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Returning to a character concept I've been mulling over for at least a year, I'm trying to build a tiefling Monk or Sacred Fist Warpriest (or both, I've heard they synergize well) who fights using a Temple Sword as his weapon of choice, and uses a defensive style focused on dodging and turning an opponent's energy back on them.
I've got no idea how to build this in an effective manner. From what I understand, the best option would be to multiclass a Master of Many Styles Monk with a Sacred Fist Warpriest. Is that correct? If not, what's an effective way to combine the Ascetic Style feats with the Crane Style Feats?
Sacred Fist was nerfed into the ground, it's not worth taking anymore. (Sacred Fist no longer gets full BAB for flurry, they basically get free TWF feats without needing the dex prereq so they use their 3/4 BAB and then apply the penalty from TWF).
I would suggest you play a Unchained Monk and wield a temple sword two-handed. It's plays basically the same as unarmed strike focused monk, but some minor changes.
Sacred Fist was nerfed into the ground, it's not worth taking anymore. (Sacred Fist no longer gets full BAB for flurry, they basically get free TWF feats without needing the dex prereq so they use their 3/4 BAB and then apply the penalty from TWF).
I would suggest you play a Unchained Monk and wield a temple sword two-handed. It's plays basically the same as unarmed strike focused monk, but some minor changes.
Well, 3/4 BAB, but also the fact that you can pretty much count the divine favor spell as a standard class feature due to fervor. And as a result, the fate's favored trait is practically as much of a 'must have' as beast totem for barbarians.
If you were going to consider TWF on any 3/4 BAB class, it might as well be this one. The boosted up +2 about covers the penalty from the get go (although, obviously, you could argue just 2 handing and not suffering a penalty is much better deal). The fact that it also gives a static bonus to damage as well also makes it attractive to TWF builds.
Of course, I could also see a very strong argument of 'skip sacred fist, and grab arsenal chaplain instead'. The weapon training that archetype gives pretty much gives you full BAB (fulfilling the hope hinted at with the sacred fist), which means your divine favor brings you up to fighter levels. And weapon training also applies to static damage. So that could make a dex TWF build attractive.
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I like Sohei/Temple Sword personally. It's the only monk archetype that lets you wear light armor and keep flurrying; which means you can actually get away with mithral medium armor. As a result you don't actually need all that much Wisdom (it's just for Ki; 12-14 is sufficient, more is still nice) and the class becomes much less MAD.
If getting to the enemy worries you, you could take Nature Soul > Animal Ally > Boon Companion and leverage your Monastic Mount ability and bonus feats to take Mounted Skirmisher. Then you can just ride up to enemies and full attack them immediately.
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It could still work, especially for a small PC riding for example a Small Cat (which grows Medium at druid level 4). It's actually got some synergy, with the cat tripping enemies and you flurrying afterwards. But it would probably be a bit conspicuous. And you'd need to talk your GM into allowing a Small tiefling (not impossible, outside PFS).
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My take on this concept, which I would very much like to try sometime, is "sleeping sword." Inspired by a character in a martial arts film I saw many years ago, and cannot recall the title of.
1 level of crusader cleric, deity is either Shizuru or Uskyeria; the rest of your levels are in Hungry Ghost monk. Take crusader flurry, you can use this with your sword (katana or scimitar respectively). Take Repose as your domain, use Domain Strike. Take Medusa's Wrath as your level 10 Monk bonus feat, use this on enemies that you've staggered with Domain Strike.
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Alsox, I once had a great concept , that I wanted to try.
Shaman , speaker of the past + 1 monk level .
Flurry a temple sword , hex strike evil eye, wearing no armor.
Build a Dex version of this for unarmed strikes it works really well stacking enforcer, cruel, and frostbite. Revelations help with initiative and AC. I would highly recommend it. Keeping accuracy and DCs up can take a bit of work.
For a strength build I really like the Seven Branched Sword to use a trip attempt to make them flat footed followed by unarmed strikes for the debuffs.
