[3.5 Feats] Ki Feats For Your Ki User![Ninjas Included]

Background- So, I love Ninjas. And the Monk, even though it's a bit on the weak side. Still, I never thought about what they had in common until I saw the Ninjutsu feats in Dragon 342. Since I was already planning to make some Ninja feats, I came up with a three-fold goal: 1)Turn the Ninja and the Monk into feats, 2) Make it viable for there to be a Ki-based feat chain worth taking out of that, and 3)Add in some more fun Ki feats to that. Here we go!

Ki Disciple[Ki]
Prerequisites: Positive Wisdom modifier
Benefit: You have learned to make use of Ki, the inner energy that dwells inside all beings. You gain two daily uses of Ki, plus one additional daily use per Ki feat you have. Additionally, depending on the path you have chosen, you gain an additional benefit from this feat:
Shinobi: You gain a bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have + 1. You may spend a daily use of Ki to double this bonus for 3 rounds per Ki feat you have.
Ascetic: You gain a bonus to checks for Knowledge(Religion) and one Wis-based skill of your choice equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have + 1. You may spend 1 daily use of Ki in order to double this bonus for 3 rounds.

Taijutsu[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Improved Unarmed Strike
Benefit: You gain the unarmed attack damage of a monk of level equal to 1/2 your HD + the number of Ki feats you have. You may expend one daily use of Ki in order to double this attack damage for for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have.
Special: You may select this feat as a Fighter bonus feat.

Cat's Landing[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, 3rd level
Benefit: You learn how to slow your falling so that it does not affect you as much as it should. You may treat falls as though they were 10 ft per Ki feat shorter than it really is, so long as you are within arm's length reach of a wall. You may expend one daily usage of Ki in order to increase the distanced shortened by 10 ft and remove the arm's length requirement.

Ape's Climb[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Cat's Landing, 6th level
Benefit: You have learned how to climb up as easily as fall down. When climbing, you may climb at your speed with no penalty as a move action. However, you must begin and end movement on a horizontal surface. You may expend a daily usage of Ki in order to remove the requirement of starting and stopping on a horizontal surface, and increase climb speed by 10 ft for the round.

Swift as the Wind[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, 3rd level
Benefit: You gain a bonus to speed equal to the number of Ki feats you have - 1 x 10. By expending one daily use of Ki, you may increase this speed bonus by 20 ft for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have.

Armor of the Inner Self[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, one other Ki feat
Benefit: You learn how to harness your inner energy in order to protect yourself. So long as you are not wearing any armor, you may add your Wisdom modifier + 1/3 the number of Ki feats you have to your AC. This includes touch AC and when you are flat-footed. You may expend a daily useage of Ki to increase this bonus by 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have.

Reflexes of the Awakened[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Swift as the Wind, Ki Disciple, one other Ki feat
Benefit: You learn how to avoid attacks, reacting and moving to avoid them with a speed that only a Ki user can. All attacks against you have a chance of missing equal to the number of Ki feats you have. You may drastically enhance this ability by expending one daily Ki use, changing the miss chance of all attacks granted by this feat to (the number of Ki feats you have - 1) x 10 percent for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have, which cannot be enhanced beyond 80% by any means. Alternately, you can expend one daily Ki use in order to cause any one attack to automatically miss.

Body Repair[Ki]
Prerequsites: Ki Disciple, one other Ki feat, 6th level
Benefit: You may heal yourself by harnessing your Ki. You gain a pool of points equal to your HD + twice the number of Ki feats you have, to heal yourself with. These points need not be spent all at once, and can be spread out amongst multiple uses. You may expend a daily use of Ki in order to add 5 points to the pool.

Thousand Strike[Ki]
Prerequsites: Ki Disciple, Taijutsu, Improved Unarmed Strike
Benefits: You learn how to land more hits than you should. You gain useage of the Flurry of Blows class feature, treating yourself as a Monk of level equal to 1/2 your HD + the number of Ki feats you have. You may spend a daily use of Ki in order to bestow a bonus to the attack or damage rolls(your choice at time of useage) equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have.
Special: You may select this feat as a Fighter bonus feat.

