Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground CIX

[Venger]

I've got my table worked out and am doing my playtips.

[Gruftzwerg]

I'm almost finished. Just polishing it up and trying to add some gimmicks to it. I'm curious if anyone else had a similar silly idea as I had? 8)

[Paragon]

Well I went ahead and submitted a second entry as well haha.
More flavor than power but it's been a tremendous pleasure to build around

[NotInventedHere]

Hey uh quick question for The Viscount and/or anyone else who's been doing this a while: what's the forum policy on 'no explicit sexuality' and images? I've found a couple of potential images to illustrate my entry, but the best one I've found, well, it's not NSFW or anything but it is a touch... risque? Is this a 'don't even risk it' sort of situation?

[Paragon]

I've check the former contests and some are really fun. But I can't seem the finds the one that are not inscribed on the google sheet, the latest one. How should one find those ?
Thanks in advance, pretty excited about the reveal

[H_H_F_F]

I've check the former contests and some are really fun. But I can't seem the finds the one that are not inscribed on the google sheet, the latest one. How should one find those ?
Thanks in advance, pretty excited about the reveal

This thread's first post has the threads of all past competitions at the bottom. The first hundred are in a spoiler tag. This is the part you're looking for:

Spoiler: The First Hundred

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Iron Chef I: Entropomancer
Iron Chef II: Psibond Agent
Iron Chef III: Cancer Mage
Iron Chef IV: Stonelord
Iron Chef V: War Chanter
Iron Chef VI: Master of Masks
Iron Chef VII: Green Star Adept
Iron Chef VIII: Pyrokineticist
Iron Chef IX: Animal Lord
Iron Chef X: Mythic Exemplar
Iron Chef XI: Blade Bravo
Iron Chef XII: War Mind
Iron Chef XIII: Vigilante
Iron Chef XIV: Seeker of the Song
Iron Chef XV: Drunken Master
Iron Chef XVI: Assassin
Iron Chef XVII: Ardent Dilettante
Iron Chef XVIII: Unseelie Dark Hunter
Iron Chef XIX: Dread Pirate
Iron Chef XX: Incandescent Champion
Iron Chef XXI: Ghostwalker
Iron Chef XXII: Dervish
Iron Chef XXIII: Divine Crusader
Iron Chef XXIV: Tactical Soldier
Iron Chef XXV: Scion of Tem-Et-Nu
Iron Chef XXVI: Shadowdancer
Iron Chef XXVII: Mindbender
Iron Chef XXVIII: Cryokineticist
Iron Chef XXIX: Consecrated Harrier
Iron Chef XXX: Initiate of Pistis Sophia
Iron Chef XXXI: Shadow Sentinel
Iron Chef XXXII: Temple Raider of Olidammara
Iron Chef XXXIII: Drow Judicator
Iron Chef XXXIV: Dragon Disciple
Iron Chef XXXV: Death Delver
Iron Chef XXXVI: Acolyte of the Skin
Iron Chef XXXVII: Justiciar
Iron Chef XXXVIII: Hand of the Winged Master
Iron Chef XXXIX: Renegade Mastermaker
Iron Chef XL: Nightsong Infiltrator
Iron Chef XLI: Geomancer
Iron Chef XLII: Shadowblade
Iron Chef XLIII: Bladesinger
Iron Chef XLIV: Urban Soul
Iron Chef XLV: Talon of Tiamat
Iron Chef XLVI: Cipher Adept
Iron Chef XLVII: Cold Iron Warrior
Iron Chef XLVIII: Shadow Sun Ninja
Iron Chef XLIX: Thrall of Orcus
Iron Chef L: Corrupt Avenger
Iron Chef LI: Black Flame Zealot
Iron Chef LII: Anointed Knight
Iron Chef LIII: Zerth Cenobite
Iron Chef LIV: Osteomancer
Iron Chef LV: Mountebank
Iron Chef LVI: Dwarven Defender
Iron Chef LVII: Darkrunner
Iron Chef LVIII: Spellsword
Iron Chef LIX: Fleet Runner of Ehlonna
Iron Chef LX: Lasher
Iron Chef LX(II): Acolyte of the Ego
Iron Chef LXII: Dungeon Lord
Iron Chef LXIII: Witchborn Binder
Iron Chef LXIV: Slime Lord
Iron Chef LXV: Thunder Guide
Iron Chef LXVI: Dwarven Chanter
Irogn Chef LXVII: Gnome Giant Slayer
Iron Chef LXVIII: Fang of Lolth
Iron Chef LXIX: Shiba Protector
Iron Chef LXX: Order of the Bow Initiate
Iron Chef LXXI: Silver Key
Iron Chef LXXII: Spellfire Channeler
Iron Chef LXXIII: Flux Adept
Iron Chef LXXIV: Crinti Shadow Marauder
Iron Chef LXXV: Thief of Life
Iron Chef LXXVI: Legacy Champion
Iron Chef LXXVII: Great Rift Skyguard
Iron Chef LXVIII: Risen Martyr
Iron Chef LXXIX: Black Blood Hunter
Iron Chef LXXX: Master of Many Forms
Iron Chef LXXXI: Serene Guardian
Iron Chef LXXXII: Elocator
Iron Chef LXXXIII: Winterhaunt of Iboorighu
Iron Chef LXXXIV: Waverider
Iron Chef LXXXV: Astral Dancer
Iron Chef LXXXVI: Twisted Lord
Iron Chef LXXXVII: Shadowsmith
Iron Chef LXXXVIII: Arboreal Guardian
Iron Chef LXXXIX: Thrall of Demogorgon
Iron Chef XC: Bloodstorm Blade
Iron Chef XCI: Fatemaker
Iron Chef XCII: Eye of the Xanathar
Iron Chef XCIII: Hoardstealer
Iron Chef XCIV: Doomlord
Iron Chef XCV: Gnomish Artificer
Iron Chef XCVI: Oozemaster
Iron Chef XCVII: Aerial Avenger
Iron Chef XCVIII: Visionary Seeker
Iron Chef XCIX: Life Eater
Iron Chef C: Swiftblade

Iron Chef CI: Night Mask Deathbringer
Iron Chef CII: Blade Dancer
Iron Chef CIII: Psion Uncarnate
Iron Chef CIV: Atavist
Iron Chev CV: Primeval
Iron Chef CVI: Disciple of Mammon
Iron Chef CVII: Insidious Corruptor
Iron Chef CVIII: Crimson Scourge

[The Viscount]

Hey uh quick question for The Viscount and/or anyone else who's been doing this a while: what's the forum policy on 'no explicit sexuality' and images? I've found a couple of potential images to illustrate my entry, but the best one I've found, well, it's not NSFW or anything but it is a touch... risque? Is this a 'don't even risk it' sort of situation?

You can send me the image via PM, and I'll let you know what I think (not that I'm a mod, but it's technically on me if there's something since I'm making the post).

[Zaq]

Just open up your favorite image program and slap on some giant censor bars! It'll be hilarious.

[NotInventedHere]

Just open up your favorite image program and slap on some giant censor bars! It'll be hilarious.

Now that I've asked, though, that would make it way too obvious which entry was mine. :P

It'll be fine. I have a couple of back-up image options, they're just not as pretty (artistically speaking).

[eversilentone]

Sadly I'm not going to have time to enter this round, I'll post my stub after the reveal. I had a build that worked, but I'm not convinced it actually showcased the SI rather than the rest of the build. Good luck to all the chefs this round!

[Gruftzwerg]

Finally after spending the entire last night on it my build is finished. I had to clear up a few mistakes that did cost me time and stressed me totally out (I did forgot about monk multiclass restriction and needed to adjust the table). But at least I hope the errors should all be eliminated now.

Be prepared to be not prepared for this build xD
I feel silly for making this build, but I couldn't stop either^^

I'm looking forward to the reveal to see what the other have cooked. I'm curious. =)

[NotInventedHere]

It is nearly 6am here, and I am going to be feeling this all day tomorrow, but the build is finished and submitted. Hopefully I haven't made any blatantly stupid maths errors or typos while transferring this from my document to the PM. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has made of this.

[Chineselegolas]

I just couldn't get the last few pieces of my build to come together, its been too long since I did anything 3.5 related. Look forward to seeing what everyone else has made and how they it tied together.

[Gruftzwerg]

Any more willing judges now maybe? Kindly asking?

[The Viscount]

Hush falls. The reveal begins. (Please hold off on posting until the all clear)

[The Viscount]

I am the darkness!

Diamond "The Inkblot" Westwall



LE Nonbinary Vhaerath Deepwyrm Half-Drow Monk 7/Tattooed Monk 9/Henshin Mystic 4

Spoiler: Build Table

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15 Str, 14 Dex, 12 Con, 14 Int, 14 Wis, 10 Cha

Level	Class	BAB	FAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Unarmed Damage	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1	Monk	0	-2/-2	+2	+2	+2	1d6	Bluff 4, Diplomacy 4, Hide 4, Knowledge (religion) 4, Move Silently 4, Sense Motive 4	Criminal Background, Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Improved Grapple (B)	Flurry of blows, unarmed strike
2	Monk	1	-1/-1	+3	+3	+3	1d6	Bluff 5 (+1), Diplomacy 5 (+1), Hide 5 (+1), Knowledge (religion) 5 (+1), Move Silently 5 (+1), Sense Motive 5 (+1)	Combat Reflexes (B)	Evasion
3	Monk	2	+0/+0	+3	+3	+3	1d6	Bluff 6 (+1), Diplomacy 6 (+1), Hide 6 (+1), Knowledge (religion) 6 (+1), Move Silently 6 (+1), Sense Motive 6 (+1)	Scorpion's Grasp	Still mind, fast movement +10
4	Monk	3	+1/+1	+4	+4	+4	1d8	Bluff 7 (+1), Diplomacy 7 (+1), Hide 7 (+1), Knowledge (religion) 7 (+1), Move Silently 7 (+1), Sense Motive 7 (+1)	-	Ki strike (magic), wall walker (20 feet), Strength +1
5	Monk	3	+2/+2	+4	+4	+4	1d8	Bluff 8 (+1), Diplomacy 8 (+1), Hide 8 (+1), Knowledge (religion) 8 (+1), Move Silently 8 (+1), Sense Motive 8 (+1)	-	Purity of body, AC bonus +1
6	Monk	4	+3/+3	+5	+5	+5	1d8	Bluff 9 (+1), Diplomacy 9 (+1), Hide 9 (+1), Knowledge (religion) 8, Move Silently 9 (+1), Sense Motive 8, Skill Tricks (+Social Recovery)	Endurance, Improved Trip (B)	Wall Walker (30 feet), fast movement +20
7	Monk, Dark Moon Disciple	5	+4/+4	+5	+5	+5	1d8	Bluff 10 (+1), Diplomacy 10 (+1), Hide 9, Knowledge (religion) 8, Move Silently 10 (+1), Sense Motive 9 (+1), Skill Tricks (Social Recovery, +Collector of Stories)	-	Shadow blend
8	Tattooed Monk	5	+5/+5	+7	+7	+7	1d10	Bluff 11 (+1), Diplomacy 10, Hide 9, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5 (+5), Knowledge (religion) 8, Move Silently 10, Sense Motive 9, Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	Tattoo (white mask), Strength +1
9	Tattooed Monk	6	+5/+5/+0	+8	+8	+8	1d10	Bluff 12 (+1), Diplomacy 12 (+2), Hide 9, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 8, Move Silently 12 (+2), Sense Motive 10 (+1), Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	Wanderer's Diplomacy	Fast movement +30
10	Tattooed Monk	7	+6/+6/+1	+8	+8	+8	1d10	Bluff 12, Diplomacy 12, Hide 9, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (the planes) 6 (+6), Move Silently 12, Sense Motive 10, Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	Tattoo (chameleon), AC bonus +2
11	Tattooed Monk	8	+7/+7/+2	+9	+9	+9	1d10	Bluff 14 (+2), Diplomacy 14 (+2), Hide 9, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (the planes) 7 (+1), Move Silently 13 (+1), Sense Motive 10, Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	-
12	Tattooed Monk	8	+7/+7/+2	+9	+9	+9	2d6	Bluff 15 (+1), Diplomacy 15 (+1), Hide 9, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (the planes) 8 (+1), Move Silently 15 (+2), Sense Motive 11 (+1), Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	Darkstalker	Tattoo (centipede), fast movement +40, Strength +1
13	Tattooed Monk	9	+8/+8/+3	+10	+10	+10	2d6	Bluff 16 (+1), Diplomacy 16 (+1), Hide 9, Knowledge (arcana) 1 (+1), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (the planes) 8, Move Silently 16 (+1), Sense Motive 13 (+2), Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	-
14	Tattooed Monk	10	+9/+9/+4	+10	+10	+10	2d6	Bluff 16, Diplomacy 16, Hide 9, Knowledge (arcana) 6 (+5), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (the planes) 8, Move Silently 17 (+1), Sense Motive 13, Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	Tattoo (spider)
15	Tattooed Monk	11	+10/+10/+5	+11	+11	+11	2d6	Bluff 18 (+2), Diplomacy 18 (+2), Hide 9, Knowledge (arcana) 6, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (the planes) 8, Move Silently 18 (+1), Sense Motive 14 (+1), Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	Knock-Down	AC bonus +3, fast movement +50
16	Tattooed Monk	11	+10/+10/+5	+11	+11	+11	2d8	Bluff 18, Diplomacy 18, Hide 9, Knowledge (arcana) 6, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 13 (+5), Knowledge (the planes) 8, Move Silently 19 (+1), Sense Motive 14, Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	Tattoo (moon, crescent), Strength +1
17	Henshin Mystic	11	+10/+10/+5	+13	+13	+13	2d8	Bluff 20 (+2), Diplomacy 20 (+2), Hide 9, Knowledge (arcana) 6, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 13, Knowledge (the planes) 8, Move Silently 20 (+1), Sense Motive 15 (+1), Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	Riddle of awareness
18	Henshin Mystic	12	+12/+12/+7/+2	+14	+14	+14	3d8	Bluff 21 (+1), Diplomacy 21 (+1), Hide 9, Knowledge (arcana) 6, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 13, Knowledge (the planes) 8, Move Silently 21 (+1), Sense Motive 18 (+3), Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike), Blind-Fight (B)	Diamond body, fast movement +60
19	Henshin Mystic	13	+13/+13/+8/+3	+14	+14	+14	3d8	Bluff 22 (+1), Diplomacy 22 (+1), Hide 9, Knowledge (arcana) 6, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 13, Knowledge (the planes) 8, Move Silently 22 (+1), Sense Motive 21 (+3), Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	Happo zanshin
20	Henshin Mystic	14	+14/+14/+14/+9/+4	+15	+15	+15	4d8	Bluff 23 (+1), Diplomacy 23 (+1), Hide 9, Knowledge (arcana) 6, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5, Knowledge (religion) 14 (+1), Knowledge (the planes) 8, Move Silently 23 (+1), Sense Motive 23 (+2), Skill Tricks (Collector of Stories, Social Recovery)	-	Root the mountain, riddle of interaction, ki strike (lawful), AC bonus +4, Strength +1

Spoiler: Backstory

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Little need be said in regards to the tawdry affair between Xu'sa'sil, a deepwyrm drow beloved of Vhaeraun, and Buttercup, a Waterdhavian brothel-maid. It meant little to them, and it means little to us, except that Buttercup gave birth some months thereafter to a child that would become the hero of our story and the villain of many others. Here is where Xu'sa'sil and Buttercup exit our tale, for neither had any interest in parenting, and the nameless half-drow babe, hair and complexion as dark as a raven's quills, was left on the doorstep of the House of the Moon. It was Selûne's problem now.

Selûne may be kind, but her human servants can be as cruel as anyone else. Although the temple's clergy was duty-bound to care for the child—named Diamond Westwall, after the street intersection where they found them—they couldn't help being suspicious of a creature that appeared to be nothing less than shadow made flesh. "A spy for Shar," they would whisper to one another. "A dark changeling sent to destroy us."

Perhaps it was the absence of friendship and love that sculpted Diamond into the villain they became. Or perhaps a rotten tree simply bears rotten fruit, and Vhaeraun's bloodline had tainted the child. Perhaps it was a little of both. Either way, Diamond grew bitter, jaded, and resentful of the Selûnites. Weary of the temple's ostracism, Diamond ran away.

The streets of Waterdeep are not gentle to young urchins. While Selûne offered food and shelter in one hand and mockery and condescension in the other, the streets asked for nothing and gave nothing. We will not dwell on Diamond's time there. They survived. That is enough.

It is said that rumors of the mysterious dark presence in the Sea Ward caught the attention of Shar herself. A creature of night who hides in shadows and curses the moon? Intriguing. The Mistress of Night arranged for Diamond to cross paths with one of her monks. After a series of brutal initiation tests, Diamond was admitted into the order, and their life began in earnest. Now trained as an assassin of the Night herself, Diamond began murdering Selûnites in cold blood. Priests and acolytes who once rejected Diamond were found strangled in dark alleys or drowned in the harbor. Wanted posters soon sprouted throughout the Sea and Castle Wards warning of the mysterious serial killer, but now under a new nickname, inspired by vague eyewitness descriptions of the suspect: The Inkblot.

Let us skip ahead. It is the present day. The Inkblot has joined up with an adventuring party that knows nothing of the monk's true origins or motives. This new affiliation is but a useful contrivance. The Inkblot has no friends, they tell themself. The Inkblot works alone. It's just a way to get out of the city for a while. Wait for the heat to cool off after the last killing. But these adventurers have not judged or mocked the Inkblot's unusual appearance and demeanor. They have treated the Inkblot as one of their own. And although the Inkblot would never admit it, it's actually nice being part of a team. It's almost like, well...like having a family. Almost enough to leave the serial killer's life behind. It might be a chance to start over...just so long as that new family never, ever discovers the Inkblot's murderous secrets, and no missives arrive designating new targets for assassination, and the party's adventures never bring them back to Waterdeep, and no vacationing member of the City Watch recognizes the description of a suspect from an old cold case, and...ah, but never mind, for all those things are highly unlikely. The Inkblot is sure everything will be fine.

Spoiler: Build Notes

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So, the thing about tattooed monk is, it's actually a pretty damn good upgrade to the base monk! While not all the tattoos are viable, some of them are seriously legit. Sure, it's no cleric, but it also comes with full progression of most monk abilities, and I've added a couple of tricks to spice it up even more.

My goals with this entry are to showcase the power and utility tattooed monk brings to the monk specifically; to offer a practical build that you can take home and play at your own table alongside more traditionally powerful classes without feeling left out; and to accomplish these things without losing sight of the essence of monk, AKA "punch punch, run fast, inflict status effect, annoy enemy, punch punch."

Spoiler: Tattoos

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White Mask. While the Bluff skill is no stranger to massive bonuses, the other ones (namely glibness, conceal thoughts, and Spawn of the Dark Prince) tend to be limited to a single function of the skill: telling lies. Which, don't get me wrong, lying is a powerful and valuable skill, but the white mask tattoo grants a +10 untyped bonus to all Bluff checks. This makes it a perfect combo with an underrated gem of a feat: Wanderer's Diplomacy. Wanderer's Diplomacy lets you decipher foreign languages and locate magic items that would normally be unavailable, and both of those things can be very useful; however, the real treasure is using Bluff to improve NPC attitudes instead of Diplomacy. There are limitations, but it more than makes up for them by being a standard action with no penalty—and, of course, by benefiting from that juicy +10.

Chameleon. Alter self doesn't need a lot of help to be broken, but we're here, so we may as well break it at least a little bit, right? Vhaerath is a +0 LA inherited template that grants the outsider type to a drow (or, in this case, a half-drow, which counts as a drow due to their drow blood) for basically free. Outsider type means outsider forms—a major power boost compared to humanoid forms. I'm not an alter self expert, but I'm sure there are outsiders out there with large size and tons of natural armor. Dwarf ancestor? Is that the best one? I bet there's a list floating around somewhere. The main point is that unlike all the humanoid plebeians, we can grow in size to boost grapples, trips, and unarmed damage, and we can also get some sick defense, movement modes, and/or skill bonuses while we're at it.

Centipede. Not much to say here, just a fantastic utility spell that can provide fast travel or quick escapes as needed.

Spider. The contest rules allow the original OA version of this tattoo, which triggers on every touch instead of requiring a use of Stunning Fist. With flurry of blows, we can dish out a pretty good number of attacks, and we can even proc it with trips and grapples if need be. Will they pass the save? I mean, probably, but they can't pass all the saves, right?

Crescent Moon. Like shadow walk, ethereal jaunt is a utility spell that lets us do something rarely afforded to martial characters. CW nerfed it, but it's still good.

Spoiler: Spotlight: Level 3

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We're making the best of the secret ingredient's prerequisites with the combination of Improved Grapple and Scorpion's Grasp. One of the traditional weaknesses of monk-based grapplers is that they have a lower grapple mod than the fighters or barbarians pursuing the same strategy. Scorpion's Grasp mitigates this by making it so that you don't really need to succeed on the grapple check—it's just a free bonus after you've already punched them in the face. If you win, great! If not, you still did damage, NBD. Unlike most monks, we also have martial weapon proficiency via the outsider type, so at these low levels, we have the option of thwacking enemies with a giant sword or polearm for a single, more powerful hit when flurry of blows isn't available, and we can use said polearm to make opportunity attacks with Combat Reflexes and reach. Meanwhile, outside of combat, we have the Diplomacy, Bluff, and Sense Motive package to act as a party face. Criminal Background or Apprentice (Criminal) helps fill in Bluff as a class skill, which will be important later. (I went with Criminal Background because I think Apprentice is fiddly and weird, but either one is fine. Really, Aereni Focus would be strictly better than either of them, but it's specific to the wrong setting, and also, I don't know if Aerenal actually has any drow, canonically speaking? So, ask your DM.)

Spoiler: Spotlight: Level 7

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The Dark Moon Disciple substitution levels grant shadow blend at level 7. This is an amazing ability because it basically means you're greater-invisible all the time. Sneak around, punch people, I don't know. It's good. And it's really hard to accidentally turn off, too, because it functions even in bright light! Only full daylight disables it. Who packs daylight effects? Not many enemies. And see invisibility doesn't work either. Very strong.

Improved Trip is also here. It's just a really nice feat for disrupting and annoying people, and it provides more tactical options. We'll take Knock-Down later on to boost it further.

While we could jump into the secret ingredient early if we wanted, I prefer to hit these natural break points for the base class first. Can you imagine taking exactly 5 levels of monk? One shudders at the thought.

Spoiler: Spotlight: Level 10

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At this level we've gained our first two tattoos, White Mask and Chameleon. The extra +10 Bluff makes Inkblot an extremely effective liar, and it synergizes nicely with the racial +2 and disguise self SLA. Wanderer's Diplomacy allows Bluff to function much like a rushed Diplomacy check, but instead of a -10 penalty, it's with a +10 bonus, making it super easy to bring just about anyone up to helpful (within the feat's restrictions). We can also do a fun trick where we use magic to disguise ourselves before using it, and once they realize that we lied, they'll be mad at whoever we were disguised as. We've invested in Real Diplomacy too, and attained a very respectable modifier with the help of synergy bonuses—did you know tattooed monk has Knowledge (nobility and royalty) as a class skill?—so our face abilities should be very strong overall. Oh, and don't forget the Social Recovery skill trick, which allows a failed Diplomacy check to be retried as a Bluff check! That's another great use of the White Mask.

As for alter self, it's well established that you can do cool stuff with outsider forms (mainly growing or shrinking in size, boosting natural armor, and/or improving movement). The long duration with multiple uses per day makes it easy to keep up all the time as a potent and versatile self-buff. As we get more daily uses, it will become easier to switch between forms as the situation demands.

Spoiler: Spotlight: Level 15

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Darkstalker is a big deal with shadow blend, as it makes it nearly impossible to see Inkblot even with special senses, removing what would otherwise have been an easy counter. Knock-Down is just a very powerful and synergistic feat overall, even with the errata that prevents you taking an extra attack when you trip them with it. It follows on the Scorpion's Grasp + Spider Tattoo theme of "I hit you and do some cool additional thing on top of my damage." The more of these effects you add, the more likely it is that the enemy will flub at least one of them.

The tattoos here are Centipede and Spider. I covered these in the tattoo section. They're great. Love 'em.

Hey, have I mentioned magic items yet? Normally in these competitions I don't like to assume we have access to whatever items we want, but with Wanderer's Diplomacy, we can actually find stuff very reliably even if the DM doesn't drop it. Stuff like a souped-up necklace of natural weapons (SS) with your favorite weapon abilities; a dark lantern to enable shadow blend even on a sunny day; a fanged ring (DM) to get Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike) as a bonus feat; a tooth of Leraje (ToM) for the attack and damage boost; combat maneuver helpers like ring of earth's grasp (DC), gloves of the titan's grip (MIC), or torc of the titans (MIC); flurry of blows helpers like quicksilver boots (MIC), sparring dummy of the master (AE), or bracers of quick striking (MIC); some boots of speed, because who needs the Wasp tattoo; a belt of magnificence (MH) to help hold up our MAD pants; a blindfold of true darkness for blindsight; some ring of freedom of movement/wings of flying type things to make sure you can actually close into melee reliably; skill-boosting items like cloak/boots of elvenkind, courtier's obi (OA), third eye expose (MIC), and mask of lies (MIC); or, you know, just generically good stuff like a thorn pouch (MIC), horn of plenty (MIC), admiral's bicorne (Sto), or ring of telekinesis. Take your pick—it's dealer's choice.

Spoiler: Spotlight: Level 20

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The last level of tattooed monk is a dead level, so we're going into henshin mystic instead, which plays on similar mechanical themes of "I'm a monk, but with cool utility effects." It grants scrying and charm monster as SLAs, advances monk abilities (including flurry of blows, which finally loses the penalty and gets that second extra attack), improves our ability to fight in the dark, gives bonuses to social skills, and is a cool and efficient monk upgrade all around.

I have Improved Natural Attack as the 18th level feat here, but of course if you bought a fanged ring you'll pick something else instead. (I don't know, Knowledge Devotion maybe? Draconic Aura? I didn't think very hard about it. Maybe one of the other entries has something really great and we can copy off of them.) Since alter self will typically be boosting us to Large size, our unarmed damage is actually going to be even higher, so that's cool.

By the time we reach level 20, we have successfully achieved the ever-popular four-attack benchmark, whatever that's worth, and we're looking at a DPR of something like...let's see, 6d8 base, at least 26 Strength by now if not more, +5 weapon enhancement from greater magic weapon, multiply by five attacks...200-ish damage with a full flurry of blows? And each hit initiates a grapple and a trip attempt? That's not bad, right? I don't play at level 20 often, but it seems reasonable. Don't want to punch people? Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive are all maxed out, so feel free to use your words and solve your problems without violence. In a situation where they won't talk but also punching is hard for some reason? Lean on your sleek and streamlined set of cool optimized magic items that you were able to hand-pick with Wanderer's Diplomacy.

Spoiler: Adaptation

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I would recommend switching from half-drow to the drow savage progression if it's available without the racial levels. It's a nice stat upgrade that will make your point buy more efficient. It's not very elegant in a competition like this when you know you're going to have exactly 20 levels, no more, no less, hence the use of half-drow for the main build—but out in the real world, who knows how long your campaign will last? Push off those racial levels until ECL 40! There's no time limit. Alternatively, if you do like half-drow, the non-deepwyrm version is entirely valid for those who prefer +2 Diplomacy over +2 Bluff.

If your game allows magazine material, consider Celestial Scion (#315), which lets you roll twice on Bluff and take the higher result, and Spawn of the Dark Prince (#359), which gives +10 on Bluff checks to convince others of the truth of your words. The latter is an abyssal heritor feat, so if you have the requisite 15 Cha, you could even get it through embrace the dark chaos (FCI). Academy Graduate (Savage Tide Player's Guide) is a better version of Criminal Background that gives Bluff and UMD, which would be well worth diverting points away from Sense Motive. There's also some consideration for the Sidewinder monk variant (#331), which gets sneak attack—very easy to enable when combined with shadow blend. Toss in Craven (CR) and you'll be looking at some big damage. Maybe even get Sickening Strike (DrU) and/or Terrifying Strike (DrU), to nerf their opposed Strength checks when you trip them. Of course, you'd have to take Improved Grapple out of a normal feat slot, since the level 1 bonus feat switches to Persuasive or Stealthy (and the level 2 feat switches to Improved Feint or Mobility), and you'd have to swap out henshin mystic, since you don't get the required purity of body ability—maybe look at Shen (#319) instead. Finally, check out the Rhetorical Flourish skill trick (#357) for more buffs to Diplomacy.

If your game doesn't allow FR-specific web enhancements, then you have no business taking level 7 of monk without access to Dark Moon Disciple. Change the build to Monk 6/Tattooed Monk 10/Henshin Mystic 4. Vhaerath would also be out of the picture, so in order to maintain the outsider type, you'd have to be a neraph (PlH).

If your DM prefers the Complete Warrior update for the Spider tattoo, then it's obviously unusable, so replace it with Scorpion, Falcon, Unicorn, or Tiger. Conversely, if your DM allows you to use the OA version of tattooed monk, then you don't need Endurance! Take Knock-Down at level 6, move Improved Natural Attack up a slot, and then pick something nice to put at 18. The OA version also advances flurry, so you'll get better full attacks earlier.

If your game allows flaws, then you'll definitely want to snag those bonus feats. Silver Tongue (OA) is 1st-level only, so we can't get it on the main build while still having Bluff as a class skill, but with flaws, it's back on the menu, and the 3.5 update for it is amazing, giving you at-will good hope and more. Hidden Talent (XPH) is another 1st-level only feat that would be great here, as it can grant access to conceal thoughts for another +10 Bluff. The Bind Vestige + Practiced Binder combo (ToM) is another strong choice, granting you Naberius's diplomancy abilities. Alternatively, just move all the feats up a little and make your strategies come online sooner. If you put Wanderer's Diplomacy and Scorpion's Grasp at level 1, for example, you can get Endurance at level 3 and pick up Knock-Down immediately at level 6.

If you want to play a little more with transformation nonsense, you could certainly take Assume Supernatural Ability (SS) or Metamorphic Transfer (XPH), but I'm personally not a fan of that strategy.