I like Sohei/Temple Sword personally. It's the only monk archetype that lets you wear light armor and keep flurrying; which means you can actually get away with mithral medium armor. As a result you don't actually need all that much Wisdom (it's just for Ki; 12-14 is sufficient, more is still nice) and the class becomes much less MAD. .
I will agree that the armor is a great addition, but I might be wary of going with mithral medium armor due to the nature of how monks progress.
Early on? You are absolutely correct. Grab light armor to survive with stats that don't make you a useless turtle. Go with strength so you can effectively use those one handed and two handed weapons that the sohei has access to.
But monks are well known for 'eventually' have some of the best AC. This is because they have both have an additional stat to AC and get a scaling bonus to AC from their class. Even if you don't start with high wis, you would still want to get a wis boosting headband (because who doesn't like having a great will save?). And you would want a belt boosting dex anyway with the light armor or mithral breastplate. Eventually, even with modest defensive stats, the sohei would eventually get more AC if they go unarmored.
Of course, there are still reasons to go with armor as a sohei at high levels. But this isn't for weapon builds. Unarmed builds, however, would love a set of brawling armor (a light armor property that gives +2 to unarmed attack/damage).
I am...fairly sure that the mithral breastplate doesn't qualify for this property, so soheis would often be divided into whether they go with high AC or high attack... and since the attack boost doesn't affect a weapon using sohei, you might as well go with the AC.
Mithral breastplates might provide a higher AC at some point during mid levels. But since it gets made obsolete, I question how much you want to invest into that when you eventually transition over to bracers of armor.
The reason's monk's get more AC than everyone at high levels are they use bracers or mage armor beforehand for a lot of armor AC in addition to everything they normally get.
The reason's monk's get more AC than everyone at high levels are they use bracers or mage armor beforehand for a lot of armor AC in addition to everything they normally get.
Well yes- bracers are assumed, of course. It is the same general 'enhancement bonus to AC' seen on armor. The bracers just provide a substitute for those that can't grab normal armor.
It is just that the scaling 0-5 bonus from leveling, plus the starting wis, plus a headband of wis, add up eventually. Going modest, 5 scaling bonus +2 from a 14 starting wis +3 from a headband= +10 AC, or more than a fullplate. And then you take into account that they also lack a max dex to AC (might not be a problem for mithral breastplate with 'modest' dex and belt, but still...).
I generally assume a monk is equal or better unarmored by level 12 (+3 scaling, +2 dex, +1 dex from belt= enough to challenge the breastplate).
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Sacred Fist was nerfed into the ground, it's not worth taking anymore. (Sacred Fist no longer gets full BAB for flurry, they basically get free TWF feats without needing the dex prereq so they use their 3/4 BAB and then apply the penalty from TWF).
Sacred Fist with a weapon is still very deadly, due to stacking Divine Favor/Power onto two-handed Power Attack flurry. Having up to six two-handed Power-Attack strikes in a single full attack by level 8 with at least a +3/+3 from Divine Favor statistically overwhelms the lower BAB issue.
From a weapon-flurry standpoint, the nerf to Sacred Fist was actually rather needed; when they got to have full BAB plus swift-action Divine buffing, it was a bit much.
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I like Sohei/Temple Sword personally. It's the only monk archetype that lets you wear light armor and keep flurrying; which means you can actually get away with mithral medium armor. As a result you don't actually need all that much Wisdom (it's just for Ki; 12-14 is sufficient, more is still nice) and the class becomes much less MAD. .I will agree that the armor is a great addition, but I might be wary of going with mithral medium armor due to the nature of how monks progress.
Early on? You are absolutely correct. Grab light armor to survive with stats that don't make you a useless turtle. Go with strength so you can effectively use those one handed and two handed weapons that the sohei has access to.
But monks are well known for 'eventually' have some of the best AC. This is because they have both have an additional stat to AC and get a scaling bonus to AC from their class. Even if you don't start with high wis, you would still want to get a wis boosting headband (because who doesn't like having a great will save?). And you would want a belt boosting dex anyway with the light armor or mithral breastplate. Eventually, even with modest defensive stats, the sohei would eventually get more AC if they go unarmored.
