oxybe
2014-02-25, 08:23 PM
hey playground!
i hadn't seen my old group in a while so last week i dropped by before their weekly game and since their game had been cancelled, i decided to chat up the guys who decided to come down to the FLGS anyways, as they had nothing else to do that evening.
one of the guys asked if i was interested in joining his campaign (it's in the works right now, like in the "we're drawing up ideas for characters" stages) and, in a bout of madness, the idea of saying yes did cross my mind as i do miss hanging out with these guys as often as i used to.
now, i didn't want to jump in without a plan for various reasons.
first of which is... i'm not a big fan of his system of choice, this system being of the big factors as to why i left the old group months ago after various frustrations made me tip my hat and thank them for the years of camaraderie. that system is pathfinder.
second is i REALLY would like to try something different then "just another full caster" if i do join but my past forays into non-casterdom in 3.5/pathfinder have always left me chomping at the bit for more and left me bored half-way through character creation. i mean i get a concept but then i look at how long i need to play before it comes online and i go "uuuugh". while casters still take a bit to get their big spells, even their level 1 stuff it at least more interesting then weapon focus or power attack.
now, from the gist of what i got, he's going to be running the Jade Regent path which, as i understood, is basically Pathfinder Presents: Oriental Adventures, the campaign. i could be wrong, mind you, but he didn't go into too many details and the other two guys there were rolling up ninjas and samurais, so...
anywho, i got home, slept for a bit and thought of maybe actually playing a martial arts guy.
so i decided to start looking up pathfinder stuff and of the things that came to mind one stood out:
the rough outline for the character is that he was formally trained in the arts, something along the lines of the peking opera, where he was taught dance, acrobatics, combat and social skills. eventually leaving the school after being frustrated with having been relegated to minor/extra roles in the plays, he winds up meeting the party and wants to ply his trade in a less cultured manner.
mechanics wise a few things did cross my line of sight, with the flowing monk (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCombat/classArchetypes/monk.html) standing out the most on a quick readout: plus being able to trip+potential sicken in response to an enemy i threaten attacking me? yes please. unarmed combatant in light/no armor? fits with the theme of what is basically a classically trained stuntman! paired with a decent skillset, it's ok as a whole. while it does fall to the identity crisis issues of the monk class... i have a clear goal in building this guy so i should survive as long as i don't play too stupid. i've played under this guy before, he's tough but fair.
now the other problem is getting tripping into it right and proper. from what i remember CMDs really start going up once you hit the mid levels so i'll need to focus on that first and from what i gather combat reflexes, imp/greater trip, fury's fall and weapon finesse (which should allow me to dump strength almost entirely as WF allows me to use dex to trip with any finesse-able weapon, like my fists.) should let me do my thing. weapon focus should also give a minor boon as it's still a +1 to hit and Ki throw should allow me to chuck larger enemies should the opportunity present itself.
Flowing Monk Archetype
Monk 1 - Improved Unarmed Strike
Monk 1 bonus - Weapon Finesse
Human - Combat Expertise
Level 1 - Improved Trip
Level 3 - Fury's Fall
Level 5 - Combat Reflexes
Monk 6 - Ki Throw
Level 7 - Weapon Focus (unarmed)
Level 9 - Great Trip
Monk 10 - Improved Disarm
further feats... i'm thinking the step up line so i can basically keep "aggro" or a mark on an enemy, so to speak, by keeping one enemy on the ground at almost all times.
for stats we're given 20pts to use up so i'm currently thinking of going human with
Str 10
Dex 14 (5 pts)
Con 14 (2 pts + human racial bonus)
Int 13 (3 pts)
Wis 14 (5 pts)
Cha 14 (5 pts)
for skills:
M-Perform (Dance)
M-Acrobatics
M-Stealth
M-Sense Motive
I-Knowledge (nobility)
H-Diplomacy
Fav Class - Perform (Drama)
so how does my monk look up until now? itemwise it's obviously going to be stuff to shore up the obvious failings of being a non-caster: mobility, debuff counters, etc... as well as stat boosters, specifically dex and wis.
now, i'm not really stuck on the monk class or the flowing monk alternate features, it's just the one that jumped out immediately for me, is all. i'm sure there are better level 20 builds that use fighter, barbarian, rogue, druid or transmuter wizard or something, but simply note that this is a character that's going to be played from level 1 onwards (or until death, whichever comes first) so telling me to tough out 10+levels to get a key class feature or have the whole thing come online probably won't be taken to heart, as will telling me to play a caster. and just to reiterate: my last bazillion characters for 3rd ed and it's ilk were all casters of some sort, so i would like to try a non-caster.
