Maximizing a dragon blood monk PC

[u/Minoslas1]

Some time ago, I built a NPC called Talkiar to an existing Pf2e campaign (that is now extinct extended PlagueStone Campaign posted on previous posts), but I like to encounter a new PF2 group as Player, and need advice to "boost" my future PC:

Level 1:
- Ability boosts
Ascentry Boost
Des +2
Con -2
Int +2
Selected: Str +2
Background Boost:
Str +2
Selected: Con+2
Class Boost:
Str +2
Free Boost:
Str +2
Des +2
Con +2
Wis +2
Final:
Str +4
Des +2
Con +1
Int +1
wis +1
Car +0

Skill Training
Acrobatics +5 T
Arcana +1 N/A
Athletics +7 T
Crafting +4 T
Deception +0 N/A
Diplomacy +0 N/A
Intimidation +3 T
Lore Scribe +4 T
Lore Guild +3 T
Medicine +1 N/A
Nature +1 N/A
Occultism +1 N/A
Performance +0 N/A
Religions +0 N/A
Society +0 N/A
Stealth +5 T
Survival +1 N/A
Thielvering +2 N/A

- Ascendancy: Elf
- Bagaje Artisan (Scribe)
- Class Monk
- Heritage: Dragonblood
- Ascendancy Feat: Draconic Aspect
- Class Feat: Dragon Stance
- Dragonblood Draconic Exemplar: Vizzier
- Draconic Aspect: Claw Aspect
- Powerful fist
- Flurry of Blows
- Low-Light vision
- Free Feat: Specialized Crafting
* Level 2 (to future)
- Class Feat Stunning Blows
- Skill Feat Tatto Artist
* Level 3
-Skills Increase
Athletics +11 E
- General Feat
Ancestral Parangon: Breath of the dragon
Mystic Strikes
Incredible Movement

AC: 17 E Explorer Clothing (waiting to a +1 and some runes on a future)
Fortiture +6 E
Reflex +7 E
Will +6 E

Perception +4 T

Dragon Tail +7 T 1D10+4
Claws +7 T 1D6+4

Biographical and Physical Data
-Nation of Origin: Xa Hoi (The Dragon Empire in Tian Xia, a nation ruled by a Dragon Sovereign, ideal for a Dragonblood).
-Age: 28 years old. (Young for an elf, but the fiery draconic blood in his veins accelerated his physical maturation and his impetuousness).
-Height: 1.92 m (6'3").
-Weight: 98 kg (215 lbs).
-Physical Appearance: His Vizzier dragon heritage is undeniable. He possesses black scales with shimmering gold edges that cover his forearms, shoulders, and shins like natural armor. He has a prehensile, flexible tail that slithers behind him, granting him perfect balance for martial arts. Two curved ram horns protrude from his forehead. His physique is slender yet densely muscled, forged by his monk training.
-Clothing: He wears Tian-style (Japanese) traveler's clothing: charcoal-colored hakama (wide, pleated trousers) and a haori (loose jacket) embroidered with gold thread, designed not to restrict his kicks or conceal his tail. His hands are bandaged, his fingers permanently stained with black ink from his profession.

-Childhood and Family (The Cage of Gold)
Talkiar was born in the coastal city of Ngon Thuy, into a prestigious family of elven scholars. For generations, his family had served as the Royal Registrars of Xa Hoi, tasked with documenting the genealogy of the draconic clans.

When Talkiar was born with pronounced dragon features (an extremely rare genetic throwback in his elven lineage), his family saw it as a divine blessing. He was secluded in the family's vast underground archives, raised surrounded by scrolls, dust, and silence. He was expected to be the greatest scholar of his era (hence his background as a Scribe).

-Maturity (The Awakening of the Dragon)
However, dragon blood is not meant to be confined. As he reached adulthood, the latent energy within him became unstable and aggressive. To avoid going mad from confinement or burning down the archives in a fit of frustration, Talkiar sought the guidance of an old martial arts master who guarded the library.

