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Keld Denar
2009-05-18, 06:37 PM
So...starting a level 13 game with a level 13 character with a free +1 LA. Was thinking about 1/2 Giant from the SRD, going with Monk2/PsyWar11.

OK, modifications made.
Clothilde Mottlegump
32 PB
Str 28 (16+2 racial +3 level, +6 item, +1 book)
Dex 12 (14-2)
Con 20 (14+2 racial +4 item)
Int 12
Wis 16 (+2 item)
Cha 8
Bold indicates bonus feats
{table]ECL|Class|Feats|Power Known
1|Monk1|IUS Imp Grapple Scorpion's Grasp|NA
2|Monk2|Monastic Training(PsyWar)|NA
3|PsyWar1|Tashalatora Psionic Meditation|Inertial Armor
4|PsyWar2|Practiced Manifester(PsyWar)|Expansion
5|PsyWar3||Grip of Iron
6|PsyWar4|Snap Kick|Psionic Lion's Charge
7|PsyWar5|Improved Init|Levitate, Psionic
8|PsyWar6||Psionic Darkvision
9|PsyWar7|INA (US)|Vampiric Blade
10|PsyWar8|Improved Toughness|Dimension Slide
11|PsyWar9||Concealing Amorpha, Greater
12|PsyWar10|Superior Unarmed Strike|Freedom of Movement, Psionic
13|PsyWar11|Link Power (Grip of Iron)|Steadfast Perception
[/table]

BAB: 10 (thanks to DM ruling that monk is full BAB)
Base Saves: F10 R6 W6
HD: 13d8+65
UAS damage:
Normal: 3d8+9
Expanded: 4d8+10
Aug Expanded: 6d8+11
Full Attack from BAB:+17/+17/+17//+12/ with Flurry and Snapkick
Grapple Modifier: 10 BAB +9 +4 size +4 feat +4 Grip of Iron +2 Armbands of Might = +33
Expanded = +38
Aug Expanded +43
Power Points: 56 (35 + 19 + 2)

Gear so far:
+6 Str 36,000
+4 Con 16,000
+2 Wis 4,000
Armbands of Might 4,100
+1 Str book, 27,500
Boots of Speed 12,000
+1 Amulet of Natural Attacks 2,000
+3 Cloak of Resistance 9,000g

So, any thoughts? Comments? Optimization? I don't want to get too broken so I avoided Metamorphosis/Metamorphic Transfer, but I think I have a pretty good start!

imperialspectre
2009-05-18, 07:32 PM
Seems like you might have trouble hitting some opponents. A quick look at the SRD's monster filter suggests that you'd need a 12 to 15 to hit a lot of CR 13 and 14 monsters. Sure, you've got a lot of attacks, but statistically you're probably behind a full-BAB beatstick in terms of times you'd hit.

On the other hand, charging, full attacking, and then grappling on one of the last couple attacks would set up a scary amount of damage while grappling. If that's the plan, well played, sir.

Keld Denar
2009-05-18, 07:54 PM
Obviously, combining all of the factors together at once targeting regular AC on something rigid would prove less than fruitful. In such a circumstance, she could refrain from TWF and/or using Snapkick to raise AB by up to 4 points. OR, she could just start with a grapple with a touch on the first attack to bring that MASSIVE grapple mod into play, and then using her 2nd attack to "pin" and her 3rd through 7th attacks to "grapple to deal damage". Those attacks will hurt, because as a monk grappling, she gets to bring her full UAS damage to the table. Lots of dice.

I saw that there were a couple of arcanists looking to join. I wonder if I could bribe one of them to drop a CL13 Greater Mighty Wallop on Cloty to bring her up to a bountiful 12d6 UAS damage at medium size.

Anyone know the weapon size progression past 4d6? I'm pretty sure it goes 6d6 and then 8d6, but it gets fuzzy from there. +2d6/size would make me believe 10d6 after 8, but for some reason, I remember 12d6. Whats after that?

Emy
2009-05-18, 09:13 PM
Anyone know the weapon size progression past 4d6? I'm pretty sure it goes 6d6 and then 8d6, but it gets fuzzy from there. +2d6/size would make me believe 10d6 after 8, but for some reason, I remember 12d6. Whats after that?

From what I remember, weapons being scaled up (past a certain point when the die type stops changing) alternate between *3/2 and *4/3, so I just continue using that formula to continue past the table.

For example, a greatsword (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/weapons.htm#weaponSize) follows this pattern from medium on up.

Medium: 2d6
Large: 3d6 (medium multiplied by 3/2)
Huge: 4d6 (large multiplied by 4/3)
Gargantuan: 6d6 (huge multiplied by 3/2)
Colossal: 8d6 (gargantuan multiplied by 4/3)

Which means that I would give the next several virtual size categories (via Greater Mighty Wallop, Improved Natural Attack, etc) these damage amounts: 12d6, 16d6, 24d6, 32d6, 48d6, 64d6,

If it help you think about it differently, here are the number of dice added, for the greatsword.

from medium (which has 2 dice).

+1 (increase from medium to large, add one die), +1 (increase from large to huge, add one die), +2 (increase from huge to gargantuan, add two dice), +2 (and so forth), +4, +4, +8, +8, +16, +16

I hope this is at least mildly coherent~

Dacia Brabant
2009-05-18, 10:15 PM
Don't forget that the DM of that game combined TWF/ITWF/GTWF into a single feat that progresses with your BAB (I'm assuming that that's what your level 5 and 8 PsyWar bonus feats are being used on). Um, does Flurry of Blows stack with Two-Weapon Fighting though?

If you had two feat slots open I'd say try to pick up Wolverine Stance for that extra +4 damage per hit when you're in a grapple.

Lycanthromancer
2009-05-18, 11:39 PM
Linked Power would make buffing much easier, and claws of the beast would grant you an additional 2 attacks per round (though you'll probably want to consider nabbing metamorphosis instead; researching it instead of steadfast perception might be a good idea).

[edit] Check out this build (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2926.msg97988#msg97988) for some ideas. If you can't read it properly, snatch up an account PDQ. :smallcool:

...or just look here:
Keep in mind, these are only his favored forms for scouting and attack. He has the option to turn into anything with 11 hit dice or below that isn't outsider, undead, elemental, or construct (though his psicrystal can access the construct forms, if he wants it to). His psicrystal can access any form he can, whenever he goes transformer on someone.

