Psionic Monk build questions...
akbearfoot
First Post
Now I am wondering how sweeping strikes would interact with the Pharoah's Fist feat, and Pain touch.
I can see it now...the Huge sized Psi-warrior with improved trip, a trip polearm, pole master, stunning master, pain touch, pharoahs fist, and sweeping strikes.
Not sure if pain touch works on pharoahs fist, but the way I imagine it working, this is just a cool image! Tripping 1 guy, then delivering a stunning attack AoO from a big reach, that damage 2 adjacent primary targets and stun anyone adjacent to either of them, and anyone that fails the save sucks for TWO rounds instead of 1. neato!
I can see it now...the Huge sized Psi-warrior with improved trip, a trip polearm, pole master, stunning master, pain touch, pharoahs fist, and sweeping strikes.
Not sure if pain touch works on pharoahs fist, but the way I imagine it working, this is just a cool image! Tripping 1 guy, then delivering a stunning attack AoO from a big reach, that damage 2 adjacent primary targets and stun anyone adjacent to either of them, and anyone that fails the save sucks for TWO rounds instead of 1. neato!
Nifft
Penguin Herder
IMHO you'll have a great character playing a Psionic Swordsage with no Monk levels or Psychic Warrior levels.
First, choose a Psionic race, or take Human with Wild Talent as your bonus feat. Xeph are a good choice, too.
Now, for your other feats:
1/ Improved Unarmed Strike, [Weapon Focus (Shadow Hand)]
3/ Weapon Finesse
6/ Superior Unarmed Strike or Psionic Fist
9/ Speed of Thought or Power Attack
12/ Up the Walls or Unavoidable Strike
15/ Improved Critical (unarmed strike) or Psionic Meditation
Take a lot of Diamond Mind strikes; make sure your Concentration ranks are maxed out.
Cheers, -- N
First, choose a Psionic race, or take Human with Wild Talent as your bonus feat. Xeph are a good choice, too.
Now, for your other feats:
1/ Improved Unarmed Strike, [Weapon Focus (Shadow Hand)]
3/ Weapon Finesse
6/ Superior Unarmed Strike or Psionic Fist
9/ Speed of Thought or Power Attack
12/ Up the Walls or Unavoidable Strike
15/ Improved Critical (unarmed strike) or Psionic Meditation
Take a lot of Diamond Mind strikes; make sure your Concentration ranks are maxed out.
Cheers, -- N
I've run a Githzerai PsyWar/Monk/Lucid Cenobite (a PrCl from Hyperconscious) and really liked it. He was a Dex & Wis build using a Polearm & the various feats that play off of Combat Reflexes.
Regardless of your build preferences, your psionic power choices can make a huge difference in the PC. Expansion is virtually a no-brainer. Inertial Armor (if you don't have it as a psi-like ability) is also quality, since it gives you a +4AC boost with a duration measured in hours.
Fist of Zuoken, if you can't use Hyperconscious, is a nice PrCl that gives you continued progression in your psionic abilities.
If you play a Kalashtar, take a look at the Atavist class, which works with Soulknife or Monk PCs- its unclear what happens if your PC has both classes, though.
Take Monastic Training, one of the other feats, or one of the Monk variants that lets you freely multiclass with Monk & another class.
There are also a lot of feats out there that let you use other weapons as Monk weapons. Depending upon your choice, that could be quite a boon. Pole Master/Pole Fighter (same basic feat, 2 different sources) lets you do that with a polearm- FoB at 10' Reach is pretty fun.
Ring the Golden Bell from DCv1 lets you use your PC's unarmed strikes at range, including any attack he could normally deliver by touch, like a held spell/power or a use of stunning fist.
You might also find this thread helpful:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=221182
Regardless of your build preferences, your psionic power choices can make a huge difference in the PC. Expansion is virtually a no-brainer. Inertial Armor (if you don't have it as a psi-like ability) is also quality, since it gives you a +4AC boost with a duration measured in hours.
Fist of Zuoken, if you can't use Hyperconscious, is a nice PrCl that gives you continued progression in your psionic abilities.
If you play a Kalashtar, take a look at the Atavist class, which works with Soulknife or Monk PCs- its unclear what happens if your PC has both classes, though.
Take Monastic Training, one of the other feats, or one of the Monk variants that lets you freely multiclass with Monk & another class.
There are also a lot of feats out there that let you use other weapons as Monk weapons. Depending upon your choice, that could be quite a boon. Pole Master/Pole Fighter (same basic feat, 2 different sources) lets you do that with a polearm- FoB at 10' Reach is pretty fun.
Ring the Golden Bell from DCv1 lets you use your PC's unarmed strikes at range, including any attack he could normally deliver by touch, like a held spell/power or a use of stunning fist.