Higher point buy? Jump for joy and put more points in everything. Lower point buy? Cry in the corner and take points out of Int.

Spoiler: Sources

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Champions of Valor Web Enhancement: Dark Moon Disciple
City of Stormreach: Criminal Background
Complete Scoundrel: Skill Tricks
Dragon Magic: Deepwyrm Half-Drow
Drow of the Underdark: Half-Drow
Dungeonscape: Wall Walker
Lords of Madness: Darkstalker
Magic Books of Faerun: Vhaerath
Oriental Adventures/Dragon #318: Henshin Mystic
Player's Handbook II: Wanderer's Diplomacy
Sandstorm: Scorpion's Grasp
Sword & Fist: Knock-Down

[The Viscount]

This entry is a woman... but it is also... a Dragon!

Worag sighed as he heard the screams coming from the humanoid village. “We come in peace!” he shouted in common as he slowly lumbered forward.

Brehmor laughed behind him, a laugh that sounded like an avalanche of rocks. “I told you, brother."

An armed troop of humanoids left the village on the bog’s edge, carefully advancing towards the two stone giants. Brehmor growled, and hoisted a boulder to his shoulder.

“We come in peace!” Worag yelled again.

The troop slowly halted to a stop, and from within it emerged an old woman, her face hard and wrinkled. An elaborate tattoo of a tortoise covered half her face. “What do you want?” she asked, speaking giant.

Thank the gods, thought Worag. No slaughter here today. “We come seeking knowledge. We come seeking power. We come seeking the one known as the Dragon Monk” he said. “The one who helped halt the advance of the Yuan-Ti armies. We’ve also heard her referred to as the Iron Maiden.”

The old woman smiled. “You come seeking the Mistress.” She pointed towards the bog. “She’ll find you there. In the Spirit Swamp.”

“I thank you.” Said Worag, but the woman has already turned away, her men with her. “Come.” He said to Brehmor, and the brothers walked into the swamp. Brehmor led the way, being known for his navigational skills and keen senses.

They walked for a few hours before encountering their first Spirit. “Look!” Said Brehmor.

Worag saw his brother pointing at a centipede crawling on the top of the swamp water about 60 feet away from them. The thing was 5 or 6 inches long. “Look at what, fool?” He asked, then blinked. The little creature had a vaguely humanoid face.

“A spirit” said Brehmor, “probably watching for a greater one.” He raised his voice. “Hail, spirit! We mean you and this sacred place no harm. We come seeking the riddled mistress, the Dragon Monk.”

“Spirit or not, Brehmor, you’re a fool shouting at a centipede.”

Just as the words left his mouth, Worag saw the miniscule thing charge forward, with incredible speed. In a second, it was upon him, quickly climbing up his leg. “Get it off of me!” He yelled.

Brehmor tried to hit the thing away, but the creature moved, and his hand struck at his Worag’s face instead. Worag shouted as he finally felt a huge pressure, causing him to drop to one knee. Brehmor tried to push the centipede off, and his shock was evident when the thing wouldn’t budge. Horrified, Worag tried to fight, but to no avail, as the centipede slowly but surely wrestled him to the ground. The stone giant found himself inexplicably pinned by the 6 inch creature laying on his chest.

The air shimmered, and the centipede suddenly increased in size, morphing into what appeared to be a tiny gold dragon, her scales shimmering in different hues, creating images that appeared as complex drawings of dragons, mountains and tigers. The proportions of the creature were a little off, and she was sort of ugly, but more off was the size – the thing was still no larger than a small cat.

“This is weird.” Said Worag.

“Oh, you think this is weird?” Squeaked the dragon. “Watch this!”

And she exploded into a 10 foot cloud of tiny black insects.

Chi-Pokkena, the One-Foot Wyrmling

Spoiler: Background

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She didn’t recognize the sensation for a minute. A deep shudder, this strange tingle in the center of her being. A vague recollection of draconic runes.

COME.

The call! It’s the call!

It has been so long. So long in this vast darkness, devoid of any outside stimulus. It has been so long since someone less called her. Her excitement billowed.

Relax. Compose yourself. You are the gentle wind between the leaves, the moon reflecting in a droplet of water. You are not some silly excitable mortal.

Besides, it’s probably just some old geezer trying to get something off a high shelf.

It has been centuries since anyone called her to do anything more than that – decades since anyone called her at all.

Still, she hoped. If only someone gave her a chance, she’d show all of them. She knew she would.

She rushed through the void for a few moments, before silently erupting from the earth, taking the form of a black iron coffin. The coffin opened, spilling forth an avalanche of bones and black ooze.

A rush of excitement went through her. She was not at some old man’s doorstep. At a dead village. The swampy land around her was under a clear sky, and was clearly meticulously prepared for the ritual. This was someone serious. This was real.

Finally

She smiled. But where was her summoner?

“Oh, great and powerful Ronove!”

The squeak emerged from somewhere at her coffins feet. She turned her attention, and the smile on her coffin turned to a frown.

The creature standing there was could not be more than one foot tall, one and a half at most. She was a strange little thing, a scaly and bulky lizard creature, with sharp teeth and claws. She wasn’t wearing any clothes, and there were no tools to be soon anywhere near her. She was just a feral little bog creature. Extremely unimpressive.

This is humiliating.

Still, beggars can’t be choosers.

She forced her frown to subside, and awaited. She didn’t talk. It was kind of her thing.

The creature spoke again.

“Oh, great Ronove! My first wish is to be turned into a Dragon!”

Wait, what?

She frowned, as hard as she could. What in the nine hells was this little beast talking about?

The creature spread her arms wide open, closed her eyes and tilted back her head.

“Now, Ronove! I shall wait no longer!”

Not talking was her thing.

But sometimes, there’s no choice.

”FOOL! I CAN’T TURN YOU INTO A DRAGON. YOU STAND BEFORE RONOVE! I AM THE GREAT MISTRESS, THE MAIDEN OF IRON, THE BETRAYED WATCHER OF THE ETERNAL SELF! I COULD CRUSH YOU, AND TURN ALL YOU HAVE EVER KNOWN TO DUST! DO YOU TRULY THINK YOU HAVE THE FORCE OF PERSONALITY TO CALL ME TO YOUR BIDDING?”

The creature satisfactorily fell to her backside, her eyes torn wide open.

“I mean, clearly not, right?” She answered. All her pompousness was gone now, and she talked quickly, her voice breaking. “I mean, I thought I maybe did but I very clearly don’t, right? I’m so sorry to have disturbed you, but this is clearly beyond the scope of what I can do. I thought I could maybe do a lot of good if you helped me. Free others from the Yuan-Ti like our people freed themselves long ago. I guess not. I’m so sorry. I know I talk too much when I’m anxious. I’m so sorry, I’ll let you go now-“

Ronove sighed. This was terrible, truly terrible, but she was not about to give up on her first summoning in decades.

”WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT, PUNY THING?”

“Ummm… You said you can’t turn me into a dragon, right? Well, what can you do?”

It’s now or never.

"I COULD TURN YOU INTO A MONK."

She watched as her summoner’s expression shifted. “I’m sorry, but don’t monks kind of… suck?”

”NO, OF COURSE THEY DON’T! ALSO, I GIVE YOU OTHER POWERS AS WELL!”

“Oh! So, like a monk, but better? Functional?”

”WELL… NO.”

“No? No better than a real monk?”

She would blush, if she still could. She wanted to cry.

”WELL, WORSE, ACTUALLY.”

“… Oh.”

There were a few moments of silence.

“Well, I mean, thank you for coming-“

"YEAH, YEAH I GET IT. I’LL BE ON MY WAY."

“Oh come on, don’t cry…”

"WHY NOT?! YOU WERE RIGHT, MONKS SUCK. I SUCK! I ALWAYS TRY TO PROVE MYSELF, BUT LET’S BE HONEST, THERE’S A REASON N-NO ONE EVER SUMMONS ME. I’LL JUST GO BACK TO THE VOID."

“Oh, come on, there’s no reason to be like that… I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been mean. Monks sound… fun.”

Ronove sniffed. "REALLY? DIDN’T YOU WANT TO BE A DRAGON?"

“Sure, really. Come on, let’s do this thing.”

"OKAY THEN."

“Okay. I’ll be a monk. Dragon monk.”

"ALSO, YOU CAN’T EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING."

“I’m sorry, w-“

-Two Years Later-

”NO.”

“Ronove-“

”NO! YOU PROMISED! WE WERE GONNA DO THIS TOGETHER!”

Chi-Pokkena sighed. She loved Ronove with all her heart, but the poor thing could be so insecure sometimes. “Ronove, we are. We are doing this together. But they need help too, can’t you see? These guys suck even more than regular monks, and they’re too busy being mysterious and mystical to actually recruit anyone. We need to help them!”

”NO. I WILL NOT HAVE YOU SIDETRACKED. YOU ARE TO BECOME MY CHAMPION, TO PROVE THAT WE’RE GREAT. YOU WILL NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON THESE SILLY TATTOO PEOPLE.”

“Ronove, this could actually help me spend more time with you sooner rather than later. Come on! You’re being a bee when you should be the wind, or whatever.”

”WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? NO. THE ANSWER IS NO.

Chi-Pokkena frowned. “Fine. Whatever YOU want.”

”OH, LOOK WHO’S BEING-“

“I said it’s fine! They didn’t want me there anyway.”

”… WHAT?”

“Well, it appears that they’re grapplers, for some incomprehensible reason. They don’t do anything even remotely related to grappling, but it’s still very important to them, and they think I’m too small to ever be a good grappler.”

”OH, LIKE HELL YOU ARE! YOU’RE GONNA BE A BETTER GRAPPLER THEN ALL OF THESE MORONS! WE’RE GOING TO SHOW THESE IDIOTS. YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE THEM ALL LOOK LIKE CHUMPS!

“Wait, do you mean-“

”OH, WE’RE DOING THIS, CHI-POKKENA. WE’RE ****ING DOING THIS!


Chi-Pokkena leaped in the air with excitement. “I’ll go let them know!”

She didn’t lie, she reminded herself while running. She really did want to help the poor souls. She also wanted the opportunity to act a little mysterious and be a little silly from time to time, distracting her from her duties in the war against the Yuan-Ti.

No she didn’t lie. At worst, she just omitted something. One of the tattoos she saw in action, the one that represented everything she strived for. As she ran, she let loose the slightest of whispers under her breath.

“Dragon monk.”

Spoiler: Tables

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Chi-Pokkena, LG female feral dragonborn muckdweller Binder 5/KoSS 5/ Tattooed Monk 9.

Abilities	32 PB	racial+Feral	Levels 4,8,12	DoB (level 14)	Level 16
Str	17	15	18 (+3)	18	19 (+1)
Dex	9	13	13	11	11
Con	14	14	14	16	16
Int	14	10	10	10	10
Wis	14	14	14	14	14
Cha	8	8	8	8	8

ECL	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Feral LA	-	-	-	-	-	-	Land speed +10, NA +6, Claws, Improved Grab, Darkvision, Fast healing.
2nd	Binder 1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Intimidate 4, K. religion 4	Endurance, B: Weapon finesse	Soul binding
3rd	Binder 2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Intimidate 4, K. religion 5, K. the planes 1	-	Pact augmentation (1), suppress sign
4th	Binder 3	+2	+3	+1	+3	Intimidate 4, K. religion 6, K. the planes 2	Improved grapple (Qualifies with IUS from Ronove)	-
5th	Binder 4	+3	+4	+1	+4	Intimidate 4, K. religion 7, K. the planes 3	B: Improved binding	Bonus feat, Pounce (feral)
6th	Binder 5	+3	+4	+1	+4	Intimidate 4, K. religion 8, K. the planes 4	-	Pact augmentation (2)
7th	Tattooed monk 1	+3	+6	+3	+6	Intimidate 4, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8	Planar touchstone: the catalogues of enlightenment (war domain)	Ocean tattoo
8th	Tattooed monk 2	+4	+7	+4	+7	Intimidate 4, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 2, speak language (Common) (cc)	-	-
9th	Tattooed monk 3	+5	+7	+4	+7	Intimidate 4, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 6, speak language (Common) (cc)	-	Mountain tattoo, Rake (feral)
10th	Knight of the sacred seal 1	+6	+9	+4	+7	Climb 2, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 6, speak language (Common) (cc)	Giantbane	Aligned strike, patron vestige (Ronove)
11th	KoSS 2	+7	+10	+4	+7	Climb 4, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 6, speak language (Common) (cc)	-	Vestige's protection
12th	KoSS 3	+8	+10	+5	+8	Climb 6, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 6, speak language (Common) (cc)	-	Vestige's protection aura, soul binding (2 vestiges)
13th	KoSS 4	+9	+11	+5	+8	Climb 8, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 6, speak language (Common) (cc)	Deflect arrows	Vestige's power, Rend (Feral)
14th	KoSS 5	+10	+11	+5	+8	Climb 10, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 6, speak language (Common) (cc)	-	Apotheosis, vestige's surge (Binds Zagan from this level onwards)
15th	Tattooed monk 4, Dragonborn of Bahamut (wings)	+11	+12	+6	+9	Climb 10, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 10, speak language (Common) (cc)	Weapon finesse, Improved grapple, Deflect arrows Underfoot combat, Confound the big Folk.	-
16th	Tattooed monk 5	+11	+12	+6	+9	Climb 14, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 10, speak language (Common) (cc)	Entangling exhalation	Dragon tattoo
17th	Tattooed monk 6	+12	+13	+7	+10	Climb 18, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 10, speak language (Common) (cc)	-	-
18th	Tattooed monk 7	+13	+13	+7	+10	Climb 20, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 12, speak language (Common) (cc)	-	Tiger tattoo
19th	Tattooed monk 8	+14	+14	+8	+11	Climb 21, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 15, speak language (Common) (cc)	Exhaled barrier	-
20th	Tattooed monk 9	+14	+14	+8	+11	Climb 22, Intimidate 3, K. religion 8, K. the planes 8, Tumble 18, speak language (Common) (cc)	-	Chameleon Tattoo

Spoiler: Snapshots

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ECL 2-5:

These are all binder levels. Chi-Pokkena is a martial character, having decent Str (16 at ECL 5), pact augmentation, a tiny size, and 3 natural attacks. Around level 3, Chi-Pokkena starts regularly binding Ronove. She doesn’t get anything from improved grapple whenever she’s not bound to Ronove (As she only qualifies for it through Ronove) and that feat amends one of her biggest weaknesses, as a low-dex tiny creature. Still, she can have some flexibility at these levels when she wants to, summoning vestiges up to 3rd level. Usually, though, she’ll summon Ronove, as she feels really bad for her. Also, unarmed strikes work well with claws.

ECL 6-10:

Lots going on. 1 more level of binder provides improved pact augmentation, which goes to insight bonus on attacks or to hp most of the early levels, and probably shifts to saves as time goes on. Entering the SI means Chi-Pokkena needs to bind Ronove 24/7, otherwise she’ll no longer qualift for tattooed monk. That would mean a serious risk of death for Chi-Pokkena, as her very low Cha makes bad pacts very common, and not eating or drinking for multiple days is extremely dangerous. The ocean tattoo is crucial for her to make it out alive from the first 3 levels of the SI, and remains a very thematic choice later on for a KoSS of Ronove.

Level 6 brings planar touchstone as a substitute for weapon focus, but with 14 Wis it also possibly opens up a use of divine power every once in a while, depending on the campaign and accessibility to other planes.

The mountain Tattoo is invaluable to a tiny creature. Chi-Pokkena is extremely vulnerable to tripping and bullrushing, and mountain takes care of that. It needs to be used carefully the level she gets it, because of the movement restriction, but can be used much more liberally one level later, when giantbane makes it very easy to just latch onto anyone medium size or larger.

ECL 11-15:

Finishing out KoSS and getting back into the SI. A lot changes through these levels.

Being able to bind a second vestige at ECL 12 opens up a few very nice options – the 5th level vestige list is very good. Enjoy the flexibility while it lasts – it’s going away soon. The vestige protection/aura abilities are no more than cute, but vestige’s power is very potent, as are apotheosis and vestige’s surge. Level 5 of KoSS makes Chi-Pokkena able to bind 6th level vestiges, and she immediately starts binding Zagan, who’ll she be bound to for the rest of her career. Aversion is a strong option, scent is nice for awareness, and snake bane is good for a good-aligned muckdweller, as she’s expected to fight Yuan-Ti.

The big ones, however, are to do with grappling.

Zagan gives you a constrict attack, gives you bonus improved grapple (redundant at this level), and makes you count as large for grappling. Not one size larger, just large. This distinction would hurt most martial entries, but Chi-Pokkena is tiny.

This is an effective +12 to Chi-Pokkena’s grapple check, making her the world’s first ever capable tiny-sized grappler. At ECL 15, she has improved grab, constrict, rake, and a +23 grapple check without Str enhancements. Not mind blowing, of course, but situationally extremely useful – and she does that while tiny, no size increase necessary. Divine power (off of planar touchstone) can increase that number, if available.

Level 14 sees a return to the SI, and with it, rebirth as a dragonborn of Bahamut. Chi-pokkena loses her useless weapon finesse and her muckdweller natural armor – which luckily gets superseded by Feral’s natural armor, which isn’t lost. Her dexterity score drops to 11 due to the transformation, which means she loses (and immediately gets to replace) improved grapple and deflect arrows. She has a mini-heart attack, as losing improved grapple means losing the benefits of her tattoos, before reminding herself that she gets improved grapple from Zagan, so the loss is actually a net-gain. She gets underfoot combat and confound the big folk, which synergize amazingly with climb aboard from giantbane, her high grapple check, the Aversion ability, and her mountain tattoo. Chi-Pokkena is extremely hard to hurt or get rid of once she latches on to someone, and she can often climb aboard medium sized opponents and easily grapple them to the ground, while their allies can’t afford to try to attack her in fear of hurting her target – that is, if they even manage to get close.

ECL 16-20:

Chi-Pokkena gets everything the SI has to offer (beside the mind blowing capstone - a dead level). The dragon tattoo is perfect for her, as she now becomes a true one-foot-dragon – a winged lizard clawing and breathing fire at opponents. While unto itself the tattoo is useless, having the dragonblood subtype allows Chi-Pokkena to use it as a move-action entanglement against anyone without fire immunity/evasion, and her level 18 feat allows her to breathe a 10 by 10 entangling barrier – as a move action. Pretty useful, for something that would ordinarily be 14 damage to a single opponent, halved by a DC 13 reflex save.

Her next tattoo is the tiger tattoo, which is very useful to someone with multiple natural weapons, rend, rake, constrict and pounce. Pretty self-explanatory.

At level 20, she has a great full attack routine, can latch onto enemies with giantbane while using confound the big folk (and become immune to trip and bullrush), and has a grapple check of +26 without strength enhancements – and that can be pumped by divine power and vestige’s power to +32. Maxing Str through items would make that 38.

Her capstone is the chameleon tattoo. While it would ordinarily be a powerful pick, it isn’t that powerful for Chi-Pokkena. Her normal form has flight, excellent NA and natural weapons, and she has no need for a size increase. While mephit forms and other common outsiders are pretty good, I’ll be honest – I took it mainly to get weird. Unlike humanoids, there are a few diminutive outsiders – most of them are extremely weird. Turning into a least sprit-centipede (OA) is pretty normal, and even situationally useful – reduced size has its advantages, and it could be used to utilize her feats against small sized creatures. It also just makes Chi-Pokkena’s grappling prowess seem even more absurd.
On the other hand, I don’t know what the hell turning into a fiendish familiar would look like when using alter self. Similarly, a demonhive demonet swarm (MM4) is technically a tiny sized outsider, and I have 0 clue how that would work with alter self. Despite being a more expected pick than her other tattoos, it serves a very different function than it usually would, and is just another drop of insanity in the weird little experiment that is Chi-Pokkena.

Spoiler: Sources

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Complete Warrior: Tattooed Monk, Giantbane.

Races of the Dragon: Dragonborn of Bahamut, Entangling exhalation, Exhaled barrier.

Races of the Wild: Underfoot combat, Confound the big folk.

Planar Handbook: Planar touchstone, the Catalogues of Enlightenment.

Savage Species: Feral template.

Serpent Kingdoms: Muckdweller.

Tome of Magic: Binder, Knight of the Sacred Seal, Improved binding, vestiges.

[The Viscount]

How do I put the emphasis on "on"? Show me how to put the emphasis on "on."

Captain O

Captain O, LN male azurin warblade 10/ tattooed monk 10.
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 8. All increases to Str.

Spoiler: Now, with Marshmallows!

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“Look, up in the sky!

“It’s a bird!

“It’s a plane!

“It’s Captain O!”

Yes, it’s Captain O! Everyone’s favourite hero! Saving kittens, buildings, and the day, and always with a refreshing box of cereal!

He’s got the blondest hair, the bluest eyes, and the brightest smile! And look at his tattoos! See, Ma? See, Pops? Tattoos aren’t just for punks and bad kids! Why, Captain O is a real Goody two-shoes, and humble, too! Ask him what his real name is, and he’ll blush and ask you:

“Well, isn’t it obvious?”

We at Meyers-Morse Entertainment Company sure do love kids, and we sure do love captain O! Our new unique magic tattooes will give special powers to any kid! Only 10,000 gold per tattoo, or just come by with one of the special platinum cards hidden in 5 of our cereal boxes!

Come on, Ma, let Johnny-boy get a tattoo! He ain’t a bad kid, he just wants to have superpowers like Good ol’ captain O! And he’ll get a free pack of marshmall-O’s, too! Just look at that smile! What say you, Captain?

“Come on, Ma, Johnny’s a good-


“Cut!”

Sylvia was an experienced director, and she didn’t miss everyone’s shared sigh of exhaustion. This was the 27th take, and they all wanted to move on. Everyone was getting frustrated – everyone, that is, except Captain O. He just sat down on his bench and went back to staring at the wall, smiling his vacant smile.

“What is it this time, Sylvia?” asked her assistant-director, his voice strained.

“The same damn thing it was for the last 26 times, Gregory. This guy’s giving me the ****ing creeps.”

“Oh come on, Sylvia-“

“You come on, Gregory! I’ve seen more life in a damn fossil. I’ll be embarrassed to show myself in polite society my entire life if I release something looking like that, and so should you.”

Gregory sighed. “Do you want me to talk to him again?”

“Thanks, Greg, but it’s my turn. I’ll go. I appreciate the offer though, really.” She got off her chair with a groan. She was certainly getting too old for this.

“It’s just - maybe we can just move on? I mean, if he’s not gonna get it than he’s not gonna get it.”

She hesitated. “Let’s try just a couple more times, ok?”

He sighed again, and averted his gaze.

“Please, don’t fight me on this.”

He looked up, shamed. “Okay, Sylvia. I’m sorry. Just a couple more times.”

“Thanks Greg.” She smiled. “Take a break, everyone! Action in 5!”

The captain looked at her is she approached, sending her a radiant, empty smile. “How may I help you, Ms. Sylvia?”

She sat beside him. “Listen, Cap, you’re doing great. Honestly. But I need more... passion, you know? I need you to inject some passion into this thing. ‘Come on, Ma, Come on, Ma!’ You know?”

The captain nodded, still smiling. “Got it. Half an octave higher, Ms. Sylvia, and more emphasis on the ‘on’. I thought that was what I did in take 18, but I –“

“No, Cap. You don’t get it. I don’t care about the octave, I don’t care about the emphasis. I just need to see some emotion. Excitement. Show me excitement. And passion. It’s not about what you say, or how you say it. I need you to feel it.”

The captain tilted his head. “I assure you, Ms. Sylvia, I am extremely excited and passionate about my corporate sponsors. They have given me the fame and renown I’ve always wanted. I assure you, there’s nothing in the multiverse I am more excited about than Meyers-Morse products.”

“Well, why don’t I see it then?” She was getting really frustrated now. “Why do I not believe a word you’re saying right now? You have no authenticity, Cap. That’s what I need to see. Authenticity.”

The captain frowned. For the first time since coming on the set, he seemed confused. “Authenticity?”

Was she finally getting somewhere? “Yes, authenticity. I need you to bring it, hard. Pour your very soul into this performance.”

The Captain’s face suddenly brightened, and he sent her a big, white, vacant smile. She saw it then, saw the thing that gave her the creeps all along. The smile covered his entire face, laugh lines and all; but his perfectly pure blue eyes remained cold. Not a spark of joy in them.

“Oh, I see where the misunderstanding is coming from, Ms. Sylvia. You see, I’m powered by everyone’s collective of souls.” His smile widened. “Why would I need one of my own?”

Spoiler: Captain Crunch

Show

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Warblade 1	+1	+2	+0	+0	Diplomacy 4, K. local 4, concentration 4	Improved unarmed strike, Improved grapple (b)	battle clarity, weapon aptitude.
2nd	Warblade 2	+2	+3	+0	+0	Diplomacy 5, K. local 5, concentration 5	-	Uncanny dodge
3rd	Warblade 3	+3	+3	+1	+1	Diplomacy 6, K. local 5, K. religion 2, concentration 5	Knowledge devotion (K. religion as class skill)	Battle ardor
4th	Warblade 4	+4	+4	+1	+1	Diplomacy 6, K. local 5, K. religion 5, concentration 5	-	-
5th	Warblade 5	+5	+4	+1	+1	Diplomacy 6, K. local 5, K. religion 8, concentration 5	Endurance (b)	Bonus feat
6th	Tattooed monk 1	+5	+6	+3	+3	Diplomacy 9, K. local 5, K. religion 8, concentration 5	Scorpion’s grasp	Tattoo (chameleon)
7th	Tattooed monk 2	+6	+7	+4	+4	Diplomacy 10, K. local 5, K. religion 8, concentration 7	-	-
8th	Tattooed monk 3	+7	+7	+4	+4	Diplomacy 11, K. local 5, K. religion 8, concentration 9	-	tattoo (Wasp)
9th	Tattooed monk 4	+8	+8	+5	+5	Diplomacy 12, K. local 5, K. religion 8, concentration 11	Martial stance (Crushing weight of the mountain)	-
10th	Tattooed monk 5	+8	+8	+5	+5	Diplomacy 13, K. local 5, K. religion 8, concentration 13	-	Tattoo (scorpion)
11th	Tattooed monk 6	+9	+9	+6	+6	Diplomacy 14, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. religion 8, concentration 14	-	-
12th	Tattooed monk 7	+10	+9	+6	+6	Diplomacy 15, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. religion 8, concentration 15	Shape soulmeld (Girallon arms)	Tattoo (phoenix)
13th	Tattooed monk 8	+11	+10	+7	+7	Diplomacy 16, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. religion 8, K. the planes 1, concentration 16	-	-
14th	Tattooed monk 9	+11	+10	+7	+7	Diplomacy 17, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. nature 1, K. religion 8, K. the planes 1, concentration 17	-	Tattoo (lion)
15th	Tattooed monk 10	+12	+11	+8	+8	Diplomacy 18, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. nature 1, K. religion 8, K. the planes 1, concentration 17, collector of stories	Bonus essentia	-
16th	Warblade 6	+13	+12	+9	+9	Diplomacy 19, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. nature 1, K. religion 8, K. the planes 1, concentration 19, collector of stories	-	Improved uncanny dodge
17th	Warblade 7	+14	+12	+9	+9	Diplomacy 20, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. nature 1, K. religion 9, K. the planes 1, concentration 20, collector of stories	-	Battle cunning
18th	Warblade 8	+15	+13	+9	+9	Diplomacy 21, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. nature 1, K. religion 10, K. the planes 1, concentration 21, collector of stories	Martial study (Shadow blink)	-
19th	Warblade 9	+16	+13	+10	+10	Diplomacy 22, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. nature 1, K. religion 11, K. the planes 1, concentration 22, collector of stories	Combat reflexes (b)	Bonus feat
20th	Warblade 10	+17	+14	+10	+10	Diplomacy 23, K. arcana 1, K. dungeoneering 1, K. local 5, K. nature 1, K. religion 12, K. the planes 1, concentration 23, collector of stories	-	-

Maneuvers and stances:

Level	IL	Maneuvers	Stances
1	1	Steely strike, Steel wind, Moment of perfect mind	Punishing stance
2	2	Steely strike, Steel wind, Moment of perfect mind, Douse the flames	Punishing stance
3	3	Steely strike, Steel wind, Moment of perfect mind, Douse the flames, Mountain hammer	Punishing stance
4	4	Steely strike, Steel wind, Moment of perfect mind, Douse the flames, Mountain hammer, Wall of blades	Punishing stance, Stance of clarity
5	5	Steely strike, Moment of perfect mind, Douse the flames, Mountain hammer, Wall of blades, White raven tactics	Punishing stance, Stance of clarity
9	7	Steely strike, Moment of perfect mind, Douse the flames, Mountain hammer, Wall of blades, White raven tactics	Punishing stance, Stance of clarity, Crushing weight of the mountain
16	11	Steely strike, Moment of perfect mind, Douse the flames, Mountain hammer, Wall of blades, White raven tactics, Manticore parry	Punishing stance, Stance of clarity, Crushing weight of the mountain
17	12	Steely strike, Moment of perfect mind, Mountain hammer, Wall of blades, White raven tactics, Manticore parry, Greater insightful strike	Punishing stance, Stance of clarity, Crushing weight of the mountain
18	13	Steely strike, Moment of perfect mind, Mountain hammer, Wall of blades, White raven tactics, Manticore parry, Greater insightful strike, Quicksilver motion, Shadow blink	Punishing stance, Stance of clarity, Crushing weight of the mountain
19	14	Moment of perfect mind, Mountain hammer, Wall of blades, White raven tactics, Manticore parry, Greater insightful strike, Quicksilver motion, Shadow blink, Finishing move	Punishing stance, Stance of clarity, Crushing weight of the mountain
20	15	Moment of perfect mind, Mountain hammer, Wall of blades, White raven tactics, Manticore parry, Greater insightful strike, Quicksilver motion, Shadow blink, Finishing move, Adamantine tornado	Punishing stance, Stance of clarity, Crushing weight of the mountain, Stance of alacrity

Spoiler: Stating the obvious

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Level 5:

Up to this point, Captain O is a fairly standard Warblade, only made unique by his focus on unarmed combat and grappling. His stances and manoeuvres make him very good one on one combat, and he has some wider team utility through douse the flames and white raven tactics. His knowledge devotion will never be optimized through the roof, but it’s still a pretty good feat – and it opens up K. religion as a class skill, to allow a level 6 entry into the SI.