Alright. This psychic warrior build has both metamorphosis and a skin of proteus he crafted (meaning he’s always in a form other than his own while adventuring). I’ll give you his unbuffed human form stats, as well as his stats while he’s in some of his favored forms. Since he can change form at will, and stay that way indefinitely (at least for 7 HD forms and below), he switches to whatever form is most convenient at any given time.

Anyway, here it is.

His equipment and power research:
Note that psychic reformation was utilized with various psionic powers, as well as the Craft Psionic Arms and Armor and Craft Universal Items feats (both from the XPH), and Extraordinary Artisan and Legendary Artisan feats (both from the Eberron Campaign Setting, which reduce the base cost by 25% for the purposes of gp and xp costs when creating items). Magic Item Compendium rules for item property stacking is in full force (ie, no 50% markup for common item qualities).

List of equipment:
1 psychoactive skin of proteus (crafted), 1 deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon/+1 quarterstaff of suppression (partially crafted), 20 +1 manifester arrows (crafted), periapt of Wis +6/Con +6/mighty fists +1 (crafted), goggles of night [crafted], ring of sustenance [crafted], 4 psionic tattoos: bite of the wolf (crafted, ML 1), 4 psionic tattoos: chameleon (crafted, ML 1), 2 psionic tattoos: expansion (crafted, ML 1), 50 mundane arrows, 20 adamantine arrows, 50 cold iron arrows, 50 alchemical silver arrows, 135.25 gp in mundane equipment (a blanket, a backpack, etc)

Equipment Breakdown:
Pricing equation is as follows: GP = Masterwork weapon cost (if any) + (/2)
XP = Masterwork weapon cost (if any) + ([base price*3/4]/25)

An elvencraft bow (from Races of the Wild) costs 300 gp more than a regular bow, and counts as either a bow or a quarterstaff, but each side has to be enchanted separately (though they’re made of the same masterwork material).

-Psychoactive skin of proteus (84k gp, crafted): 31,500 gp, 2,640 xp [XPH]
-Deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon/+1 quarterstaff of suppression (22.7k gp, partially crafted):
---Deep crystal (not crafted): 1k gp [XPH]
---Elvencraft quality (not crafted): 300 gp [Races of the Wild]
---+1 Bow of the wintermoon (half of the elvencraft bow, not crafted): 3,400 gp [Magic Item Compendium]
---+1 Quarterstaff of suppression (half of the elvencraft bow, crafted): 6,750 gp, 540 xp [XPH]
-20 +1 manifester arrows (7321 gp, crafted):
---Masterwork arrows 121 gp
---+3 equivalent enhancement: 2,700 gp, 216 xp [XPH]
-Periapt of Wis +6/amulet of Con +6/amulet of mighty fists +1 (78k gp, crafted):
---Periapt of Wis +6 (36k gp, crafted): 13,500 gp, 1,080 xp [DMG]
---Amulet of Con +6 (36k gp, crafted): 13,500 gp, 1,080 xp [DMG]
---Amulet of mighty fists +1 (6k gp, crafted): 2,250 gp, 180 xp [DMG]
-Cloak of Resistance +4 (16k gp, crafted): 6,000 gp, 480 xp [DMG]
-Goggles of Night (12k gp, crafted): 4,500 gp, 360 xp [DMG]
-Ring of Sustenance (2.5k gp, crafted): 937.5 gp, 75 xp [DMG]
-4 psionic tattoos, bite of the wolf (200 gp, crafted, ML 1): 37.5 gp, 3 xp
-4 psionic tattoos, chameleon (200 gp, crafted, ML 1): 37.5 gp, 3 xp
-2 psionic tattoos, expansion (100 gp, crafted, ML 1): 18.75 gp, 2 xp
-50 mundane arrows (not crafted): 2.5 gp
-20 adamantine arrows (not crafted): 1,202.5 gp
-50 cold iron arrows (not crafted): 5 gp
-50 alchemical silver arrows (not crafted): 102.5 gp
-Mundane gear: 135.25 gp

[b]Power research
Psychic reformation: 800 xp
Schism: 800 xp
Metamorphosis: 800 xp
Ectoplasmic cocoon: 600 xp

1,100 xp spent on two manifestations of psychic reformation (50 xp per level as a total character rebuild to account for powers and feats for item creation).

For a total of 88,000 gp and 10,759/12,000 xp spent
The market value of all of his equipment is 227,656.25 gp


His feat, and skill rank, and powers allocation:
Feats: (In order) 1. Able Learner, Darkstalker, Improved Initiative. 2. Link Power. 3. Psionic Meditation. 5. Zen Archery. 6. Psicrystal Affinity (Nimble). 8. Expanded Knowledge (share pain). 9. Metamorphic Transfer. 10. Expanded Knowledge (telekinetic thrust).

Mental Skills: Autohypnosis +21 (11 ranks+2 synergy+8 Wis), Knowledge (Psionics) +12 (7 ranks+2 synergy+3 Int), Knowledge (History) +10 (7 ranks+3 Int), Listen +17 (7 ranks+2 psicrystal+8 Wis), Psicraft +12 (7 ranks+2 synergy+3 Int), Sense Motive +11 (3 ranks+8 Wis), Spot +17 (7 ranks+2 psicrystal+8 Wis)

Physical Skills: Concentration +? (7 ranks + ? Con), Hide +? (7 ranks + ? Dex), Move Silently +? (7 ranks + ? Dex)

Psionic Powers: (power points: 79) 1. claws of the beast, hammer, inertial armor, offensive precognition. 2. strength of my enemy, hustle, **share pain. 3. greater concealing amorpha, claws of the vampire, *ectoplasmic cocoon, **telekinetic thrust. 4. *metamorphosis, *schism.

