Question on OA special attacks

[Xahn'Tyr]

I was just reading the feats "Falling Star Strike" and "Freezing the Lifeblood". They say that you can make an unarmed attack against a humanoid opponent to blind or paralyze them.

Does this mean that you can try one of these on every unarmed attack that you attempt? If so, could you do both on a single attack (and heck, throw in Unbalancing Strike while you're at it).

If you still get all of your unarmed attacks, and can add one of these special effects onto every one, it seems awfully powerful and a whole lot of dice rolling. For example a 12th level monk could do a flurry of 4 strikes, requiring 4 saves, in a round. You add in some Karmic Strikes, a Defensive Throw, an Expert Tactician and a Hasted attack and I bet the DM is going to run out of patience very quickly (that's like 11 attacks and potential saving throws in one round!). Am I missing something here?

 

[Ranger REG]

According to James Wyatt, each of the special attack counts against your stunning attack limit for the day, whether you're using Stunning Fist feat or monk's stunning attack class feature.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Does this mean that you can try one of these on every unarmed attack that you attempt? If so, could you do both on a single attack (and heck, throw in Unbalancing Strike while you're at it).

There's no limit on the number of times you can attempt either strike. But my take on it is that you can't do both on the same strike, because they're both pressure point attacks, and the pressure point to blind is different from the pressure point to paralyze.

If you still get all of your unarmed attacks, and can add one of these special effects onto every one, it seems awfully powerful and a whole lot of dice rolling. For example a 12th level monk could do a flurry of 4 strikes, requiring 4 saves, in a round. You add in some Karmic Strikes, a Defensive Throw, an Expert Tactician and a Hasted attack and I bet the DM is going to run out of patience very quickly (that's like 11 attacks and potential saving throws in one round!). Am I missing something here?

A lot of dice rolling maybe, but this isn't overbalancing. Monk's BAB is limiting enough, flurry of blows makes it worse. Not only must you hit, but the opponent also gets a save to negate. Both of these feats require a high Wis (17+), ability points that would have been spent on Str, Dex, or Con. These attacks are limited to humanoids.

And by comparison, 12th level rogues are doing an extra 6d6 damage on sneak attacks, 12th level clerics are casting Slay Living and Harm, and 12th level wizards are casting Chain Lightning, Flesh to Stone, and Disintegrate.

These feats help make a monk more powerful, but he's still not going to outshine the fighter, wizard, cleric or rogue.

 

[Ranger REG]

From: "James Wyatt" <james@aquela.com>
To: Ranger REG
Subject: Re: [OA] Falling Star Strike and Freezing the Lifeblood Combo
Date: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 5:34 PM

No, I'd say you have to choose one or the other (or stunning). In any case, it uses up one of your allowed stunning attacks for the day.

Thanks for writing!
James

On Tuesday, December 18, 2001, at 02:14 PM, Ranger REG wrote:

> Aloha James,
>
> Query: If a character acquired both Falling Star Strike and
> Freezing the Lifeblood feats, can he apply both feats toward a
> single successful attack?
>
>
> Much Mahalo,
> Ranger REG
>
>
>
James Wyatt
james@aquela.com
http://aquela.com

 

[Chun-tzu]

Hmm, my bad. I was going by the book alone.

The latest D&D FAQ has errata for Falling Star Strike: It can only be used once per round, and counts as a stunning attack. Oddly enough, these limitations are not (in the FAQ) applied to Freezing the Lifeblood, as well.

 

[DonAdam]

Does unbalancing strike require the use of a stunning attack?

 

[Ranger REG]

Based on James Wyatt's answer, I'd say it also applies to Freezing the Lifeblood as well. My question is with regards to both feats that have stunning attack (monk or feat) as their prerequisite.

-----

RE: Unbalancing Strike

I'd say it is. If you want, you can ask James Wyatt. Click on his email address above.