Unarmed Character Help (with specific requirements)

[PangolinPie]

So I have this friend who swears by the superiority of a Monk as an unarmed fighter. In all honesty he's being a stubborn prick about it and refuses to acknowledge any of the drawbacks inherent to the class. I bet him I could build a better unarmed character without using any levels in Monk. However he had certain conditions regarding the bet...it has to be one based purely on physical ability and feats and based only on content from the standard line of supplement resources...meaning...

NO Tome of Battle
NO Psionics
NO Spellcasting
NO Transformation themed PRSC's like Bear Warrior, Warshaper or Fist of the Forest

So now I'm at a loss...I mean I've been weighing options and trying various builds combining levels of Ranger, Fighter, Barbarian, etc...but I keep coming up with nothing that impressive.

Can this be done?

[Frozen_Feet]

Using SRD d20 only, the only thing you'll have hard time to replicate is damage die increases on unarmed strikes.

[Deadline]

Two options spring to mind:

1. Barbarian. Whirling Frenzy variant if you can get it. Pick up Lion Spirit Barbarian from Complete Champion if it's allowed. Also, if Frost Rager doesn't violate any of the "rules", be sure to pick that up. You'll be a solidly competent unarmed fighter who can both dish out decent damage (you'll hit more reliably, so your average damage will be better), and also out-grapple the monk. Consider the Street Fighter Prestige Class to get some Sneak Attack spice to your angry punches.

2. Rogue with the Ascetic Rogue feat. You won't be able to out-grapple the monk, but with Escape Artist as a class skill and a bajillion skill points, you won't need to. If you go this route, consider a dip into either Factotum or Swashbuckler for Int to damage. You get fewer attacks, but you also get lots of sneak attack dice, so you should do fine. If you are concerned about things being immune to sneak attack, there are always wands of Gravestrike and Golemstrike. If those violate the "rules", I'm pretty sure there is an alternate class feature that does something similar.

3. Fighter. Go to town with full plate and a heavy shield. Better AC, and roughly equivalent damage output. Much worse mobility and skills though.

[eggynack]

It doesn't look like you're restricted from incarnum stuff, so a totemist would probably do you pretty well. As is though, your friend's restrictions are utterly ridiculous. A lack of those things is why a monk is bad at unarmed fighting, and a second character without those things will also be pretty mediocre at unarmed fighting, especially if you eliminate the incarnum idea. The primary issue with the monk, beyond the lack of synergy, and beyond the MADness, is that you don't get all that much in the way of options. This bet misses the entire point.

[Xerlith]

Ascetic Knight DFI A-Game Paladin variant?

Well, to explain...

Silverbrow Human
(28PB) 14/14/14/10/10/14. Put points into strength. If you want to take Words of Creation at 12th, go 14/10/14/14/10/14 and put one point into Cha and Int. Might be an overkill though.

Levels: Paladin 20.

ACFs: 1st, 6th and 9th Harmonious Knight sub-lvls
Trade out your mount for Divine Spirit.


Feats:

Human: Improved Unarmed Strike
1st: Ascetic Knight
3rd: From Smite To Song
6th: Dragonfire Inspiration
9th: Song of the Heart
12th: Well, Words of Creation? Snap Kick? Superior Unarmed Strike?
15th: Open
18th: Open.

Don a gauntlet.
Grab a Badge of Valor, fire up DFI, deal at least 3d6 additional fire damage per attack... While having full BAB. In fullplate.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, having Improved Shield Bash, Two-Weapon Fighting and Gloves of the Balanced Hand could prove fun - two more attacks for you, meaning ~6d6 more damage dealt from the DFI. Eats away two feats and a bit of an attack bonus. Only use it if you can use flaws.

If you need Paladin casting and it's allowed, Dynamic Priest shifts your casting stat to Charisma.

[bekeleven]

At what level? I build a level 1 unarmed barbarian in here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?338524-Bekeleven-s-Monkday-Guide-to-Monks), and can work on builds for other levels if needed.

Do magical items count? Monk's Belt? Item of permanent enlarge person? A straight cleric can punch a monk to death, no sweat, of course...

