5th CL: Mantis Style

1st Monk: Snake Style
2nd Monk: Snake Sidewind

The character will be an infiltrator, and will likely end up being the party face, so social skills will be a must. I would really like to mix Ninja and Lotus Geisha bard, but it doesn't appear as if those two things play well together. I had also considered making the two monk levels Master of Maneuvers. Does anyone have experience with a character like this, and/or any build advice? Any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

Bumpity bump, please.

Easy questions: with the Champion of Irori's Smite Chaos/Evil ability, how many smites do you get? This is regardless of the ability to convert ki points to smites.

For example, if I have have a Monk 3 / Paladin 2 / CoI 5, does he gain the same number of smites as a 7th level paladin, or does he basically have 2: one from being a level 2 paladin, and 1 from entering the prestige class?

So I had a character recently (half-elf monkadin/Champion or Irori) get croaked by an umbral dragon breath weapon, then brought back to life on the spot. This got me to wondering what exactly he experienced for the brief time that he met the Enlightened One.

Is there any written resources for this sort of thing, or does anyone have experience roleplaying this kind of situation, or does everyone mostly just get back up and dive right back into the dungeon like nothing happened?

I always wanted to use some combination of the Fire Bomber alchemist archetype and the Musket Master gunslinger archetype to make a Midnight Bomber what Bombs at Midnight/Boomstick build, but I could never get it to work together the way I wanted (on paper at least), or find a build here that would be suitable.

Bumpity bump

I'm looking into creating a character for Carrion Crown, and I was wondering what everyone thinks about dipping two levels of Dirge Bard and then going the remainder with Hexcrafter? Mostly I've considered getting the two levels for the bonuses to saves vs undead effects as well as the ability to effect Undead with mind-affecting spells.

I suppose this also raises a rules question: Would this make undead susceptible to the various mind-affecting witch hexes? I'm going to assume that using any abilities based on Intimidate are counted out since I'd think they wouldn't count as spell effects, but I'm not sure if hexes would fall into that gray area or not.

If you do go with unarmed strikes, the Nightmare Fist feat chain would be perfect, if you could summon some sort of magical darkness of course.

Most excellent guide. Do you guys have any guidance for perhaps a middle of the road debuffer/melee Hexcrafter that doesn't utilize the white haired witch archetype?

I want to try building a dhampir hexcrafter (moroi-born variety) for a Carrion Crown campaign, but I'm having a slight difficulty in deciding if I should focus specifically on the Hex's and curses for debuffing, or take more melee-oriented feats to make the character more of a damage dealer, or would it be OK to do a mix of both without losing too much potency either way. This is all without knowing what everyone else in the group may choose.

In a play-by-post game I am currently in, I play a (more than) slightly-deranged, formerly-amnesiac, suffering from split personalities, destroyer of drow, last prince of a wylde elven nation, that wields an Elven Curved Blade and that is largely a Dervish Dancer bard (not the one that uses scimitars, ew), with splashes of skirmisher ranger and Oath of Vengeance Paladin.

Battlefield mobility and playing off of the bruising half-orc barbarian tax collector in the party is key. It's also pretty fun to play up knowledge checks as something that succesfully kicks its way through the amnesia and psychosis he tends to suffer from.

Hello folks!

I am in need of a quick bit of build advice. I'm currently playing in a Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign as a level 8 half-elf monk/paladin/soon-to-be-Champion of Irori. Here are my stats:

Str: 18
Dex: 16
Con: 12
Int: 12
Wis: 17
Cha: 8

Feats: Combat Expertise, Crane Style, Crane Wing, Dodge, Serenity (3.5 feat, allows Wis to be used in place of Cha for all Paladin abilities), Skill Focus (Acrobatics)*, Toughness, Weapon Focus (katana), Weapon Specialization (katana)
*Half elf trait

The homebrew archetype I am using for Monk can be found here (it makes the monk way better, I hope people give it a shot!): http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2o5ch?Zen-Weaponmaster-Monk-archtype

At level 9 I intend on taking my second level of Paladin, but I am torn over whether I should take the last Crane Style feat or Improved Critical. My question is would most advise taking the Improved Critical feat considering I'm using a Katana and have a good many number of bonuses, or is the AoO upon a deflection from Crane Riposte more valuable?

