He knew Brother Thaddeus was going to be mad. He tried to follow the rules. He really did. The brothers who had taken him in were always telling him to do better, but they just didn't understand that their enemies didn't follow the same rules they did, and you had to level the playing field somehow. Yes, he consorted with certain people they would never even talk to, but you could find out the most interesting things that way. Still, he did want to please them.
The brothers always told him he should concentrate on his fists more, but he just felt more comfortable with a nice kama in his hand. His fists weren't as big as theirs, and never would be, but he could swing a kama as good as any of them (better than most). And a kama to the back of the knee always seemed to bring the bigger guys down to his level, which seemed fair to him. Brother Thadeus said that wasn't an honorable way to fight, so he always followed the rules when he sparred with the other acolytes, but the invaders didn't deserve that level of courtesy.
Brother Thaddeus had told him his tripwires and other toys had no place in the monastery. He only put them on his personal stuff, and never the deadly ones. The other students were always looking to see if he had any stolen stuff, but he never stole anything anymore. Of course, he didn't consider relieving the enemy of items that could be used against him to be stealing, either. If some of the other students complained about still having a ringing in their ears, well, they shouldn't have been going through his stuff anyway. And the invaders should never have been using the secret entrance below the monastery. He was sure he would end up having to clean the mess anyway, though.
"What's going on down here?!" asked Brother Thaddeus as he came down the stairs, followed by several of the other monks.
"Well, there were a few people who shouldn't have been here, Brother Thaddeus."
Brother Thaddeus looked around the room at the bodies of the Death Cult assasins and clerics. "Well, you had better clean this mess up before Father Brian sees it!"
"Yes, I will. Thank you, Brother Thaddeus."
---------------------- playable 1 - 40 PvM
Felonius Monk - Halfling
This build can be a bit challenging to role-play, although it can be a lot of fun, especially in modules that allow alignment shifts based on behavior (like Aielund). You have to maintain your lawful alignment to keep progressing in Monk levels, so try to resist temptation with chaotic acts like stealing, and think before you follow through on rogue quests. Anyway, here is my first build:
Options: On skills, you could drop the Spellcraft and put 34 points into Craft Traps. May be worthwhile to use with his trap setting skills. I think I set all of the skills so that he can always find, set, and disable Epic traps, someone correct me if I miscalculated. I skipped Discipline because his AC will be high enough that without significant discipline-boosting items, he will always fail check against any roll that actually hits him. You could take ESF: Discipline, but it would still only be minimally useful.
You could go with a human, and drop the Expertise feats to pick up Ambidex, TWF, and ITWF. Will lose 2 dex that way (-1 AC and AB), and be accused of kama cheese.
You could pick up SCV fairly easily by starting with dex 20 (drop Wis and Con for it), then replace the last 5 feats with SC I-V. Costs you Crippling Strike, 2 points of AC (no Armor Skin, less Wis, but 1 more Dex), 1D6 off your sneak damage, no skill mastery, and 40-80 HP. I like it better with the other feats, since you can get 50% concealment from other items.
TM ***** ***** ***** ***** griphook..Added HP
Edited By griphook on 01/04/06 00:04
Very nice. Congratulations on your first posted build, too. Looks like you've thought this one out quite thoroughly. I have 2 things:
1) Dodge/Mobility aren't really that great. Sure, if you can't think of anything else I suppose it's fine, however the dual-wielding feats sound more tempting to me. I'd drop Dodge/Mobility/Toughness; Toughness isn't that crucial when you're operating from the shadows. Who cares about cheese! (Well, the one you're launcing a KD'd Crippling Sneak Attack at might...)
2) Discipline skill dump might prove useful. That depends.
I don't see your HP listed anywhere - I get 396, or 356 without Toughness _________________ Surely, without war there would be no loss - hence, no mourning, no grief, no pain, no misery...
1) Dodge/Mobility aren't really that great. Sure, if you can't think of anything else I suppose it's fine, however the dual-wielding feats sound more tempting to me. I'd drop Dodge/Mobility/Toughness; Toughness isn't that crucial when you're operating from the shadows. Who cares about cheese! (Well, the one you're launcing a KD'd Crippling Sneak Attack at might...)
If you go human, the TWF series is nice. As a halfling, the penalty is too high, IMO (-4/-4 due to size). Dodge is a pre-req for Epic Dodge, and I think I was thinking mobility was too at the time, although it is not. So I would agree about dumping that one. Maybe a Strong Will to help with the low save, or Opportunist, or Stealthy or SF: Hide.
Quote: 2) Discipline skill dump might prove useful. That depends.
Well, my thought was that even on a medium magic world (say, nothing over +5), he will get his AC up to around 60. On a high magic world, it will probably be around 80. With his low str, Discipline will be 43. At 43, his best possible discipline check is 63, or 69 with buffed str. He can get an AC of 69 with nothing more than +7 items (i.e. on most worlds, he will get that well before level 40). So anything that hits will overcome his discipline. If you take ESF: discipline, then it would be useful, but that requires dropping both one of the other skills, and an epic feat.
Quote: I don't see your HP listed anywhere - I get 396, or 356 without Toughness
Sorry, missed that line when cutting and pasting. You are correct - 396 as written.
TM
Dodge is not required for Epic Dodge (even though the name sort of suggests that).
For a feat, Called Shot is nice, too.
I follow your thoughts on Discipline. It can be useful, that depends on the setting. One way or the other you have plenty of skill points. _________________ Surely, without war there would be no loss - hence, no mourning, no grief, no pain, no misery...
Dodge is not a prerequisite to epic dodge, even though the manual says so
Edit: Finn, man, you answer fast! I second called shot, it is a very useful feat. Called shot legs when using a bow, called shot arms when meleeing so they'll have a harder time hitting you back...and crippling strike! Nasty
Cheers, Kail _________________ Dilegua notte Tramontate stelle Tramontate stelle All'alba vinceṛ Vinceṛ Vinceṛ
Edited By Kail Pendragon on 01/03/06 20:25
Okay, drop Mobility for sure. Either take Called Shot in it's place, or drop Dodge as well and take Disarm/Imp Disarm.