Of course, there are still reasons to go with armor as a sohei at high levels. But this isn't for weapon builds. Unarmed builds, however, would love a set of brawling armor (a light armor property that gives +2 to unarmed attack/damage).
I am...fairly sure that the mithral breastplate doesn't qualify for this property, so soheis would often be divided into whether they go with high AC or high attack... and since the attack boost doesn't affect a weapon using sohei, you might as well go with the AC.
Mithral breastplates might provide a higher AC at some point during mid levels. But since it gets made obsolete, I question how much you want to invest into that when you eventually transition over to bracers of armor.
I dunno really. A sohei gets away with wearing armor and shield, that's two relatively cheap to improve sources of AC. And while an additional stat to get AC from sounds good, it also means an additional stat you need to invest in. Sohei doesn't need a lot of Wis, it's only for Ki pool (which, admittedly, is nice). I think the Sohei is really about even with regular monk in AC expectations (though slightly worse in touch AC/CMD, but not by much, if those points go into Dex/Str instead of Wis).
And of course the sohei is a much more palatabe dip than regular monk for armor-wearing martials.
I don't think Sohei can use shield and still flurry, unless you exploit a quickdraw shield. Though by the rules, you can do that.
It's actually easy to beat a mithral breastplate with WIS in the long run, especially if you're using Dual Talent Human to start with 16WIS. Armor is an advantage only if you have a reason to go DEX secondary (bow or switch-hitter Sohei...).
Unchained Monk + Crane Style can actually be a more attractive martial dip than Sohei, since even just 14WIS and basic Crane is 6AC, and the attack penalty is the same as Sohei flurry.
One of the most interesting possible Monks is a Dual-Cursed Oracle 1/ Sohei, who dumps DEX and ignores WIS in favor of huge STR and CHA and a breastplate. Revelation to use CHA for AC and Misfortune Revelation...
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Well the prohibition on flurrying in armor is part of the same sentence as the one prohibiting shields. And that entire paragraph gets replaced by the Sohei's proficiencies. So the prohibition is gone.
And you're still comparing monks that expend more feat/stat resources with the sohei; the sohei still has his human bonus feat left (or invested in Dex or Str), and doesn't need to take Crane Style (although he can, too).
UnMonk comes out ahead in attack bonus, but by how much depends on what you did with the stat points you saved.
Come to think of it, isn't the upshot of the "bucklers don't occupy the swashbuckler's off-hand" that you can Crane Wing with a buckler? (Not that I want to bet anything too valuable on the persistent functioning of that feat anymore...)
I think the UnMonk is really only superior if your other class was Wisdom-heavy (cleric, war priest, tortured crusader paladin). Or if Touch AC/CMD is really important to you. But otherwise having an armor and a shield you can upgrade is really a nice way to spread costs.
I dunno really. A sohei gets away with wearing armor and shield, that's two relatively cheap to improve sources of AC. And while an additional stat to get AC from sounds good, it also means an additional stat you need to invest in. Sohei doesn't need a lot of Wis, it's only for Ki pool (which, admittedly, is nice). I think the Sohei is really about even with regular monk in AC expectations (though slightly worse in touch AC/CMD, but not by much, if those points go into Dex/Str instead of Wis).
And of course the sohei is a much more palatabe dip than regular monk for armor-wearing martials.
Unfortunately, the text of the archetype never addresses that line of the core class. The main reason why they are allowed to flurry in armor is that there was a FAQ about it when people asked 'why does it have light armor when everything about a monk breaks in armor?'. The FAQ, however, only addresses light armor, and the archetype never gives you shield proficiency. So it is fairly safe to say that the shield restriction is still in place.
And the 'multiple sources of AC upgrade' is the main advantage of going unarmed as well. You can not only boost your AC by boosting your dex stat, but you can also boost your wisdom stat (which upgrades on a separate item, and your sohei has little need to put anything else on that headband). The upgrades to wis are why monks go from 'a bit above medium armors by taking starting wis and the scalin bonus' to 'straight up above heavy armors'.
