Hi,
im going to play a human monk for Pathfinder with the Vow of Poverty and Master of the Four Winds. Going to play Serpents skull soon.Is this a good choice for the AP and espicaly playing a monk in Serpent skull?Despite monks are always a good choice:) I love them!
Base Stats are:
Str: 18
Dex:14
Cha:7
Int:9
con:10
Wis:16
feats so far:
Level 1 Sacred Vow & Vow of poverty,dodge
Level 2 Bonus: Scorpion Style,Evasion
Level 2 Exalted: Servant of heavens
Level 3 Toughness
Level 4 Exalted: Santify Ki Strike
Level 5 Great Fortitude
Level 6 Exalted:Holy Ki Strike
Level 6 Bonus:. Gorgons Fist
Level 7 :Extra Ki
Level 8 Stufe Exalted:Gift of Faith
Level9 Vital Strike
Level 10. Exalted:Gift of Faith
Level 11 Spider Step
to level 11 I´m so far through.Watcha Think? AC will be on level 10 at about 26 oder 27 i think. I know Santify and holy Ki strike require Cha 15 butta i´m my DM will allow with Wis 15 instead.
I'm going to just point to this thread and say that a good alternative is to down-play Str in favor of making Wis PRIME in all things, and then invest in something like brass knuckles with the Guided property (+1 enchantment) and leave the rest of your build more or less "ok" for the most part. You can also do it w/an Amulet of Mighty Fists.
I'm also going to strongly, STRONGLY suggest you look at the PF feats before going "all in" with 3.5 stuff as well. Is BoED even "legal" for your planned game?
I'm pretty sure your Holy and Sanctified strikes are coming in WAY too early as well (mechanically speaking only).
To hell w/Gorgons' fist, too - it's all about Medusa's Wrath! ;-)
Umm ... yeah. Choose your *few* possessions very, VERY carefully as anything with a Guided property is DAMN good for monks.
I would drop your intelligence in favour of con. Going to 7 intelligence gives 3 more points to work with, and thats thirteen con, 14 at level 4.
Honestly, I'm surprised the vow of poverty is allowed for your game, most GM's I know will throw you with stones just for suggesting it. The Speaker's advice to look at a guided weapon (or amulet) will not work if you play a vow of poverty monk. You'll have to make due without.
Ignore Scorpion Strike and Gorgon's Wrath unless you specifically have a plan for them.
And if you get vow of poverty, then nothing else in the build matters - it is just that good, everything else is flavortext.
In fact, I'm thinking you know that vow of poverty is that good, and you're just posting to brag. :P
Thought I should add, you doing yourself and the game a disservice playing with all those splats. It is a much more enjoyable game if you restrict yourself to play with (more or less) what is Pathfinder Society legal. And by "you" I mean your playgroup.
Honestly, I'm surprised the vow of poverty is allowed for your game, most GM's I know will throw you with stones just for suggesting it. The Speaker's advice to look at a guided weapon (or amulet) will not work if you play a vow of poverty monk. You'll have to make due without.
Ignore Scorpion Strike and Gorgon's Wrath unless you specifically have a plan for them.
And if you get vow of poverty, then nothing else in the build matters - it is just that good, everything else is flavortext.
In fact, I'm thinking you know that vow of poverty is that good, and you're just posting to brag. :P
Vow of Poverty is weird- it shouldn't be a feat, period. that said, a Vow of Poverty character has no advantages to a character with the proper wealth per level. In fact, it can under-power a character. But the feat in and of itself is too much for a feat.
But then again, so is leadership...
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Sounds like you're going to have a good time. VoP is a great choice.
Thought I should add, you doing yourself and the game a disservice playing with all those splats. It is a much more enjoyable game if you restrict yourself to play with (more or less) what is Pathfinder Society legal. And by "you" I mean your playgroup.
I feel the exact opposite. I wouldn't kill myself if I was restricted to PFS stuff, but my character would, assuming suicide is allowed in PFS.
In fact, I'm thinking you know that vow of poverty is that good, and you're just posting to brag. :P
Actualy my DM did allow it, yahoooo! I think he does not whats gonna happen.Always wanted to play a monk with the vow of poverty.
