D&D 5E Fist of Unbroken Air ... broken?

[Harzel]

Oops. Here's the description from the OP... no mention of half damage on a successful save.

Yep, it was partial.

My bad for relying on this and not consulting the actual PHB.

No problem - I had to check the PHB to make sure I remembered correctly.

 

[jaelis]

Just compare to the price and effect of another monk tradition high level ability, quivering palm, then it feels the trap was not this unbroken fist ability, but the whole elemental monk.

That I won't argue with.

 

[Excondiment]

I would say just like a spell you have to determine how much ki you spend before the save, just like choosing a spell slot.

Tell that to the paladins

 

[CleverNickName]

Welcome to ENWorld, @Excondiment! Just so you know, the thread you're responding to is more than half a decade old...it might take Khaless a while to see it.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I’m not sure what I find more annoying: yet another thread title claiming something about 5e is “broken”, or the fact that the OP goes on to say in the post itself that they don’t really think it’s broken.

Wouldn’t it be simpler to change the title, rather than backpedal in the post?

 

[Blue]

And it's such a non-issue, too. It's effectively 2 Ki for the 1st level Inflict Wounds, with +1 Ki per level of upcast. Standard 1+level ki costs.

And there is no verbiage about "seeing the result" before choosing how much to spend. Paladin's Divine Smite doesn't let you see the result either - it just triggers on a hit, just like Shield. Things are only applied after seeing the result if that is explicitly stated.

So we have a non-broken, bog standard Ki costs for spell equivalent, then discussion that is continuing even today that maybe you know if it saves or not before pumping in more Ki that it does not say anything about. * sigh *

 

[jgsugden]

We've come a long way since 2017 in understanding the balance of the game. Or, at least some people have.

At 20th level, 21d10 is ~115 damage. This uses up all your Ki, so it replaces:

• 20 Stun attempts, or
• 20 Extra attacks dealing d10+5 each (210 average damage if they all hit

It is absolutely worth considering as you can make the decision to nova after you hit, and that much damage may be great against something like a legendary creature ... but not broken.