A lot of really good ideas here that I had never considered. A quick question though: is there an evil equivalent to the Pseudodragon and/or Faerie Dragon? Something like a mini umbral dragon familiar would be pretty cool I imagine.

a dex based magus with the agile maneuvers feat and ki throw could could discharge a shocking grasp by initiating an unarmed (dex based) trip attempt and get the free throw... there's also an arcana that makes you better at combat maneuvers, and dipping monk will help with the feats (maneuver master would probably be especially nice)- depending on total level, 1-4 monk levels would probably be good (4th only costs 1 BAB and gets a ki pool which would let you use ki throw even if the fighter is enlarged!)

edit: maybe i'm misunderstanding the question... you said "terrible strength" but then look at awesome blow, which i think requires like 25 Str... did you mean you want a guy that's not str based (which is what i desribed) or one so strong its terrible for the party?

The latter, terrible as in terrible and awesome to behold, not as in his being a weakling. I like your dexterity-based idea too, I just think it would require a different visual description than what I would like to aim for. :-D

To return to this question a bit:

I want to create a BBEG for a campaign I intend to run. I want to recreate a sort of iconic "Worf Effect" scene to open the fight, whereby the bad guy lifts the strong-man of the party up by the throat and flings him across the room.

Mechanically, how would I go about doing this? Better yet, if I wanted to do this but add something like a shocking grasp first, how would I build this kind of character? I've been looking at some combination of Magus and Tetori Monk or Unarmed Fighter, but I am uncertain if a) a shocking grasp can be discharged on a grapple, and b) if something like this is remotely viable.

If you are allowed anything homebrew, I would highly recommend this archetype by Kryzbyn:

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2o5ch?Zen-Weaponmaster-Monk-archtype#1

I am currently using it in a Curse of the Crimson Throne game, and this guy wielding a katana, or any weapon really, gives the perfect wandering swordsman theme that I think you may be looking for.

EDIT: My mistake, I completely missed the PFS in title somehow. Well, it's a good archetype still, even though it doesn't qualify. :-D

I didn't quite know how to say word this for the search function, so I figured I would ask here:

If I wanted to make a character with terrible strength that has the ability to hurl people about the battlefield, how would I do that? Say for instance I have a high strength vampiric character, and I wanted him to have the ability to grab someone by the throat (grab or grapple mechanic) and throw them into/through a nearby wall, or anything similar, would the only way to do that would be the Awesome Blow feat/feature, or is there some other way to do that that is accessible by a PC?

Araonna Chorster's equipment has been revised, somewhat, to ensure that she meets all of the starting funds guidelines.

Taleek: I would prefer if you and others would follow this link to the character gallery, then bookmark it. All the other links in the first 20 or so pages of this thread are obsolete, and will not be updated.

Also, one can only edit a thread within the first hour of its creation, so short of appealing to the mods, there's nothing I can do about it even if I wanted to.

Nowadays, this thread primarily serves as a discussion topic for the characters in the gallery, as well as a place for people to report errors and for me to announce updates.

Ah, that I did not know. Thank you for the information RD, and Paizo, lets get it together here. :-P

This has probably already been mentioned by RD, but if it has I haven't seen it just yet and so I will ask again:

You in the last several pages of the thread you have mentioned characters and alternate builds that aren't on the listing on the front page. Do you intend on editing the front page so that everything is collected there, or would you prefer we search the thread instead?

There are a handful of organizations that might be interested in having a dhampir agent keeping an eye on things in Ustalav with the recent whispers of the Whispering Way. The Pathfinders are always interested in getting their noses into anything, so that's an option if your GM allows it, but there are some opportunities that spring right out of the AP itself. However, they are a bit spoilery, so I would suggest that you take this question directly to your GM and ask him/her. If the GM has read the entire AP in advance, then the options are laid bare. If you want to guide your GM a bit, you can ask them to check out Book 5, which probably contains the culmination of most of those possibilities.

As far as Intimidate goes, I will say this: I have seen Intimidate be a bit more effective in other APs. But only a bit. You could still take advantage of it many times in the course of this AP.

Thank you for the input Yossarin, I grealty appreciate it. I've just wanted to play a flashy, duelist type for some time but I'm not certain if Carrion Crown is the AP for it.

Also, if anyone is ever interested in responding: How useful is the Intimidate skill in this AP? I would like to build a character that makes use of things like Dazzling Display and Shatter Defenses and the like, but that seems like it might grow rather useless rather quickly if most of the baddies are undead and the like?