You would likely grab a wisdom headband anyway (since it boosts the all important will save and gives you more ki), so the savings are not necessarily there.
Well the prohibition on flurrying in armor is part of the same sentence as the one prohibiting shields. And that entire paragraph gets replaced by the Sohei's proficiencies. So the prohibition is gone.
Arguments about that went around and around and around back in the day, but the upshot is that, generally speaking, archetype paragraphs only change what they actually say they change; you get X instead of Y, the rest remains as normal. You don't wholesale replace a paragraph unless it actually says "this replaces...". If the Sohei's Bonus Feats paragraph totally replaced their normal one, then they would be allowed to take nothing but Mounted Combat feats as Bonus Feats and would have to meet all prerequisites.
As was said above, an FAQ allowed Sohei to specifically use flurry in light armor, despite that not being the intent of the designer; but nothing was said about permitting shields.
All that said, the Monk could always just go with Unhindering Shield if he really wants to be able to have a shield with his sword.
Or if you really want to get tricksy, Quick Draw and a quickdraw light shield, so that you attack with a weapon in two hands, then free-action switch to one-handed grip and free-action ready shield to defend, then free-action remove shield and free-action grip with two hands to attack...
Sacred Fist was nerfed into the ground, it's not worth taking anymore. (Sacred Fist no longer gets full BAB for flurry, they basically get free TWF feats without needing the dex prereq so they use their 3/4 BAB and then apply the penalty from TWF).
I would suggest you play a Unchained Monk and wield a temple sword two-handed. It's plays basically the same as unarmed strike focused monk, but some minor changes.
Well, 3/4 BAB, but also the fact that you can pretty much count the divine favor spell as a standard class feature due to fervor. And as a result, the fate's favored trait is practically as much of a 'must have' as beast totem for barbarians.
If you were going to consider TWF on any 3/4 BAB class, it might as well be this one. The boosted up +2 about covers the penalty from the get go (although, obviously, you could argue just 2 handing and not suffering a penalty is much better deal). The fact that it also gives a static bonus to damage as well also makes it attractive to TWF builds.
Of course, I could also see a very strong argument of 'skip sacred fist, and grab arsenal chaplain instead'. The weapon training that archetype gives pretty much gives you full BAB (fulfilling the hope hinted at with the sacred fist), which means your divine favor brings you up to fighter levels. And weapon training also applies to static damage. So that could make a dex TWF build attractive.
Sorry, yeah my point is Sacred Fist is a bad archetype. It's much better to go base warpriest or Arsenal chaplain and just pick up the TWF feats if you really want them. At least you can still wear armor.
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Since we're talking about Sohei and 'Monastic Swordsman'... I've always loved the concept of:
Celestial Voodoo-Monk
Dual-Cursed Oracle of Lore 4/ Sohei 7
Aasimar: 17STR, 7DEX, 14CON, 10INT, 7/9WIS, 16/18CHA
Traits: Fate's Favored, Magical Knack, Irrepressible; Drawback: Power-Hungry
1DO. *Revelation: Sidestep Secret / Noble Scion: of War
2SM. +Dodge
3SM. Extra Revelation: Misfortune / +Combat Reflexes
4SM.
5SM. Power Attack
6SM.
7SM. Heavenly Radiance: Wandering Star Motes / +Mobility
8DO.
9DO. *Revelation: Lore Keeper / Heavenly Radiance: Sunbeam
10DO.
11SM. Improved Critical: Nodachi (OR) more Heavenly Radiance/day
Can cast +3/+3 Divine Favor, double-reroll Ill Omen, Wandering Star Motes and single-shot Sunbeam; can force rerolls on saving throws with Misfortune (or whatever other rerolls). Has a major "DEX AC" along with mithral medium armor. Flurries a nodachi with +3 Weapon Training (gloves of dueling). Has a major bonus to initiative. Has a major bonus to all knowledge checks.
