"Immortal" unchained monk archtype balance judgement

[Shmoogie]

I'm building an archtype for the unchained monk for a very specific purpose.

I'm thinking about running a solitaire game using pathfinder about a "demigod hero" by using a 4th level character with one mythic tier instead of four 1st level characters. I'm going to do this by taking a level 1 character and adding three levels of unchained monk, and then using the "starting gear" for level 4 and putting it into a magic "tatoo"-type item and calling it a birthmark or something. Given that I'm using the mythic adventures system; I'm planning on using slow progression and then simply running the AP, adjusting difficulty only when it seems needed.

Only, for a better experience; I want to tweak things based off of what I need/don't need as a solo 5th level character doing 1st level content. Here's what I'm coming up with;

- Base attack bonus progression like a wizard instead of a fighter
- Good Will saves (so all good saves)
- Hit Dice d12s instead of d10s
- Wisdom-based stuff is effected by Charisma instead (this is thematic, not a min/max move; the character is probably going to be a spell-sage)
- not restricted to lawful characters
- starting at level 3, bonus ki points equal to 1/2 level; probably call ki points power points instead because nonstalgia
- I'm guessing that by counting things by how many "feats" they equal and dividing the difference among the levels it's a good start; that's how I got what I got so far. Still, input please?

I'm probably not going to progress in this unchained monk archtype beyond level 3, but if I did I'd look at some of the other things from the immortal class from basic could be adapted by changing the unchained monk's stuff around.

As is, though, as i mentioned above; are all those changes balanced as an archtype? The change in base attack bonus is too big a change for me to eyeball confidently. Thoughts? Please let me know... It's for solitare play but I do want it to be balanced with the other unchained-power-level classes.

I've been thinking what I like from different systems lately; I might just do a complete (basic edition D&D) Immortal conversion as a monk archtype anyway, but I figure this is a good start for now.

[Cyrad]

I don't understand. Why do you want to cripple your base attack bonus when you're playing a fighting class? What are you trying to accomplish? I never heard of this immortal monk before.

Also, if you did this, your hit die should change to d6. In Pathfinder, your hit die is linked to your base attack bonus.

[Shmoogie]

I'm glad you asked. In the same way that four CL 1 monsters are a ECL 5 encounter (double number for +2 CR twice) I'm running an AP with one level 5 character instead of four level 1 characters. If you look at xp per encounter and xp needed to gain levels, the level 5 character would even hit level 6 at the same time the level 1 characters would hit level 2 (though mythic progression does mess with that).

Ahem. So anyway, the answer is because, I'm not really playing a monk. I'm going to be playing a first level character ... that has a couple of extra levels in this immortal (monk) class. The module is for first level characters, so the base attack bonus of whatever class I play (probably wizard) is going to get a bonus from the immortal (monk) levels. The module is based on the capabilities of first level characters, even if I was a fighter with the extra levels in monk, I wouldn't need the base attack bonus to compete, because it's extra. I sure as hell could use bonuses on saving throws to avoid getting locked down and hit points for more survivability

I sure as hell wouldn't play it in a normal game; in that regard you're right. A base attack bonus progression at 1/2 for a melee class would be ridiculous; this is specifically for solo-level play.

By the way, the immortal was the "post-epic level" class in basic dnd, and was basically the system for having killable gods in dnd by making "gods" a class you could take only by reaching maximum level in the normal classes. Only, they couldn't say "gods" due to a small number of irl insane gamers and a whole bunch of irl religious fanatics, so they said "immortals" instead. That class is suspiciously a lot like the monk class, with punch attacks and less need to wear armor, etc. Using the mythic adventures system can only bump a character up one effective level at level one, so I'm filling in the blanks with a modified monk archtype because that's just what seems to fit.

So that's my reasoning, for those curious. I'm still looking for balance input.:) About the base attack/hit die thing, thanks for pointing that out; I'll have to think on it some more.

[Shmoogie]

Idea 2:

- Good Will saves (so all good saves)
- Hit Dice d12s instead of d10s
- no bonus feats
- Wisdom-based stuff is effected by Charisma instead (this is thematic, not a min/max move; the character is probably going to be a spell-sage)
- not restricted to lawful characters
- this time around, I left the bab as-is. I figure that the +6 saving throw to will saves over 20 levels and the increase in hit die is worth about 4 feats, and that by removing the 6 bonus feats I have two feats coming; which I think balances out the alternate ability score and opening up the alignment restriciton

So thoughts for round 2?

[Cyrad]

I still don't follow. If you have extra levels in another class, you're not a 1st level character.

[Shiroi]

He doesn't want to be a first level character. He wants to be a single character as strong and versatile as a party of 4 first level characters.

I'd be interested in a quadstalt character instead, take the first level benefits of a cleric/rogue/wizard/fighter or some similar "I get a whole party worth of abilities" and run with it. You have the standard solutions to every problem (I'd hand wave spell failure chance as well for this concept) but you don't have the move action economy of a full party, so it'll be a very difficult challenge where picking and choosing your tactics carefully will be your best win chance. You might or might not still add mythic 1 to the build if you decided it wasn't strong enough.

I feel like a single 4th level character, even without mythic 1, will curb stomp most 1st level adventures because they won't have a problem hitting anything ever, they have massive HP reserves and saves, the starting gold gives huge AC and damage boosts and an even better chance to hit on a 2+... it just makes you unstoppable. I'd also advise making sure you keep hero points to reroll any instant death events such as a SoD spell and a nat 1 saving throw.

[Knight Magenta]

A single character suffers from action economy problems. He can crubstomp most creatures he runs into, until he rolls a 3 for his save against sleep. Then its game over. At higher levels, even a mook that gets a crit can be a serious threat.

My suggestion would be to play a character that makes their own party. A necromancer cleric, a master summoner, or a planer binding based wizard.

[Shmoogie]

That's all very good advice; I'll consider abandoning this project at this point and use hirelings instead.