Level 10:

5 levels into the SI. His feat choices, Scorpion’s grasp and Martial stance (CW of the mountain) make him a much more able grappler, and since he was full BaB before entering the SI, he’s not very far behind on that front. Unarmed damage allows better grappling as well. He has 3 uses of 5-hour alter self – common forms include skulk when the party needs to sneak (synergises well with unarmoured AC), Tren or similar for fighting, or Avarial for flight. Haste as a move action is very good, especially with standard action strikes to use on the same turn, and the scorpion tattoo is an excellent alternative to wall of blades, making him reliably harder to hit for more than one round here and there. Better movement helps keeping tactical mobility an option while grappling.

Level 15:

Finishing out the SI, The captain has more and longer us of his previous tattoos, and new tattoos to provide utilities. He phoenix tattoo gives a lot of protection and helps him conserve his moment of perfect mind for when it’s absolutely needed. The lion tattoo may be an unusual choice, as move-action activation on a smite is a hard pill to swallow. It works very well, however, with martial strikes, which could always use the +4 to hit – and turns with martial strikes often have a dead move action. His feats keep up his grappling, making it truly excellent at this point – each of them gives him a +4 to grapple (+2 from the soulmeld, +2 from Azurin essentia, +4 from bonus essentia), which stack with improved grapple and any possible size increase from items or friendly casters. He should have a +28 to grapple at this level before any possible buffing from items or buffs, making grappling an excellent primary or secondary option for him for most encounters.

Level 20:

Finishing out the build with 5 more levels of warblade. The captain gets a few excellent maneuvers, and the always incredible stance of alacrity, allowing him to use a martial counter and the scorpion tattoo on the same turn. Of special note is quicksilver motion, allowing him to use a tattoo as a swift action at least once or twice every encounter.

Spoiler: Ingredients

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Complete Champion: Knowledge devotion feat.

Complete scoundrel: collector of stories skill trick.

Complete warrior: Tattooed monk class.

Magic of Incarnum: Azurin race, shape soulmeld and bonus essentia feats, Girallon arms soulmeld.

Tome of battle: Warblade class, martial study and martial stance feats, stances and maneuvers.

Sandstorm: Scorpion’s grasp feat.

Everything else can be found in the SRD or the PHB.

[The Viscount]

Ever changing, shifting like water. Be water, and take the form of your vessel.

Tedmiliun Tissopebillis


Human Monk 1 / Cloistered Cleric of Oghma 1/ Ranger 3/ Tattooed Monk 7 / Chameleon 8

Faith:
Worships Oghma and is a member of the Zealots of the written word who follow Deneir who serves Oghma.

Alignment
Lawful Neutral

Languages
Common, Draconic, Elvish, Gnomish

Attributes

	Base	Class Level Advancement	Final
Strength	14	+5	19
Dexterity	14	-	14
Constitution	14	-	14
Intelligence	16	-	16
Wisdom	12	-	12
Charisma	8		8

Tedmiliun opened his eyes after a long meditation. “Finally my mission is clear,” he thought to himself. “Find Cullen Kordamant and end the schism”. Tedmiliun sat atop a hill surveying flowing meadows. A peaceful scene only interrupted by a camped group of Orogs, who seemed to carry home spoils of war. He grabbed his satchel and retrieved his thesis notes. He scribbled atop them. “To look everywhere, I have to become everyone”. He then reached for the ink jar and the tattoo needle and started an intricate pattern on his left thigh. All lines were small passages of script of prayers to Oghma taught to him repeatedly. Like every priest of Oghma he knew them by heart. At some points, the script varied from tradition. A result of his extensive study under Deneir monks. When he finished tattooing his left thigh depicted a script that resembled a curled up chameleon. Satisfied he continued on his right thigh. Another passage of script tattooed into his skin showed a tortoise that seemed to nod to the chameleon on his other thigh. He continued on the left side of his bare chest. The script became a masked head. The mask being completely blank of script. On the right side of his chest, a stylized scorpion raised its stinger. Tedmiliun sighed. “I am complete”. He stripped naked and the chameleon tattoo swirled. Tedmiliun changed into an orog. “Now let’s meet my new friends”. He donned his clothing and picked up his satchel. “I will learn everything from them I can. Cullen Kordamant has to be somewhere. Oghma will show me the way.”




Table

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Monk	+0	+2	+2	+2	Hide 4, Move Silently 4, Listen 4, Spot 4, Knowledge (religion) 4, Bluff 2, Disguise 2, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 2, Knowledge (arcana) 2	Able Learner, Carmendine Monk, Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Improved Grapple (B)	Flurry of blows
2nd	Cloistered Cleric of Oghma	+0	+4	+2	+4	Hide 4, Move Silently 4, Listen 4, Spot 4, Knowledge (religion) 5, Bluff 5, Disguise 5, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 5, Knowledge (arcana) 2	Knowledge Devotion, Travel Devotion	Turn Undead; Trickery Domain
3rd	Ranger	+1	+6	+4	+4	Hide 6, Move Silently 6, Listen 5, Spot 5, Knowledge (religion) 6, Bluff 6, Disguise 6, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 6, Knowledge (arcana) 2	Point Blank Shot	Favored enemy (arcanists), spiritual connection, track
4th	Ranger	+2	+7	+5	+4	Hide 7, Move Silently 7, Listen 7, Spot 7, Knowledge (religion) 7, Bluff 7, Disguise 7, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 7, Knowledge (arcana) 2	Rapid Shot (B)	Combat style (archery)
5th	Ranger	+3	+7	+5	+5	Hide 8, Move Silently 8, Listen 8, Spot 8, Knowledge (religion) 8, Bluff 8, Disguise 8, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 8, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	Endurance (B)	-
6th	Tattooed Monk	+3	+9	+7	+7	Hide 9, Move Silently 9, Listen 9, Spot 9, Knowledge (religion) 9, Bluff 9, Disguise 9, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 9, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	Dark Stalker	Monk abilities, tattoo (Chameleon)
7th	Tattooed Monk	+4	+10	+8	+8	Hide 10, Move Silently 10, Listen 10, Spot 10, Knowledge (religion) 10, Bluff 10, Disguise 10, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 10, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	-
8th	Tattooed Monk	+5	+10	+8	+8	Hide 11, Move Silently 11, Listen 11, Spot 11, Knowledge (religion) 11, Bluff 11, Disguise 11, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 11, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	Tattoo (Tortoise)
9th	Chameleon	+5	+10	+8	+8	Hide 12, Move Silently 12, Listen 12, Spot 12, Knowledge (religion) 12, Bluff 12, Disguise 12, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 12, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	Practiced spellcaster (cleric)	Aptitude focus 1/day (+2)
10th	Chameleon	+6	+10	+8	+8	Hide 13, Move Silently 13, Listen 13, Spot 13, Knowledge (religion) 13, Bluff 13, Disguise 13, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 13, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	Bonus feat
11th	Tattooed Monk	+7	+11	+9	+9	Hide 14, Move Silently 14, Listen 14, Spot 14, Knowledge (religion) 14, Bluff 14, Disguise 14, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 14, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	-
12th	Tattooed Monk	+7	+11	+9	+9	Hide 15, Move Silently 15, Listen 15, Spot 15, Knowledge (religion) 15, Bluff 15, Disguise 15, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 15, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	Martial Study (Shadow Jaunt)	Tattoo (White mask)
13th	Tattooed Monk	+8	+12	+10	+10	Hide 16, Move Silently 16, Listen 16, Spot 16, Knowledge (religion) 16, Bluff 16, Disguise 16, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 16, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	-
14th	Tattooed Monk	+9	+12	+10	+10	Hide 17, Move Silently 17, Listen 17, Spot 17, Knowledge (religion) 17, Bluff 17, Disguise 17, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 17, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	Tattoo (Scorpion)
15th	Chameleon	+10	+13	+11	+11	Hide 18, Move Silently 18, Listen 18, Spot 18, Knowledge (religion) 18, Bluff 18, Disguise 18, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 18, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	Martial Stance (Assassin's Stance)	Mimic class feature 1/day
16th	Chameleon	+11	+13	+11	+11	Hide 19, Move Silently 19, Listen 19, Spot 19, Knowledge (religion) 19, Bluff 19, Disguise 19, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 19, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	Ability boon +2
17th	Chameleon	+11	+13	+11	+11	Hide 20, Move Silently 20, Listen 20, Spot 20, Knowledge (religion) 20, Bluff 20, Disguise 20, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 20, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	Aptitude focus 2/day (+4)
18th	Chameleon	+12	+14	+12	+12	Hide 21, Move Silently 21, Listen 21, Spot 21, Knowledge (religion) 21, Bluff 21, Disguise 21, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 21, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	Craven	Mimic class feature 2/day
19th	Chameleon	+13	+14	+12	+12	Hide 22, Move Silently 22, Listen 22, Spot 22, Knowledge (religion) 22, Bluff 22, Disguise 22, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 22, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	Ability boon +4, double aptitude
20th	Chameleon	+14	+14	+12	+12	Hide 23, Move Silently 23, Listen 23, Spot 23, Knowledge (religion) 23, Bluff 23, Disguise 23, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 23, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Collector of stories	-	Rapid refocus

Spoiler: Spells

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Cleric casting
no table because it is always the same after level 2:
0th level : 3 spells
1st level: 1 + 1 domain spell

Usually prepared before entering Chameleon:
0th level: detect magic, light, read magic
1st level: obscuring mist, disguise self (trickery)

After entering Chameleon the chosen spells highly depend on what aptitude focus is chosen and what the task of the day is (adventuring or crafting).



Chameleon casting without bonus spells for high INT/WIS

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
9th	4	2	0	-	-	-
10th	4	3	1	-	-	-
11th	4	3	1	-	-	-
12th	4	3	1	-	-	-
13th	4	3	1	-	-	-
14th	4	3	1	-	-	-
15th	4	3	2	0	-	-
16th	4	4	3	1	-	-
17th	4	4	3	2	0	-
18th	4	4	4	3	1	-
19th	4	4	4	4	2	0
20th	4	4	4	4	3	1

Some spells to consider:

Arcane spells:
0th: detect magic, dancing lights, message, ghost sound
1st: enlarge person, mage armor, protection from x, grease,
2nd: invisibility, knock, darkvision,
3rd: haste, fly,
4th: dimension door, greater invisibility, polymorph
5th: fabricate, overland flight, teleport

Don't forget: a spellbook is needed for the arcane casting of chameleon.


Divine spells:
1st: cure light wounds, divine favor
2nd: guidance of the avatar, divine insight, lesser restoration, silence, augury
3rd: magic vestment, deeper darkness, speak with dead, remove cruse, remove disease
4th: divine power, dimensional anchor, restoration, sending
5th: true seeing, righteous might

Spoiler: Writeup

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As you probably can guess, I had a wrestling match with Vizzini and won. Human Monk dip + Ranger 3 for Endurance + Cloistered Cleric dip is prime Iron Chef Nonoriginality to enter Tattooed Monk. Now let me switch your perspective:
To achieve what I wanted the build to do I needed the following: some form of monk progression, all my skills (Bluff, Disguise, Hide, Move silently, Knowledge (Religion), Spellcraft, to a lesser extent Sense Motive) as class skills at some point, BAB 3 by ECL 5 and at a lot of skill points. Feats were also a major concern. For the build to work the following are needed: Able Learner, Knowledge Devotion, Darkstalker, Practiced Spellcaster and the 3 entry feats for Tattooed Monk. I fiddled with so many alternative entries i.e. Fighter/Monk, Monk/Serenity Paladin (with excessively many background conflicting ACFs), Barbarian, Hexblade, all forms of Ascetic Feats, Rogue, Scout, all Tome of Battle Classes and even Battle Dancer into Paladin of Freedom (until realizing Tattooed Monk had Lawful as a prerequisite). Despite the many hours of frustration, I had a lot of fun putting Tedmiliun together. Hope you enjoy him too:

Level 1: Carmendine monk switches all Wis to Int for monks and on top of that, you can study for 1 hour to treat your monk level as two higher for unarmed damage ac or speed bonus. Tedmiliun starts at +6 bonus to grapple which is all right. Dedicated grappler might end up with +10 or higher at level 1. Tedmiliun is a dedicated scout at this level with minor combat utility. I chose to keep flurry of blows over decisive strike but I think it is a tossup and either is fine.

Level 2: Tedmiliun needs to have Disguise, Bluff, Spellcraft and Knowledge (Religion) at max ranks before entering Ranger because otherwise I cannot max them with Able Learner. Knowledge Devotion is a welcome damage boost but fully shines later with the tortoise tattoo. Travel Devotion is a great way to use your daily uses of Turn Undead and is one of the reasons I chose to keep flurry of blows. Trickery Domain adds not only Bluff and Disguise but also the Disguise Self spell that really helps to make disguise viable for Tedmiliun until level 6.

Level 3 - 5: Ranger has the necessary BAB, enough skill points and Hide, Move Silently, Spot and Listen as class skills. All these things together are exclusive to the Ranger. It is almost a bonus that a Ranger gets Endurance as a bonus feat. Arcane Hunter ACF is my preferred method of making Favored Enemy more usable and more dangerous to the most dangerous foes. Rapid Shot and Point Blank Shot are the basis for combining the stealth aspect of Tedmiliun and his stat array into a decent archer. Also at this level Collector of stories skill trick adds immediately to Knowledge Devotion checks with religion and arcane and mainly with later uses of Knowledge Devotion with the tortoise tattoo.

Level 6 - 8: All tattoos are supernatural abilities. Therefor all of them default to a caster level of the creatures hit dice, which means that the Chameleon tattoo is an instant CL 5 (maxed) Alter Self. This is by far the best tattoo you can get and I am very curious if there is a single entry that does not use this tattoo. Tedmiliun is limited to Humanoid forms but since he is a spy, this is perfect anyways. Since Alter Self is very well known terrain, I’ll keep this part short. Tren is the preferred combat form, skulk the scout form. Use movement forms and forms to infiltrate as needed. Alter Self adds a +10 to disguise which works well with the assumed role. Darkstalker is another staple of every stealthy character ever. Level 7 is the first “dead level”. These levels are the reason I absolutely wanted monk for the progression since the wording of monk abilities is so narrow: it only stacks with monk levels not monk abilities gained by other classes (i.e. unarmed swordsage). Level 8 adds the second tattoo and it is to me the most interesting one: tortoise. Instant skill ranks in craft (basket weaving), profession (barkeeper), autohypnosis, iaijutsu focus and everything else. Count me in. More seriously, the only drawback is you need to have no ranks in the chosen skill. At level 8 3 ranks in Knowledge (nature or planes) may be used for bonus damage via Knowledge Devotion.

Level 9 - 10: After assembling to pieces of the main trick, there is only one thing missing: the floating feat and casting abilities of Chameleon. Practiced Spellcaster is necessary to qualify for most of the magic item creation feats. Usually I’d recommend a single aptitude or two to choose fromfor any given day but with Tedmiliun it highly depends what role you have to fulfill on any given day. Mundane crafting days or days with unknown skill challenges point towards divine focus. Adventuring days or magical crafting days point towards arcane focus. Only wild focus will probably never be an option.

Level 11 – 14: Another four levels of Tattooed Monk. I decided to skim three levels of the SI. Initially I planned to take nine levels but the last tattoo seemed so lackluster compared to three more levels of Chameleon. The white mask tattoo is perfect for a spy character and the I chose the Scorpion tattoo over the Phoenix tattoo because for Phoenix to shine you almost have to take all ten or at least 9 levels and I think Tedmiliun’s saves are very high and his AC needs help. This is why I chose Scorpion over Phoenix. [Maybe there is also bias in this decision, because I absolutely adore the Scorpion Clan in the Legend of the five rings setting.] Martial Study (Shadow Jaunt) is a great mobility tool.

Level 15 – 20: Martial Stance (Assassin’s Stance) and Craven add more combat power to Tedmiliun which he definitely will need to stay relevant at high levels. Given his stealthy nature and knowing that he never wants to engage in melee alone, Sneak Attack and Craven seemed to me the best route to take. With double aptitude, rapid refocus and aptitude focus multiple combinations throughout the day are possible. Most likely the advice given above (level 9 -10) is still viable and Tedmiliun simply adds stealth focus or combat focus to the arcane or divine focus. Mimic class features also is so highly dependent what you do that day: additional sneak attack is great, so is evasion. Turn Undead might be fuel needed for Travel Devotion or simply Turn Undead as a level 9 Cleric. Rage + Righteous Might + Divine Power + Improved Grapple + Scorpion’s grasp is also a very decent melee setup. At level 20 Tedmiliun really has (almost) unlimited possibilities.

Spoiler: unlimited possibilities

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Here is a list of combinations I found to use. I am sure there are way more:

• knowledge nature/planes (tortoise tattoo= trainedcheck with tattooed monk level ranks) + collector of stories + Int + knowledge devotion = bonus damage and information vs monsters
• tattooed monk level ranks in craft (literally anything you want) (tortoise tattoo) + skill focus (floating feat) + Int + racial bonus (chameleon tattoo i.e. dwarf) + guidance of the avatar + divine insight = any mundane item you wish
• hide + move silently + skulk (chameleon tattoo) + Dex + darkstalker = ranks + 15 + Dex hide, ranks + 8 + Dex move silently
• search (tortoise tattoo) + trapfinding (chameleon) + Int + racial bonus (chameleon tattoo i.e. dwarf, orog, kobold, gnome) + guidance of the avatar + divine insight = make sure there absolutely is no trap.
• disable device (tortoise tattoo) + trapfinding (chameleon) + Dex + racial bonus (chameleon tattoo i.e. dwarf) + guidance of the avatar + divine insight = make sure there absolutely is no trap
• knowledge (religion) + ceremony feats (floating feat)= slayer of dragons and words of draconic power from Dragon Magic, fell conspiracy from Exemplar of Evils, ritual transference and ritual blood bonds (qualify via alter self) from PHB 2
• endurance + strong stomach (chameleon feat) = nauseated becomes sickened, immune to sickened
• endurance + enduring life (chameleon feat) = +4 fort vs negative levels + ignore negative levels for Con modifier minutes
• endurance + hibernate = enhanced regeneration when „resting“
• improved unarmed strike + improved grapple + scorpion’s grasp (chameleon feat)= free grapple after unarmed strike
• improved unarmed strike + improved grapple + earth’s embrace (chameleon feat) = 1d12 bonus damage while pinning
• improved unarmed strike + hammer fist (chameleon feat) = single unarmed strike with 1 ½ strength bonus
• CL 5 cleric + scribe scroll or craft wondrous item or craft magic arms and armor or brew potion or craft wand + chameleon casting + spellcraft ranks= craft a lot of magic items if you want to (xp is a river)

Spoiler: Sources

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Able learner, Chameleon, Skulk: races of destiny
Carmendine monk: Champions of Valor
Cloistered Cleric: Unearthed Arcana
Devotion Feats: Complete Champion
Arcane Hunter: Complete Mage
Dark Stalker: Lords of Madness
Practiced Spellcaster: Cmplete Divine
Martial Study, Martial Stance, Shadow Jaunt, Assassin's Stance: Tome of Battle
Craven: Champions of Ruin
Tren: Serpent Kingdoms

[The Viscount]

+5 points for "bestained." That's class.

Corentin, his Soul Bestained

Stats
STR 14 (6 pts)
DEX 14 (6 pts)
CON 16 + 2 = 18 (10 pts)
INT 12 - 2 = 10 (4 pts)
WIS 14 (6 pts)
CHA 8 (0 pts)

Boost WIS at level 12; boost CON at other stat increases

LG hellbred (body aspect) monk 1 / totemist 10 / tattooed monk 9

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fortitude	Reflex	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1	Monk 1	0	+2	+2	+2	K: Religion 4, Tumble 4, Balance 4, Spot 4	Devil's Favor (hellbred bonus), Improved Unarmed Strike (monk bonus), Improved Grapple (monk bonus), Endurance	Monk unarmed strike 1d6, monk AC bonus, flurry of blows
2	Totemist 1	0	+4	+4	+2	K: Religion +1 cc (5), Tumble +1 (5), Spot +1 (5)		Illiteracy, wild empathy, skilled city dweller (swap Ride for Tumble) meldshaping (2 melds / 1 ess / 0 binds)
3	Totemist 2	1	+5	+5	+2	K: Religion +1 cc (6), Tumble +1 (6), Spot +1 (6)	Unorthodox Flurry (claw)	Meldshaping (3 melds / 2 ess / 1 bind), totem bind (+1 capacity)
4	Totemist 3	2	+5	+5	+3	K: Religion +1 cc (7), Tumble +1 (7), Spot +1 (7)	Devil's Flesh (hellbred bonus)	Meldshaping (3 melds / 2 ess / 1 bind), totem's protection
5	Totemist 4	3	+6	+6	+3	K: Religion +1 cc (8), Tumble +1 (8), Spot +1 (8)		Meldshaping (4 melds / 3 ess / 1 bind)
6	Totemist 5	3	+6	+6	+3	Tumble +1 (9), Spot +1 (9), Listen +2 (2)	Multiattack	Meldshaping (4 melds / 3 ess / 1 bind), crown/feet/hands binds
7	Totemist 6	4	+7	+7	+4	Tumble +1 (10), Spot +1 (10), Listen +2 (4)		Meldshaping (4 melds / 4 ess / 2 binds), totem chakra +1 ML
8	Tattooed Monk 1	4	+9	+9	+6	Balance +1 (5), Tumble +1 (11), Listen +2 (6)		Crab tattoo
9	Tattooed Monk 2	5	+10	+10	+7	Tumble +1 (12), Listen +3 (9)	Touch of Golden Ice	Unarmored speed +10 ft
10	Tattooed Monk 3	6	+10	+10	+7	Tumble +1 (13), Listen +3 (12)		OA spider tattoo, unarmed strike 1d8
11	Totemist 7	7	+10	+10	+7	Tumble +1 (14), Spot +3 (13)		Meldshaping (5 melds / 5 ess / 2 binds)
12	Totemist 8	8	+11	+11	+7	Tumble +1 (15), Spot +1 (14), Twisted Charge skill trick	Snap Kick	Meldshaping (5 melds / 5 ess / 2 binds), rebind totem soulmeld 1/day
13	Totemist 9	8	+11	+11	+8	Tumble +1 (16), Spot +1 (15), Back on Your Feet skill trick		Meldshaping (5 melds / 6 ess / 2 binds), arms/brow/shoulder binds
14	Totemist 10	9	+12	+12	+8	Tumble +1 (17), Spot +2 (17), Listen +1 (13)	Devil's Sight (hellbred bonus)	Meldshaping (6 melds / 7 ess / 3 binds)
15	Tattooed Monk 4	10	+13	+13	+9	Tumble +1 (18), Listen +1 (14), Clarity of Vision skill trick	Double Chakra (hands)	Monk AC bonus +1
16	Tattooed Monk 5	10	+13	+13	+9	Tumble +1 (19), Listen +1 (15), Acrobatic Backstab skill trick		Wasp tattoo, unarmored speed +20 ft
17	Tattooed Monk 6	11	+14	+14	+10	Tumble +1 (20), Listen + 3 (18)		lol dead level
18	Tattooed Monk 7	12	+14	+14	+10	Tumble +1 (21), Listen +3 (21)	Shape Soulmeld: gloves of the poisoned soul	Tortoise tattoo, unarmed strike 1d10
19	Tattooed Monk 8	13	+15	+15	+11	Tumble +1 (22), Listen +1 (22), Spot +1 cc (18)		Unarmored speed +30 ft
20	Tattooed Monk 9	13	+15	+15	+11	Tumble +1 (23), Listen +1 (23), Spot +1 cc (19)		Scorpion tattoo, monk AC bonus +2

Spoiler: Pre-SI

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The soul, it is said, inexorably seeks its proper place when freed from the body. The devout find their patron's home, the virtuous head to the Upper Plane most suited for them, and the wicked dive straight down into the hands of the fiends. Occasionally, though, a damned soul about to be delivered to the Nine Hells of Baator ends up back on the Material, having truly repented enough to escape the baatezu--at least for now--but not soon enough to gain entry into the celestial realms. The soul, however, is marked in the process--deeply marked, permanent as any tattoo on mortal flesh. Our topic of study today is one such marked soul, a scoundrel-turned-avenger known as Corentin.

Escaping the jaws of the mouth of the hells, Corentin sought training in a monastery to try to figure out what had happened to him and how to prevent it from being a waste. The monks gave him a religious understanding of his chance at redemption and instilled in him the rigorous discipline he hoped would keep him from ever slipping back towards the fate he had nearly avoided. (Not, of course, that he needed much prompting.) He knew he couldn't stay a the monastery forever, though. First, Corentin knew that he could only show himself worthy of his second chance by bringing evildoers to justice, not by staying holed up inside all day. Second, his harrowing near-miss had taught him that souls are more malleable--and more valuable--than he had once thought, and he wanted to use that knowledge in his pursuit of justice.

Tactics:
A monk dip helps out a totemist by quite a lot. Totemists are natural grapplers (the girallon arms alone do a ton of work, and much later the arms bind of the kraken mantle stacks with them), so Improved Grapple is a boon right away. Flurry of blows offers the ability to make multiple attacks even before getting claws, which is nice, and Unorthodox Flurry offers the ability to keep using flurry even after getting claws. Corentin's two primary binds are the girallon arms in the totem chakra and the sphinx claws in the hands chakra. Your remaining melds are flexible and can be easily changed to meet the day's expected challenges, but good everyday choices include the wormtail belt for some extra AC and then perhaps a skill-boosting meld (or the venerable blink shirt for out-of-combat utility). Between flurry and the girallon arms, Corentin's attack routine hits 5 swings shockingly early on, and the sphinx claws offer mobility in the form of pounce. Multiattack helps with accuracy.

Spoiler: Sweet spot

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The Scourging, for so the process of the half-redeemed soul being wrenched from the grip of the devils and flung back to the Material is called, leaves deep, indelible marks on body and soul alike. Corentin's moment of repentance--born of a sudden flash of empathy for others upon suffering his own betrayal at the hands of a compatriot--filled him with such hatred of injustice that his righteous fury seeps out of his skin, blistering the flesh of evildoers he comes into contact with. Such fury can only be fueled by regret, for what else could leave a soul so pure and so stained at the same time?

Tactics:
Into the SI! Complete Warrior doesn't say where the tattoos actually come from, so I like to interpret this character such that they're aspects of Corentin's scourged soul simply manifesting on his body. Crab tattoo is quite synergistic with a natural attacker like Corentin. In addition to providing a little bit of defense against certain sources, it's a crucial source of offense: once you have DR/magic, your natural attacks can penetrate DR/magic, so we don't have to get into arguments about whether or not an essentia-fueled "enhancement bonus" makes claws count as magical or whether it's reasonable to get a necklace of natural attacks or anything like that.

The real meat of the build, though, comes with the OA spider tattoo. Every touch--whether that's a primary attack, a flurry attack, an iterative attack, a secondary claw/claw/claw attack routine, or a Snap Kick--forces a save against CON damage. That adds up fast, especially since early failed saves lead to later failed saves (lower CON = lower Fort, after all). This pairs well, both thematically and mechanically, with Touch of Golden Ice. They function similarly, the spider tattoo makes the golden ice more likely to succeed, and it just plain seems logical to me to have a hellbred be so overcome by regret and righteous fury that their very touch is dangerous.

After getting the best tattoos online, we need meldshaper level 9 to qualify for Double Chakra, so Corentin fuses his study of soulstuff with his meditations on his own soul and gains some more access to melds and binds. That third bind will eventually get allocated once Shape Soulmeld is taken, but until then just have fun with arms/brow/shoulder binds (several good mobility options on the shoulders chakra, for example).

Snap Kick, as mentioned earlier, keeps the fun going. More attacks = more saves. Pounce still works as dutifully as ever, giving mobility and letting Corentin put his monklike enhanced movement speed to good use without sacrificing offense.

Spoiler: Endgame

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Why did I get a second chance? What kept me from the baatezu's clutches? I doubt I'll ever know, but I know a few things. First, there are marks that go all the way to the soul. Second, there's more to the soul than what you give yourself credit for. And third, if my appearance isn't enough to get you back on the straight and narrow, then I owe it to whatever gave me this chance to make sure that you don't cause any more harm. After all, I wasn't even this nice back before. Maybe you'll end up just like me! That'd be best for the world, I think. But you can't have a second chance until your first one's over, so hold still…

Tactics:
The gloves of the poisoned soul are online in this level bracket, and Double Chakra makes them compatible with the sphinx claws. I view this as stemming from the same source as Corentin's OA spider tattoo and his Touch of Golden Ice. Incarnum channels past souls (among others), after all--maybe this is the state of Corentin's soul prior to his redemption! Mechanically, a single touch can now cost a target CON, DEX, STR, and WIS, which is honestly quite delightful. The CON and DEX apply on every attack; the STR and WIS only apply once (with secondary damage later), but that's fine. The gloves don't have a listed activation time. MoI pg. 53 says "in such cases where a soulmeld's power can be activated, the text indicates what kind of action is required to activate it." In the absence of such text, I infer that this simply piggybacks on an existing attempt to strike a foe.

Spoiler: Sidebar: an exalted character using an evil soulmeld?

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Let me explain. This works on a mechanical level and on a fluff level. On the fluff level, hellbred are explicitly allowed to use evil-aligned magic and tools in the pursuit of good. (Soulmelds aren't called out, but honestly it just plain makes sense, fluffwise.) Furthermore, I envision this character as having basically crystallized revenge all throughout their body; that's why their very touch harms the bodies of evildoers, and this is a manifestation of that. (If anyone's soul was once poisoned, after all, it's that of a hellbred! I like to imagine that this is a fragment of the prior state of their own soul.) Mechanically, we don't even strictly need the evil exemption, since nowhere in MoI does it state that using an [Evil] soulmeld is an Evil act (unlike, say, using a [Necrocarnum] meld), and the restriction on only using soulmelds that match your alignment is baked into the incarnate class and the soulborn class (neither of which we have). Neither totemists nor the Shape Soulmeld feat say anything about alignment restrictions at all. So mechanically, we don't actually need an exception because it's not actually Evil to use the gloves of the poisoned soul, and thematically, we would have an exception if one were needed, since hellbred explicitly can and do use the tools of evil to fight evil. So no matter whether you're a RAW-is-law GM or a flavor-first GM, I think this is fully justified!