Ideally I'd like to build a character that has real size of large or larger and go into war hulk. I've always wanted to build an unarmed war hulk. Anthropomorphic Whale, perhaps.

[Bugworlds]

No spell casting? Well I guess magical touch attacks, backed by a strong punch, are out of the question. As Bekelen pointed out magical items may be a strong point. Belt of monk would make for some nice damage. Once you have some damage to back yourself up, then focus on something else; like tripping and grappling.

An unarmed monk needs to get close to you to attack, so if you can keep your distance there could be something to be gained. The Book of Vile Darkness (3.0, upgraded to 3.5's Heroes of Horror I believe) has two feats you can take which give you a reach of 10'. I think there are other ways to get better unarmed reach, though (BoVD is great with it's deformity feats, the 3.5 version are a bit less fun but may have what I'm describing). Improved trip, for an automatic trip upon successfully attack...

They come at you, you attack, you trip them. Your turn, you hit them. Their turn, they get up, AoO; or they crawl away (hmm, or towards you... monks can make attack while prone? I'm feeling I'm forgetting something and this seems like a too-easy system).

Improved Unarmed Strike and feats which have it as a prerequisite: http://dndtools.eu/feats/players-handbook-v35--6/improved-unarmed-strike--1595/

[Waker]

it has to be one based purely on physical ability and feats and based only on content from the standard line of supplement resources...meaning...

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding this line. Are you saying only stuff from the SRD or something else?
Also would the No ToB mean nothing at all from the whole book, or would something like Superior Unarmed Strike be ok?

Incarnum can be a handy replacement for the Monk class, since so many soulmelds can duplicate and often do a better job of just about anything a Monk is capable of and then having the option of swapping it out for something else later. You could keep it simple and go with an Azurin Barbarian or Fighter with perhaps a dip into Incarnate. Grabbing Shape Soulmeld (Mauling Gauntlets) and then Open Chakra (Hands) or enough levels in Incarnate can replace the need for Improved Unarmed Strike, while also netting you a respectable enough boost to unarmed damage (1 essentia=+2 damage), not to mention getting a bonus to Bullrushing if that is your thing (and a Dungeoncrashing Fighter is nice).

[Telonius]

Fighter with all of the Weapon Specialization tree in Unarmed Strike, plus Improved Grapple and Stunning Fist when you're able, wearing a Monk's Belt. Power Attack for a few, and you'll be doing a larger amount of damage per hit than the Monk will. Plus, you haven't been splitting your ability scores as much, so you're probably hitting more often and harder.

And he can still pick up a greatsword and smash with it if he needs to.

[JeminiZero]

Off the top of my head, you might try comboing Versatile Unarmed Strike (to deal piercing damage) with Dragonborn (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20060105b) or Raptoran dive attack (double damage with piercing) with Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian (pounce for full attack on charges such as dive attack ... also using a Chaotic Barbarian prevents the Lawful Monk from copying this trick easily).

More specific build: A setup like this thrives on damage-per-hit boosters. The original build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?184118-3-5-What-can-a-Warblade-offer-that-a-Malconvoker-s-summonling-can-t&p=10196294&viewfull=1#post10196294) involved Leading the Charge Stance from ToB, so that is out. We have to look elsewhere.

In this case, I am going to recommend the Ranger-Scout Swift Hunter. Ranger provides the otherwise feat hungry 2WF tree for free, Scout provides some handy damage boost, and Swift Hunter lets said damage hit creatures that are normally otherwise immune to crits.

Sample level 6 build: 1 Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian / 3 Scout / 2 Ranger++

Feats:
-Unarmed Strike
-Versatile Unarmed Strike
-Superior Unarmed Strike
-Swift Hunter
Ranger 2 bonus: 2WF

Favored Enemy: Pick stuff that is immune to critical hits: Construct, Undead, Elementals, Plants, Oozes, etc

At this level, Superior Unarmed Strike deals 1d6 damage. Pounce lets you full attack on a Dive Attack. Since this also moves you at least 10 ft per round, it triggers Scout's Skirmish for 2d6 damage, so total damage is 3d6 (not including strength bonus). When using piercing unarmed strikes, Dive Attack doubles the damage per hit to 6d6. Ranger grants basic 2WF, so he has 2 attacks per round (3 if hasted), for total potential of 12d6 (18d6 if hasted) at level 6.

