Ki Mat
Aura moderate conjuration (healing); CL 7th
Slot none; Price 10,000 gp; Weight 3 lbs.
DescriptionThis humble pad of woven river reeds allows its owner to recover his mental fortitude and ki pool by practicing breathing exercises and other forms of meditation. Each hour its owner spends sitting on the mat without taking any other action, he can attempt to center himself by making a Wisdom check with a DC of 10 plus the monk's current number of ki points (note that ability checks, like skill checks, do not automatically succeed on a 20). If the check is successful, the monk regains 1 ki point.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/h-l /ki-mat
Two questions;
1. Can a Ninja use the item to regain Ki?
2. Is it really supposed to take an hour to use? That seems like an incredibly steep amount of time in the middle of an adventuring day to stop the action so a Monk can get 1 Ki point back.
1) Probably
2) Yes, it's supposed to take an hour to get the ki point back.
I think it is not so much for stopping your adventuring so he can get 1 ki back, more that if you are stopping anyway he can make good use of the time
I was curious because the hour to use time is something usually associated with the morning spell preparation (which, using this item after resting would pointless for a monk/ninja) of casters and there are items that let casters recover spells as standard actions, so an hour time that still needs a check just seems excessive.
I was wondering if the item might have originally been intended to allow a monk to get a bonus ki point in the morning and then got edited in to a ki recovery item, but the use time had accidentally been left unchanged.
Does anyone have advice on circumstances were a ninja in an adventuring party might be able to make consistent enough use of the item to be worth a purchase? Right now it seems, favorable, but ultimately like a corner case type of item that would rarely see actual use to me.
It is worthwhile if you have that much money with absolutely nothing else to spend it on (no slot) but any time earlier than that it really isn't worth it unless you expect a lot of 'one encounter, wait an hour, one encounter' type of things. depends on the gm.
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This item is a godsend for many types of monks. I can't believe how much you guys are undervaluing it.
Yes and yes. The item is probably from a time before ninja. It speaks of Ki pool and thus anything with a Ki pool can benefit from it. Consider the Ki point to come back at the end of the hour of meditation, not the start or middle.
Personally I dislike it for the fact that it eats non-combat time with inactivity.
For example:
GM - Congratulations on surviving a relatively rough morning of bandits and wild life! You reach a wayfarer stop; a small building that sells ale that has grown up around a local shrine to the Traveler. There are also several tinkerers selling wares. What do you do?
Fighter - I go buy a pint and chat with the locals!
Wizard - I check with the shopkeepers for magical items
Cleric - I see if there is anyone needing my heal skill
Monk - I go sit in a corner on my mat for a few hours.
Poor monk; while everyone else gets to roleplay and be good examples of their characters, the monk mediates.
A more interesting version of the mat would be something the monk can use at camp that can give him bonus Ki points for the day (maximum equal to level / X or his wisdom bonus or something); 1 for each hour spent meditating. This would be used during the same period that spell casters have to spend memorizing spells after a night's rest AND get him out of camp cleanup duty! "Can't help with striking the tent - meditating"
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And monk meditating isn't a good example of his character?
I suppose the "roleplay" is the key point. A meditating monk is not exactly a fun or inclusive use of the character. Like a wizard who uses every moment of a day to craft while the rest of the party is off roleplaying. Maybe that is OK, or maybe the wizard has to because he's expected and pressured by the party to make more potions and scrolls and magical armor. Maybe the monk is pressured to have more Ki points so he can do things in fights that his party need him to do. He could resent the requirement that he use the mat but believes that without the points he will be less useful to the party.
Point is, there is a mechanical device that rewards the avoidance of roleplaying.