I think I've settled on either a Moroi-born or Nosferatu-born dhampir. If Moroi-born, he would be the son of some vampiric nobleman that would be either friends with doctor Lorrimor, or somehow owes him a debt. If I go with the Nosferatu-born, I'm thinking that he would be a spawn of Ristomaur Tiriac's attempts to rid himself of his vampiric nature, and at some point doctor Lorrimor takes him in and raises him to resist his evil heritage.

So fairly standard stuff I imagine. :-P

Hello all! I would like to create a Dhampir character for a new Carrion Crown game I will be playing in, but I would like some help with the concept.

A lot of the information I've gathered is from a couple of the Pathfinder wiki's since the the players guide, at least to me, seemed somewhat sparse especially in comparison to the one that came with Curse of the Crimson Throne/City Guide to Korvosa. I wanted to play a Death Dealer like Kate Beckinsale's character in Underworld, with a slightly lesser degree of form-fitting latex catsuits. :-P

I was thinking of a background of a) being the bastard son of the one vampire nobleman that was obsessed with creating an heir with vampire brides (although perhaps he finds a mortal woman that is too enticing to pass up), or b) the spawn of the one vampire nobleman that wants to get rid of his vampirism, and tries an experiment where he attempts to transfer his vampirism into the soul of an unborn child.

My question(s) are what kind of secret societies/government organizations are there in Ustalav that might require a secret agent to go out and enforce their interests and/or do investigative work? I am looking at multiclassing Inquistor and Magus (I know, not optimal but I think it could be fun), and I see that Pharasma has a huge presence but I think that perhaps has been done to death (pun intended). Is there a secret Cabal of Vampires lurking around? Or perhaps a human/mortal faction that would see great benefit in having a Dhampir agent around? Any other suggestions, or will none of this work?

Very interesting. If you don't mind my asking, what is the Con score for your character? As you can see mine is fairly low for a frontliner, and I'm trying to decide if 4-6 rounds worth of rage is really that worth it compared to casting Cat's Grace or the like.

Sorry, I forgot to post my feats. Currently I have Weapon Finesse, Dodge, Weapon Focus (ECB), and Mobility. We're at level 4 and when we were playing 3.5 I had 2 levels of Fighter and 2 levels of swashbuckler, hence the high intelligence and number of feats. My GM allowed us to keep our feats when we transferred to Pathfinder, I just won't be able to take one at 5th level and possibly 7th until everything has caught up. I would like to get the Agile enhancement, but we are in a low magic campaign so that may not be possible.

Thistledown, may I ask why/what you did with the 2 level dip into Urban Barbarian? What rage power did you select? I'm leaning towards a 2 level dip into Urban Barbarian and a 2 level dip into Paladin for flavor before going all Bard with the rest.

Good advice, thank you for the it. I've also been looking at a 2 level dip into Paladin, which I think synergizes well with Bard. I've actually been interested in designing a PrC that blends Paladin and Bard much the same way Champion of Irori blends Paladin and Monk, but I have to try and strike the proper balance I think.

Hello all!

I have a character in a campaign that has recently switched from 3.5 to Pathfinder and I would like a bit of advice. I found an old Dervish Handbook, and in it was a pretty awesome build for a Fighter/Swashbuckler/Dervish/Champion of Corellon Larethian that I was shooting for, but in the conversion to Pathfinder I and my GM agreed that I would switch the character over to a Dervish Dancer (Ultimate Combat archetype) Bard, and I have been looking at my options since then. Stats are listed below, and unfortunately the ability scores are kinda set in stone.

Name: Alieric Auraka'cam
Race: Elf
Alignment: CN
Class: Bard 4 (Dervish Dancer archetype)

Str: 13
Dex: 19
Con: 11
Int: 16
Wis: 08
Cha: 14

I was allowed to continue using the Elven curved-blade sword even though it counts as a martial weapon. I was thinking of going with with a Kensei Magus because of the intelligence score, even though it would make spell combat useless, and possibly an Oracle of Wind or Battle to try and synergize with the bards use of Charisma.

Any suggestions? I've seen a great many builds for the Dawnflower Dervish feat/archetype, but does anyone have any experience in using the UC archetype? Any ideas anyone would put forth would be greatly appreciated.

There IS a Magus Arcana that lets you do EXACTLY that. Reflection.

Oh that's pretty awesome PZ, if only there was some "legal" way to make use of all of the Magus's abilities with a two-handed weapon. The character I have in mind for all of this has an appreciable amount of intelligence to make a Magus dip worthwhile, but also uses an elven curved blade.