Why are holy and santify ki strike coming to early?I´m shure in balancing terms it might be a bit harsh but we´ll see. Was the CHA preq. a mistake or planned?What monk do you see with CHA 15?
Cheers
Hi,
im going to play a human monk for Pathfinder with the Vow of Poverty and Master of the Four Winds. Going to play Serpents skull soon.Is this a good choice for the AP and espicaly playing a monk in Serpent skull?Despite monks are always a good choice:) I love them!
Base Stats are:
Str: 18
Dex:14
Cha:7
Int:9
con:10
Wis:16feats so far:
Level 1 Sacred Vow & Vow of poverty,dodge
Level 2 Bonus: Scorpion Style,Evasion
Level 2 Exalted: Servant of heavens
Level 3 Toughness
Level 4 Exalted: Santify Ki Strike
Level 5 Great Fortitude
Level 6 Exalted:Holy Ki Strike
Level 6 Bonus:. Gorgons Fist
Level 7 :Extra Ki
Level 8 Stufe Exalted:Gift of Faith
Level9 Vital Strike
Level 10. Exalted:Gift of Faith
Level 11 Spider Stepto level 11 I´m so far through.Watcha Think? AC will be on level 10 at about 26 oder 27 i think. I know Santify and holy Ki strike require Cha 15 butta i´m my DM will allow with Wis 15 instead.
Ok, I'm *still* sticking by "bump Wis as primary importance" here.
Since BoED is fine for the game, I'm also going to say Intuitive Strike over Dodge is your better choice for feats (perfectly reasonable addition to the monk bonus list, by the way). It will grant Wis as a "to hit" bonus.
With your DM allowing a swap of Wis for Cha - again, *really* emphasizing the "make wisdom king" for your attribute array. By RIGHTS, you have no business using either Sanctify or Ki strikes (lucky you), HOWEVER, even if you did want to use them, they are WAY too early in your progression. Look closely at their pre-requisites. The entry point (Sanctify) requires Ki Strike (Lawful) to be used. This is NOT an option until level 10 *at the earliest*, so you're WAY off on both of those (4th and 6th respectively - should be 10th and 12th *at best* even with the GM letting you waive the Cha req's).
Things I'd question as "why bother?" are: Servant of the Heavens (+1 is NOT a big deal and monks have WAY better feats to pick up, especially in PF); You need new 4th and 6th options; Extra Ki - honestly, I find it really weak compared to most other options, but I'm not sure on your overall goal either, so ... take it for what it's worth (outside opinion w/out fully knowing the plan); Gift of Faith - seriously, monks have CRAZY saves already - why bother with that one? (plus with Wis as a key stat, will save should be pretty good anyway); Also, you listed Gift of Faith 2 times ... so, pick something else. ;-)
Ok, onto the VoP things:
* AC Exalted Armor bonus of +7 by 11th level
* Bonus Feats at levels 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Given that PF grants feats at every odd level, (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11), and monks get bonus at 1, 2, 6, and 10 I think you're short on your overall feat layout. I'm counting 16 feats by level 11, and +1 more for being Human (17 total). Compare this to the 15 I'm seeing right now and it looks like you missed a few, not to mention your placement is all wrong for choices 4 and 6 - both need to be delayed a LOT in that progression.
You didn't really list the rest, but MAN does it compliment a monk DAMN nicely!
Listen, as a suggestion, if you want to *really* kick some tail, (and Guided anything just insn't an option for you), consider that level 1 swap, and make Wis king stat for you (it'll help "to hit"), Make that Wis your primary stat-boon choice from the VoP (to keep getting bumps), and keep throwing points into it as well (maybe with Dex as the secondary).
Vital Strike is your friend, and so are things like Karmic Strike (Complete Warrior - needs mobility, and combat reflexes). KS lets you take a voluntary -4 on your AC in order to deliver AoO's to anyone that *does* hit you in that round. So ... pump the Wis as prime - it does a LOT for the monk, use Intuitive Strike (BoED), and keep your Dex up as secondary importance - this will keep a very high AC overall that you can afford to take the voluntary -4 on AC AND get many AoO's due to cmb ref. THEN, when ANYTHING hits you, smack it w/an AoO (strikes at your best "to hit), use a trip or something, invest in the Trip-->Greater thing to get a prone AND damage going (change in PF mind you, so you'll also need the Combat Expertise in play and can't dump int).