The wasp tattoo makes Corentin's rapid-fire attacks even more rapid-fire. Haste is an excellent buff however you slice it, and since more attacks = more saves, this is very good to have.

The tortoise tattoo is remarkably intriguing but kind of hard to use on most characters. After all, if you have no ranks in a skill, how good can your bonus be, even with the tattoo providing some phantom ranks? Well, if you've got a whole bunch of soulmelds, the answer is "surprisingly good." Soulmelds are great at giving really big bonuses to skills even in the absence of any ranks, so the tortoise tattoo offers some surprising utility when used judiciously. On a thematic level, I envision this as flashes of insight from Corentin's former life prior to his first death.

The scorpion tattoo is purely defensive, but it's a really good way to turn a hit into a miss a few times per day, simple as that. If the enemy's stats have already been damaged by Corentin's ability-harming ways (CON, DEX, STR, and WIS are all at risk!) then that's even better!

Spoiler: UoSI, condensed

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Two of the three prereq feats are put to good use (unarmed strikes are the character's stock in trade, and totemists are good grapplers) from start to finish.

Crab tattoo is uniquely useful on a character who relies on natural weapons.

OA spider tattoo is the build's entire focus.

Soulmelds make the tortoise tattoo way more useful than it would otherwise be.

Wasp tattoo is synergistic with the character's charge/pounce/blend fighting style.

The character's focus on harming enemy stats makes the scorpion tattoo even more effective than it would normally be.

Spoiler: Sources

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Oriental Adventures: Original version of spider tattoo, allowed per Word Of Chair
Fiendish Codex II: Hellbred, Devil's Favor, Devil's Flesh, Devil's Sight
Complete Warrior: Tattooed monk
Tome of Battle: Snap Kick
Magic of Incarnum: Totemist, soulmelds, Shape Soulmeld, Double Chakra
Monster Manual: Multiattack
Dragon Compendium: Unorthodox Flurry
Book of Exalted Deeds: Touch of Golden Ice
Cityscape Web Enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.a...we/20070228a): Skilled City Dweller
Complete Scoundrel: Skill tricks
PHB/SRD: All others

Picture credit:
Mykel Łukasiewicz

[The Viscount]

They're not just tattoos, they're holy tattoos.

Cole Sear, Master of the Spiritual Tattoo Magic
"spoiler alert"

Human Monk1/Shaman4/Tattooed monk2/Sacred Fist3/Tattooed monk8/Sacred Fist2

Spoiler: Overview

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Disclaimer : This build assumes that text-trumps-table is effective for the Sacred Fist PrC

Spoiler: Feat Summary

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Race Human (Bonus Feat : Endurance)
Level 1 : Improved Grapple + Improved Unarmed Strike (free) + Stunning Fist (monk bonus)
Level 2 : Improved Unarmed Strike (free)
Level 3 : Combat Casting
Level 4 Shaman Bonus : Combat Reflexes
Level 6 : Persist Spell
Level 9 : Divine Metamagic
Level 12 : Improved Natural Attack
Level 15 : Snap Kick
Level 18 : Freezing the Lifeblood

Spoiler: Point Buy

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Point Buy (Level 4, 8 & 12, to Strength, 16 & 20 to Wisdom)
STR 15
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 8
WIS 16
CHA 10

Watchuget
- Full Monk Unarmed Damage progression (with Monk’s Tattoo)

- Persisted Divine Power : Full BaB, +6 enhancement to STR (24), +CLxHp

- Caster level 10, access to 5th level spells & 2 Domains (Planning & Pride)

- Massive Unarmed Damage :
Progress of « Monk abilities » gives an improvement to Unarmed damage as per the monk class, nothing new here.
Oriental Adventures p34 gives us something entirely new (at least to my knowledge and having found no errata on it in 3.5, i’m going to take it for granted) ; a table of itterative attacks for the Monk (and affiliated prestiges classes such as Tattooed Monk) only. And while it stops at level 15 (because monk classes have 3/4 BaB) we have DIVINE POWER that gives us +20 at level 20. Taking this into account, the table looks like this :

Spoiler: Brace for Awesomness

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Base Attack Bonus	Additionnal Unarmed Attacks
+0	-
+1	-
+2	-
+3	-
+4	+1
+5	+2
+6	+3
+7	+4/+1
+8	+5/+2
+9	+6/+3
+10	+7/+4/+1
+11	+8/+5/+2
+12	+9/+6/+3
+13	+10/+7/+4+1
+14	+11/+8/+5/+2
+15	+12/+9/+6/+3
+16	+13/+10/+7/+4/+1
+17	+14/+11/+8/+5/+2
+18	+15/+12/+9/+6/+3
+19	+16/+13/+10/+7/+4/+1
+20	+17/+14/+11/+8/+5/+2

More about how this is great in the crunch of level 20...

- 25 AC without doning any armor (+9 dodge AC, +2 Dex, +5 Natural Armor from Hornhead, -1 from Large)

- 90ft movespeed

Sweet Spot
Level 10
Divine Power makes a big difference since the Monk additionnal Unarmed Attacks table of OA gives us 4 attacks at BaB+10 (up from 2 attacks at BaB+6 a level before)
Strength goes to 23 (+6) from 17 which basically doubles the damage output from it.

AC is 20 without armor ( +4 dodge AC, +2 Dex, +5 Natural Armor from Hornhead, -1 from Large)

Movespeed is 40ft, giving us a slight edge

Shaman 0-4th level spells giving us, among other things : Dispel Magic, SNA line of spells, Dream-Sight, Air Walk, Protection from Evil/Chaos , and the good old Polymorph ( Which I probably don’t need to go into depth about what can be accomplished with)

Spoiler: Build

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Spoiler: Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features	Unarmed Damage	Unarmored Speed	AC Bonus
1st	Monk 1	+0	+2	+2	+2	Concentration 4, Tumble 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Tattoo Artist) 4	Human : Endurance, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist	Wis to AC, Unarmored Movement, Flurry of Blow	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+3)
2nd	Shaman 1	+0	+2	+2	+4	Concentration 5 (+1), Tumble 5 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 5 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 4 Knowledge (Spirits) 1 (+1)	Improved Unarmed Strike (bis)	Animal Companion, Domains : Pride & Planning	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+3)
3rd	Shaman 2	+1	+2	+2	+5	Concentration 6 (+1), Tumble 6 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 6 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 4 Knowledge (Spirits) 2 (+1)	Combat Casting	Spirit Sight	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+3)
4th	Shaman 3	+2	+3	+3	+5	Concentration 7 (+1), Tumble 7 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 7 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 4 Knowledge (Spirits) 3 (+1)	-	Turn/Rebuke Undead	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+3)
5th	Shaman 4	+3	+3	+3	+6	Concentration 8 (+1), Tumble 8 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 8 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 4 Knowledge (Spirits) 4 (+1)	Combat Reflexes	Bonus Feat	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+3)
6th	Tattooed Monk 1	+3	+5	+5	+8	Concentration 9 (+1), Tumble 9 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 9 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 5 (+1) Knowledge (Spirits) 4	Persistant Spell	Tattoo : Chameleon, Monk Abilities	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+3)
7th	Tattooed Monk 2	+4	+6	+6	+9	Concentration 10 (+1), Tumble 10 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 10 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 6 (+1) Knowledge (Spirits) 4	-	-	1d6	10 ft	WIS (+3)
8th	Sacred Fist 1	+5	+8	+8	+9	Concentration 11 (+1), Tumble 11 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 11 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 6, Knowledge (Spirits) 5 (+1)	-	Unarmed Damage, AC Bonus +1	1d8	10 ft	WIS (+3) +1
9th	Sacred Fist 2	+6	+9	+9	+9	Concentration 12 (+1), Tumble 12 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 12 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 6, Knowledge (Spirits) 6 (+1)	Divine Metamagic (Persist Spell)	-	1d8	10 ft	WIS (+3) +1
10th	Sacred Fist 3	+7	+9	+9	+10	Concentration 13 (+1), Tumble 13 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 13 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 6, Knowledge (Spirits) 7 (+1)	-	-	1d8	20 ft	WIS (+3) +1
11th	Tattooed Monk 3	+8	+9	+9	+10	Concentration 14 (+1), Tumble 14 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 14 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 7 (+1), Knowledge (Spirits) 7	-	Tattoo : Spider (OA version)	1d8	20 ft	WIS (+3) +1
12th	Tattooed Monk 4	+9	+10	+10	+11	Concentration 15 (+1), Tumble 15 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 15 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 8 (+1), Knowledge (Spirits) 7	Improved Natural Attack	-	2d8	20 ft	WIS (+3) +2
13th	Tattooed Monk 5	+9	+10	+10	+11	Concentration 16 (+1), Tumble 16 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 16 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 9 (+1), Knowledge (Spirits) 7	-	Tattoo : Wasp	2d8	30 ft	WIS (+3) +2
14th	Tattooed Monk 6	+10	+11	+11	+12	Concentration 17 (+1), Tumble 17 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 17 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 10 (+1), Knowledge (Spirits) 7	-	-	2d8	30 ft	WIS (+3) +2
15th	Tattooed Monk 7	+11	+11	+11	+12	Concentration 18 (+1), Tumble 18 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 18 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 11 (+1), Knowledge (Spirits) 7	Snap Kick	Tattoo : Tiger	2d8	30 ft	WIS (+3) +2
16th	Tattooed Monk 8	+12	+12	+12	+13	Concentration 19 (+1), Tumble 19 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 19 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 12 (+1), Knowledge (Spirits) 7	-	-	3d6	40 ft	WIS (+3) +2
17th	Tattooed Monk 9	+12	+12	+12	+13	Concentration 20 (+1), Tumble 20 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 20 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 13 (+1), Knowledge (Spirits) 7	-	Tattoo : Moon, Crescent	3d6	40 ft	WIS (+3) +2
18th	Tattooed Monk 10	+13	+13	+13	+14	Concentration 21 (+1), Tumble 21 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 21 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 14 (+1), Knowledge (Spirits) 7	Freezing the LifeBlood	-	3d6	40 ft	WIS (+3) +3
19th	Sacred Fist 4	+14	+14	+14	+14	Concentration 22 (+1), Tumble 22 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 22 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 14, Knowledge (Spirits) 8 (+1)	-	Sacred Flames 1/d	3d6	40 ft	WIS (+3) +3
20th	Sacred Fist 5	+15	+14	+14	+14	Concentration 23 (+1), Tumble 23 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 23 (+1), Profession (Tattoo Artist) 14, Knowledge (Spirits) 9 (+1)	-	AC Bonus (+2)	3d8	40 ft	WIS (+4) +4

Spoiler: Spells (at level 20)

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Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	3	2+1	-	-	-	-
3rd	4	3+1	-	-	-	-
4th	4	3+1	2+1	-	-	-
5th	5	4+1	3+1	-	-	-
6th	5	4+1	3+1	-	-	-
7th	5	4+1	3+1	-	-	-
8th	5	4+1	3+1	2+1	-	-
9th	5	4+1	4+1	3+1	-	-
10th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
11th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
12th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
13th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
14th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
15th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
16th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
17th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
18th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-
19th	6	5+1	4+1	4+1	3+1	-
20th	6	5+1	5+1	4+1	3+1	1+1

Spoiler: Tattoos

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Abbreviations :
1/cl : once per class level
1/nt : once per number of tattoos

Chameleon : (Alter Self) Hornhead Large humanoïde adding a natural attack (Tail) for 10ft reach, +5 Nat Armor (From Saurials Web Enhancement)
Spider (OA version) : Every Unarmed Strike deals poison 1 Con initial/secondary damage (save DC = 12 + TM lvl)
Wasp : 1/d/cl Haste (Rounds/nt) meaning an additionnal hit at full BaB
Tiger : +1 unarmed attacks + 1d6 to damage on successful hit
Moon Crescent : Abrupt Jaunt as SLA

The ones that didn’t make the cut:
Cloud Tattoo : useless since you can do it with our own spells
Crab (errataed version) : DR2/- per number or tattoo could help if the DR2/magic means your natural attack count as magic for overcoming DR
Scorpion : Is nice but I pictured it as a form of taunt and that’s not very fitting of the idea of Cole
Phoenix SR 15+Class level, because who doesn’t like SR 25. Shame it fits less thematically

Spoiler: Level Breakdown

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Spoiler: Level 1 – 5

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Cole Sear is 9 y.o when he starts honing his body while fighting/grappling with his friends, he is deemed lethal with his unarmed strikes. When he is not outside rolling in the mud, he likes to draw all kinds of things and wants to be a tattoo artist when he grows up. He is a careful planner and prides himself as such. While searching for his artistic signature he discovers, through stories of the old ones, that there is a Spirit World which leads him to start researching the matter, making him delve into the world of Shamans. His affinity with natures increases as well and his is able to tame animals to have then as companions ; small ones at first but he then tames a Dire Bat, very useful mount to travel the world with.
As time goes by, he starts seeing things more clearly with what he calls his « Spirit Sight » and even develops the abilty to influence the undead.
Having stepped on the path of magic, he proceeds to intertwine his passions in a new form of art that will leave its mark through History.

Spoiler: QuickCrunch

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Bit of an early gish, Unarmed Strike, Summon Nature’s Ally (especially) and Animal Companion are great ways to win action economy in a low level fight.

Spoiler: Level 5 – 10

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Cole is now a young adult. His tattooing skills is recognized by all as the best in the country and he starts to try and mix the magic of spirits inside his drawings. After many experiments on himself, his first success he calls, the Chameleon. This specific tattoo enables him to change his shape and copy his favorite Saurial spirit The Hornhead.
This success revives his curiosity for spirit magic and he finds an elegant way to progress his martial training even further while attuning himself to this divine power which he finds a way to make last longer ! Brimming with power all-day-long and even able to polymorph into almost anything a few minutes a day if things turn sour, he continues researching new ways of expanding his unique art.

Spoiler: QuickCrunch

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Ok now Cole is Large, got a +5 Natural Armor and a tail attack for 2h/day and at level 10 hits the sweet spot of Persistant Divine Power. He is a physical force to be reckonned with : +15/+12/+9/+6/+15 (Full BaB, -1 from Size, +6 from Str) and has his trump card Polymorph that can settle any problem he faces.

Spoiler: Level 10 – 15

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Cole masters the process of engraving this magic into his tattoos even more, making progress by the day. Over time, he inscribed himself with a Spider, then a Wasp, and, when he felt confidant enough, a Tiger.
Those tattoos combined with his own martial skills, titanlike strikes and his snap-kicktechnique, make him a menace to anyone daring to disturbed the peaceful order of his town. He progresses by leaps and bounds, his unarmed strikes are famous in the whole country, second only to his tattoos, people who challenged Cole to a fight later described the contest as « being beaten by something four times your size ».

Spoiler: QuickCrunch

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Empowering his attack routine through the uses of Spider(OA), Wasp and Tiger tattoos, Cole has a a poisonous -1 Con with each sucessful strike, +1 attack from Haste, +1 to attack & 1d6 on damage rolls from Tiger making him deadlier. The Divine Power keeps scaling his itterative attacks.

Spoiler: Level 15 – 20

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Cole is now middle-aged making him wiser, faster and stronger than ever. He has found a way to commune with spirits and is now a master of his own discipline ; a complex blend of spirit magic, martial arts and tattoo design. His fists are a force to be reckonned with and his mastery over his markings make him a beast in the ring. Somewhere along his way he met with monks that bestowed him with a Monk Tattoo that he was unable to design, enabling him to unlock the remaining secrets of monkhood allowing his strikes to freeze the lifeblood of his targets. Inspired by their work he inscribes what is, to this day, his masterpiece : a Crescent Moon. This last tattoo allows him to travel the Ethereal Plane, getting him closer to the spirits he draws both his inspiration and power from, hoping that, one day, he will make it across to the Spirit World.

Spoiler: QuickCrunch

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Finishing strong
We have 7 attacks as a fullround attack thanks to that OA table. Then you add Haste (+1 at max BAB) and Snap-Kick (albeit giving a -2 to everyone of them) give you 9 attacks. Chameleon tattoo : Hornhead gives us an additionnal tail attack as secondary natural weapon so 10 attacks per round at
+18/+15/+12/+9/+5/+3/0/+18/+18/+13 respectively (Tiger balances the -1 from Size)

At level 20, with Chameleon tattoo : Hornhead (large), Monk’s Tattoo (+4 monk levels), Improved Natural Attack, Necklace of Natural Attack Sizing, Unarmed attack is 8d8 and
Strenght is 18 (by level 12) +6 (Divine Power) = 24 (+7).

A full lvl 20 attack (100 % hits) deals [B]73d8 + (8x7+2x3) + 10x1(Necklace +1) +10d6 (Tiger) + 10 Con damage (Spider Tattoo (3.0))
For an average of 435.5 + 10 Con damage per routine. Yeah.

On the spell side we get access to Control winds, True Seeing (Persistable) and Slay Living. Well DC is a little low but Fortitude 19 is still nothing to sneeze at for a wizard. If Cole is really pissed he can always Freeze the lifeblood (DC 24) and coup de grâce his targets.

Spoiler: Items

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For metamagic shenanigans :
- Reliquary Holy Symbol (MIC p120) : gives 2 more attempts. For fluff I imagine that Holy Symbol to be tattooed on Cole.
- NightSticks (Libris Mortis p78) +4 turn attempts, 7500gp

For martial prowess :
- Necklace of Natural Attacks +1 Sizing on Unarmed Strike (Savage Species p58)
- Sparing Dummy of the Master (A&E p137) : 1 monk level, 8h/d training for 4 weeks : 10 foot step
- Monk’s Tattoo (MoF p163) : +4 monk level AC AND unarmed damage AND speed AND you can’t justify not taking it with all the flavor. It’s a french sot-l’y-laisse

Misc :
- Domain Draughts MIC p156 : Hero, War amongst others give you Righteous Might. Spell domains gives you the Anyspell line… to infinity & beyond
- Ki straps : Augment DC of stunning fist (and Freezing the Lifeblood) which can mean insta kill (who needs Quivering Palm anyway)

Spoiler: Combos

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- Eagle Splendor (Pride domain) + Divine Metamagic (Persist Spell) : 3 turn undead from class, + 2 from a Reliquary Holy Symbol, +2 from Charisma boost → Persist Divine Power everyday by level 10.

- Domain Draught + NightSticks : Persisted Righteous Might (Hero) for instance.

- Necklace of Natural Attack +1 Sizing : Hit bigger

- Unarmed Damage : Monk 16 levels : 2d8 + Monk’s Tattoo (4 lvls) = Monk 20 : 2d10
Chameleon Tattoo : Saurial Large Monk 4d8, Improved Natural Attack = 6d8, Necklace of Sizing +1 → 8d8

Spoiler: Discussion & Sources

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- Letting the unarmed damage from Shaman count for something (progressing the 1d6 of the monk) would let Cole deal more damage earlier.

- If not lactose intolerant, find a Mage to Dark Shuffle of Chaos that second Improved Unarmed Strike into something meaningful (Extra Turning?)

- Allowing the Tortle race from DrM#315 gives the Endurance Bonus feat, buff to Wis and Con, and, I have to point it out, makes a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle like no other.

Sources :
Player’s Handbook – Monk
Oriental Adventures – Shaman
Savage Species – Necklace of Natural Attack
Complete Divine – Sacred Fist PrC, Divine Metamagic Feat
Spell Compendium – Domains
Saurian a Web Enhancement from Serpent Kingdom – Hornhead
Complete Warrior – Tattooed Monk
Libris Mortis – Nightsticks
Magic Item Compendium – Sizing enhancement, ki straps, domain draughts
Magic of Faerun – Monk’s Tattoo
Arms & Equipement Guide – Sparing dummy of the master
Complete Arcane – Persist Spell
Dragon Magazine #318 – OA errata
Tome of Battle : Book of the Nine Swords – Snap-Kick
Monster Manual – Improved Natural Attack

[The Viscount]

They're not just tattoos, they're psychic tattoos.

Shiba Bajiquan, Prime protector of the Isawa Family

"There is no greater honor than to contribute to the making of great individuals"

Human(Phoenix) Monk1/PsychicWarrior7/ShibaProtector1/PsychicWarrior1/TattooedMonk10

Spoiler: Overview

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Spoiler: Feat Summary

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Race Human (Phoenix) (Bonus Feat : Endurance)
Level 1 : Monastic Training (Psychic Warrior) + Improved Unarmed Strike (free) + Improved Grapple (Monk bonus)
Level 2 : Combat Expertise (PsyWar1 Bonus)
Level 3 : Tashalatora + Linked Power
Level 6 : Iron Will + Psicrystal Affinity (PsyWar5 Bonus) (gives Alertness)
Level 9 : Scribe Tattoo
Level 10 : Practised Manifester (PsyWar5 Bonus)
Level 12 : Improved Natural Attack
Level 15 : Scorpion’s Grasp
Level 18 : Expanded Knowledge (Synchronicity)

Spoiler: Point Buy

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Point Buy (Level 4 to Strength, 8, 12 & 16 to Wisdom, & 20 to Constitution)
STR 15
DEX 10
CON 15
INT 14
WIS 15
CHA 8

Watchuget
- Full Monk Unarmed Damage progression (-1 Shiba Protector is caught up with a Monk’s Tattoo or a Monk’s Belt easily)

- 9 known psionic powers up to 3rd level, 12th manifester level, 35 pp/day (see combo)

- A psicrystal (someone said cheese?) and Tattoos up the wazoo

- Wisdom + Strength on both attack and damage rolls

- Massive Unarmed Damage :
Progress of « Monk abilities » gives an improvement to Unarmed damage as per the monk class, nothing new here.
Oriental Adventures p34 gives us something entirely new (at least to my knowledge and having found no errata on it in 3.5, i’m going to take it for granted) ; a table of itterative attacks for the Monk (and affiliated prestiges classes such as Tattooed Monk) only :

Spoiler: Brace for Awesomness

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Base Attack Bonus	Additionnal Unarmed Attacks
+0	-
+1	-
+2	-
+3	-
+4	+1
+5	+2
+6	+3
+7	+4/+1
+8	+5/+2
+9	+6/+3
+10	+7/+4/+1
+11	+8/+5/+2
+12	+9/+6/+3
+13	+10/+7/+4+1

Sweet Spot
Level 9
You get that sweet Wis to attack & damage, adding to Str, you have you’re close to your full psionics progression (in this build anyway) and the Scribe Tattoo feat gives you the versatility you lacked to better preserve your protégé or yourself for that matter.
You’re a tank that get awesomerer with downtime (any creature can wear up to 20 tattoos at the time…). If you max charge the tattoos, you can go all day Expansion, Lion’s Charge, Inertia Armor etc.
And Linked Power can help your burst when you would too much time to bring the armor up before charging.

Spoiler: Build

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Spoiler: Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features	Unarmed Damage	Unarmored Speed	AC Bonus
1st	Monk 1	+0	+2	+2	+2	Autohynosis 2, Concentration 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4, Listen 4, Psicraft 2	Human : Endurance, Monastic Training, Improved Grapple (monk bonus), Improved Unarmed Strike (free),	Wis to AC, Unarmored Movement, Flurry of Blow	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+2)
2nd	Psychic Warrior 1	+0	+4	+2	+2	Autohynosis 2, Concentration 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4, Listen 4, Psicraft 2, Knowledge (psionics) 5 (+5)	Combat Expertise	Bonus Feat, Manifester Level	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+2)
3rd	Psychic Warrior 2	+1	+5	+2	+2	Autohypnosis 5 (+3), Concentration 4, Knowledge (Religion) 6 (+2), Sense Motive 4, Spot 4, Listen 4, Psicraft 2, Knowledge (psionics) 5	Tashalatora, Linked Power	Bonus Feat	1d6	0 ft	WIS (+2)
4th	Psychic Warrior 3	+2	+5	+3	+3	Autohypnosis 6 (+1), Concentration 5 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 6, Sense Motive 5 (+1), Spot 4, Listen 4, Psicraft 3(+1), Knowledge (psionics) 5	-	-	1d8	0 ft	WIS (+2)
5th	Psychic Warrior 4	+3	+6	+3	+3	Autohypnosis 7 (+1), Concentration 6 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 6, Sense Motive 6 (+1), Spot 4, Listen 4, Psicraft 4 (+1), Knowledge (psionics) 5	-	-	1d8	0 ft	WIS (+2)+1
6th	Psychic Warrior 5	+3	+6	+3	+5	Autohypnosis 8 (+1), Concentration 7 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 8 (+2), Sense Motive 7 (+1), Spot 4, Listen 4, Psicraft 4, Knowledge (psionics) 5	Iron Will, Psicystral Affinity (grants Alertness which is not taken into account in skill description)	Bonus Feat	1d8	0 ft	WIS (+2)+1
7th	Psychic Warrior 6	+4	+7	+4	+6	Autohypnosis 9 (+1), Concentration 9 (+2), Sense Motive 9 (+2), Spot 4, Listen 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	-	-	1d8	0 ft	WIS (+2)+1
8th	Psychic Warrior 7	+5	+7	+4	+6	Autohypnosis 10 (+1), Concentration 11 (+2),, Sense Motive 11 (+2), Spot 4, Listen 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	-	-	1d10	0 ft	WIS (+3) +1
9th	Shiba Protector 1	+5	+9	+4	+8	Autohypnosis 12 (+2), Concentration 12 (+1), Sense Motive 12 (+1), Spot 5 (+1), Listen 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	Scribe Tattoo	No Thought	1d10	0 ft	WIS (+3) +1
10th	Psychic Warrior 8	+6	+10	+4	+8	Autohypnosis 13 (+1), Concentration 13 (+1),, Sense Motive 13 (+1), Spot 6 (+1), Listen 5 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	Practised Manifester	Bonus Feat	1d10	0 ft	WIS (+3) +1
11th	Tattooed Monk 1	+6	+12	+6	+10	Autohypnosis 14 (+1), Concentration 14 (+1),, Sense Motive 14 (+1), Spot 8 (+2), Listen 7 (+2), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	-	Monk Abilities, Tattoo : Crab	1d10	0 ft	WIS (+3) +2
12th	Tattooed Monk 2	+7	+13	+7	+11	Autohypnosis 15 (+1), Concentration 15 (+1),, Sense Motive 15 (+1), Spot 10 (+2), Listen 9 (+2), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	Improved Natural Attack	-	2d8	10 ft	WIS (+3) +2
13th	Tattooed Monk 3	+8	+13	+7	+11	Autohypnosis 16 (+1), Concentration 16 (+1),, Sense Motive 16 (+1), Spot 12 (+2), Listen 11 (+2), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	-	Tattoo : Wasp	3d6	10 ft	WIS (+3) +2
14th	Tattooed Monk 4	+9	+14	+8	+12	Autohypnosis 17 (+1), Concentration 17 (+1),, Sense Motive 17 (+1), Spot 14 (+2), Listen 13 (+2), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	-	-	3d6	10 ft	WIS (+3) +2
15th	Tattooed Monk 5	+9	+14	+8	+12	Autohypnosis 18 (+1), Concentration 18 (+1),, Sense Motive 18 (+1), Spot 16 (+2), Listen 15 (+2), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	Scorpion’s Grasp	Tattoo : Mountain	3d6	20 ft	WIS (+3) +2
16th	Tattooed Monk 6	+10	+15	+9	+13	Autohypnosis 19 (+1), Concentration 19 (+1),, Sense Motive 19 (+1), Spot 18 (+2), Listen 17 (+2), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	-	-	3d6	20 ft	WIS (+4) +3
17th	Tattooed Monk 7	+11	+15	+9	+13	Autohypnosis 20 (+1), Concentration 20 (+1),, Sense Motive 20 (+1), Spot 20 (+2), Listen 19 (+2), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 5, Psicraft 4	-	Tattoo : Scorpion	3d8	20 ft	WIS (+4) +3
18th	Tattooed Monk 8	+12	+16	+10	+14	Autohypnosis 21 (+1), Concentration 21 (+1),, Sense Motive 21 (+1), Spot 21 (+1), Listen 21 (+2), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 6 (+1), Psicraft 4	Expanded Knowledge (Synchronicity)	-	3d8	30 ft	WIS (+4) +3
19th	Tattooed Monk 9	+12	+16	+10	+14	Autohypnosis 22 (+1), Concentration 22 (+1),, Sense Motive 22 (+1), Spot 22 (+1), Listen 22 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 6, Psicraft 5 (+1)	-	Tattoo : Phoenix	3d8	30 ft	WIS (+4) +3
20th	Tattooed Monk 10	+13	+17	+11	+15	Autohypnosis 23 (+1), Concentration 23 (+1),, Sense Motive 23 (+1), Spot 23 (+1), Listen 23 (+1), Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Psionics) 8 (+2), Psicraft 5	-	-	3d8	30 ft	WIS (+4) +3

Spoiler: Powers (at level 20)

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Power Known

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	Powers Points
1st	-	-	-	-
2nd	1	-	-	2
3rd	2	-	-	5
4th	3	-	-	9
5th	3	1	-	13
6th	3	2	-	17
7th	3	3	-	24
8th	3	3	1	29
9th	3	3	1	29
10th	3	3	2	35
11th	3	3	2	35
12th	3	3	2	35
13th	3	3	2	35
14th	3	3	2	35
15th	3	3	2	35	-
16th	3	3	2	35
17th	3	3	2	35
18th	3	3	2	35
19th	3	3	2	35
20th	3	3	2	35

Powers Known (learned in order) :
1st : Expansion, Call Item, Inertia Armor, Synchronicity (via Expanded Knowledge)
2nd : Psionic Lion’s Charge, Detect Hostile Intent, Hustle
3rd : Empathic Transfer (Hostile), Vampire Blade

Spoiler: Tattoos

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Abbreviations :
1/cl : once per class level
1/nt : once per number of tattoos

Crab : DR 2/Magic which should mean his unarmed attack count as magical as well. Ends the build with DR 10/Magic
Wasp : 1/d/cl Haste (Rounds/nt) meaning an additionnal hit at full BaB
Mountain : +4 Con, +4 Wis means +2hp per level and +2 to hit & damage on each strikes. Not forgetting that you are unmovable. Good luck rappling with a mountain.
Scorpion : Facing a Tarrasque is much easier when he attacks you with his Int.
Phoenix : 15+cl SR letting avoid a good amount of spells while you defend your target.

