I've been looking up some suggestions for Martial Artist monk after I made this character as I was curious what would be helpful with this build.
My original idea was focusing on a young woman who has spent her entire life in a monastery, improving her strength and wisdom to the highest degree. As a follower of Irori, that is why she is focused to the perfection of ones body and so her personality is rather blunt with no real idea how to act in society (hence a explanation for the low Cha) and when she left, she decided to head out to improve life for other people which is why she joined the Silver Crusade (that, and Lantern Lodge has been retired.
I'd like to keep a focus on being a purely hand-to-hand monk if it all possible. Especially considering at 4th level I can gain fighter feats, meaning at 3rd I get weapon focus, then weapon specialisation at 5th in unarmed strike. When I found that I found it awesome, but yes I'd like a focus on hand-to-hand combat.
Mia Kusanagi
Female Human (Tian-Min) Monk (Martial Artist) 1
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +8; Senses Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 14 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 wisdom)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +6
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +3 (1d6+4)
Special Attacks flurry of blows, stunning fist (1/day, DC 14)
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 18, Cha 7
Base Atk +0; CMB +3; CMD 20
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
Traits quain martial artist, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +6, Knowledge (religion) +3, Perception +8, Profession (scribe) +8
Languages Common, Minkaian, Tien
SQ ac bonus, stunning fist (stun), unarmed strike
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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AC Bonus +4 The Monk adds his Wisdom bonus to AC and CMD, more at higher levels.
Flurry of Blows -1/-1 (Ex) Make Flurry of Blows attack as a full rd action.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Stunning Fist (1/day) (DC 14) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
Stunning Fist (Stun) (Ex) At 1st level, the monk gains Stunning Fist as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the monk gains the ability to apply a new condition to the target of his Stunning Fist. This conditio
Unarmed Strike (1d6) The Monk does lethal damage with his unarmed strikes.
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shall I take the lack of replies as a answer of that it's fine?
I too Duel talented which replaces the bonus feat and skill point for two +2 choices, which I put into strength and Wisdom.
Is there a particular reason you want Improved Initiative? It doesn't seem particularly vital to this build, and that feat could probably be better spent on something else. For instance, Improved Grapple could come in really handy, especially when you run into casters.
Also, you might consider dropping your Wis to 17, and using those points to get Str up to 17 and Int up to 10 (it's good to have plenty of skills in PFS). You can boost the Wis to 18 at level 4, and then Str at level 8.
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Looks pretty good. No reason to have Int at 9, may as well be 8 for the same penalty; though I appreciate that there is probably not anywhere you can stick the extra point.
Personal preference bias perhaps, but i'd switch Strength and Wisdom. Your fighting an uphill battle with to-hit bonuses as a Monk, especially while flurrying.
Initiative isn't actually as important for a unarmed combatant Monk as for, say, a battlefield control wizard etc. I would strongly advise you instead look into Style Feats and take the first one or work towards it at 1st Level. Suggestions re: this-
Mantis Style has some synergy with martial artist as both increase stunning fist DC. Not available until 3rd level.
The style I cannot recommend enough for the unarmed Monk is Dragon Style. No other style adds as much damage to a monk with decent strength. Not available until 3rd level.
Available at first level is the Snapping Turtle style; which I recommend for you unless your going to wait for Dragon Style. This feat chain will give you a shield bonus to AC, and if grappling as a kind of counter-attack when something attacks you (pretty powerful for action economy) is appealing, it is ideal.
TLDR Recommendations- Swap Str and Wis, take Snapping Turtle style instead of improved initiative, take Improved Grapple as bonus feat instead of Dodge (its a pre-requisite for Snapping Turtle Clutch at level 3; which makes the shield bonus apply to Touch AC and CMD, AND a free attempt to grapple if someone misses you.
Edit: Ninja'd by RainyDayNinja (appropriate name) but i'd still stick with 8 or 9 int and keep your stats even. Your on 3 skill points base per level anyway which is plenty, 4 if you decide you want to FC it later. Wouldn't recommend Knowledge (Religion). Your always going to be pretty bad with knowledge skills and its almost a guarantee someone will have that base covered.
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The reason Int is 9 is because he cannot drop it to 8 and put that extra point anywhere. Otherwise you'd be right.
And I agree with Rainy Day Ninja, although put Str to 18 at level 4 and Wisdom up at 8 and go with Alexander's suggestion for Dragon Style. An unarmed strike damage dealing chain of feats would look like this:
1: Dodge, Imp Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, (whatever other feat)
2: Combat Reflexes or Imp Grapple
3: Dragon Style
5: Dragon Ferocity
6: Mobility, Imp Trip, or Imp Bull Rush
7: Wpn Focus (unarmed)
9: Wpn Spec (unarmed)
10: Imp Critical or Medusa's Wrath
11: Vital Strike perhaps?