You might also find this thread helpful:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=221182
Ruslanchik
First Post
Seems like Improved Natural Attack would stack with Superior Unarmed Strike. Improved Natural Attack is a must-have for monks.
I concur with Nifft about taking Swordsage levels with Diamond Mind maneuvers, but I think I would choose human as the race (for an extra starting feat) and take one level of monk for improved unarmed strike, flurry of blows, and a bonus feat, and one or more levels of PsyWar for the bonus psionic feats. Then I would jump into Swordsage.
I have often considered a similar build, especially because psychic warrior, monk and swordsage all make use of a high Wis score.
I concur with Nifft about taking Swordsage levels with Diamond Mind maneuvers, but I think I would choose human as the race (for an extra starting feat) and take one level of monk for improved unarmed strike, flurry of blows, and a bonus feat, and one or more levels of PsyWar for the bonus psionic feats. Then I would jump into Swordsage.
I have often considered a similar build, especially because psychic warrior, monk and swordsage all make use of a high Wis score.
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Ruslanchik
First Post
moritheil said:Oh no, it's the "Can Monks take INA and benefit from it?" discussion all over again!
Mwuuhhahahaa!!! I will curse your thread to 1000 painful hijackings and derailments!
Other PrCls of note:
Kensai lets you boost your unarmed strike (or weapon) damage pretty quickly, and also gives you a conditional power called Power Surge for +8Str- pretty handy- and it freely multiclasses with Monks.
As someone pointed out to me, the Shiba Protector PrCl adds his Wis score to Att & Damage roll...at 1st lvl of the class. That's a nice dip.
Tattooed Monk is nice, and if you add some psionic tats on top...Fun, fun, fun!
The Shou Disciple is also a nice one- not only can you wear armor (though that costs you Monk- not Shou- abilities), but you eventually get to do FoB with any weapon.
Another WotC psychic monk PrCl is the Zerth Cenobite, in case the FoZ isn't to your liking.
Sun Soul Monks have multiclassing with one other class built in.
The Hazatarain is one of the few Monk PrCls that actually advances more than just a couple of the Monk's trademark abilities.
Books to consider (and why):
Secrets of Sharlona- lots of useful Monk feats
Unearthed Arcana- lots of Monk variants
Dragon Compendium v.1- several tasty Monk feats, and if you go for Pole Master/Pole Fighter, there is a huge selection of Polearms & Polearm feats (many by Mouseferatu!)
Oriental Adventures- the Monk here has unrestricted multiclassing and a broader selection of weapons. In addition, there are a lot of feats & PrCls in its pages.
On psionic Feats:
One mistake I see a lot of monk/psionic class PC players make is that they go for the Psionic Fist feat tree, when in fact, they should take the more flexible Psionic Weapon feat tree. There are simply times when you don't want to touch a creature with your fists, and that +2d6 (etc.) would come in handy even if you're using your quarterstaff.
Kensai lets you boost your unarmed strike (or weapon) damage pretty quickly, and also gives you a conditional power called Power Surge for +8Str- pretty handy- and it freely multiclasses with Monks.
As someone pointed out to me, the Shiba Protector PrCl adds his Wis score to Att & Damage roll...at 1st lvl of the class. That's a nice dip.
Tattooed Monk is nice, and if you add some psionic tats on top...Fun, fun, fun!
The Shou Disciple is also a nice one- not only can you wear armor (though that costs you Monk- not Shou- abilities), but you eventually get to do FoB with any weapon.
Another WotC psychic monk PrCl is the Zerth Cenobite, in case the FoZ isn't to your liking.
Sun Soul Monks have multiclassing with one other class built in.
The Hazatarain is one of the few Monk PrCls that actually advances more than just a couple of the Monk's trademark abilities.
Books to consider (and why):
Secrets of Sharlona- lots of useful Monk feats
Unearthed Arcana- lots of Monk variants
Dragon Compendium v.1- several tasty Monk feats, and if you go for Pole Master/Pole Fighter, there is a huge selection of Polearms & Polearm feats (many by Mouseferatu!)
Oriental Adventures- the Monk here has unrestricted multiclassing and a broader selection of weapons. In addition, there are a lot of feats & PrCls in its pages.
On psionic Feats:
One mistake I see a lot of monk/psionic class PC players make is that they go for the Psionic Fist feat tree, when in fact, they should take the more flexible Psionic Weapon feat tree. There are simply times when you don't want to touch a creature with your fists, and that +2d6 (etc.) would come in handy even if you're using your quarterstaff.
Nifft
Penguin Herder
The problem with one level of Monk is that it renders the Superior Unarmed Strike feat worthless.Ruslanchik said:
From the outside, there's no real way to tell a Swordsage from a Monk. Just be sure to yell "Flurry of Blows!" when you initiate Flashing Sun, and none will be the wiser.
Cheers, -- N
