So I guess the first question is- How are you proficient with greatswords? Since Unmonks have a very limited set of weapon proficiencies.
In order to make Ascetic Style work, you need the weapon in question to be in the Monk Fighter Group, which you can do with the weapon modification "Versatile Design" which you would need either Weapon Adept (Versatile Design) or Modified Weapon Proficiency to use. Remember, Ascetic Style requires weapon focus and weapon focus requires proficiency.
I'm not 100% convinced that spending at least two feats making sure you can use the weapon you want is better than slumming it with a Sanketsukon or Seven-Branched Sword with which you are already proficient, even though it does an average of 5.5 damage instead of 7.
For 1, it won't work until level 5. For another, you need to gain proficiency with a Great Sword since UnMonks do not have martial weapon proficiency.
That means you need: Martial Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Focus (Greatsword), Ascetic Style, and Ascetic Form by 5th level. This means you need to be human and start building towards your Greatsword antics from 1st level without gaining any benefits until 5th level. If the game starts at 5th level, no big deal but if it doesn't you're going to be in for some hurt.
As far as Stats go, I'd probably go 16, 15, 12, 10, 16, 7 with the Human bonus going into Strength and your 4th level going into Dexterity. As far as Mythic Paths go use Champion and use Ascetic Form to use anything that says Unarmed Strike through your greatsword.
Heritage Weapon for proficiency with a martial weapon.
Or, the human wanderer archetype for Exotic Weapon Proficiency... covering the modified greatsword. Or a Butcher's Axe, for that matter.
The seven branched sword, Flowing Monk, and VMC Rogue can provide some fun shenanigans, too.
I don't think you can get Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Modified Greatsword) without having proficiency with a greatsword to begin with. At the very least you might run into trouble with weapon focus since it requires you to pick a type of weapon you are proficient with, which might not include "greatswords with a specific modification."
Now the Butchering Axe doing an average of 10.5 damage might be worth the extra two feats (EWP and Weapon Adept/Modified Weapon Proficiency) assuming you can swing the 19 strength.
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@OP: DO you want your PC to fight with a greatsword for style, or do you want it for optimization? If the former, consider fluffing some other weapon, one you can already wield, to look like a greatsword. If the latter, consider how it's a very non-optimal choice that requires you to spend a lot of feats to use a sub-optimal weapon. If that's your whim then go for it!
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So if you want to flurry with any melee weapon whatsoever, the answer is actually brawler not monk. People who are proficient with specific weapons (e.g. a rogue being proficient with a rapier) are not automatically proficient with modified versions thereof but that exception says nothing about "sets of weapons which contain modified versions thereof."
So unlike uMonks, which are proficient with weapons which have the monk special quality (which you can´t add via a modification), Brawlers are proficient with the entire close weapon group (and can flurry with it). So if you were to take Weapon Adept (Versatile Design) you can straight up flurry with a (modified) Fauchard if you want to crit-fish with reach as a Brawler.
I built a brawler with outslug style who used a modified fauchard and I effectively had pounce since I could 10' step and lunge to full attack someone who was 25' away at the start of my turn.
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The faster route for unchained monk is dipping a level of crusader cleric and taking crusader’s flurry. That gets you proficiency, weapon focus, a domain, some first level spells, and wand/scroll use. You’re wisdom based anyway. Starting at 10th, you don’t even have to deal with the awkwardness of 1st and 2nd level when you can either flurry or use a greatsword, but not flurry with a greatsword.
EDIT: It looks like Smiad would be your only option for a deity. That opens up Good, Law, Nobility, and War as domain options.
I was thinking Ragathiel got greatsword, but that’s bastard sword.
Ferious Thune has it correct, I have that exact build for PFS and he is amazing even only at level 3. I am a half orc crusader cleric of smiad, which i got at level 1, then started monk from then out.
I don't think you can get Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Modified Greatsword) without having proficiency with a greatsword to begin with. At the very least you might run into trouble with weapon focus since it requires you to pick a type of weapon you are proficient with, which might not include "greatswords with a specific modification."
The weapon modification rules say "modified martial weapons require the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat to use without taking penalties". That means "Modified Greatsword" must be a legal choice for EWP's "Choose one type of exotic weapon". Since Weapon Focus uses the same language ("Choose one type of weapon."), "Modified Greatsword" must therefore also be a valid choice for Weapon Focus.
The faster route for unchained monk is dipping a level of crusader cleric and taking crusader’s flurry.
Fewer feats, but notably worse, because unMonk needs Ascetic Form to use style strikes and the bonus ki attack with the weapon.
@OP: Do you want your PC to fight with a greatsword for style, or do you want it for optimization?
I presume it's for style, but in case it's not: One of the things Ascetic Style trensfers is the Monk's increased unarmed strike damage, meaning it's only two more levels before the chosen weapon does 2d6 anyway. Which also means that for monk weapons, at this level, the only thing lost by using a reach weapon would be crit range.
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Given that the character is starting at 10, going Ascetic Style isn’t going to slow things down too much, but it’s not that huge of a boost, either, since as you pointed out, unarmed damage will be at 2d6 soon anyway. It’s really not that big of a deal to use an unarmed strike for the style strikes or Ki attacks. You miss out on some static damage from 1 1/2x STR and PA, but it’s wise for the character to invest something into making unarmed strikes more effective anyway, in the case of being disarmed. The character can make use of a body wrap of mighty strikes, even, and keep its neck slot available, since it’s not likely to be making more than one unarmed strike most rounds. But if the OP doesn’t need the feats for anything else, then sure. They get to skip the painful levels.