[John Longarrow]

Fighter...
L1 - Improved Unarmed Strike, Two Weapon Fighting
L2 - Weapon Focus (unarmed Strike)
L3 -
L4 - Weapon Specialization (Unarmed Strike)

By 4th level you get two attacks at +3/+3 that do 1d4+2, so you are hitting more often with the same damage as a monk. Plus you can wear armor. Plus you can use non-monk weapons.
Level 5? Barbarian for rage... At 6th you can go back to fighter.

Your MAD is Str for damage, DEX for the twf tree and AC, and CON fir HPs.

You don't need Wisdom to boost your AC.

You'll have a better BAB the entire way and the weapon specialization + improved Crit tricks (11 feats in 20 levels) should keep your very competitive as just an unarmed fighter.

Toss in Power Attack for some gravy.

At top end (full TWF) your tohit just based off of feats and BAB will be +20/+20/+15/+15/+10/+10/+5. (Improved Weapon Focus negatest the penalty for Two Weapon Fighting).

Raging (+2 to damage) with improved Weapon Specialization give you an extra +6 to damage per hit which is about as good as adding an extra D12 to your unarmed damage.

The extra attacks and better ability to hit should compensate for a slightly lower AC. Grab improved grapple and (raging) you should have a noticable bonus for grappling.

[Perturbulent]

Off the top of my head, you might try comboing Versatile Unarmed Strike (to deal piercing damage) with Dragonborn (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20060105b) or Raptoran dive attack (double damage with piercing) with Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian (pounce for full attack on charges such as dive attack ... also using a Chaotic Barbarian prevents the Lawful Monk from copying this trick easily).

More specific build: A setup like this thrives on damage-per-hit boosters. The original build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?184118-3-5-What-can-a-Warblade-offer-that-a-Malconvoker-s-summonling-can-t&p=10196294&viewfull=1#post10196294) involved Leading the Charge Stance from ToB, so that is out. We have to look elsewhere.

In this case, I am going to recommend the Ranger-Scout Swift Hunter. Ranger provides the otherwise feat hungry 2WF tree for free, Scout provides some handy damage boost, and Swift Hunter lets said damage hit creatures that are normally otherwise immune to crits.

Sample level 6 build: 1 Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian / 3 Scout / 2 Ranger++

Feats:
-Unarmed Strike
-Versatile Unarmed Strike
-Superior Unarmed Strike
-Swift Hunter
Ranger 2 bonus: 2WF

Favored Enemy: Pick stuff that is immune to critical hits: Construct, Undead, Elementals, Plants, Oozes, etc

At this level, Superior Unarmed Strike deals 1d6 damage. Pounce lets you full attack on a Dive Attack. Since this also moves you at least 10 ft per round, it triggers Scout's Skirmish for 2d6 damage, so total damage is 3d6 (not including strength bonus). When using piercing unarmed strikes, Dive Attack doubles the damage per hit to 6d6. Ranger grants basic 2WF, so he has 2 attacks per round (3 if hasted), for total potential of 12d6 (18d6 if hasted) at level 6.

Bonus damage from skirmish wouldn't multiply. we're talking 4d6 per hit when using piercing unarmed strikes.

Also, upon further searches don't yield a "dive attack" do you mean "diving charge?" diving charge isn't a multiplier, though it could add more d6's based on descent speed.

[JeminiZero]

Bonus damage from skirmish wouldn't multiply. we're talking 4d6 per hit when using piercing unarmed strikes.
Poking around it seems that you are right (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040302a).

So at level 6, damage per hit on a dive attack would be 2*(1d6 + str bonus) + 2d6 skirmish.

Comparatively, as long as you can charge normally, you can pounce for 1d6 + str bonus + 2d6 skirmish. By this new calculation, Dive Attack adds a small amount of damage (1d6 + Str) by comparison. Really, the heart of this build is that it is functionally a pouncing skirmisher, and dive attack is a bit of sugar on top. (But Dragonborn/Raptoran is still useful as it provides flight).

