How do I monk of the long death?

[Venger]

So, this is a somewhat lackluster, but nonetheless fun prc from player's guide to faerun. Its primary note is that it's one of the rare classes that offers a stacking, int-based death attack (the only other two I know of are assassin and black dog)

I enjoy the fluff, scant though it is, and though its loss of a good fort save sort of sucks (better nerf those monks :/ ) it seems to be begging for some kind of optimization.

as far as thoughts regarding entry goes, cliched as it seems, I was thinking of monk 7, making use of its many ACFs so I might be able to actually use the darn death attack.

race I was thinking strongheart halfling for the following reasons (alongside the feat)

1: hin disciple monk (bonus: underfoot combat)
2: (b) imp trip (hin disciple), (invisible fist for evasion)
3: dark moon disciple (darkvision for still mind)
6: some bonus feat from one of the schools (since disarms not useful and trip's already there, and the 6th level of hin disciple is not useful)
7: dark moon disciple (shadow blend for wholeness of body)

then entering long death on time, eating the CC ranks in heal, buying everything else after subbing wis for int with carmendine monk, grabbing confound the big folk at 9, and cooling my heels there till 13.

from this point, I'd figured on going black dog, using one of my feats from 13 or before on least dragonmark as the entry tax.

while assassin is probably cheaper to enter and opens up the assassin list via wands, it just feels less interesting and offers little real mechanical advantage.

so chill out there for 5 levels, nab mortifying attack as my 15th level feat to scare the bejeezus out of people and make them more vulnerable to SA/DA

got 2 levels left to kick around, unsure what to do with. hard to go wrong with a totemist or swordsage dip in almost any build, but I'm unsure of where they'd go here without delaying good stuff.

feats will probably include:
1: carmendine monk
1: (strongheart) darkstalker
1: (b) underfoot combat
2: imp trip
3: least dragonmark dhurinda
6: (b)
6:
9: confound the big folk
12:
15: mortifying attack
18:

any suggestions for feats, etc?

build will tentatively looks something like

monk7/long death 6/ black dog 5/ xx2


might move the 2 levels elsewhere and rejigger/swap out other lvls as suggested.

with shadow blend, greater int focus than a normal monk, underfoot combat/confound the big folk and invisible fist up, will death attack be possible to get off against enemies relatively often? or am I better off scrapping it and jamming in some avenging executioner or something to fear stack?

I know death attack maximization can be done, I just don't want to wholesale play spoons mcgee or the like, since I'd feel I hadn't done any work.

is taking 2 more levels of monk to get invisible fist (blink) worth it? will that make death attacks easier to get off? that spell's always given me a monstrous headache and after 4 and half years of play, I'm still not sure how to use it properly.

I believe more than one death attack can be made per round as long as the conditions are fulfilled (e.g. still flanking vs. attacking from invisible, in which case only the first'd apply) is this true? if so, flurry might be worth keeping on.


is an assassin dip advisable? should I just eat the cc ranks in disguise?

should factotum 3 come in for more int synergy and brains over brawn to help with sneakiness?

any advice would be appreciated.

[The Viscount]

I'm not sure that more than one Death Attack can be made per round. The rules are a little vague on it.

As for feats, Shadow Blade sounds like it might come in handy, though that would likely mean taking dip in swordsage, which would re-introduce wis-dependence.

[Demonikus Aber]

I'm not sure that more than one Death Attack can be made per round. The rules are a little vague on it.

Only one can be made per round, you can make multiple attacks however the first one to hit triggers the death attack.

[Demonikus Aber]

The Imiskari Vengeance taker also stacks its level's for death attack

[Venger]

I'm not sure that more than one Death Attack can be made per round. The rules are a little vague on it.

As for feats, Shadow Blade sounds like it might come in handy, though that would likely mean taking dip in swordsage, which would re-introduce wis-dependence.

Not really. I could just avoid wis dependence by not picking maneuvers that allow saves. it's unfortunate I won't be able to get double AC bonus, but it's worth it to cut down on MAD.

A dip in swordsage when it'd mean an ML of 5 or 7 is probably best, so that'd mean at level 8 or level 11, depending on what maneuvers are good here. cloak of deception to enable assassin's stance would probably be about all I'd need out of shadow hand. I could pick up some other 3rds and 4ths too at that level


Only one can be made per round, you can make multiple attacks however the first one to hit triggers the death attack.

could you point out the rule that says you can't make multiple death attacks a round? it's not that I think you're wrong, just that the death attack text seems sort of muddy to me.


The Imiskari Vengeance taker also stacks its level's for death attack

while that may be true, it doesn't actually give death attack until level 10, and its prereqs make it not very viable for this build. to my shock, it doesn't require that you are an imaskari, but 3rd lvl spells aren't really gonna work here.

[Demonikus Aber]

The Assassin class's death attack in the DMG says "If an assassin studies his victim for 3 rounds and then makes a sneak attack with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage, the sneak atack has the additional effect of possivly either paralyzing or killing the target (assassin's Choice)."

I very well could be wrong, but as I understand it, you must study a target for three rounds and then make your death attack, but it isn't death attacks. and once you make the death attack, it requires you to make three additional rounds of study before making another death attack. That sounds like you can only make one per round after three rounds of study. Also, you make a melee attack that successfully deals sneak attack damage, it has the additional affect of paralyzing the target. That isn't all the sneak attack, just the one that deals damage.

The imaskari vengeance taker is good for later levels once you have finished off the assassin prestige class because the spells come from the assassin, and the imaskari VT continues to increase your dc even after the levels of assassin.