High Balance Monk

[Morth]

So, for a rule of cool character, I'm making a kung-fu monk who needs to be able to walk on clouds as fast as possible.... any help on this undertaking?

[Flickerdart]

You're not going to get a reliable way to do a DC120 skill check until the late teens, and even then not without investing significant resources. You would be better off playing a Cleric of some sort that uses Air Walk, dresses in robes and punches people's faces in.

[Heliomance]

Custom item of +30 competance to Balance checks, 90000 GP


You're not going to get a reliable way to do a DC120 skill check until the late teens, and even then not without investing significant resources. You would be better off playing a Cleric of some sort that uses Air Walk, dresses in robes and punches people's faces in.

DC 120 is to walk on thin air. Walking on clouds is only DC 100. It was in the ELH, anyway. Oh well.

However, it's only DC 90 to, say run along a ribbon attached to an arrow your archer friend just shot, which is nearly as awesome.

[Morth]

I'm mostly just looking for how to super-charge my score though.
Any feats or items I should look at?

[Flickerdart]

Well, at 20th level, you have 23 ranks, and presumably a +7 or so from ability scores at best (since you're MAD). The custom item puts you at +60. You could then get an item familiar. Assuming an INT of 10, you will receive the familiar at 3rd level at the earliest, and will benefit from 4 skill points invested into it each level thereafter. That's 64 skill points, or a +21 bonus to balance, for +81. A masterwork tool makes that +83, +84 with a pale green prism ioun stone and +87 with Skill Focus and +89 with Agile. I'm not certain it's possible to get the check much higher without UMD or allies.
Edit: If you want to fish for obscure sources, Five Stars Mastery 1 from Dragon #315 adds another +10, for 99. Daredevil Athlete (CSc) ads +5 3/day, for 104. Foot and Fist Mastery (OA) is another +10, but competence, so it doesn't stack with the stone (+113). Air Heritage (PlaH) is another +2 (+115). So it's possible - but you've spent incredible wealth and more feats than you have in order to accomplish it, and even then you only have a 75% chance of making it, or 50% after 3 tries.

[MeeposFire]

Take levels in swordsage or similar or take feats to pick up the shadow hand stance that allows you to walk in air. That will give you what you want.

If you go straight unarmed swordsage then you could pick up the ability around 15th level and still be considered a monk by every measure except the name on a character sheet.

[MammonAzrael]

This...is actually something else the Unarmed Swordsage can do without too much difficulty. Just get to initiator level 15, and grab the Balance on the Sky stance. You're done.

I'm afraid I can't help the skill check buff any more than Flickerdart already has.

[Psyren]

Take levels in swordsage or similar or take feats to pick up the shadow hand stance that allows you to walk in air. That will give you what you want.

If you go straight unarmed swordsage then you could pick up the ability around 15th level and still be considered a monk by every measure except the name on a character sheet.

Personally, I'd write "REAL MONK" on every USS character sheet I used :smalltongue:

[Morth]

Okay, I think I need to better define what I'm doing. I want the balance to pull off wonderful feats like jumping between rain-drops, running on water, and running through the sky. Sorry for being unclear.

[Greenish]

Some of the OA PrCs get Acrobatics as a class feature. It's 10-30 bonus to Balance, Tumble and Jump (or was it climb), and the ability to take 10 in said skills. Requires quite a bit of investment in levels though. Ninja Spy only gets up to +20, but is rather easy to enter as a monk, and is rather similar to monk.

[Chambers]

I have a Monk revision (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162365) that does just that. Please don't necro the thread though. If you have a question about it PM me and I'll reopen the thread.

[The Glyphstone]

Okay, I think I need to better define what I'm doing. I want the balance to pull off wonderful feats like jumping between rain-drops, running on water, and running through the sky. Sorry for being unclear.

Since that's just using Balance, I wouldn't use a Monk at all. if Swordsage is off the table, use a Rogue. 8+Int skill points, Balance in-class, and Dex synergy. Find a friendly neighborhood artificer to make all sorts of cheap Item of Bonus Type Other Than Competence +X and you can get a horrifically high balance check.

[Rixx]

Pathfinder to the rescue!

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/cloud-step

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Play Exalted. :smallbiggrin:

[The Rose Dragon]

Play Exalted. :smallbiggrin:

Almost no Exalt can walk on clouds on their own power. They can fly on them, but they have to keep moving.

Of course, that assumes that we are talking about a mundane cloud, and not one of the magical transport clouds in Yu-Shan or clouds of solid fire in the Wyld.

[Psyren]

Pathfinder to the rescue!

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/cloud-step

I'll agree with this, especially since the Pathfinder Monk is better (not fantastically better, but better) than its 3.5 cousin.

[OracleofWuffing]

Almost no Exalt can walk on clouds on their own power. They can fly on them, but they have to keep moving.
Well, if you were walking on clouds, that means you would have to keep moving, anyways...

[nedz]

A 1 level dip into Warlock can get you another +6 via the Leaps and Bounds Invokation. I can never remember whether this one is Profane or Untyped, but you should be good for +120 either way, with Flickerdarts additions as well - of course.
You would have to be LE though.

[FishAreWet]

Just say screw it, buy an item that grants flight and pretend.

That's what the game is anyways.

[Psyren]

A 1 level dip into Warlock can get you another +6 via the Leaps and Bounds Invokation. I can never remember whether this one is Profane or Untyped, but you should be good for +120 either way, with Flickerdarts additions as well - of course.
You would have to be LE though.

LaB is untyped.


Just say screw it, buy an item that grants flight and pretend.

That's what the game is anyways.

Or Psionics; mental training is mental training.

[Zaq]

The Acrobat Boots soulmeld gives a +2 on Balance (among other things), +2 per essentia you put in it. If you have a way of getting some essentia, it can be a decent investment (either take a level of Incarnate or just take the feat Shape Soulmeld). It's an insight bonus, so it should stack with a lot of the more common things out there.