*Researched
**Expanded Knowledge






His (unbuffed) psicrystal:
Psicrystal 11 (nimble)
Diminutive construct
Original hit points: 1/2 master’s
Initiative: Same as master’s or +3
Speed: 30 ft/climb 20 ft, fly 50 ft (poor)
Armor Class: 30 (10+3 Dex+8 inertial armor +4 size+5 natural armor), touch 18, flat-footed 27
Attack bonus/Grapple: +12/-9
Attack: Claw +7 melee (1d6-5)
Full Attack: 2 claws +7 melee (1d6-5)
Space/Reach: 1 ft/0 ft
Special Attacks: --
Special Qualities: Construct traits, hardness 8, psicrystal special abilities (Alertness, improved evasion, personality (nimble), self-propulsion, share powers, sighted, telepathic link (1 mile), deliver touch powers, telepathic speech, flight, power resistance 26)
Saving throws: As master’s
Abilities: Str 1 Dex 17 (15+2 HD) Con -- Int 11 Wis 10 Cha 10
Racial Skill Bonuses: +8 Climb (uses Dex instead of Str, and can take 10)
Feats: Darkstalker, Lifesense, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Flyby Attack
Mental Skills: Autohypnosis +13 (11 ranks+2 synergy), Knowledge (Psionics) +9 (7 ranks+2 synergy), Knowledge (History) +7 (7 ranks), Listen +7 (7 ranks), Psicraft +9 (7 ranks+2 synergy), Sense Motive +3 (3 ranks), Search +4 (4 ranks), Spot +7 (7 ranks)
Physical Skills: Climb +11 (+3 Dex, +8 race), Concentration +7 (7 ranks), Hide +21 (7 ranks+2 Dex+12 size), Move Silently +9 (7 ranks+2 Dex)

His unmetamorphosis’d human form:
Human psychic warrior 11 (psywar 12 before crafting)
Medium humanoid (human)
Average hit points: 53+Con=108 (216 with share pain)
Power points: 79
Initiative: +5
Speed: 30 ft
Armor Class: 17 (10+8 inertial armor -1 Dex), touch 9, flat-footed 17
Attack/Grapple: +8/+7
Attack: Deep crystal +1 elvencraft suppression quarterstaff +8 melee (1d6+2d6-1) or claw +8 (3d6) or deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon +17 ranged (1d8+2d6-1)
Full Attack: Deep crystal +1 elvencraft suppression quarterstaff +8/+3 melee (1d6+2d6-1); or deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon +17/+12 ranged (1d8+2d6-1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +16 Ref +6 Will +15
Abilities: (32 point buy) Str 8 Dex 8 Con 20 (14+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: --
Racial Bonus Feats: --
Physical Skills: Concentration +12 (7 ranks+5 Con), Hide +6 (7 ranks-1 Dex), Move Silently +6 (7 ranks-1 Dex)





His favored melee attack form:
11-headed hydra psychic warrior 11
Huge magical beast
Average hit points: 141 (282 with share pain)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 20 ft, swim 20 ft
Armor Class: 29 (10+8 inertial armor -2 size+1 Dex+12 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 28
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+22
Attack: 11 bites +13 melee (1d10+7)
Full Attack: 11 bites +13 melee (1d10+7) and 2 claws of the beast +8 melee (4d8+4)
Space/Reach: 15 ft/10 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +19 Ref +8 Will +15
Abilities: Str 23 Dex 12 Con 26 (20+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: Listen +2, Spot +2, Swim +8
Racial Bonus Feats: Combat Reflexes
Physical Skills: Concentration +15 (7 ranks+8 Con), Hide +0 (7 ranks+1 Dex-8 Size), Move Silently +8 (7 ranks+1 Dex)

His favored sneaky forms:
Pixie psychic warrior 11
Small fey
Average hit points: 86 (172 with share pain)
Initiative: +10
Speed: 20 ft, fly 60 ft (good)
Armor Class: 24 (10+8 inertial armor +1 size+4 Dex+1 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+3
Attack: Deep crystal +1 elvencraft suppression quarterstaff +8 melee (1d6+2d6-2) or claw +8 (2d6-1) or deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon +17 ranged (1d8+2d6-2)
Full Attack: Deep crystal +1 elvencraft suppression quarterstaff +5/+0 melee (1d6+2d6-2); or deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon +15/+10 ranged (1d8+2d6-2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: Greater invisibility
Saving throws: Fort +10 Ref +7 Will +15
Abilities: Str 7 Dex 18 Con 17 (11+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: +2 Listen, +2 Search, +2 Spot
Racial Bonus Feats: Dodge
Physical Skills: Concentration +10 (7 ranks+3 Con), Hide +15 (7 ranks+4 Dex+4 size), Move Silently +11 (7 ranks+4 Dex)

Shimmerling psychic warrior 11
(See the shimmerling swarm in the MMIII)
Fine fey
Average hit points: 86 (172 with share pain)
Initiative: +12
Speed: 5 ft, fly 50 ft (perfect)
Armor Class: 32 (10+6 Dex+8 inertial armor +8 size), touch 24, flat-footed 26
Attack bonus/Grapple: +16/-13 grapple
Attack: Claw (claws of the beast) +12 melee (2)
Full Attack: 2 claws of the beast +12 melee (2)
Space/Reach: 1/2 ft/0 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +10 Ref +9 Will +15
Abilities: Str 1 Dex 22 Con 17 (11+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: --
Racial Bonus Feats: --
Physical Skills: Concentration +10 (7 ranks+3 Con), Hide +29 (7 ranks+6 Dex+16 size), Move Silently +13 (7 ranks+6 Dex)

His favored ranged/skirmish attack form:
Manticore psychic warrior 11
Large magical beast
Average hit points: 130 (260 with share pain)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 30 ft, fly 50 ft (clumsy)
Armor Class: 25 (10+2 Dex+8 inertial armor +6 natural-1 size), touch 11, flat-footed 23
Attack bonus/Grapple: +7/+17
Attack: Claw +14 melee (2d4+6) or claw (claws of the beast) +14 melee (4d6+6) or 6 spikes +16 ranged (1d8+2/19-20)
Full Attack: 2 claws +14 (2d4+6) or 2 claws of the beast +14 melee (4d6+6) and bite +8 melee (1d8+3) or 6 spikes +16 ranged (1d8+2/19-20)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics, spikes
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +14 Ref +5 Will +15
Abilities: Str 20 Dex 15 Con 25 (19+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: +4 Spot
Racial Bonus Feats: Track
Physical Skills: Concentration +14 (7 ranks+7 Con), Hide +5 (7 ranks+2 Dex-4 size), Move Silently +9 (7 ranks+2 Dex)

