Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Nibnob_DE Sep 23, 2014 10:33:19	Hi there, reading the Way of the Four Elements-section in the monk chapter raised a question regarding the Elemental Disciplines that are not referring to spells, like Fangs of the Fire Snake or Water Whip. While there is a clear ruling for augmenting spells with ki points per monk level, there is no indication whatsoever that said disciplines are or trigger spells, which would allow the monk player to augment them right away.   Also, this allows for a pretty nifty combo with Stunning Strike and an augmented Water Whip, which takes a bonus action and automatically succeeds when the targeted creature is stunned (since it cannot take the Dex Saving Throw). All this sounds pretty powerful to me, especially since the risk of gambling and losing Ki-Points is very low (1 Ki-Point is at stake for the Stunning Strike, after that you can basically decide how many additional d10s you want to roll).   Is there any rule I have misinterpreted or gotten wrong with this? Thanks in advance. I'm building my monk for my upcoming first 5E session and plan to go for a dip into two cleric-levels after level 6. The thematically fitting tempest cleric would increase the monks utility with cantrips and as a nice side-effect up to three Ki-Point-free thunderwaves.
#2 Jay_Ibero_911 Sep 23, 2014 10:51:33	You are correct. The ki point limit only applies to spells, so a 20th level monk could hit with an unarmed strike, trigger stunning fist, and if the target fails the save, dump the remaining 19 ki points into water whip for an automatic 20d10, averaging 110 damage once per short rest.
#3 1eejit Sep 24, 2014 1:21:50	As they aren't spells presumably one could also use both Fist of Unbroken Air and Water Whip on the same turn after stunning on a previous turn, which would allow 21d10 for 19 Ki points.   Of course vs humanoids for most parties you're probably just better using Clench of the North Wind and kicking them in the 'nads over the next few rounds.
#4 Yunru Sep 24, 2014 6:37:52	Or just the Open Hand's save-or-die Con check a few times (for bonus fun, have someone debuff their Con saving throws!)