Goddess FallenAngel said:
I'm creating a monk character for a game. The character is (or, will be) very focused on physical excellence - a warrior-monk.
We are 7th level, and gestalt. I was thinking monk7/fighter7, but that seemed a bit bland. Anyone have any suggestions for multi-classing or PrCs? We are playing FR, and all WOTC source books (FR and non) are allowed for character creation.
I'd definitely go with Monk/Sorcerer. IMO, the spells you can use to augment your melee ability are far more powerful than the boost you'd get from fighter levels.
I was looking into a (non-gestalt) Enlightened Fist recently, so I have some suggestions:
Take the Ascetic Monk feat from CAd to reduce your attribute dependency (no longer need Wis). Also take Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike).
A few killer spells for you are then:
Greater Mighty Wallop from Races of the Dragon. It can increase the effective size category of a bludgeoning weapon (your unarmed strike, in this case) by one size per 4 levels, and there's no reason (that I can see) that it wouldn't stack with Improved Natural Attack. At 7th level, that combo would give you 3d6 damage (or 4d6 with a monk's belt). At 8th level, though, it would give you 4d8 damage (or 6d6 with a monk's belt).
Greater Magic Weapon is also a good way to enhance your fists, though I wouldn't take it yet at 7th level (use the two 3rd-level spells known for Greater Mighty Wallop and Dragonskin). Haste is another amazing 3rd-level spell, but I'd just go with boots of speed instead, to avoid the time spent buffing.
Wraithstrike from SC. This lets you make a full power attack and hit with everything. In order to get more rounds of it per day, you can take Extend Spell and the metamagic specialist variant of sorcerer from PHBII. That way you can use 2nd-level slots on Wraithstrike and 3rd-level slots on extended Wraithstrike.
Bladeweave from SC. This is a swift action and lasts for 1 round/level. Once per round, you can daze anyone you've hit that round for 1 round (will save negates).
Corrosive Grasp from SC -- add an extra 1d8 damage to every hit. Or you could use Chill Touch for 1d6 plus possible str damage.
Alter Self is another critical spell. Use it to turn into a Troglodyte, and you get +6 natural armor plus some natural attacks that you can use in addition to your full flurry of blows.
Enlarge person gives you reach, a little extra str, and it increases your damage by yet another size category. Stacked with Improved Natural Attack and Greater Mighty Wallop, that's 4d6 damage at 7th level (6d6 with monk's belt) and 6d8 damage at 8th (8d6 with monk's belt). It does cost you 2 AC, though (-1 dex, -1 size).
Blood Wind from SC lets you make a full attack with natural weapons (which includes a Monk's unarmed strike) from range. You can't combine it with Wraithstrike (unless you used extended Wraithstrike the previous round) since they're both swift actions, but it's a great option when you're not adjacent to the target. A full attack without Wraithstrike will still be much stronger than a single attack with Wraithstrike.
And then there are a bunch of AC boosting spells -- Mage Armor, Shield, and Dragonskin. Adding in Alter Self and Haste (from boots of speed), that's +19 AC at 7th level, and then you get to add your Cha bonus, Dex bonus, and Monk bonus. With decent stats and some minor stat-boosting items, you could easily be at 35-40 AC.
And all of this fits into the spells you can know at 7th level:
3rd - Greater Mighty Wallop, Dragonskin
2nd - Alter Self, Wraithstrike, Bladeweave
1st - Mage Armor, Shield, Corrosive Grasp, Blood Wind, Enlarge Person
