[3.5] Polearm Monk Info/PrCl?

[Rathyr]

I've recently been invited to a 3.5 game for the first time, and I am looking for assistance in building my Polearm Monk. I've looked through a number of guides, but they primarily deal with Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Monks.

I was instantly sold on the idea of a Polearm Monk that focused on Trips and AoO. I am not looking to super cheese my character, just looking for a natural extension of his purpose.

Anyways, I am starting at level 5 (human), with a 30 point buy. Any 3.0/3.5 stuff is to be considered (DM might ban anything over the top).

My thoughts include:
1. Focus on Str (trip, damage) and run Dex secondary (Combat Reflexes, AC). Wis will suffer, but can't do it all.
2. Decisive Strike instead of Flurry of Blows (AoO affected, Power Attack is that much stronger once I get it).
3. Talenta Sharrash prof (seems to be the best trip Polearm if you have to burn a feat to be proficient with it) + Weapon Focus + Polearm Fighting (turns a polearm into a Monk special weapon) takes care of all my feats.

I just don't really have an idea where to go class-wise after level 6. All of the content is super spread out between so many books. Fighter for more feats? Exotic Weapon Master? Or is there a nice PrCl that fits nicely with this kind of build?

Thank you for your assistance.

[FMArthur]

Is there any actual benefit to staying Monk after that first level for Decisive Strike? Because it looks like you're basically just shirking all the main benefits of being a monk to do this character... and monk benefits are pretty meager as-is. Remember that any martially-oriented class can roleplay as a mystic martial artist - that's not exclusive to a class or anything.

Are you getting Improved Trip as well? That should be pretty important to being both a tripper and a damage-dealer like your use of Decisive Strike would imply. Especially since prone enemies are easier to Power Attack. I think you do need to take at least a couple Fighter levels for this concept to get off the ground at a reasonable level.

[Thurbane]

There's a few polearm focused feats in Dragon Magazine Compendium - Pole Fighter lets you flurry with a polearm.

[Rathyr]

Improved Trip is gained at level 6 as a Monk bonus feat.

Pole Fighter is already included in the build, I just remembered it wrong and put it down as Polearm Fighting.

As for remaining Monk... bonus feats are all put to good use (1/2/6), and at 5/9/11 Decisive Strike gets stronger (-1 penalty instead of -2/no penalty/second attack). Decisive Strike lets me deal double damage with all attacks for a round as a Full Action Attack. You only get 1 attack at a -2 though.

Only feature I'm really dumping from Monk is their Unarmed, which I will use on anyone that makes it adjacent to me.

[Big Fau]

See if you can get the Scorpion Kama's ability attached to your Sharrash. It lets you change the damage from 1d10 to whatever your Unarmed Strike damage is, and you can boost that fairly easily. This lets you alternate between unarmed attacks and the Sharrash without sacrificing your damage output.

[Circle of Life]

Is there a reason this couldn't be accomplished with Swordsage or Warblade, using Setting Sun or Iron Heart? Steel Wind and greater versions are like the Decisive Strike you want without all the fail of monk attached, and Setting Sun is martial arts (trips/pulls/disarms, etc) without the suck. Dabble with Martial Study feats on either chassis to get the exact effect you want.

[NOhara24]

Remember that any martially-oriented class can roleplay as a mystic martial artist - that's not exclusive to a class or anything.



This. Depending on the power level of your game, you may find it a better option to play something out of the Tome of Battle vs a Monk. Especially with a reach weapon, the martial stance "Thicket of Blades" would be not cheesy, but VERY powerful. Some feats to look in to...

-Combat Reflexes (You NEED this if you're focusing on AoO. 10/10)
-Stand Still (Not a need, but definitely nice to have. 7/10)
-Robilar's Gambit (Again, not a need, but you're definitely limiting yourself if you don't take it. 8/10)
-Defensive Sweep (6/10. If combined with Stand Still, 9/10)
-Overwhelming Assault (6/10. Combined with ALL the other feats here, 9/10)

[FMArthur]

But you're not really interested in the AC bonus (which you will actually be better off using armor in place of since the features you care about don't need being unarmored) the movement doesn't help your strategy, and the hit dice definitely don't. Monk 2/Fighter 2 will pretty much have all of your necessary feats covered. From there you can just go into a full BAB class and reap greater benefits than the, uh, nothing that Monk will give you.