As an alternative to my original swift hunter proposition, you can roll with 1 Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian / X Fighter specialized in unarmed strikes as mentioned above by other posters. Fighter bonus damage should be multiplied by dive attack, applies even when you are not skirmishing, and applies against all targets regardless of crit immunity.


Also, upon further searches don't yield a "dive attack" do you mean "diving charge?" diving charge isn't a multiplier, though it could add more d6's based on descent speed.

Its actually in this link.

with Dragonborn (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20060105b) or Raptoran dive attack

More specifically this section:


A dragonborn with flight can make a dive attack. A dive attack works like a charge, but the dragonborn must move a minimum of 30 feet and descend at least 10 feet. A dragonborn can make a dive attack only when wielding a piercing weapon. If the dive attack hits, it deals double damage.

[Ruethgar]

Spirit Lion Dashing Step City Brawler Whirling Frenzy Barbarian for pounce, IUA, TWF, d12 HD. Major Titan or Giant Bloodline, Fist of the Forest, Frost Rager. Not a specific build, but with all of those you could have pretty potent unarmed attacks and armor.

Barbarian 1/Titan Bloodline 3/Kensai Fighter(War Cestus) 5/Scout 5/FotF 3/Frost Rager 5/Uncanny Trickster 1(Barbarian).

So let's see, you get better damage with 1d10+1d6+2(avg:11 partial cold to override DR, avg:18 on charge) vs 2d10(avg:11). You have nearer full BaB vs half, you also get 2 extra attacks at a cost of -4 to all and +2 for the fighter levels by default in this build(going up to more if you want) giving you an 15/15/15/11/5/0 instead of 15/15/15/10/5 which is a bit better, you can also improve your flurry of misses though, getting more attacks with TWF line or the Kensai line. You have only used 2 feats for this build so you have(assuming human with flaws) 14 or so feats to burn. Unlike a monk, you can flurry at the end of a charge, you don't get an AC loss by charging, and you get +2d6(4d6 with improved skirmish) damage by charging. You also have a d10 for most of your HD or a d12. If you take the Jump, Climb, and Tumble skill tricks it will also give you good mobility and, although not at much as a monk, would give you a little speed and a use for your swift action.

[NoACWarrior]

Whats wrong with a normal charger build which can drop him in 1 hit?
However I get the sense that he will call a charger build cheating - since it "doesn't use the same combat style as monk and is therefore moot".

Also if he means official source books then ToM is in meaning vestiges and shadow magic (shadow casting is not spell casting, it is mystery casting).
If so inclined take a few levels of dip in shadow caster - pick up umbral touch and unarmed strike your way to victory with Karmic Strike - for more damage pick up mantle of flame soulmeld.

MoI Totemists are decent chargers, but they can be great grapple artists. Whats this, the monk thinks he can take your grapple check which auto grapples a terrasque?

For a purely martial way of dealing with his monk - go martial lockdown. It doesn't deal that much damage and at the same time relies on melee just like the monk does.
With only completes, core, exp psi, and heroes of horror you could make a pretty good lockdown Crusader or Knight + karmic strike + standstill + knock down + willing deformity tall. If he has a high AC just take a few +X to hit feats with one of them the +4 on AoOs.

[Frozen_Feet]

Using SRD material only:

Start with Feat Rogue for extra skillpoints at 1st level. Yes, you lose out on BAB, but the skillpoints are golden and will help you later on. Pick Imp. Unarmed Strike for feat. Focus ability points in strenght and dexterity.

From there, continue with Wolf Totem Barbarian for 2nd and 3rd levels. You get Rage and Imp. Trip for free. Then move to ranger for either two or three levels, to nab Two-Weapon Fighting and maybe Endurance. From there, either take 2nd level of Feat Rogue to nab Evasion and another bonus Fighter Feat, or move straight to Horizon Walker.