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Sorry, yeah my point is Sacred Fist is a bad archetype. It's much better to go base warpriest or Arsenal chaplain and just pick up the TWF feats if you really want them. At least you can still wear armor.
Ironically, the Sacred Fist isn't all that great with fists; but they can be very dangerous with a weapon. Seriously, actually running numbers on the potential of a Sacred fist with a weapon in two hands comes out an awful lot more damaging that what people usually assume.
Sorry, yeah my point is Sacred Fist is a bad archetype. It's much better to go base warpriest or Arsenal chaplain and just pick up the TWF feats if you really want them. At least you can still wear armor.Ironically, the Sacred Fist isn't all that great with fists; but they can be very dangerous with a weapon. Seriously, actually running numbers on the potential of a Sacred fist with a weapon in two hands comes out an awful lot more damaging that what people usually assume.
That is how monks and brawlers work- they rely on silent benefits that hide in the background to get their damage.
That is how monks and brawlers work- they rely on silent benefits that hide in the background to get their damage.Sorry, yeah my point is Sacred Fist is a bad archetype. It's much better to go base warpriest or Arsenal chaplain and just pick up the TWF feats if you really want them. At least you can still wear armor.Ironically, the Sacred Fist isn't all that great with fists; but they can be very dangerous with a weapon. Seriously, actually running numbers on the potential of a Sacred fist with a weapon in two hands comes out an awful lot more damaging that what people usually assume.
I'm not sure I'd say that the combination of flurry and two-handing is exactly something hiding in the background; more like hiding in plain sight. It's just a pity that someone came online here and specifically asked about Sacred Fist with a weapon, which can be a great character both mechanically and flavor-wise if done right, and was told "nah, sucks".
I'm not sure I'd say that the combination of flurry and two-handing is exactly something hiding in the background; more like hiding in plain sight. It's just a pity that someone came online here and specifically asked about Sacred Fist with a weapon, which can be a great character both mechanically and flavor-wise if done right, and was told "nah, sucks".
It isn't directly, explicitly spelled out as a class ability either though, so it can be overlooked at times.
Sorry, yeah my point is Sacred Fist is a bad archetype. It's much better to go base warpriest or Arsenal chaplain and just pick up the TWF feats if you really want them. At least you can still wear armor.Ironically, the Sacred Fist isn't all that great with fists; but they can be very dangerous with a weapon. Seriously, actually running numbers on the potential of a Sacred fist with a weapon in two hands comes out an awful lot more damaging that what people usually assume.
Indeed, the best "core" Monk (for damage) is one that doesn't use its fist at all and instead focuses on two-handing a weapon with flurry of blows. I've seen it first hand, it's just not what one would expect and it sucks that the monk is better as a weapon user than as a punching machine.
Indeed, the best "core" Monk (for damage) is one that doesn't use its fist at all and instead focuses on two-handing a weapon with flurry of blows. I've seen it first hand, it's just not what one would expect and it sucks that the monk is better as a weapon user than as a punching machine.Sorry, yeah my point is Sacred Fist is a bad archetype. It's much better to go base warpriest or Arsenal chaplain and just pick up the TWF feats if you really want them. At least you can still wear armor.Ironically, the Sacred Fist isn't all that great with fists; but they can be very dangerous with a weapon. Seriously, actually running numbers on the potential of a Sacred fist with a weapon in two hands comes out an awful lot more damaging that what people usually assume.
I can make a decent sohei with brawling armor- that untyped +2/+2 helps to boost accuracy and damage.
A lot harder now that they give it a more realistic cost. I used to be able to grab a +1 brawling armor for about the price of a +1 weapon.
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WOW this got long! Okay, lemme try to respond to some of this:
For Tieflings, I really like the feats Nightmare Fist and Moolight Stalker. Nightmare Fist will give you +2 Damage whenever you are in Darkness, and Moonlight Stalker will give you +2 Attack and Damage against anyone you enjoy Concealment from. There are 1 or 2 Feats that improve your ability to make Darkness.
