Greyfell
2012-04-18, 12:04 PM
Started out a pathfinder campaign from level 1 tonight, and I think I'm going to journal my progress here as a show of what a sometimes unliked class can do in that system. Our group has read up on pathfinder a lot, overall, but this is our first actuall game/campaign.
What am I playing?
A monk.
Yes, a Monk. In a party consisting of an Elven fighter (specializing in archery), a Human gunslinger, a Half orc Barbarian, a Human sorceror, a human Oracle and a human (?) ninja, I chose to be the monk. I've always wanted to try monk in 3.5, and after seeing pathfinder made many small but noticable improvements I jumped for the chance. We used a 26d6 dice pool for stat rolls and I came up very solid on my important rolls (STR, CON, DEX, WIS) and.. well, horrible in INT/CHA.
Vital statistics
Name: Dragon Chases Shadow (DCS to at least one party member even in the first session)
Human monk (standard monk so far)
STR 18
CON 15
DEX 17
INT 9
WIS 17 (15, bumped up with the human +2 attribute mod)
CHA 5 (!)
Feats: Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved grapple
HP: 11 (8 base, +2 con +1 fave class)
AC 16 (touch 16, flat 13)
Skill points (3 +1 for human per level)
ranks in
acrobatics
heal (comes in later for a possible style feat)
perception
stealth
Traits (I think I'm remembering these correctly)
Scouting for evil fiends (campaign specific, +1 to hit against evil outsiders)
Reactionary (+2 trait bonus to init.. woohoo, +9 init at first level!)
the Session/RP
The campaign is set in Riddleport (I think that was the name, I don't know the pathfinder setting well yet) at a casino called the Golden Goblin. MY character is there to investigate for possible fiendish activity, which is in my mind confirmed when I see the imp hanging from the ceiling in a cage. I and the elf stand with our backs against the wall, not participating in the gambling tournament and watching for trouble while we talk tough guy stuff about how well we can kill people.
With a blinding flash, combat erupts as thugs start shaking down the customers. I and the elf are at the far, far end of the casino from the fighting. He moves and looks for bow shots, I simply double move to try to get into the face of the spellcaster in charge of the thugs (obviously a bard). The barbarian gets flanked and takes a critical hit sneak attack from a sap that probably would have killed a normal man (14 damage!) but shrugs it off and scythes down a thug with her great sword (she was at 1 or 2 HP iirc). The Gunslinger starts popping off shots at close range to make them touch attacks, but is fairly ineffective. Either he misses or rolls low on his 1d8 Plus nothing damage rolls.
(Both the Oracle and the Sorceror somehow failed their fairly easy WILL saves for the initial blinding effect of pyrotechnics, and really didn't contribute much to the fight)
I am soon within range of a move + stunning fist on the bard... but she's got several thugs in close proximity. It'd be nice to lock her down/take her out, but no one else is close enough to give me timely support and I'm afraid I'll get swarmed under. I change course and head towards the barbarian as she goes down to another blow from a sap. A thug provokes from the very well hidden ninja who appears from the shadows and all but slices the pour soul in half.
I wade in to the Thugs around the downed barbarian and start methodically slapping them down with flurry attacks. I miss a bit but my solid 1d6+4 damage really shows up here and puts them down swiftly. Meanwhile, the enemy leaders escape.
We mop up fairly easily but the thiefs get away with the large chest full of silver that was to be the grand prize for the gambling tournament. The owner essentially hires us on as security/lackies. Normally as a LN monk I wouldn't go with this as he was at one point a known crime figure... but I want to see if he has more ties to the infernal legions so I grimly accept his offer. The party spontaneously decides to try and track down the fleeing leaders (the bard having been wounded and leaving a bit of a blood trail). The sorceror stays behind.
Between the Elf fighter, the barbarian, and the barbarian's guard dog, we managed to track down the two runners. They've holed up in a building and the party advances inside while the ninja climbs the outside (and at one point falls off and starts climbing again lol). We eventually overhear them in an upstairs room, but they start spellcasting and the only person with decent spellcraft... is at the casino. I rush forward and use my impressive strength to burst the door, smirking and saying 'Hi' as I do so.