His favored form for dealing with magic, magic items, and mages:
Beholder psychic warrior 11
Large aberration
Average hit points: 130 (260 with share pain)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 5 ft, fly 20 ft (good)
Armor Class: 34 (10+2 Dex+8 inertial armor -1 size+15 natural armor), touch 11, flat-footed 32
Attack bonus/Grapple: +8/+12
Attack: Bite +3 melee (2d4+1) or claw (claws of the beast) +8 melee (4d6+1)
Full Attack: 2 claws of the beast +8 melee (4d6+1) and Bite +3 melee (2d4+1)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: Eye rays, antimagic cone
Saving throws: Fort +14 Ref +5 Will +15
Abilities: Str 10 Dex 14 Con 24 (18+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: +4 Spot, +4 Search
Racial Bonus Feats: Alertness
Physical Skills: Concentration +14 (7 ranks+7 Con), Hide +5 (7 ranks+2 Dex-4 size), Move Silently +9 (7 ranks+2 Dex)


His favored form for crowd control
Cloaker psychic warrior 11
Large aberration
Average hit points: 119 (238 with share pain)
Initiative: +9
Speed: 10 ft, fly 40 ft (average)
Armor Class: 27 (10+3 Dex+8 inertial armor -1 size+7 natural armor), touch 12, flat-footed 24
Attack bonus/Grapple: +7/+17
Attack: Tail slap +13 melee (1d6+6) or claw (claws of the beast) +13 melee (4d6+6)
Full Attack: Tail slap +13 melee (1d6+6) and 2 claws of the beast +8 melee (4d6+3) and bite +8 melee (1d4+3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/10 ft (5 ft with bite)
Special Attacks: Psionics, moan, engulf
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +13 Ref +6 Will +15
Abilities: Str 21 Dex 16 Con 23 (17+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: --
Racial Bonus Feats: --
Physical Skills: Concentration +15 (7 ranks+6 Con), Hide +9 (7 ranks+3 Dex-1 size), Move Silently +10 (7 ranks+3 Dex)





Pre-Battle Prep:
He keeps a fully-augmented inertial armor and claws of the beast up at all times, and uses his arrows of manifesting to fuel manifestations of share pain and other low-level utility manifestations (note that’s an additional 100 power points per day, and he can draw an arrow as a free action multiple times per round). When he gets into a fight, he’s generally in a high-Dex form (see pixie and shimmerling) forms. He can utilize the greater invisibility of the pixie in situations requiring extreme stealth or in situations where cover isn’t possible, and uses his Hide skill whenever possible to scout and to get the jump on his foes. He uses his psicrystal, Improved Initiative feat, and high Dex to get initiative and uses his surprise round to transform into a hydra or other form (note he has both a skin of proteus at ML 7 and also has metamorphosis at ML 11 on his powers known list), appropriate to the encounter (to grapple, trip, disarm, suppress spellcasters, bull-rush, debuff, or use his save-or-immobilize ectoplasmic coccon power). He also shares his buffs with his psicrystal, who assists him in whatever he’s doing.

When battle is joined, it’s Linked hammer + schism , and he uses his actions to move and attack, while his schism buffs him and his psicrystal, changing his tactics and his form as the situation warrants.

Melee
He has so many options here it’s not even funny. He enjoys using his 11-headed hydra form for tearing foes apart in melee, and has his psicrystal alongside him, doing the same (though the psicrystal can easily make an attack against a foe in the middle of its movement, while the psychic warrior attacks at the end of his, using Flyby Attack – it has a 50 ft fly speed regardless of what form it’s in; it also retains its other psicrystal granted abilities, as well as its additional +5 bonus to natural armor). If he doesn’t have room, he finds a smaller form that works in closer quarters (such as a mimic, dire lion, or rust monster) and dukes it out with natural weapons (with claws of the vampire, greater concealing amorpha, and strength of my enemy healing, protecting, and strengthening him). If the target is heavily buffed, he can use a troll or treant form to attack using his suppression quarterstaff/composite longbow (buffed with strength of my enemy , of course). He can deal a considerable amount of damage (see +13d8 damage with hydra attacks, claws of the beast, and hammer), and can cover a very large area with his larger forms’ attacks. If he’s having trouble hitting, he can simply make lots of touch attacks with hammer , he can use Strength-draining touch attacks as a roper (or by using strength of my enemy), or he can use offensive precognition to increase his attack bonus (or all three). In weapon-wielding forms, he can enter melee and dispel psionics using his quarterstaff/bow’s suppression ability, meanwhile draining Strength and using his power points to deal additional damage via his deep crystal weapon. Hustle grants him the benefits of Spring Attack, as well, allowing him to gain extra attacks of opportunity from his reach (and he can trip smaller opponents that provoke by charging him, preventing any damage at all in a lot of cases).

Ranged
His high Wisdom and Zen Archery feat means he always has a high ranged attack bonus, even when in low Dex forms. He can use metamorphosis to gain additional movement modes (swimming, flying, burrowing) to prevent counterattacks, to snipe, to increase his Spot checks (important for long-distance encounters), and to rain death down on foes that can’t reach him. His bow adjusts to his Strength score, so high-Strength forms deal additional damage, as does the Strength drain from strength of my enemy (which also decreases the enemy’s ability to counterattack). He can use hustle to gain additional move actions (essentially getting a better version of Shot on the Run and Flyby Attack). For high damage very quickly, he can use his manticore form’s spikes to make 6 ranged attacks as a standard action, which is great against mobs.

Resisting melee tricks (tripping, attacks of opportunity, being disarmed, etc)
His combat forms tend to be extremely large (Large, Huge, and possibly Gargantuan, depending on what form he takes), and many have more than two legs (extra stability) and fight unarmed (meaning disarming and sundering are useless), so he gains large bonuses against trip attempts, bull rushes, and so on (and against many creatures – especially smaller ones, he’s completely immune). He can easily avoid attacks of opportunity by virtue of his reach, or by the full concealment granted by greater concealing amorpha (which, by the way, makes him immune to sneak attacks, targeted spells and abilities, attacks of opportunity - meaning he’s great at using any ability that provokes, and maneuvers such as disarming, tripping, and sundering, in addition to the 50% miss chance).

