Alright, so I had a goblin build that I loved, but like so many fun and exciting martial builds, it got nerfed all to hell and back to the point that it simply wasn't playable anymore. The short version is that he took the Fighter archetype Brawler (as opposed to the hybrid class) and a MoMS dip for Snake Fang and Crane Wing in order to get his AC as high as possible and then make tons of unarmed strikes. As a plus, he got all of those cool goodies that come with the Brawler archetype, like Menacing Stance, Standstill+No Escape, etc.
Ah, well, out with the old and in with the new.
I'm trying to rebuild him now, and I've been bouncing around between Fighter (Brawler), the actual Brawler, a Monk (Martial Artist/MoMS archetypes) or some combination thereof. For those wondering, the GM is fine with allowing those two Monk archetypes to combine (*see below for more on that). After a bit of brow-furrowing and number-crunching, I've decided to go with the Monk... mostly. I'm posting this here to get you guys to check my math, make sure I didn’t miss any pre-requisites and hopefully offer up any additional input you might have.
Note: This character might be better made as a Human, but accuracy is going to be a little bit of an issue and I feel like I need to take advantage of the Goblin’s bonus for being small and the Goblin trait ‘Goblin Foolhardiness’ to make up for some of that. Additionally, we have a standard house rule which says that any weapon which would normally qualify for the Weapon Finesse feat instead gains the ‘Finesse’ weapon trait, which allows its wielder to use Dexterity rather than Strength for attack bonuses. The Weapon Finesse feat then offers Dex to damage instead, but must be taken with a specific weapon, similar to Weapon Focus. In my case, however, I’ll probably be leaning on some magical means to get Dex to damage, like an Amulet of Mighty Fists
1st - Dodge
1st - [Style] Snake Style
1st - Stunning Fist
1st - Improved Unarmed Strike
1st - Fuse 2 Styles
2nd - [Style] Crane Style
3rd - Two-Weapon Fighting
5th - Crane Wing
6th - [Wild Card] Snake Fang
7th - Combat Reflexes
8th - Fuse 3 Styles, enter 3 Styles as swift action
9th - Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
10th - [Style] Jabbing Style
11th - Weapon Focus: Unarmed Strike
13th – Greater Weapon Focus: Unarmed Strike
14th - [Wild Card] Jabbing Master
15th - Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
15th - Fuse 4 Styles, enter 4 stances as swift *
16th (Br1)
17th (Br2) - Pummeling Style
17th (Br2) - Pummeling Charge
18th (F1) - Scorpion Style
19th (F2) - Gorgon’s Fist
19th (F2) - Medusa’s Wrath
20th
* the GM ruled that the MoMS archetype and the Martial Artist archetype could be made compatible by changing the 15th level ability to simply saying the Monk could enter 4 stances as a swift action, which puts it right in line with everything else and eliminates the need for a Ki pool, which the character won't have. Since he won't reach 20th level as a Monk anyway, the conflicting exchanges for Perfect Self become moot.
His AC should be obscene, particularly against single foes thanks to Martial Artist. Damage will escalate quickly at higher levels. There is an opportunity there for a ridiculous number of attacks.
Those last three levels are a little tricky. Scorpion Style and Gorgon’s Fist are pretty much throwaways in order to qualify for Medusa’s Wrath which would trigger Jabbing Master nicely. What I’m trying to decide is whether I should take a 3rd level of Fighter (Brawler archetype) for the Close Combatant bonus (+1 attack, +3 damage) or my 16th level of Monk which will bump all those abilities which are ½ Monk level as well as unarmed strike damage (2d6 to 2d8) and my AC bonus. Or perhaps I’m missing another opportunity, like Urban Barbarian for the Dex boost, since I’m immune to Fatigue at that point.
Let me know what you think – I’m sure I’ll have other questions as I get deeper into the build.
The wildcard slots don't allow you to ignore prerequisites for the feats you put in them, which is a problem for Snake Fang and Jabbing Master.