Well, we ARE going to be in shadowy places a lot in Council of Thieves. I may be a bit feat-starved with this character. Monks suffer from that, I understand.
Temple Sword is has the Monk Weapon Quality, which means you can Flurry with it. Since you are talking Temple Sword, I guess you want to Flurry. That means no Armor For you, so making Darkness is even better. On top of that, maybe take Greater Blindfighting and carry around an Eversmoking Bottle, letting you enjoy a Miss Chance and your +2 Attack and +4 Damage almost all the time.
In addition, consider taking Armor of the Pit, with gives you +2 Natural Armor.
Temple Sword is a Tripping Weapon, so I guess you want to do a lot of Tripping. So that means Combat Expertise of Dirty Fighting for you, and Improved Trip, Greater Trip, Fury's Fall, and Vicious Stomp, of course.
Tripping has a size limit. To get around it, you might take Punishing Kick, which works sort of like Stunning Fist, but instead of making your opponent Stunned, you make them Prone. Making-someone-Prone is not the same thing as Tripping them, and not as good for someone with Greater Trip, but worth considering: no Size limit. Another remedy is the Harder they Fall Feat, someone Aid-Anothers you, and you get to try to Trip your target whatever the size. It's a Teamwork Feat, and if your party members aren't willing to take a Feat just for you--and I've never had a party member who was--you realize your Teamwork Feats with 1 level in Cavalier or 3 levels in Inquisitor, at least that's my recommendation.
The primary reason for the temple sword is because my initial plan to use Crusader's Flurry with a longsword through a Cleric multiclass was wasteful from what I'd been told in previous threads I've made regarding this concept.
Master of Many Styles can be very powerful, but I wouldn't combine MoMS with Temple Sword. Master of Many Styles Monks don't get Flurry, and one of the chief advantages of Temple Sword is that you can Flurry with it. It's like wearing a paisley tie with a striped shirt: they just don't go together.
If you want to go MOMS, take some other kind of weapon that also is in the Monk Fighter Weapon Group like Kusarigama that is Double and Reach and Trip and Slashing and Blunt, and the Ascetic Style feats will give you your Monk Damage instead of the lesser Weapon Damage.
If that's the case, I can discard Master of Many Styles. My main concern, as I said, was using it to combine Ascetic and Crane styles to emulate the melekatha style, which doesn't have an official stat-up the way Hamatulatsu does.
For a Style Combo, how about Panther-Snake-Ascetic? Panther Style Feats give you Free Action Attacks whenever you Provoke Attacks of Opportunity. Snake Style lets you do Piercing Damage, and Snake Fang gives you an Attack of Opportunity whenever someone attacks you and misses. Acquire a Crown of Swords which gives you bonus attacks whenever someone attacks you and hits.
Since Panther Style feats involve Provoking, it would behoove you to get Dodge and Mobility, which would open the door to Shadowdancer, which would let you do stuff like Hide in Plain Sight and Dimension Door, and is a logical way to go for a Tiefling.
Since MOMS Monks don't get Flurry anyway, you might as well wear Armor. Get Armor Spikes, get good at Grappling, and take Hamatula Strike, so every time you hit someone you can Grapple them and do Armor Spike Damage.
If it can recreate melekatha supplemented with some holy Iomedaean swordplay, I'll be happy. And as I said, Master of Many Styles isn't that high a priority.
I'm not a super fan. I don't like going into Total Defense, and Crane Style feats only promise 2 Attacks of Opportunity/round. I guess Crane-Snake-Ascetic Style would be similar to the other I was suggesting but works while you are stationary instead of having to move around like with Panther Style.
Like I said, the primary goal is emulating melekatha.
If you like my ideas, I have given you a whole bunch of pieces, and it will be a challenge to figure out how to best fit them together.
The first question to ask yourself is Temple Sword or MoMS?
Then look at the prerequisites and figure out which ones you can get to come online earliest. For instance, you can't get Snake Fang before level 9, but you can get the Panther Style Feats and Dodge and Mobility right away. MOMS are limited to 2 Style Feats before level 8.