Surprise Strike[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple
Benefit: You gain Sudden Strike +1d6 as per the Ninja class feature, except that should you use this on an enemy that has not acted yet or is not aware of your presence, you deal a bonus amount of damage equal to the number of Ki feats you have. You may expend one daily use of Ki to add dice to a Sudden Strike attack equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have.
Special: You may take this feat again in order to increase your Sudden Strike damage by 1d6.

Spirit Blow[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Surprise Strike +2d6, 6th level
Benefit: As a move action, you may make it so that the next attack you make hits incorporeal and ethereal creatures as though they were corporeal. You may expend one daily use of Ki in order to add 1/2 your Suprise Strike damage to such an attack.

Cloaked Stride[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Hide 4 ranks, Move Silently 4 ranks
Benefit: You may move as though Invisible as per the Invisibility spell for 1 round, at-will. However, you cannot make use of it this way for 5 rounds afterwards. You may expend one daily use of Ki in order to move around as though Invisibility spell for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have. This may be used to extend a useage of the at-will Invisibility granted by this feat.

Unseen Stride[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Cloaked Stride, 6th level
Benefit: You may expend two daily uses of Ki instead of one in order to move around as though under the effect of the Greater Invisibility spell for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have. Upon selection of this feat, you gain a special daily use of Ki for the useage of this feat's effect.

Spirit Stride[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Unseen Stride, Cloaked Stride, 9th level
Benefit: Your at-will invisibility movement granted by Cloaked Stride may now treat you as though under the effect of Greater Invisibility, which, should you choose to do so, extends the number of rounds before you can use it again by 2. Also, the Greater Invisibility movement granted by Unseen Stride now only costs 1 daily use of Ki, displacing the regular Invisibilty Ki use effect, although you lose the special daily use of Ki for this purpose. Lastly, you may expend two daily uses of Ki in order to move around as though under the effect of Etheral Jaunt for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have.

Focused Eye of the Shinobi[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Surprise Strike +4d6, Spirit Blow, 15th level
Benefit: You may see invisible and ethereal creatures as easily as normal visible and corporeal creatures. Also, effects like Blur that give you a miss chance only have a (100-number of Ki feats x 10) % chance of working. You may expend one daily use of Ki in order to give all your attacks the benefits of the True Strike Spell for one round. You cannot expend daily uses of Ki in this manner should you be making use of the daily Ki use effect of Thousand Strike.

Ninjutsu[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Knowledge(Religion or Arcana) 4 ranks
Benefit: You learn how to turn Ki into magical effects. Select one spell list. This is the spell list you will draw from for Ninjutsu effects. Choose any one spell from that list from the Evocation, Illusion, Transmutation, and one other school selected when this feat is, that is of level up to the highest level spell a sorcerer of level equal to 1/2 your HD + the number of Ki feats you have could cast. This becomes a Ninjutsu effect. Your caster level is treated as equal to 1/2 your level + the number of Ki feats you have for all non-duration effects. Your caster level for all duration-based effects is equal to 1 + 1/2 the number of Ki feats you have. Ninjutsu costs Ki use as on the table below:
{table]Spell Level|Number of Ki Uses

1-3|1
4-6|2
7-9|3
[/table]
This feat grants you an additional daily Ki use for Ninjutsu every time it is taken.
Special: You may select this feat multiple times, selecting a new spell each time.

Enhanced Ninjutsu[Ki]
Prerequsites: Ki Disciple, Ninjutsu, Knowledge(Religion or Arcana) 9 ranks, 6th level
Benefit: Choose one metamagic feat, provided you meet the caster level prerequisites(using your caster level for Ninjutsu). You may enhance your Ninjutsu with the metamagic feat's effect, expending one additional daily Ki use per two additional spell levels it adds, rounded up.
Special: You may select this feat again, choosing another metamagic feat to apply.

