Drunken Gestalt Master

[Burley]

First: That'd be a really sweet movie! Or...an Emo-band name.
Second: I'm trying to build one. Well, at lease basics of one. My current character is alive, but he took so much ability damage last session that he became a vegetable. Our current "quests" put us on heavy time constrictions, and my character will have enough time to recover enough to move, but not enough to recover completely. There's a good chance he's gonna become dead weight, and sooner than later just plain dead.

So, my next character I'm thinkin: Monk//X to later become a Drunken Master.
Currently at 3rd level, he rest of the group is:
Barbarian//Scout (with Lion Totem pounce)
Spellthief//Shugenja (Fire focus, I think)
Cleric//Dragon Shaman

I'm thinking a Monk//Rogue. I don't have stats (they'd be rolled if I made this character), but I know I'd need to invest in Dex, Wis, and Int. I'm gonna need to use my skill points on my rogue duties, except for whatever I'd need for Drunken Master. (The rogue stuff is important, because I need to fill the Lockpick-sneaky role for the party. My Wizard//Dragonfire Adept is the lock picker for the group right now...without trapfinding...)

The concept would be something along the lines of: He's sent from his monestary (of the homebrewed world's Goddess of Trickery) to aid in the recovery of [some item]. But, when he recovers the , the protector/BBEG kills him and his adventuring party (probably other members of the monestary). The power of the [item] [I]Reincarnates (the spell) him (some silly custom item power that shouldn't really matter), but shatters in the process. Now, our Monk//Rogue hero can't return to the monestary, since he no longer looks like himself and he failed in his mission on top of that. He takes to drinking, and lives his life as a mercenary. He is often seen carrying a sign that says "Will Adventure for Booze Money".:smallbiggrin:

What's the earliest I could get there? What are some good synergies? What abilites would work against eachother? Are there any alternate class features that'd make the character more effective?

I'd certainly get the alignment waved, as long as I stayed Neutral or Neutral Good.

[Indon]

Monk//Rogue is a combination which synergizes rather well already in combat - rogues have potentially good damage per attack and monks have the potential ability to put out extra attacks.

Things you might want to note:

-If I recall the RAW implies that TWF can't be used with a flurry (or the FAQ, or something), but in practice I've seen its' application vary. Ask your DM if he would allow flurry in conjunction with two-weapon fighting.

-Shruiken can be TWF'ed (as throwing weapons) and they can be flurried (as monk weapons). Mind that you only get sneak attack damage within 30 feet.

-Any natural attacks you can get ahold of work with both your flurry (but not your monk damage) and your sneak attack damage, so they're nice.

Out of combat, you might want to get skills to compliment your scout friend.

[Zincorium]

A. Both the scout and the spellthief have trapfinding. The scout has disable device (if you read the errata), the spellthief has both disable device and open lock. They both have a ton of skillpoints.

If they're relying on a wizard//dragonfire adept for those duties, they are doing something wrong, and not you. You shouldn't need to play a rogue with two rogue analogues in the party already.

B. If your teammates can't be bothered to look at their class skills, rogue isn't terrible. The bonus damage syncs up well with flurry of blows. The need for intelligence isn't too bad, so don't prioritize it over wisdom, strength, dex, and maybe even con. Monks are MAD like there's no tomorrow.

Otherwise, fighter and ranger fit together nicely with monk abilities. If you take fighter, take the PrC on the 'fighter' side and monk on the other, fighter drops rapidly in utility after the first few levels.

Barbarian is also a solid choice, if you've got the alignment requirement for monk waived.

C. You're going to have to wait until you hit 6th level to take your first level of drunken master, due to the skill prerequisite, but otherwise there's nothing stopping you. The feats are more than a little 'meh', but you'll survive.

[playswithfire]

might not be quite what you want, but up to 15, try Human Cobra Strike variant monk 5/Drunken Master 10//rogue 4/Swashbuckler 2/Swordsage 2/Swashbuckler +7

Carmendine monk from champions of valor to get monk abilities based on INT instead of WIS (including to AC unarmored)

Daring outlaw to stack rogue and swashbuckler levels for sneak attack and ... some swashbuckler ability while getting better BAB and hit dice

Shadow blade to add dex to damage with shadow hand weapons (including unarmed strikes) while in a shadow hand stance (like assassin's stance to boost sneak attack or the first level stance that makes you and an ally flanking whenever you're adjacent to the same enemy)

Prime stats are now DEX, INT and CON (WIS only needed for will saves and I think there's a feat to make that INT-based too or the diamond mind maneuver to replace it with a concentration check)

Strength, Dex, and INT to damage with unarmed strikes

Dodge (monk 1),Mobility (monk 2),Weapon Finesse (swash 1), weapon focus[unarmed](swordsage 1) as bonus feats

[Burley]

I forgot to mention. Our DM is using the "PrCing takes up BOTH sides of your Gestalt hood".
For the Drunken Master feats, are there any Variant Fighting Styles that cover all or most of them?

