The monk!

[Shadowbane13]

What's a good feat to boost monk abilities? Mostly furry of blows.

[Bobbybobby99]

The short answer is 'don't play a monk'. The long answer is 'only take two or six levels of monk if you really insist, then level in something else.' The unintelligent answer is 'at very least take Improved Natural attack'.

[Necroticplague]

Tashlatora is a good one.

[Shadowbane13]

How about a samurai?

[Bobbybobby99]

Monks are tier 5. Samurai are tier 6. Better a monk than a samurai. Have you considered a Swordsage? They're tier 3.

[Ruethgar]

I personally like being a Martial Choas Monk 2 levels and taking end cap things from fighter feat lists. There is also a technicality in one of the Dragon Mags(#310 I think) that lets you have two fighting styles which helps a lot for Parry builds. But in general I would agree with the above, 2 levels max of chaos monk then 1 barbarian and the rest varies by flavor, build, and power level.

[Fuzzy McCoy]

While monk is bad, if one insists on playing a monk, travel devotion is a feat worth taking at least once, and maybe once more. The biggest complaint of monks is that their recognizable class features don't mix, and travel devotion fixes that really well. Improved natural attack is also really good.

[daremetoidareyo]

hand crossbow focus (DotU), Zen archery (CW), Unorthodox Flurry (Dr. Comp), Crossbow Sniper (PHB2)

Now you can flurry at 30' away, your attacks are modified by wisdom (dump strength). Dip 2 levels of fighter to get the feat access. One of those levels should be hit and run fighter so you can add Dex to damage when opponent is flat footed.

Consider getting an extra hand or two grafted onto yourself and take multi weapon fighting. Skeletal hands from libris mortis are probably the way to go at 3000 apiece. You need at least one free hand to reload a light crossbow, so you could wield hand crossbows with 3 of them. The graft rules are silent on this, but, they don't necessarily have to replace your existent hands, they become bonus hands!

[Shadowbane13]

To be honest I'm making a new character for a second campaign and just lost as to what to be. Lol

[Odin's Eyepatch]

I'll second Travel Devotion. It works even better if you take a level of cleric, to get extra turn undead uses (and therefore extra uses of Travel Devotion).

Also Knowledge Devotion is a good one, since it boosts your attack and damage by at least +1, if you are just spread your skill points around. It will shore up that 3/4 BAB.

I would recommend a dip in Cloistered Cleric (with the Knowledge and Travel Domain), since you would be able to switch those domains for the devotion feats instead. it'll save you a couple of feat slots.

There's also a tactical feat called Sun School. While it is not amazing, it does allow you to push back your enemy 5ft. (no save) if you hit it with your first attacks. I like the imagery of a halfling punching back a colossal dragon with the force of his punches (before getting reduced to pulp in the following round by a colossal dragon).

EDIT


To be honest I'm making a new character for a second campaign and just lost as to what to be. Lol

Monks can be fun, but you've got to work hard to make them work. I've been playing a monk for several years now, and the only reason why he can keep up with the rest of the team iss because of several homebrewed fixes we added to the monk. He has also taken the prestige class Sacred Fist, so that he can stay a monk ,but with some extra spellcasting. Obviously it depends on how much thought you and your table put into making characters.

The biggest lesson I learnt about Monks was when we got to level 10. I gained the ability "Ki strike (lawful)", which made my fists lawful. The problem is, most creatures with "damage reduction/lawful" are good creatures. There are only 2-3 evil creatures in the entire universe with damage reduction/lawful. At level 10, I gained an ability that will never be of any use in our campaign. Ever. Meanwhile, the sorcerer learnt the spell Teleport, which allowed him to transport people across the continent.

And that is only one example.

...

But yeah, they're fun to play!

[Hal0Badger]

To be honest I'm making a new character for a second campaign and just lost as to what to be. Lol

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/unchained-classes/monk-unchained

I know this is a pathfinder class, but 3.5 and PF systems are interchangeable, and this is a good-damn-fix.

You can take all your levels in this class, and still be relevant.

If you want to play a monk, talk to your DM, explain how monk fails to deliver "its feel" and very underpowered class, show him this fix, and promise that you want abuse his good intention. Taking this class alone, seems better than taking multiple class and creating some weird monk-wanna-be creatures in the eyes of a DM (at least mine).

For samurai, go Fighter/Kensai and refluff your fighter into a samurai with bastard sword-katana change. It will be a much better choice.

Getting advises here is cool, but talking to your DM and finding a sweet spot where you are both comfortable is the most important part. He is the one that will allow any build in his game after all.

