demoneyes's page

Biggest thing I miss from 3.5 is the Spell Compendium. Much that's in there no doubt could happily be dispensed with, but a lot of it was very handy, in particular filling a lot of holes (like decent 4th level area offensive spells or decent 3rd level single target spells) in the wizard list. Plus if we're wanting a melee/mage class (I won't use the G word) then there's all the swift boost spells which gel with that concept, though these could do with being extended past 3rd otherwise the high level fighter/caster just turns into a caster again.

I'm also not entirely convinced by the current Paladin - its evil-smacking powers are impressive (possibly too impressive but that's a separate argument!) but its combat abilities against anything else pale sadly next to the fighter. In particular, he misses the armour training which might actually make the paladin's heavy armour worth wearing! So, assuming we're stuck with the Paladin as is, some sort of variant holy fighter which trades a bit of that evil-smackdown for a little more versatility (and no, just multiclassing the two doesn't really do that, aside from wanting to have gone beyond 3.5 Paladins where everyone did that!).

PRD - Monk Ki Pool wrote:

Each of these powers is activated as a swift action

Seems pretty clear to me. Each is a swift action and unless you can grab swift actions from somewhere you can only use one per round.

Yeah, this part is pretty clear that you can only have one per round - except the first part is equally clear the other way: "By spending one 1 point he may make one extra attack... in addition [my emphasis], he can spend one point to...". Not "alternatively" but "in addition".

I think the problem here is they're trying to explain the list of powers the monk is getting - hence the "in addition" to make it clear he's getting all three powers and not having to pick one from three at level up - but they're doing it in terms of what he can spend during a round which is what's giving the "in addition" this contradictory sense.

So how about?

"A monk gains three ki powers at this level, each of which is activated as a swift action. Firstly, he may spend 1 point from his ki pool to make one additional attack at his highest attack bonus when making a flurry of blows attack. Alternatively, he can spend 1 point to increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round. Finally, he can spend 1 point to give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round. A monk gains additional powers that consume points from his ki pool as he gains further levels."

By spending 1 point from his ki pool, a monk can make one additional attack at his highest attack bonus when making a flurry of blows attack. In addition, he can spend 1 point to increase his speed by 20 feet for 1 round. Finally, a monk can spend 1 point from his ki pool to give himself a +4 dodge bonus to AC for 1 round. Each of these powers is activated as a swift action

So can these be combined into a single swift action, spending 1-3 ki points as desired (if available)? Or are these 3 alternative options of which you pick one?

Because the wording seems singularly ambiguous to me. "In addition" could mean "at the same time" - or it might mean "alternatively". (Or it might mean "in addition" i.e. you can only increase speed if you're already adding a blow - which seems unlikely but is another possible interpretation!). And likewise "each is activated as a swift action" might mean "any or all of these powers can be activated for a round within one swift action" or "a swift action will activate one power for a round".

Which is it? And is it possible to come up with a less ambiguous way of saying it?

With regard to this whole "before the action" argument, is the key point that an opponent cannot change their planned action as a result of the AoO interrupt? If his intended action was to walk past you and you trip him in his starting square, then even though he has not at this time used any movement (as it's "before the action"), his intended action was to walk; he is now incapable of walking, so that move action is wasted and ended. And yes, even if he's also capable of flying, his declared move action was to walk so that's all he can try and do (at least, in this move action).

Say you decide to walk up to a troll, he critical hits you with an AoO 10' away and you're suddenly on one hit point and really don't want to be next to him. Are you allowed, even though you haven't technically moved, to not make that declared movement? No, of course not. You declared it, you're still capable of doing it, so do it you must.

In each case, the AoO interrupts the turn sequence and happens "before the action", but that action still has to be happen if it can. What a successful trip does is make the intended action impossible because you can't walk whilst prone!