Simply using levels in any full BAB class will negate any advantage that the reduced penalty at 5 and 9 would offer... And 11 levels in monk is basically a disaster written onto a character sheet in unnecessary detail since aside from a single second attack, you will have gained basically nothing beyond that Monk 2/Fighter 2 except Evasion, and mediocre BAB & hit dice over seven levels.


...Anyway, whether or not you're staying with monk, I think the Crusader class from Tome of Battle offers you the best melee options from that point. They are excellent at area-denial defensive fighting, which your build would love. If Crusader's out then Knight from PHII is sort of the poor-man's Crusader and can nearly get the job done. If saves are an issue to you without the Monk levels, Warblade levels also offer great hit dice, full BAB and access to Diamond Mind maneuvers that let you substitute Concentration checks for saves, plus other nice offensive, defensive and passive maneuvers as you like.

[Elric VIII]

The Passive Way fighting style from UA gets you Combat Expertise and Improved Trip at levels 1 and 2. This is especially useful since you do not need the prerequisite Int score and you can focus on your other ability scores more.

After that I would recommend heading over to Swordsage, focusing on Setting Sun. You can eventually grab Martial Study for Thicket of Blades (and Stand Still) and be a quite decent controller.

[Greenish]

There's a few polearm focused feats in Dragon Magazine Compendium - Pole Fighter lets you flurry with a polearm.There's a similar one in one of Eberron books, I want to say Secrets of Sarlona.

Just putting it out there in case someone without Dragon Magazines wants to do this.

[Edit]: Also, just a heads up, Talenta Sharrash was nerfed in errata (down to x2 crit damage).

[gkathellar]

Hm. Other people have mostly covered this territory ... let's get obscure. I think the Shen, from Dragon 319 (?), could go polearm-focused if it chose the monkey route or something. I seem to remember there was some exploit or another that let it grab GTWF for a quarterstaff with less than +11 BAB.

[Aharon]

Actually, Polearm Monk isn't terrible in Core only games. Get a +1 Ki Polearm, and you can Trip-Stun opponents. You get all feats you need for Tripping, good saves and skills and SR later on - which is a bigger deal in medium-optimized Core only than with more sourcebooks. Also, you have an advantage over other non-spiked chain trippers, because you threaten the area around you with your unarmed attacks.

In a non-core game, there are better options, as detailed by other posters, but I think it's a decent build to do this specific thing (yes, I know there are better status effects than stun, but it's still not bad).

[GodGoblin]

Have you thought about going the Monk 2/Psionic class 18 Tashlora route?

Psychic warrior or ardent are probably the best bets as they get loads of powers to help with the AOO trip style of combat.

[Elric VIII]

Have you thought about going the Monk 2/Psionic class 18 Tashlora route?

Psychic warrior or ardent are probably the best bets as they get loads of powers to help with the AOO trip style of combat.

PsiWar and Ardent are the classic choices. If you can get your DM to switch Telekinetic Maneuver to Wis-based for those classes (by RAW it is always Int-based), you can even trip with your mind.

Expansion will help you stay competative as enemies ineviably get bigger.

I think there might also be a feat the improves your trip checks while psionically focused.

EDIT: If you go with Ardent you can take mantles to improve your checks.

Fate: 1/day add your Ardent level to a d20 roll.
Physical Power: +2 to a physical scor as a free action for a round.

[gkathellar]

PsiWar and Ardent are the classic choices.

Psion, on the other hand, is a less classic choice but lets you go SAD using Control Body.

[GodGoblin]

Psion, on the other hand, is a less classic choice but lets you go SAD using Control Body.

But you will have poor base attack, d4 HD etc, a bit too squishy for a front liner

[gkathellar]

But you will have poor base attack, d4 HD etc, a bit too squishy for a front liner

Not if you take Talashtora (Slayer). Take Solicit Psycrystal for extra physical actions as icing on the cake.

[GodGoblin]

Not if you take Talashtora (Slayer). Take Solicit Psycrystal for extra physical actions as icing on the cake.

Ah yeah and the Vigor/Share pain trick would help with the HD, I prefer to use Psywar personally but its a good option.

[Greenish]

Psion, on the other hand, is a less classic choice but lets you go SAD using Control Body.On the third hand, using Control Body with an AoO-focused build would be silly.

[Psyren]

Shou Disciple can flurry with any martial weapon, so giving up flurry isn't mandatory or anything.