EDIT: Also, I’m not sure ascetic style overcomes things like flying kick’s restriction that the attack must be a kick. That’s different than saying it must be an unarmed strike. That’s probably been argued somewhere on the rules forum, so research that first.
As far as defense, which I think was the original question, it really shouldn’t be too bad, even going strength based. Boost wisdom as much as possible, use mage armor until it makes sense to buy bracers +5, take barkskin as a Ki power, buy a dusty rose prism ioun stone, and you should be pretty set. At 10th, it should look like:
Mage Armor +4 + barkskin +4 + Wisdom +5 + monk AC +2 + ring +2 + dusty rose +1 + dodge +1 = 29
Take the Ki power that lets you boost it by +4 as an immediate if you have room for it. That’s conservative on wisdom. Might have a +6. Dodge from one of your bonus feats.
If you feel like you need more, invest in a cracked vibrant purple prism ioun stone and have the party Arcane caster keep it filled with shield. Probably buy 2 or 3 1st level pearls or rune stones of power so they can do so without using their own casting of it. But at 10th level, a wizard or sorcerer is going to have plenty of level 1 spells. You won’t use it every fight due to action economy, but when you need it an extra +4 shield bonus is amazing.
I want to Build a Unchained Monk who uses a Great Sword
First step: get rid of the "Un". (Now a greatsword Crusader's Flurry build can spend Ki for extra attacks.)
It’s really not that big of a deal to use an unarmed strike for the style strikes or Ki attacks.
It's a bigger deal if we use a reach weapon (as we should). Ascetic Form isn't necessary to function, but it's a good damage boosting feat - my sample calculation shows that at 12th level, with a +1 bonus to the unarmed strike, Ascetic Form provides a damage bonus of ~3.3 to our attacks.
Crusader's Flurry also costs a Monk level, the ability to use the scaling US damage, the ki pool ability to penetrate DR, and the ability to use Stunning Fist with the weapon.
Also, I’m not sure ascetic style overcomes things like flying kick’s restriction that the attack must be a kick.
The feat explicitly calls out style strikes, and at the time of print, every single style strike demanded a specific body part. It's just like the EWP thing for weapon modifications - technically, a modified martial weapon isn't an exotic weapon, and thus can't be selected by the feat. But if a rule or option specifically calls out something as working, I say it works.
Take the Ki power that lets you boost it by +4 as an immediate if you have room for it.
If you don't have a shield bonus to AC, take one of the Mental Barrier SLAs via Qinggong Power instead. The first one does the same but only takes the 6th level rather than the 8th level ki power slot, and the later ones grant a bigger AC bonus.
First step: get rid of the "Un". (Now a greatsword Crusader's Flurry build can spend Ki for extra attacks.)
Well, if you want your character to suck, why not go all in and use Commoner?
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I see now. Ascetic Form is what makes it work for style strikes. I thought you were claiming ascetic style did that by default.
I hadn’t seen the new qinggong powers. I still think Furious Defense is a better choice, since it applies to touch AC, and there are other ways to get a shield bonus that lasts more than one round.
I’m still assuming we’re talking about a greatsword build, so haven’t been considering reach.
Not sure why someone mentioned needing the increased level to penetrate DR, if they are using a greatsword then just the greatsword to beat the DR you need or want. I don't often see barbarians going aww man, my greataxe cant seem to punch through DR i should have been a monk so i can punch them!
From my experience already, a greatsword monk really stick out at the lower levels, but eventually yes, the unarmed damage can easily become a match for the greatsword, unless you facotr in the greater crit threat possibilities. You can put keen on the sword and focus on enhancement bonuses for punching through Dr, or suck up the DR cause you are punching through it anyway, and put ki focusing on your blade to land stunning attacks and such through it.
I see now. Ascetic Form is what makes it work for style strikes. I thought you were claiming ascetic style did that by default.
Ah, sorry, didn't realize you wrote Ascetic Style. Yeah, Flurry, the bonus ki attack, and style strikes all require Ascetic Form. Here's the full list.
I hadn’t seen the new qinggong powers. I still think Furious Defense is a better choice, since it applies to touch AC, and there are other ways to get a shield bonus that lasts more than one round.
Most Monk's won't have a shield bonus, though, at which point the Mental Barrier line becomes better. Most ki powers depend on party and campaign, though - for instance, the new Placebo Effect Qinggong Power (aviable at 6th level) can be useless or a life saver.
The new Qinggong powers are from Martial Arts Handbook, by the way (a must read and must have for any Monk, IMO, not the least because of the handwraps which make unarmed truly competitive).Not sure why someone mentioned needing the increased level to penetrate DR, if they are using a greatsword then just the greatsword to beat the DR you need or want. I don't often see barbarians going aww man, my greataxe cant seem to punch through DR i should have been a monk so i can punch them!
You don't punch them, your weapon counts as cold iron and silver (and later lawful and adamanatine) for overcoming DR. Which is better than using a backup weapon, thus not having that ability is a loss.
Here is a question, does Ascetic Form let you use Mythic Path Abilities that require an Unarmed Strike with your greatsword?
Well, are mythic path abilities class abilities? Mythic paths function like classes, but are not classes.
FWIW, this is an "ask your GM" question. Since Paizo pretty much dropped any interest in "mythic rules for PCs" a while ago.