Quote Originally Posted by Hogsy View Post
I don't remember a Wis Bard archetype, but since you aren't going for optimization anyway, it could work even with crap cha. There are a couple of archetypes like Investigator where you could ask your DM to make it scale with wis though, if he's lenient. As for Monk, I was going to suggest it, since you'll be able to be a menace both in melee and in range and be pretty much unhittable with his wis to ac that also goes to touch. There is an archetype that allows you to FoB with guns too, iirc. I prefer unchained monk's FoB and ki powers, otherwise vanilla monk is fine as well. You could pick style feats and whatnot. There is an archetype that allows you to attack(or trip/bullrush) people when they hit you in melee, or make an enemy hit their ally if you're flanked. With crane style you could have huge AC bonuses(fighting defensively gives a dodge bonus iirc so that again goes to touch) and due to targetting touch yourself you wouldn't mind the -2. People generally hate a lot on the monk class but I've found it can do more damage than the fighter, be tankier(in ac) than the fighter(when considering touch AC and bracers of armor) and he's not really mad if you don't focus on dex. I mean, I personally think a STR 14 monk can do just fine due to dragon style->ferocity and only pick up an enhancement bonus on Str later on the game, but whatever. The only thing it lacks in compared to fighter is feat versatility, but you can mitigate lots of that due to master of many styles and style feats. It even gets teleportation at 12 or 8 so you don't even miss on full attacks with the dimensional agility chain.

I'm just ranting by now though, as you don't even care about strength. I don't think hillbilly goes with monk though, especially considering their alignment restriction. But maybe your DM isn't a guy who thinks unnecessary alignment restrictions are actually necessary, so that's cool. But I really don't get why people **** on the monk so much. In 3.5, I kinda get it, but in PF he's pretty fine both in combat and what he can do out of it if you pick the right options for what you're looking for.

brotip: Always go qinggong.

Other than that, since you don't really care about spells, a bard can be awesome without tons of cha with certain archetypes like archaeologist(already suggested). Just pick an archetype with awesome class features that don't scale with cha. Also, maybe there's a trait that allows you to swap cha for wis or int on a certain skill, so you could still be an awesome party face with versatile performance. Bardic performances also don't scale with cha so yay for that. Just pick up tons of buffs and utility spells and you're set.
Optimization is still important, it's just not the main point. If I didn't care about it at all, I'd just be making a Gunslinger//Rogue and not worrying about how it's basically just boosting my skills. Refusing to multiclass out of gunslinger when staying in it is a requirement of the game isn't really me not caring about char-op, it's me making a character that fits the game it's being made for; same thing with the rejection of full casters (it's part of keeping the game "gritty").

Yes, yes, Str monk, I too have read Treantmonk's guide; monk is still MAD when focusing on Str, just not as MAD as they were when Dex was in the mix as well, but it's not much worse than most melee'ers at that point. As for the alignment restriction, Lawful's not ideal, although Martial Artist gets around that well enough for my purposes, and regular monk (well, qinggong, because there's literally no reason not to take it) can be fine fluff-wise if I focus on the religious angle.

Archaeologist Bard looks interesting, particularly if I can get my DM to let me base things off of Wisdom instead of Cha. And if not, it's decent anyway.