Hey there folks. I'll be playing PFS for the first time this coming weekend, and I want to make sure I have myself a good character built. I am working on the fluff for things at the moment, but since I'm not real familiar with PFS or with monks (and only having recently started into Pathfinder), I'd like folks to come up with some Level 1 to level 20 builds that are completely legal for Pathfinder Society, so I have some options on how to go. With each build, please provide of course the choices for each level, as well as the tactics and why you'd suggest this sort of character.
I look forward to seeing what you all come up with, and happy gaming.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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As Brad mentions, we'll need to know which source books you have. Also, not everything in every source is legal, so go HERE and look up each of your books to see what you have to work with.
Additionally, make sure you download the FREE Guide to Organized Play and read up on the campaign and its special rules/quirks. Don't forget to check the Official FAQ if you have questions, too.
I actually have all the current books (since my brother had to end up giving me all his gaming books because of a move). I really think he'd be on the path of enlightenment or a perfect swordsman. Up to level 12 then. Genuine, I am looking for melee.
I hadn't noticed quite so many (I guess sleep deprivation will do that to me). I don't have the adventure paths myself, but could easily get them. I've been reading alot of the book but never really had the chance to play, so I've gotten into the "ooh, that's shiny" mindset with characters.
Brad, would you care to do a bit more than give the quick and dirty?
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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If you REALLY want to play a single classed monk, I would suggest playing a human or Dwarf.
BUILD FOR PLAYING DWARVEN MONK
Playing a Dwarf will give you +2 to Constitution and Wisdom (2 VERY important ability scores for the Monk) and a -2 to Charisma (not important for a monk focused on combat). Darkvision is also pretty handy to have. Often the monk is called upon to scout ahead if no rogue is present in the group. For your ability score distribution, you will want to spend your points thus:
Strength: 16 (10 points)
Dexterity: 14(5 points)
Constitution: 12(2 points)
Intelligence: 8 (-2 points)
Wisdom: 14(5 points)
Charisma: 10(0 points)
After racial adjustments this gives you:
Strength: 16 (+3 bonus)
Dexterity: 14 (+2 bonus)
Constitution: 14 (+2 bonus)
Intelligence: 8 (-1 penalty)
Wisdom: 16 (+3 Bonus)
Charisma: 8 (-1 penalty)
For feats I would suggest choosing Dodge(Monk Bonus Feat) and Mobility (1st Level Feat). These two feats improve your AC, especially when dealing with Attacks of Opportunity. You could also take Toughnes instead of Mobility. This will give you more hit points and a little bit more survivability. I prefer the mobility route because of the way I play a monk in combat. You will also have the Stunning Fist Feat as a monk. Stunning Fist is fantastic and should be used on tougher enemies. Don't waste it on lowly goblins. Save it for tougher stuff. As a monk you want to use Flurry of Blows whenever you can, especially at lower levels when most other characters and NPCs only have one attack.
Make sure to put a skill point in Acrobatics. This will increase your chances of being able to avoid attacks of opportunity when you "Tumble" past enemies. This is very important. I have found the most effective way to use a monk in combat at early levels is to take advantage of flanking. Acrobatics gives you the opportunity to move past a threatened area without provoking an attack of opportunity; thus making it easier for the monk to get in a position that provides a flanking bonus. With the flanking bonus your Flurry of Blows attack bonus becomes a +4 (+3 Strength, +2 Flanking, -1 Flurry of Blows) instead of a +2 (+3 Strength, -1 Flurry of Blows). The mobility feat increases your AC by +4 against attacks of opportunity. With your Dex (+2), Wis (+3), Dodge (+1) and Mobility (+4), your AC becomes 20 against attacks of opportunity when moving into & out of threatened areas! So moving past an enemy isn't nearly so daunting. If you have smart party members they will use buff magic on the Monk because it will effect all of his attacks for that round (see spells Bless, Magic Fang, etc.).
