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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7751043" data-attributes="member: 42582">I didn't say the monk is not doing anything. I asked what the monk is doing physically?From an article on the monk in a 1981 Dragon article ("He's got a lot to kick about", vol 53):The new special abilities and powers presume that the inner strength of monks flows from the mind - that it is a sort of psionic power. After all, no degree of skill or knowledge will let a human being fall an unlimited distance when within 8’ of a wall and take no damage when hitting bottom at terminal velocity.Oriental Adventures (pp 104-5) had two martial arts special maneouvres that allowed dealing an attack at a distance:One Finger: This skill requires long and difficult practice. It is said that the student first learns to push a heavy bell with the touch of a single finger. He concentrates then on touching it lighter and lighter while making the bell swing even more. Finally, he reaches the point where he can make the bell move without actually touching it. His inner power extends from his finger and pushes the bell. At this point he has mastered One Finger. Distance Death: This is the ultimate skill of this method and requires great practice an0 concentration. To learn it, the character must practice at a pool of water, driving his finger at it without touching it. As he does so, he concentrates on his own power, trying to extend it from his finger. When he can hear the echo of his thrust rebound from the water, he has mastered the maneuver.And then, from the PHB (p 32), we have this:The last ability gained, and perhaps the most terrible power, is that fabled attack which enables the monk to set up vibrations in the body of the victim, and the monk can then control such vibrations so as to cause death to occur when the monk stops them. Known as the "quivering palm", the monk merely touches his victim to set up the deadly vibrations.In short: there's no reason to suppose that the monk who can fall an unlimited distance within 8' of a wall is interacting physically with the wall.</blockquote>

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