Battlefield control
He can cover large swathes of the battlefield with reach (and his psicrystal, which doubles his coverage), can trip and perform other maneuvers without provoking attacks of opportunity (see above), and can use metamorphosis forms that have exactly the ability he needs, when he needs them. He can also make opponents useless with ectoplasmic cocoon , and his psicrystal alone he can use for tons of other purposes (such as flanking, etc). He can also move enemies about with telekinetic thrust and has lots of supernatural abilities he can call on up to 3 times per day.

Traps
He can bypass most traps using a fine-sized form (see the shimmerling entry above), meaning he can often crawl under trapped doors without setting them off. He can also fly, so floor, wall, and ceiling contact traps aren’t a bother, and if he really wants to he can use metamorphosis to turn his psicrystal (or himself) into a gigantic cylinder made from some clear substance (such as crystal or glass) to roll ahead of himself and set off any traps around (while being immune to most of their effects). This isn’t his strongest asset, but he can deal with many types of traps if need be.

Protecting more fragile party members and wards under your protection
He’s capable of turning himself into a huge threat on the battlefield (meaning whoever wants to mess with his charge has to deal with something big and rather scary), and has a huge reach, and is capable of blocking very large creatures and preventing them from reaching his allies. He can use his ability to turn himself or his psicrystal into an object to provide total cover and concealment to anyone he’s protecting. He can also turn into massive creatures that can fly, so he can merely grab his ward and escape. He also has decent Spot and Listen scores, and his psicrystal has (effectively) blindsight, meaning it’s hard to sneak up on them. If someone he is guarding is abducted, he can turn into a form with Track and can follow them (not to mention his high Survival score from Wisdom alone). In addition, anyone he’s guarding can merely hold his psicrystal, and he’ll always know where they are, so long as he’s within one mile of them.

Endurance
He can heal himself using claws of the vampire, as well as his skin of proteus and manifestations of metamorphosis . He has his own power points, as well as 100 pp from his 20 +1 manifester arrows (which he uses to keep share pain up continually, shared with his psicrystal, which doubles both of their hit points), so he can keep going all day long. It only takes a few manifestations each fight, and most of his buffs last for several minutes to several hours. This particular psychic warrior has a considerable amount of endurance, and that’s not even including the fact that he can turn into critters with humongous Con (and also gain the ability to easily survive in situations that are otherwise rather dangerous, such as in desert or arctic conditions). If need be, he can merely metamorphosis himself into a Diminutive object, such as an adamantine ring, and have his psicrystal carry him while he rests.

Stealth
He’s an excellent stealther. He has a good Hide/Move Silently score (even moreso considering the fact that he can turn into a Fine-sized creature with a great Dex score). He has the ability to use greater invisibility up to three times a day (see the pixie entry above). He can turn into harmless-looking objects, and can stay in that form for literally hours at a time. He can also turn into a mimic and make himself look like an object while really being a creature, which allows him to get away with many things he otherwise couldn’t. He also has Dark Stalker, which foils creatures with blindsight, blindsense, scent, etc, meaning he’s very hard to track down. He can also sneak into situations where having a specific form would come in handy (such as turning into a kobold to sneak into a kobold tribe). He’s GREAT at sneaking. Plus, he can gain an additional +10 to his Hide score by using the tattoos of chameleon he made.

Assassinations
Given all of his stealth abilities and his combat ability, he can sneak in, kill whomever he needs to, and sneak out. He can also abduct people using ectoplasmic cocoon, then swallowing them as a Large/Huge/Etc creature, then breaking out before fleeing. Lots of options here.

Ambush
He has a great hiding ability, and can make himself look like almost anything (and can get a great Initiative score), allowing him to ambush most of the time. He also has great senses, which, coupled with his psicrystal, make him very hard to sneak up on. He does quite well here, I’d say.

Dealing with hostile magic users (both caster-killer and otherwise)
With his ability to ambush, and his ability to grapple and gain attacks of opportunity with reach, as well as his ability to turn into a beholder and use its antimagic cone while using telekinetic thrust to hurl extremely heavy objects, and his ability to dispel creatures when attacking with his quarterstaff/bow, and his ability to prevent teleportation through the ethereal plane, he has numerous ways of dealing with magic, magic users, and magic items. He’s not the ultimate caster-killer, but he at least doesn’t get totally pwned by casters of any flavor. He has a high Fort and Will save, and can A.) get a high Con with lots of hit points, B.) can prevent spells like charm person from working (because he gains types and subtypes from the creatures whose forms he assumes), and C.) can heal himself after he takes damage, he’s great at making saves (and surviving what Reflex saves he misses). He’s easily a penultimate caster-killer, in many situations.

Fliers
He can fly and use his ranged abilities (and his ability to snipe from hiding) to match flying creatures easily enough. And that’s not even considering ectoplasmic cocooning them and making them fall, where he traps them in an adamantine cage made from his psicrystal. Definitely not a problem.

Groundbound maneuverability
He can get various forms of movement (including burrowing) and high amounts of speed with his varied forms, he can snipe from hiding, he has hustle and can be immune to attacks of opportunity if he wants to be. About the only thing he can’t do is teleport (though he can do that too using a supernatural ability, if he really wants to). He’s good to go for maneuverability.

Extremely hostile/rough terrain (such as fighting on a cliff-side, or in a volcano, or on other planes)
He can fly, he can burrow, and he can survive in hostile climates using his shapechanging abilities. He can survive underwater, he can turn into creatures with the fire/cold subtypes (granting immunity to the respective energy types), and if all else fails, he can turn into an adamantine object and have his psicrystal move him to someplace more hospitable. He’s pretty good with this, really.

Cramped spaces (ie, in dungeons designed around Small creatures)
He can deal with small spaces easily enough. There are plenty of small creatures he can emulate, and he can turn into larger creatures and squeeze in, if necessary. He can also turn into a pudding and ooze around, or any number of other solutions to this problem.

Antimagic fields
This is a bit of a toughie, though he can deal with it if need be. If the antimagic is engulfing the entire battlefield he’s pretty much fubar’d, but he can still use his bow and arrows (so he’s not COMPLETELY screwed). If he’s dealing with a caster in an antimagic field he’s still good. He can simply turn into something that hides well, get well away from the field, then use telekinetic thrust to hurl large heavy objects to attack the caster (which, given the caster has neutered himself, makes this easy). This is one of his bigger weaknesses, but he can deal with it.