[Burley]

I forgot to mention. Our DM is using the "PrCing takes up BOTH sides of your Gestalt hood".
For the Drunken Master feats, are there any Variant Fighting Styles that cover all or most of them?

[Jack_Simth]

So, my next character I'm thinkin: Monk//X to later become a Drunken Master.
Currently at 3rd level, he rest of the group is:
Barbarian//Scout (with Lion Totem pounce)
Spellthief//Shugenja (Fire focus, I think)
Cleric//Dragon Shaman

I'm thinking a Monk//Rogue. I don't have stats (they'd be rolled if I made this character), but I know I'd need to invest in Dex, Wis, and Int. I'm gonna need to use my skill points on my rogue duties, except for whatever I'd need for Drunken Master. (The rogue stuff is important, because I need to fill the Lockpick-sneaky role for the party. My Wizard//Dragonfire Adept is the lock picker for the group right now...without trapfinding...)


A few notes...

Long-term, you want a full caster of some flavor on one side. This is a basic power issue. As you're at 3rd, this isn't an immediate issue, but it's something to consider.

A Monk is great for one side of a gestalt - it's a handy defensive package, especially for those that are Wisdom-based anyway (Clerics, Druids, some others).

As you want a trapfinder, I'd suggest the Beguiler (PHB II); full caster, 6 skill points per level, trapfinding, and a sneaky skill list. It's Int based, rather than Wis, so you'll want the Kung-Fu Genius (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Kung_Fu_Genius,Dragon) feat ... and as Drunken Master requires that you take two feats, you'll want to be human to make the PrC as early as possible (fifth).

As a side note, a Wizard-3 be a trapfinder just fine. Really. The way to do it is to get a wand of Detect Magic, a wand of Unseen Servant, a wand (or several scrolls) of knock, and a 100 pound sack of rocks, plus a pick and several extra sacks. Seriously. Cast Unseen Servant, have it drag the 100 pound sack of rocks at maximum range in front of you as you travel (you also have it open doors, chests, and so on). This gets the mechanical traps. Cast (and concentrate on) Detect Magic while you travel. This locates the magical traps. Between the two, you'll get basically every standard trap in the DMG (other than the periodic traps, which you find by going slowly). Use the Wand of Knock on doors and chests that are locked up. Watch an actual rogue cry.

[Zincorium]

I forgot to mention. Our DM is using the "PrCing takes up BOTH sides of your Gestalt hood".
For the Drunken Master feats, are there any Variant Fighting Styles that cover all or most of them?

Um. Ouch. This is the point where I feel obligated to warn you that taking drunken master simply cannot be made an equal option to whatever other character combination you might make. You probably already know this, and are determined to slug it out. That's perfectly okay, but I gotta make sure you know the magnitude of the trade-off before you decide it's worth it.

Cobra strike will take care of dodge, but you're going to just have to suck up the great fortitude feat somehow. Fighter, even a level or two, should correct any feat deficiency. I recommend picking up at least one level of barbarian, with the same pounce variant your team-mate had.

Ordinarily, Jack's recommendation of a wisdom-based spellcaster would be the better path, but if you're going to max out at 3rd level spells in a melee build at the cost of fighting prowess, it really can't be justified.

[MorkaisChosen]

Seems to be little point with the casting there- you could take Warmage and Carmendine or Kung Fu Genius, so you get Int to AC and spell damage and you can throw a few minor zap-spells around, I suppose.

[Jack_Simth]

I forgot to mention. Our DM is using the "PrCing takes up BOTH sides of your Gestalt hood".
... and you're going with Drunken Master?

From a power perspective, don't bother. There's very little that you can get from Drunken Master that you can't beat with Monk//Something else.

[Behold_the_Void]

Be an unarmed strike swordsage/rogue and drink a lot, that's probably your best bet. Drunken Master is an entertaining class, but with that rule there it will just cripple you something fierce.