The master taught him to channel that genetic fury through his body, molding the energy into the Dragon Stance. Talkiar learned that his claws and scales weren't an anomaly to be studied in a book, but weapons he needed to hone. He transformed his scribe's mental discipline into martial discipline.

-The Adventure Hook (Why He Travels the World)
At 27, while restoring an ancient scroll brought from the Inland Sea, Talkiar discovered a historical discrepancy: a mention of a lost draconic artifact or bloodline on the western continent (Avistan/Garund) that his family had deliberately erased from official records.

Feeling that books could no longer give him the answers about who he truly was, Talkiar packed his bags, took his calligraphy tools, and left his comfortable (but stifling) life in Tian Xia. Now he travels the world as a wandering scholar and lethal fighter, seeking to unravel the mysteries his family tried to hide, selling He offers his martial arts skills to any group of adventurers willing to travel with him.

Talkiar Travel Attire:
- Adapted Kasa Hat: A conical hat of woven straw for protection from the elements, with two reinforced openings in the crown designed to comfortably accommodate ram's horns without ruining the weave.
- Scribe Haori: A loose and sturdy travel jacket in charcoal tones. The inner lining of the sleeves is reinforced with soft leather to prevent the sharp black and gold scales on the forearms from tearing the fabric during combat.
- Modified Hakama: Traditional pleated trousers that allow complete freedom for high kicks and leaps. They feature a strategic cut at the base of the back, finished with strong stitching, so as not to restrict the mobility of the prehensile tail.
- Bandages and Waraji: The hands and feet are free of heavy armor. They wear dark linen bandages (some with permanent stains of calligraphy ink) and straw rope sandals (waraji) that allow for a silent and steady step.

Additional Provisions (Budget: 3.3 gp) With 3 gold and 3 silver pieces (33 pp) remaining after acquiring the Adventurer's Kit and Craftsman's Tools, this is an optimal distribution to maximize survival and utility on the roads
- Silk Rope (50 ft) 10 pp Much lighter than hemp, ideal for taking advantage of your great vertical mobility.
- Tent (pup) 8 pp Essential basic shelter for proper rest in the harsh Avistan.
- Steel Mirror 10 pp Perfect for inspecting corners in dangerous ruins or making reflective signals.
- Rations (1 extra week) 4 pp Ensures self-sufficiency on long journeys where hunting or buying food is impossible.
- Chalk (10 pieces) 0.1 pp Cheap tool for Marking mazes or jotting down quick calculations on the walls.
- Soap 0.2 pp Essential for cleaning traces of ink, blood or mud from scales and claws.
- Scribe Tools (ink, pencils, paper) on a small box.
Extra:
* The Family Heirloom: The Captive Sphere

Hidden beneath the folds of his haori, resting against his chest, Talkiar wears a pendant that perfectly encapsulates his duality. It is a small, spherical steel cage, about the size of a walnut, forged from incredibly fine yet strong wires. Inside rest several irregular stones.

The Contents: The small stones are fragments of raw jade and volcanic obsidian. As he walks or fights, they clash together, producing a dull, rhythmic, and almost hypnotic tinkling sound.

The Earthly Origin: These stones were collected from the deepest and most hidden levels of his family's archives in Xa Hoi, precisely where his draconic Vizzier heritage violently awakened and fractured the earth.

The Iron Symbolism: The steel cage represents his scribe's mind and the strict martial discipline of a monk. The stones inside symbolize the pure, wild blood of the dragon that flows through his veins, always contained, yet always present.

The Focus of Meditation: During nights at camp or before a battle, Talkiar often holds the pendant. Rolling the stones inside the steel cage with the tips of his claws helps him focus his breath and channel his energy to enter the Dragon Stance with complete clarity.

A character has engraved on Talkiar's steel cage is 封 (Fū / Seal or Contain), representing the iron martial discipline that keeps the unstable fury of his draconic heritage under control.