Spoiler: Level Breakdown

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Spoiler: Level 1 – 5

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Bajiquan was born in the Shiba familly on the day of the Phoenix which was a great omen in the clan. From an early age, his focus and discipline were noticed by the elders who decided to make him yojimbo* to his Majesty’s son : Isawa Tizirhuo. For ages, the Shiba family has been the protectors of the Isawa’s mages ; the Shugenjas. Bajiquan started training, knowing fully well that he was to be the last protection of his master Tizirhuo and, through him, of the established order of the Phoenix clan altogether. As such he doubled his meditations and martial training, so much in fact that he reached a state of mental prowess, psionic mastery. At first he tried and learn the most he could from this realm from the elders he even dabbled a little in the crafts and created a psionic crystal.
On the martial side of things he was soon able to get bigger, a LOT bigger for a few seconds at the time. Soon he was also able to create any mondane item on command and even form an armor made of ectoplasm for a few hours at the time. Each of these feats were enough to create an uproar in the clan. But that wasn’t enough for Bajiquan, with the help of some elders, he managed to find writings of an old discipline called Tashalatora that consisted in blending his martial training with his newly acquired mental strength.
* : bodyguard

Spoiler: QuickCrunch

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Bit of an early gish, Unarmed Strike, Expansion, Inertia Armor, your powers make you deadly at low levels.
Grappling is no joke either having a solid +14 (+4 Expansion, +4 Improved Grapple, +3 Str , +3 BaB) at level 5. Pinning to unconsciousness means coup de grâce.

Spoiler: Level 5 – 10

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Bajiquan graduated with honors and was placed as head of the new promotion of the Home guard. Their mission : protect the Phoenix lands from any threats. The multiple missions were also a resounding success and was named « best in a 100 years ». Bujiquan wasn’t the kind of person that would lose his focus because of a few congratulations so he toughened his discipline every chance he had to do so. Years went by until his services were rendered to the Home guard and he took the place he was meant to from a young age : as Isawa Tizirhuo’s yojimbo.
The first time accompanying the treasured son of the clan, things went sour. An embush caught him by surprise, even though his powers should have allowed him to detect hostile intent ahead of time. They made it out alive but Bujiquan was grievely wounded. After a few months of recuperation, and deep research because his honor code couldn’t let him rest after such a close call, he found a new forgotten art to further help him protect his target : psionic tattoos. These enabled him, at the cost of some lifeforce, to charge a power of his discipline into a tattoo and then will it to go from his body to Tizirhuo’s. This rejoiced him a lot because that meant his protégé could avoid lethal attempts for a bit, allowing him to focus on disposing of the potential threats. His newfound art combined with his PTSD changed his way of doing battle to a great extent.

Spoiler: QuickCrunch

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Making the most of the Unarmed Psychic Warrior here with powers like Expansion, Psionic Lion’s Charge and Shared Empathy, Hostile. You can do some damage.
You’re also really good at studying a room. Detect Hostile Intent allows you to be the best yojimbo one could hope : you can detect any hostile intentions towards you or your target, making up for your only flaw, preparation.
Now preparation with Linked Power lets you Expand in one round and have you Inertia Armor up while Lion’s Charging the next one ; action economy is power.
Practised Manifester let your buffs last longer.

Spoiler: Level 10 – 15

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Bajiquan’s intense study of the tattoo art is soon a new source of power. His first success is a crab that toughens him up, taking more blows meant for Isawa Tizirhuo. His next achievement is a wasp tattoo which speed him during battle, making him a much more threatening foe.
As time goes by, the duo become renowned and an immortal aura surround their names. This, of course, brings his enemies to hire the worst assassins possible to end Tizirhuo’s life. But those mercenaries don’t come cheap and winning in quality means losing in quantity. Bujiquan started facing thougher opponents but with less other threats to handle. Being able to focus on the one threat, his developed a grappling strategy and his core move was the Scorpion’s Grasp. His further developped it with his creation of the mountain tattoo, making him a towering and immovable mass. His grappling technique became synonym with death throughout the lands.

Spoiler: QuickCrunch

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Losing a bit of speed while entering the SI which is a bit of a late game bloomer but it’s fine. Scribe Tattoo lets you make up for it by preparing and stacking panick buttons all over you and Isawa Tizirhuo (who is a shugenja btw).
Improved Natural Attack comes online, buffing damage.
By level 15 you have DR 6/magic, 3 « I-am-a-moutain » per day and 9 rounds of Haste to smack around.
Don’t forget that Scorpion’s Grasp that lets you grapple as a free action on a touch which is every attack you make ; if you want to grab it and it’s not Colossal, you probably can.

Spoiler: Level 15 – 20

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Bujiquan prowess is now known far and beyond. Time took its toll, not sparing Bujiquan but where his physical abilities diminished, his mental state neared the Nirvana. His wisdom got him the edge in the fights where strength seemed paramount and his latest creation are a Scorpion (his fame made it unavoidable) and a Phoenix. The former allowed him to gain the upper hand in a exchange, destabilizing his opponent and the latter gave him protection from magical effects. Bujiquan also spends time bettering his tattoos. His first one is giving him a really tough skin now and he can be a mountain more times a day.

The biggest protection to Tizirhuo became the fame of his yojimbo : Bujiquan. His named marked History having created a way to protect his target that will later be taught in the Home guard to the most promising elements of the Shiba family.

Spoiler: QuickCrunch

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The tattoos synergies finally build up giving you by level 20 : DR 10/magic, 5 « I-am-a-moutain » per day, 25 rounds of Haste to smack around, 5 immediate « No you don’t bébé » actions and SR 25. Tanking has never been easier.
Expanded Knowledge (Synchronicity) allows for tattoo out of it first of all but mostly, a comno of 1st round : Linked Power (Expansion & Synchronicity)
2nd round : Hustle (Swift) + the extra standard action gives you basically 2 turns in one showing off the Old Wolf’s experience of the battlefield. Coupled with the Scopion tattoo, Bujiquan is the archetype of brains & wisdom over brawl.

Spoiler: Items

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For martial prowess :
- Necklace of Natural Attacks +1 Sizing on Unarmed Strike (Savage Species p58)

- Sparing Dummy of the Master (A&E p137) : 1 monk level, 8h/d training for 4 weeks : 10 foot step

- Monk’s Tattoo (MoF p163) : is nice for the flavor but 80k is a bit expensive for only 1 level of Monk (missing from the ONE level of Shiba Protector). If you’re all about style take this, otherwise, take a Monk’s Belt (13k).

Spoiler: Combos

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- Psicrystal combo with share power, share pain and vigor is a nice synergy for tanking a ton of damage. Also, if cheese tolerant, there is a « do they or not » discussion over Psicrystals and feats. If they do get them, go nuts (Draconic Aura, Bind Vestige, Shape Soulmeld, Hidden Talent because, why not?)

- Scribe Psionic Tattoo + Empathic Transfer, Hostile (powered up with 6 pp) : Heals your target for up to 90xnb of enemies hp, dealing damage to every enemy assailing him.
Scribe Psionic Tattoo + Inertia Armor : Gives the best kind of armor.

- Scorpion’s Grasp make it so any attack you make can turn into grapple as a free action. Then a Swift Expansion and Mountain tattoo activation is likely to pin. (Bab +13 +4(Improved Grapple) +8 (Huge), +6 (18+4 Strength) = +31.

A grapple check is like a melee attack roll

meaning « No thought » class feature of the Shiba Protector should count for the grapple, if it does, grapple becomes +35.

- Unarmed Damage : Monk 19 levels : 2d8 + Monk’s Tattoo/Monk’s Belt (for you cheaps) = Monk 20 : 2d10. Expansion (Huge) → 6d8, Improved Natural Attack = 8d8, Necklace of +1 Sizing → 12d8

Spoiler: Discussion & Sources

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- By level 8, the Character WBL is 27k gold. An Otyugh Hole costs 3k. 1/9th of the character’s wealth into a feat doesn’t seem preposterous (it’s only a prerequisite) and would free up a slot for things like Expanded Knowledge(Grip of Iron) for instance.

- Hustle is a swift action. « Tapping » a Psionic Tattoo is a standard. Rules Compendium has some rules about making items the same time to activate as the spell contained within, if that float, stack Hustle tattoos.

- I avoided talking too much about it but nothing is said about activating a tattoo from the tattooed monk class features. Some have instructions, others don’t so I’m considering its standard by default.

- Allowing the Tortle race from DrM#315 gives the Endurance Bonus feat, buff to Wis and Con, and, I have to point it out, makes a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle like no other.

Sources :
Player’s Handbook – Monk
Oriental Adventures – Shiba Protector, Human (Phoenix)
Savage Species – Necklace of Natural Attack
Complete Warrior – Tattooed Monk
Expanded Psionic Handbook – Psychic Warrior, Powers
Eberron Campaign Setting – Monastic Training
Secrets of Sarlona - Tashalatora
Magic of Faerun – Monk’s Tattoo
Arms & Equipement Guide – Sparing Dummy of the Master
Dragon Magazine #318 – OA errata
Monster Manual – Improved Natural Attack

[The Viscount]

Are warforged tattoos like neat decals?

G.R.8 & his Shadow
( Great Rumbler 8 )

also known as
"Dol Arrah's Spiritual Guardian of the Mystical Oasis"

further known as
"Shadow Rider and the Star Monk(s)"
(his Shadow has its own reputation and wants his part of the spotlight)

or just
"Great"

Spoiler: Background Story

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At the beginning there was WAR...
...and WAR gave birth to the Warforged.

G.R.8 is the last survivor of the limited (10) Warforged "Great Rumbler" series.
They where made on the order of a group of warrior monk who follow the path of Dol Arrah. As such, they where given basic ethical religious information. This was required to understand religious flavored commands. While the customers liked the generic "barbaric" type a lot, they felt that some lil adjustments needed to be done to fit their specific demands (ACFs, ranks in hide, move silently, tumble & knowledge: religion). All of the warforged are marked with the symbol of Dol Arrah as sigil (his very first pseudo-tattoo^^).

After their unit received the message of the end of the Last War, G.R.8 feels the emptiness in his mind without a Prime Objective to follow. He just stands there without motion, unable to produce even a single thought in this situation. He just waits in the hope that his senses will provide any useful input to compute the actual situation.
In the meanwhile the remaining warrior monks (of Dol Arrah) of his unit have gathered their stuff and are ready to start their journey to go back to their homes. Some of em have noticed his dilemma. They have grown a liking on him. He has saved their lives countless times in the war and thus was a good "brother in combat".
In return they want to offer him a home and a place to live for as long as he wishes. They want to return and rebuild a lil outpost in a desert oasis, which they call their home. They explain him that it's on a trading route and as such, live is a constant "war" against the harsh environment, local bandit groups or other evildoers in that region. And as followers of the teachings of Dol Arrah, they feel that its their duty to fight back evil and bring peace into that region. Only then can the people there return to "a normal peaceful life".
"A home.".. "constant WAR"... "teachings of Dol Arrah".."duty".."fight back evil".. "normal peaceful life".. just a moment ago G.R.8's mind felt empty, but know he is overwhelmed by thoughts and emotions where he doesn't know what to do with em: "...Ye-s SIR!" is the sole answer he has in that moment. His new friends start to laugh and finally he joins em on their way to his "new home".

Spoiler: Base Stats

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Race: Warforged

Religion: Dol Arrah

Alignment: N --> L-G
G.R.8 starts with the common "neutral" alignment for warforged. Due to his "former owners" and now "new friends", he switches to "lawful good" within his first 3 levels.

Starting Stats:

STR: 16 --- (+5 from lvlUp +5 from Wish +6 item = 32max)
DEX: 14
CON: 16 (14+2)
INT: 12
WIS: 12 (14-2)
CHA: 6 (8-2)

AC @lvl 1: 15 (10 base + 2 composite plating + 2 Dex modifier + 1 Wis modifier)

Spoiler: Table

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Level	Class	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Skills bold = max. invested ranks	Feats * = Monk Bonus Feat	Class Features (R)= readied maneuvers
1st	Barbarian ACF: Ferocity ACF: Spiritual Totem (Lion) ACF: Skilled City Dweller	+1	+2	+0	+0	Craft (Blacksmith): 4 (+4) Hide: 2 (+4) Knowledge (Religion): 2 (+4) Move Silently: 2 (+4) Tumble: 4 (+4)	Endurance	Pounce Illiteracy Ferocity
2nd	Unarmed Swordsage Variant	+1	+2	+2	+2	Hide: 4 (+2) Move Silently: 4 (+2) Tumble: 5 (+1)	-	Improved Unarmed Strike Quick to Act Discipline Focus (Weapon Focus - Setting Sun) Spoiler: Maneuvers & Stances Show Maneuvers: Burning Blade (R) Distracting Ember (R) Wind Stride Counter Charge (R) Charging Minotaur Sudden Leap (R) Stance: Child of the Shadow
3rd	Unarmed Swordsage Variant	+2	+2	+3	+3	Hide: 6 (+2) Move Silently: 6 (+2) Tumble: 6 (+1)	Improved Grapple	AC Bonus (WIS) Spoiler: Maneuvers & Stances Show Maneuvers: Mighty Throw Stance: Hunter's Sense
4th	Monk ACF: Fighting Style (Cobra Strike)	+2	+4	+5	+5	Hide: 7 (+1) Move Silently: 7 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 5 (+3)	* Dodge	Flurry of Blows
5th	Monk ACF: Feign Death	+3	+5	+6	+6	Hide: 8 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 8 (+3) Move Silently: 8 (+1)	* Mobility	ACF: Feign Death Unarmed Damage: D8
6th	Tattooed Monk	+3	+7	+8	+8	Perform(Dance): 5 (+5)	Combat Reflexes	Tattoo: Chrysanthemum Unarmored Speed Bonus: +10ft
7th	Tattooed Monk	+4	+8	+9	+9	Hide: 10 (+2) Move Silently: 10 (+2) Tumble: 7 (+1)	-	-
8th	Shadowdancer	+4	+8	+11	+9	Hide: 11 (+1) Move Silently: 11 (+1) Spot: 1 (+1) Tumble: 11 (+4)	-	Hide in Plain Sight
9th	Shadowdancer	+5	+8	+12	+9	Hide: 12 (+1) Move Silently: 12 (+1) Spot: 5 (+4) Tumble: 12 (+1)	Greater Fortitude	Evasion Darkvision Uncanny Dodge
10th	Drunken Master	+5	+10	+14	+9	Hide: 13 (+1) Move Silently: 13 (+1) Tumble: 13 (+1) Craft (Blacksmith): 6 (+2)	-	Drink-like-a-Demon Improvised Weapons: +1D4
11th	Drunken Master	+6	+11	+15	+9	Hide: 14 (+1) Move Silently: 14 (+1) Tumble: 14 (+1) Craft (Blacksmith): 8 (+2)	-	Stagger
12th	Tattooed Monk	+7	+12	+16	+10	Craft (Blacksmith): 9 (+1) Hide: 15 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 9 (+1) Move Silently: 15 (+1) Tumble: 15 (+1)	Power Attack	Tattoo: Chameleon Monk AC Bonus: +1
13th	Tattooed Monk	+8	+13	+17	+11	Craft (Blacksmith): 10 (+1) Hide: 16 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 10 (+1) Move Silently: 16 (+1) Tumble: 16 (+1)	-	Unarmed Damage: D10 Unarmored Speed Bonus: +20ft
14th	Shadowdancer	+9	+14	+17	+12	Hide: 17 (+1) Move Silently: 17 (+1) Spot: 9 (+4) Tumble: 17 (+1)	-	Shadow Illusion Summon Shadow
15th	Shadow Sun Ninja	+9	+16	+19	+14	Hide: 18 (+1) Move Silently: 18 (+1) Spot: 11 (+2) Tumble: 18 (+1)	Improved Bullrush	Touch of the Shadow Sun Maneuver: Shadow Stride
16th	Tattooed Monk	+9	+17	+20	+15	Craft (Blacksmith): 11 (+1) Hide: 19 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 11 (+1) Move Silently: 19 (+1) Tumble: 19 (+1)	-	Tattoo: Phoenix
17th	Tattooed Monk	+10	+18	+21	+16	Hide: 20 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 12 (+1) Move Silently: 20 (+1) Spot: 12 (+1) Tumble: 20 (+1)	-	Unarmored Speed Bonus: +30ft
18th	Tattooed Monk	+11	+19	+22	+17	Hide: 21 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 13 (+1) Move Silently: 21 (+1) Spot: 13 (+1) Tumble: 21 (+1)	Shock Trooper	Unarmed Damage: 2D6 Monk AC Bonus: +2 Tattoo: Tortoise
19th	Tattooed Monk	+12	+20	+23	+18	Hide: 22 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 14 (+1) Move Silently: 22 (+1) Spot: 14 (+1) Tumble: 22 (+1)	-	-
20th	Tattooed Monk	+12	+21	+24	+19	Hide: 23 (+1) Knowledge (Religion): 17 (+1) Move Silently: 23 (+1) Spot: 15 (+1) Tumble: 23 (+1)	-	Tattoo: Falcon Unarmored Speed Bonus: +40ft

Spoiler: The Story of G.R.8

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Spoiler: LVL 1-5

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G.R.8 was designed as a barbaric warrior with some minor adjustments. Most notably his skill selection due to way he was programmed and designed. The "Ferocity" acf exchanges rage and still works when his alignment starts to change (L-G) after the war due to his monk friends. Those have a great influence on his new gained freedom of personality.
While he tries to become a monk as a new purpose in life (first monk lvl), he can't stop his habit to pick up other combat tactics (stances) and maneuvers (swordsage) from his battles against the local bandits in the desert. He picks up the habit to move in fast blurry motions (Child of the Shadow) and a bunch of situational maneuvers. The Burning Blade maneuver is a nice dmg boost that also fits the Dol Arrah fluff (sun). Further he enhances his sense to smell (Hunter's Sense) since he grows an interest in the flowers of the oasis. Especially the Chrysanthemum flowers look very beautiful to him and he likes their smell the most. But all these different smells irritate him while in combat and as such he disables it most of the time while in combat (Child of the Shadow for combat and Hunter's Sense out of combat when desired).
This reminds him of the fact that most of his thoughts and actions are still driven mainly around "war". It is the result of slowly being able to understand the principles of law and chaos, good and evil. A feeling of concern emerges within G.R.8 (due to his new L-G alignment). He seeks advice from a few elder monks. They recommend him to follow the path of a warrior monk. Because they learn to mediate about their thoughts and emotions to seek balance in life. That balance helps to handle those difficult thoughts. It enables one to find the right path of order in all things.
This gives G.R.8 a reason to focus on the teachings of the warrior monks of Dol Arrah. He pick up the basics really fast (first lvl monk). And after he starts his meditation training he has a big breakthrough. To everybody's surprise he masters the highest levels of mediation (ACF: Feign Death) where you achieve a near-dead state. Maybe it's due to the warforged nature that he picked it up so fast (no need for eating, sleeping, breathing, drinking..), who knows. What G.R.8 knows is that it helps him to clam his conflicting emotions and thoughts about life. He gets a more clear and objective view on things.

Spoiler: LVL 6-10

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G.R.8's service as a loyal follower of Dol Arrah and the countless hours of deep state mediation seems be bear unintended fruits. One day he notices how a "Chrysanthemum" pattern on his body starts to appear out of nowhere. It seems like a gift from Dol Arrah since he notices the beneficial repair effects of the tattoo when he is in sunlight (only 50% effective). He also learns from the other monks how to dance on religious ceremonies.
One day, while he's doing his meditation, a wandering monk takes a break near him, assuming he is a lifeless statue. He's drunk from his cheap smelling wine and starts to talk to himself. The nonsense that drunken idiot is talking about breaks his mediation and G.R.8 can't take it anymore. He wakes up from his deep state meditation to the surprise of the monk and starts a dispute about the nonsense the drunken monk is telling. This results in a lil friendly brawl (non-lethal damage). G.R.8 finally has to give in and starts to knowledge the elder drunken monk. His fighting skills are interesting for a monk. He explains him that "there is meaning in getting drunk.." and that "wine is the essence of life". It helps him with his "evasive" charge attacks. G.R.8 grows an interest in learning his fighting style, but the Drunken Master demands that he has to pay for a night of revelry first or he won't even consider this. There seems no other way. He has to pay for an expensive night of revelry and survive his attitude in the meanwhile. After he gets acknowledged by his new master, G.R.8 tries to learn his style but has difficulties to pick it up. He lacks the "Evasion" of the drunken monk and needs to focus on that first. Since he already has some flexibility due to his dancing skills, the drunken monk advises him to build on that to refine his evasive skills (Shadowdancer 1&2). This training has some nice side effects. First he discovers how to hide from his enemies view (trick em and move into their blind spots) while being observed (Hide In Plain Sight) due to his blurry and unpredictable drunken dance moves. Finally he mastered the "Evasion" technique. Since he trained all night long over such a long period, his eyes have become more used to the darkness too (Darkvision). Another bonus are his enhanced reflexes to predict even unpredictable attacks (Uncanny Dodge).
But before mastering the true evasive techniques of the Drunken Fist, now he has to become drunk.. (Drink-like-a-Demon).

Spoiler: 11-15

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Finally G.R.8 mastered the true evasiveness of the Drunken Fist (Stagger). Combined with a powerful attack (Power Attack) he can now unleash unpredictable and devastating charge/pounce attacks. Stagger allows for charge/pounce every turn despite the space. As long as you can move somehow you can charge. Move back and forth or make loopings (if you invest into better maneuverability^^). This increases the value of charge multiplying items/effect dramatically (e.g. Valorous Weapon).

His hours of meditation again gift him with another mystical tattoo. This time, one of a Chameleon. It enables him to change into other mechanical forms (constructs: Animated Object as main form). As Animated Object his appearance can change to almost anything he can imagine. This enhances his combat abilities greatly: 60ft base speed for wheeled (wheeled robot feet), half speed flying with clumsy maneuverability due to sheetlike wings (similar to a bat/gargoyle), Large size, +5 natural armor).

One day, while he is meditating, he notices something dark inside him. Afraid of it, he seeks the advise of the elder monks. They advise him that: "One must seek balance in all things in life. Where there is light, there is also darkness. But it's not about what it is, but how you use it" they say. He shall further mediate on it and solve his final inner conflict.
It's a dark spark inside him that he has suppressed for so long. He tries to channel it out of his body with his deep state meditation. As he finally succeeds, the dark spark leaves his body and takes substance in form of his shadow.
His shadow seems to obey and aid him where he needs. G.R.8 feels great relief, but there seems to be a bit more. His dark energies enable him to make small illusions once a day (Shadow Illusion). Then he discovers how to avoid the light and jump through shadows (Shadow Stride). Finally he masters the light and darkness within himself and obtains the power of the "Touch of the Shadow Sun". This enables him to constantly heal him or others (every second round. first round he heals his shadow. more on that later)

Spoiler: LVL 16-20

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Dol Arrah seems to be satisfied, since a Phonix tattoo starts to appear on G.R.8's body. This one enables him to withstand any cheap magical tactics that try to stop him. Not even magic may oppose Dol Arrah's will.

At this point G.R.8 masters the art of shocking his enemies with a "Heedless Charge" attack (Shock Trooper), further improved the fighting style of his (drunken) master. Combined with his high movementspeed and Stagger this results in an overwhelming pounce attack every turn.

Another tattoo in shape of a Tortoise is been gifted to G.R.8. It represents the stillness of his mediation and is the final spark of enlightenment that gives him a board knowledge in anything he needs to know to accomplish Dol Arrah's will. This is mostly used for the knowledge skills in downtimes, but can be abused for using wands with UMD if really needed (resulting in a mere +7 modifier due to the -2 Cha penalty). Most notable is the access to "Knowledge: (local)" for any city/region. Finally he can use it for any other skill he is lacking if the situation demands it (search, swim, professions, diplomacy, bluff...). One of the stronger Jack-of-all-Trades abilities in the game, even if limited to 5/day.
At this point people start to view him as some kind of oracle enlightened by Dol Arrah (due to his knowledge, not due to visions of the future. that kind of oracle^^).

The last tattoo gifted by Dol Arrah is that of a Falcon. It shows how fearless and reliable G.R.8 is. After his enlightenment he was able to delete fear itself from his mind. Even those who stand by his side show less fear. Because G.R.8, "Dol Arrah's Spiritual Guardian of the Mystical Oasis", is with them. Besides from the combat effects a nice roleplay-tool for G.R.8 to be even more of a spiritual guardian monk.

Spoiler: Magic Items section

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Due to the special nature of the build (warforged, shadow, religion fluff) if felt the need for a more detailed magic item section than usual. I tried to split em up into "fluff items", "commonly expected items" and finally "build specific combat items". None of em are really mandatory for the build to work, but some can greatly add to the combat power while other items greatly enhance the fluff experience and fun at the table.

Spoiler: fluff items

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The items here can greatly add to the fuff of the build and are more out of combat/pre-combat related.

Docent: "April" (warforged component) (2,500g base price, add the prices of the effects on top of it) - Eberron Campaign Setting
A docent is an intelligent item that has a separate voice, but uses the voice module of the warforged. As such it can have a female voice and we name her "April". This item can help to roleplay the difficulties warforged have when it comes to genders. With April, G.R.8 has found a voice for his/her female personality/attitudes. Why bother picking a gender if you can have both? As such G.R.8 and April will often switch when talking depending on the situation.
Besides from this great roleplay gimmick (and the ability to learn languages), Docents can have up to 4 nice abilities. I'll mention the most fitting for this build:
1: Decipher Scripts 10 ranks (+5,000g)
Since G.R.8 is illiterate, this is a nice way to solve this. "April" would be a good way to explain the Tortoise tattoo, since he could start to memorize tons of books that she read for him.
2: Status at-will (+11,000g)
You can now protect everyone who seeks the divine protection of Dol Arrah. People come to G.R.8 before doing dangerous or risky tasks. If someone needs aid/help, G.R.8 will be come. This helps to fluff his deep meditation as mystical shrine figure/statue. Now pilgrims can come to seek divine blessing and protection by touching him.
3: detect opposing alignment at-will (7,200g)
"April" has a good nose for those who don't have "lawful good" intends. Her female instincts (almost) never fails. This helps G.R.8 to identify possible threads as early as possible.
4: Listen 10 ranks (+5,000g)
"April" is a good and patient listener. She can hear better with G.R.8's ears than he himself. She seem to be better at analyzing the sounds he can hear. This is especially useful when he is in Deep State Meditation (Feign Death) and can't see anymore.

Decanter of Endless Water (9,000g) - DMG
G.R.8 is grateful for all the support that he gets from his new home and friends. He wants to get even somehow. All the fighting is not enough and not the right way to show his thankfulness. As such he thinks hard about what would be the best way to help those fragile humanoids that he calls his friends. The harsh live in the desert is their biggest enemy compared to him. As such, he decides that the best way to help em is to fight back the desert...^^
He learned about the existence of magic items that can produce endless water from a merchant a few years ago. Such an item could help to increase the water sources of the small oasis and could be of a big help here. He sets his mind and organizes one of them. He builds a Watchtower-Aqueduct system. This should increase the amount of new settlers/farmers. He further builds an irrigation system to help the farmers (there are special warforged shovel gauntlets in the Dragon Magazine. I'll showcase em after the judgement and just wanted to mention em here for the sake of complete build post. They ain't really important, just a nice full gimmick I wanna mention).

Figurines of Wondrous Power: Serpentine Owl x3 (9,100g each) - DMG
These figurines can turn into "horned owls" for 8h/day (we won't use the giant owl option of the item since it will deplete the magic of the item after 3 uses). By having 3 of em, we can cover 24h/day. The owl communicates with its owner by telepathic means, informing her of all it sees and hears. (Remember the limitations of its Intelligence.)
The owls will be used as scout for mainly the oasis. They can immediately inform G.R.8 when anyone approaches the oasis. This enables G.R.8 to "welcome" anyone, be it friend or foe.
On journeys they can scout the area around his party or an entrance of a building/cave they entered.

Spoiler: commonly expected items

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These are items that imho will be useful for most of the builds in the competition. But since I already started a magic item section I wanted to mention em too:

Sandals of the Tiger Leap (3,500g) - Arms and Equipment
Double dmg with unarmed strikes on a charge attack. And this build charges ever turn. A very cheap but reliable dmg boost for this build.

Necklace of Natural Weapons (unarmed strike): +2 + Sizing + Valorous + Ghost Touch (50,600g) - Savage Species + MIC
Increases toHit & dmg and gives another charge multiplier (x2 + x2 = x3). Sizing allows to change the size of our Unarmed Strike up to colossal if desired. Each step adds a-2 penalty to attacks. Note that unarmed strikes always count as light weapon, despite their actual size. Finally "Touch of the Shadow Sun" profits from the size change for its "base unarmed strike damage" (increasing the free heals).
If the character gets a "docent" (see above), the necklace will be placed on it with the rule for adding magic item effect onto other magic items.

Belt of Giant Strength +6 (32,000g) - DMG
Not much to say here.

Wish x5 for +5 STR (132,650g) - PHB
Same here..^^

Monk's Tattoo (80,000g) - Magic of Faerun
Normally the Monk's Belt is seen as superior since it increases the monk levels for the abilities by 5 level. But the Monk's Tattoo progresses the monk's movementspeed and is slotless. With the tattoo the unarmed dmg caps for this build at 2d8 and the movementspeed bonus at +60ft. Adds also to the tattoo theme of the build, but I assume I'm not the sole one with this and as such I did put it in the to "commonly expected items" category.

Spoiler: build specific combat items

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Improvised (piercing or slashing) Weapon (0 g)(yeah, I know not magical but otherwise fits well into this category)
While the build suffers from the -4 toHit penalty, it can be situational used for a charge multiplier with dive attacks (with a flying animated object form) if you lack any decent gear or have lost it somehow.

