Okay, so I'm putting together a character for a friend.
She likes martials. I figure this concept lets her run in, hit hard with a pseudo-pounce, and do it all the bloody time with sick damage thanks to dragon style. Also, the GM likes the concept of monks, and I think he'd reward this kind of character.
I'm thinking a MoMS/Martial Artist Monk would mix well with a Barbarian for Rage Cycling fun. MoMS ignores all prereqs for style feats, so she could get both dragon style and pummeling style by second level monk, as well as immunity to fatigue by 5th level. From there, I'm a little lost as to where to go.
(This would be a 7th level character to start, by the way.)
I'm thinking two levels of barbarian to get a rage power to cycle through ASAP, then another level of monk to get a bonus feat to grab pummeling charge (again, ignoring all prerequisites) when she has enough BAB to actually benefit from it...then...not so sure?
Also, not sure which rage power(s) to grab to cycle through repeatedly (I'm familiar with which powers are good, but not when you turn 1/rage into all-the-bloody-time).
Finally, not sure which feats to take besides the two bonus style feats, or how to split the remaining levels of barb/monk. I'm leaning towards the rest barb, since I can't see any benefit to taking more than 6 monk for this build.
Point buy is 15; I figured 16,13,13,8,14,7 pre-racial (per treantmonk's monk guide's recommendation) would work pretty well for this kind of character....(Except her AC will kinda suck. She's used to full plate, so that's not nice.)
Oh, yes, and a recommended race would be nice; I think there's an aasimar or tiefling that gets +2 wis/str, but if not, maybe half-elf for the floating +2, multiclass favorite class?
Actually, the GM typically is only (usually) familiar and auto-approves hardcover stuff, now that I think about it, so variant tieflings/aasimar might not fly.
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If you're going for 5 levels of monk you might as well take the 6th for Pummelling Charge. After that, more barbarian is probably a good call.
Feats to consider: Extra Rage unless you have very short adventuring days, Combat Style Master, Raging Vitality (you're going to be short on HP compared to full barbarians).
Not sure about good powers for rage cycling.
Half-elf is a decent race. Consider also Oread (+2 Str +2 Wis -2 Cha, make sure to replace Earth Affinity) or Hobgoblin (+2 Dex +2 Con).
As a current monkbarian player, there are a few ways to deal with the AC issue depending on how important the "monk" bit is.
The pro-monk option is Snake Style, which allows the character to replace AC with a Sense Motive roll and can be combined with your other two styles if you stick with Monk until at least level 8 - which is probably not the best, but worth noting.
The intermediate is to go for Invulnerable Rager. This grants improved DR in exchange for uncanny dodge and improved uncanny dodge. Normally I like the way uncanny dodge complements the monk's style, but DR does provide a big defensive boost for low-AC barbarians.
The less-monk option is wearing light armour. Since a MoMS gives up flurry, they lose only the AC bonus and fast movement when wearing light armour (and you keep +10ft fast move from barbarian). With 15 PB it might be worth it to skimp on Wis (10), and use the extra 4 points to boost your Con or Dex to 15. Note Con 15 will qualify you for Raging Vitality. Light armour can also receive the Brawling enchantment, which is extremely nice for an unarmed combatant. It's a tough call, though, especially since it reduces the "monk" feel of the build, and the more monk levels you take the more you lose in AC bonus / fast movement.
Unfortunately, MoMS and Martial Artist don't stack because they both replace the 20th level ability. Specifically the Martial Artist's Extreme Endurance and the MoMS Perfect Style.
In light of the incompatible archetypes, take MoMS and Kata Master. You swap out stunning fist for the ability to parry attacks and potentially grab a quick bonus to a skill. Nice addition to the dip, and you don't need charisma (you get 1 panache minimum).
Unfortunately, MoMS and Martial Artist don't stack because they both replace the 20th level ability. Specifically the Martial Artist's Extreme Endurance and the MoMS Perfect Style.
Well that's something I missed. I never look at capstones, stupid capstones, because I never get them. Well, I had questions to counter Weirdo, but this dumps all over my idea.
The whole point was combining rage cycling with dragon style and pummeling style. Can't do that without combining those two archetypes. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Just grab two levels of MoMS Monk then cease to be Lawful and become a Barbarian.
I'm typing from my phone so I can't post the link here, but if you check my profile, there is list of builds I like, all written at 1st, 3rd, 6th and 10th level... One of those is Korak Fists of Fury, a "MoMS Barbarian" (it has a few things I'd change, though, like removing Double Slice, since that's unnecessary for Monk's unarmed strikes).
The immunity to fatigue is probably the important component from Martial Artist, not the "can be any alignment".
prototype00
Prototype hit it on the head. I don't give two hoots about the alignment restriction; as you said Lemmy, can just swap alignments in time. It's the fatigue immunity for rage cycling that makes Martial Artist the shiz-nyte.
Since the title of the thread isn't really an option, I've taken the discussion over here: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rqtg?Straightforward-but-Effective-Martial-Bui ld#1
Horn of the Cryosphinx stacks nicely with Dragon Style and high-strength builds.
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You could take levels of bloodrager. Take abyssal bloodline and get enlarge person as a free action choice when you rage.
The big problem with the current multi class is your unarmed damage dice is going to stay low instead of growing like a monks does. I highly recommend brawler. Martial flexibility is freaking sweet and the unarmed damage scales up...also lets you grab up fighter only feats like specialization. You could dip 1 level drunken brute and just drink for rage.
Build would look like brawler 2/master of many styles monk 2/brawler 2/ Drunken brute barbarian 1/ brawler X. If you ever watched naruto when Lee got drunk and whooped ass.
IIRC, a single level of Oracle can give you immunity to fatigue.
IIRC, a single level of Oracle can give you immunity to fatigue.
that's correct, although it doesn't come online until 9th level (oracle 1/non-oracle 8)... that 1 level oracle dip is rough though when you're planning to dump Cha hard (which i think he mentioned up thread).