[John Longarrow]

OP
Rather than posting "Monk", what do you want your character to be able to do?
Are you trying to have a fast unarmed combatant? Also, what books are available and is this 3.5 or PF?

[Zaq]

To be honest I'm making a new character for a second campaign and just lost as to what to be. Lol

That's something that we can definitely help with, though we'll have a lot of questions for you.

First, and most importantly, what (broadly) do you want the character to be able to do? Do you want to be a frontline attacker? A magic-user? A skillmonkey? A sneak? A support character? Something else entirely? Are there any broad character archetypes ("all-knowing scholar," "badass martial artist," "knight in shining armor," "dabbler in secrets man was not meant to know," etc.) that sound appealing to you?

Second, what books do you have available? Do you have the whole 3.5 canon at your disposal, or are there any limits?

Third, what level are you starting at? If possible, do you know roughly how long you expect the campaign to last? (That one might not be answerable right away, but starting level makes a huge difference.)

Fourth, do you know anything about the rest of the group (meaning the players) or the rest of the party (meaning the characters)? If you don't, that's not the end of the world, but it can help if you know (for example) that another role is already going to be covered or if another player has specific roleplaying quirks that make certain options more or less appealing. (It can also help to know how powerful the rest of the group expects to be; you don't have to match them exactly, but it's generally a good idea to try not to be at a wildly different power level than the rest of the group, whether too high or too low.)

Fifth, how comfortable are you with complexity? Do you get bored if your attack options mostly boil down to the same thing every round? Do you get overwhelmed if you have too many options to keep track of? Are you willing to keep up with some bookkeeping if it broadens your options, or should we try to keep things as simple as possible?

Finally, do you have any specific things in mind that you want the character to do/be/not do/not be? (For example, maybe you want to use a specific weapon, or maybe you want to be good at a specific skill, or maybe you want to be a specific race.) It's okay if you don't have anything like that in mind yet, but the sooner we can take specific requests like that into account, the better.

Naturally, this is just a starting point—once we get these questions answered, we can have a baseline, and from there, we can lay out some options for what would make sense to you. Generally, we're not just going to build the whole character for you, but we can certainly point you in the right direction and help you find something that would be a good fit for you.

[Red Fel]

What's a good feat to boost monk abilities? Mostly furry of blows.


How about a samurai?


To be honest I'm making a new character for a second campaign and just lost as to what to be. Lol

Well, let's take a step back. What is it you want to do? It sounds like you want an Asian-themed combatant, which is a great starting point. The trick is to stop thinking of the name of the class, and start thinking of the function of the mechanics. For example, a Paladin makes an excellent samurai (the role, not the class) as horseman, a Fighter makes a solid samurai-as-swordsman, and a Samurai (the class, not the role) makes a good splat of red on the ground in your first combat. Similarly, a Fighter with Improved Unarmed Strike is generally a better unarmed combatant than a Monk, and a Swordsage adds wonderful elements of the Wuxia genre, while the Monk itself is just a confusing mess.

So let's start from there. What is it you want your character to do? If you could point to two or three priorities, like "throw a solid punch," or "smash through walls," or "terrify enemies with his steely gaze," or "slice a mountain in half." Give us some general goals, and we can start there.

EDIT: Appropriately, Swordsage'd.

[Flickerdart]

Sun School is a pretty powerful feat if you have the right support for it.

For instance, consider the Decisive Strike alternate class feature. You give up Flurry for the right to make one attack as a full-round action that deals double damage. Raw deal? Not so much. If you have the ability to teleport as a swift action (for instance, with the dirt-cheap Anklets of Translocation) you get a second attack from Sun School as soon as you reappear, which also deals double damage. And then if you have the Snap Kick feat, you get another attack, since you just got an attack. These attacks can all trigger Knockdown, which then gives you an Improved Trip attack, which also deals double damage...

[Shadowbane13]

Well now that my party has their roles (Druid, fighter, wizard, cleric) I was thinking something like a duskblade. Able to cast some spells but mostly focused in melee combat. Probably duel wield too. If anyone's ever play final fantasy 7 (which I assume most of ya have) then I basically am aiming to make cloud strife.

We're starting level one and I'm not looking for any special but also don't mind complexity. I wouldn't mind changing what I do every round or sticking to just smashing in faces.

[ComaVision]

Well now that my party has their roles (Druid, fighter, wizard, cleric) I was thinking something like a duskblade. Able to cast some spells but mostly focused in melee combat. Probably duel wield too. If anyone's ever play final fantasy 7 (which I assume most of ya have) then I basically am aiming to make cloud strife.

