One of the things I was looking forward to the most in Ultimate Combat was the fighting styles- which turned out to be several three-feat-chains, which is nice, in fact they're pretty great. Not all of them are as good as each other (dragon is amazing, snapping turtle is meh) but the are a very cool addition and in fact help the monk out a good bit.
As I was looking through the monk archetypes (overall pretty good- the martial artist should be really, really effective, and the sohei has potential) I was pleased there was a master of many styles- after all I like the styles and stances, I should like the archetype right?
Here's the basic idea- you get to take the style feats in lieu of normal monk bonus feats- cool, that's fine. And you get to use more than one stance at a time (each style give several benefits that can only be used or active while the user is in that style's stance- you can't get the crane's defenses at the same time as the dragon's damage bonuses for example) at level one you can be in two stances, at level eight you can have three, at level fifteen you can have four, and at level twenty you can have five. Awesome, that seems to be exactly what you'd want for a master of many styles...but...
But you give up flurry of blows.
I don't think I need to explain how big of a hit that is to a monk-but is it worth it? Can a master of many styles be viable? Or should I stick to a different kind of monk and just take the feats when I can?
The fundamental problem (as I see it) with Master of Many Styles is that it cannot stack with archetypes such as Monk of the Four Winds, Weapon Adept, or Martial Artist.
I don't think losing Flurry of Blows is devastating to Monks with the right styles picked up, and if it could combine with some of the above archetypes (Such as Four Winds, which can cutely take advantage of both Dragon and Janni Styles to great effect once they pick up Aspect Master).
As it stands, the only archetypes that it's really able to combine with is Sensei (which results in a potentially cool Stunning Fist Skirmisher build that also has lazers and bardic performances) Sohei (Which loses out on Stunning fist, a feat crucial for some later styles), and Qinngong (Big surprise there).
I would personally wait on it until someone really takes a crack at how the archetype potentially plays out. I know I'm still struggling to make it function properly. Especially since to max out properly, it requires potentially 15 feats.
I think the sensei gives up flurry of blows as well, so you can't stack the master of many styles and sensei.
I'm pretty sure It can combine with other archetypes.
I could be wrong but I think the Drunken Master, Hungry Ghost Monk, Ki Mystic, Monk of the Lotus, and Monk of the Sacred Mountain all can. The only abilities the MoMS changes are the bonus feats, flurry and perfect self.
But here's the thing, it doesn't only reduce number of attacks but also attack accuracy- it loses a lot and to be honest, a lot of the styles work really well with flurry (dragon, boar...)
As for feats a monk gets 17 feats total, a human one would get 18... not looking good at all to be honest- especially because you will probably want to take elemental fist as one of those three...
Honestly a gestalt unarmed fighter/ master of many forms would be dynamite.
You know a question came to mind as to whether Bonus Feat options should be counted for the purpose of restricting archetypes. Unlike those like the Lancer’s “Skilled Rider” which are already predetermined, archetypes that only expand feat choices but don’t make the ‘new’ feats mandatory and you may chose not to take any of them.
Which means that for all intent and purposes the options might as well not exist.
Just my opinion, but I wonder what everyone else thinks about this. Its one thing to trade bonus feats for class abilities but its another thing to be held by options that aren’t really even options (which would you prefer after all; having more feat options? Or Trading those feats for abilities?)
And, arguably, giving up Flurry of Blows isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's a nice and iconic ability, and I think it's less of a 'Flurry of Misses' in PF than it was in 3.5. But it's hard for the Monk to use it properly, as it requires standing toe-to-toe, where their lack of armor, high speed, etc. suggest a more skirmishing style. If Style feats synergize better with that--I'm not sure, having only just skimmed them for the first time--it might be a really good trade.