Guide to Playing a Kholo Monk: Pathfinder 2e

The hyena-like Kholo ancestry in Pathfinder 2e are known for primal characters.  Much of their abilities revolve around blood, hunting and rage.  Clearly, this is a character that would suit a barbarian or ranger.

But what if you wanted to get Zen with it?

The duality of playing a kholo as a monk is a fun character to explore.  Plus, there just so happens to be a monk stance and martial style that suits a kholo—Wolf Stance (yes, I know they aren’t wolves).

• Monk Feats
• Kholo Feats
• Background and Character Concepts

Monk Feats

For the kholo monk, I’m thinking little-to-no weaponry.  Actually, most of my monk builds follow that guideline.  It’s fun doing martial arts against mythical creatures like an anime character.  However, this kind of hardcore attitude suits the wild features of the kholo as well.  He or she comes from a background of hunting or raiding, so tactical thought and movement would make sense in a monk build.

This is where the Wolf Stance feature shines.  Honestly, it’s a silly stance, with the character squatting and placing their hands like little wolf moths.  However, it’s tactics make sense—trip, injure and throw off the opponent.  The attacks deal 1d8 piercing damage with backstabbing and finesse traits added in.  The tripping comes into play once you flank a target.

From here, I’ll add monk features that disrupt and injure opponents.  I need to be mobile and cunning to work within a team.  A few monk feats to consider with this build:

• Stunning Blow:  If any of your Flurry of Blows strike hit, target must succeed on a fortitude save or be stunned 1(3 if crit).
• Guarded Movement:  +4 AC bonus against attacks triggered by movement.
• Flurry of Maneuvers:  Change one of your strikes from Flurry of Blows to a grapple, trip, reposition or shove.
• Wolf Drag:  Uses a wolf jaw attack from Wolf Stance, but gains 1d12 fatal damage and knocks the target prone.
• Mixed Maneuver: Essentially, combine 2 maneuvers into 1 action.

Kholo Feats

To compliment my monk style, I’ll lean into aspects of hunting my kholo ancestry offers. 

First, I’ll choose Kholo Lore to gain Survival and Stealth.  This way, I can act as a pseudo ranger in the group with my animal instincts.

Then, I’ll go with Rabbid Sprint, which gives me stride 3.  I’m not going to lie, this is hilarious, but crazy effective.  I’m traveling 3X my speed.  Add the monk bonus to movement speed and I’m crossing the map no problem.  Coming at you, bro.

Finally, something like Ambush Hunter (Scout and Avoid Notice) will help me utilize my Stealth and Survival skills.  In other words, I sneak while I explore.  It helps the party avoid traps.  At least, it helps me avoid them to later help my party.

Background and Character Concepts

This character works well with a Warrior background, both for bonuses in Pathfinder and for the campaign in general.

I gain two ability boosts, but one must be either Constitution or Strength.  I’ll also gain Intimidation and Warfare Lore, with Intimidating Glare as a skill feat.  We’re on the same page, right?  This is a superpowered hyena dude.  More than likely, they’ll have intimidation down.

Outside of the game mechanics, this background can make for a positive character arch.  This is a trope we see in samurai or action movies all the time.  John Wick, Zatoichi, Obi-Wan Kenobi—you laid down your weapons at one point but were forced back into action.  Maybe they are finding retribution.  Or maybe they are just trying to walk a new path.

Either way, if you want to dive into the roleplay aspect, this character can go deeper than you may realize at first. 

Still, running around on all fours maiming enemies is a silly good time.