Not to derail the thread, but wouldn't you just want SR? It's basically armor for spells and I think you can put it on a sword. Or at least the Magus Blackblade gives it to you.

Good point really. I just wanted a mechanical means to support the mental image I have of slicing through fireballs or batting them back at the caster. :-P

Cool feats Zen, although unfortunately I don't think my GM will allow 3rd party stuff.

Is there any item/class ability/feat/etc. that allows a melee-based character to reflect/deflect spells a la the Spell Turning spell? I've searched all over and the most I've found (at least for Pathfinder) is the Ring of Spell Turning, and I imagined something that would allow the ability to function more like Crane Wing.

Jump in conjunction with the Spider Step feat can also be pretty for not only positioning/flanking, but the cinematics of being able to run on walls and ceilings or across water and tree limbs after a Hulk-esque jump, all Ang Lee style. :-D

Good ideas all around, I didn't know about the Tomes until just this moment.

I have a level 6 half-elf monk (Zen Weaponmaster (Homebrew Archetype)) in a Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign with the following stats:

Str: 18
Dex: 16
Con: 10
Int: 12
Wis: 14
Cha: 8

Initially I was fine with taking straight monk throughout the campaign, but after finding the Champion of Irori/Enlightenment on the SRD I find it almost perfect from a RP and a mechanical standpoint for my character.

The problem is, of course, my having used charisma as a dump stat at creation. Could anyone suggest any feats/abilities that might allow for a Wisdom-Charisma substitution? Or is the lack of a charisma bonus not that harmful to a Champion of Irori build? Any other suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

Good responses all around. I'll only add that I think many people, GMs and players alike, fall into the trap of taking 'moral relativism' to mean that there is never a net moral outcome.

In this mindset, any morality-based action produces an outcome that is automatically opposite on the moral compass and equal or greater in magnitude. It's the "Kill Baby Hitler" scenario as someone mentioned above, but with no positively good or evil result. And if this only happens to good-aligned PCs and NPCs (the neutral evil assassin never greedily kills and robs a drunk stranger, who turns out to be the tyrannical general of an encroaching army), then it does indeed turn antagonistic and dissuades people from playing good characters or doing anything that is not exceedingly self-serving.

It can also serve to damage suspension of disbelief. If a Lawful Good paladin PC constantly saves kittens what turn out to be polymorphed half-dragon/half-ilithids bent on global conquest, why in the hell would anyone call on her to solve a goblin problem? :-)

Taleek wrote:

2. He's an elf and therefore already has proficiency.

Racial Weapon Familiarity works a little different in Pathfinder. Instead of being proficient with any weapon with your race in the title, it is treated as a martial weapon. Great for classes like Fighter which get all martial weapons, but not as good for a bard, who does not gain the proficiency.

PFSRD wrote:

Weapon Familiarity: Elves are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, and shortbows (including composite shortbows), and treat any weapon with the word “elven” in its name as a martial weapon.

Hmph, well my GM may have glossed over that or we both missed it. Hopefully taking a level in Paladin, or Fighter, or something else should take care of that.

Wow, 4 feats at level 4 as a bard? AND no EWP: Curved Blade? how was that accomplished?

1. He was originally a Fighter 2/Swashbuckler 3. I was allowed to keep the feats, but just won't take a feat at fifth level.

2. He's an elf and therefore already has proficiency.

Hello all!

I have a character in a campaign that has recently switched from 3.5 to Pathfinder and I would like a bit of advice. I found an old Dervish Handbook, and it had a pretty awesome build for a Fighter/Swashbuckler/Dervish/Champion of Corellon Larethian that I was shooting for, but in the conversion to Pathfinder I statted my character out as a Dervish Dancer bard.

For storyline reasons he's up for an alignment switch in the near future, and while I would prefer to go with Chaotic Good I think Bard synergizes a lot with Paladin due to Charisma so that's what I'm looking at as far as multiclassing. I also still get to take the CoCL prestige class, with a few tweaks and updates for Pathfinder. Although I got to change class and a few other things, feats and ability scores are currently set in stone. Stats below:

Name: Alieric Auraka'cam
Alignment: CN
Class: Bard 4 (Dervish Dancer archetype)

Str: 13
Dex: 19
Con: 11
Int: 16
Wis: 08
Cha: 14

Weapon: Masterwork Elven Curve Blade Sword

Feats: Combat Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, Weapon Focus (Elven Curve Blade Sword)

Any suggestions on multiclassing, or would it be a good idea to stick with Bard until BAB is high enough for CoCL? Feat suggestions are also very welcome, I've been looking at the Dirty Tricks feat line, as well as the standard Power Attack-Cleave-Furious Focus feats.