I mention Horizon Walker, because in 6 levels you can use it to attain basically at-will Dimension Door. For an actual game, that's what I'd choose, but since we're optimizing for raw unarmed combat potential, feel free to disregard this.

So disregarding Horizon Walker, we should be looking at Feat Rogue 2 / Wolf Totem Barbarian 2 / Ranger 2. From here, I'd suggest 1 level of Assassin to get Sneak Attack and Death Attack. The latter is pretty much strictly superior to Quivering Palm and comes online way earlier.

After that, two levels of Vanilla Fighter to nab whatever beneficial bonus feats you want (Improved Grapple etc.) would be quite good.

At this point of your career, your BAB and overall attack bonus should be much better than a monk, simply by virtue of being able to focus on Strenght as an ability. You have Evasion, you have better skillpoints, you have better AC simply by virtue of wearing armor, and you have at least as many Bonus Feats from a better list. You maybe lacking one attack and some movement speed compared to a monk, but that's minor. The one thing that's hard to fix in SRD is increasing damage die of your unarmed strikes. It's your 1d3+x+1s6 SA vs the monk's 1d10+y, thought I'm willing to bet x is higher. So you might have lower damage ceiling, but better average overall.

Use your free feats from level to nab Power Attack etc.

[CIDE]

I don't suppose Martial Wildshape Ranger would be allowed? Technically it still follows the rule even though it shapeshifts because it's a base class rather than a PrC. You lose spellcasting too so you don't have to worry about that. Apply feats/magic items as needed.

[Perturbulent]

Poking around it seems that you are right (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040302a).

So at level 6, damage per hit on a dive attack would be 2*(1d6 + str bonus) + 2d6 skirmish.

Comparatively, as long as you can charge normally, you can pounce for 1d6 + str bonus + 2d6 skirmish. By this new calculation, Dive Attack adds a small amount of damage (1d6 + Str) by comparison. Really, the heart of this build is that it is functionally a pouncing skirmisher, and dive attack is a bit of sugar on top. (But Dragonborn/Raptoran is still useful as it provides flight).

As an alternative to my original swift hunter proposition, you can roll with 1 Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian / X Fighter specialized in unarmed strikes as mentioned above by other posters. Fighter bonus damage should be multiplied by dive attack, applies even when you are not skirmishing, and applies against all targets regardless of crit immunity.



Its actually in this link.

More specifically this section:
Ah, cool. so 5d6 potentially between dive attack, diving charge, and skirmish.

[JeminiZero]

You could add Improved Skirmish feat as well for another +2d6.

Dictum Mortuum apparently has a Swift Hunter Handbook (http://dictummortuum.blogspot.sg/2011/09/swift-hunters-handbook.html), so it might be worth looking through that for more ideas. A quick browse points out the use of Travel Devotion for more mobility (so you can retreat, and then charge again on your turn). In that case you should splash 1 level in something that grants turn undead (either a base class or a PrC). So at level 20 it should look like:

3 Scout / 1 Barbarian / 15 Ranger / 1 Turn Undead granting class

By level 20, with superior unarmed strike, you can Pounce for 4 main hand / 3 off hand attacks, each dealing 2d6 base + 5d6 skirmish. If you charge more than 20 ft (should be doable every turn with travel devotion), you can use improved skirmish for 2d6 base + 5d6 skirmish + 2d6 improved skirmish per hit. If you use a dive attack (which automatically moves you 20 ft for improved skirmish), and have the diving charge feat, this goes up even more to 2*(2d6 base + 1d6 Diving Charge) + 5d6 skirmish + 2d6 improved skirmish per hit, or somewhere in the region of 11d6.

If going Dragonborn, consider using human as the base race to take the Able Learner feat, and from there lets you buy up scout skills at normal prices while taking ranger levels. This is more for skill monkeying than unarmed attack (because besides being better at punching things than a monk, you should also be better at skills as well, just to add insult to injury). Tumble in particular is important for maneuverability (to move around without eating AoOs). But Search/Disable lets you function as a trap finder (in ADDITION to Track/Survival which rangers get by default).

