Here it is so far:
Oni-Blooded Tiefling
Racial traits:
Darkvision 60ft.
Prehensile Tail (retrieve stowed item as a swift action, opens up Grasping Tail)
Scaled Skin(+1 Nat. Armor, Fire Res. 5)
Skilled: +2 Intimidate, +2 Disguise
Spell-Like Ability: Alter Self
Racial stat bonuses: +2 STR, +2 WIS, -2 CHA
Stats:
STR: 18
DEX: 10
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 16
CHA: 8
LN Monk of the Empty Hand
Automatic feats:
Improved Unarmed Strike
Stunning Fist
Feat Tree Choices:
1st level Monk bonus feat: Deflect Arrows
1st level feat: Undecided: (Toughness, Grasping Tail, Secondary: Monstrous Mask/Intimating Glare)
2nd level Monk bonus feat: Undecided: (Combat Reflexes, Improved Grapple, Dodge)
3rd level: Power Attack
5th:
6th, Monk bonus: Improvised Weapon Mastery
7th:
9th:
10, Monk bonus: Spring Attack
11th:
AC: 14 (Wis + Nat. Armor), HP: 11
I was given the advice to take Armor of the Pit as my first level feat(and in turn not take Scaled Skin), but I'm not really inclined to do that because it only increases my AC by one, which is, functionally, what dodge does except it takes up my monk feat instead of my first level any feat. If I want to go the AC route I can go this way:
First level monk feat: Dodge
First level feat: Armor of the Pit
AC: 16
If I really want to push it, I could switch STR and WIS but I really don't want to. At the cost of two feats and being less combat effective 16-17 AC just doesn't seem worth it. I would rather just take Toughness and soak the damage. Prehensile Tail also lets me get potions as a swift.
A good feat would be Improved Sunder after I get Power Attack. Strongly considering it.
Other feats of note: Improved Initiative, Monstrous Mask/Intimidating Glare(as stated above), Step Up, Defensive Combat Training, (Any of the feats that give +2 to a save)...
Actually I can't seem to find any feats that fit this build really well, besides the ones I already listed as first level feat options...
Deflect Arrows is probably one of my best monk feat options. Seriously, read it. It's amazing. I don't know why every monk doesn't get it. Dodge is definitely a runner up though, to boost my AC.
Some of you are probably thinking "Why the #$%@ does he have Grasping Tail as a first level feat option?" This is because I want to focus on improvised weapon fighting as much as I practically can, and make it effective. Having Grasping Tail allows me to grab any unattended object within five feet and put it into my hand as a swift action, meaning I don't have to pick it up. Plus I can use it to hold any weapon I disarm or other items I might want to put into or take out of my hand as a swift action. This is in addition to being able to grab stowed item as a swift. It's actually kind of awesome. I'm just having a hard time convincing myself that it's worth it to take it as a first level feat. 11 HP is probably enough to survive a fight even if I have such a low AC...
I also haven't picked my regular traits yet. Accelerated Drinker seems really good, but this is for PFS and I don't own it, so I would have to buy it. :(
(Source Books: Core Rulebok, Advanced Player's Guide, Blood of Fiends, Advanced Race Guide)
Any advice?
I never like dropping dex that low. Cant remember the start I had for my oni spawn monk, but id rather do:
17 14 14 10 16 6
that cha is pretty low 1d6 cha damage could be bad so set 2:
16 14 14 10 16 8
13 dex could also work.
Also a huge fan of deflect arrows :P
The empty hand monk isn't a bad archetype, it should work OK. I'd pump Dex higher though, your AC is going to suck big time if you don't. Perhaps abandon strength for dex - after all, you can confer the agile property onto any improvised weapon :D
i've never played a PFS adventure, so i could be wrong, but it seems like starting with relatively low hp and a poor AC on a melee character is a terrible idea... also, unless there's errata somewhere that i'm unaware of, i think taking one of the tiefling variants requires the fiendish heritage feat at 1st level?
i know that starting with an 18 str seems really important for attack and damage but the extra +1 (compared to 16) won't do you any good if you're dead. listen to the people suggesting you drop scaled skin and take armor of the pit, then drop your Str to 16 (14+2 racial) and raise your dex to 14 (with the 5 points from dropping Str)- now your AC is a respectable 17, which will help cover for only having 11hp. and dodge wouldn't be a terrible choice at 2nd. power attack is a nice feat (though its better for full BAB classes), but think about taking toughness when you can- it will further help your survivability.
Adding the Agile weapon quality to an improvised weapon isn't a viable strategy because I won't get the ability to do that until 11th level. Too little too late.
At first I was resistant to adding much DEX because it seemed like spreading, as opposed to focusing, would weaken my build, but after looking it over it's actually a pretty good idea; it makes ranged improvised weapons a viable strategy as well as raising my AC. Personally I didn't think I would use DEX much, because if I wanted to go with higher AC I could bump wisdom...
Good advice; I hadn't considered it. Now I might be able to include Throw Anything into my monk feat selection options; however, it seems like a waste of a feat since I will be getting Improvised Weapon Mastery at 6th level anyway...
I think AC 16 is good enough, with the dex considered. I really don't think 17 AC is worth a first level feat slot so I'd prefer Toughness over Armor of the Pit. Let's just be honest in saying that this isn't going to be a high AC monk build.(How do people make high AC monks anyway?)He's going to be STR based.
16 14 14 10 16 8 seems good. I might consider playing around with CON WIS and DEX to find a more optimal combination, such as dropping CON for more WIS or something like that.
Still trying to figure out the feats. Trying to use improvised weapons is going to be hard is grabbing any of them is a move action or more for every item I use. I'm really trying to make the most of the improvised weapon usage. As someone said, all the swift actions will be a problem eventually...