A couple of thoughts / questions on this kiho. Obviously, the intent is to walk on water. BUUUT...

The monk shifts and matches their movements to their surroundings, sliding to their feet and righting themself like a duck bobbing to the surface of a pond. In this state, the monk can even traverse water, their ki buoying them where they contact the waves.

This sounds like it should provide other possible bonuses? Even if not around water? Plus, the burst effect doesn't state that the extra movement has to be across water. Could this kiho be activated at any time to remove the prone and immobilized condition and move two bands?

On a trickier note. My GM let me do this after some good rolls, because it made a fun scene, and wasn't a critical thing to do, but... its some wuxia nonsense. I was two stories above the rest of the party, with a large skin of water. I poured the water out the window, activated the kiho, and jumped down, bouncing off the large falling chunks of water to get to the ground safely. acceptable, or pushing it? thoughts?

1 minute ago, Scrivener Spills said:

A couple of thoughts / questions on this kiho. Obviously, the intent is to walk on water. BUUUT...

The monk shifts and matches their movements to their surroundings, sliding to their feet and righting themself like a duck bobbing to the surface of a pond. In this state, the monk can even traverse water, their ki buoying them where they contact the waves.

This sounds like it should provide other possible bonuses? Even if not around water? Plus, the burst effect doesn't state that the extra movement has to be across water. Could this kiho be activated at any time to remove the prone and immobilized condition and move two bands?

On a trickier note. My GM let me do this after some good roles, because it made a fun scene, and wasn't a critical thing to do, but... its some wuxia nonsense. I was two stories above the rest of the party, with a large skin of water. I poured the water out the window, activated the kiho, and jumped down, bouncing off the large falling chunks of water to get to the ground safely. acceptable, or pushing it? thoughts?

depends how much your GM accepts exagerations generally.

I don't think I would allow such "style" but I also know my players are not the type of players to go "there".

In the end though, it depends on the tone of your group, and that is probably not the same for everyone to start with. Especially not in a setting like L5R.

1 hour ago, Scrivener Spills said:

I poured the water out the window, activated the kiho, and jumped down, bouncing off the large falling chunks of water to get to the ground safely. acceptable, or pushing it? thoughts?

To me, pushing it. Newton is an ignorant Gaijin and can therefore get knotted once Kiho are involved, but at a basic level, you can't throw water out the window, jump out after it, and realistically catch up with it. So it doesn't matter whether it would support your weight....

4 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

To me, pushing it. Newton is an ignorant Gaijin and can therefore get knotted once Kiho are involved, but at a basic level, you can't throw water out the window, jump out after it, and realistically catch up with it. So it doesn't matter whether it would support your weight....

Eh, the Water within him is aligned to the Water from his skin. If his ki can enable him to walk across its surface without breaking it, I'm good with allowing this. My explanation: his attunement to the element calls the water to him like a magnet, thus slowing its fall.

no, water falls very inefficiently, lots of drag. it would break into a grouping of large drops with a terminal velocity of 9 m/s. if you poured it in a huge splash, and jumped after it one second later, you would catch up about... err... rough calculation, 15 meters down. hmmm... okay, so at two stories, thats cutting it close, point.

Honestly though, my main question is the first part. is this kiho useful in terms OTHER than walking on water? would you allow activating it for the burst effect without water walking being involved?