Everfull Mug (recommend to have multiple of em) (200g each) - MIC
3/day fills with water/cheap ale/watery wine. Helps to fuel the "Drink-Like-A-Demon" ability if wanted. Shadow can take care of the fueling (exchange of the Everfull Mugs after 3 uses). Therefore it is advised to build the mouth of the Animated Object into the cockpit. The voice module can still remain where it belongs.

Phoenix Cloak (50,000 g) - MIC
Since the build has already access to flight, this would just be a deluxe investment for better maneuverability (perfect) and higher fly speed (at your base movement speed and not half = no extra cost for flying movement and for gaining altitude).


Shadow Rider and the Star Monk(s)
We'll add some extra fluff and combat power by using the Shadow as a rider and G.R.8 as his mount.


Ghost Touch Battle Bridle (9,900g) and Ghost Touch Riding Boots (13,200g) - MIC
These two items greatly enhance the interaction between G.R.8 and his shadow. Without em, the shadow only enters his body (in large Animated Object form) and tries to aid him as good as he can (Aid Another).
But if the shadow has these two items, he can carry em incorporeal into G.R.8's body (cockpit in his chest) and than use em there without any problems. These give the shadow +5 competence to ride and the feats Mounted Combat & Ride-by-Attack. He can now once a turn try to make a ride check to prevent an otherwise successful hit on his mount/G.R.8. Further G.R.8 can now move after his charge/pounce attack for the remaining movement he has. This increases his combat mobility and enables strategic repositioning. Due to the charge attack he has double movement speed and may change direction as much as he needs/wants (Stagger).
Both items need to be ghost touch for an unproblematic use. The 10% extra price for ghost touch is already calculated into the prices.

Griffonlance of Goring +1 (36,310 g) or Lance of Faerun+2 ( 98,310 g) (web article / Magic of Faerun)
Sadly both of these come from Faerun (while the Warforged & the rest of the components comes from Eberron, so check with DM). The important part here is that either one would give us the "Spirited Charge" feat for just wielding em (no need to attack with em). But the monk can still use his unarmed strikes to profit from the feat. And Sandals of the Tiger Leap already demands to use kicks^^. Finally the feats conditions "When mounted.." doesn't specify that you need to be "mounted on a mount". It can also be interpreted as "being mounted by a rider". As such, this would lead to another charge multiplier (up to x4 total with Valorous Weapon + Sandals of the Tiger Leap).
I really like to picture a monk carrying and even wielding a weapon but not using it for attacking. Like a holy item that needs to be protected or just a luck charm. Maybe it's just a present received that needs to be honored/cherished, even if one has sworn not to use any manufactured weapons anymore.
Attach a flag of Dol Arrah and yell that it will never touch the ground, even if it costs you your life.

Ring of Growth (18,000g) - Savage Species
Increase size by one step. 1/day for up to 9min (=90 rounds). +4STR -2Dex -1 toHit -1AC
G.R.8 can now turn into a Huge "Large Animated Object"..^^
This should result into enough extra space in G.R.8's cockpit for his other team members. Now the squishy casters can enter him too. Build extra blast/launch pipes into the chest of the Animated Object for your party caster/blaster. Use one-way mirrors or darkened glass to cover the cockpit. Note that since G.R.8 doesn't gets the Hardness of his target form, the materials are as robust as a normal creatures body for his AC would be in 3.5. Another option would be to use a Crystal Ball (42,000g) as monitor to see with G.R.8's eyes.

Ghost Touch Howdah (220g) - Arms & Equiment
This box has room for 4 passengers mounted on a huge creature. One of em is considered as the "rider" for combat reasons (Initiative, movement..). Again the extra 10% price tag for Ghost Touch is included in the price. The boxed version also gives 50% cover, if you should decide to leave G.R.8's chest half open in the Animated Object form. We have now enough space to fit the entire party + shadow.

Spoiler: Bonus Fluff: G.R.8 Challange Phase ONE

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You know that the main event of the day has come when this happens..^^ (since it's a 1/day ability)

"We've got to go into Challenge Phase."

"What's that?"

"There is no time to explain.
Get in and join forces with G.R.8.
Hurry!"

"OK, lets see what happens."

"When the entrance ramp is clear, hit the flashing red light. Shadow Rider, you give the signal!"

"OK.
Get Ready.
Hold it..
NOW!"

"Alright, G.R.8 will now take navigational control."

"Acknowledged April!
Navigational Control .. Mine !
G.R.8 Challenge Phase .. ONE !
..
Head Em Up .. Move Em Out !
..
POWER STRIDE .. & READY TO RIDE !!!"

Even if I have slightly altered the dialog, I expect at least a few have already started to hum the transformation music. If you still don't know what is going on here, I'll help you out with a link ;)

Spoiler: Combat Strategies

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I'll try to explain how some of the abilities have synergy or how they behave in specific scenarios.

Feign Death
On first glance the ability seems pretty standard and doesn't look amazing. But it has some interesting properties that are kinda exploitable but leave you in a grey area where the DM might enforce additional rules.
The effects that the ability does give should be self explanatory. The interesting part is the action-cost and what that implies when it is used in combat. As "immediate action" you appear dead. Not almost dead, not dying, just simple DEAD! I would argue that as long as you stand on your feet (or fly with your fly ability) you don't appear to be dead (maybe dying but not dead). As such, I would argue that the ability includes the "prone" status within its "immediate action" to appear legitimate dead. While this ain't mentioned, I don't see how it would be otherwise possible to "appear dead".
Further while this is also not mentioned in the rule text, imho when you use Feign Death in the middle of the combat you need a reason to make it plausible. After taking a direct hit (getting damaged) would be imho plausible. Before taking the hit would need some kind of acting (perform/bluff?) to make it plausible. Without any attack at all, one might need a higher acting (bluff/perform) roll to act e.g. an immediate Heart-attack death. If the DM should demand such a roll, we could rely on the 5 ranks in Perform (Dance) to act.
This could be used as a last resort if the next hit (before rolling dmg) could drop your below 0. You can hope that the enemy might be fooled and use his attacks/actions otherwise. G.R.8 can than try to escape on his next turn (standard action to wake up and movement action for escape) and perform a strategical retreat (heal up and come back later).
Finally, the ability can be used to play dead possum to avoid being noticed if he is observing a place for longer time

Pounce (and anything related)
Pounce is the bread and butter of this build. Together with Stagger, the build can pounce every turn. As Animated Object (giant robot with wheels under his feet and sheetlike wings) with monk lvls, he will already have a high base movementspeed (min. 70ft by lvl 12; up to 120ft with tattoo at max lvl) which gets doubled every turn due to charge (140-240ft), if diving even quadrupled (280-480ft). Without the Phoenix Cloak, movement is a bit restricted when flying (double movement cost for flying, quadruple movement cost for gaining altitude..), but still manageable. You need to combine the cheaper maneuverability at land with better damage when flying. Thanks due to the high movementspeed, it is easily manageable to switch between the movement modes within a single turn. Once you have the cloak, you only pay normal movement costs into any direction. This gets rid of the math and allows for a more effective use of the movementspeed.
If you should run out of enemies in your reach, the "Sudden Leap" maneuver allows for a "swift" position change within your full attack.
Shock Trooper further enhances the damage potential. Despite the low max BAB (+12) we can now go for full Power Attack modifiers. Note that they profit from the charge multipliers available (up to x4. Finally, the shadow will ride G.R.8 as mount and enhance him with Ride-By-Attack via items to further enhance his pounce attacks with the remaining rest movement after the attacks.
Finally, if desired, G.R.8 can use his HIPS after each pounce within his remaining movement to remain hidden at the end of his turn.

Temporary STR bonus stacking for an Ambush
Ferocity (+4) is the most obvious choice here. Further, Shadow will supply us with Everfull Mugs for 5 rounds to get the STR bonus up to +10. Finally, if we have access to the Ring of Growth, we get another +4 size bonus to STR. This totals into +18STR. Take the 32 as base (including lvl up + wish + item) and we look at a maximum possible STR score of 50 (+20 STR modifier!). In combination with a full scale pounce attack (up to x4 multiplier) (including repositioning with Sudden Leap), G.R.8 should hit and kill with each of his attacks.
Combined with HIPS, normal people (with normal senses) won't notice what has happened or how it happened.

Touch of the Shadow Sun
The ability allows itself to be used as swift action, if used to heal a willing target. G.R.8's shadow is always willing and always touching him inside the cockpit (on "odd" rounds - negative energy application). If the DM argues that you need to touch him with a hand, just have the cockpit have a "hand" build in. And G.R.8 can always willingly touch himself (...^^) as a free action too (on "even" rounds - positive energy application). As such G.R.8 alters constantly between healing his shadow and himself (or an willing ally). This also adds greatly to his image as holy servant as he can heal anyone at any given time. Another reason for people to visit him at the shrine.

Shadow Rider
This is a nice sideeffect of the Ghost Touch enhancement on the Necklace of Natural Weapons (unarmed strike). This gives G.R.8's entire body the Ghost Touch effect. The shadow can pick up things with Ghost Touch. These things become weightless and can also enter solid objects together with the incorporeal creature (shadow). This means that the shadow can pick up G.R.8 and move with him under the surface of the ground ("must remain adjacent to the object’s exterior"). This can be abused for sneaky stealth missions (together with Feign Death) or amush tactics. Or as last resort if G.R.8's life is in danger (e.g.low hp or even below 0hp). You could even esacpe from enemy line of effect to dodge spells/effects. And finally you can survive "Rocks fall everyone dies"^^
The question that remains is: What happens to other possible passangers? Maybe evacuate them first^^ Or find a test subject to see how the DM will rule it ;)

Spoiler: Sources

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I think the stuff from the PHB should be obvious. Thus I will concentrate on the non-PHB stuff here to keep it clean and short. Further the magic items have a note behind their "name (price tag) -" and aren't listed here either.

Barbarian "Ferocity" - Cityscape web enhancement
Barbarian "Skilled City-Dweller" - Cityscape web enhancement
Barbarian "Spiritual Totem: Lion" - Complete Champion
Drunken Master - Complete Warrior
Monk "Feign Death" - Exemplars of Evil
Monk "Fighting Style: Cobra Strike" - Unearthed Arcana
Shadow Sun Ninja - Tome of Battle
Shadowdancer - DMG or SRD
Shock Trooper - Complete Warrior
Swordsage "Unarmed Variant" - Tome of Battle
Tattooed Monk - Complete Warrior

Final Words
This build has it all: A religious giant (mountable) robot monk, fueled with Solar Energy, Dark Energy and even an Alcohol boost (wannabe NITRO tuning^^), who praises the words of Dol Arrah to fight evil. Become a mobile fortress for your team-members and redefine your teamplay. On the other hand, be a peace loving guide for those who seek Dol Arrah's guidance and show em the powers he gifts those he seems to be worthy (the tattoos). Praise the words of Dol Arrah. Be gentle to the weak (April as voice) and bring judgement to evil (with G.R.8's own voice).

"May Dol Arrah's Glory Shine Uppon You My Friend."

"May Dol Arrah's Glory Shine Judgement Uppon You."

„By Dol Arrah's Glory, have no fear: Shadow Rider and the Star Monks have arrived!"

[The Viscount]

Good things come to those who wait.

Kilroy: the Shape in the Stone

Spoiler: Backstory

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Spoiler: Hew

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Kilroy stood before his parents. The crackling fire in the hearth behind him made the skin on his calves tight, but he felt this was the only place in the small cottage to make an announcement of such import.

“What’d you want to talk to us about, son?” his father said and packed the bowl of his pipe with leaf.

His mother conjured a flame on the tip of her thumb when he was finished.

“Mm, thank you, m’dear.”

Kilroy cleared his throat. “Mother, father, I’m off to seek my fortune.”

His mother picked ash from under her fingernail. “So soon? Haven’t you only been on your first adventure?”

Undeterred, Kilroy nodded. “Well, yes, and what I won from it is dearer than any gold or jewel.”

His father exhaled a stream of smoke from his nostrils, idly shaping it into an owl’s head that cocked to the side.

“We were wondering what your share was. Not to be nosy an’ all.”

“It’s something that can never be taken from me or lost,” Kilroy said.

“Is this a riddle?”

“No, father; what I learned was the location of a great treasure. Or rather, where one will be and when,” Kilroy said.

“When?” his mother asked.

Kilroy looked away. “I’m afraid it’s not for a very long time. I may not be back to share it.”

His father stood and put a hand on his shoulder. “If you’re able to live well on it, then we’ve done our job. If we’re still kicking, come back and we’ll have a pint. If not, you’ll be rich enough to commune with us.”

Kilroy lifted his bag from the floor, still packed. “Of course.”

Spoiler: Shape

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The straw boss made his way down the line of prospects. The land here was flat, or near enough to flat they shouldn’t have to do too much before they got the masons in. Still, he’d be lucky to hire half a dozen of these men. Most of them looked like they could scarcely lift a hammer. He stopped at one with hair like the sun who seemed curiously excited at the idea of being selected. He stood no taller than the other men, but a little straighter.

“What they call you, boy?” he asked.

“Kilroy, sir.”

“I’ll make sure not to put you on with Roy we hire you.” A few of them laughed. “Job’s ten a day plus meals if you can swing a hammer til you quit or we don’t need you no more.”

Kilroy looked earnestly awed. “And if I can swing two?” More of the others laughed at that one.

“Show me that.” He summoned a hammer.

Kilroy took it in both hands.

He summoned another, ready to send the boy packing, but Kilroy reached out from his own ribs with a pair of arms made of blue witch-light to take it. They bristled with fur, and the fingers ended in stout claws.

“Twenty five sound fair?” Kilroy said, hefting them.

“Don’t know how they count where you’re from, but ten and ten’s twenty round here.”

“You’ll be saving on meals,” Kilroy said.

The straw boss made a note in his ledger. “Put your mark here.”

“Don’t know how, sir,” Kilroy said.

“Don’t worry; I’ll take care of it for you. Go turn that rock over there into smaller rocks, and we’ll see about the twenty five.”

Kilroy nodded and got to it with a sound like a thunderclap. “Yes, sir.”

Spoiler: Sculpt

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The new recruits lined up and Kilroy looked them over. His arms had grown twofold since his arrival here years ago. They’d filled in the odd parts of the land that didn’t lie the way they ought, and had started laying foundation last year. Finally, it was time to appoint the masons who would be starting on the stone they’d been working it seemed like a lifetime ago.

“You want to know where something ought to go, don’t be shy about asking me. I’m only as smart as all you fellows put together, so you’re not doing me any favors by keeping it to yourself. Plans are up on the boards over there.” He pointed toward them. Chalk from the lines on the paper still clung to his fingertips. He felt like if he washed his hands for an hour, he still wouldn’t get it all off.

The masons broke up and got to work. Kilroy drifted around the site and kept an eye on things. It was before lunch when he heard one of the alarms go off: broken rope.

“Watch out down there!” the mason on the crane shouted at one under it. No time to run over.

Kilroy’s chest swelled as he drew on the blink dog’s essence that pulsed through him. He took a deep breath before he disappeared. Wherever you went in between, there was no air there. He was back in the world by the man on the ground and elbowed him out of the way before being crushed under a ten thousand pound stone.

From beneath its bulk, he heard the men murmuring.

“Is he—?”

“I didn’t see him! I swear I didn’t see him!”

“Can anyone get that off him? Where’s the giant? Why isn’t he doing this anyway?”

Kilroy was under the block, and then he wasn’t. He uncrumpled himself from the mud a few feet to its left and got to his feet.

“Don’t celebrate yet; it’ll take a lot more than that to crack an old bastard like me. Is anyone hurt?” Kilroy said.

The man he pushed aside held a bandana to his nose, its white surface streaked with blood.

“You saved my life,” he said and held out his hand. Despite most of the bones in Kilroy’s wrist being broken, he shook it anyway. They were only bones.

The mason squinted at Kilroy’s wrist, looking at its bloody surface, already starting to scab over.

“Something you wanted to say about that or—“ Kilroy said, nothing if not patient.

“Oh, I just, I was looking at your tattoo. I can’t quite make it out.”

“Helluva time to ask about it. I can tell you what it is, but I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll laugh. Then I’ll laugh, and I’ll jostle something in my chest where it shouldn’t be.”

“After what you just did for me, I think I can restrain myself. What is it?”

“A crane.”

The mason broke his promise, but Kilroy couldn’t bring himself to feel upset about it.

Spoiler: Polish

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Kilroy sat in the completed wing of the castle and leafed through a book that hovered in front of him in his cozy chair by the fire. He adjusted the glasses he’d been wearing for ten years now and began to eavesdrop on a couple of young fellows in the hall.

“Got the plans for the east wing. Who do I get to sign off?”

“You must be new around here. Give ‘em to Old Man Kilroy. You oughta find him in the library somewheres. Big mammoth hair cardigan and fists like cannon balls.”

“Alright, thanks.”

It was a few minutes before the boy approached Kilroy directly.

“‘scuse me, sir, need your signature on these right quick.”

Kilroy drew out a pen from his pocket and looked them over.

“The doors in His Majesty’s study need to be wider here and here. If it’s built like this, it’ll give way in no time from the pressure of the next floor,” Kilroy said, making a few notes.

“Will they? I figure it’d be fifty years before they need to send anyone in to shore that up.”

“Sixty.” Kilroy circled errors on other parts of the plans. “Make sure the seals around these are filled with that imported mortar and not the stuff we used in the cellar. Less conductive. And we can’t use pocket shutters on this window, it won’t support the weight of the lead.”

“Lead, sir?”

“For privacy.”

“What do you suppose he’s reading in there that he wants us to put lead in the windows?”

“I don’t know, son. More importantly, I don’t want anyone else to know either.” He handed the plans back with his signature on the bottom in a two inch flourish.

“Forgive me for asking, sir, but what’s the difference in sixty years? Don’t you think these things might put us behind schedule?”

Kilroy sighed. Not with frustration, or even impatience. He sighed because he remembered when he would’ve asked the same thing at the boy’s age.

“Come here a moment, please. I want to show you something. It won’t take long, and if your master gives you any grief about it, you can tell him I’m to blame.” He returned to his chair and his book.

“What do you see here, son?” He tapped a passage in the book.

“Something about the ruins of Xen’drik.”

“And you can read it all right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“This book here is older than I am,” Kilroy said.

To his credit, the boy tried not to let his surprise show. Kilroy was sure he seemed unfathomably ancient, even if he still had a bit of red left in his hair.

“How is it still so clear, then?”

Kilroy shut it. “Because the binder took the time to use things to make it that would last. This book will outlive all of us. Whoever comes after us might sift through this castle some day and find it to put in one of their museums.”

The boy looked uneasy. “But if you think this place will fall to ruin some day, what’s the point?”

“To make the bastards wait a little longer. Now go put in the order for the lead, will you?”

The boy nodded, bowed, and left. Kilroy reopened his book and stayed until he was finished.

Spoiler: Weather

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Kilroy lay in a bed finer than any he’d known existed when he was a boy. The granddaughter of the king sat by his side in his coarse wooden chair and rested her hand, ungloved, atop his weathered forehead. Judging from her expression, she wasn’t encouraged by its temperature.

“The physicians tell me all there is to do now is keep you comfortable,” she said, uncomfortable being the one to deliver this truth to him.

Kilroy smiled. “‘m plenty comfortable here, young miss.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s just not good enough for me. You’ve given your life to our home, Kilroy. If there’s anything you want in this world, let me know it and I’ll make sure the king grants it.”

Kilroy nodded. “If it would make you feel better. I love this estate, young miss. If there’s one thing I could ask for, it’s for you not to make me leave it after I go. If there’s a way, I would like to be laid to rest here, so I’ll never have to say goodbye.”

She held back her tears admirably. Kilroy pretended not to notice.

“Consider it done. We’ll put your head apprentice on it.”

Kilroy nodded toward his drafting table. “If it wouldn’t be too great an expense, I had sketched out a few ideas.”

She laughed and put her arms around his withered frame.

“As much as I’m going to miss you, there is one good thing about you passing on,” she said.

“And what’s that, young miss?”

“It’s the only way we’ll ever get you to stop working.” Kilroy laughed, she left him alone with his thoughts and went to make arrangements.

Spoiler: Rebuild

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They laid Kilroy to rest shortly thereafter. The king brought his finest magicians to have the bricks lay themselves in Kilroy’s tomb and had caged spirits of air blow themselves upon the mortar that it might dry more quickly. Kilroy had asked to b allowed to supervise the construction one last time, and His Majesty didn’t have it in him to say no.

Kilroy drank the magical draught he had had sent from a far off place, somewhere even the most well-traveled diplomat had never visited. He assured his masters it would preserve him for the ages since it wouldn’t do to attract pests into the basement. They thanked him for his thoughtfulness one final time and said their goodbyes.

The final brick was laid and Kilroy was immured in utter darkness and silence.

And there he remained, while the draught did its job. While what he had told the master of the house wasn’t exactly a lie, it wasn’t exactly the whole truth either.

Kilroy’s remains wouldn’t be attracting any pests, no. But that was because he had no plans to die now, any time soon, or ever at all, in fact.

In the summer heat, even this area of the castle had grown warm, nearly the temperature of his body. With neither sight nor sound to distract him, he could feel the draught working, even if it was only his own knowledge making him think he did. What he’d drank came from an ancient and secretive order. One who had accepted his requests to join their ranks a lifetime ago and finally sent him his approval. Kilroy understood the value of patience. He could only imagine how much more firmly he would grasp it once he was immortal.

Over the silent years, his body rebuilt itself from within. He felt the lean muscle of his youth knit itself back together one fiber at a time as his mind worked away at it like a woman at a loom. Like anything Kilroy had ever built, he wanted to make sure it was done right. For the first time, he could be sure what he was putting together would last for all eternity.

Later—how much later exactly, he had no way of saying. It no longer mattered—he had finished remaking himself. Not exactly as he had been before, but better. He emerged from the silent and hollow husk of his old body not like a moth chewing its way from a cocoon, but as a phase spider passes through its prey. Should his masters’ descendants wish to pay their respects to the man who had built their home, he would not deny them that comfort.

Kilroy moved unimpeded by the walls he had hewn the stone for. He didn’t exactly go through them. Like a sketch of a man in a maze who could only go forward and back or left to right, and had no conception of the pen that had birthed him nor its ability to go up and down, most people were constrained by a sturdy wall of stone. Kilroy had spent his life understanding every facet of this castle. Just as the pen can be lifted from paper to bypass the walls of a maze, he moved himself beyond the constraints of the walls he had spent his life setting forth until he was at the promised location with the treasure he had anticipated his whole life. He packed it away and was on his way.

He drifted along the stairs whose heights he had measured by candlelight to make sure no one taking them would trip. He didn’t worry about anyone seeing him. They couldn’t, the place he went when he was moving like this. He was out of the castle in short order and returned to the world as everyone else saw it and was seen in kind.

He booked passage on a ship to the town where he was born. Alongside his treasure, he had a dozen scrolls packed away to speak beyond the veil of death and share his news with his parents.

His ship arrived. The porter welcomed him aboard and took his ticket.

“Good evening, sir. You got family back east?” he said with a smile.

Kilroy leaned on the ship’s railing and packed a pipe the way he still remembered his father doing it. He cupped his hand around it and lit it with a wand he’d not even bothered to ask the price of. He exhaled a shape of smoke even his father would be proud of:

YES.

Spoiler: stub

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LN elan totemist 6/tattooed monk 9/thief-acrobat 5

Spoiler: abilities

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base:

str 14
dex 14
con 16 (increase at 16)
int 14 (increases at 4, 8, 12, 20), +3 from age
wis 12, +3 from age
cha 8, -2 from elan +3 from age

finishing (after race and age)
str 14
dex 14
con 17
int 21
wis 15
cha 9

Spoiler: table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	totemist 1	+0	+2	+0	+2	k (arcana) 4, k (religion) 4, k (planes) 4, listen 4, spot 4, tumble 4 (2)	endurance	wild empathy, illiteracy
2nd	totemist 2	+1	+3	+0	+3	k (arcana) 1 (5), k (religion) 1 (5) k (planes) 1 (5), listen 1 (5), spot 1 (5) tumble 1 (5)		totem chakra bind (+1 capacity)
3rd	totemist 3	+1	+3	+1	+3	k (arcana) 1 (6), k (religion) 1 (6), k (planes) 1 (6), listen 1 (6), spot 1 (6), tumble 1 (6)	improved unarmed strike	totem’s protection
4th	totemist 4	+2	+4	+1	+4	k (arcana) 1 (7), k (religion) 1 (7) k (planes) 1 (7), listen 1 (7), spot 1 (7), tumble 1 (7)
5th	totemist 5	+2	+4	+1	+4	k (arcana) 1 (8), k (religion) 1 (8), k (planes) 1 (8), listen 1 (8), spot 1 (8), tumble 1 (8)		chakra binds (crown, feet, hands)
6th	totemist 6	+3	+5	+2	+5	k (arcana) 1 (9), k (religion) 1 (9) k (planes) 1 (9), listen 1 (9), spot 1 (9), tumble 1 (9)	improved grapple	totem chakra bind (+1 meldshaper level
7th	tattooed monk 1	+3	+7	+4	+7	balance 5, climb 1		monk abilities, crane tattoo (nonmagical disease immunity)
8th	tattooed monk 2	+4	+8	+5	+8	balance 3 (8), climb 4 (5)
9th	tattooed monk 3	+5	+8	+5	+8	jump 7	assume supernatural ability (choker’s quickness)	chameleon tattoo, crane tattoo (poison immunity)
10th	tattooed monk 4	+6	+9	+6	+9	climb 3 (8), listen 2 (11) collector of stories
11th	tattooed monk 5	+6/+1	+9	+6	+9	jump 1 (8), k (local) 4, listen to this		monkey tattoo, crane tattoo (aging immunity)
12th	tattooed monk 6	+7/+2	+10	+7	+10	k (local) 5 (9), back on your feet	open lesser chakra (shoulder)
13th	tattooed monk 7	+8/+3	+10	+7	+10	k (dungeoneering) 6, extreme leap		white mask tattoo
14th	tattooed monk 8	+9/+4	+11	+8	+11	k (dungeoneering) 1 (7), k (local) 5 (14), nimble charge
15th	tattooed monk 9	+9/+4	+11	+8	+11	k (dungeoneering) 6 (13), acrobatic backstab	rapidstrike	wasp tattoo
16th	thief-acrobat 1	+9/+4	+11	+10	+11	move silently 10		fast acrobatics, kip up, steady stance
17th	thief-acrobat 2	+10/+5	+11	+11	+111	hide 10		agile fighting +1/+2, slow fall 20 ft
18th	thief-acrobat 3	+11/+6/+1	+12	+11	+12	move silently 10 (20)	open greater chakra (waist)	acrobatic charge, defensive roll 1/day
19th	thief-acrobat 4	+12/+7/+2	+12	+12	+12	hide 10 (20)		agile fighting +2/+3, skill mastery, slow fall 30ft
20th	thief-acrobat 5	+12/+7/+2	+12	+12	+12	hide 3 (23), move silently 3 (23), tumble 3 (12), point it out		defensive roll 2/day, improved evasion

Spoiler: playtips

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Spoiler: 5

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Totemist brings unparalleled versatility to bear through its soulmelds. You have a great many natural attacks available from the start with things like landshark boots. For ranged options, manticore belt lets you snipe at enemies at your leisure and do meaningful damage at low levels. Totemist also brings its knowledges to bear laying groundwork for tattooed monk and granting the other two most common monster identification skills in with arcana and planes, letting you identify many common monster types and other magical and planar stuff. You obtain religion through association with the paragnostic assembly. You can easily get a rank 5 affiliation score of 30 points by being a member for 35 years. Given elans’ long life spans, this is easily achievable before you hit middle age. Consequently, you get bonuses to research skills when using the paragnostic assembly’s library, have religion as a class skill from now on, get a boost to diplomacy when dealing with bureaucrats, and gain skill mastery with all knowledge skills. Totemist’s ride is easily altered to tumble via skilled city dweller, freeing up your points in tattooed monk for other things later. Your feats for the time being are paying taxes for entry, as is elan, indirectly, but more will be said on that later.

Spoiler: 10

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You’re finished taking all the necessary feats for tattooed monk, and have attained the crane, your first tattoo. Tattooed monk has granted its second tattoo in the form of the chameleon, giving alter self. As an elan, aberration opens up many useful forms. For the time being, you will likely be getting a great deal of use from the classic grell and its bevy of natural attacks alongside improved grab and constrict. It also flies with perfect maneuverability. Your crown, hand, and foot chakras are now open in addition to your totem, providing valuable utility alongside more natural attacks. Tattooed monk continues to pay dividends in advancing your crane tattoo another step providing immunity to all poisons. In addition to this, assume supernatural ability is online. One of your favored forms through the chameleon tattoo will definitely be the choker, a compact form with native climb speed and the coveted quickness ability which enables you to take an extra standard or move action each round. It also grants improved grab and constrict as though that weren’t enough. The possibilities are nearly limitless. Among other things, it allows you to move your full speed and then full attack.

Spoiler: 15

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You have continued along in tattooed monk and gained a bonus to movement and manipulation skills from the monkey tattoo, and block unfriendly divination with the white mask tattoo. Your advancement in tattoos has also made your crane tattoo more powerful and you no longer take penalties for aging. Since elan has no maximum age category, you can easily advance to the maximum age without fear of penalties or death for the mental ability bonuses. Thanks to your aberration type, you are eligible for rapidstrike, giving even more attacks. The wasp tattoo grants haste many times a day. With this in tandem with choker’s quickness and your bevy of available natural attacks through totemist, you will deal a huge amount of damage in combat. Your shoulder chakra is open, allowing you to bind any of your melds there including such options as the phase cloak which enables ethereal movement. In tandem with choker’s quickness, you can move much further than normal. I This is your final level of tattooed monk because the 10th level is dead, and this allows you to complete thief-acrobat.