Taleek - if you haven't picked up Way of the Samurai yet, it's on sale for 1 day only for $1.99 at DrivethruRPG.com. Save yourself some money.

Thanks G-P, I'll pick it up today!

That's quite all right G-P, the more info the better! I doubt my GM will want to fully indulge in Kaidan-esque campaign, let alone institute a new system, but it is something I am definitely interested in so I will likely go ahead and pick it up.

Thank you for the suggestions Vaelkas. I was intending on taking Spider Step and Cloud Step, and using Kryzbyn's homebrew Zen Weaponmaster archetype, and possibly Ki Mystic. I really like Crane Style too, so I'll likely work it into the build as well. I was actually looking at the intelligent weapon rules, and wish there were more options to "grow" an intelligent weapon, a la the Blackblade Magus.

There's also a variant Kensai magus (called Kensei - the correct spelling, btw) in that same Tengu book with access to some divine spells in addition to mobility sword play and magic.

As an aside, Rite Publishing just started a Kaidan Campaign Setting Kickstarter today! Link Here.

That Hishoken class is pretty nifty (btw, what does that mean) G-P, and now has me thinking about the Samurai/Sword Saint I was also building. Would you happen to know when the Martial Arts Guidebook is releasing?

Rite Publishing's In the Company of Tengu features a 20 level racial paragon class for tengu that focuses on mobility fighting, leaping, feathered step (which is being able to stand on a thin branch as if you weighed next to nothing - very similar to Li Mu Bai in the bamboo groves), and eventually limited flight.

Of course this is specifically for a Tengu character, and not any other race, but otherwise fits your concept well I think. Might be worth a look.

Rite Publishing is also currently working on the Martial Arts Guidebook which will feature new archetypes and fighting styles comparable to Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords with mechanics better fitting Pathfinder. One of the goals to create the "run up the walls" and "soaring jumps" featured in the style of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Of course this book is still in the design stage, so it won't be out for a while.

Gamer-Printer: Thanks for the heads-up, I'll be sure to check out the Tengu book, and perhaps the Martial Arts Guidebook when it drops and if I've yet to play the character.

An adamantine Jian would be interesting, but I'm still really intrigued by the idea of using Bladebound and getting a "free" intelligent weapon. The Blackblade can overcome any DR as well, I'm just not certain I would want to deviate from Monk and miss out on the higher level goodies it receives.

I wrote this up for such characters.

I like that Kryzbyn. *A lot*. I think that may provide me with the build I'm looking for entirely.

Running up walls and gliding is of course the spell fly. It's sad that you are going for Kensai, a cool archetype nonetheless, because a Hexcrafter would have the more reliable flight hex ability. A hex that empowers one to levitate, fly and generally be more aerodynamic.

The rest sound pretty solid though. Going with Crane Style is a given and you don't need to worry about MAD too much since your persistence is coming from a variety of sources(wisdom, spells, negated hits, etc). 16-17 starting strength, a jian-like blade(shorsword or longsword), dex and con to survive the first few levels, so likely in the 14 range, and you'll be all set.

Good advice on the Hexcrafter archetype, although I don't know if it exactly fits the flavor I'm going for. The Magus does get Fly in her third level spell selection, so I may go that route. I found a Psionic ability called Wall Walk that looks like it would also be perfect, but I a) don't like psionics overly much and b) don't know how I could re-skin it to fit as a monk/magus ability.

I was thinking of going with Crane style with a Master of Many Styles, but I like the idea of taking the Improved and Greater combat maneuvers with Maneuver Master, like Dirty Tricks, Trip, and Disarm. Those seemed a little more iconic of Li Mu Bai's fighting style, but I could still select Crane Style at later levels I 'spose.

I will be re-skinning an aldori dueling sword as a Jian. It will behave exactly like an Aldori Dueling Sword except it will do piercing damage in addition to dueling. Might see if I could take the Aldori Dueling Master feat along with it. I had intended on taking Weapon Finesse and mostly forgoing strength for the maneuvers and additional AC bonus from high dexterity.