Can anyone give me any tips for making a monk that will stand up well in combat? Ideas that diverge from the best possible build but are still powerful (and interesting) are welcome.

Definitely stay pure monk, and decide if you want good AC or damage. Sadly, you can have one or the other.

18 Dex Halfling Monk is good. At level 6, with that Improved Knockdown, it can get pretty rockin'.

Try an 18 Strength Wood Elf monk. I played one with low Int and it was hilarious to use Improved Power Attack and punch through metal doors.

Also, your standard 14/16/12/10/14/10 Str/Dex/Con/Int/Wis/Cha monk is pretty decent. Take some Weapon Finesse, obviously, at 3, but other than that you can do pretty much anything you want with the feats.

Pretty much necessary to have the 16 Dex/14 Wis minimum from a Powergamey standpoint.

EDIT: Yes, like that guy above me, I also advocate straight class builds. Don't worry about damage, though: At level 4, you're dealing d8. At level, what, 7-8, you're dealing d10. Add on any strength bonus, and a decent pair of gloves from the *SPOILER* shop and you're pretty much on par with an average Fighter.

Or do like me few times: get Martial Weapon proficiency and be a naked great sword master. :D (more strength the better for this)

Oh and Dirty fighting feat! In low level worlds such as EFU, this is great!

Use lots of potions or make friends with a wizard and then you're good to go. No matter what your build is.

Try a runecaster Half Orc Female monk/cleric (god I forget)

Invest in stealth, max tumble, have wizard or cleric buddy, buy lots of barkskin.

Don't be afraid to spend all your gold early on buying potions of Mage Armor / Cats Grace / Owls Wisdom / Barkskin / etc. They will save your life through those early levels when a mage Isn't around / Isn't willing to buff you. By the time you reach mid level you're more than a worthy addition to the party and should find your character really coming into his or her own combat-wise.

My sugestion is to download one of those character builders that have a character arena that spawns various creatures based on level. In fact get a few so you fight various types of creatures. Then experiment with different builds and amounts of gear. In EfU your average is +1 AC robe, +1 AC ring, +1 AC ammy, and some gloves that do +2 damage. It is certainly possible to earn better gear, but as far as standard gear goes that is the best you can buy pretty much. After that remember game mechanics. Mage armor is a hour/level spell that adds +4 AC to your ARMOR (ie it stacks with your natural armor ammy and you deflection ring). Next, remember that weapon finess will change your attack from your str score to your dex score. Also remember that your wisdom modifier is added to your armor class (ie 14 wis = +2 AC), second every five monk levels you get +1 AC. Lastly, play around with builds that are FUN for you and will be fun at various levels. Monks are NOT/NOT frontline tanks unless they have lots of gear / potions / levels (some combo there of). Monks are a really neat combat class to play but they are not ment to be played like your standard fighter. Closest I can think is a combat rogue in light armor. So test your build offline a -lot- before you figure out what you want and what makes sense story wise. Oh and lastly remember your not playing a demigod, your character will have weakness and strengths no matter what you do.

Multiclass with a sorceror, 3 monk/ 4 sorceror still gives you two attacks per round. Get mage armor, shield, and cats grace, and invest in dexterity more than strength. If you're lucky, get a wizard lvl, get to lvl 5 wizard, and get some pale master levels, then you will be invinciable. XD

Thanks for the tips, everyone.