Stoik's page

There was a post on the Paizo Blog about the Advanced Race Guide on March 14, 2012, saying that we'd be seing some previews in the "very near future".

Well, it's been more than two weeks, and still no previews. Now, I understand that Paizo wants to keep excitement high in the lead-up to release of each product (and so generally gives previews closer to the pre-release period), but I'm assuming that there are quite a few people like me who can't wait to buy the Advanced Race Guide and could really do with a few previews to hold us over. And while I think the "write a caption for the cover" is an intersting idea, what I'd really like to see is some crunchy bits from the book.

Maybe one race? A few options? Something?

Please and thank you.

Thanks all for your responses.

To Mok, you make some very good points about D&D being a narrative pacing system. I need to think about that a bit more. With respect to Punishing Kick being a save-or-die move, consider that:

1. If modified to allow a saving throw against the movement, it would require both a hit and a save.

2. As pointed out by Gilfalas, a bull rush (with no usage limitation) accomplishes the same effect. And by the time a Hungry Ghost Monk has levelled up to level 10 (i.e. the point where he can kick a target more than 5 feet), most spellcasters have a number of save-or-die abilities.

3. Only one sub-class (Hungry Ghost Monks) can use the move at 1st level. Everyone else has to meet the prerequisites, and wait until a point where other save-or-die abilities are available. As well, like a spell, the feat is only usable a certain number of times per day (1/day for every four levels of non-monk, 1/day per monk level).

4. The feat only allows you to kick a target 5 feet. If a target is dumb enough to stand in front of a pit, cliff, etc., the target deserves all he/she gets. If the DM doesn't want the main bad guy to get smoked that easily, don't put him/her on the edge of a cliff. Alternately, if the PCs succeed in luring a bad guy in front of a pit trap, they should be rewarded for their efforts. That's cinematic gold, right there.

I like playing monk characters, and the idea of using Punishing Kick to kick someone off a cliff, or into a pit, or through a Wall of Fire, etc., is awesome. Unfortunately, none of those things will ever happen, insofar as the feat text provides that "the target must end this move in a safe space it can stand in".

Not only does this rule prevent all the cool things one might like to do with Punishing Kick, but it makes no sense in the context of the game. I'm willing to suspend disbelief to believe in dragons, in magic, etc., but I have no idea why this feat will only let me kick the target into a safe space.

Questions spring to mind. Can a character use the feat to kick someone into a pit if the target doesn't know it's there? What if the character doesn't know it's there either? Does the Universe simply disallow movement into unsafe areas even if neither combatant is aware of the danger? Could I test for traps by using this kick to push fellow characters across the dungeon floor (either with nonlethal damage or a good quantity of healing) and then note which squares they can't enter?

I am sure that the rule has to do with game balancing since, as written, the feat allows a Fortitude save, but only against being knocked prone and not against the knockback. In order to allow the feat to be used as it should be, I would think that the Fortitude save should apply both to the knockback and to being knocked prone. That way, the target isn't disadvantaged (since the feat requires both a hit, and permits a save) while still allowing the feat to be used to its full potential.

As an aside, I don't understand why Improved Ki Throw exists. Shouldn't Ki Throw permit the same effect? From a common-sense perspective, what is different about throwing someone into an unoccupied square or an occupied square? It's the same throw in each case, right? Why, then, does my character need a new feat to do that?

All comments welcome :)