It's probably a good idea to replace your Animal Companion with Urban Companion (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a). That gets you a disposable intelligent minion that is more durable, with higher BAB than the average animal companion. It also uses your skills, making it useful as a second skill monkey if you maxed out everything with able learner. Its form is lousy, but that is unimportant for an unarmed strike challenge. (But if you really want, you can opt to change that either with the Improved Familiar feat, or buying a Psychoactive Skin of Protean for it.)

[CIDE]

@jemini: Part of your build requires ToB.

On a side note to OP technically you didn't prohibit Fist of the Forest (meshes well with both Barbar and Ranger thematically) or Shou disciple which is a class specifically built for a non-monk to get into the unarmed game. Both of which have extra fast unarmed strike progression.

[animewatcha]

So I have this friend who swears by the superiority of a Monk as an unarmed fighter. In all honesty he's being a stubborn prick about it and refuses to acknowledge any of the drawbacks inherent to the class. I bet him I could build a better unarmed character without using any levels in Monk. However he had certain conditions regarding the bet...it has to be one based purely on physical ability and feats and based only on content from the standard line of supplement resources...meaning...

NO Tome of Battle
NO Psionics
NO Spellcasting
NO Transformation themed PRSC's like Bear Warrior, Warshaper or Fist of the Forest

So now I'm at a loss...I mean I've been weighing options and trying various builds combining levels of Ranger, Fighter, Barbarian, etc...but I keep coming up with nothing that impressive.

Can this be done?

Others have suggested various builds. I say you have already won the bet/whatever-this-is on the basis that he had to come up with a list of 'no this and no that.' This is gonna turn into a thing of you bringing forth various builds and him going 'nuh-uh' with 'I can't hear you' 'blah blah blah' etc.

[Vizzerdrix]

What about just plain old Barbarian 1/ fighter 4? You'll have more HP, BAB, AC (You can punch people in armor), and you'll be able to focus your points into the stats that matter. If you feel the need to add a PrC then toss on Frost Rager for a bit of a melee boost.

Other than that, you'll want to do this with as few dips as possible to get your friend to pipe down. Also the less books used, the better.

[John Longarrow]

PangolinPie,
I'd talk to your friend about "NO Transformation themed PRSC's". Monk turns you into an Outsider. If your friend wants to keep Monk, just go Druid and wildshape... :-) You can skip the spells and have matching BAB, matching HPs, and all the unarmed goodies from a different form.

[Urpriest]

based only on content from the standard line of supplement resources...meaning...

I'll echo Waker here, you need to actually tell us what your source restrictions are, not make up terms that don't mean anything to anyone but you. That's just part of the basic social contract of asking for advice.

[Xerlith]

Well, even if we contain ourselves to the Core + Completes, the build is easy. The least effort needed is Spirit Lion Totem, Wolf Totem Whirling Frenzy Barbarian 2/Fighter X.

Feats:
Improved Unarmed Strike
Weapon Focus (unarmed Strike)
Two-Weapon Fighting
Weapon Specialization (Unarmed Strike)
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Greater Weapon Focus (US)
Greater Weapon Specialzation (US)

And that's it. You outfight the Monk already.

If it's possible (books), you can enter Shou Disciple and grab an Ancestral Relic (Necklace of Natural Attacks) (Should be legal). That should be enough optimisation against a person saying that monks are OP.

[Metahuman1]

Two Ideas:

Binder 20. Or, Barring that, Binder x/ Knight of the Sacred Seal 5/ Binder X for a 20lvl build. One of your first level Vestiges gives you the unarmed stuff you need to match the monk, and it's less MAD which means you can increase your Str and Con to hit harder and more often and be able to take more damage then he can. And with all the other Vestige Powers you can load up with, you should easily be able to mimic his fighting style but better. Then Screw with him by telling him your also a Paladin and changing vestiges one morning.

Or.

Artificer 20. Make a Monk's belt, then make it go past 5 levels, make a custom necklace of natural weapons, Make awesome Custom Armor that way exceeds the monk's AC bonuses, and make a custom Item of Divine Power and a bunch of other super powerful buff spells. Make them from Riverine and curse them so they can't be gotten rid of once picked up to make them cheaper and un-nerfable.Your using Items and not a PrC or spell casting or Psionics or ToB and your squashing him like a bug. (Literally if you do Divine Power + MM2 construct Iron Golem Graphs + Custom item of Giant Size + Custom Item of what ever spell you need to snag powerful build.).