So a 1st Level Dwarven Monk would look like this:
AC: 16
TOUCH AC: 16
FLAT-FOOTED AC: 13
HIT POINTS: 10/11 (Depends on Favored Class choice)
BASIC ATTACK BONUS: +3 (+0 Class BaB, +3 Str)
FLURRY OF BLOWS ATTACK: +2 (-1 FoB, +3 Str)
DAMAGE: 1D6+3 (FoB 1d6+3/1d6+3)
FORTITUDE SAVE: +4/+6 (+2 Class, +2 Con, +2 vs Poison- Racial)
REFLEX SAVE: +4 (+2 Class, +2 Dex)
WILL SAVE: +5/+7 (+2 Class, +3 Wis, +2 vs Spell & Spell-like Abilities)
SKILL POINTS: 3/4 (Depends on Favored Class choice)
Recommend: Acrobatics, Climb, Perception and Stealth
GEAR: Backpack, Light Crossbow, Kama, Sai, assorted clothing, waterskin, belt pouch, scroll case and rope.
If you want to play a human then the same rules from above apply. The only changes that need to take place are Attribute distribution and feat selection. If playing a human I would follow the below rules:
Strength: 16 (10 Points)
Dexterity: 14 (5 Points)
Constitution: 14 (5 Points)
Intelligence: 9 (-1 Points)
Wisdom: 14 (5 Points)
Charisma: 7 (-4 Points)
You will add the +2 Attribute Bonus to Wisdom so your attributes look like this after your are done:
Strength: 16 (+3 bonus)
Dexterity: 14 (+2 bonus)
Constitution: 14 (+2 bonus)
Intelligence: 9 (-1 penalty)
Wisdom: 16 (+3 bonus)
Charisma: 7 (-2 penalty)
As a human you will get an additional feat at first level and an additional skill point at 1st level. I would choose Toughness (+3 Hit Points, +1 per lvl 4th & beyond) as it gives you a little more breathing room at the lower levels when entering combat.
So a 1st Level Human Monk would look like this:
AC: 16
TOUCH AC: 16
FLAT-FOOTED AC: 13
HIT POINTS: 13/14 (Depends on Favored Class choice)
BASIC ATTACK BONUS: +3 (+0 Class BaB, +3 Str)
FLURRY OF BLOWS ATTACK: +2 (-1 FoB, +3 Str)
DAMAGE: 1D6+3 (FoB 1d6+3/1d6+3)
FORTITUDE SAVE: +4(+2 Class, +2 Con)
REFLEX SAVE: +4 (+2 Class, +2 Dex)
WILL SAVE: +5(+2 Class, +3 Wis)
SKILL POINTS: 4/5 (Depends on Favored Class choice)
Recommend: Acrobatics, Climb, Perception, Stealth & Sense Motive
GEAR: Backpack, Light Crossbow, Kama, Sai, assorted clothing, waterskin, belt pouch, scroll case and rope.
There are really only two large advantages a human has over a dwarven monk- additional feat at first level and 30 ft. movement. The 30 ft. movement can be pretty big depending on how you play the monk. The Dwarf has all of his racial abilities over the human. So it depends on your style of play and preference.
If you are going to use other books in addition to the Core Rule Book then the build can change pretty drastically. I hope this helped you out some.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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If by "all the books" you meant "all the hardcovers", then here's what I'd recommend:
I'd go with a human, with stats along these lines:
STR 10
DEX 18 (16+2)
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 14 (or 16 if you take the Dual Talent alternate racial trait)
CHA 10
If you really want to min-max it, drop INT to 9 and CHA to 7 to take a natural 16 in WIS (for an 18 if you go Dual Talent).
Your first feat is Weapon Finesse, and as soon as you have enough gold and Fame, you get an agile amulet of mighty fists so that your unarmed strikes get DEX to damage instead of STR.
You'll have pretty solid AC, amazing Touch AC, and (once you get the amulet) pretty solid damage output. Use your monk bonus feats as you see fit (a maneuver feat or two wouldn't be a bad idea).
That's the baseline of what I'd recommend, without knowing more of your preferences.
I definitely am liking both your suggestion, Jiggy, and Jrcmarine, since I think it'd be smart not to get too complex. I like the idea of your build, because it seems like it's more agile than the typical monk. As far as what I like? I like be able to shut the enemy down, whether it's by special ability or sheer damage.