I promptly am advised to attempt a reflex AND a will save (burning hands and some sort of charm/command) which I make both of. The party starts flooding in as best they can, the ninja even trying to backstab the wizard through the window he foolishly stands next to and the ninja is now sitting outside of. The wizard, seeing a very strong figure who just shattered a door with his bare hands... promptly Magic Missiles the monk.
Damn.. not even Monks can get away from that one can they? Between that and the small damage from the burning hands, I drop and go to -2. I take a certain perverse pride in having sucked up three spells before going down. The party quickly swarms in, downing the wizard and making a seriously natsy intimidate check on the bard who gives up. The pair explain they were hired by a mysterious figure (no name, but they give a pretty accurate description), who they were to meet later tonight. The party after some debate, allows them to live after promising they're getting the heck out of town. The bard stabilizes the wizard and off the party goes with the chest of silver.
We drop it off, pick up the Sorc, and head back to the supposed meeting point to see if we can ambush this mysterious figure. It's a warehouse/fish facility half on the water. Three go inside, the rest of the party watching from outside. I, as an almost totally unencumbered character with a good strength, swim out a bit to watch the opening on the water side where ships usually dock.
Long story short... nothing happens. I discover some very nasty eels which I slowly swim/back away from, and the party heads back to the casino for a well deserved day off.
Observations
I did pretty consistent damage and contributed to the combat very well. My stealth skills came in fairly handy, as did my perception. Socially, I am a complete dud (gee, go figure with a 5 charisma!) but thats why we have two high charisma casters for, right? As TreantMonk suggest in his guide, I'm essentially playing my Monk as a sort of odd Fighter and it's working pretty well.
We're all looking into things to help the Gunslinger, as he was very put out by his overall poor performance and the cost of using his firearm (damn, that black powder and bullet cost adds up FAST). I'll be looking over GITP's very own gunslinger's handbook for advice.
Long term plans
I'm looking at going Combat reflexes and then Dragon Style in the next few levels for feats. Eventually I'd like to either pick up an EWP in a reach monk weapon to trip and/or disarm with at range (yes I know their poor options in pathfinder, but still, their options) or get a caster to consistently hit me with an Enlarge effect so I'll be better able to exploit my multiple AoO's. I love that I'll be able to pick up Elemental Fist after completing the Dragon style feats, and it'll be the good version (I'll count as a Monk of the Four winds, essentially).
What am I playing?
A monk.
Yes, a Monk. In a party consisting of an Elven fighter (specializing in archery), a Human gunslinger, a Half orc Barbarian, a Human sorceror, a human Oracle and a human (?) ninja, I chose to be the monk. I've always wanted to try monk in 3.5, and after seeing pathfinder made many small but noticable improvements I jumped for the chance. We used a 26d6 dice pool for stat rolls and I came up very solid on my important rolls (STR, CON, DEX, WIS) and.. well, horrible in INT/CHA.
Vital statistics
Name: Dragon Chases Shadow (DCS to at least one party member even in the first session)
Human monk (standard monk so far)
STR 18
CON 15
DEX 17
INT 9
WIS 17 (15, bumped up with the human +2 attribute mod)
CHA 5 (!)
Feats: Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved grapple
HP: 11 (8 base, +2 con +1 fave class)
AC 16 (touch 16, flat 13)
Skill points (3 +1 for human per level)
ranks in
acrobatics
heal (comes in later for a possible style feat)
perception
stealth
Traits (I think I'm remembering these correctly)
Scouting for evil fiends (campaign specific, +1 to hit against evil outsiders)
Reactionary (+2 trait bonus to init.. woohoo, +9 init at first level!)
the Session/RP
The campaign is set in Riddleport (I think that was the name, I don't know the pathfinder setting well yet) at a casino called the Golden Goblin. MY character is there to investigate for possible fiendish activity, which is in my mind confirmed when I see the imp hanging from the ceiling in a cage. I and the elf stand with our backs against the wall, not participating in the gambling tournament and watching for trouble while we talk tough guy stuff about how well we can kill people.
With a blinding flash, combat erupts as thugs start shaking down the customers. I and the elf are at the far, far end of the casino from the fighting. He moves and looks for bow shots, I simply double move to try to get into the face of the spellcaster in charge of the thugs (obviously a bard). The barbarian gets flanked and takes a critical hit sneak attack from a sap that probably would have killed a normal man (14 damage!) but shrugs it off and scythes down a thug with her great sword (she was at 1 or 2 HP iirc). The Gunslinger starts popping off shots at close range to make them touch attacks, but is fairly ineffective. Either he misses or rolls low on his 1d8 Plus nothing damage rolls.
