Help with Designing a Monk

[Zimbel]

I run a Greyhawk hybrid, and any Wizard's Source is fine. I have the Race and Complete books and will stick to those, unless there is something specific elsewhere.

We use the flaw system from Unearthed Arcana.

I know that the monk will use the Quarterstaff, so TWF might be a good choice if it works with the Flurry. A Vow of Poverty sounds neat, I didn't think of that. Where is that from?

I have this character as a fighter, who due to some tragedy, eventually joined something similar to an all female nunery/monk training ground.

Aluvial

Vow of Poverty is awesome for a monk, but note that some of the bonus feats from it (that are useful for a monk) are Charisma-based. It's from the WOTC good counterpart to the Book of Vile Darkness (Sorry, I'm not recalling the name).

 

[Elephant]

Vow of Poverty is awesome for a monk, but note that some of the bonus feats from it (that are useful for a monk) are Charisma-based. It's from the WOTC good counterpart to the Book of Vile Darkness (Sorry, I'm not recalling the name).

Book of Exalted Deeds

 

[Aluvial]

OK, more questions...

Can you use Two Weapon Fighting with Flurry of Blows?

It seems that my BAB is +3 as a 1st level Fighter/3rd level Monk. With Flurry of Blows, I attack at +1/+1.

Does TWF and quaterstaff increase that back to +3/+3 because with a quarterstaff the off-hand weapon is light? This doesn't seem to make sense...

Aluvial

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

You can't flurry and use non-monk weapons at the same time.

So, when want to use TWF and Flurry, your extra attacks must be made with a monk weapon. Moreover, it can't be a weapon that you use in your flurry (per the FAQ, which seems to have decided that anything used in a flurry should be treated as a main-hand attack).

So ...

BAB +3

You can either flurry, and get two attacks at: +1 / +1 (using either end of your staff [with normal strength bonus] or your unarmed strike)

--or--

You can do TWF with your staff at +1 (main attack, one end of your staff [1.5x Strength bonus]) and your unarmed strike as your off-hand attack at +1 (.5x Str bonus)

--or--

You can flurry and use TWF: -1 / -1 staff (either end, 1.0x Str bonus) and -1 unarmed strike (.5x Str bonus)

 

[diaglo]

why am i having a WotC CoF moment here?

have you tried the WotC Character Optimization forum?

 

[Aluvial]

You can't flurry and use non-monk weapons at the same time.

So, when want to use TWF and Flurry, your extra attacks must be made with a monk weapon. Moreover, it can't be a weapon that you use in your flurry (per the FAQ, which seems to have decided that anything used in a flurry should be treated as a main-hand attack).

The Quarterstaff is a Monk Weapon.

So ...

BAB +3

You can either flurry, and get two attacks at: +1 / +1 (using either end of your staff [with normal strength bonus] or your unarmed strike)

--or--

You can do TWF with your staff at +1 (main attack, one end of your staff [1.5x Strength bonus]) and your unarmed strike as your off-hand attack at +1 (.5x Str bonus)

--or--

You can flurry and use TWF: -1 / -1 staff (either end, 1.0x Str bonus) and -1 unarmed strike (.5x Str bonus)

Do these still stand up. Also, it says that a monk uses his Str damage for all attacks with two weapons, even if it comes from an offhand. I'm not sure where you are getting your bonuses from. Am I wrong?

Aluvial

 

[Saeviomagy]

Might I suggest not bothering with dodge and mobility? Unless you're aiming for elusive target of course (but you can't get that until 9th level with the monk levels anyway). You have tumble as a class skill, and moving around just gives away one of your class features anyway.

 

[Christian]

Might I suggest not bothering with dodge and mobility? Unless you're aiming for elusive target of course (but you can't get that until 9th level with the monk levels anyway). You have tumble as a class skill, and moving around just gives away one of your class features anyway.

I agree with that advice in general, Saeviomagy, but for this particular monk with her first level as fighter, her tumble skill will take a nasty hit compared to what it could be ... For strong monks (assuming he follows Thanee's initial advice, which I like), the Power Attack/Cleave feat pair is solid. Power Attack can actually be used effectively with two-handed weapons like quarterstaves (in situation where the character can only make a single attack, she can PA and get double the bonus on damage).

For a monk who likes her stunning fists, Ability Focus is a good feat. Crank up those Fort save DC's!

 

[Saeviomagy]

I agree with that advice in general, Saeviomagy, but for this particular monk with her first level as fighter, her tumble skill will take a nasty hit compared to what it could be ...

OTOH, her AC, even including the bonus from mobility, will simply not be high enough to make risking AoOs ever worth it.

