Ki Feats?

[Derrick Reeves]

Thinking about Divine feats makes me think that Monks could use a similar mechanic with Stunning Attack usage. Here's a few thoughts for the time being.

Ki Armour
Prerequisites: Stunning Fist, 8 ranks Concentration, Con 13+, Wis 15+
Expend one of your uses of Stunning Attack for the day to gain an Armour bonus equal to your Constituion bonus for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom bonus.
Special: A Monk with the Stunning Attack ability may take this feat without first taking the Stunning Fist feat.


Ki Focus
Prerequisites: Stunning Attack, BAB +3 or higher, Wis 15+
Expend one of your uses of Stunning Attack for the day to add your Wisdom modifier to weapon damage for all of your attacks this round. Use of this feat is a free action.
Special: A Monk with the Stunning Attack ability may take this feat without first taking the Stunning Fist feat.


Ki Speed
Prerequisites: Stunning Attack, Dex 13+, Wis 15+, 8 ranks Concentration
Expend one of your uses of Stunning Attack for the day to add +20 feet to your base move and gain a +2 bonus to your Dexterity for a number of rounds equal to twice your Wisdom bonus.
Special: A Monk with the Stunning Attack ability may take this feat without first taking the Stunning Fist feat.

 

[Angcuru]

What, no Energy Blasts? No Hadoken? No Kamehameha? No spirit gun?

 

[BryonD]

Monks have a lot of stun attacks per day and a single stun attack useage is really a small price.

So while it is a very cool idea to trade that energy for another effect, I think your examples are each significantly more powerful than the cost of a single stun attempt. The abilties are fine, and cool. I just think you are giving them away to cheaply.

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[Arc]

Beyond monks has some very similar feats, and there might be some overlap. The rules presented there are fairly balanced, so you might want to look at them as a guide for how good/bad stunning attack based feats should be.

With +wis mod for wis mod rounds, you could see some very, very broken situations at epic levels. When a monk has a mod of around 8 or so, he gets a major boost, for almost the entire combat. Not that that shouldn't be discouraged, but that it might need some tweaking.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

Why concentration? What do Monk's use it for?

 

[Anubis]

I would say these thigns are grossly underpowered for the cost. You get almost nothing in exchange for those stunning attack uses. In addition, stunning attacks are not specific like turn attempts are, so I don't see a connection between stunnign attacks and the things you're trading them for.

I created a good number of feats that ANYONE (not just monks) could use based on ki. After all, why only monks? Makes no sense. Don't make monk feats, make ki feats. Also, you shouldn't use Wisdom, but rather Constitution. Ki means life force not common sense. That's one thing I don't like about the monk.

 

[drdevoid]

I have to strenuously disagree with the constitution angle for the monk. It leads to bad things. The idea that monks need wisdom (and feats that have a need for wisdom) is based on the precept of awareness (for the self, the other, and the ethereal) not common sense. You want a constitution based guy- go psionics or go dwarf fighter.

Knowledge of the power of one's own body is not knowledge of one's body. There's a world of difference between the martial artist and the biologist. I beg everyone- Base all cool ki or "stunning attack" channeling feats off wisdom.

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. Should constitution factor into such existential pursuits?

The only reason Constitution factors into a monk is hit points (if the monk is more of a warrior class) or if the concentration skill is a concern (for using spell like abilities in melee). However, wisdom and strength remain key for a monk.

-Joe

 

[FireLance]

Hi Derrick, I would go with free action to activate, but lasts only one round as the defining factor for ki feats. Hence, instead of Wis bonus to AC for Wis bonus rounds, why not go with Damage Reduction Wis bonus/-? If you're familiar with the genre, many martial arts movies have monks that are "invulnerable" to weapon damage. Ki Focus seems OK to me, but how about allowing Ki Speed to grant another move action in that round? This would allow a high-level monk with Spring Attack to do a move-full attack-move combo.

Maybe as a final point, allow the expenditure of one ki point per round, so that a monk can only use one ki feat per round.

 

[Anubis]

I have to strenuously disagree with the constitution angle for the monk. It leads to bad things. The idea that monks need wisdom (and feats that have a need for wisdom) is based on the precept of awareness (for the self, the other, and the ethereal) not common sense. You want a constitution based guy- go psionics or go dwarf fighter.

Knowledge of the power of one's own body is not knowledge of one's body. There's a world of difference between the martial artist and the biologist. I beg everyone- Base all cool ki or "stunning attack" channeling feats off wisdom.

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. Should constitution factor into such existential pursuits?

The only reason Constitution factors into a monk is hit points (if the monk is more of a warrior class) or if the concentration skill is a concern (for using spell like abilities in melee). However, wisdom and strength remain key for a monk.

-Joe

Constitution for all things ki, not for monks in particular. It makes no sense to base "life force", the VERY DEFINITION of ki, off of wisdom, which the book says is perception, awareness, and common sense.

Ki in a fantasy sense is much like it is in Dragonball, and very few of Dragonball's top character would have a high wisdom score. (C'mon, Vegeta and Krillan probably have little or no common sense.) Ki is about the power of your body, not the study of it.

Ki = Constitution

Monks SHOULD INDEED be based on wisdom, because that's what a monk is. Ki should not be limited to monks, however, and should be based off constitution.

 

[DreamChaser]

Constitution does not equal life force.

There is no stat that does.

Perception and common sense are not life force but then neither is hardiness and resistance to injury.

Nor is power and stamina

Nor is agility and coordination

Nor is memory and reasoning

Nor is force of will and glibness.

Roll all of these things together and you have a vague reflection of a person's life force. But there isn't (and nor should there be IMO) a stat that represents "life force"

DC