(Both the Oracle and the Sorceror somehow failed their fairly easy WILL saves for the initial blinding effect of pyrotechnics, and really didn't contribute much to the fight)
I am soon within range of a move + stunning fist on the bard... but she's got several thugs in close proximity. It'd be nice to lock her down/take her out, but no one else is close enough to give me timely support and I'm afraid I'll get swarmed under. I change course and head towards the barbarian as she goes down to another blow from a sap. A thug provokes from the very well hidden ninja who appears from the shadows and all but slices the pour soul in half.
I wade in to the Thugs around the downed barbarian and start methodically slapping them down with flurry attacks. I miss a bit but my solid 1d6+4 damage really shows up here and puts them down swiftly. Meanwhile, the enemy leaders escape.
We mop up fairly easily but the thiefs get away with the large chest full of silver that was to be the grand prize for the gambling tournament. The owner essentially hires us on as security/lackies. Normally as a LN monk I wouldn't go with this as he was at one point a known crime figure... but I want to see if he has more ties to the infernal legions so I grimly accept his offer. The party spontaneously decides to try and track down the fleeing leaders (the bard having been wounded and leaving a bit of a blood trail). The sorceror stays behind.
Between the Elf fighter, the barbarian, and the barbarian's guard dog, we managed to track down the two runners. They've holed up in a building and the party advances inside while the ninja climbs the outside (and at one point falls off and starts climbing again lol). We eventually overhear them in an upstairs room, but they start spellcasting and the only person with decent spellcraft... is at the casino. I rush forward and use my impressive strength to burst the door, smirking and saying 'Hi' as I do so.
I promptly am advised to attempt a reflex AND a will save (burning hands and some sort of charm/command) which I make both of. The party starts flooding in as best they can, the ninja even trying to backstab the wizard through the window he foolishly stands next to and the ninja is now sitting outside of. The wizard, seeing a very strong figure who just shattered a door with his bare hands... promptly Magic Missiles the monk.
Damn.. not even Monks can get away from that one can they? Between that and the small damage from the burning hands, I drop and go to -2. I take a certain perverse pride in having sucked up three spells before going down. The party quickly swarms in, downing the wizard and making a seriously natsy intimidate check on the bard who gives up. The pair explain they were hired by a mysterious figure (no name, but they give a pretty accurate description), who they were to meet later tonight. The party after some debate, allows them to live after promising they're getting the heck out of town. The bard stabilizes the wizard and off the party goes with the chest of silver.
We drop it off, pick up the Sorc, and head back to the supposed meeting point to see if we can ambush this mysterious figure. It's a warehouse/fish facility half on the water. Three go inside, the rest of the party watching from outside. I, as an almost totally unencumbered character with a good strength, swim out a bit to watch the opening on the water side where ships usually dock.
Long story short... nothing happens. I discover some very nasty eels which I slowly swim/back away from, and the party heads back to the casino for a well deserved day off.
Observations
I did pretty consistent damage and contributed to the combat very well. My stealth skills came in fairly handy, as did my perception. Socially, I am a complete dud (gee, go figure with a 5 charisma!) but thats why we have two high charisma casters for, right? As TreantMonk suggest in his guide, I'm essentially playing my Monk as a sort of odd Fighter and it's working pretty well.
We're all looking into things to help the Gunslinger, as he was very put out by his overall poor performance and the cost of using his firearm (damn, that black powder and bullet cost adds up FAST). I'll be looking over GITP's very own gunslinger's handbook for advice.
Long term plans
I'm looking at going Combat reflexes and then Dragon Style in the next few levels for feats. Eventually I'd like to either pick up an EWP in a reach monk weapon to trip and/or disarm with at range (yes I know their poor options in pathfinder, but still, their options) or get a caster to consistently hit me with an Enlarge effect so I'll be better able to exploit my multiple AoO's. I love that I'll be able to pick up Elemental Fist after completing the Dragon style feats, and it'll be the good version (I'll count as a Monk of the Four winds, essentially).