The thing about slow time is that it allows you to move with a standard action, then full-round a flurry of blows. If all your combats happen to start at 5' of your enemies, then it's useless.
Has anyone managed to successfully break this class feature? (or at least justify the 6 ki)
I would choose it over abundant step anyday.
Hopefully the power don't have to be broken to find a place at the gaming table.Like yourself, I was considering the furious finish combo for it. If you want to try and get the most out of it, I'll suggest going monk 15 + whatever you feel like (although barb could be efficient), and taking all the vital strike feats.
Buy yourself a Giant Hide Armor to go become huge size, bumping your unarmed attack damage to 6d8. With strong jaw running, your damage dice is going to be 12d8 (or something thereabout, since the progression doesn't follow standard values).
Making 3 Vital Strikes for 48d8+bonusses could be fun. Use furious finish on the last one, and got yourself an attack that is going one-shot most creatures in the book.
Generelly I think 4-winds are a strong choice. Like I said before, I'd take slow time over abundant step. Apart from this they can get something quite useful (hello insane-range-pounce or fly) instead of timeless body, which is almost purely fluff.
Do this.
Three times.
Hmm, it's murky water here, but something I've given thought to. I'm going to reprint it here in full.
At 12th level, a monk of the four winds can use his ki to slow time or quicken his movements, depending on the observer. As a swift action, the monk can expend 6 ki points to gain three standard actions during his turn instead of just one. The monk can use these actions to do the following: take a melee attack action, use a skill, use an extraordinary ability, or take a move action. The monk cannot use these actions to cast spells or use spell-like abilities, and cannot combine them to take full-attack actions. Any move actions the monk makes this turn do not provoke attacks of opportunity.
This ability replaces abundant step.
The bold part is the part I'll be referencing. It says gain 3 instead of just one, but doesn't say anything about losing your normal move action. Based off the wording, I would say that you have 3 standard and 1 move action. If this is true, I would say you could move, and have 3 standards left for Combat Maneuvers. Since you have 3 standard actions, you could, in theory, trip + grapple + pin in the same round. Or Disarm + Trip + Grapple. Or rescue that Wizard from the Fighter about to chop him in two. Whatever combination you can think of.
Like I said, the part about not losing your normal move action is murky, and probably up to GM ruling. But by RAW, I think it's true.
Not just by RAW, but I suspect by RAI. I don't see any reason to believe they tried or wanted to remove or replace the monk's move action.
Do wands/scrolls still work with the standard actions, or do they fall to the no spell/SLA clause? how about wonderous items that can generate spell effects like a necklace of fireballs? (Throwing 3 10d6 fireball beads a round would be pretty cool, though probably not optimum.)
I know this doesn't apply to many, or most, games... but the first time I saw the Slow Time ability, I've wanted to gestalt it with a Mobile Fighter. 20th level, 3 full attacks in a turn.
Hmmm a couple of related pie in the sky ideas.
1.) Most of my Monk/Druid hybrids end up with 12d8 base unarmed damage.
2.) Improved Vital strike would take that up to 36d8 (3x damage)
3.) If all 3 hit, that's 108d8 damage, plus change.
4.) A drunken Master could start every combat like this by topping up his drunken ki pool with a flask of endless sake.
Its not a bad way to go.
prototype00