Will I gimp myself if...

[Vagrantwind]

I got this idea which is basically a Drow 12 ranger/7 monk/ 1 rogue Tempest Monk because I wanted a hand to hand ranger(This is a variation of the Kensai Monk 12 fighter build). When I looked on these boards however I can't find any build like this so I've gotten nervous thinking that maybe this is a gimp build idea.

Since my character is only 3 I can still scrap this idea and go exploiter. If I do and use the 1 monk for hand to hand at 1d6 will that gimp my damage too bad?

[kelemvelor]

I'm assuming you are doing to 7 for monk for Wind Stance and self heals?

(1) As a ranger, you have access to up to cure serious wands for self heals. Comparing to monk's wholeness of body, wands are faster and can target others which makes it more party friendly.

(2) Stances can only be used when a monk is centered which means a monk weapon. Currently the best weapons available are the greensteel crafted weapons which includes Kama and Quarterstaff but not handwraps. The DPS for both kama and quarterstaff are not that great (aside from the fact that quarterstaff doesn't work with tempest).

(3) While it states that tempest gets the speed boost from PrE while two weapon fighting, the game mechanisms doesn't consider unarmed combat with a monk as TWF so you don't get the speed boost.

Just my thoughts.
Regards,
Kel

[Calebro]

(3) While it states that tempest gets the speed boost from PrE while two weapon fighting, the game mechanisms doesn't consider unarmed combat with a monk as TWF so you don't get the speed boost.

Correct.
Tempest bonuses only apply to Towo Weapon Fighting, as in having two weapons equipped.
Handwraps, while getting extra attacks as if TWF'ing, are only one weapon. Because only one weapon is equipped, no Tempest goodies apply.
Because of this, that's either too many Monk levels or too many Ranger levels, depending on your point of view.

It's not gimped beyond repair, but to be honest if you're planning on fighting unarmed primarily, you either need to stay mostly pure Monk and/or Rogue to get the most benefit. Anything less just leaves you with craptastic base damage and craptastic crit range/multiplier.

[grodon9999]

You're better off just taking 1 monk level and 18 Ranger for Tempest III, Tempest III is AWESOME.

[Vagrantwind]

Thanks guys. I didn't know that handwraps only counted as one weapon. Yeah, I'll have to turn him into an exploiter and go with rapiers since I hear they are good and the drow get bonuses for them.

[unbongwah]

Yeah, your idea only makes sense if you plan to dual-wield kamas. Not many people plan to dual-wield kamas, though there are some clever builds based on them: e.g., the Solar Phoenix.