Prometheus
2008-03-26, 04:50 PM
What do you think about the following fixes?
1-Monk's may make any number of stunning fist attempts that they wish per round
2-Whenever a monk succeeds on a stunning attempt he may forgo stunning his opponent and a monk may instead receive another full attack against him (this does not stack with multiple successes; a monk cannot both stun his opponent and receive and additional full attack; this ability only works against creatures not immune to stunning)
#1: This would allow a Monk to almost ensure that he would land a stunning fist, but of course, at the cost of making him weaker against future encounters. Since part of the monk's weakness and spellcaster's strengths are the fact that there aren't that many encounters per day, this isn't a big concern. In any event, it would give an incentive for taking the Extra Smiting Feat (3 more/day).
#2a: This is mostly equivalent to stunning, since a stunned creature would receive a full attack from the monk anyway. There are a couple of minor pros and cons: a) stunned creatures receive -2 AC and are flatfooted b) all of the monk's allies and all the opponent's allies would receive another action if they creature is stunned c) a monk might prefer to use the time the creature would have spent stunned otherwise. Therefore, monks would only use this ability when they are outnumbered with few allies, which supports the image of a self sufficient monk (and give incentive for the Cleave feat). This also seems to be more realistic, someone who is quick and takes advantage of the opportunity for more attacks rather than someone who pummels a lifeless opponent.
#2b: Instead of giving monks the choice every time they attack, they could instead choose one of the two stunning attack styles when they receive the ability. In addition, the Fortitude save ordinarily required could be replaced by a Reflex save. Finally the thing about not working against opponents immune to stunning can probably be waved.
As you can see, #1 is the main mechanical fix, #2 is just to make monks more interesting. The two options can be used in any combination.
EDIT: Rule 2 modified for clarity
1-Monk's may make any number of stunning fist attempts that they wish per round
2-Whenever a monk succeeds on a stunning attempt he may forgo stunning his opponent and a monk may instead receive another full attack against him (this does not stack with multiple successes; a monk cannot both stun his opponent and receive and additional full attack; this ability only works against creatures not immune to stunning)
#1: This would allow a Monk to almost ensure that he would land a stunning fist, but of course, at the cost of making him weaker against future encounters. Since part of the monk's weakness and spellcaster's strengths are the fact that there aren't that many encounters per day, this isn't a big concern. In any event, it would give an incentive for taking the Extra Smiting Feat (3 more/day).
#2a: This is mostly equivalent to stunning, since a stunned creature would receive a full attack from the monk anyway. There are a couple of minor pros and cons: a) stunned creatures receive -2 AC and are flatfooted b) all of the monk's allies and all the opponent's allies would receive another action if they creature is stunned c) a monk might prefer to use the time the creature would have spent stunned otherwise. Therefore, monks would only use this ability when they are outnumbered with few allies, which supports the image of a self sufficient monk (and give incentive for the Cleave feat). This also seems to be more realistic, someone who is quick and takes advantage of the opportunity for more attacks rather than someone who pummels a lifeless opponent.
#2b: Instead of giving monks the choice every time they attack, they could instead choose one of the two stunning attack styles when they receive the ability. In addition, the Fortitude save ordinarily required could be replaced by a Reflex save. Finally the thing about not working against opponents immune to stunning can probably be waved.
As you can see, #1 is the main mechanical fix, #2 is just to make monks more interesting. The two options can be used in any combination.
EDIT: Rule 2 modified for clarity