Spoiler: 20

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You round out your career with thief-acrobat, a flavorful, interesting class that tattooed monk provides all the necessary skills to enter. Evasion is granted by the totem bind of the great raptor mask. This class allows you to stand from prone, further beefs up your mobility skills, grants slow fall, another monk ability in addition to those granted by tattooed monk, and provides skill mastery, defensive roll, and improved evasion. It also gives additional armor bonus in addition to the one provided by tattooed monk. You’re high enough level now to open your waist chakra, so you do so, granting greater versatility than ever and opening up new options to supplement your tattoo abilities.

Spoiler: sources

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magic of incarnum: incarnate, open lesser chakra, open greater chakra
draconomicon: rapidstrike
srd: elan, endurance, improved unarmed strike, improved grapple
complete adventurer: thief-acrobat
complete champion: paragnostic assembly
savage species: assume supernatural ability
complete scoundrel: skill tricks
skilled city dweller

[The Viscount]

Everybody loves the Classics.

Glaucon
Human Binder 8/Tattooed Monk 7/Knight of the Sacred Seal 5

Spoiler: The Cave

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The light of the cave’s entrance had long since faded beyond view. A dwarf’s eyes are comfortable in the dark, but after hours of walking the passageway, even I felt as if I were in traversing a void. The walls and floor were featureless, scraped smooth by what could only have been adamantine, given the hardness of the stone, but must also have been a tool so fine as to rival a hand shaping clay. Though I knew there had been a beginning, and had been assured there would be an end, I could not help but begin to doubt both.

Then, at long last, light. A single brilliant point at the edge of my vision growing as I approached until I reached the chamber from which it emanated. The smooth stone walls were no longer featureless, but engraved with strange, intricate seals. Another similar seal, larger than the rest, was carved into the floor at the center of the room, surrounded by a pool of placid water. Sitting atop it cross-legged, eyes closed and seemingly in meditation, was a human man, and it was from him that the light seemed to radiate, though shadows still flickered across his bare chest, forming the silhouette of a blooming flower, around which cuts and burns upon the man’s skin were slowly healing before my eyes.

“Are you the Sage of the Cave?” I asked, realizing I sounded rather stupid as I said it.

“Is that what they call me now?” He did not move or open his eyes.

Undeterred, I tried another tack. “Were you the one who brought down the dragon?”

“The shadows upon the land shifted as I walked across.”

I wish sages would just say what they mean. “Erm… Could you explain?”

He opened one eye to look at me in seeming irritation and sighed as if the point were obvious. He inclined his head ever so slightly toward another exit to the chamber opposite the way from which I had entered. “Beyond this room, imagine there are chained men, unable to escape.”

“Wait, really?”

“I said imagine.” He sounded irritated, and I decided to drop the point for the moment. “To these men,” he continued, “there is only darkness save for the light emitted from this chamber that shines upon the wall in front of them. If some shape were to be set between here and there, and its silhouette cast upon their wall, would that not be as the thing itself to them? Knowing nothing but the cave and the wall, what distinction can they make between shadow and reality?”

This all sounded awfully morbid to me. “I suppose…”

The corner of his mouth twitched in the smallest of smirks. “And what then of our own reality? What makes us think that what we experience is any different?”

“Well…” This all sounded rather silly to me and I wondered where he was going with it.

“In fact, it should be considered no different. Etch an image into your flesh, upon your very soul if you like. It is still but a shadow on a wall. Become the light itself that casts the shadow, and even then, that light is the shadow of something else. Some nothing else.”

He was becoming less helpful by the second. “And what does this have to do with the dragon?”

“Once you understand that,” he replied with another imperceptible smirk and an obnoxious air of patient explanation, “altering the shadows becomes a trivial matter.”

And indeed, the shadows upon his skin did seem to shift. The flower became a lizard with a tail curling around the man’s navel, and suddenly his own shadow fell upon the ground on which he sat, then began to shift into an outline of something quite inhuman.

Spoiler: Light

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Ability Scores

Spoiler

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16 Str, 13 Dex, 14 Con, 10 Int, 13 Wis, 12 Cha
Increase Dex at 4th level, Wis at 8th, and Str at all opportunities thereafter.

The Build

Spoiler

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Binder 1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Knowledge (Religion) 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Intimidate 4	Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple	Soul Binding (1 Vestige)
2nd	Binder 2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Knowledge (Religion) 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 1	-	Pact Augmentation (1 Ability), Suppress Sign
3rd	Binder 3	+2	+3	+1	+3	Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 3	Endurance	-
4th	Binder 4	+3	+4	+1	+4	Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5	Improved BindingB	-
5th	Binder 5	+3	+4	+1	+4	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 7, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5	-	Pact Augmentation (2 Abilities)
6th	Tattooed Monk 1	+3	+6	+3	+6	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 2, Collector of Stories	Planar Touchstone (Catalouges of Enlightenment: War), Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike)	Monk Abilities, Chameleon Tattoo
7th	Tattooed Monk 2	+4	+7	+4	+7	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 2, Balance 5, Collector of Stories	-	-
8th	Tattooed Monk 3	+5	+7	+4	+7	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 5, Balance 5, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge	-	Chrysanthemum Tattoo
9th	Knight of the Sacred Seal 1	+6	+9	+4	+7	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge	Sun Devotion	Aligned Strike, Patron Vestige (Tenebrous), Skilled City-Dweller (Ride for Tumble)
10th	Knight of the Sacred Seal 2	+7	+10	+4	+7	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 1, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge	-	Vestige’s Protection
11th	Knight of the Sacred Seal 3	+8	+10	+5	+8	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 4, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge	-	Vestige’s Protection Aura, Soul Binding (2 Vestiges)
12th	Knight of the Sacred Seal 4	+9	+11	+5	+8	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer	Strength Devotion	Vestige’s Power
13th	Knight of the Sacred Seal 5	+10	+11	+5	+8	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Jump 3, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer	-	Apotheosis, Vestige’s Surge
14th	Tattooed Monk 4	+11	+12	+6	+9	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Jump 5, Climb 3, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer	-	-
15th	Tattooed Monk 5	+11	+12	+6	+9	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Jump 6, Climb 5 Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer, Speedy Ascent	Expel Vestige	Tiger Tattoo
16th	Tattooed Monk 6	+12	+13	+7	+9	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Jump 9, Climb 5, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer, Speedy Ascent, Leaping Climber	-	-
17th	Tattooed Monk 7	+13	+13	+7	+9	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Jump 14, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer, Speedy Ascent, Leaping Climber	-	Wasp Tattoo
18th	Binder 6	+14	+14	+8	+10	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Jump 14, Bluff 2, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer, Speedy Ascent, Leaping Climber	Metamorphic Transfer	Soul Guardian (Immune to Fear)
19th	Binder 7	+15	+14	+8	+10	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Jump 14, Bluff 5, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer, Speedy Ascent, Leaping Climber	-	-
20th	Binder 8	+16	+15	+8	+11	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Intimidate 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Swim 5, Jump 14, Bluff 5, Collector of Stories, Twisted Charge, Quick Swimmer, Speedy Ascent, Leaping Climber	-	-

Spoiler: Shadow

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Level 5

Spoiler

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Non-Monk entry into requires paying some taxes to get into the SI, but Binder is aa versatile class, with the ability to choose a vestige to suit the needs of a given adventuring day, allowing us to pull our weight even without much feat support to back it up (Improved Grapple and Endurance are also more useful at these levels than they generally are later on). With Improved Binding from the Binder bonus feat, we’re up to 4th level Vestiges by 5th level, giving a nice range of options.

Level 10

Spoiler

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Even when restricted to humanoid forms, Alter Self is pretty spiffy, granting access to different movement modes, natural armor, and natural attacks to add to the Monk’s Unarmed Strike the SI gives us on a full attack routine. If you can get your hands on wands (possibly by crafting them with Astaroth if you can get someone to provide the spell for you) of spells like Aspect of the Wolf or Essence of the Dragon, which Karsus or UMD from Naberius can help you to activate, you can access other forms that way as well. Our next tattoo will be the Chrysanthemum, which will slowly heal us as long as we stay in sunlight. To that end, we take Sun Devotion, which explicitly produces true sunlight rather than the light of a Daylight spell, and hence works as long as you can maintain it for the requisite amount of time. The one minute duration of Sun Devotion poses a problem in that regard, but a turn or rebuke attempt gives you an extra use, and Tenebrous gives you the ability to rebuke every 5 rounds (30 seconds), so you can stay in sunlight as needed to heal up, regardless of environment or time of day. Since we’re locked into Tenebrous to make this trick work anyway, we duck out of Tattooed Monk for a bit to enter Knight of the Sacred Seal, qualifying via the Binder’s Weapon Focus – the War Domain granted power from Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment: War) – which can also allow you to cast a spell from the domain once per day (Magic Vestement is a nice way to add an armor bonus on an unarmored build) if you can make the interplanar commute once in a while.

Level 15

Spoiler

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Tenebrous’ Rebuke resets quickly enough to keep a second minute-duration Devotion feat up continuously, so our 12th level feat goes to Strength Devotion, which adds a slam attack to our natural attack routine and makes all our attacks overcome DR and hardness as if adamantine.

Finishing out Knight of the Sacred Seal means both that we now have a second vestige of up to 6th level (including any of our old favorites, always good options like Zceryll, Zagan to make use of the SI’s Improved Grapple prereq in smaller than Large forms, Ipos for claws in forms that don’t already have them, and perhaps our favorite, Chupoclops for pounce, ethereal movement, Ghost Touch, and a bite in forms that don’t already have one) and that we achieve Apotheosis, which grants outsider typing and hence superior outsider forms with the Chameleon Tattoo’s Alter Self ability. Useful outsider forms include…

• Dwarf Ancestor - Large size and +18 natural armor.
• Skulvyn – Large size, 50 ft swim speed, +6 natural armor, natural attack routine of either bite/claw/claw or 4 tail lashes. Unarmed Strike and Strength Devotion add to either. Chupoclops bite and the language of “including a bite attack” on its pounce ability might allow a bite to be added to the tail lash routine.
• Juvenile Tojanda – Swim speed of 60 ft (as alter self caps it) and +10 natural armor, but small size and just a bite/claw/claw attack routine, so probably an inferior swimming combat form to the Skulvyn most of the time.
• Spinagon, Air Mephit, Protectar, or Vaati (Houdeam) – Good flying forms if you can’t get flight from elsewhere. Spinagon is the fastest, reaching Alter Self’s cap of 120 ft, but only has average maneuverability. Air Mephit’s speed is only 60 ft, but with perfect maneuverability. Protectar has 60 ft (good), but is medium where the Mephit and Spinagon are small. The Houdeam only has a 30 ft fly speed, but perfect maneuverability, medium size, and good natural armor (probably just the +7 rather than +7+2 per character level, but feel free to ask your DM).
• Skeroloth – 20 ft Burrow and Climb speeds and 4 claw natural attack routine. Small size, but still a pretty nifty form.
• Pentadrone – 5 slamming limbs before Strength Devotion. If they count as hands, then you can add a claw attack to each by binding Ipos, so it might have potential as medium combat forms go.
• Voor – If assuming its form doesn’t make you blind, it’s a phenomenal combat form with large size, 4 tentacles with extra reach, 2 claws, and +6 natural armor. Even if it does make you blind, that might be resolvable with Geryon’s All Around Vision, Malphas’ Bird’s Eye Viewing, or Ipos’ True Seeing ability.

We also now have a high enough effective turning level from Tenebrous to command some noteworthy undead, and being permanently bound to him shouldn’t ever have to worry about losing control of them. At EBL 10, Shadows become a viable option (they are effectively 5 HD including their Turn Resistance). In addition to being thematic and relatively dangerous even to high CR enemies, they can Create Spawn under their command, which can allow you to enthrall a larger army of them than you’d normally be able to as long as you can keep the top echelons of they pyramid scheme safe.

Once finished with Knight of the Sacred Seal, we return to Tattooed Monk. With a third iterative, Sun Devotion’s slam, and likely a bunch of added natural attacks from whatever form we assume, we’ve got plenty of vectors to deliver the Tiger Tattoo’s bonus damage. A third use per day and increased duration on the Chameleon Tattoo is also welcome to reliably access and maintain desired forms throughout the adventuring day.

Level 20

Spoiler

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The Wasp Tattoo’s Haste improves our ability to churn out attacks still further, and both it and the Tiger and Chameleon Tattoos are now up to the requisite number of uses to potentially devote one to each of a standard adventuring day’s four encounters. We return to Binder rather than finishing the SI after that, but with the assertion that it actually makes for a better use of the SI. The nature of choosing Tattoos off a menu is that options get worse as you progress through the ones we wanted most unless there’s a level-gated one that’s appealing, and the best such Tattoo (Crescent Moon) is largely redundant with Chupoclops being a commonly used vestige for the build. On the other hand, returning to Binder allows us to hit BAB 16 for a 4th iterative, which wrings more out of both the Unarmed Strike progression and Tiger Tattoo bonus damage than would a small uptick in base damage and additional use per day, respectively.

In addition to now having an Effective Binder Level of 13 for the purpose of abilities (including, notably, an extra use/day of Tenebrous’ Flicker and his Vessel of Emptiness applying to every unarmed strike in a round with its bonus damage increased to 2d8) and access to vestiges of up to 7th level expanding the options for our second slot, we bolster our Binding with Expel Vestige, making it viable to use a wider range of options with the second vestige slot. One such option, acquired with our 18th level feat, is to gain a Manifester Level to qualify for Metamorphic Transfer while bound to a psionic vestige, allowing access to the wide range of supernatural abilities that outsider Alter Self forms have. Since the ability is gained upon assuming the form, we can bind the psionic vestige, assume the relevant form for up to a 7 hour duration, then expel the Vestige in favor of another whose abilities are more appealing or synergistic with the ability in question. The full range of outsider (Su) abilities available through Alter Self is too extensive to list here, but includes gems even among the forms that we already favor for other reasons (Skulvyn’s Slow Aura, Dwarf Ancestor’s Blink Out, Houdeam’s Dancing Sword), all manner of stuff that’s situationally useful if you have the prep time to dial it up, thematically fun, or just plain weird (Ravid’s Animate Objects, Vorr’s Shadow Form and Shadow Jump, Xeg-Yi’s Rebuke Undead, Kaorti’s Vile Transformation), and even things that can potentially veer off into TO territory (Visilight’s Charisma Drain).

Spoiler: Void

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Cityscape Urban Class Features Web Enhancement: Skilled City-Dweller
Cityscape Urban Magic Web Enhancement: Astaroth
Class Chronicles: Zceryll
Complete Champion: Strength Devotion, Sun Devotion
Complete Scoundrel: Skill Tricks
Complete Warrior: Tattooed Monk
Fiend Folio: Kaorti, Skulvyn, Skeroloth, Vorr
Manual of the Planes: Spinagon, Xeg-Yi
Manual of the Planes Modrons Web Enhancement[/url]: Pentadrone
Miniatures Handbook: Protectar
Mind’s Eye[/url]: Psionic Vestiges
Monster Manual III: Visilight
Monster Manual IV: Dwarf Ancestor, Voor
Oriental Adventures Mahasarpa Web Enhancement: Vaati
Planar Handbook: Planar Touchstone, Catalogues of Enlightenment
Races of the Dragon: Essence of the Dragon
Spell Compendium: Aspect of the Wolf
Tome of Magic: Binder, Expel Vestige, Improved Binding, Knight of the Sacred Seal, Vestiges not mentioned elsewhere
Everything else mentioned is SRD.

[The Viscount]

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly.

Mori Kumo
LG Synad Monk 2/Ranger 8/Tattooed Monk 10

Spoiler: Respect

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The serenity of the tea house was broken as a Raika Yusuke flung wide the doors and swaggered in. He sauntered up to the counter, a sword in one hand rested on his shoulder, and the other tugging at his lapel to reveal the yakuza tattoo under his shirt to the owner.

“Oi, old woman,” he drawled menacingly, “I was looking through the books, and your shop doesn’t seem to be paying protection. Don’t you know who runs this town?”

“B-but…” she stammered.

“They say some of our best are monsters who ain’t even human! Just count yourself lucky it’s only me this time, cough up the money and no one has to get hurt!”

A man who had been sipping tea in the corner, calmly set down his cup and strode over. “You’re awfully noisy. Why don’t you run along now?”

“And who do you think you are? Buzz off!” The gangster moved to swing his sword, but the man’s stance was confusing, almost like a logic puzzle and trying to adjust to it slowed the blow so that it was easily avoided.

“You shouldn’t have done that, son. I’ll give you one more chance to run away and not come back.” His voice was still calm as he disappeared from view.

“I should say the same to you, but I won’t,” was the snarling response as Yusuke looked around for a sign of the man’s whereabouts. “Alright boys,” he called toward the door, “it seems they’ve chosen the hard way.

His fellow Yakuza swarmed in just in time to observe an enormous spiderlike creature marked with what looked like irezumi tattoos of its own appear hanging from the ceiling directly above their compatriot’s head. With a massive foreleg it swatted Yusuke to the floor, then slammed into his gut, causing bile to rise in his throat. Trying to rise to his feet to strike at the creature, Yusuke had just the split second to notice that his fellows had dropped to the floor in kowtow positions as well before he was struck again. This time he stayed down as the world faded to black.

He awoke in one of the corner booths to one of his friends slapping him awake with a cure spell that was probably applied with more force than necessary. “You dumbass. What were you thinking picking a fight with him?”

Yusuke’s head was throbbing. “He was… one of us?”

“That’s a pretty favorable interpretation of us. He’s a big dog, er, spider, whatever. Way high up. And apparently, he’s got a soft spot for this tea house. He says we’re to fix this place up and help out for a few weeks. Something about ‘keeping us off the streets.’”

“Are you going to sit around chatting all day?” The owner sounded more in her element now than when she’d been under threat earlier. “I’ve got more customers, and there are still spider tracks all over my ceiling. Get to it!”

They winced, and even in Yusuke’s case, not entirely in pain. “Hold the ladder for me, would you?” his friend asked, hauling him to his feet and moving to grab a bucket and rag.

Spoiler: Dignity

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Ability Scores
Point Buy: 16 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 12 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha
Increases go to Str.

Build Table

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Monk 1	+0	+2	+2	+2	Knowledge (Religion) +4 (4), Tumble +4 (4), Jump +4 (4), Climb +4 (4), Swim +3 (3), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (1)	Monk 1: Improved Unarmed Strike, Monk 1: Stunning Fist, 1st Level: Sapphire Fist	Unarmed Strike, Decisive Strike
2nd	Monk 2	+1	+3	+3	+3	Knowledge (Religion) +1 (5), Tumble +1 (5), Jump +1 (5), Climb +1 (5), Swim +1 (4)	Monk 2: Combat Reflexes	Invisible Fist
3rd	Ranger 1	+2	+5	+5	+3	Knowledge (Religion) +1cc (6), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +1 (1), Survival +2 (2), Leaping Climber	Ranger 1: Track, 3rd Level: Improved Grapple	Favored Enemy (Arcanists), Wild Empathy, Skilled City-Dweller (Ride for Tumble)
4th	Fangshields Ranger 2	+3	+6	+6	+3	Knowledge (Religion) +1cc (7), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +1 (2), Survival +3 (5), Speedy Ascent	Fangshields Ranger 2: Improved Natural Attack (Unarmed Strike)	-
5th	Ranger 3	+4	+6	+6	+4	Knowledge (Religion) +1cc (8), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +2 (4), Survival +3 (8)	Ranger 3: Endurance	-
6th	Tattooed Monk 1	+4	+8	+8	+6	Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +2 (6), Jump +1 (6), Collector of Stories	6th Level: Ascetic Hunter	Monk Abilities, Chameleon Tattoo
7th	Tattooed Monk 2	+5	+9	+9	+7	Swim +1 (5), Jump +2 (8), Quick Swimmer	-	-
8th	Tattooed Monk 3	+6	+9	+9	+7	Balance +5 (5)	Harpoon Spider Form: Improved Trip	Spider Tattoo
9th	Tattooed Monk 4	+7	+10	+10	+8	Jump +4 (12), Tumble +1 (6)	9th Level: Knock-Down	-
10th	Tattooed Monk 5	+7	+10	+10	+8	Jump +1 (13), Tumble +4 (10)	-	Scorpion Tattoo
11th	Tattooed Monk 6	+8	+11	+11	+9	Jump +1 (14), Tumble +4 (14)	-	-
12th	Tattooed Monk 7	+9	+11	+11	+9	Jump +1 (15), Tumble +1 (15), Knowledge (Nature) +3 (3)	Sapphire Smite	Lion Tattoo
13th	Tattooed Monk 8	+10	+12	+12	+10	Jump +1 (16), Tumble +1 (16), Knowledge (Nature) +2 (5), Concentration +1 (1)	-	-
14th	Tattooed Monk 9	+10	+12	+12	+10	Jump +1 (17), Tumble +1 (17), Concentration +3 (4)	-	Crescent Moon Tattoo
15th	Tattooed Monk 10	+11	+13	+13	+11	Jump +1 (18), Tumble +1 (18), Concentration +3 (7)	Assume Supernatural Ability (Runehound’s Uncanny Blindsight)	-
16th	Ranger 4	+12	+14	+14	+11	Jump +1 (19), Tumble +1 (19), Survival +5 (13)	-	Urban Companion
17th	Ranger 5	+13	+14	+14	+11	Jump +1 (20), Tumble +1 (20), Survival +5 (17)	-	Favored Enemy (Humanoid (Human))
18th	Fangshields Ranger 6	+14	+15	+15	+12	Jump +1 (21), Tumble +1 (21), Survival +4 (21), Concentration +1 (8)	Fangshields Ranger 6: Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike), 18th Level: Psycarnum Infusion	-
19th	Ranger 7	+15	+15	+15	+12	Jump +1 (22), Tumble +1 (22), Survival +1 (22), Concentration +4 (12)	-	Woodland Stride
20th	Ranger 8	+16	+16	+16	+12	Jump +1 (23), Tumble +1 (23), Survival +1 (23), Concentration +4 (16)	-	Swift Tracker

Ranger Casting

Level	1st	2nd
16th	0	-
17th	0	-
18th	1	-
19th	1	-
20th	1	0

*Not including bonus spells.

Spoiler: Honor

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Level 5

Spoiler

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Monk and Ranger bonus feats offer a nice easy path to on-time entry into the SI, though Kumo does take Improved Grapple with a regular feat to free up a Monk bonus feat for the harder to qualify for Stunning Fist, the save DC for which is bolstered by Decisive Strike and Sapphire Fist. As aberrations, Synads qualify for the Fangshields Ranger substitution levels. The only natural weapon that Kumo has at this point is his Monk’s Unarmed Strike, so he gets Improved Natural Attack from the Fangshields Combat Style.

Level 10

Spoiler

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We’re into the SI. The Chameleon Tattoo is far and away the best that Tattooed Monk has to offer, and as an aberration, Kumo has access to forms of that type when using its Alter Self ability. This includes the Grell for its impressive attack routine, reach, and perfect flight, Snowcloak for large size and faster flight, Gibbering Mouther or Skum for a swim speed, and Harpoon Spider for large size and climb speed. The Harpoon Spider will become the go-to form for Kumo, as Alter Self grants racial feats, so it provides Improved Trip to qualify for Knock-Down while in that form, granting a debuff and likely an extra double-damage attack on a Decisive Strike, and the Climb speed allows for 5-ft steps while climbing, which in conjunction with the Leaping Climber and Speedy Ascent skill tricks allows for significantly expanded swift action movement (if you can get your hands on a Sparring Dummy of the Master, you can even do 20 ft free action movement with Speedy Ascent – or Quick Swimmer in the appropriate form – on a 10-ft step) allowing him to make such attacks more reliably.

The Spider Tattoo comes next. As the Con damage is a flat 2 instead of a die roll, it’s multiplied by Decisive Strike, and as it comes in place of a Stunning Fist attempt, it benefits from things that boost that save DC. Those now also include his Favored Enemy bonus, thanks to Ascetic Hunter.

Ascetic Hunter also stacks Ranger levels on unarmed damage progression, which brings it up to full. Due to the way that damage dice work, having the bigger base means more value from the artificial size increase from Improved Natural Attack and the real one from assuming a large form.

Keeping up the arachnid theme, the third tattoo is the Scorpion. As it’s (Su) it requires no verbal or somatic components, so it, as well as Invisible Fist, should constitute purely mental actions, and with immediate action activation, should work with the Synad’s Multitask ability if you need to keep a swift freed up for the other one, or for Leaping Climber.

Level 15

Spoiler

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Finishing out the SI gives a few more tattoos. The Lion Tattoo’s smite is another flat damage boost that gets multiplied by Decisive Strike. Sapphire Smite can increase that damage and uses per day, though essentia are tight at this point between it and Sapphire Fist. Crescent Moon gives a helpful emergency button or utility ability once per day. Being (Sp), it requires a Concentration check to use defensively, but even with relatively few ranks, the ability to take 15 by expending psionic focus can trivialize it for Kumo. He also has more uses and longer duration for the Chameleon Tattoo, meaning there are uses free to throw around on utility forms, specifically the Runehound, whose excellent Uncanny Blindsight he gains access to with Assume Supernatural Ability.

Level 20

Spoiler

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Ranger keeps up unarmed damage thanks to Ascetic Hunter, grants another Favored Enemy against which the Spider Tattoo’s save DC is boosted, and keeps BAB up. Kumo is still likely to prefer Decisive Striking over full attacking, but hitting the 16 BAB benchmark is still nice, especially with the potential to further expand the routine with natural attacks. Psycarnum Infusion allows him to put his real essentia into Sapphire Smite freely, expending psionic focus to treat Sapphire Fist as fully invested at the appropriate moment.

Spoiler: Loyalty

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Arms and Equipment Guide: Sparring Dummy of the Master
Champions of Valor: Fangshields Ranger
Cityscape Web Enhancement: Skilled City-Dweller
Complete Adventurer: Ascetic Hunter
Complete Psionic: Synad
Complete Scoundrel: Skill Tricks
Complete Warrior: Tattooed Monk
Exemplars of Evil: Invisible Fist
Frostburn: Snowcloak
Magic of Incarnum: Sapphire Fist, Sapphire Smite, Psycarnum Infusion
Monster Manual II: Grell
Monster Manual III: Harpoon Spider, Runehound
Player’s Handbook II: Decisive Strike
Savage Species: Assume Supernatural Ability
Everything else is SRD.

[The Viscount]

Appropriately, that tattoo is totally sick.

Juan T.

“Look, undead is your job. Knowing everything is their job. Stealing stuff is their job. I do one thing on this team, and that’s spray oodles and oodles of poison on the bad guys. Actually, i can also spray fire, so actually,...I do two things on this team”

LG human
monk 1/psychic warrior 5/tattooed monk 9/Legacy Champion 5

ABILITIES
STR 8
DEX 15
CON 15
INT 11
WIS 17
CHA 8

4th: +1 WIS
8th: +1 CON
12th: +1 DEX
16th: +1 WIS
20th: +1 WIS

Spoiler: ”Table”

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features	PP
1	monk	0	2	2	2	balance 3, concentration 4, craft (tattoos) 1, K. Religion. 4, K. History 2 cc, psicraft 2cc,	IUS, improved grapple, Stunning fist, endurance	Bonus feat, Flurry, AC bonus, Unarmed Strike	0
2	psychic warrior 1	0	4	2	2	k. Religion 5, concentration 5	versatile unarmed strike	Prevenom Weapon	0
3	psychic warrior 2	1	5	2	2	k. Religion 6, concentration 6	Ancestral relic (necklace of natural attacks), linked power	Bonus Feat, Grip of Iron	1
4	psychic warrior 3	2	5	3	3	k.Religion 7, concentration 7		Burst	3
5	psychic warrior 4	3	6	3	3	k. religion 8, concentration 8	Ancestral relic (viper enchantment) Least Legacy	Hustle	5
6	tattooed monk 1	3	8	5	5	k. History 5, balance 5	Deadly Spittle	Dragon Tattoo	5
7	psychic warrior 5	3	8	5	5	psicraft 4, concentration 9	Scribe tattoo	Bonus Feat, Power Claws	7
8	tattooed monk 2	4	9	6	6	k. History 8 , concentration 11			7
9	tattooed monk 3	5	9	6	6	k.History 12, concentration 12	spit venom	Spider Tattoo	7
10	tattooed monk 4	6	10	7	7	k. History 13, concentration 13, balance 8			7
11	tattooed monk 5	6	10	7	7	k history14, concentration 14, balance 11	Lesser Legacy	Wasp Tattoo	7
12	tattooed monk 6	7	11	8	8	concentration 15, k. history 15, balance 14	practiced manifester,		7
13	Legacy champion 1	7	11	8	10	concentration 16, k history 15, craft (tattoo) 2.5cc	marrowcrushing (ancestral relic)	Reduced ritual cost (lesser), bond of lore	7
14	Legacy champion 2 (tattooed monk 7)	8	11	8	11	concentration 17, k. History 17, swift concentration skill trick, craft (tattoo) 3	manifester (ancestral relic)	Replace legacy ability (least), bamboo Tattoo	7
15	tattooed monk 7 (effective 8)	9	11	8	11	concentration 18, k history 18, balance 17	psionic tattoo mastery	Butterfly Tattoo	7
16	Legacy champion 3 (tattooed monk 9)	10	12	9	11	concentration 19, k. History 19, craft(tattoo) 4.5		Extra legacy ability use (least), Tortoise Tatoo	7
17	tattooed monk 8 (effective 10)	11	13	10	12	concentration 20, k. History 20, balance 20			7
18	Legacy champion 4 (tattooed monk 11)	12	13	10	13	concentration 21, k. History 21, craft (tattoo)6	Paralyzing fists, Quicken Legacy	Bonus legacy feat, Mountain Tattoo	7
19	tattooed monk 9 (effective 12)	12	13	10	13	concentration 22, k. History 22, balance 22, k. Religion 9		Scorpion Tattoo	7
20	Legacy champion 5 (tattooed monk 13)	12	13	10	13	concentration 23, k. History 23, craft tattoo 7.5,		Replace legacy ability (lesser), bat tattoo	7

Obviously, this is all self explanatory. ;)

Background:
Once upon there was a guy named Mr. T. They had a big necklace and a fear of flying. So they joined a monastery and got some sweet tats and that became their personality instead of the big necklace. Then the necklace got jealous...and Mr. T. had to learn how to integrate their love of sweet tats with wearing bling.

