Ki Feats?

[DreamChaser]

The word "monk" in all cultures refers to one who studies or contemplates existence and/or the ineffable and focuses her life goals towards such ends.

I agree with you in concept but the word "monk" is a purely western word. It reflects western attempts to understand what the priests and philosophers of other cultures do.

Translations are always dangerous. There is no single word that holds conceptual meaning in all cultures.

But on your game idea, basing it on Wisdom represents not the whole of their life force but rather their aweness of their life force (and thus their ability to focus it). This makes more sense than basing Ki on their ability to fight off a cold.

DC

 

[Anubis]

How would you account for unwise people harnessing ki, then? Ya' know, good Dragonball examples such as Vegeta and Krillan. They're not wise. They're wisdoms would be at about 10 at most. Since Dragonball is the fantasy standard when it come to all things ki (seeing as it's the absolute most popular and successful such work of fiction to date) this certainly must be taken into consideration.

 

[Tonguez]

Just watched a documentary on the Buddhist Mummies of the Shingon sect in Japan. Anyway this sect beleives that Physical Punishment and Endurance (ie Constitution) gives their bodies 'enlightenment' which is just as important as the meditation to give their minds enlightenment.
Its highest doctrine is the Sokushin-jobutsugi (The Doctrine of Becoming a Buddha with One's Body During One's Earthly Existence) which includes a method of self-mummification (ie while your still alive).

So yeah using Con as a base for Ki does have some legitimacy and so does using Wis - maybe make it an either/or option and designate the Feats Wis Feats or Con Feats...

 

[DreamChaser]

How would you account for unwise people harnessing ki, then? Ya' know, good Dragonball examples such as Vegeta and Krillan. They're not wise. They're wisdoms would be at about 10 at most. Since Dragonball is the fantasy standard when it come to all things ki (seeing as it's the absolute most popular and successful such work of fiction to date) this certainly must be taken into consideration.

Stunning Attack: a class feature completely unrelated to any ability score. This does the job of allowing anyone to access Ki.

And I shudder to apply "popularity" as a gold standard for anything.

If we did, Star Trek would be the height of Sci-Fi (it isn't really sci-fi when it comes down to it, its plots are recycled and derivitive, and it is rife with needless technobabble).

Bon Jovi would be the standard of 80's music.

Will and Grace would be the "standard" for gay people everywhere.

Blonde would the the standard hair color.

etc.

And please, please, please keep in mind that the fact that the D20 ability scores are built from multiple traits makes comparing them to "real" examples difficult at best. Sure, the DBZ characters may have the common sense of the average dumb and dumber character, but they seem to have sharp senses and clearly an intuitive sense of battle.

I, personally, would be a nightmare to do stats for. I have poor muscle power and stamina (so that one's easy). I'm clumsy but have good manual dexterity. I have terrible allergies but a strong tolerance to alcohol and illness. I have a good memory and quick reasoning (again an easier one). I have good common sense but I may as well exist alone in the world for all I tend to pay attention to things going on around me. I have a forceful personality and a way with words but I tend to grate on some people.

My stats are contradictory. At best, I have a low strength, and above average intelligence, and a 10 in everything else.

That is the price one pays for not having to juggle 30 stats for a character.

DC

 

[Derrick Reeves]

And I thought nobody was interested in this...

First off, I'll justify my prerequisites. I see Wisdom as being key to the Monk class, and "willpower... perception and intuition" are all essential qualities for *harnessing* one's Ki energy. (1) I've used BAB & Concentration to limit some of the feats to higher-level characters, rather than X Monk levels.

I've noticed that the "Stunning Fist" feat not only has a different name to the similar Monk ability, but substantially different prerequisites. While I can't speak for the designers of 3e, I will edit my suggested feats accordingly.

I can see that the most contentious feat suggested is Ki Armour. Given the criticisms offered, I'm inclined to one of the following solutions:

- adding the characters CON bonus to AC for a number of rounds equal to their WIS bonus;
- or adding a flat +4 bonus to AC for rounds = WIS bonus.

I think the former is somewhat more pleasing, though the latter may be more easily controlled. OTOH, I think Dwarven Monks deserve something special. In that light, I'm going to add a CON prerequisite.

Ki Focus and Ki Speed still seem fine to me. While it would be cool for a Monk to move-Full Attack-move, I'm not sure that it would be balanced.

(1) As for DB/DBZ/DBGT, anyone wishing to play a d20 game in that fashion would probably be well-advised to use slightly different abilities.