I'll put 14 in Strength, Dexterity Constitution and Wisdom.
Skilled monk sounds cool, so I think I'll also bump up dexterity.
Should I make my character now or do I need to do other stuff first?
Okay so Half-Elf Monk, 14 Strength, 16 Dexterity, 14 Constitution and 14 Wisdom.
If you're going to focus on skills you should have a look at those now:
As a skill-monk you don't really have enough skill points to take cross class skills, so you should stick with your class skills. Dex is your strong ability so you should focus on Dex based skills.
Acrobatics you should take for sure. As a skill-based monk that's what you'll be saving the day with 75% of the time. It lets you balance on ledges, tumble around enemies, break your fall, jump far or high, all sorts of important stuff.
Stealth is very useful, especially since you won't wear armor. I'd strong suggest considering it. Hiding is useful for everyone, but actually being good at it is a huge boon.
Perception isn't Dex based, but it's Wis based (another of your better abilities) and arguably the best skill in the game. You use it to catch people using stealth, notice secret doors or ambushes, and all kinds of vital stuff. Veteran players almost always take it. Half Elves also get a bonus to this, so you could have a very solid Perception skill.
Climb is Str based and allows you to, surprise surprise, climb stuff. Get good enough at it and you can scale sheer castle walls. In my opinion it's the best mobility skill that doesn't require magic to use.
Escape Artist is a Dex based skill. You only find yourself attempting to escape from bonds rarely, but when you do you're glad you have this. This skill comes up a lot when the players lose a fight to someone with no interest in killing them.
Profession is a skill tied to a profession, so you could have Profession (Cobbler) or Profession (Bouncer). Any job you want, within reason, you can prety much have. You use it to roll to make money between adventures. Some people like to take them so that they can have more money/be part time adventueres and therefore losers.
Sense Motive, Wis based, lets you tell when other people are trying to use social skills against you. If you suspect someone is lying to you, you can roll this skill and, if you succeed, the GM will tell you if they're being sincere. You can also tell when people aren't giving you the whole story, or see through other forms of deception.
There are lots of other skills, but I would highly recommend limiting yourself to the ones above, which are your strongest choices. As a half-elf monk you can pick four of them. I'd probably go Acrobatics, Stealth, Perception and then a fourth based on what you want to focus on.
