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This character is definitely viable. He brings more than enough to the table to be worth while. Skills and some spell support go a long way. And making almost all saves has a value in itself (fairly often the group desparately needs somebody to hold the line while they recover from failed saves).
His damage really isn't that bad. d6+6 (assuming dancing) is decent.
As you say, hes no powerhouse. But you really don't need a powerhouse in PFS. He contributes.
I've seen a lot worse characters at the table.
You're definitely going to want to get a keen rapier at some point. And should definitely throw a fair bit of money to get your AC up. You're a front liner and will need that AC
Edit: I would be tempted to dump str all the way down to 7. You don't need a lot of gear (mithril chain shirt, mithral buckler, scimitar) and ant haul is a thing :-). But I love int and skill points :-)
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Just a little concerned about how that looks from a meta-gamey perspective.
PFS varies a lot by lodge, so take the following with a huge grain of salt.
I personally have no problem with all the Str 7 wizards and Cha 7 characters out there. The rules strongly encourage this kind of mini-maxing and you can't blame players for taking advantage of it.
That said, I DO think Paizo made a mistake in allowing as much stat dumping as they do. I like the old 3.5 standard - at most 1 stat below 10 and that has to be 8+. But Paizo made the rules, the players get to optimize within those rules
The players of the Int, Cha, Wis 7 barbarians don't seem to care much about the meta game perspective :-). Why should you? :-).
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"Foolish? A bold claim against those descended from the ANCIENT AND NOBLE !"
Fixed that for you!
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Right now I'm looking at Dawnflower Dervish Bard 1, Tempered Champion / Knight of Coins Paladin 4, Scaled Fist Un-Monk all the rest of the way.
Stats would be
Str 8
Dex 18 (16 points +2 Aasimar Subtype)
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 18 (16 points +2 Aasimar Subtype)
* Knight of Coins doesn't jibe well with the way PFS doles out treasure or item access. Receiving Perception, Use Magic Device, and Detect Magic are nice, but they exactly duplicate what you'd already be getting from the bard dip. The mercies the archetype receives are colorful, but less useful than the "un-suck thyself" defenses of the core class. The extra skills are nice, but what do you really need? Your wisdom is so low that I wouldn't bother with Perception anyway. Everybody else in the party will have it, so put your skill points elsewhere.
* Note that the current version of Dawnflower Dervish does not grant Weapon Finesse.
* If you go chained monk, you'll be +4 to your will save (off four levels) and can spend ki for extra attacks with any flurrying weapon, not just unarmed strikes.
Definitely need to pick up toughness @ lvl 1, even after that point his HP are still a problem.
* You are a paladin; you can Lay on Hands as a swift-action. Do not take Toughness; instead take Fey Foundling at 1st level.
* starting array; consider this slight alteration, which lets you quickly get your primary stat to 20th at 4th:
STR: 7
DEX+ 19 or 17 (aasimar 17,15,12,12,10,7 20pt array)
CON: 12
INT: 12
WIS: 10
CHA+ 17 or 19
Build 1:
01 paladin1 (core), Fey Foundling
02 bard1 [Dawnflower Dervish]
03 paladin2 [divine grace], Weapon Finesse
04 paladin3 DEX>20 or CHA>20
05 paladin4 Greater Mercy or Extra Performance
06 monk1 [chained][Scaled Fist][feat]
07 monk2 [feat], Crusader's Flurry
08 monk3 (other of DEX or CHA>18)
09 monk4 [Ki pool], Extra Ki or Greater Mercy or Extra Performance
10 paladin5 ...etc.
...this is similar to what you have now. Features three weapon attacks with Crusader's Flurry at 7th, and four weapon attacks at 9th with Ki. Positives: awesome saving throws. Annoyances: Move-action to activate battle-dance, mediocre AC, only two smites/day.
Build 2:
01 Bloodrager1 (Id Rager[Hatred:Weapon Finesse]/Urban), Fey Foundling
02 paladin1
03 paladin2 [divine grace], Extra Rage
04 paladin3 [Mercy:Fatigued], DEX>20 or CHA>20
05 paladin4 Greater Mercy
06 monk1 [chained][Scaled Fist][feat]
07 monk2 [feat], Crusader's Flurry
08 monk3 (other of DEX or CHA>18)
09 monk4 [Ki pool], Extra Ki
10 paladin5 ...etc.
