New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: [3.5] Ki Foci

  1. - Top - End - #1
    Titan in the Playground
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Gender
    Male

    Default [3.5] Ki Foci

    So, if you've played D&D 4e, you might be familiar with the concept of a ki focus, which in my mind is one of the single most elegant bits of rule design the system has to offer. In short, if you're proficient with a ki focus, you can apply its enhancement bonus and magical properties to any weapon attack you make, effectively overwriting the magic (or lack thereof) on the weapon with the magic of the ki focus. This means that you can pick up an improvised weapon, or an unarmed strike, or a weapon you just happen to find sitting around, or two weapons, or your backup bow to deal with that flying thing, or whatever, and it'll still give you the magical plusses that the game expects, not to mention a useful ability if you happen to have one. In a 3.5 paradigm, in addition to letting you effectively enhance improvised weapons and unarmed strikes, it would let you keep a golf bag of weapons handy (for overcoming DR, naturally) without having to pay for all of them, as well as making your other backup options better (again, I point to the bow you keep slung to your back just in case you need it, even if it's not that good.) You can only attune yourself to one ki focus at once, and on every attack, you choose to use the ki focus's magic OR the weapon's magic, never both. (In 4e, ki foci are also usable as implements, but that's not something that directly transfers to 3.5, nor does it need to.)

    Now, let's say we wanted to put ki foci in 3.5. They're simple enough that it wouldn't take too much work. That said, here are a few questions that pop up in my mind:

    • Who should be proficient with them? I say that Monks (for unarmed strikes) and Fighters (so that they can truly use any weapon they can find) make obvious choices, and anyone could grab it with a feat, but who else? I'd be tempted to be generous and say anyone with full martial proficiency gets 'em, just because I want fightin'-men to have nice things.
    • How much should they cost? Sure, being able to apply your magic bonuses to two weapons at once is better than having to buy each one separately, but that's kind of the whole point. Would it be bad to make a ki focus cost the same as any other weapon with the same enhancements on it? If so, how much more should it cost, bearing in mind that unarmed folks will probably be using this as their only source of magic bonuses and we don't want to screw them over?
    • Should there be a limit on how many adjectives you can put on them? In 4e, aside from superior implements (which don't directly translate to 3.5, at least not without some work I don't really want to do), you can only have a +X [blah] weapon, not a +X [do] [re] [mi] weapon. In other words, no +1 Flaming Frost Ghost Touch weapons. Pick one. Would it be necessary or proper to put the same limits on our 3.5 ki foci? I ask only because I think it might be worth it to give ki foci a downside, so that magic weapons as magic weapons still need to exist. That might not be necessary, though, which is why I bring it up.
    • Should they interact poorly with cold iron? Typically, it's hard to make an enchanted cold iron weapon. Should being able to apply your +3 Illusion Bane ki focus to your cold iron broadsword be part of the intended benefit, or should there be some kind of discouragement there?


    Anything else? It's overall a pretty simple and (I like to think) elegant houserule to just allow them, but hey, never hurts to ask the boards, right?

    And yes, I'm aware of the obvious parallels to the Necklace of Natural Weapons. Ki foci are pretty much going to be better. That's kind of the point.
    In the Beginning Was the Word, and the Word Was Suck: A Guide to Truenamers

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc Roc View Post
    Gentlefolk, learn from Zaq's example, and his suffering. Remember, seven out of eleven players who use truenamer lose their ability to taste ice cream.
    My compiled Iron Chef stuff!

    ~ Gay all day, queer all year ~

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Prime32's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Ireland
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: [3.5] Ki Foci

    There is something similar in the form of dragonshard weapon crystals. They override the enchantments of any weapon they're attached to, for double the cost of a normal weapon of that type.

    I usually see them brought up around etherblades.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •