Deflect Arrows

[hong]

The problem is - that makes the feat pretty much useless, even if you allow a deflect against every ranged attack that round - it is just so hard to accomplish until monks reach super high levels.

Gosh, it isn't as if monks are so powerful that most people are looking for ways to tone them down!

Reflex DC 25 is actually not that hard for a monk. It won't be automatic, but then, that's the point of rolling the dice, yes?

And besides, why should this feat be targeted solely at monks? Aragorn swatted away an arrow in FotR, and he's no monk.

 

[Hammerhead]

Reflex DC 25 is actually not that hard for a monk. It won't be automatic, but then, that's the point of rolling the dice, yes?

And besides, why should this feat be targeted solely at monks? Aragorn swatted away an arrow in FotR, and he's no monk.

It was a dagger. And that could easily be just a cool DM description of the attack missing.

In my personal experience, I've yet to see any character other than a monk take Deflect Arrows. Hell, most monks take Combat Reflexes instead of Deflect Arrows. Since no one seems to want it, it's not overpowered...it's weak.

 

[hong]

It was a dagger.

To be precise, it was a ranged attack.

And that could easily be just a cool DM description of the attack missing.

Most feats can just be cool DM descriptions of attacks hitting or missing.

 

[Darklone]

The problem is - that makes the feat pretty much useless, even if you allow a deflect against every ranged attack that round - it is just so hard to accomplish until monks reach super high levels.

Gosh, it isn't as if monks are so powerful that most people are looking for ways to tone them down!

If you have a DC 25 Refl save with no limit on how often you use it per round... then the feat is superpowerful. My last character had a Refl save of +14 at level 8... nearly a 50% chance to be missed by ranged attacks? Cool!

 

[kolikeos]

None of my players are playing monks or using the Deflect Arrows feat. The only character who used this feat was a bad NPC fighter who is now dead. The party's archer still remembers him though.

I just thought it was too poweful to avoid damage from a hit automaticly, so I brought it up out of curiosity. It probably won't have any effect on my game anytime soon, and if it ever will it will be to the players advantege.

 

[Darklone]

Haunt your PCs with scout archers. They'll crave for the feat!

 

[Pagan priest]

Only being able to deflect one per round leaves this a weak feat. So does the requirement to have an open hand.

In fact, tht open hand requirement does not make any sense at all. Any monk special weapon should be useable for deflecting. (Well, okay, maybe not shuriken...) After all, one of the iconic sources for the ability is the warrior monk Benkei, armored in do-maru and weilding his naginata as he stood on the bridge, cutting all the arrows the enemy could launch at him. In Hero , didn't Jet Li's character use a weapon? And of course, we can see a mid-level Kwai Chang Caine batting several spears out of the air in just one round in Kung Fu (open handed). So there you go.

Oh, and for the record, I consider Kwai Chang Caine to be mid-level, Benkei to be high level and Hero to be epic level. YMMV

I am tempted to say something like:
Any proficient weapon or open hand, limited by available number of attacks of opportunity. Not a monk bonus feat, but a monk standard feature at level 2.

The only real question I have is any proficient weapon or only monk special weapon. Any thoughts?

 

[Legildur]

The only real question I have is any proficient weapon or only monk special weapon. Any thoughts?

What would feel right to me is any weapon with which the monk can use Flurry of Blows. That takes care of the special monk weapons and allows those weapons added through feats to benefit (eg that feat that allows a monk to use a longsword with FoB).

 

[Infiniti2000]

I'll be going with the ref 20 + enhancements bonus.

I don't like the reflex save because a character with (e.g.) +30 on his reflex save shouldn't ever miss deflecting a ranged attack. Likewise, a character with a -30 on his reflex save shouldn't ever deflect a ranged attack.

 

[Pagan priest]

What would feel right to me is any weapon with which the monk can use Flurry of Blows. That takes care of the special monk weapons and allows those weapons added through feats to benefit (eg that feat that allows a monk to use a longsword with FoB).

Um, er, yeah... that's exactly what I meant to say.