so yeah... help me pimp my martial artist folks.
i hadn't seen my old group in a while so last week i dropped by before their weekly game and since their game had been cancelled, i decided to chat up the guys who decided to come down to the FLGS anyways, as they had nothing else to do that evening.
one of the guys asked if i was interested in joining his campaign (it's in the works right now, like in the "we're drawing up ideas for characters" stages) and, in a bout of madness, the idea of saying yes did cross my mind as i do miss hanging out with these guys as often as i used to.
now, i didn't want to jump in without a plan for various reasons.
first of which is... i'm not a big fan of his system of choice, this system being of the big factors as to why i left the old group months ago after various frustrations made me tip my hat and thank them for the years of camaraderie. that system is pathfinder.
second is i REALLY would like to try something different then "just another full caster" if i do join but my past forays into non-casterdom in 3.5/pathfinder have always left me chomping at the bit for more and left me bored half-way through character creation. i mean i get a concept but then i look at how long i need to play before it comes online and i go "uuuugh". while casters still take a bit to get their big spells, even their level 1 stuff it at least more interesting then weapon focus or power attack.
now, from the gist of what i got, he's going to be running the Jade Regent path which, as i understood, is basically Pathfinder Presents: Oriental Adventures, the campaign. i could be wrong, mind you, but he didn't go into too many details and the other two guys there were rolling up ninjas and samurais, so...
anywho, i got home, slept for a bit and thought of maybe actually playing a martial arts guy.
so i decided to start looking up pathfinder stuff and of the things that came to mind one stood out:
the rough outline for the character is that he was formally trained in the arts, something along the lines of the peking opera, where he was taught dance, acrobatics, combat and social skills. eventually leaving the school after being frustrated with having been relegated to minor/extra roles in the plays, he winds up meeting the party and wants to ply his trade in a less cultured manner.
mechanics wise a few things did cross my line of sight, with the flowing monk (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateCombat/classArchetypes/monk.html) standing out the most on a quick readout: plus being able to trip+potential sicken in response to an enemy i threaten attacking me? yes please. unarmed combatant in light/no armor? fits with the theme of what is basically a classically trained stuntman! paired with a decent skillset, it's ok as a whole. while it does fall to the identity crisis issues of the monk class... i have a clear goal in building this guy so i should survive as long as i don't play too stupid. i've played under this guy before, he's tough but fair.
now the other problem is getting tripping into it right and proper. from what i remember CMDs really start going up once you hit the mid levels so i'll need to focus on that first and from what i gather combat reflexes, imp/greater trip, fury's fall and weapon finesse (which should allow me to dump strength almost entirely as WF allows me to use dex to trip with any finesse-able weapon, like my fists.) should let me do my thing. weapon focus should also give a minor boon as it's still a +1 to hit and Ki throw should allow me to chuck larger enemies should the opportunity present itself.
Flowing Monk Archetype
Monk 1 - Improved Unarmed Strike
Monk 1 bonus - Weapon Finesse
Human - Combat Expertise
Level 1 - Improved Trip
Level 3 - Fury's Fall
Level 5 - Combat Reflexes
Monk 6 - Ki Throw
Level 7 - Weapon Focus (unarmed)
Level 9 - Great Trip
Monk 10 - Improved Disarm
further feats... i'm thinking the step up line so i can basically keep "aggro" or a mark on an enemy, so to speak, by keeping one enemy on the ground at almost all times.
for stats we're given 20pts to use up so i'm currently thinking of going human with
Str 10
Dex 14 (5 pts)
Con 14 (2 pts + human racial bonus)
Int 13 (3 pts)
Wis 14 (5 pts)
Cha 14 (5 pts)
for skills:
M-Perform (Dance)
M-Acrobatics
M-Stealth
M-Sense Motive
I-Knowledge (nobility)
H-Diplomacy
Fav Class - Perform (Drama)
so how does my monk look up until now? itemwise it's obviously going to be stuff to shore up the obvious failings of being a non-caster: mobility, debuff counters, etc... as well as stat boosters, specifically dex and wis.
now, i'm not really stuck on the monk class or the flowing monk alternate features, it's just the one that jumped out immediately for me, is all. i'm sure there are better level 20 builds that use fighter, barbarian, rogue, druid or transmuter wizard or something, but simply note that this is a character that's going to be played from level 1 onwards (or until death, whichever comes first) so telling me to tough out 10+levels to get a key class feature or have the whole thing come online probably won't be taken to heart, as will telling me to play a caster. and just to reiterate: my last bazillion characters for 3rd ed and it's ilk were all casters of some sort, so i would like to try a non-caster.
so yeah... help me pimp my martial artist folks.