Fool around with the pieces and see how they fit together, find the combo that makes you smile.
That's easy: Temple Sword. I would like to go with longsword if I can, but multiclassing as a monk means I don't get enlightenment at the end, which was part of the goal with this character, using monastic enlightenment to overcome his infernal taint.
The primary reason for the temple sword is because my initial plan to use Crusader's Flurry with a longsword through a Cleric multiclass was wasteful from what I'd been told in previous threads I've made regarding this concept.
A Sacred Fist of Iomedae can grab Crusader's Flurry: Longsword at level 5 without multiclassing; if they can grab a bonus Human feat at 6 with the Human Favored Class Bonus (which a Tiefling can if they have Pass as Human), then they can start on Crane Style at 6 and have Crane/Wing by 7. Crane Style works just fine with a weapon; you can even attacking with a weapon in two hands, and then use Crane defense with one hand between rounds.
A Sacred Fist with a longsword could even use Wisdom as their primary stat by taking Guided Hand, which then grants them stacked AC and lets them use Warpriest spells and Blessings with full-spellcaster power (and they're still pretty good with a weapon).
1. Weapon Proficiency: Longsword
2.
3. Weapon Focus: Longsword
4.
5. Crusader's Flurry: Longsword
6. Favored Class Bonus Feat: Channel Smite
7. Guided Hand
Instead of an actual combat style, they can use Iomedae's Glory Blessing, which is amazing when crossed with a high WIS. Plus, spells like Instrument of Agony and Archon's Aura are very powerful.
Of course, all this Sacred Fist stuff is totally infused with magic; so if that's not the character you're envisioning, Sacred Fist isn't the right theme.
Edit: come to think of it, Glory Blessing is a perfect theme for a 'style' of blocking/reflecting 'energy', since even spells tend to bounce harmlessly off...
A -1 isn't 'down the toilet'... It's a -1. Granted, on a class with some BAB issues it's not ideal at all. Even one level of Cleric can grant a +2 Divine Favor bonus, but then you do need to cast it.
One option would be pure Monk of the Seven Winds, where you flurry unarmed strikes while using Lightning Finish, Crane Style, Stylish Riposte and all standard attacks to attack with a longsword (no Crusader's needed). The high-level Sirocco Fury ability is really, really good too.
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Have you considered the 9-ring broadsword? I am a little more happy with it as a fluff-replacement for a longsword than the temple sword, just for the sake of the visuals.
I'd build like this:
unchained monk 1 - feats: Crane Style, Dodge, Imp Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
freestyle fighter 1
freestyle fighter 2 - feats: Weapon Focus: [sword], Ascetic Style
freestyle fighter 3
unchained monk 2 - feats: Crane Wing, Combat Reflexes
unchained monk 3
unchained monk 4 - feat: Ascetic Form
unchained monk 5
unchained monk 6 - feats: Crane Riposte, [something]
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That DOES look tempting, but there is an issue of flavor: The Seven Forms style is taught exclusively in a monastery in Taldor, and melekatha is described as a product of the Upper Reach monks following the example of Melek Taus, the vanished Peacock Angel. So either my character travelled halfway across the world, which is kind of hard to do for a tiefling living under the poverty line in Cheliax, or a Seven Forms monk came to the Upper Reach to spread their Qadira-influenced style and he sort of mixed it with melekatha.A -1 isn't 'down the toilet'... It's a -1. Granted, on a class with some BAB issues it's not ideal at all. Even one level of Cleric can grant a +2 Divine Favor bonus, but then you do need to cast it.
One option would be pure Monk of the Seven Winds, where you flurry unarmed strikes while using Lightning Finish, Crane Style, Stylish Riposte and all standard attacks to attack with a longsword (no Crusader's needed). The high-level Sirocco Fury ability is really, really good too.
Have you considered the 9-ring broadsword? I am a little more happy with it as a fluff-replacement for a longsword than the temple sword, just for the sake of the visuals.
