stunning attack alternatives?

[Particle_Man]

I play an 8th lvl monk and in the campaign I am in, the monsters are brutes, such that my stunning attack only works if they roll a natural 1 on their saving throw (it worked once so far -- I was so happy). I was wondering if there are other things that can be done with stunning attack. I have Complete Warrior and see there are some feats that "use up a stun", much like divine feats "use up a turn undead". Are there other feats, magic items, etc., in other books? Are there other books that have wacky rules for stunning (like, I dunno, using up multiple stuns at once for a higher save DC?)

 

[Christian]

Would your DM let you retro-build a character using new supplements? PH 3.5 gives the option of Improved Grapple instead of Stunning Fist for the 1st level monk bonus, and Unearthed Arcana gives some alternate feat chains as well. (Which it then ruins by giving an extra bonus ability at 6th level for 'locking yourself into' a particular chain-but if you ditch that, the concept isn't bad.)

 

[Legildur]

I'm not sure that switching out to Improved Grapple will really help him if he is battling "brutes".

I'd recommend Weakening Touch (CW) as a good use of your Stunning Fist ability to reduce the effectiveness of the brutes.

 

[Darklone]

And that Axiomatic Strike rocks against Chaotic creatures. Fists of Iron and so as well.

 

[reapersaurus]

You want the book "Beyond Monks".
Trust me.
It has a lot of good options for exactly what you're looking for.

 

[UltimaGabe]

If you have access to a nearby store with lots of RPG books for sale, you might want to look into buying Beyond Monks d20: Art of the Fight by Chainmail Bikini. It's a non-core supplement (now upgraded to be compatible with the 3.5 rules) that has all sorts of prestige classes and feats for Monks, as well as a new Core Class called the Martial Artist (sort of a Fighter-Monk, with lots of the monk abilities, but better base attack, no Wisdom bonus to AC, and all sorts of other things). Several of the feats in that book are great if you've got no use for your Stunning Attacks- there are feats that let you give up a Stunning Attack to attack from 10 ft. away (treat your Unarmed Strike as a thrown weapon with a 10 ft. Range Increment), deal extra damage to Evil foes (if you're good, or good if you're evil), and even a feat that lets you gain a Spell-Like ability (among the list is Enlarge Person, Spider Climb, Cure Light Wounds, and various other low-level spells), and each time you want to use the Spell-Like ability, you just have to give up a Stunning Attack.

If you like Monks, it's a great book to check out.

Edit: Dang it, Reapasaurus! You beat me to it!

 

[Storminator]

I'll jump in the Beyond Monks camp as well. I think it's one of the best supplements ever. It has a lot of feats that burn up Stunning Fists. Some have already been mentioned, but others let you increase your threat multiplier, add bonus damage on a charge, power metamagic feats, etc.


PS