PF: Alchemist as Monk

[panaikhan]

I was reading through my books yesterday, and I spotted one of the Alchemist archetypes that had an 'excellence of self' kind of flavour to it.
I immediately thought of Ryu (Street Fighter) reading through it, and thought it might make an excellent base for Master Chymist later on.

Two questions:
1) is it even worth trying to make a Monk-style build from an Alchemist?
2) what would be the "must-haves" for such a build?

[Chained Birds]

Well, there is a 3rd party Archetype for Alchemist called Herbalist (Found on the PFsrd) which uses his Wisdom instead of Int for Extracts and other stuff. Though being 3rd Party, it might not be Okayed by your DM.

Besides that, Regular Alchemist + Monk is extremely MAD! It pretty much makes the Monks's only dump stat Charisma. Though if you roll good enough, it can maybe work...

[Psyren]

You could also go the other way, and port in some 3.5 feats that key monk abilities off Int - like Kung-Fu Genius from Dragon Compendium.

[panaikhan]

Just to clarify:
I'm not thinking of taking actual Monk levels.
The Archetype lets the Alchemist select monk-like abilities (improved unarmed strike etc etc) instead of Discoveries. It also trades away poison use, but i'm not that bothered about poisons.
I just thought the archetype might make a good base for Master Chymist (who, reading the fluff, likes to get their hands dirty)

[Psyren]

Which archetype is that? I can't seem to locate it.

[Ossian]

Just to clarify:
I'm not thinking of taking actual Monk levels.
The Archetype lets the Alchemist select monk-like abilities (improved unarmed strike etc etc) instead of Discoveries. It also trades away poison use, but i'm not that bothered about poisons.
I just thought the archetype might make a good base for Master Chymist (who, reading the fluff, likes to get their hands dirty)

Like that character (Hugh Jackman) who does tai-chi while he researches a cure for cancer in a bubble ball in the 40th century AND is at the same time the reincarnation of a XVI century conquisatdor? (the tai chi researcher, I mean).

edit: The Fountain. movie LINK (http://www.imdb.de/title/tt0414993/)

[grarrrg]

Which archetype is that? I can't seem to locate it.

Internal Alchemist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/alchemist/archetypes/paizo---alchemist-archetypes/internal-alchemist)

Odd that it let's you take the "Extra Ki" feat, while NOT giving you a Ki pool/Ki Abilities....

As for trying to make a "monk" flavored build? Not so much.
Your Unarmed damage does not scale, and you have no way to gain extra attacks (Flurry of Blows).
It seems like a nice entry for Master Chymist, but since Feral Mutagen is a (poossible) pre-req, and it gives Claw attacks, you're better off with that anyway.

The Disease Resistance, and Uncanny Dodge can be nice though.

[imneuromancer]

I think everyone is hung up on a monk being a dude with WISDOM to AC, flurry of blows, and gets stunning fist.

Personally, I like the idea of building an alchemist CLASS character, but who acts like a monk.

He could even take the "monkish" role in combat with all of his unarmed strikes, additions to stats ("Drunken Master" type idea, maybe, instead of the traditional "Jekyll and Hyde"), etc.

The character would probably end up feeling more like one of the wizards or something from Big Trouble in Little China with all of their magic + martial arts, but to me that would be AWESOME!

[panaikhan]

I kind-of like the concept too.
He doesn't 'have' to use unarmed combat (monks can use weapons after all), but I was toying with re-fluffing the bomb as a -street fighter- style Ki blast, or yoga flame, or many of the other insane combat moves from that game.
Actually the Drunken Master fits perfectly as a concept - always swigging something or other.

[Blisstake]

I know you aren't planning on taking levels in monk, but Adder Strike (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/adder-strike-combat) is just too cool.

[imneuromancer]

I kind-of like the concept too.
He doesn't 'have' to use unarmed combat (monks can use weapons after all), but I was toying with re-fluffing the bomb as a -street fighter- style Ki blast, or yoga flame, or many of the other insane combat moves from that game.
Actually the Drunken Master fits perfectly as a concept - always swigging something or other.

There is an alchemist optimization link somewhere that basically suggests taking a bunch of the melee-oriented abilites, then getting your hands on greater magic weapon potions and using the "spell" that allows you to re-use potions....basically, if you get the right potions and use the right abilities, you become a killing machine with your bare hands, plus add the ability to do all kinds of other "monk-like" feats.

I had a "Jekyll and Hyde" alchemist in one of the games I ran, and he was super, super effective. I could easily see him being themed as "monk-like" instead and work just as well in tone, mechanics, and flavor.