Skydancer (Air Genasi Monk)

This is a theoretical inspired by a picture. Specifically the one I've posted here which seems to be a piece of art from the Pathfinder books. I found it while looking for art on djinn to post along with the ballad I wrote for what at the moment is the most recent session of my Princes of the Apocalypse campaign. There is not much in the way of a background idea for the character.

On first glance she seems rather punkish but that is succumbing to the norms of my culture and for all I know her style of dress here could be the standard for the culture she comes from. There is a necklace of prayer beads, a belly tattoo which likely has some sort of mystic significance and the foot wraps. She dresses for freedom of movement for the most part. I would assume the shawl she's wearing around her waist can be worn about the shoulders in the case of severe weather and hides her footwork in the current mode.

All that taken into account, I'm going to assume that she is a member of some sort of temple or the like. For background I am going to take the Far Traveler from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.

For this I am using my typical theoretical 30 pt array of 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10.

1st Level Air Genasi Monk

Str: 11

Dex: 16

Con: 14

Int: 13

Wis: 14

Cha: 10

HP: 10

AC: 15
Save DC: 12
Speed: 30ft
Initiative: +3

Proficiency Bonus: +2

Unending Breath
Mingle with the Wind

Armor Proficiencies: None

Weapons: Simple Weapons

Tools: Tailor's Kit, Flute

Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Languages: Common, Draconic, Primordial

Proficient Skills
Acrobatics (Monk) +5
Insight (Far Traveler) +4
Perception (Far Traveler) +4
Religion (Monk) +3

Background: Far Traveler

Unarmored Defense
Martial Arts (1d4)

Reasoning: I decided on putting the 10 into Charisma despite the fact that she seems like a friendly and likeable sort. This is because I don't believe Charisma shows how likeable a character is but how strong their personality is. In this case, I'm imagining her as someone that is very friendly and likeable but not someone that is usually taken seriously by other people and thus rarely is able to convince people to listen to her. I considered taking Athletics rather than Religion, but the general appearance makes me think that she takes religion at least a little bit seriously.

2nd to 5th Level

2nd Level - Ki, Flurry of Blows, Step of the Wind, Patient Defense, Unarmored Movement, +7 HP (17)

3rd Level - Martial Path: Four Elements, Elemental Attunement, Fist of Four Thunders, Deflect Missiles, +7 HP (24)

4th Level - Ability Score Improvement: Skilled: Brawny, +7 HP (31)

5th Level - Proficiency Bonus: +3, Extra Attack, Stunning Strike, +7 HP (38)

Reasoning: I considered the Path of the Open Fist and the Way of the Cobalt Soul from the Tal'Dorei Campaign Guide, but that was mostly to avoid doing the obvious of matching Genasi with the Four Elements monk, but I've only ever done one other Four Elements monks and I like the increased build options that come with that path. So rather than avoid it just because it's obvious, I'm going to take it because it is the path I have the most fun with in terms of theoreticals. I ended up taking Fist of Four Thunders for the AoE damage. On the Ability Score Improvement, I went for Brawny despite the fact I originally wasn't seeing the character as extremely strong because I then realized the absurdly strong thin martial artist is on point for the concept. Also the inspiring picture has quite a bit of healthy definition.

5th Level Statistics

5th Level Air Genasi Monk of the Four Elements

Str: 12

Dex: 16

Con: 14

Int: 13

Wis: 14

Cha: 10

HP: 38

AC: 15
Save DC: 13
Speed: 40ft
Initiative: +3
Ki: 5

Proficiency Bonus: +3

Unending Breath
Mingle with the Wind

Armor Proficiencies: None

Weapons: Simple Weapons

Tools: Tailor's Kit, Flute

Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Languages: Common, Draconic, Primordial

Proficient Skills
Acrobatics (Monk) +6
Athletics (Brawny) +4
Insight (Far Traveler) +5
Perception (Far Traveler) +5
Religion (Monk) +4

Background: Far Traveler

Feat: Brawny

Unarmored Defense
Martial Arts (1d6)
Ki
Flurry of Blows
Patient Defense
Step of the Wind
Unarmored Movement
Path of the Four Elements
Disciple of the Elements: Elemental Attunement, Fist of Four Thunders
Deflect Missiles
Extra Attack
Stunning Strikes

6th to 10th Level

6th Level - Ki-Empowered Strikes, Rush of the Gale Spirits, +7 HP (45)

7th Level - Evasion, Stillness of Mind, +7 HP (52)

8th Level - Ability Score Improvement: +2 Wis, +7 HP (59)

9th Level - Proficiency Bonus +4, Unarmored Movement Improvement, +7 HP (66)

10th Level - Purity of Body, +7 HP (73)

Reasoning: I considered Fist of Unbroken Air, and I assume that would be the normal choice given how much damage it does, but it is a single target effect and Rush of the Gale Spirits duplicates Gust of Wind which is an AoE effect that really messes with the ability of enemies to advance. With the increased amount of supernatural stuff, I'm mostly going to focus on increasing Wisdom for the next few increases rather than Dexterity as it provides increased Save DC.

