[Pathfinder] Punishing Kick movement?

[TalonDemonKing]

As apart of the feat, the victim must be moved into square that he can safely stand on.

I'm confused on this ruling. I understand what it means... But why? Isn't kicking people off buildings/off of cliffs/into lava kinda... Monk-ish? Why do I have to worry about their safety, esp. when I'm fighting them?

[Cog]

I'm confused on this ruling. I understand what it means... But why? Isn't kicking people off buildings/off of cliffs/into lava kinda... Monk-ish? Why do I have to worry about their safety, esp. when I'm fighting them?

Game balance? There's a pretty big difference between a little combat maneuvering and a potential save-or-die (or a no-save-just-die). If it's a problem for you, then ask your DM if you can homebrew a mechanic to use, or maybe make another feat that you can take on top of this one (or if you're incorporating 3.5 material, take a Martial Study feat from TOB and grab one of the throws from there).

[CheshireCatAW]

Think of this slightly differently. The movie kick that sends the dude crashing twentyodd stories below? That's the kick that kills him (sending him to *death* hitpoint total). The other blows are ones that still connect, but don't cause him to fall off balance. I don't think your DM would have a problem with knocking him off the object in question at that point.

[Ravens_cry]

I think this may have a different game meaning.
In fact, I think it basically means you can't put them in an occupied square.

[The_Scourge]

Interestingly enough there's nothing preventing you from using a standard bull rush to push someone off a cliff.

[FelixG]

If you want to be smacked by a book you could potentially argue that the terrain at the bottom of the cliff would be safe for him to stand on, he just has to travel X feet downward to reach it!

[Person_Man]

While I'm 100% in favor of giving Monks more options, Punishing Kick is meh feat, in that it psuedo duplicates the effects of a variety of pre-existing feats (Pushback, Knockback, Knock-Down, and the dozen other feats that knock people Prone or Bull Rush them) but adds a Save and limited use per day. (Also, it doesn't specify that you need to use an unarmed strike, which seems to be the intent).

I would just PM Jason Bulmahn (the author) on the Paizo site and ask for a clarification of his intent. The writers there are generally very smart and thoughtful people. Or you could just homebrew a variant, like this:


Punishing Kick (Combat)

Prerequisites: Con 13, Wis 13, Improved Unarmed Strike, base attack bonus +8.

Benefit: You must declare that you are using this feat before you make your attack roll (thus a failed attack roll ruins the attempt). On a successful hit with an unarmed strike, the enemy is pushed 5 feet directly away from you and is knocked Prone. The target receives a Fortitude saving throw with a DC of 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Wisdom modifier to avoid the effect. This movement provokes an attack of opportunity from others, but but not from you. You may not push the target into an occupied square. If there is no unoccupied square available to push the target into, you may not use this feat against them.

You may attempt a punishing kick attack once per day for every four levels you have attained (but see Special), and no more than once per round.

Special: A hungry ghost monk receives Punishing Kick as a bonus feat at 1st level, even if he does not meet the Prerequisites. A monk may attempt a punishing kick attack a number of times per day equal to his monk level, plus one more time per day for every four levels he has in classes other than monk.