Art of the Doppleganger[Ki]
Prerequisites: Ki Disciple, Knowledge(Religion or Arcana) 4 ranks
Benefit: You have learned the Art of the Doppleganger, and can activate it by spending one Ki use as a standard action. Dopplegangers are used in place of images in this feat. This acts as the Mirror Image spell, with the following exceptions:

• Dopplegangers are 10% per Ki feat real
• Dopplegangers can only deliver unarmed attacks, which, upon success, deal 1 damage per Ki feat.
• Dopplegangers get their own turns, each after yours, but can only use one action per turn.
• You get one Doppleganger per Ki feat you have
• You may make use of Ki feats through your Dopplegangers
• Dopplegangers do not need to mimic your actions
• You cannot merge with Dopplegangers
• Dopplegangers have hit points equal to twice the number of Ki feats you have, and once they reach 0, disappear
• This effect lasts for 1 minute/HD + 1 minute per two Ki feats you have.

Modifications to Existing Ki Feats in Dragon #342
-Hidden Kingdom, River Eel, and Rabbit Prince each last for a number of rounds equal to the number of Ki feats you have.
-Thousand Faces now lasts for 2 minutes per Ki feat you have, and by expending two daily Ki uses may also be used to allow your new form to either be of any type of creature, so long as it is the same size, or to allow your new form to be one size larger or smaller than you, but of the same type as you.
-Wind Oxen Jutsu's bonus to the bull rush attack now equals Wisdom modifier + the number of Ki feats you have + 1.

Well, that's all for now. Please comment/PEACH.

Just thought I would note, for your feat Art of the Doppleganger (Which is a good feat, and a great concept, btw) you didn't list the action you needed to take to activate it or how many Ki uses it required.

The list looks good, maybe you could make the Taijutsu line Fighter feats as well? That seems reasonable, considering Improved Unarmed Strike already is.

Edit: Also, the Armor feat is good and balanced, but you didn't mention if it applies to touch AC and flatfooted (I assume it does but...).

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Originally Posted by NeoSeraphi

Just thought I would note, for your feat Art of the Doppleganger (Which is a good feat, and a great concept, btw) you didn't list the action you needed to take to activate it or how many Ki uses it required.

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Oops. Changed. Takes one Ki use and a standard action to activate, although I'm pondering making it a full-round one.

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The list looks good, maybe you could make the Taijutsu line Fighter feats as well? That seems reasonable, considering Improved Unarmed Strike already is.

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What do you mean the Taijutsu line?

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Edit: Also, the Armor feat is good and balanced, but you didn't mention if it applies to touch AC and flatfooted (I assume it does but...).

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I'd suppose it'd apply to that. Will mention.

Added Reflexes of the Awakened. Feel free to comment/PEACH that in addition to the other Ki feats.

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Originally Posted by Pyromancer999

What do you mean the Taijutsu line?

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Oh, sorry, I thought there were more feats than that lol. I guess I just meant Taijutsu and Thousand Strike.

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Originally Posted by NeoSeraphi

Oh, sorry, I thought there were more feats than that lol. I guess I just meant Taijutsu and Thousand Strike.

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Alright, so that's been taken care of. Any more comments/PEACHes? I'd appreciate a bit more feedback on this one as it took me a bit more time than the other feat chains I've done.

I might suggest letting Ninjitsu give the payer one spell per ki-feat he/she has at the time of taking.

Also, I would probably have made it so the player could choose spells from the Enchantment, Illusion, and one other school of his/her choice(or possibly Enchantment, Illusion, Transmutation, and one other school), rather than Evocation.

Finally, I know it seems silly, but I think you need to explicitly state that the player picks a spell list the first time he chooses this feat and then he must pick spells off of that same list each time he takes this feat after the first.

The other feats are all VERY good, I especially like the Doppelganger one, the only thing about it is that it does seem quite a bit more powerful than most of the others... :-)

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Originally Posted by Thugorp

I might suggest letting Ninjitsu give the payer one spell per ki-feat he/she has at the time of taking.

