Debating building a MM Gnome for PFS
I am not going to min/max him, looking more for fun. Since it is PFS we dare talking a 20 pt buy and I do not want to dump any stat below 10
Ideas on a good starting build/feats?
EDIT: Anything make more sense than Agile Maneuvers for a first feat?
Still hoping for a little help here
If I were to go this route, I'd focus on Dirty Trick, then Steal.
Stats
Str 16 (10) - 2 racial = 14 (+1 at 8, +1 at 12)
Dex 14 (5)
Con 11 (1) + 2 racial = 13 (+1 at 4th)
Int 10 (0)
Wis 14 (5)
Cha 9 (-1) + 2 racial = 11
Feats
1: Crushing Blow
3: Weapon Focus (unarmed)
5: Improved Trip
7: Scorpion Style
9: Improved Initiative
11: Dodge
Class Features
1: Bonus feat (Improved Dirty Trick), flurry of maneuvers, stunning fist, unarmed strike
2: Bonus feat (Improved Steal), evasion
3: Fast movement, maneuver training, maneuver defense
4: Ki pool (magic), reliable maneuver
5: High jump, meditative maneuver
6: Bonus feat (Greater Dirty Trick)
7: Wholeness of body
8:
9: Improved evasion
10: Bonus feat (Ki Throw), ki pool (lawful)
11: Sweeping maneuver
12: Abundant step
ty, never made a monk before, this helps
Not even a Maneuver Master can master every maneuver. Bull Rush, Drag, Overrun, Reposition, and Trip are limited to an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than your gnome. This means your gnome could not use them against Large opponents. This diminishes their usefulness. Sunder requires dealing damage, another weak point for a gnome. That leaves Dirty Trick, Disarm, Grapple, and Steal as most valuable to learn the improved feats for those maneuvers.
Grapple is disappointing, because neither a Stunning Fist attempt nor a Flurry of Maneuvers can be combined with the grapple check required after a successful grapple.
Dirty Trick would be an amusing gnomish style. So would Disarm and Steal, taking an opponent's weapon, spell component pouch, or alchemist bomb ingredients and tossing them at other opponents as improvised thrown weapons. Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Disarm, and Improved Steal require Int 13 and Combat Expertise, and qualifying for those prerequisites does not serve your monk, so those feats should be obtained via the Maneuver Master bonus feats.
Randall Jhen gave a strength-based build, but I am more inclined toward the dexterity-based build that goes with Agile Maneuvers.
Str 10 (2 build points to 12, -2 racial)
Dex 16 (10 build points)
Con 13 (1 build point to 11, +2 racial)
Int 10 (0 build points)
Wis 15 (7 build points)
Cha 12 (0 build points, +2 racial)
I chose Constitution 13 so that the character would qualify for Punishing Kick at level 11, but that extra build point would work as well in Charisma. The exact wording of Punishing Kick does not say that it is unarmed strike or melee attack only, so it would be interesting for a dexterity-based monk to deliver Punishing Kicks with his shuriken.
Weapon Finesse applies to combat manuevers that ordinarily replace melee attacks: Disarm, Sunder, and Trip (see FAQ). It improves attack rolls for both those maneuver and unarmed strikes. This is the potential alternative to taking Agile Maneuvers at first level.
Without Weapon Finesse, your monk would prefer ranged attacks whenever he is not performing combat maneuvers. I recommend Deadly Aim as his 3rd-level feat. The Maneuver Master monk is proficient in shuriken, but he can use any weapon during a Flurry of Maneuvers (unlike the standard monk Flurry of Blows), so dipping into another class for proficiency in longbows would be feasible. Such a dip could also give him proficiency in disarm and trip weapons. A dip in bard would provide proficiency in shortbow and whip and add spells and songs for more gnomish fun, though that would weaken the monk's BAB.
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The main problem you're going to face with a MM is (aside from forfeiting normal Flurry) that it is difficult to pull off a full-attack including your extra maneuvers unless you are in melee adjacent to your opponent.
...While fun at low-level, by Tier 5-7 in PFS, you'll be facing a BBEM with four or five attacks; and unless you're AC is through the roof, he's going to shred you -- and that will particularly be the case if it's a big monster with multiple legs (hard to trip) and all natural attacks (can't be disarmed), and you took your measly one actually damaging attack against it (remember, MMs forfeit Flurry, so you have ONE real attack at BAB3 as a monk5 -- Welcome to Suckville, Sir!).
Being small and tasty doesn't help when your adversary is a gibbering mouther.
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IMO, Maneuver Master is a sneakily-worded, self-nerfing munchkin-trap.
Solution? Take a different monk archetype.
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Gnome Dirty Trickster
STR-10 ...uses 15,14,12,12,12,12 20pt array to very good effect
DEX:14
CON+14
INT:12
WIS:15
CHA+14
01 fight1 [Cad] Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
02 monk1 [Maneuver Master][Improved Dirty Trick], WIS>AC
03 ninja1 SA+1d6, Agile Maneuvers
04 ninja2 WIS>16, [Ki Pool][Talent:Flurry of Stars]
05 fight2 [Dirty Maneuvers+1], Deadly Aim, Two Weapon Fighting
...remaining levels: 1 more monk, rest ninja.
Equipment at 5th: Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists, Belt of Incredible Dexterity +2, MW Cestus, +1 Bracers, Wayfinder, Efficient Quiver, various wands to UMD
Future Equipment: +1/Agile wakizashi, Grappler's Mask, Goz Mask (masks are fun! shame you can't play an ettin)
Tactics: Flurry-of-stars + Ki for three shuriken (plus sneak) attacks against an adjacent opponent blinded by a free dirty trick maneuver; you are +3 from the Improved Dirty Trick and [Cad] Dirty Maneuvers.
Exploit: a +1/Agile wakizashi costs 8035gp (just slightly over the 22 Fame limit) and requires 27 Fame (or about 6th level with good Fame acquisition in PFS). But an Amulet of Mighty Fists [Agile] costs 5000 exactly and can be had with 18 Fame (or 4th level on the nose with perfect Fame acquisition), and a cestus attacks as an unarmed strike (so it modifies your Agile amulet-pumped punch). At 6th, you'll TWF with wakizashi and cestus, kick dirt in your opponents eyes as a dirty trick, and use your cestus hand to draw and throw ammunition (which you can do because you're monk).
This little guy is a couple characters away for me in my sequence of completely underpowered PFS characters. But I am definitely of the mind to go for the Dirty Tricker, stealer. Scrawny little gnome runs right up to you and throws sand in your face. Next round flurries and just as you have gotten the sand out of your eyes (if you have) he headbutts you in the tenders (if your a guy, the shin if a girl) when you bend over he slaps you in the ears and now you are Deaf, Blind and Sickened, assuming the first roll was high. Next round he pulls down your pants to entangle you and then steals your wallet, and giggles as he skips on over to his next target.
Now if that isn't worth the price of admission I don't know what is really
@Mike a much more efficient and intelligent build. That does not sound like this character at all :)
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Well, just because the build is capable of ripping almost anyone a new one doesn't mean you can't play is "less competently" (i.e., goblin-like) if you want to. Most of the feats I provided can easily be switched for other things; the primary goal was arranging stats and class archetypes to be synergistic.