Cloud dual wields? I've only ever seen him with the buster sword. Just FYI though dual wielding does not mesh well with duskblades at all.

[Shadowbane13]

I know cloud doesn't have duelies but it'd be an interesting twist on his character

[Flickerdart]

Dual-wielding is a terrible idea for a gish because you need a free hand to perform somatic components of spells. What you want is a two-handed weapon, where you can let go with one hand, cast, and then grab the weapon with both hands again.

[Red Fel]

Well now that my party has their roles (Druid, fighter, wizard, cleric) I was thinking something like a duskblade. Able to cast some spells but mostly focused in melee combat. Probably duel wield too. If anyone's ever play final fantasy 7 (which I assume most of ya have) then I basically am aiming to make cloud strife.

First, you need to understand that dual wielding is, numerically speaking, a generally inferior option. It's possible to make a working dual wielder, but it requires a lot of focus. So if your first priority is dual wielding, it's doable. If it's not, however, you're probably better off shelving the idea.

As for a Cloud Strife spellblade-style swordsman, you're right, Duskblade is a solid starting point. Duskblade is commonly referred to as gish-in-a-can, for good reason. An easy method is simply to get a Bloodstone weapon, and channel Vampiric Touch through it. Everything else is icing.

You want to use an oversized weapon? I suggest playing either a Half-Giant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/halfGiant.htm) or a Goliath. Among other things, the Powerful Build feature allows one of these races to wield weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty.

If you want to be more of an Advent Children Cloud Strife, with cool stunts and generic powers, you might consider the Psychic Warrior (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/psychicWarrior.htm) in place of the Duskblade. Built like a Fighter, but with a slightly lower BAB and a list of usable powers. You can move faster, jump higher, absorb damage better, even teleport. And if you go Half-Giant, you're already naturally Psionic.

[Shadowbane13]

Psychic warrior sounds fun. What would be a good starting race?

I thank all of you guys for you help too. Very much appreciated.

[animewatcha]

Wouldn't cloud strife be more toward the 2handed charging build that deals enough to turn enemies into red mist per charge?

[Flickerdart]

Half-Giant and Goliath are okay, but you can just buy Strongarm Bracers if you want to swing around a giant sword.


Psychic warrior sounds fun. What would be a good starting race?
You can never go wrong with Human. If you want strength, consider Half-Orc - they are normally considered bad, but a Psychic Warrior doesn't care about Intelligence or Charisma.

[Shadowbane13]

Oh and race needs to be LA 0 and medium creature.

[John Longarrow]

Which books are in play and is this for a Path Finder game or 3.5? Something are available in each that isn't available in the other.

You may want to look at Tome of Battle. Warblade / Sword Sage gets to be very fun with at LOT of at will options.

[Shadowbane13]

3.5e and no real limits as long as it's in a book that I can source. DM likes to question things sometimes to make sure it's legitiment. Looks like I most likely am going human duskblade. The power combat modes of the psychic warrior don't seem to benefit you much and the caster aspect is fairly similar. I could be mistaken.

[Flickerdart]

The power combat modes of the psychic warrior don't seem to benefit you much and the caster aspect is fairly similar.
Combat modes? You're looking at the wrong book. Combat modes only exist in 3.0, whereas 3.5 psionics (Expanded Psionics Handbook) got rid of them.

I'd put psychic warriors as better casters than duskblades - their list is longer, they get more buff powers, their powers are augmentable which makes up for the low number of powers known.

[John Longarrow]

OP,

Since your party already has 3 melee-centric characters (Fighter, Cleric, Druid), have you thought about doing the skill monkey? Beguiler is pretty much a rogue that also has some good spells. Alternately if your party is really looking for an extra combatant you may want to build a rogue. Flanking+TWF+sneak damage = lots of damage (so long as you are not fighting crit immune creatures). Whisper Gnome is really good for that.

[Shadowbane13]

That's why I was trying to find like a semi non melee combatant. Like something that can cast spells and hit from a far but if need be can come charging in to aid in melee. A rogue was considered but our fighter said he plans on cross classing fighter/rogue a couple times. So figured I'd do some sort of unique class. Psychic warrior is looking good. I was just browsing thru their powers and it's looking like I'm going with that class. Now I just gotta figure out my feats and race.

Been thinking of staying basic for race and just being human. Taking the extra feat to help with my powers.

[Shadowbane13]

After the debate with my group and comparing spells to the Druid and more bsing around its come down to a human duskblade. Thank you all for your input and assitance. I very much appreciate it. Let the adventure begin. First run is tonight. Off to the world of kroven (apparently)