Invisibility
His psicrystal can ‘see’ invisible creatures, so he merely turns it into something with hands, gives it his suppressing quarterstaff/bow, and has it dispel the invisibility. If it can’t be dispelled, he can turn into a beholder with a cone of antimagic, or can get some other supernatural ability to suppress it.

Mind-control (dominate monster/charm monster/suggestion, etc)
A high Will save (due to a high Wisdom) and variable type renders it difficult for a lot of abilities to work. If all else fails, he can use metamorphosis to turn his psicrystal into a construct tank, and himself into an object, and he’s then immune. However, if he fails a saving throw, he’s in rather bad shape (though if he is unsure as to whether he actually IS charmed, he can gain immunity via object-form, and he’ll learn the truth easily enough).

Huge and Gargantuan-sized creatures (ie, super-high Str, lots of Con, very difficult to use standard feat-based maneuvers on)
He can stand toe-to-toe (as opposed to head-to-toe) with massive creatures, and meet them on their own turf. He can also Hide-n-Snipe their hit points away, and can whittle their Strength down to manageable numbers rather quickly (see: roper form and strength of my enemy).

Creatures with super-high AC (can only hit on a Nat 20) and tons of hit points
13 touch attacks using hydra form, claws of the beast, and hammer, as well as rendering it helpless via touch-attack strength of my enemy. He can also render them flat-footed using Hide (or invisibility), and can use ectoplasmic cocoon via touch attack to render them inert. He can also debuff AC boosters using his suppressing quarterstaff/bow on a lucky hit or two. If all else fails, he can turn into something with a higher Strength or use his Wisdom score on ranged attacks to boost his numbers.

Very large groups of low-level mooks
13 attacks per round with a hydra and claws of the beast (and a three attacks of opportunity + reach + trip), and the ability to turn into a creature with AoE crush or tail-sweep attacks, makes this fairly easy. He can also gain bite of the wolf (from his self-crafted tattoos) to add an additional attack to take them out. He can also grab improved invisibility to move around killing things, and be invisible to them the whole time, giving him additional time to slaughter. And don’t forget the AoE breath weapons (both Su and Ex). And then he can use his cloaker form’s moan ability to force creatures into a panic, to nauseate them, or to put them into a stupor. Hooray for an AoE hold monster at will.

Swarms
He has access to forms with AoE attacks (crushes, tail-sweeps, etc), as well as breath weapons (both Su and Ex), making this a fairly easy thing to deal with.

Creatures with very high DR
He has multiple arrows of differing substances, can assume subtypes (such as good, evil, law, and chaos), has plenty of magic to back him up, has piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning weapons, and his natural attacks count as magic weapons due to his amulet of mighty fists. He can also use ectoplasmic cocoon to make enemies inert if necessary, and has access to breath weapons (both Su and Ex) that make DR obsolete. If need be, he can simply assume a form with massive damage bonuses and deal enough damage to make the DR relatively inconsequential. He can deal with most forms of DR easily enough, no problem.

Creatures with very high saves
He has so many options in combat that saves really aren’t an issue unless he needs to use ectoplasmic cocoon .

Creatures with very high spell resistance
Very little that he does involves SR (just ectoplasmic cocoon, really), so it’s not an issue.

Social situations
His Charisma is his dump-stat, so he’s not going to be making Diplomacy checks any time soon, but he should get some nice circumstance bonuses to Intimidate for the forms he can pull out of his hat, and can use several fear-based attacks to assist. He also has an excellent Wisdom and good Intelligence, so he’s not completely inept when dealing with others. He just comes off as a bit gruff, but he can deal. Certainly not his area of expertise, however.

And there you have it.

Keld Denar
2009-05-19, 12:33 AM
Oh nice! I forgot about the combination of TWF feats.

As far as TWF with Flurry of Blows, thats kinda funny. I think its allowable by RAW, and have posted evidence in other threads to prove it. It generally goes along the lines that a monk NORAMLLY doesn't have an offhand, even while Flurrying. A monk can GAIN an offhand attack by taking TWF, just as any other character NORMALLY doesn't have an offhand attack attack, even when attacking with a weapon in each hand, so long as the character doesn't claim more attacks in a full attack than their BAB would normally allow them to make.

So...what feat to take in place of Improved TWF? If I can't think of something, I'll default to Improved Toughness for the extra 13 HP. Can never have enough HP, especially with my trashy AC...

Edit:
Lycan, I do have Link Power. I'm not doing Claws of the Beast because....well, I dunno. Guess I don't have a good reason to do Claws of the Beast AND make a full attack with my UAS. Hmmmm....I think it may just be too much though....

I AM trying to avoid Metamophosis and Metamorphic Transfer. Its just too much cheese straight out of the box. I'd rather not invoke the "Rocks Fall" prophesy, which states: "And ye verily, did they all die"

I'd rather not cross that bridge.

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-05-19, 01:01 AM
Oh nice! I forgot about the combination of TWF feats.

As far as TWF with Flurry of Blows, thats kinda funny. I think its allowable by RAW, and have posted evidence in other threads to prove it. It generally goes along the lines that a monk NORAMLLY doesn't have an offhand, even while Flurrying. A monk can GAIN an offhand attack by taking TWF, just as any other character NORMALLY doesn't have an offhand attack attack, even when attacking with a weapon in each hand, so long as the character doesn't claim more attacks in a full attack than their BAB would normally allow them to make.

So...what feat to take in place of Improved TWF? If I can't think of something, I'll default to Improved Toughness for the extra 13 HP. Can never have enough HP, especially with my trashy AC...There are 3 seperate arguments against a Monk TWFing completely unarmed.
RAW: The statement is 'there is no such thing as an offhand attack for a Monk fighting unarmed'. TWF doesn't grant you an offhand attack, it reduces the penalties for using it.
RAI: A Monk is fighting using their entire body already. Both fists, their knees, elbows, tails, and the occasional headbut are all involved. What's left to use for your second weapon?
RAIv2: Flurry of Blows gives a bonus attack progression similar to TWF while slowly reducing the penalties, and does so by allowing the Monk to attack with his whole body. It was designed as a replacement for TWF, stacking thm is silly.

