Yeah, I'm the one who posted about Dance of Death and stunning fist/etc on motherboards. I think it is about as decent as you can make an unarmed toon (trees and wolves are entirely different things).
Stunning fist x 4 is nearly infinitely entertaining, though you do have to learn the spacing that works best for Dance of Death when unarmed- it works, but it takes a little getting used to. Whirlwind is nice in the absence of dance of death but in no way does it compare, so why bother. I also thought about 5 ranger/15 monk, but likewise who the hell cares about quivering palm. Anything you can QP you can easily stun, and anything you stun will be dead momentarily with +230% damage, even with crappy unarmed damage.
I chose 12monk/6ranger/2paladin since I didnt want or need defensive stance. The free saves and light damage from 2paladin seemed as good as any other option, and monk is the only remaining melee I think works better as bladeforged: the tactics are great, and more importantly you aren't nearly as AP-crunched as everyone else, since monk class enhancements are terrible.
As far as AP, 36 pts in Tempest, taking the core (it worked when I used it, roll a BF lvl 15 monk to test if you don't believe), taking dodge/dodge cap/Elaborate parry (63% dodge for 20 out of 60 secs, 33% rest of the time is useful), Growing storm, haste boost, 10% offhand. 7 pts in Shintao for offhand 11 pts Ninja Spy for Shadow veil, dodge, sneak attack. 6 pts in DWS for 3d6 sneak attack 16 BF wherever you want the rest, I picked up more sneak dice and light damage.
You have plenty of feats, so I went full-on with damage taking PL monk, PL pally, Improved MA, Overwhelmin Crit, vorpal fists, the usual. With feat changes weapon focus for melee power may be an option.
If you want a defensive stance, you sacrifice 6 ap, 1 feat, and 2str/con for 25 MRR/PRR. I dont have issues staying alive, but if you do that isn't a bad trade.
The build is more about fun-factor than performance. It works fine (solo'ed ee ToEE Pt1 and 2 blind, first time through. I did not know earth eles could be charmed, so it wasn't exactly record-setting), but the redname damage pales in comparison to pally/barb/rogue, and it's probably strictly inferior to an ice bard. However it's the best you can do with unarmed.
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