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Sorta sketchy. Why?

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Also, I would probably have made it so the player could choose spells from the Enchantment, Illusion, and one other school of his/her choice(or possibly Enchantment, Illusion, Transmutation, and one other school), rather than Evocation.

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Eh, Enchantment is a bit sketchy for this. I chose Evocation due to flash powder and explosive techniques ninjas use.

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Finally, I know it seems silly, but I think you need to explicitly state that the player picks a spell list the first time he chooses this feat and then he must pick spells off of that same list each time he takes this feat after the first.

The other feats are all VERY good, I especially like the Doppelganger one, the only thing about it is that it does seem quite a bit more powerful than most of the others... :-)

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Actually, it really isn't. It may seem like it at first, but it's really not. You get the confusion chance benefit of Mirror Image, but you don't get to merge with it. You get to deal limited damage with the dopplegangers. So, yeah, in the end it's about equal.

Ninjas use, or Naruto characters use?

Cause naruto characters are more Wu Jen then ninja.

I like how you managed exactly 18 feats, perfect for a Fighter wanting to go all in on the whole Ki thing.

Anyway, I assume this is intended to replace the stunning fist line of feats from the books?

But... Most of the feats here can't be taken by fighters. Or at least, not as bonus feats.

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Originally Posted by NineThePuma

But... Most of the feats here can't be taken by fighters. Or at least, not as bonus feats.

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Ah silly me for not checking. I'm used to basically any feat that can be construed as Martial being available as a Fighter bonus feat.

In that case, I'm wondering how you could make a monk or a ninja fully, since you only have 7-8 feats to put into this.

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Originally Posted by Seerow

Ah silly me for not checking. I'm used to basically any feat that can be construed as Martial being available as a Fighter bonus feat.

In that case, I'm wondering how you could make a monk or a ninja fully, since you only have 7-8 feats to put into this.

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Actually, I'm pretty sure you can, except for some of the resistances they get:

Ninja:
Ki Disciple
Next two optional(because it's basically two feats for the wall-climbing ability of the Ninja:
Cat's Landing
Ape Climb
End optional
Suprise Strike x 2
Spirit Blow
Cloaked Stride
Unseen Stride Spirit Stride.
These feats get you everything the Ninja has except for the enhanced version of their ghost-seeing ability, which requires you to take Surprise Strike 2 more times. However, in my fighter remake I'm posting soon, this shouldn't be a problem.


Monk:
Ki Disciple
Taijutsu
Cat's Landing
Swift as The Wind
Armor of the Inner Self
Body Repair
Thousand Strike
These get you almost everything except Quivering Palm and the Outsider ascension of the Monk.

Also,
@ NineThePuma: True, Naruto is more Wuxia/Wu Jen, but real-life Ninjas used techniques to make it seem like there were more of them. The Art of the Doppleganger is simply a slight magical embellishment of that.

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Originally Posted by Pyromancer999

Eh, Enchantment is a bit sketchy for this. I chose Evocation due to flash powder and explosive techniques ninjas use.

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Originally Posted by NineThePuma

Ninjas use, or Naruto characters use?

Cause naruto characters are more Wu Jen then ninja.

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This was my intended addressing point.

The thing is, Naruto is basically a sort of fantasized, and as the series went on, increasingly magical kind of ninja. I wanted to incorporate a small level of that kind of magic into these Ki feats, although not to as ridiculous a level as Naruto has developed to be over time. The aim is to develop a Ninja with a Wu Jen-like small touch, while leaving the option for all those crazy Naruto fans to still decently mimic Naruto ninjas if they chose(primarily by taking the Ninjutsu feat over and over, and maybe Art of the Doppleganger, although the latter is still fine for Ninjas who want a touch of that good ninja magic.

If I may be so bold...

Taoist Mage [Ki, Mage]
Prereqs: Magic's Child, Ki Disciple.
Benefit: You use a single pool for your Ki and Mage points, equal to 4+# of Ki or Mage feats you have. This feat is counted twice for the purpose of determining the number of points you have.

