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Holy cow! I bet this guide took a while to write. Great job!

I kind of like the archetype. He would be a "why won't he die" character.

To make it more balanced, make a feat that only applies to a single weapon like dervish dance(example; a rapier in one hand or a shortsword)or any finessable weapon as long it is in one hand. Dex to damage only gets unbalanced when you are using twf with a dumped str.

It sounds like you need deft palm in order to do underhanded.

Honestly, if you are a smart character, it is great. Dodge is not that terrible of a feat. As a monk, increasing AC is a good thing. I think that the style feats are great. Ultimate Combat is incredible for monks. People have asked for ages about the monk. I hope to see less monks suck treads in the future. Monks got the good end on the stick on this one.

jgtn wrote:

I have been hunting before. Skinning an animal is easy. Field dressing (gutting) is also easy, but quite gross for some.

Easy when doing it first time or after repeated experience?

I never skinned anything myself but I remember my mother who received rabbit or hare from someone else that skinning it before cooking was very hard for her.

Quote:

Taxidermy is another story. Having a fish or deer head mounted is real expensive for a reason.

Yeah. Which reminds me of Brotherhood Of Wolves.

If you are city boy/girl and have never done it before, then it could be hard. If someone shows you, there is nothing to it. Honestly, any character with a rank in survival should know how to do it.

I have been hunting before. Skinning an animal is easy. Field dressing (gutting) is also easy, but quite gross for some. Taxidermy is another story. Having a fish or deer head mounted is real expensive for a reason.

Skinning an animal is definitely a survival check. For all the deer hunters out there would agree. I would set the DC at 10 for medium maybe +2 for every size category larger.

Mathwei ap Niall,
exactly. It is overpowered even with your normal familiar. At 10th level, you are hoping something kills you or your familiar. I would definitely think this is worth trading for a hex.

So, if you are a 10th level beast-bonded witch, and your familiar dies, you have a body-less familiar that can magic jar at will. What benefit would you have to give it a body? It seems wickedly overpowered. What do you think?

How about fly by attack. This would rule if you had raven, hawk, etc. Send it out to heal someone and it comes back. I really like the teamwork feats and bodyguard ideas.

Good work. I agree with a majority of the rankings of rage powers. I think come and get me should be blue. I am curious to see your different builds. I have been tinkering with a barbarian that does more than froths at the mouth and kills stuff with his big weapon.

I have always wanted to play a halfling wizard with a riding dog familiar. I don't think a riding dog would be any more powerful than an imp or faerie dragon. Seriously, a faerie dragon casts spells as a 3rd level sorceror with greater invisibility 3/day.

What about the armored kilt

The Quick Trapsmith rogue talent in the APG, has anyone used it? It sounds like a cool talent, but what traps have you (the wonderful people on this board) used?

What's wrong with the monk? NOTHING. I have played monks and at high levels they are the proverbial cockroaches. There saves rule, they have a big bag of tricks instead of punching, and are very difficult to kill. Many times, my group faced a TPK and would have if I wasn't playing a monk. They don't do the damage that fighters and barbarians, but so what.

The idea of a dog familiar is awesome. It makes more sense than a wizard walking around with a toad. Improved familiar=riding dog when compared to an imp.

I think unarmed strike should scale with base attack. I love the feat but 1d3 at high levels sucks.

This is great. The idea I had originally was a guy who was once a wrestler who took up adventuring and used his wrestler bag of tricks. Think about a city campaign where the opponents say "that's the champ". Maybe every now and then he puts on the tights. You guys are churning out great ideas, keep them coming.

I'm assuming you're referring to the classic red and gold-wearing, Hulkamania Hulk Hogan and not black and white-garbed, NWO Hollywood Hulk Hogan. If we're talking about classic Hulk, don't forget to give him something like Diehard to simulate Hogan's ability to get up from a two-count and shrug off his opponent's attacks. There's a 3.5 feat called Second Wind (in the Minis Handbook I think) that heals you a little bit once per day as well. You might even consider a level-dip into Barbarian since Rage could easily be used for those moments when Hogan "Hulks-out."

Flying Kick from Complete Warrior might be used to represent the running leg drop and (you've probably already considered this) Stunning Fist could work as the open-handed chest slap Hulk uses to paralyze his opponents. I'm not sure if Pathfinder has a feat equivalent to Great Throw from the 3.0 Oriental Adventures book, but it works well as a body slam.

Hogan was never really known for being a particularly graceful grappler so, defensively, you might consider feats or abilities like Toughness that emphasize staying power over agility.

This is what I am talking about. Not necessarily Hulk Hogan, but a professional wrestler. I figure taunting would be a essential.

I came up with an idea of a Hulk Hogan kind of character. Obiviously, fighter is the best road. His background is that he was a former fighter in a more civilized venue than pit fighters or gladiators. He will be unarmed and unarmored. I think combat manuevers such as grappling and Ki throw (suplex/power bomb) from the apg reminds me of some typical wwf types of moves that this guy would employ. Does anyone here have any ideas? I know that a monk would probably be a better fit mechanically but not thematically.

Blindfight. Have a caster cast glitterdust, faerie fire, etc.

Color spray rules. I have used it as a very high level wizard when the bad guys were closing in. It is the best offensive 1st level spell. Even at 1st to 3rd level, it is better than sleep.

TriOmegaZero wrote:

As evil as stabbing someone in the face with a sharp piece of metal is.

There's a bit more of a span than that.

Why are they helpless? Did you sneak up on them in their sleep, when they have absolutely no protection, no forewarning, and no reason to suspect attack? That is murder and it is definitely evil.