Keld Denar
2009-05-19, 02:35 AM
Eh, a character with 2 weapons, one in each hand, isn't considered to be TWFing either, so long as he is only making the perscribed number of attacks he is allowed to by his BAB. For example, if you had a longsword in one hand, and a flail in your offhand, and a BAB of 11, you could make attacks with your longsword or flail interchangeably, as long as you didn't exceed 3 attacks (one at +11, one at +6, one at +1). Same as a monk who is fighting with his UAS. He gets one attack for each bonus attack he gets from his AB. None of his attacks are considered "offhand" even though he is using both of his hands. Offhand is a special mechanical circumstance, brought about by making additional attacks per round using the TWF feature as discribed in the combat section of the PHB. Offhand carries the drawbacks of requiring a 1handed weapon or lighter, and only receiving the benefits of .5x strength bonus. Thats ALL offhand means. Making an offhand attack confers TWF penalties to all attacks, as discribed by the rules in the feat discription as well as in the combat chapter of the PHB.

Now...if the same character with a long sword and flail were to attack with BOTH weapons as if he were TWFing, he would get 3 attacks with his longsword, and 3 attacks with his flail. In this case, his flail hand would probably be considered the offhand, and attacks with it would only recieve .5x str bonus, while his main hand long sword would deal 1x str bonus.

So, you see, in the monk discription, they use the term offhand as discriptive text to indicate that a monk doesn't recieve mechanical penalties for attacking with any part of their body for their normal attacks. They can ADD a mechanical penalty, however, by using the TWF ability to gain additional attacks above and beyond those normally granted by BAB and the flurry of blows ability.

As far as having 2 weapons, UAS's are listed on the table next to daggers. You can equip 2 daggers, why can't you "equip" 2 unarmed strikes? Thats the weakest reason not to allow it of the 3.

And from a balance PoV, is it rediclously horribly overpoweredly broken? No. Not even close. Up to 3 extra swings, only on a full attack, with a low chance of hitting at the cost of 3 feats? Oh lordy, stop me now before I forsake the whole thing and take Power Attack and Shock Trooper....

Regardless, I humbly request that you not derail my thread. If you want to comment on the build, its effectiveness or optimization, please do. If you want to debate the merits of TWFing as a monk, please start a new thread, or reference one of the ones that I think we've both debated in. Thank you.

D-naras
2009-05-19, 07:13 AM
It's undoubtfully effective, but how did you qualify for twf? Is it a homebrew or something? Because your dex is to low for it. Also you should get an item to grant you haste to up those attacks.

Darrin
2009-05-19, 08:21 AM
Where'd you get her unarmed strike damage as 4d6? Powerful Build doesn't have any effect on her unarmed damage, she's still treated as medium which would be 2d6. INA improves this to 3d6.

Consider adding Mighty Arms (Warforged Graft, Faiths of Eberron) + Battle Fist (ECS). Check with the DM to see if a monk attacking with a Battle Fist would be using it as a slam attack (I suppose as a secondary natural attack) or as an unarmed strike. The RAW wording on the Battle Fist is confusing:



A warforged monk who uses a battlefist deals increased unarmed damage as though the character were one size larger than actual, and he can add the battle fist’s enhancement bonus to his unarmed attack and damage rolls.


This doesn't specify if the battle fist is still a slam attack (as a secondary natural attack with a -5 penalty) or is now an unarmed strike. If the former, then this is really bizarre, since a monk could headbutt an opponent with increased damage and add the enhancement bonus, and then completely miss the secondary attack with the battle fist. If the latter, then the Battle Fist is no longer a natural attack and can be used as an unarmed strike. It would also be considered a light weapon, which means you can take the Unorthodox Flurry feat (Dragon Compendium) and treat it as a special monk weapon. You could then use it with Flurry of Blows. You can also add further enchantments on it.

Assuming your DM allows the Battle Fist to be treated as an unarmed strike, then Clothilde's unarmed strike damage at ECL 13 would be 3d6 (large monk). INA bumps this up to 4d6. Augmented Expansion, 4d6 -> 6d6 -> 8d6. Then you can add Greater Mighty Wallop on top of that... unfortunately, INA caps out at 12d6, and I don't see anything in RAW that goes beyond that. However, with a monk's belt, Superior Unarmed Strike, or another 3 levels, her max damage caps out at 12d8.

Muad'dib
2009-05-19, 11:19 AM
Eh, a character with 2 weapons, one in each hand, isn't considered to be TWFing either, so long as he is only making the perscribed number of attacks he is allowed to by his BAB. For example, if you had a longsword in one hand, and a flail in your offhand, and a BAB of 11, you could make attacks with your longsword or flail interchangeably, as long as you didn't exceed 3 attacks (one at +11, one at +6, one at +1). Same as a monk who is fighting with his UAS. He gets one attack for each bonus attack he gets from his AB. None of his attacks are considered "offhand" even though he is using both of his hands. Offhand is a special mechanical circumstance, brought about by making additional attacks per round using the TWF feature as discribed in the combat section of the PHB. Offhand carries the drawbacks of requiring a 1handed weapon or lighter, and only receiving the benefits of .5x strength bonus. Thats ALL offhand means. Making an offhand attack confers TWF penalties to all attacks, as discribed by the rules in the feat discription as well as in the combat chapter of the PHB.

Not necessarily true. Characters without the two weapon fighting feat always suffer an offhand penalty when using their off hand. Check the definition of offhand as given in the phb glossary page 311. Here the offhand penalty isn't even mentioned with two-weapon fighting, so without the two weapon fighting feat you suffer offhand penalties even if you don't actually use a two weapon fighting routine.

tyckspoon
2009-05-19, 11:42 AM
Edit:
Lycan, I do have Link Power. I'm not doing Claws of the Beast because....well, I dunno. Guess I don't have a good reason to do Claws of the Beast AND make a full attack with my UAS. Hmmmm....I think it may just be too much though....


Possibly you're not doing it because it doesn't really work with the build? Claws of the Beast replaces your primary attack routine with Claw/Claw and has a specific clause disallowing using them as secondary attacks- "If you attack with a manufactured weapon or another natural attack, you can’t make any claw attacks in that round." Going with Claws would reduce your Unarmed Strikes to TWFing only. Might be worth picking up Bite Of The Wolf, tho.