10th Level Statistics

10th Level Air Genasi Monk of the Four Elements

Str: 12

Dex: 16

Con: 14

Int: 13

Wis: 16

Cha: 10

HP: 73

AC: 16
Save DC: 15
Speed: 50ft
Initiative: +3
Ki: 10

Proficiency Bonus: +4

Unending Breath
Mingle with the Wind

Armor Proficiencies: None

Weapons: Simple Weapons

Tools: Tailor's Kit, Flute

Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Languages: Common, Draconic, Primordial

Proficient Skills
Acrobatics (Monk) +7
Athletics (Brawny) +5
Insight (Far Traveler) +7
Perception (Far Traveler) +7
Religion (Monk) +5

Background: Far Traveler

Feat: Brawny

Unarmored Defense
Martial Arts (1d6)
Ki
Flurry of Blows
Patient Defense
Step of the Wind
Unarmored Movement
Path of the Four Elements
Disciple of the Elements: Elemental Attunement, Fist of Four Thunders, Rush of the Gale Spirits
Deflect Missiles
Extra Attack
Stunning Strikes
Ki-Empowered Strikes
Evasion
Stillness of Mind
Unarmored Movement Improvement
Purity of Body

11th to 15th Level

11th Level - Mist Stance, +7 HP (80)

12th Level - Ability Score Improvement: +2 Wis, +7 HP (87)

13th Level - Proficiency Bonus +5, Tongue of the Sun and Moon, +7 HP (94)

14th Level - Diamond Soul, +7 HP (101)

15th Level - Timeless Body, +7 HP (108)

Reasoning: I considered the Clench of the North Wind, Ride the Wind, and Gong of the Summit. Ultimately, I decided that Mist Stance provided the most interesting options and copies a spell that is not often taken by the casters that have access to it. Pointedly, this makes her really hard to keep trapped. Once again, I increased Wisdom bringing her to 18 Wisdom now.

15th Level Statistics

15th Level Air Genasi Monk of the Four Elements

Str: 12

Dex: 16

Con: 14

Int: 13

Wis: 18

Cha: 10

HP: 108

AC: 17
Save DC: 17
Speed: 55ft
Initiative: +3
Ki: 15

Proficiency Bonus: +5

Unending Breath
Mingle with the Wind

Armor Proficiencies: None

Weapons: Simple Weapons

Tools: Tailor's Kit, Flute

Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma
Languages: Common, Draconic, Primordial

Proficient Skills
Acrobatics (Monk) +8
Athletics (Brawny) +6
Insight (Far Traveler) +9
Perception (Far Traveler) +9
Religion (Monk) +6

Background: Far Traveler

Feat: Brawny

Unarmored Defense
Martial Arts (1d8)
Ki
Flurry of Blows
Patient Defense
Step of the Wind
Unarmored Movement
Path of the Four Elements
Disciple of the Elements: Elemental Attunement, Fist of Four Thunders, Mist Stance, Rush of the Gale Spirits
Deflect Missiles
Extra Attack
Stunning Strikes
Ki-Empowered Strikes
Evasion
Stillness of Mind
Unarmored Movement Improvement
Purity of Body

Tongue of the Sun and Moon

Diamond Soul

Timeless Body

16th to 20th Level

16th Level - Ability Score Improvement +2 Wis, +7 HP (115)

17th Level - Proficiency Bonus +6, Breath of Winter, +7 HP (122)

18th Level - Empty Body, +7 HP (129)

19th Level - Ability Score Improvement: +2 Dex, +7 HP (136)

20th Level - Perfect Self, +HP (143)

Reasoning: Breath of Winter provides some major AoE damage capability in the form of Cone of Cold. I still considered taking a lower level Discipline because that is a major commitment of power and is usually going to be an inefficient power choice. That said, this character has a lot of AoE based Disciplines chosen, meaning that they will likely be best suited to clearing minions in some cases. Usually monks are best used as torpedoes to cut deep behind enemy lines and disrupt enemy spellcasters and other such enemies. This character can still serve that roll, but occasionally can just blast a room of minions into frozen and battered remnants.

20th Level Statistics

20th Level Air Genasi Monk of the Four Elements

Str: 12

Dex: 18

Con: 14

Int: 13

Wis: 20

Cha: 10

HP: 143

AC: 19
Save DC: 19
Speed: 60ft
Initiative: +4
Ki: 20

Proficiency Bonus: +6

Unending Breath
Mingle with the Wind

Armor Proficiencies: None

Weapons: Simple Weapons

Tools: Tailor's Kit, Flute

Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma
Languages: Common, Draconic, Primordial

Proficient Skills
Acrobatics (Monk) +10
Athletics (Brawny) +7
Insight (Far Traveler) +11
Perception (Far Traveler) +11
Religion (Monk) +7

Background: Far Traveler

Feat: Brawny

Unarmored Defense
Martial Arts (1d10)
Ki
Flurry of Blows
Patient Defense
Step of the Wind
Unarmored Movement
Path of the Four Elements
Disciple of the Elements: Breath of Winter, Elemental Attunement, Fist of Four Thunders, Mist Stance, Rush of the Gale Spirits
Deflect Missiles
Extra Attack
Stunning Strikes
Ki-Empowered Strikes
Evasion
Stillness of Mind
Unarmored Movement Improvement
Purity of Body

Tongue of the Sun and Moon

Diamond Soul

Timeless Body 

Empty Body

Perfect Self

Some 5e Builds