Help building a flavourful monk


Advice


Hi, this is my first foray into Pathfinder from 4E and was hoping I could get some help.

I like to build my characters based on a concept of what sort of person they would be, and then make power/feat selections to bring it to life. PFSRD is drowning me in technical information I don't really understand .... can anyone point me in the direction of a build guide which majors on descriptive words, and minors on the technical language ?

cheers
Izzy

Liberty's Edge

I'm not sure there are any guides that deal primarily in flavorful language. Guides tend towards optimization first, flavor second. And optimization inevitably involves technical jargon.

That said, people here can probably help. What exact flavor are you aiming for? There's probably a fairly good way to build it mechanically.

Shadow Lodge

Like Deadman said, guides are for mechanics, figuring out how do what the flavor says. That being said, with monks almost anything is possible. They ooze flavor in every archetype and power.

As an example I had an idea for a Monk of the Dragons a while back.
Built a Monk with Master of many styles, all the dragon style feats, all the Efreeti feats, power attack and vital strike. He hit with flaming attacks of doom.

If you have an idea, share and we can help you make it work.

Dark Archive

It's hard to go wrong with the Sisters of the Golden Eryines.


You picked a tough one, because the Pathfinder monk is somewhat underpowered. Yes, you can build a flavourful one, but it's hard work!

Best suggestion I can make is use the qingong archetype, so you have a choice of powers you can use to flavour your monk. Hungry ghost and drunken monk are good, as is the sohei. Core monk is terrible. Avoid at all costs. If you are going for the "unarmed master" concept, consider going dexterity-heavy - use the Weapon Finesse and Agile Maneuvers feats to get dexterity to hit, and an agile amulet of mighty fists at the earliest opportunity. This gets you a "standard" monk that isn't quite so MAD as the monk normally is.

So what is your concept? The monk is a very felxible class, even if it's not very strong, so you need to know what you are going for.


Thanks guys.
What I had in mind is a monk who has honed his body to be a weapon, such that any part of his body can be lethal. So very much unarmed, very much my body is a temple using meditation and strength of training to go to another level. I'd love it if there was a levitation feat for example. I like the idea of using Ki to power up my abilities. I'm completely up for taking vows as I can see that adding to the flavour.

Currently I've just hit lvl 2 and my stats are str 19 Dex 14 con 14 int 7 wis 16 cha 7; feats defensive combat training, improved grapple, improved unarmed strike, nimble moves, stunning fist, throw anything

Cheers Izzy


Using Ki to power up? Check the Qinggong Monk archetype.

If you're allowed 3rd party materials, though, I think Dreamscarred Press's psychic warrior with the Medidant archetype will do everything you want only better.


Oh and I'm already having lits of fun with grapple & and pin

Liberty's Edge

Defensive Combat Training isn't really needed for a Monk (you already add Str, Dex, and Wis), and I strongly recommend you replace it with Power Attack, something melee characters should pretty much all have. From there...there are several archetypes you might want (the Tetori leaps to mind given the grapple stuff), but you do want to be a Qinggong Monk. They're just flat out better than the base monk and suit the flavor you seem to be aiming for perfectly.


Yes like the look on qinggong - looking at dream scarred now


Any power attack in particular?

Liberty's Edge

Izzy Roberts wrote:
Any power attack in particular?

Just the Power Attack feat. Extra damage at the expense of accuracy. But, especially as you go up in levels, a very favorable rate of swapping. Practically necessary to do meaningful damage at high levels...though actually, looking at it, your character might* not be eligible if it was purchased as a 1st level Feat given your +0 BAB...so I think you need to wait for level 3 to get it. Sad.

Still, Defensive Combat Training is not a particularly optimal choice and replacing it with something is a good idea. If not Power Attack, then I'm not sure precisely what, but something.

*Some GMs would allow this based on how Flurry of Blows works. Some wouldn't.


I understand that you already have started your character. Are you allowed to make changes?

IMO the best unarmed character with the monk flavor is a MoMS (MotSM) monk 2 / Brawler Fighter 18.

MOMS: Master of Many styles
MotSM: Monk of the Sacred Mountain.

With MoMS you take two free style feats, you have waepon training and lock down abilities from the brawler and you can wear armor, extra useful for someone with high Str / low Dex like you. The loss of flurry of blows can be made up with teh TWF feats.

Even if you are not allowed retraining, continuing with the brawler fighter from now on it is a better choice than continuing with monk lvls.

If Dreamscarred Press is allowed, a Meditant psychic warrior 20 or a MoMS (MotSM) Monk 2 / Deadly Fist (Gifted Blade) Soulknife 18 (SAD having Wis to everything, I am not sure if you can achieve this with a pure Meditant without a guided weapon) is a better deal than a monk too.

With your current build though, I would avoid the psionic classes, because then the TWF feats you get from them will go wasted.


thanks guys for all your help ~ I really like the flavour the qinggong monk will give me, and thanks for the tip re power attack.
So much to learn & so little time !
cheers
Izzy


Lots of butter and garlic, with orange zest and black pepper. For crunch consider a two-level dip in fighter.

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