[Gavinfoxx]

1.) Be a Barbarian
2.) Take Whirling Frenzy (System Resource Document or Unearthed Arcana) or Ferocity (Cityscape Web Enhancement)
3.) Take Spirit Lion Totem (Complete Champion)
4.) Take Wolf Totem (System Resource Document, this helps tripping significantly. You might want to get the feat 'Knock-Down', in the SRD at some point as well)
5.) Take Skilled City Dweller-ride for tumble (Cityscape Web Enhancement)
6.) Take City Brawler (Dragon Magazine #349, you might need to convince the GM on this one. What it actually does is pretty simple: it removes proficiency in medium armor, martial weapons, and shields, adding instead Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat, Two Weapon Fighting when fighting unarmed, the improved version at 6th, the greater at 11th, and reduces the penalty with improvised weapons from -4 to -2. Quite good for a 'Monk'. You might be able to just ask for those changes themselves, of something like them.)
7.) Take Streetfighter (Cityscape Web Enhancement)
8.) Get the feat Superior Unarmed Strike (Tome of Battle)
9.) Get a Monk's Belt (Dungeon Master's Guide or System Resource Document. Before you get access to this, just wear light armor like normal.)
10.) Get a Necklace of Natural attacks (Savage Species, this lets you enchant unarmed strike with things beyond +#'s; very useful! You can get the smoking property to get a miss chance on your body, for example, or magebane or sure-striking!)
11.) Get a Fanged Ring (Dragon Magic)
12.) Take Snap Kick (Tome of Battle)
13.) Take Knock-Down (System Resource Document)
14.) Take mobility skill tricks of various sorts, especially to do with charging (Complete Scoundrel)
15.) You now have a fantastic and brutal, hard style martial artist!

[CIDE]

Others have suggested various builds. I say you have already won the bet/whatever-this-is on the basis that he had to come up with a list of 'no this and no that.' This is gonna turn into a thing of you bringing forth various builds and him going 'nuh-uh' with 'I can't hear you' 'blah blah blah' etc.


I didn't even think of it this way but man are you on to something.


PangolinPie,
I'd talk to your friend about "NO Transformation themed PRSC's". Monk turns you into an Outsider. If your friend wants to keep Monk, just go Druid and wildshape... :-) You can skip the spells and have matching BAB, matching HPs, and all the unarmed goodies from a different form.


I already posted a non-magical build for that but it gets full BAB o top of it's d8's as well as stuff like fast movement.


Well, even if we contain ourselves to the Core + Completes, the build is easy. The least effort needed is Spirit Lion Totem, Wolf Totem Whirling Frenzy Barbarian 2/Fighter X.

Feats:
Improved Unarmed Strike
Weapon Focus (unarmed Strike)
Two-Weapon Fighting
Weapon Specialization (Unarmed Strike)
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Greater Weapon Focus (US)
Greater Weapon Specialzation (US)

And that's it. You outfight the Monk already.

If it's possible (books), you can enter Shou Disciple and grab an Ancestral Relic (Necklace of Natural Attacks) (Should be legal). That should be enough optimisation against a person saying that monks are OP.

Seconding this also. Even if technically you don't have the Monk's fiat about affecting them and upgrading them so takes DM fiat to make the necklace of natural attacks work.

[Metahuman1]

Even if that last part sticks, a level of Battle Dancer or Bind Vestiage: Ronave feat form Tome of Magic fixes that problem nicely. (I probably spelled Ronave incorrectly, just a warning.).

Also, given that "Use Tome of Battle" and "Use a Psi-Warrior/Ardent" are the go too monk fixes, followed by "Use a spell casting class with a monk dip and/or levels in a duel progression PrC" and "Use a Wilder or a Psion.", around these parts, I kinda thought you were aware of that and were just trying to meet his terms a couple of different ways anyway to make him pipe down.