Taoist Necromancer [Ki, Mage]
Prereqs: Taoist Mage, Necrotic Points pool, Bone Dance
Benefit: You may use a single pool for your Ki feats, Mage feats, and Necrotic Disciple class features. This pool contains a number of points equal to Necrotic Points+# of Ki or Mage feats you have. This feat counts twice for determining the number of points you have in your pool. In addition, you may add your level in the Necrotic Disciple PrC+1/2 the # of Ki feats you have to the number of Mage Feats you have to determine the duration of Bone Dance.

Taoist Deceiver [Ki, Mage]
Prereqs: Taoist Mage, Art of the Doppleganger, Change Shape Mage feat
Benefit: You may spend the normal number of points to use Change Shape while using Art of the Doppleganger to allow a single Doppleganger to assume one of your Alternate forms. This feat counts twice for determining the number of points you have in your pool. In addition, you may add 1/2 the # of Mage feats you have to the number of Ki Feats you have to determine the duration of Art of the Doppleganger.

Taoist Blockade [Ki, Mage]
Prereqs: Taoist Mage, Magic Shield, Armor of the Inner Self
Benefits: You may grant your AC bonus from Armor of the Inner Self to a number of allies equal to the number of points you spend; all allies must be within a number of feats equal to your move speed. This feat counts twice for determining the number of points you have in your pool. In addition, you may add 1/2 the number of Mage feats you have to the number of Ki Feats you have to determine the AC bonus and duration of Armor of the Inner Self.

To help emulate the archetype of the Eastern Mystic. If you would like, I can come up with more.

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Originally Posted by Amechra

If I may be so bold...

Taoist Mage [Ki, Mage]
Prereqs: Magic's Child, Ki Disciple.
Benefit: You use a single pool for your Ki and Mage points, equal to 4+# of Ki or Mage feats you have. This feat is counted twice for the purpose of determining the number of points you have.

Taoist Necromancer [Ki, Mage]
Prereqs: Taoist Mage, Necrotic Points pool, Bone Dance
Benefit: You may use a single pool for your Ki feats, Mage feats, and Necrotic Disciple class features. This pool contains a number of points equal to Necrotic Points+# of Ki or Mage feats you have. This feat counts twice for determining the number of points you have in your pool. In addition, you may add your level in the Necrotic Disciple PrC+1/2 the # of Ki feats you have to the number of Mage Feats you have to determine the duration of Bone Dance.

Taoist Deceiver [Ki, Mage]
Prereqs: Taoist Mage, Art of the Doppleganger, Change Shape Mage feat
Benefit: You may spend the normal number of points to use Change Shape while using Art of the Doppleganger to allow a single Doppleganger to assume one of your Alternate forms. This feat counts twice for determining the number of points you have in your pool. In addition, you may add 1/2 the # of Mage feats you have to the number of Ki Feats you have to determine the duration of Art of the Doppleganger.

Taoist Blockade [Ki, Mage]
Prereqs: Taoist Mage, Magic Shield, Armor of the Inner Self
Benefits: You may grant your AC bonus from Armor of the Inner Self to a number of allies equal to the number of points you spend; all allies must be within a number of feats equal to your move speed. This feat counts twice for determining the number of points you have in your pool. In addition, you may add 1/2 the number of Mage feats you have to the number of Ki Feats you have to determine the AC bonus and duration of Armor of the Inner Self.

To help emulate the archetype of the Eastern Mystic. If you would like, I can come up with more.

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This is good, but it needs some tweaking

Follower of the Way [Tao]
Prereqs: Magic's Child, Ki Disciple.
Benefit: You use a single pool for your Ki and Mage points, equal to 4+# of Ki and Mage feats you have, now called a Tao Point pool. Tao Points may count as either Mage Points or Ki uses for your Mage and Ki feats respectively.This feat gives you 2 Tao Points. Tao feats count as Ki and Mage feats for the purpose of determining the effects of Ki and Mage feats, but only add 1 Tao Point to your Tao Point pool, unless stated otherwise.