I'd build like this:
unchained monk 1 - feats: Crane Style, Dodge, Imp Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
freestyle fighter 1
freestyle fighter 2 - feats: Weapon Focus: [sword], Ascetic Style
freestyle fighter 3
unchained monk 2 - feats: Crane Wing, Combat Reflexes
unchained monk 3
unchained monk 4 - feat: Ascetic Form
unchained monk 5
unchained monk 6 - feats: Crane Riposte, [something]
Eh...the nine-ring broadsword has always kind of bothered me. Too...jingly.
Melekatha Style
Well, overall, I think Crane Style - or particularly Crane Style plus using Stylish Riposte Weapon Trick - is a good stand-in, and it works flawlessly with a sword. Between Crane and Stylish, you get a riposte attack if they miss you, period - and you get a towering AC to help them miss you. Both prerequisites are covered by Monk Bonus Feats.
Sacred Fist can do Crusader's Flurry without a dip, and Unchained Monk can handle a dip fairly well. A 4-level dip in Warpriest (not Sacred Fist) with an Unchained Monk is a very deadly combo.
Guided Hand to attack based on your WIS also seems to really represent the style as I see it, as you're both attacking and defending with your wisdom (and damn can a high-WIS Monk defend...).
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Okay, so here's what I'm hearing:
Good combinations to emulate melekatha include "Panther+Snake" and "Crane+Weapon Trick(Stylish Flourish)." And if I want to do this, the best way to flurry with it is to multiclass into Free-Style Fighter or Brawler.
I could also flurry with unarmed attacks and use swords for other attacks with the Monk of the Seven Forms archetype, though this would necessitate me tweaking my story a bit to explain how a Child of the Upper Reach is a member of the Order of the Stalwart Fist.
And I could combine Unchained Monk with regular Warpriest and use Guided Hand to reduce the MADness of the concept towards using Wisdom as my core Attribute.
However, part of me does want to get to Perfect Self, which even a dip will remove any chance of getting. More for story reasons than for its actual benefits, you understand.
And the whole tiefling thing is non-negotiable. That's a deliberate choice based on the themes and ideas presented in Council of Thieves' narrative, to act as a foil to the tiefling antagonists throughout the Adventure Path: "We were both born in corruption. You let it consume you. I denied it, and through the Inheritor I ascended!"
Good combinations to emulate melekatha include "Panther+Snake" and "Crane+Weapon Trick(Stylish Flourish)." And if I want to do this, the best way to flurry with it is to multiclass into Free-Style Fighter or Brawler.
And I could combine Unchained Monk with regular Warpriest and use Guided Hand to reduce the MADness of the concept towards using Wisdom as my core Attribute.
You can do Crane+Stylish without needing any multiclassing; Stylish Riposte isn't part of an actual style, so you don't need any style-crossing abilities.
Sacred Fist allows Guided Hand without multiclassing, but of course, it's not going to get Perfect Self. On the other hand, you're becoming a military avatar of your god, so there's that redemption angle.
Are you expecting to reach level 20 anyhow? If you know that a campaign is going to go that far into high levels, that can also affect build-choices. Some things handle reaching uber-high level better than other things...
An interesting side-note with a WIS-based Monk - powers like Stunning Fist that are based on WIS get crazy good. Cornugon Smash will even let you make Stunning Fist attacks with a Monk weapon, including with a Crusader's Flurry weapon. Stunning Fist longsword!
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Melekatha sounds more like Flowing Monk to me: unarmed combat and redirecting enemies.That was my initial plan, but I was advised against it because by multiclassing with Cleric for Crusader's Flurry my BAB was going to go down the toilet.
Since Melekatha seems to be an unarmed combat art, what would you need crusader's flurry for?
Flowing Monk is much more focused on maneuvers and control, not so much on doing damage. Plays very different from a dragon/pummeling or temple sword monk.
Unchained Monk with crane style.
You can go STR for two-handed use or DEX with weapon finesse and get the feats or agile enchantment later.
Then add in ascetic style and combat style mastery to do both at the same time later.
One awesome kung fu swordsperson.