Did they get knocked out by your Wizard's sleep or color spray and they'll be back in the fight momentarily if you don't take care of them now? That's a more debatable situation.

The later is what I was refering to.

Is quickly dispatching an helpless enemy evil or is it just survival? I'm not speaking for all the paladins out there. Maybe an Arcane Trickster with Dasterdly Finish.

Would it be legal for a monk to use the feats shield of swings and two weapon defense if they wield a quarterstaff?

The feat Up and over and the halfling monk favored class ability should work awesome together. At high levels you would be ungrappleable and get a free trip attack.

Thanks dragonchess, I imagine that halfling monks can be awesome with the right player. I imagine them being a pain the the ass for the enemy. One that is difficult to pin down. A halfling monk is not going to be the guy that outright kills the bbeg but he is the guy that makes it happen through his team.

The campaign I just finished we were 13th level with 3 magical items in the group. It was fun. 15 point buys are rough on the monk.

jgtn wrote:

From what I see, halfling monks are best used when not trying to focus on damage and instead trying combat manuevers and debuffing the enemy. The little guy won't be able to take out the enemy like the strength based monk, but the little guy can be harder to hit and can set up your allies so they can do their job. Realistically, a halfling isn't going to have a 20 strength.

start with 15 STR costing 13 point buy for halfling

+1 at level 4 = 16

around Level 8 you'd have enough money for Belt of Giant Strength +4

16+4 = 20

its within the realm of possible

fair enough. I sometimes forget about that because I usually play in low magic games.

From what I see, halfling monks are best used when not trying to focus on damage and instead trying combat manuevers and debuffing the enemy. The little guy won't be able to take out the enemy like the strength based monk, but the little guy can be harder to hit and can set up your allies so they can do their job. Realistically, a halfling isn't going to have a 20 strength.

jgtn wrote:

I have always wanted to play one. They don't do very much damage and are weaker at combat manuevers. I know they would be awesome at stealth and their ac would be decent. Has anyone played one? How did it work out?

I immediately think of Yoda when I think of a halfling monk. Such a character should focus on Dex and Wis. Agile Maneuvers and Weapon Finesse are a must. It will probably be safer to focus on either combat maneuvers or status abilities, depending upon whether you favor Dex or Wis more. The brilliant energy weapon is optional...

That is exactly what I was thinking. The APG has given me more ideas. Thanks for the posts.

So basically, it seems that a halfling monk can't be the primary damage doer in the party. I can see a halfling monk paired up with a fighter or rogue being effective through stunning attacks and combat manuevers. I can see a halfling monk spring attacking with stunning and tripping opponents at the feet of their comrades.

I was just brainstorming. the idea of a little guy capable of beating down giants was my initial idea. I was just wondering if anybody has had any success with one.

I have always wanted to play one. They don't do very much damage and are weaker at combat manuevers. I know they would be awesome at stealth and their ac would be decent. Has anyone played one? How did it work out?

Monks don't have to be like shaolin monks. I play a monk that is more jedi (minus light sabre, telekinesis, and mind tricks) than shaolin monk.

Wait till second level if you want a dual wielding ranger. If you want a switch hitter that uses two weapons, go for it.

I have thinking about a ranger that throws rocks. Take improvised weapon mastery and do 1d8 19-20. Never run out of ammo. Have someone cast magic weapon and go to town.

Stunning fist is very useful. A flatfooted enemy that has to draw or pick up a weapon the next round is awesome. It can change the tide of battle sometimes.

I was in a campaign where everyone was a fighter. It was fun and combat ended much quicker than normal.

google creature catalogue. There is a conversion to 3.5 quicklings.

I bet the players will learn something. I have had dm's do worse with less punch pulling. I hope the players learned a lesson. At the same time, I bet that battle was extra fun to play.

That should have been a tpk. The gm pulled punches. 20 lvl 2 fighters is brutal enough for a lvl 5 party.

I allowed myself to be talked into it because the trapfinder wasn't often around. Oh, why did I do it? Please help me be less useless.

Currently:
Rogue3/Wiz3/AT1
(caster level 4)

Str 12, Dex 20, Int 16.

Feats:
1st: Two Weapon Fighting
3rd: Improved Unarmed Strike (for simultaneous TWF and spells)
5th: Arcane Strike
7th: ??

Also, Finesse Rogue and Scribe Scroll from class features, and Skill Focus (Disable Device) from being half-elf.

Mostly, I cast mage armor and shocking grasp (touch spell I can get sneak attack on), also memorizing Scorching Ray and Blindness (in case I can't get flank).

I'm looking, particularly, for a 7th level feat, although suggestions for spells or equipment would be welcome as well.

I carry a longspear for a reach weapon, but my DM has ruled that I can only threaten with whatever I've used last (either longspear OR unarmed strike/touch spell) so Combat Reflexes is less than compelling. We don't have access to Complete Arcane, so no Practiced Spellcaster for me, and no PF Traits, so my CL is pretty much stuck. There's no more Improved Natural Weapon for monks, so probably not for Unarmed Attack, so that's out. I'm tempted a little by Improved Init (as I usually am), but my init is already +5 and I never go before the monsters and I don't know that the extra +4 would help much. If it did, I'd get more sneak attack with Scorching Ray. Improved Familiar isn't very helpful at this level (I currently have a hawk to help me find traps).

Fleet? Skill Focus Acrobatics? I actually have three feats to take before I can take Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (base attack like a wizard), so... Dodge+Mobility? Bleh.

take improved iniative. Going first is important for the trickster.

I live in memphis and I would like to play.