Tao-Shi [Tao]
Prereqs: Follower of the Way, Necrotic Points pool, Bone Dance
Benefit: You may convert points from your Tao Point Pool in order to enhance your undead-raising ability. You may expend 1 Tao Point to gain 2 Necrotic Points, and vice versa. This feat also gives you an additional 2 Necrotic Points.

Raiser of the Jiangshi[Tao]
Prerequisite: Follower of the Way, Necrotic Points pool, Bone Dance, Tao-Shi
Benefit: You learn how to raise a Jiangshi. This is a personal bodyguard that always remains by your side. You may, by spending 1 hour per HD of the creature, create a Jiangshi, permanently expending 1 Necrotic Point per 2 HD of the creature to be created as such.

Path's Deception [Tao]
Prereqs: Follower of the Way, Art of the Doppleganger, Change Shape Mage feat
Benefit: You may spend the normal number of points to use Change Shape while using Art of the Doppleganger to allow a single Doppleganger to assume one of your Alternate forms. This feat gives you 3 Tao Points to be used for this feat's effect.

Protection of the Way [Tao]
Prereqs: Follower of the Way, Magic Shield, Armor of the Inner Self
Benefits: You may grant your AC bonus from Armor of the Inner Self to a number of allies equal to the number of points you spend. Allies must be within 5 ft per Ki feat you have in order to be affected. This feat gives you 3 Tao Points for its usage.

Master of the Inner Way[Tao]
Prerequisites: Follower of the Way, two other Tao Feats, 12th level
Benefit: You have come to know the Tao. This grants you many benefits. For one, all Ki and Mage feats now become Tao feats. Also, you may use Tao feats as though you had one more 1 Tao Point invested in them than you actually do.


Jiangshi

Jiangshis are the devoted and loyal servants of the Tao-Shi. A Tao-Shi usually only has one such creature at a time, but that is more than enough.

Creating a Jiangshi

Jiangshi is a template that may be applied to any creature that qualifies for the Zombie template, with Hit Dice not being taken into account. The Jiangshi is treated as first having the Zombie Template applied(ignoring the HD rule), then the effects of the Jiangshi template.

Hit Dice: Class Levels are only subtracted from the base creature unless they have Extraordinary abilities.

Speed: Land speed increases by 10 ft.

Armor Class: Natural Armor Bonus increases by the number of Tao feats its creator has.

Base Attack Bonus: The Jiangshi's Attack Bonus equals its HD - 1.

Special Attack: The Jiangshi regains any special attacks of the base creature if they are Extraordinary effects, and regain one Supernatural ability of their choice.

Special Qualities: Jiangshi lose the Single Actions only special quality. Also, Jiangshi gain the benefit of one Corpsecrafter Trait per two Tao feats you have.

Feats: The Jiangshi gains the Ki Disciple, Combat Reflexes, Taijutsu, Improved Unarmed Strike, and one Ki feat per 3 HD of the creature(minimum 1)

CR: +2

Ah, you exceed me. Sure, they take an obscene number of feats, but...

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Originally Posted by Amechra

Ah, you exceed me. Sure, they take an obscene number of feats, but...

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Say what? Not quite clear on what you mean by this.

All of the Tao feats after Follower of the Way require at least 5 feats, except for Master of the Inner Way, which requires at least 7 feats, with a maximum requirement of 9 feats, depending on which Tao feats you picked.

So, yeah, a LOT of feats, but they do seem to give rather lovely benefits.

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Originally Posted by Amechra

All of the Tao feats after Follower of the Way require at least 5 feats, except for Master of the Inner Way, which requires at least 7 feats, with a maximum requirement of 9 feats, depending on which Tao feats you picked.

So, yeah, a LOT of feats, but they do seem to give rather lovely benefits.

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True, still.... Maybe I should reduce the number of other Tao feats required from 2 to 1 for Master of the Inner Way?