Spoiler: “Level 5 checkpoint”

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:
Monk 1 + human grants Juan T. a few things that set the build up for later. +1 skill point and a bonus feat nabs Juan the ranks he needs as he cross class knowledge religion as a psychic warrior, and the bonus feat works in concert with monk to get all of the tattooed monk feat pre- requisites taken care of. Monk also nabs wis to AC, free stunning fist, and the ability to treat unarmed strikes as natural and manufactured weapons, and your whole body is able to make unarmed strikes.

Juan wants you to remember that this build was set up around 2 monk tattoos in particular (dragon and spider), but synergies kept popping up.

Psychic warrior offers some neat stuff to a tattooed monk build:
1: hustle: more move actions mean more uses of tattoos per round.
2: linked power: more hustles is better than fewer hustles
3: bonus psionic or fighter feats, get versatile unarmed strike to make your unarmed strikes slashing damage typed.
4: scribe tattoo: many tattoos key off of the total number of tattoos you have, so start inking Juan’sself with more hustles, better yet… linked hustles, and this increases Juan’s number of tattoos for T. Monk.
5: prevenom weaponand eventually power weapon will synergize with your later feats and the spider tattoo.

Ancestral relic: this feat allows Juan to get what he needs to be the best T. Monk. Juan’s ancestral relic is a necklace of natural attacks. Somewhere between 5th and 6th level Juan can afford to put the viper enchantment on it. This turns Juan’s unarmed strike (which is slashing damage type thanks to versatile unarmed strike) into a viper. Unless a huge creature is wielding Juan as a weapon, his unarmed strikes then become a small viper. This means that Juan has a poison bite attack that counts as an unarmed strike, so the spider tattoo and the prevenom weapon power can both apply. One hit from that and you’ll be making three fort saves against 1d6+4 con damage. And then you’ll do it again in 10 rounds.

Burst and grip of iron are swift or immediate action powers meaning that when Juan linked power manifests them, he can add rider power to manifest next round automatically.

Spoiler: “Level 10 check point”

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Four tattooed monk levels and Juan’s final level of psywarrior. Level six sees Juan earn his first tattoo. Of a dragon. That Juan activates as a move action. I looked up this ability first, hoping that metabreath feats were an option... But they aren’t despite being able to breath fire, there is no indication that they are classified as a breath weapon. Then I saw this language in the elixir of firebreath: “This strange elixir bestows upon the drinker the ability to spit gouts of flame.” That’s a spit attack. Thus, it qualifies for the deadly spittle feat from serpent kingdoms, turning if from one target in 25 feet to a 15 foot cone.

An extra level of psychic warrior opens up a feat, filled by scribe psionic tattoo, and grants another 2nd level power, for which power weapon is selected. This power allows Juan’s weapon to deal force damage. A number ofthe tattooed monk’s tattoos scale with the number of tattoos possessed by the tattooed monk, but there is no indicator that these explicitly have to be tattooed monk tattoos. Scribe psionic tattoo then allows you to temporarily boost your tattoo quantity for more uses of your dragon tattoo, as well as other monk tattoos down the line.

Juan picks up the spider tattoo at character level 9 along with another fantastic feat from serpent kingdoms, spit venom: it turns a poison bite attack into a ranged touch attack of spat out contact poison. This then synergizes with deadly spittle to become a 15 cone of constitution damage. And because Juan’s poison bite attack is also his unarmed strike as well as a melee weapon, prevenom weapon and the spider tattoo all get spat in that standard action, prompting 3 fort saves against constitution damage.

The spider tattoo eats stunning fist uses, which means that at level 9, Juan has 3 uses of the spider tattoo per day, if you read the monk abilities section of tattooed monk to the exhaustive list of what stacks. It can be argued that tattooed monks are monks, (it’s in their name) and thus qualify metatextually for the special section of the stunning fist feat, i which case, Juan has 6 stunning fist uses. Lastly, there is the issue with the action type: is this use of stunning fist a part of an attack action or is it a poison attack that Juan makes as a move action? If it’s the latter, it qualifies for deadly spittle, which if my logic prevails means that the spit venom feats’ standard action requirement is for the ranged touch attack contact poison and not the 15’ cone. Seeing as how it works with the move action firebreath spit attack. This means that when Juan flurries or has iteratives, all attacks are candidates for a 15 ft cone of constitution damage. Which means that with the wasp tattoo and a flurry, Juan can get 3 extra cones of double poison sprayed (move action, flurry bonus attack, wasp bonus attack) or more if they manifest a hustle.

At any of these levels, Juan can begin the founding ritual for his ancestral relic to make it into an item of legacy. This will have bearing when he takes legacy champion levels. Legacy champion has a knowledge history prerequisite and the feat least legacy as a prerequisite. You can receive the least legacy feat for free by performing the ritual to unlock its legacy abilities.

Least legacy abilities worthy of this character are weapon enhancements, deflection bonuses to AC up to +2, and extend & delay power metapsionics.

Spoiler: “level 15 checkpoint and the high point of the build”

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Juan wants you to fortify yourself, our patient and gracious judge(s), as you make your secondary saves against his poison.

Juan takes 2 more levels of tattooed monk, picking up the wasp tattoo and its handy haste, stopping at tattooed monk level 6. Then Juan beseeches the power of his ancestral necklace of natural viper attacks by delving into legacy champion for two levels.

Make a fort save.

Legacy champion 2 advances the class features of another class, in this case, tattooed monk. This brings Juan’s effective tattooed monk level to seven.

“A 1st level tattooed monk has one tattoo and gains another tattoo at every odd-numbered level.”

So, at legacy champion 2, Juan has an effective tattooed monk level of 7, which is odd, and thus deserving of a tattoo. I like to think of it as a virtual tattoo monk level.

Bamboo tattoo adds Juan’s number of tattoos (4+psionic tattoos) to their constitution score, thus upping the save DC on the viper poison as well as adding to HP.

Then, Juan takes tattooed monk 7, which is an odd level of tattooed monk, and despite being effective level 8, but the directions say Juan gets a new tattoo at every odd level, this should count then.

The Butterfly tattoo adds the number of tattoos (now 5+psionic tattoos) to Juan’s wisdom score, thus upping their AC, bonus power points, the save DC of prevenom weapon, the save DC of the spider tattoo, and to the save DC of stunning fist attacks (of which you have 4-10 depending on how you read tattooed monk advancing monk abilities)

Over the course of these levels, Juan picks up 2 feats from class levels. Practiced manifester gets Juan up to 9 pp to spend at a time and increases the save DC on prevenom weapon by 2. Psionic tattoo mastery opens up a whole world of wierd tattoos. Of note are the capacitor and relay. The capacitor builds pp over time, supplementing the low pp of a 5th level psywarrior. The relay allows you to stack linked hustles together, for ungodly amounts of move actions.

The lesser legacy powers worth noting are weapon enhancements and protection from arrows. These will reduce the cost of using the ancestral relic to add the manifesting property to your unarmed strike as well as the marrowcrushing property from BOVD to deal 1 con damage when you damage a person with your unarmed strike.

Spoiler: “level 20 checkpoint”

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Make another fort save for poison, judge.

Juan takes 2 tattooed monk levels and three more legacy champion levels, using the slingshot technique of using both odd effective levels of tattooed monk and actual odd levels of tattooed monk to receive a total of 9 non-psionic tattoos over 14 levels.

At Character level 16, Juan reaches legacy champion 3, which is effective tattoo monk level 9, which is definitely an odd number, so he’ll get a tortoise tattoo added to his roster. This is nice because now Juan is a skill monkey.

At character level 17, the jig is up for a level, as Juan takes tattooed monk level 8 (effective level 10).

At Character level 18, the legacy champ slingshot continues, adding virtual tattooed champ level 9 (effective level 11) and the Mountain tattoo to the body art. The mountain adds a typeless +4 to constitution and wisdom, thus upping all of poison save DCs, granting extra HP and PP, and stacking with other constitution and wisdom upping tattoos.

Make another save against poison judge.

Seemingly plucked from 3.0's ghostwalk unedited and dropped into Drow of the underdark is the feat paralyzing fists, a feat that seems to forget that one can only use a stunning fist attack once per round. But, within the feat description, but before the listed benefit is this: "You can make multiple unarmed attacks to paralyze an opponent in a single round" which looks to Juan T. like it is permission to make unlimited stunning fist attacks in a round. This feat doesn't even have complete warrior's rapid stunning as a pre-req, so what gives? Did the designers just forget how the game worked? Often derided as flavor text, the area between the feat description and the benefit section of a build does have a record in iron chef entries as making a concrete mechanical difference, like using willing deformity (Obese) to increase the weight of a character. With that as precedent, I humbly submit that the text here is mechanical text, therefore, paralyzing fists allows multiple stun attempts per round.

At character level 19, Juan is a 9th level tattooed monk (effective tattooed monk level 12), gaining another tattoo due to it being an odd level, which is filled in with the scorpion tattoo. This tattoo is defensive as after Juan T. has drained massive amounts of Constitution from enemies and used their bevy of move actions to increase their AC and HP from the other tattoos, they are unlikely to get hit if they don’t want to be.

At character level 20, Juan takes the fifth level of Legacy Champion, becoming Tattooed monk effective level of 13, which is odd, so they add the bat Tattoo, gaining even further AC bonuses from the increased dexterity score.

Spoiler: Sources

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Race: Human (SRD)
Class: Monk (SRD), Psychic Warrior (XPH 24), Tattooed Monk (Complete Warrior 82), Legacy Champion (Weapons of Legacy 19)
Feats: Improved Unarmed strike, endurance, stunning fist, improved grapple (SRD), Ancestral Relic (BOED 39), Versatile unarmed strike (PHB2 85), Linked Power & Practiced Manifester (Complete Psionic 62 & 57), Scribe Tattoo (XPH 51), Deadly Spittle & Spit Venom (Serpent Kingdoms 145 & 147), Least Legacy, Lesser Legacy, & Quicken Legacy (Weapons of Legacy 14, 14, & 15), Paralyzing Fists (Drow of the Underdark 57), Psionic Tattoo Mastery (Web)
Powers: Prevenom Weapon (XPH 145), Burst (XPH 81), Grip of Iron (XPH 111), Hustle (XPH 111), Power Claws (Complete Psionic 94)
Equipment: Necklace of Natural Weapons (Savage Species 58), Viper (serpent Kingdoms 152), Manifester (SRD), Marrowcrushing (BOVD 112)

[The Viscount]

Tattooed Monk... for her!

Spoiler: Story

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Guildmeister Grey ran his fingers slowly through the hair of his new love, reflecting on how incredibly lucky he felt. Love at first sight was something he'd never expected to experience, and yet suddenly, here it was. He'd been travelling through the carnival on his way home from meeting the House Cannith representative, and a woman had simply stepped out of the crowd, opened the door of his coach and hopped in, pushing the latch closed behind her. He'd been on the verge of calling his footman to stop the carriage and haul her out, perhaps beat her for the impudence, but then he'd looked at her, really looked at her, and seen how amazing she was. Her skin was a canvas of animated figures, each one moving on its own, and her eyes, her voice, everything was perfect.
Now this astonishing beautiful woman, a living work of art, was in his coach, pressed up against him, her voice washing over him as she showed him yet another of her tattoos and told him a story. A story which he was unfortunately struggling to focus on. He tugged slightly at the silken scarf she'd taken off and used to tie his hands behind his back, and opened his mouth to ask if they weren't moving slightly too fast and perhaps he could buy her dinner first, but instead she gently placed another piece of soft, warm silk into his mouth, and with a coy smile and a gentle touch of his chin she pushed his mouth closed again. The guildmeister's gaze ran over her neck and shoulders again, taking in the riot of colours and the images that danced and cavorted before his eyes. Some little voice at the back of his head was tugging at him, suggesting that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite seem to place what it was. Then his eyes followed the curve of her arm and her hand as it moved to the next tattoo she wanted to draw his attention to, and Guildmeister Grey twitched in shock as he saw the two familiar faces on the men it depicted.
"This next one has a most interesting moral," she said, leaning over him to whisper into his ear. "It shows two merchants, one wise in the ways of coin but most foolish in the ways of trust, and one with great skill in dishonesty and treachery yet most foolish in the ways of coin. No, shhh, shhh. Don't struggle so. The first merchant had a thriving business, yet he yearned to undertake a pilgrimage. He left the business in the care of his close and trusted friend, and set out on the road, travelling with only a small group so as not to appear too rich and tempting a target for bandits. Yet nonetheless, bandits somehow found out about his route and set upon him, and his whole caravan was wiped out, leaving his business and all its accounts in the hands of his friend, who was of course devastated that such a tragic accident had occurred." Her hand slid slowly up Grey's neck, her fingers stroking his skin, seeking out precise veins and nerves. "But that merchant was so enamoured of his new wealth, of his new status, of all the things he could buy, that he made a very foolish mistake. He thought his wealth and status would protect him, so in his greed, he thought he could get away without paying the assassins the rest of what he owed them."
She breathed in carefully, and as the carriage passed over a small bump in the road, her hand shot out. With a quiet crack muffled by the sound of the carriage settling down again on its wheels, Guildmeister Grey slumped down in his seat. By the time the coach reached his home, there was no sign of the woman who the footman briefly remembered seeing enter the vehicle - surely she couldn't have simply opened the door and jumped out without the driver or the footman seeing. All that remained for the increasingly frustrated House Tharashk investigator was the body of the guild master, without a single visible wound or any magical auras, in a coach still locked from the inside.

Spoiler: Stub

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Ry, The Illustrated Woman
LE Changeling Rogue 3 / Monk 2 / Tattooed Monk 10 / Chameleon 3 / Marshal 1 / Warlock 1
Str 8 (-1)
Dex 14 (+2)
Con 14 (+2)
Int 16 (+3)
Wis 8 (-1)
Cha 16 +5ASI = 21 (+5)

Multiclass Penalties: No
Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven, Halfling

Spoiler: Image

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Spoiler: Build Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Changeling Rogue 1	+0	+0	+2	+0	K/(religion) 4, Tumble 4, Bluff 4, Diplomacy 4, Disguise 4, Hide 4, Move Silent 4, Open Lock 4, UMD 4, Escape Artist 4, Use Rope 4, Sense Motive 4, Gather Information 4	Able Learner, Silver Tongue, Flaw: Shaky	Sneak attack +1d6, social intuition
2nd	Rogue 2	+1	+0	+3	+0	K/(religion) 4, Tumble 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 5, Disguise 5, Hide 5, Move Silent 5, Open Lock 4, UMD 5, Spellcraft (cc) 1, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 4	-	Evasion
3rd	Changeling Rogue 3	+3	+1	+4	+1	K/(religion) 5, Tumble 6, Bluff 6, Diplomacy 6, Disguise 6, Hide 6, Move Silent 6, Open Lock 6, UMD 6, Spellcraft (cc) 3, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 5	Endurance	Minor Lore, sneak attack +2d6
4th	Decisive Strike Monk 1	+3	+3	+6	+3	K/(religion) 6, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 7, Hide 7, Move Silent 7, Bluff 7, Disguise 7, Open Lock 6, UMD 6, Spellcraft (cc) 3, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 5	Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Improved Grapple (B)	Unarmed damage 1d6, AC bonus (+0), unarmoured speed +0ft, decisive strike
5th	Invisible Fist Monk 2	+4	+4	+7	+4	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 8, Hide 8, Move Silent 8, Bluff 8, Disguise 8, Open Lock 6, UMD 6, Spellcraft (cc) 3, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 5	Combat Reflexes (B)	Invisible fist
6th	Tattooed Monk 1	+4	+6	+9	+6	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 9, Hide 9, Move Silent 9, Bluff 9, Disguise 9, Open Lock 6, UMD 6, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6	Wanderer's Diplomacy	Monk abilities, Tattoo (White Mask)
7th	Tattooed Monk 2	+5	+7	+10	+7	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 10, Hide 10, Move Silent 10, Bluff 10, Disguise 10, Open Lock 6, UMD 6, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 2	-	-
8th	Tattooed Monk 3	+6	+7	+10	+7	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 11, Hide 11, Move Silent 11, Bluff 11, Disguise 11, Open Lock 6, UMD 6, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 4	-	Tattoo (Monkey)
9th	Tattooed Monk 4	+7	+8	+11	+8	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 12, Hide 12, Move Silent 12, Bluff 12, Disguise 12, Open Lock 6, UMD 7, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5	Weapon Finesse	-
10th	Tattooed Monk 5	+7	+8	+11	+8	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 13, Hide 13, Move Silent 13, Bluff 13, Disguise 13, Open Lock 6, UMD 9, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5	-	Tattoo (Bellflower)
11th	Tattooed Monk 6	+8	+9	+12	+9	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 14, Hide 14, Move Silent 14, Bluff 14, Disguise 14, Open Lock 6, UMD 9, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5, skill trick (assume quirk)	-	-
12th	Tattooed Monk 7	+9	+9	+12	+9	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 15, Hide 15, Move Silent 15, Bluff 15, Disguise 15, Open Lock 6, UMD 9, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5, K/(planes)(cc) 2	Carmendine Monk	Tattoo (Tortoise)
13th	Tattooed Monk 8	+10	+10	+13	+10	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 16, Hide 16, Move Silent 16, Bluff 16, Disguise 16, Open Lock 6, UMD 9, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5, K/(planes)(cc) 4	-	-
14th	Tattooed Monk 9	+10	+10	+13	+10	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 17, Hide 17, Move Silent 17, Bluff 17, Disguise 17, Open Lock 6, UMD 9, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5, K/(planes)(cc) 6	-	Tattoo (Crescent Moon)
15th	Tattooed Monk 10	+11	+11	+14	+11	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 18, Hide 18, Move Silent 18, Bluff 18, Disguise 18, Open Lock 6, UMD 9, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5, K/(planes)(cc) 8	Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment: Charm Domain)	-
16th	Chameleon 1	+11	+11	+14	+11	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 19, Hide 19, Move Silent 19, Bluff 19, Disguise 19, Open Lock 6, UMD 11, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5, K/(planes)(cc) 8	-	Aptitude Focus 1/day (+2)
17th	Chameleon 2	+12	+11	+14	+11	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 20, Hide 20, Move Silent 20, Bluff 20, Disguise 20, Open Lock 6, UMD 11, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 7, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5, K/(planes)(cc) 8	(Bonus Essentia)(B)	Bonus Feat
18th	Chameleon 3	+13	+12	+15	+12	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 21, Hide 21, Move Silent 21, Bluff 21, Disguise 21, Open Lock 6, UMD 11, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 9, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty)(cc) 5, K/(planes)(cc) 8	Shape Soulmeld: Silvertongue Mask	Mimic Class Feature 1/day
19th	Marshal 1	+13	+14	+15	+14	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 22, Hide 22, Move Silent 22, Bluff 22, Disguise 22, Open Lock 6, UMD 11, Spellcraft (cc) 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 11, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty) 5, K/(planes) 8	Skill Focus (Diplomacy) (B)	Minor aura (motivate Charisma)
20th	Warlock 1	+13	+14	+15	+16	K/(religion) 8, Tumble 7, Diplomacy 23, Hide 23, Move Silent 23, Bluff 23, Disguise 23, Open Lock 6, UMD 11, Spellcraft 4, Escape Artist 5, Use Rope 5, Sense Motive 11, Gather Information 6, K/(nobility & royalty) 5, K/(planes) 8	-	Eldritch blast 1d6, least invocation (beguiling influence)

Spoiler: Chameleon Spellcasting

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Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd
16th	4	3	1	-
17th	4	4	2	-
18th	4	4	3	1
19th	4	4	3	1
20th	4	4	3	1

Usual spells prepared:
0: Prestidigitation, Read Magic, Detect Magic, Silent Portal
1: Serene Visage, Distract Assailant, Silent Image, Shock and Awe
2: Knock, Detect Thoughts, Delusions of Grandeur
3: Glibness

Spoiler: Play tips

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Play tips:
Tip #1, applicable at all levels: Never engage in a fair fight.

Spoiler: 1-5

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Levels 1-5
Ry begins as primarily a social-focused rogue, with Changeling Rogue substitution levels providing some extra Knowledge ranks, the vital ability to take 10 on Bluff and Diplomacy in all situations, and the 3rd level substitution providing an extra point of BAB to help soak up the BAB loss from Monk and Tattooed Monk. (Normally a rogue would want Penetrating Strike, but I don't think you can sub in Penetrating Strike for Minor Lore while still getting the bonus BAB, skills and saves from Changeling Rogue 3, and besides, you should only be sneak attacking defenseless humanoids anyway, not mixing it up in combat flanking oozes.) 4th level is possibly the weakest level of the entire build; sneak attack damage doubled up by decisive strike can potentially buff your otherwise fairly poor combat potential, if you end up in a position where you can sneak attack someone without moving, but primarily you are not a combat character, and if you are attacking someone it should be a coup-de-grâce. (If your DM is feeling lenient towards monks and permits Decisive Strike to be combined with a coup-de-grâce, it becomes much better. Take advantage of this leniency while you can; it will not last once the Diplomancy begins). You do get a nice benefit from being a monk, though: you no longer need to carry a weapon, which is very helpful for a changeling, and for an assassin generally. Endurance and Improved Grapple unlock the SI, and while they don't do much mechanically, will also have certain fluff advantages given our specific style of assassination. At level 5, where you would otherwise gain the entirely redundant evasion, Invisible Fist instead gives you the ability to turn invisible for an entire round as an immediate action, every 3 rounds. It just says 'for 1 round', not 'for 1 round or until you attack', so presumably it's like Greater Invisibility. This is a phenomenal buff for a rogue, allowing mid-combat sneak attacks without needing to manuever into flanking positions, letting you slowly hop from hiding place to hiding place while sneaking, and providing some temporary safety if you get in over your head and need to escape. Combat Reflexes hooks into Decisive Strike: if you can provoke some AoOs (perhaps because you're invisible, or between them and the only door, or both), they get the double damage bonus too.

Spoiler: 6-10

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Levels 6-10
Level 6 is where the build really kicks into gear, with Wanderer's Diplomacy allowing you to apply the +10 untyped Bluff bonus from White Mask to manipulating NPC attitudes. And since you're applying Bluff 'in the same way you use Diplomacy', that should open up the Silver Tongue list of additional Diplomacy options too. Your Bluff is +24 at level 6 before any bonuses from items or wands/potions of Glibness, and by level 10 it's +31 if you have a move action to activate the Bellflower tattoo, enough that anyone who's not actively Hostile is falling in love with you. For one minute, anyway. But a minute is more than long enough to get someone into a vulnerable, isolated and unarmed situation where you can decisive-strike sneak-attack assassinate them. Depending on exactly when your GM decides the 1 minute timer starts, you may also be able to spend that 1 minute using Use Rope to bind the target up, after which it doesn't matter if they're Hostile because no-one takes Escape Artist and you can repeatedly coup-de-grâce them to death while they spend a minute trying to escape. (Use Gather Information before-hand to double-check they're not a specialist Conjurer with Abrupt Jaunt. Pretty much anyone else is screwed. Even Freedom of Movement doesn't help - escaping bonds is a different Escape Artist usage than escaping a grapple or pin.) For slightly more long-lasting manipulation, your +25 Diplomacy suffices to turn Hostile foes Indifferent in a single round. (Weapon Finesse is just a +3 to your attack, for those rare situations where you have to land a hit on someone who's wearing a ton of armour and can't be coup-de-grâced). I'm taking a little bit of liberty with the tattoos btw, in terms of the whole 'animated' thing. Basically, Minor Change Shape can reshape your entire body in a full round, so it seems like a reasonable bit of fluff that a changeling could easily and casually just reshape a little tiny bit of their body with no mechanical result without needing to spend the full round action.

Spoiler: 11-15

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Levels 11-15
Finishing off the SI, Tortoise makes for an excellent extra boost for skill monkeys, and Crescent Moon gives you a powerful escape option. (If you already have some sort of escape route, or if you already know someone you can use Minor Change Shape and your immense Disguise skill to impersonate, who'll provide an opportunity to escape the scene, Ethereal Jaunt is also an excellent way to get yourself into someone's sanctum or bedchamber in the first place to provide a private opportunity for seduction and assassination). Carmendine Monk is effectively +3AC as a feat; there's nothing in the description of the Zealots of the Written Word that explicitly prohibits you from being a LE assassin, apart from their general presence in the Champions of Valour book, and as a changeling you're extremely well-placed to just disguise yourself and infiltrate them, but if your GM disapproves of meeting the prerequisite through lies and disguise, or just says the Zealots don't exist in his world so he's banning the feat, just go with Kung Fu Genius from Dragon Compendium instead. (The +2 monk level gives you no bonus for going from 12th to 14th equivalent monk level, so losing the other part of Carmendine Monk is only relevant for levels 12-14). Catalogues of Enlightenment gives another +4 Charisma when necessary; Tortoise and Minor Lore gives you a baseline Knowledge bonus of +14 in any Knowledge area before items and other bonuses, but you're unlikely to ever have the Wisdom to make use of the Higher-order ability anyway.

Spoiler: 16-20

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Levels 16-20
We jump straight into Chameleon, which finally unlocks the ability to use wands and eternal wands of Glibness without needing to UMD, and after 3 levels gives you the ability to cast Glibness 1/day all on your own. It also gives an extra 1d6 sneak attack damage 1/day, which helps supplement your terrible damage, and a floating bonus feat, which can be used for all sorts of things depending on what Gather Information and scouting tells you about the current assassination target. (I've provided a 'default' of Bonus Essentia, to bump Silvertongue Mask up from +2 to +6). Marshal doubles your Charisma bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise and UMD, and hence increases the bonus you get from Bellflower. Warlock rounds things out with a repeatable ranged attack that you can use while unarmed, in case you do run into an Abrupt Jaunt Conjurer, and an extra +6 untyped to Bluff and Diplomacy. Your final Bluff and Diplomacy totals, with Charm domain and Bellflower boosting Cha 25 -> 32, are 23+11+11+6+10+2+6 =+69 and 23+11+11+6+2+2+2+3+6=+66. You cannot fail to turn a Hostile target Helpful in one round, and you can toss around Epic Bluff suggestion effects on gullible targets even without Glibness. With Glibness, you can turn an Indifferent target who's never met you before into a Fanatic ready to fight to the death for you in a handful of seconds ("You love me, darling, don't you? Go assassinate the king for me. Yes, now, in the middle of court."). The 1 minute duration on Wanderer's Diplomacy probably overrides the multi-day duration of the Fanatic attitude, but a minute is plenty of time to get someone killed by a group of royal guards.

Spoiler: Item suggestions

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Obviously, if you can get a custom item that gives a massive competence bonus to Bluff and/or Diplomacy, sink every gp you can into it. Barring that, potions and wands of Glibness, or an eternal wand of Glibness (get a Beguiler to make it to avoid arguments about eternal wands having a max CL of 6 and Bards having a minimum CL of 7 for 3rd level spells), are your best friends. If you can't get a custom item, a Circlet of Persuasion or Admiral's Bicorne, Greater Choker of Eloquence and a Cloak of Charisma will help at least a bit. The Bicorne (which gives an untyped bonus), Greater Choker and +6 Cloak together will add +18 up to level 18 or +21 thereafter, enough to start making Fanatics with pure Diplomacy. Even once you get Chameleon casting, resist the urge to get a Headband of Intelligence unless you can also get an inherent Int bonus of at least +2, because the key feature is how many bonus 3rd level spell slots you get. If you feel like your damage output is lacking, a Mantle of the Predator, Rogue's Vest, Bracers of Murder and Necklace of Natural Weapons with the Deadly Precision enhancement will provide a substantial increase in your sneak attack dice, and a Fanged Ring will give you an extra d6 on every unarmed strike. A wand of Find The Gap may also help, if you find yourself dealing with heavily armoured targets whose flat-footed AC is much like their usual AC. (Or just convince your helpful friend who loves you deeply to take their armour off). A wand of gravestrike may seem like the obvious investment if you need to assassinate a lich or vampire, but bear in mind that undead don't need to make the Fortitude save to avoid death from coup-de-grâce, so consider instead a wand of spark of life and persuading your new friend to voluntarily fail their Will save so they can enjoy the pleasures of life. Finally, glamerweave clothing provides a +1 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy; a small bonus, but a cheap nonmagical one that can be accessed from very early in your career and doesn't use up any item slots. (Technically, the 'Tool, Masterwork' entry in the PHB allows for Bluff and Diplomacy masterwork tools; I would be surprised to find any DM actually allowing that, but RAW you can get them, for an extra +2 circumstance bonus).

Spoiler: Sources

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Tattooed Monk: CW
Changeling: ECS
Changeling Rogue substitution levels: RoE p122
Able Learner, Chameleon: RoDe
Chameleon & Able Learner, for changelings: RoDe p116
Silver Tongue: Dragon 318 OA update p38
Decisive Strike monk ACF: PHB2 p51
Invisible Fist monk ACF: EoE p21
Marshal: MH
Warlock: CA
Wanderer's Diplomacy: PHB2 p85
Carmendine Monk: CoV p28
Kung Fu Genius: DC p101
Planar Touchstone, Catalogues of Enlightenment: PlH p41, p166
Charm Domain: SC p271
Shape Soulmeld, Bonus Essentia, Silvertongue Mask soulmeld: MoI p35, p40, p86
Assume Quirk skill trick: CS p85
Admiral's Bicorne: Sw p131
Choker of Eloquence: CA p132
Find The Gap, Spark of Life, Grave Strike: SC p91, p196, p107
Mantle of the Predator, Rogue's Vest: MIC p130, p200
Bracers of Murder: DotU p98
Necklace of Natural Weapons: SS p58
Deadly Precision weapon enhancement: CA p127
Fanged Ring: DrM p101
Glamerweave clothing: ECS p122
Silent Portal, Serene Visage, Distract Assailant, Shock and Awe, Delusions of Grandeur: SC p190, p182, p69, p189, p63
Image: Steve Argyle

[The Viscount]

I think that's all of them. Big turnout this round!

[H_H_F_F]

Lots of entries, and on the face of it they seem fun and diverse. Well done, everyone! Can't wait to read through them.