Now, combine this all tactically:
* if anything swings and hits you, YOU hit it back with an AoO (may or may not inflict status effects depending on what you do - trip, disarm, stun, etc. with a lot of Dex, this means a LOT of "counter swings" so Dex needs to be pretty high here.)
* if you open up a lot of flurries with the 1st strike = stun, it's a good chance the target will fail IF you've been pumping Wis like a crazy-man. If they get stunned, you get to damage them as normal, they drop all held things, lose any Dex bonus, AND take on an additional -2 to AC penalty for being stunned. This means it's MUCH easier to hit them. So ... continue the flurry (w/Medusa's Wrath) and you now get 2 MORE hits at your highest flurry rates, and then the rest of the flurry ALL against a lower AC target (note: opening up the first round of attack with a stun if moving first is also good even if it wears off as everyone else can still get the boons of the stunned target, AND if he reaches for his dropped stuff - you get an AoO anyway, so yeah - win-win as long as you keep pumping Wis).
Wis boons in general to this particular build:
*bonus to hit
*bonus to AC
*bonus to Will save
*bonus to wis-skills
*bonus to Stun DC
*more ki points
*bonus to maneuvers - offense and defense (read closely in PF changes - ALL combat mods count, and that Intuitive Strike feat at level 1 means Wis now factors into ALL maneuver matters for you).
*combo w/VoP, this is a free +6 stat boost to ALL of the above if you make Wis the first choice for the stat boosts.
So ... just some food for thought I guess. My advice: don't be a str-monk.
edit: dropped the bit about an amulet and knuckles for looking close at VoP. - thanks ToZ! :-p
Speaker, he can't have brass knuckles with Guided on them because he can't have magic items PERIOD. So Intuitive Strike is the best way to go.
Yeah - I started the post then read the VoP closely but forgot to edit that part out.
:shrugs:
The rest is all about I.S., and just why Wis is a better option for the build, or at least a viable alternative.
Edit: Ok, so I changed the text to hit ToZ's criticism. I also would suggest that a more moderate/average stat spread might be a *tiny* bit better than including 10's 7's and 9's. Just saying ...
Note: does any *other* combo allow you to start out at level 1 with some 5+ worth of feats!?!?!? (Human, CL1, Monk IUS, Monk Bonus, VoP bonus, Stun)
Jeez ... no wonder this one gets turned down often.
:-/
Thought I should add, you doing yourself and the game a disservice playing with all those splats. It is a much more enjoyable game if you restrict yourself to play with (more or less) what is Pathfinder Society legal. And by "you" I mean your playgroup.
That also means, no guided weapons...
I love monks, but I simply cannot accept the guided weapon property.
I miss the intuitive strike feat...
My two cents on monk.
#1 I hate people who make custom tailored characters that min max things.
#2 our party started out for serpents skull without knowing diddly about nada!
it was fun!
Dwarf pally with splint armor falling in water! etc etc.
so on that note, none of the characters should be "jungle explorers" if you have feats or abilities that happen to come into their own as the AP moves on cool, if not roll with it.
Our witch is awesome, she's not too hot on the whole combat arena, but took hexes, like charm, tounges and disguise which totally helped majorly with story line and moving things forward, but it was all done on the fly and none in the group ever even having played a witch before.
and her first hex was charm by the way, picked tounges and 2nd level and disguise later.
#3 we had a monk, who went zen archer... he got eaten...but thats just gaming, nothing bad about monk.
My two cents on monk.
#1 I hate people who make custom tailored characters that min max things.
#3 we had a monk, who went zen archer... he got eaten...but thats just gaming, nothing bad about monk.
Well then do not play with people who custom tailor characters.... Also i´m pretty shure that my monk is going to survive the whole campaing due to the Vow of Poverty:)