vanaran brawler emulating the monkey king

[zauriel56]

getting a vanaran boon and in the spirit of the monkey king, what feats make sense in PFS? for ability scores i was thinking

Str- 12
dex- 16
con- 14
int-10
wis- 16
cha-11

the only problem is that quarterstaves arent finessable. should i just say screw the quarterstaff and focus on unarmed strikes?

i was thinking weapon finesse but not really sure what else.

[Louise Bishop]

zauriel56 wrote:

getting a vanaran boon and in the spirit of the monkey king, what feats make sense in PFS? for ability scores i was thinking

Str- 12
dex- 16
con- 14
int-10
wis- 16
cha-11

the only problem is that quarterstaves arent finessable. should i just say screw the quarterstaff and focus on unarmed strikes?

i was thinking weapon finesse but not really sure what else.

I find that Brawlers work well with both a good Str and Dex. You really do not need a 16 Wisdom. 12 is usually a good starting Point and you can dump your Cha unless you have reasons to pump it to 11 after a -2 racial.

something along these Lines:
Str: 16, Dex: 16, Con: 14, Int: 10, Wis: 12, Cha: 8
If you do not want to dump anything majorly. Or you can Dump Cha to a 5 and up your stats further.

Going that route you can easily grab power attack which opens up more Martial Flexibility Feats and you do not need to worry about weapon finesse and Dex to damage feats. Also, your CMD is 10 + Str Mod + Dex Mod...so having both a high Dex and Str is a benefit to your defenses.

[avr]

For feats to build off for martial flex., power attack and IUS are a good start. Weapon focus, combat reflexes, or dirty fighting are others you might consider. Dodge and mobility together open up a few more options.

You don't need to put all your feats into such prereqs and in fact that can easily lead to option paralysis. It is worth considering though.

[Val'bryn2]

For a Monkey King, I would suggest Imp. Dirty Fighting, he doesn't seem like the sort to take battles too seriously.

[Selvaxri]

There is the Quarterstaff Master feat.
Monkey Style & Monkey Moves would suit a "Monkey King" build.

[Grisgris]

I used my Vanaran boon for the same concept. A young Monkey, sometime when he was known as Aware of Void. If you want to do a fierce Great Sage then feel free to go Strength. Monkey was STRONG. Remember that he was only offered the Golden Hooped Wishing Rod as a joke, because the Eastern Dragon King knew that there was no way he would be able to lift it. And STR would work well for a brawler. A few points in DEX is always welcome, but STR can easily be his highest stat. At that point in his life he wasn't particularly wise, so feel free to dump that down.

[Captain Morgan]

See, I think Monk when I think Monkey King. Wasn't he all about the mad jumps and what not? And had a variety of mystic powers and resistances?

[Lemartes]

Ghost Monkey Brawler Archetype

[Gisher]

Grisgris wrote:

I used my Vanaran boon for the same concept. A young Monkey, sometime when he was known as Aware of Void. If you want to do a fierce Great Sage then feel free to go Strength. Monkey was STRONG. Remember that he was only offered the Golden Hooped Wishing Rod as a joke, because the Eastern Dragon King knew that there was no way he would be able to lift it. And STR would work well for a brawler. A few points in DEX is always welcome, but STR can easily be his highest stat. At that point in his life he wasn't particularly wise, so feel free to dump that down.

I agree on Str as the better choice. Flavor-wise I'd consider a Staff Magus or Esoteric Magus. He was an expert in magic as well as combat.

[Ascalaphus]

I'm thinking maybe the Phantom Blade? It gets you monk-ish unarmed damage progression but without Lawful nonsense that CN Sun Wukong would never stand for.

[Eltacolibre]

I'm hoping that ultimate wilderness will have a monkey king archetype.

Sun Wukong was mostly known for his ability to shapechange into thousands of forms, trickery and beating the crap out of his enemies.

So essentially hoping they do a shapeshifting Monk or Brawler archetype.

[avr]

My own attempt at making a monkey king a while back was a druid. Shillelagh helps quarterstaff wielders a great deal, and the plains druid archetype gave him speed and stealth.

[Ascalaphus]

Shillelagh is an idea. I'm not too fond of druid/wildshaping on a Vanara because it feels like wasting all the goodies the race brings. Might as well have a wildshaping human then.

I feel like any Vanara build that doesn't take advantage of the climb speed or tail is a waste of a valuable race boon.

I'm thinking about some sort of Branch Pounce/Death From Above/Pummeling Style horror.

[zauriel56]

how can i get shillelagh on the magus spell list now hmm...

[Gisher]

avr wrote:

My own attempt at making a monkey king a while back was a druid. Shillelagh helps quarterstaff wielders a great deal, and the plains druid archetype gave him speed and stealth.

Druid is a great idea! Shapeshifting, spells, and fighting with a quarterstaff are all things the Monkey King are known for. A Green Scourge Druid can really improve the Shillelagh Spell as they level up.

[Selvaxri]

Druid... the Vanara goes Super Saiyan 4 when he uses Beast Shape into a Dire Gorilla!

[Chromantic Durgon <3]

The green scourge actually looks really fun.

[cavernshark]

I've been similarly trying to build out a Vanara and while I didn't end up going this way, I will point out that Ape Shaman and Green Scourge appear compatible. So you can simultaneously beat people with a staff and hulk out into various larger ape forms if you so desired.

[Ascalaphus]

cavernshark wrote:

I've been similarly trying to build out a Vanara and while I didn't end up going this way, I will point out that Ape Shaman and Green Scourge appear compatible. So you can simultaneously beat people with a staff and hulk out into various larger ape forms if you so desired.

It requires convincing the GM that gorillas can wield a staff, that the prohibition against gorilla Animal Companions using weapons is about intelligence, not thumbs.

But apart from that I like it.

[avr]

Gorillas have opposable thumbs. If you have intelligence as well there's no obvious obstacle to weapon use.

[Ascalaphus]

avr wrote:

Gorillas have opposable thumbs. If you have intelligence as well there's no obvious obstacle to weapon use.

Yeah, I'd be fine with it. I'd do some polling in the local scene before trying it in PFS but I'd expect that it would usually work.

[Louise Bishop]

Gorillas are smart. They can even use sign language.