I've started playing a Monk in Core PFS and could use some input.
Here is a snapshot.
Dwarf Monk 2
Str 17
Dex 14
Con 16
Int 7
Wis 16
Cha 5
Traits: Indomitable Faith, Reactionary
Skills: Acrobatics and Perception
Feats
1st Improved Initiative, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
2nd Dodge
Planned
3rd Step Up
5th Toughness
6th ???
7th Power Attack
9th Greater Grapple
10th Medusa's Wrath
11th ???
I'm debating between Improved Bull Rush at 6th level and Greater Bull Rush at 11th level or Mobility at 6th level and maybe Great Fortitude at 11th.
Anyone play or play with a Core Monk who can offer advice?
Don't use Power Attack. Accuracy is your biggest enemy. That probably removes your Bull Rush plans but I think it's for the best. You do want Toughness before Imp. Initiative, I think.
One issue you will have with Bull Rush is that you can't use the maneuver against creatures two sizes larger than you. As you start to get into higher levels, creatures will get Huge and Gargantuan, and you can't Bull Rush them. One solution is to carry potions of Enlarge Person.
Another possible issue is that terrain can also prevent you from Bull Rushing, but this should be less of a problem (unless you're trying to charge).
Bull Rush is also situational. Inside a hallway or in terrain with a lot of obstacles, you can use Bull Rush to great effect--clearing doorways, opening holes in the bad guy's line, etc. Outside or in a large room, you might shove someone back 5 feet only to have them step around you on their turn.
So it largely depends on what you want to play. Bull Rush can get you some nice battlefield control, but you won't always use it.
I'd recommend Improved Trip over Bull Rush. You can use it as part of your flurry, and knocking people prone will go a long way toward helping you hit.
Also, I'd recommend dropping Toughness in favor of Weapon Focus. You need all the accuracy boosts you can get, and 16 Con should be plenty, even if you use your FCB on skills (which I gather you want to, with 7 Int).
@Secret Wizard I've already played at level 2 so already have Improved Initiative. And you are right, Toughness would have been the better call.
I still want Step Up before Toughness now that I'm less likely to go down in 1 hit. As for Power Attack I'll be getting a lot of attacks later on and have very few methods of adding to damage.
@Gwen Smith Good call on the potion. Those cramped corridors are the main reason I want Bull Rush. I want a way to uncork the bottlenecks. Other then that I don't have much use for the feat.
@RainyDayNinja I can take Improved Trip but will never have Greater Trip. Would it still be worth it? Trip gets worse at higher levels. Would Weapon Focus unarmed add to my Grapple check?
Is there any reason you are not planning on taking Scorpion Style and Gorgon's Fist? Medusa's Wrath will be severely limited without those two feats. If you do not plan on taking those two feats, i would suggest swapping out Medusa's Wrath for something else.
I am not familiar with the Core PFS rules (I assume it means Core Rulebook only) but I would suggest Combat Reflexes and Improved/Greater Trip could really help you control the battlefield.
EDIT: Due to the following Comment, you can ignore the next paragraph.
@Secret Wizard I've already played at level 2 so already have Improved Initiative. And you are right, Toughness would have been the better call.
I would also suggest removing Improved Initiative. Personally I feel that unless going first has a huge gain for you (Such as sneak attack damage before other characters have acted) then that particular feat is not particularly useful, You are going to get a turn regardless.
I have Stunning Fist and a decent Wisdom. Medusa's Wrath won't come up often but there are not a lot of good options. Local Core players lean heavy on damage dealers but very little battlefield control so my focus will be on grappling with damage being the backup. Going before the enemy makes grapple a lot better.
I can't take Greater Trip because I lack the Int for Combat Expertise.
I have Stunning Fist and a decent Wisdom. Medusa's Wrath won't come up often but there are not a lot of good options. Local Core players lean heavy on damage dealers but very little battlefield control so my focus will be on grappling with damage being the backup. Going before the enemy makes grapple a lot better.
I can't take Greater Trip because I lack the Int for Combat Expertise.
I overlooked the low Int Stat, my bad. I still would suggest Scorpion Style and improved trip. You can still attack other enemies when you are grappling (At a negative) which means you can trip or slow people who are trying to move around you.
@Secret Wizard I've already played at level 2 so already have Improved Initiative. And you are right, Toughness would have been the better call.
I still want Step Up before Toughness now that I'm less likely to go down in 1 hit. As for Power Attack I'll be getting a lot of attacks later on and have very few methods of adding to damage.
I've ran some numbers and Power Attack is not a good investment for a CRB Monk until like, 13th level. It's not good for the UnMonk until 9th either.
So based on advice so far.
3rd Step Up
5th Weapon Focus Unarmed
6th ???
7th Toughness
9th Greater Grapple
10th Medusa's Wrath
11th ???
I still want Toughness at some point because my AC will be horrible. Qinggong isn't an option. I could buy a pearl of power lvl 2 and hope to play with a Druid or high level Ranger but it won't be dependable.
At level 6 Mobility helps offset the poor AC. Improved Trip can be used on the occasions when grapple is bad but trip isn't. I don't know how often that is. Maybe when 2 or more enemies are next to each other.
No clue what to take at 11th level but that is a long way off.
The earlier you pick Toughness the better. Best Pearl of Power you could buy would be for a Paladin to get Ironskinned up. A wand of Mage Armor can't hurt.
I have the wand. Ironskin isn't core and isn't PFS legal.
Bwa bwa, thanks for the reminder. I forget sometimes about CRB only.
There's nothing preventing a Core Monk from picking up a two-handed polearm to make standard and reach attacks with. Holding a polearm does nothing to stop the use of flurry of blows, but will make standard attacks much more potent and grant some reach benefits, including free AoOs.
There's nothing preventing a Core Monk from picking up a two-handed polearm to make standard and reach attacks with. Holding a polearm does nothing to stop the use of flurry of blows, but will make standard attacks much more potent and grant some reach benefits, including free AoOs.
Non-proficiency sucks, though.
I thought needing a feat to make it work went without saying, but I guess not. You get a pretty significant amount in return for that feat, particularly when we're talking about Core with it's extremely limited choice of feats with more dramatic effects.
Core Monks are heartbreakers. There is almost no way to make them do the things you'll want them to. You're going to be frustrated unless the GM provides you with quite a few magic items to fill in the mechanical cracks.
It's unfortunate and discouraging, but it's also the truth. If you want to play a monk, don't do it in PFS Core.