Help with monk bonus feats

[macniz]

Monk class gets at1/2/6 level bonus feats. Theese feats must be chosen from the monk bonus feat or i can choose any feats that i desire? the players handbook says that i may select..... I need help please

 

[Dandu]

You select from a predetermined list of bonus feats, just as the class description says you do.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Note the PH2 and possibly some other books give alternate bonus feat options, on top of the PH selections. Also note you ignore all prerequisites for the feats when taking them as Monk bonus feats, unlike FIghter and Wizard bonus feats. This means that, in almost all circumstances, you're better off taking Stunning Fist as a bonus feat over Improved Grapple, since the latter you likely qualify for at level 1 anyway if you want it, whilst the former requires a high level to normally obtain. The only time I'd ever take Improved Grapple is if dipping monk 1 or 2 levels and mostly playing as another class.

 

[Freakohollik]

I disagree, stunning fist is awful. Go with improved grapple. You'll need some more feats and abilities to powergame stunning fist into something good. It's not worth it. Improved grapple however helps you through one of the more common and more deadly subsystems in 3e. Sure, if you wanted both, you take stunning fist as the bonus feat. I just can't ever imagine wanting stunning fist though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As always, the more books you use, the better some options become.

Stunning Fist has turned the tide in more than one battle in our current campaign- more than Grappling has, FWIW- and sourcebooks like DCv1 and the Completes series add some nifty options to using SF.

My personal fave? Ring the Golden Bell from DCv1, which lets a monk use SF at (limited) range...and letting the monk deliver with such an attack any other effect that would be delivered by a normal SF strike. Very much the flavor of some of the old legends of Shaolin monks' abilities.

To answer the OP's question, though- there are a LOT of Monk variants out there, some of which may offer a broader range of Monk bonus feats. In addition, just like certain feats contain language to the effect of "A Fighter can select this feat as one of his bonus feats," some may contain similar language for Monks. If you check my sig, you'll find some info to guide you in the Monk Database. However, I must confess I didn't note which feats are part of the bonus feat list.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Stunning Fist isn't really powerful, but it's far from awful. Targets the most commonly high save, granted, but the DC is respectable, the effect is powerful to inflict on someone, and there's no cost in actions to use it. Further, can't think of many feat or abilities that improve it much...

Ring the Golden Bell to make melee attacks at range, but I'd rather just have an ally to cast Blood Wind if possible.

Some pressure point feat to let you burn more uses for healing, paralyzing and other exotic effects, is sort of nice but hardly mandatory.

Only straight-out power boost feat I can think of is Pain Touch, so the round after you stun the foe, he's nauseated (ie, you rob him of two rounds of actions instead of just one).

Grappling, on the other hand...I think Imp. Grapple is the better feat for monk dips, but for straight monk? You're getting medium BAB and too much MAD to have as high a strength as the Fighter. RAW, I don't think you can use flurry of blows in a grapple (I allow it, but I recall that being a houserule). I'd argue monks really aren't that good at grappling without lots of extra feats and items to aid in it. Sure, it's nice at low levels to pick on mages before they get the ability to Dim Door or use Freedom of Movement (of course, Abrupt Jaunt and Benign Transposition from splat books are open right from level 1...), but the casters aren't much of a threat at thos levels anyway. And if you can swap it out later on, nothing's stopping you from just picking up Improved Grapple with a regular feat. Later levels, the Fighters have much better str and BAB than you, the casters are grapple immune, the rogues...it sucks to be a rogue..., the monsters are frequently massive with unbeatable grapple mods... Just saying.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Ring the Golden Bell to make melee attacks at range, but I'd rather just have an ally to cast Blood Wind if possible.

Some pressure point feat to let you burn more uses for healing, paralyzing and other exotic effects, is sort of nice but hardly mandatory.

Only straight-out power boost feat I can think of is Pain Touch, so the round after you stun the foe, he's nauseated (ie, you rob him of two rounds of actions instead of just one).

That was kind of my point about RtGB- with it, you can deliver that Pain Touch at range...as well as any spells or effects that happen to be held on your attack as well. So if your PC has Pain Touch, a Vampiric Touch spell, and the Thundering weapon property all on your unarmed strike when landing a blow with RtGB, the target has to deal with ALL of that. (And if the PC's Dex is higher than his Str, his odds of landing the blow in the first place will be higher!)

 

[Jhaelen]

I disagree, stunning fist is awful.

The monk pc in my game uses the Draconic Fist alternate class ability which is quite effective, especially if combined with the alternate class ability in PHB2.

 

[Freakohollik]

Well I've never tried too hard to powergame stunning fist, since I'd never play a straight monk. But I dispute your claim that casters are immune to grapple at high levels. The only way you're going to be immune to grapple is freedom of movement, which isn't available until level 7. In my experience of reading 3e adventures, casters almost never have this even when they reach level 7 or should have the ring.

The claim that you can just take improved grapple later is weak because of the limited amount of feats available.

I do know what DCv1 is. Is that Dragon Magazine or something?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Well I've never tried too hard to powergame stunning fist, since I'd never play a straight monk. But I dispute your claim that casters are immune to grapple at high levels. The only way you're going to be immune to grapple is freedom of movement, which isn't available until level 7. In my experience of reading 3e adventures, casters almost never have this even when they reach level 7 or should have the ring.

Teleportation like Dim Door and Benign Transposition also let them escape. And no, anyone who can be easily shut down by being grappled should find it worth the money to buy a ring or have Freedom of Movement cast on themselves after a certain point. My group's always had an understanding that if the casters can't save themselves from a grapple by around level 10, they screwed up somehow. (Of course, we also use splatbooks, which opens up the low level spells like Benign Transposition, cheap magic items from MIC, and even martial maneuvers to teleport. So that may be a factor, if you're used to a core-only game. Then again, in a core-only game, there aren't so many good feats that a monk can't afford to spend one on Imp. Grapple, and the magic item selection limitations would make shelling out on a ring of FoM much less a conundrum. You buy casting stat +6, some others +2, some cheap AC and save boosts, and...then what? What's more valauble than tentacle rape protection after that in core?)

I do know what DCv1 is. Is that Dragon Magazine or something?

Basically. "Dragon Compendium volume 1." A collection of feat/class/etc... entries in dragon magazine. Anything in DCv1 should be in one of the magazines.