It would be sweet if Monks had more feats that interact with FoB

[Candlejake]

While reading through monk feats i often ask myself the question "why would i use that instead of Flurry of Blows?". Stuff like One-Inch Punch, Tiger Slash, Wolf Drag are all cool feats but suffer from being inevitably compared to Flurry of Blows.

It is such a good feature for action economy and something monks probably wanna do each turn. So why arent there more Feats that interact with it? I know we have Stunning Fist and Flurry of Maneuvers but this idea was sparked from the jalmeri heavenseeker dedication and the Heavens Thunder archetype feat. And while that feat is pretty busted and will likely get changed it also is something Monks would really love.

Since FoB is so easy on the action economy Monks want something to do with their third action. And while there are many choices it would be cool if there was something that lets them keep up in the damage department with all the other martials. Or generally if there where options that augment the trusty FoB for various occasions.

Im thinking along the lines of 1-action, if your next action is flurry of blows the attacks that you make as part of this action deal an additional X damage.

Or: If your next action is flurry of Blows and both attacks hit the target is knocked prone/deafened/takes a movespeed penalty.

Or: If your next action is flurry of Blows both targeting the same creature and at least one attack hits you can swap places with them.

Or: Dashing strike: If your next action is flurry of Blows and at least two enemies are in 15 feet range of you you can target both of them with each one attack, even if they arent in your normal melee range.

I think feats like this could be fun and make FoB a nice multipurpose tool

[Captain Morgan]

Well, technically every stance feat interacts with flurry of blows. But feats like Tiger Slash do work with FoB if you don't need to move and want to all out attack. The problem is as a monk you usually want to stay moving, and ending your turn next to a boss monster is really dangerous.

I wouldn't object to some more feats though.

[Cyouni]

Part of it is the fact that adding too many addons to FoB makes it just an all-purpose tool, though handling it like metamagic is a pretty good way of doing it.

Imagine, for example, if you could "metafist" in an ability to knock prone. Then Stunning Fist becomes a lot better, because metafist stacks with Stunning Fist.

You might see the problem.

[Candlejake]

Cyouni wrote:

Part of it is the fact that adding too many addons to FoB makes it just an all-purpose tool, though handling it like metamagic is a pretty good way of doing it.

Imagine, for example, if you could "metafist" in an ability to knock prone. Then Stunning Fist becomes a lot better, because metafist stacks with Stunning Fist.

You might see the problem.

I like "Metafist". You are right but that is not an unfixable problem and prone was just an example. The cost for prone would be an action and the need to get lucky and hit both attacks but i guess that would be too much high risk high reward maybe. Could just make it "stunned" instead of prone so it doesnt stack with stunning fist but is still a valid option to use. There are lots of things i can imagine for a metafist. Maybe a "metafist" that raises Stunning fists incap level by 2.

Mostly i think the damage option would be cool. Spending an action that isnt MAP dependent for some extra damage is exactly what monks would need to keep up with the rest.

[Castilliano]

Part of the issue is that FoB starts strong, so making it stronger threatens to push the power curve upward.
Look at all the really cool Strike abilities that Monks can choose via feats. I already have a hard time choosing any of them because I get FoB for free! Why spend a feat for a comparable ability? Especially when there are so many options that don't contend w/ FoB and more especially if I've already taken Stunning Fist which requires FoB.
So adding even more to FoB? No. If anything, I'd like a way to trade it out so I feel less wasteful trying other options.

The cost of an extra action might make additional FoB powers fit better with game balance. Focus Points/Spells would be another route, perhaps combined for "Metaflurry Focus Spells" or something.
Not sure how amazing these could be though.

[Captain Morgan]

Doesn't ki strike already interact with FoB?

[HammerJack]

It does, though being a focus spell definitely limits its ability to make options other than FoB irrelevant.