Want to fight defensively and have good some fun AoO stuff and trip? You can do all that, and have snakes for arms too! But it needs gestalt.
Race: Changeling
Side 1:
Changeling martial rogue 4, cobra style decisive strike monk 2, warshaper 3, thief-acrobat 4, duelist 7
Side 2:
Hit and run Darksong Knight fighter 4, psychic warrior 2, swordsage 1, dervish 7, psy war +5
Skill requirements:
Perform (dance) 5 ranks by 3rd level for Path of Shadows
Perform (dance) 8 ranks by 6th level for Dancing With Shadows
Tumble 6 ranks by 6th level for Einhander
Perform (dance) 3 ranks and Tumble 3 ranks by 8th level for Dervish
Balance 8 ranks, Climb 8 ranks, Jump 8 ranks, and Tumble 8 ranks by 10th level for Thief-Acrobat
Stat requirements:
Dex 13 for Defensive Throw, Deceptive Dodge
Int 13 for Combat Expertise, Deceptive Dodge
Dex 15 for Temerad Mastery I
Stat focuses should be Dex and choice of Int for skills and Duelist AC bonus or Wis for monk AC bonus and Psywar power points. Note that Warshaper boosts Str and Con by 4 each so you don't have to worry as much about them.
Feats:
1: Racial Emulation (Kalashtar)
Flaw1: Aberration Blood (Bulging Eyes for practicality, Flexible limbs for theme)
Flaw2: Inhuman Reach
1: Martial Rogue: Combat Expertise
1: Hit and Run Fighter: Improved Trip
2: Rogue: Weapon Finesse
2: Fighter: Combat Reflexes
3: Path of Shadows
4: Fighter: Deceptive Dodge
5: Cobra Monk 1: Improved Unarmed Strike, Dodge
5: Psychic Warrior 1: Versatile Unarmed Strike (go slashing for Dervish)
6: Dancing With Shadows
6: Cobra Monk 2: Mobility
6: Psywar 2: Einhander
7: Swordsage 1: Weapon Focus (Shadow Hand/Unarmed Strike)
9: Defensive Throw
10: Dervish 3: Spring Attack
10: Martial Style: Temerad Mastery
12: Elusive Target
15: Shadow Blade
17: Psywar 5: Robilar’s Gambit
18: Great Throw
Fun stuff:
Inhuman Reach gives +5 feet of reach. Warshaper gives another +5. The
Reach power gives yet another +5. Congratulations, you've got a 20 foot unarmed reach and your arms can look like snakes if you want them (you definitely want them to) because of Inhuman Reach. Perfect for a Cobra Style monk.
At 20th level when you fight defensively, you start at the usual -4 attack for +2 AC. Which goes up to +4 AC because of OA's tumble rules giving 15 ranks in Tumble a +2 to fighting defensively. Thief-Acrobat 4 adds +3 to get +7. Dervish 7 adds +4 for +11. Duelist 7 adds +7 to get +18. Einhander adds +2 for a grand total of +20 (and keep in mind unarmed strikes count as light weapons, so this works). This is on top of having Dex, Int, and Wis to AC. And you've also got Uncanny Dodge which means you retain all your fun AC bonuses even while flat-footed.
Using Dancing With Shadows add that a +20 to your first attack on the next round, which is going to do double damage because of Decisive Strike. And then if they try to hit you then you get double damage AoOs against them thanks to Robilar's Gambit.
Thanks to Temerad Mastery, you can designate two targets for your Dodge feat! And also for Elusive Target, Defensive Throw and Deceptive Dodge. Got two people melee attacking you? You can literally make them hit each other if you want.
Want more silly? Add the Obah-Blessed template from Dungeon 136 pages 60-61. +3 LA can be bought off before 20, so have fun with your 6 snake arms! Use Warshaper to give each arm besides one a claw at the end (or more preferentially a bite).