Might I suggest as an alternative to dodge and mobility taking that fast learner feat? The one that gives you 5 skill points? Use it to make up those ranks in tumble, and you'll be much better off (unless, as I said before, you want to build feat trees off mobility).

 

[Arkhandus]

As a monk, Armor Class is nearly a lost cause, so don't expect to be dodging many attacks. Still, a high-Wis/high-Dex monk is classic, so I'm not going to suggest a more brutish/effective alternative. I strongly suggest you go for Spring Attack as your upcoming 6th-level feat, because sometimes you'll face enemies that just pulverize your monk's poor-AC-and-modest-HP butt with full-attack actions, and when that comes up, you'll want to dash up to an opponent, smack 'em once, and move on another 10-15 feet, to prevent them from full-attacking you. Once your Strength reaches 18 at 8th-level, your +1/+1 quarterstaff will deal fairly decent damage when striking with a charge, AoO, spring attack, or standard attack action (1d8+7).

Str 16, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 8
L1: Weapon Focus (Quarterstaff)
L1(1F): Two-Weapon Fighting
L1(1H): Dodge
L2(1M): Stunning Fist
L3: Mobility
L3(2M): Combat Reflexes
L4: +1 Strength

Your Base Attack Bonus will be +3. When you do a full-attack action, you will be able to either make a single two-handed quarterstaff attack at +8 total (BAB +3, Str +3, feat +1, enhancement +1) for 1d6+5 damage (+1 enhancement, +4 Str for using it as a two-hander rather than a double weapon that round), or two attacks with the quarterstaff at +6/+6 total (+3 BAB, +3 Str, +1 feat, +1 enhancement, -2 flurry) for 1d6+4/1d6+4 damage (+3 Str for using each end as effectively one-handed, +1 enhancement), or three attacks at +4/+4/+4 total (+3 BAB, +3 Str, +1 feat, +1 enhancement, -2 flurry, -2 two-weapon fighting) for 1d6+4/1d6+4/1d6+4 damage (+3 Str, +1 enhancement).

Your extra attack from the flurry of blows could be an unarmed strike instead of a quarterstaff strike (attack bonus would be 2 points lower since you wouldn't have Weapon Focus nor a +1 enhancement with the unarmed strike, and the damage would be 1 point lower for lack of the enhancement), but I'd only advise it when you want to use Stunning Fist, or once your unarmed damage dice exceed your +1/+1 magic quarterstaff in damage efficiency (not sure though if monks can use TWF with unarmed strikes alone though in 3.5).

Your AC will be 16, 17 against your Dodge target; pretty shabby, but it's typical of a low-level monk with no bracers of armor/amulet of natural armor/ring of protection/gloves of dexterity/periapt of wisdom. Convince the party's arcane caster that it would be really helpful to cast Mage Armor on you, and convince the party's divine caster that it would be really helpful to cast shield of faith or barkskin on you (as appropriate), because you'll protect them so they don't have to worry about getting hit. Hopefully. With the spells your AC should reach the lower-to-mid 20's and that'll help you tank for the party, keeping enemies preoccupied against shooting or smacking the casters.

A tactic you could use (at 6th-level onward) is to Spring Attack at an enemy, stun them, and move onward to within close reach of another enemy, or at least get in the way of an opponent's direct path to the casters. That way they'll either suffer an AoO when they move past you to reach the more fragile characters, or they'll have to confront you rather than charging headlong into the poor casters' ranks. Alternatively, you can save your Stunning Fist attack for the round to use with an AoO; when an opponent tries to move past or away from you to reach an ally, you can smack them with Stunning Fist to end their movement (assuming they fail the Fort save). Your Stunning Fist DC at 4th-level should be 15, but it'll go up to 16 when you gain another level. It'll put your Wisdom to good use.

Improved Natural Attack apparently might be useful (according to the debate in the forum), but I'd say it can wait. As for Ability Focus, isn't that Monster Manual feat only applicable to racial/monster special abilities?

Please stay away from the Book of Exalted Deeds and the Vow of Poverty.
*Ark wouldn't touch BoVD or BoED with a 10-foot pole*

When using flurry of blows, a monk may attack only with unarmed strikes or with special monk weapons (kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, and siangham). She may attack with unarmed strikes and special monk weapons interchangeably as desired. When using weapons as part of a flurry of blows, a monk applies her Strength bonus (not Str bonus x1-1/2 or x1/2) to her damage rolls for all successful attacks, whether she wields a weapon in one or both hands. The monk can’t use any weapon other than a special monk weapon as part of a flurry of blows.
In the case of the quarterstaff, each end counts as a separate weapon for the purpose of using the flurry of blows ability. Even though the quarterstaff requires two hands to use, a monk may still intersperse unarmed strikes with quarterstaff strikes, assuming that she has enough attacks in her flurry of blows routine to do so.