| Bronte Bellum |
On a successful hit with Punishing Kick, "the attack deals damage normally and you can choose to push your target 5 feet or attempt to knock them prone." The second option forces a save, just like Stunning Fist, but the first one does not; it automatically knocks back the target.
Now, suppose I have a hungry ghost monk with the Dragon Ferocity feat, which states: "When you score a critical hit or a successful Stunning Fist attempt against an opponent while using this style, that opponent is also shaken for a number of rounds equal to 1d4 + your Strength bonus." Which of the following would be correct?
1) The monk's Punishing Kicks never make the opponent shaken, since Dragon Ferocity only applies to Stunning Fist;
2) The monk's Punishing Kicks make the opponent shaken if they are used to knock them prone; however, this does not happen if the target is merely knocked back, since it didn't fail a save;
3) The monk's Punishing Kicks make the opponent shaken even if the knockback option was used.
What do you think?