I also like Alex's suggestion for Mantis Style; Martial Artists can have ridiculously powerful Stunning Fists; although I'd change the stats around if you were to go that route
Str: 12, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 7
The feats would be:
1: Dodge, Imp Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Weapon Finesse
2: Combat Reflexes
3: Mantis Style
5: Wpn Focus (unarmed strike)
6: Mobility or Imp Trip
7: Wpn Spec (unarmed)
9: Vicious Stomp or Greater Weapon Focus
10: Medusa's Wrath
In this mode, your monk is a controller; you'll start off at 18 AC and at level 3 you'll have a DC 18 Stunning Fist. Get an Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists so you can focus on Dex for damage and to hit and you'll be golden!
update: This is the build's change so far. I should've updated earlier, but I forgot:
Mia Kusanagi
Female Human (Tian-Min) Monk (Martial Artist) 1
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +8; Senses Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 untyped)
hp 9 (1d8+1)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +4 (1d6+5)
Special Attacks flurry of blows, stunning fist (1/day, DC 13)
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Statistics
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Str 19, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 7
Base Atk +0; CMB +4; CMD 20
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
Traits quain martial artist, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +6, Perception +7, Profession (scribe) +7, Stealth +6
Languages Common, Minkaian, Tien
SQ ac bonus, stunning fist (stun), unarmed strike
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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AC Bonus +3 The Monk adds his Wisdom bonus to AC and CMD, more at higher levels.
Flurry of Blows -1/-1 (Ex) Make Flurry of Blows attack as a full rd action.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Stunning Fist (1/day) (DC 13) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
Stunning Fist (Stun) (Ex) At 1st level, the monk gains Stunning Fist as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the monk gains the ability to apply a new condition to the target of his Stunning Fist. This conditio
Unarmed Strike (1d6) The Monk does lethal damage with his unarmed strikes.
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Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.
I set the Wis quite high due to the ability gained at 4th level, Exploit Weakness.
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The biggest thing I would change no matter what you go for is to lose Improved Initiative. Here is my proposal-
Test Monk Aron
Female Human (Tian-Min) Monk (Martial Artist) 1
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4; Senses Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+1 shield, +2 Dex, +3 untyped)
hp 11 (1d8+3)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +5
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee unarmed strike +4 (1d6+5)
Special Attacks flurry of blows, stunning fist (1/day, DC 13)
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 9, Wis 16, Cha 7
Base Atk +0; CMB +4 (+6 grapple); CMD 19 (21 vs. grapple)
Feats Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Snapping Turtle Style, Stunning Fist
Traits quain martial artist, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +6, Perception +7, Stealth +6
Languages Common, Minkaian, Tien
SQ ac bonus, stunning fist (stun), unarmed strike
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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AC Bonus +3 The Monk adds his Wisdom bonus to AC and CMD, more at higher levels.
Flurry of Blows -1/-1 (Ex) Make Flurry of Blows attack as a full rd action.
Improved Grapple You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when grappling a foe.
Improved Unarmed Strike Unarmed strikes don't cause attacks of opportunity, and can be lethal.
Snapping Turtle Style +1 Gain +1 shield bonus to AC when at least one hand is free
Stunning Fist (1/day) (DC 13) You can stun an opponent with an unarmed attack.
Stunning Fist (Stun) (Ex) At 1st level, the monk gains Stunning Fist as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the monk gains the ability to apply a new condition to the target of his Stunning Fist. This conditio
Unarmed Strike (1d6) The Monk does lethal damage with his unarmed strikes.
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Note the shield bonus to AC. I like this setup because you are a damn good grappler at 1st level (without provoking AOO), hit hard, and take advantage of the fact you are pretty much always going to have a hand free. The idea would be to take Dodge as your next bonus feat at level 2 (happily boosts your CMD as well as AC- harder to escape your grapples!) and then Snapping Turtle Clutch at Level 3.
This not only bolsters your CMD and Touch AC by adding your shield bonus of +1 to it but lets you make a grapple attempt as an immediate action when an opponent misses you, albeit at a -2 penalty. This means you can shut down a foe with a two handed weapon neatly, potentially disrupt full attacks, make the opponent an easier target for your allies and perhaps most importantly; start your turn already grappling. This can potentially let you setup a 1 round pin.
Scenario- Enemy charges your Monk and misses. You successfully grapple as an immediate action. Your next action- CMB to pin.
Assuming success; you have pretty much shut down this enemy and its an uphill struggle for them.
You also get to finish the entire style feat chain as early as 5th level, with Snapping Turtle Shell. This feat is essentially taking Dodge twice more in one; with +2 more to your Shield bonus (+3 total), which applies to your CMD and Touch AC (the ability to do this is very rare and will bolster your already impressive CMD/AC). But then top of that, enemies get a significant penalty to confirm crits on you.
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Minor note Alexander: the shield bonus from Snapping Turtle Shell increases TO +2, not BY +2. It's still a decent boost as you note, and the -4 to crit confirmations is much nicer when you consider if you get your AC high enough, crit threats will be among the few that do strike you and it's best to make sure those are moderated.
Minor note Alexander: the shield bonus from Snapping Turtle Shell increases TO +2, not BY +2.Darn. Not as nice as I thought :(.
It's still very good to gain a shield bonus without having any weapon of any kind for this character.
I'm avoiding weapons with this class as she won't need them with a successful exploit weaknesses roll.