Keld Denar
2009-05-19, 12:01 PM
Not necessarily true. Characters without the two weapon fighting feat always suffer an offhand penalty when using their off hand. Check the definition of offhand as given in the phb glossary page 311. Here the offhand penalty isn't even mentioned with two-weapon fighting, so without the two weapon fighting feat you suffer offhand penalties even if you don't actually use a two weapon fighting routine.

Citation please? Other than the glosssery definition, which isn't even accurate (since the penalty is actually -10, and -6 with the main hand, or -4/-4 without a light weapon but with the TWF feats, or -2/-2 with a light weapon). A character can always attack with any weapon they have available as part of a full attack routine. You can interspace unarmed strikes, or attacks with armor spikes, or attacks with any weapon you may not be holding in your hand (like a Weighted Cloak or Blade Braids from Comp Scoundrel). Granted, I just read through the entire PHB section on full attacks. I'll check Complete Warrior and Complete Scoundrel here in a sec, but I could have SWORN I saw something somewhere that stated you can make an attack with any weapon you possess as part of a full attack at no penalty unless you claim more attacks than your BAB would normally allow (like from TWF). Furthermore, most people, when they suggest polearms, seem to indicate that you can attack with your polearm and your armor spikes in the same round, assuming that there are opponents within each of your reaches.

Build updated. I took out TWF because I realized I don't fit the dex requirements. I also took Superior Unarmed Strike, so now I hit like a large level 17 monk which is 3d8. I'm assuming then that Expanded, my attacks will be 4d8 and Aug Expanded my attacks will be 6d8 and then 8d8, 12d8, 16d8, 24d8, 32d8, etc if I get any other modifiers.

Thanks for the input so far!

Muad'dib
2009-05-19, 01:39 PM
Citation please? Other than the glosssery definition

The glossary is a viable citation as nothing actually contradicts it. The offhand has a larger penalty than the main is a hold over from 3.0 where you needed two feats to negate two weapon fighting penalties. Ambidexterity removed the -4. Now two weapon fighting takes care of it but never actually says it does past reducing the offhand penalty by 6 instead of the 2 it did back in 3.0. But they never got rid of the offhand rule as can be seen in the glossary. And further more, the actual term offhand isn't defined until then. All instances of making an attack with your offhand either reference using a weapon wielded in your offhand or using the weapon to make an offhand attack (with weapons, such as armor spikes, that can be used main/off). If the Glossary is the only place off hand is defined, then the definition it gives must be correct especially as seeing in the two weapon fighting rules, no rule is given for changing your main hand on the fly.

None of this means that I think the two weapon fighting rules weren't poorly thought out or written, but it does mean that the offhand rule does exist.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2009-05-19, 03:16 PM
"There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply her full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all her unarmed strikes."
RAI: A Monk's full attack can be made with either hand, or any other part of her body, and none of those attacks count as an offhand attack by virtue of not being made with her primary hand. This rule's only purpose is to not penalize a player for wanting to do cinematic fights. For example, lacking this rule you have the following: Player: "I'll use flurry, punching with my left and right hands." DM: "Your offhand attacks only get 1/2 your strength bonus, you're better off making both attacks with your primary hand."

"If you wield a second weapon in your off hand, you can get one extra attack per round with that weapon." (two weapon fighting in the combat chapter)
Due to Improved Unarmed Strike, you are considered armed when making an unarmed strike. The term 'weapon' can refer to both manufactured and natural weapons, including unarmed strikes, and even weapon-like spells such as touch attacks. Therefore, by virtue of the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, you are considered to be wielding a second weapon in your offhand (your fist) whenever you desire to do so. Therefore, you can gain a second attack with that offhand weapon via the two weapon fighting rules.

By RAW, you could even argue that a TWF Monk's offhand attacks gain her full strength bonus rather than only half.

There were three Rules of the Game (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/rg) articles addressing unarmed strikes, this can of worms is taken from part three (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20070410a):

If a monk is not using her flurry of blows ability, she can claim an extra attack from a second weapon. If she does, she takes all the penalties for attacking with two weapons and for attacking with off-hand weapons. A monk using an unarmed strike as an off-hand attack does not suffer any off-hand penalties; however, under the regular rules for two-weapon fighting you get only one extra attack for an off-hand weapon.

For example a 7th-level monk with a Strength score of 15 that uses a longspear as a primary weapon and makes an off-hand unarmed attack has attack bonuses that are +3 longspear, +7 unarmed. This breaks down as follows: The longspear is +5 base, +2 Strength, -4 two-weapon (off-hand weapon is light). The unarmed strike is +5 base, +2 Strength -- off-hand penalties don't apply to a monk's unarmed strike. Because a longspear is a two-handed weapon, damage from the weapon is 1d8+3. Damage for the unarmed strike is 1d8+2 -- a monk gets her full Strength bonus for unarmed strikes, even when used as off-hand attacks.

According to that, you can't TWF with Flurry of Blows, but if you use an unarmed strike for your 'offhand' attack it gets no TWF penalties and it gets your full Strength bonus to damage. Assume a character has the TWF feat; Flurry gets a second attack at full BAB but all attacks are at -2. TWF gets a second attack at full BAB, all primary attacks are at -2 but offhand attacks aren't. A Monk with TWF and eventually ITWF and GTWF is better off using those than using Flurry.

The author of the article also must not have taken into account the possibility of using only monk weapons and/or unarmed strikes with TWF, because in that case he is clearly eligible to use Flurry of Blows in combination with those attacks. In that case, all of his primary attacks would suffer both the -2 for TWF and the penalty for Flurry (if any), and his offhand attacks would only suffer the Flurry penalty. You could even say the Flurry attacks are being made with the offhand weapon, so they don't suffer the -2 TWF penalty.

This issue was also addressed in Dragon magazine fairly early in 3.5, even before any of the Completes were released. According to that, as long as you're using a full attack you can use TWF, as long as you're using a full attack and using nothing but Monk weapons you can Flurry, and the two can be combined with the normal penalties applied. Therefore, Flurry bonuses on all attacks, TWF penalties on all attacks, and the offhand TWF attacks get 1/2 Strength bonus to damage as normal for TWF offhand attacks.

I'm sure I'll get a "FAQ is not RAW!!!1" response to this, but just the same, there are arguments for and against every way of allowing and disallowing every combination of these abilities. It's entirely up to his DM how to handle it, so arguing it here is moot.