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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I am a fan of the different styles. Because they add those effects you referenced. I am not a fan of the dex focused Monk. With a 10 strength you are entirely reliant on the dice for damage. Why try buying an agile amulet of mighy fists? +3 to hit and dmg at first level rather than using a feat and getting +4 to hit but not damage would be my preference. Dodge and Mobility at first level set you up for spring attack eventually. Weapon Finesse at first level commits you to that path which doesn't pay off until you have acquired enough gold/prestige to purchase the amulet that was referenced. And that could be awhile. Also committing to that route means you better always use a weapon that can take advantage of weapon finesse or you are SOL. Most of the time you will use your unarmed attacks but there may be a time where you want to use a weapon. Strength bonus applies to any weapon you use, except x-bow of course. If you have access to Advanced Race Guide then you can take Dual Talent. This reduces the amount of feats and skills you get at 1st level but does allow you to have an 18 in strength or make Dex a 16 or allows you to have an 18 wisdom with the 16 strength. I would probably go with the 18 Wisdom or Strength and a 16 in the other. Depends on your taste. The 18 in Strength is going to help with hit and dmg. The 18 in Wisdom will increase your AC, make it more difficult to resist your special attacks (scorpion style, stunning fist, etc) and improves your will save. I lean toward the Wisdom for several reasons. It is a greater general impact overall on your character and most buffs from party members increase att and dmg. A lot of casters will memorize Bulls strength which will improve your att and dmg but very few memorize the wisdom buff let alone cast it. So your strength, attack rolls and damage rolls will receive buffs more often than your wisdom centric abilities will. Of course at later levels your wisdom will increase your Ki pool so that is another reason why I lean more toward wisdom.
I haven't really looked at any of the arcgtypes found in the APs so there may be some feats or archtypes that I am not aware of that you might like.
So what would you go with then, as far as the styles?
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Panther style fits with the style of play I like for playing a monk. It gives you the opportunity to respond to your opponent's attempts to AoO you. You do need to bump your dex to 15 to truly take advantage of it. You could do that at creation or use the 4th lvl bump if you want. I must admit i like the idea of daring the opponent to try and take attacks of opportunity against you. Go ahead, hit me I dare ya!
High str, dex, and wis, and u r g2g
I like the sort of cocky sound of that. Sorta sounds like you're forcing them into a position for bad things to happen.
Flurry only allows full str, not 1.5, it's a bummer, but such is...
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I guess you and I have different opinions on what "full strength" means.
For me it means when you fight with a offhand you apply your full strength, no penalty.
If you're 2handing something you apply your full strength bonus, which is multiplied by 1.5 due to it being 2handed. Your full strength bonus is increased by 150% when 2handing.
I guess you and I have different opinions on what "full strength" means.
Byrdology's opinion however lines up with how the Paizo team thinks it works, and yours does not.
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I'd love a quote to say that full strength when 2handing is not 1.5x str.
Every time the phrase "full strength" bonus is used, it's always in reference to not receiving the penalty to str bonus damage for offhand/secondary attacks etc.
There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Primary attacks are made using the creature's full base attack bonus and add the creature's full Strength bonus on damage rolls. Secondary attacks are made using the creature's base attack bonus –5 and add only 1/2 the creature's Strength bonus on damage rolls.
A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands.
The last quote is the most troublesome for my position, it's easy to read it and say "it specifically calls out that offhand attacks aren't relegated to the normal 1/2 str bonus penalty, so therefor the 2handed doesn't get the full bonus for being 2handed and not light"
I've never seen an FAQ that states that the 2handed weapon doesn't apply the full strength bonus to normal 2handed weapons. I also don't see full strength bonus as limiting a normal increase from strength bonus, as this increase is the "full strength" when wielding 2handed.
When you read full strength, if you read "without penalty" you come across how I read it. And I've found little other than a too literalistic reading of the "...off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands." quote.
Shadowfox how did your pfs weekend go?
sadly, I wasn't able to get in on it. They were gonna have extra DMs but the extra one was sick, so me and several other folks were SoL.
Doesn't look like ill get in till next month, so I've got alot of time. I'm thinking the dwarf monk could be fun that was mentioned earlier. I've realized the styles are really my favorite thing about monk.I really do wonder though if the monk of many styles or of the four winds is worth it though. It looks like it might, in the right hands. Thoughts?