...substituting bard for bloodrager saves a feat and tightens action economy (raging is a free action as opposed to battle dance's move-action). You'll controlled-rage for strength at low level, then switch to dex-raging after acquiring an Agile weapon. Once the weapon is Agile/Furious, you'll be +2 to hit and +1 damage versus the bard build with a +2/Agile scimitar; AC will also be +2 better. You'll need to pick up
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Unless you're going to switch weapons down the road, there's no need for Weapon Finesse.
When wielding a scimitar with one hand, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on melee attack and damage rolls.
The advantage of taking Dawnflower Dervish as our first level is that you get to not suck right off the bat, at the cost of one HP after that.
I'll also point out that Halfling is the superior race for this type of build.
What he said about halflings.
Unless there's been an errata to Dervish Dance one doesn't need weapon finesse as long as one is using the Scimitar, the Dawnflower Dervish Bard grants this feat for free at level one.But then you're stuck with scimitars. (Although I suppose you could use Effortless Lace to lighten it up...but if lace is available, then a huge number of weapon choices open up for Piranha Strike.)
I'm at most a level 4 paladin, I won't be able to depend much on Paladin healing. However, taking Fey Foundling at 1st level and then retraining to toughness around level 5 or 6 might makes sense...
If you go halfling and pick paladin as your favored class, you'll heal an extra 2pts with every LoH.
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A 4th-level halfling paladin (independent of his other levels) with Fey Foundling, Greater Mercy, and the racial favored-class bonus, heals 3d6+8 with LoH at least five times per day (before gear or stat-leveling). He has the same racial adjustments as the assimar choice, and is +1 attack and +1 AC. The swift-action economy probably won't interfere that often (i.e., you declare a smite early when you're unlikely to have a full-attack, and most LoH will occur after the combat is over).
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@OP: I do hope that pitiful 7 Strength doesn't bite you. I see a lot of STR-dumped characters in PFS. They generally do OK. When they get bit it's often over Encumbrance. Do make certain your gear-weight still works with a 7 strength. I've seen STR-7 PCs wearing heavy armor and carrying 130 lbs of gear ... Don't be that guy ;-)
I'm not saying the halfling doesn't make mechanical sense, I'm just saying I -don't- want to play one =P.
You have convinced me on the Fey Foundling and Greater Mercy angle however. All other things considered that would make my build...
Str 7
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 11
Wis 11
Cha 17
Don't start with four odd stats, those 11s are just a complete waste. The 17,15,12,12,10,7 20pt array is very dense with bonuses, which is why I used that in a minmax build. (Note also that, if you can drag yourself to play one, a halfling's dump stat is strength, and his encumbrance is actually better at 5 than an assimar's at 7 because his small-sized armor and weapons are half-weight.)
12 Con is enough for the paladin with Fey Foundling and Greater Mercy. (Paradoxically, a 14 may not be enough for those without them.)
I won't miss the additional +1 cha much till level 4 when I improve it, and this has a much more respectable HP progression. Kindred Raised Half Elf lets me dump Str while also getting +2 to cha and 1 other stat (in this case Dex).
You won't get the size bonuses, however, since (like the assimar) you remain medium-sized.
Regards the longer-term build, I think you're better off as a long-haul paladin rather than more monk (there's a lot of evil in PFS). Another option is replacing scaled fist monk with ninja, picking up sneak-attack and cha-based ki attacks with only two levels rather than four, as well as retaining armor.
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It's difficult to build a paladin that's a burden on the party. (But monks? ...easy.)
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Being immune to fear and having huge bonuses versus other crap, and being able to patch up your owies as a switch-action, is one of the strongest option packages in the game. --Everybody can dish it out; few can take it.
In any case the fey foundling + greater mercy trick looks like it'll be very helpful, so thanks for that tip.
See if you can also find room for Extra Channel; it'll let you LoH an extra four times per day.
Lay on Hands goodie-list:
* 1d6 (base Loh per two levels of paladin)
* 1d6 (Greater Mercy)
* 2d6 (Bracers of the Merciful Knight)
* +2hp per LoH die (Fey Foundling)
* +1hp per LoH die (Inheritor's Light longsword}
* +1hp per two levels paladin (halfling FCB; also some other races)
==
x/day (2, +Cha bonus +4[Extra Channel) +2 Extra LoH, +1 [Armor of the Pious], ?)
--And don't forget to buy a bucket of Meditation Crystals.