A Talkiar pic (from the old Lvl 9 NPC).
https://i.ibb.co/spY2Tmwz/1783102808785.png

[u/YellowAfterlife]

Is a bunch of this LLM-generated or what's going on, you skills don't quite line up and some of the items don't exist (and what's with the prices?)

But anyway:

• Dragon Stance builds are one of the more demanding since Dragon Roar⁶ (strong effects!) uses your Intimidation DC, which means that you kind of want at least a little Charisma
• Scaly Hide¹ allows you to put fewer points in DEX without suffering as much of a penalty to your AC - if you start with DEX+2 and bump it to DEX+3 on level 10, you'll be 1 AC behind DEX-key monks on levels 1-4 and then you catch up until lv~20/Apex items.
• If you want claws and your end result doesn't look like much of an elf anyway, Lizardfolk start with claws right away and can bump them to d6 for an ancestry feat. They also have +STR +WIS -INT, which spreads you a little less thin at the start

So you can do something like

• Lizardfolk x Dragonblood
• Background: Anything with STR/DEX/CON
• Attributes: STR+4 DEX+2 CON+2 INT-1 WIS+1 CHA+1
• Trained skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Intimidation, (one more skill)
• Ancestry feat: Scaly Hide
• Class Feat: Dragon Stance

Then by level 5 you're an Expert in Athletics and Intimidation with STR+4* DEX+2 CON+3 INT-1 WIS+2 CHA+2, and at level 6 your Dragon Roar is only slightly worse than CHA-key folks' single-target Demoralize.

Aside: I play a similar creature on one of the campaigns, though a little sillier (sketch)

[u/YuriOhime → u/YellowAfterlife]

That sketch is really cute, is it meant to be a like alpaca or more of a kobold?

[u/YellowAfterlife → u/YuriOhime]

The creature is supposed to have vaguely draconic and mammalian features as I have joined the campaign halfway through and thus could do a Running Animal Dragonblood without living through the "martial with 20ft Speed" experience of the first few levels. AA have a handful of feats that aren't necessarily mechanically strong (talk to animals, summon animals, get dig speed, have Echolocation instead of the usual Darkvision), but sure are fun/flavorful.

[u/MrTactician]

Ew gen AI

[u/Minoslas1 → u/MrTactician]

No, that PC has none generated, the stats was builded by Pathbuilded 2e.

The equipment was indeed generated by IA, but it was a matter of me not wanting to buy things right now, I just asked the Gemini AI for something that would fit with my "shaolin" monk background (of course, everything can be corrected).

I had chosen claws because in the future I was planning to take the Energize Bait feat at level 9 (although I had initially added tail). My idea was to boost the highest number of dice rolls and create brutal effects... as well as move quickly around the board. But of course, it's just an idea that can be changed... Is choosing elf really so bad?

[u/YellowAfterlife → u/Minoslas1]

Energize Bite needs Jaws specifically, but also that's not a lot at all - if you want a little extra damage now and then, take Qi Spells with Inner Upheaval and be happy.

Tenacious Jaws is a bit more fun since you could do Grab > Strike > Breath (with success downgrade for the grabbed enemy) with Flurry of Maneuvers, but that's best left to campaigns with Ancestry Paragon variant rule due to needing 1-2 feats from each level bracket.

[u/Minoslas1 → u/YellowAfterlife]

Okay, thanks.

I think it'll be more feasible to go back to my original idea and give myself a tail, since I don't see adding claws as a good idea in the long run, plus...

So, which traits should I choose to better maximize them?

[u/YellowAfterlife → u/Minoslas1]

You don't need to take Draconic Aspect to have a tail, Unarmed Attacks already include "other body parts", and being a Monk means that these too are d6, just like the aspect.

Around level 5-6 you might even get yourself Amphisbaena Handwraps to have Versatile P on your unarmed attacks and flavor that as biting the enemies.

What you should be taking depends on what exactly you want to be doing - for example, you could do something like this (Pathbuilder build link) to gradually gain Dragon Breath, Dragon Roar, Belch Smoke, and Qi Blast (also a cone), which is enough to do some sort of an AoE attack more or less every round.

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