Role-playing Games Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for gamemasters and players of tabletop, paper-and-pencil role-playing games. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
The Way of the Open Hand monk subclass contains the Quivering Palm feature, which has this rule:
You can have only one creature under the effect of this feature at a time.
However, it doesn't specify if you are allowed/forbidden to apply several Quivering Palms on the same target.
If you are indeed allowed to apply this effect multiple times on the same target, can you then activate each Quivering Palm instance one by one (or are all the instances cleared out when one of them is used) ?
The only stipulations to apply Quivering Palm (PHB, 80) are that you:
Spend 3 ki points...
You can have only one creature under the effect of this feature at a time.
Stacking multiple Quivering Palms (and using your Ki to do so) is completely permissible against a single target. However, the rule regarding Combining Game Effects determines what happens here (from the DMG Errata.)
When two or more game features have the same name, only the effects of one of them—the most potent one—apply while the durations of the effects overlap. [...] Game features include spells, class features, feats, racial traits, monster abilities, and magic items
Ultimately, they will only have 1 saving throw to make - all of the effects are equal, so the most potent can be any of them, but only ONE of them. When the save is triggered, the ability dictates:
The vibrations are harmless until you use your action to end them.
Whether you have a single instance of vibrations or multiple - ending them ends all of them - with only one of them getting to provide an effect.
To oppose the second part of NautArch's answer (I agree with the first part), I argue that each applied Quivering Palm "is its own thing" (produces its own set of vibrations).
The vibrations are harmless until you use your action to end them.
You can see each set of vibrations as a "different frequency based on the circumstances of the hit". Therefore, each set can be individually ended.
If two different monks apply a Quivering Palm on the same target followed by the first monk activating his Quivering Palm, then the second monk's Quivering Palm is not lost (and can be used later). The logic should be the same when a monk applies two Quivering Palms to the same target.
Even considering the Game features rule...
When two or more game features have the same name, only the effects of one of them—the most potent one—apply while the durations of the effects overlap. [...] Game features include spells, class features, feats, racial traits, monster abilities, and magic items
...You can see one of your stacked Quivering Palms as being the "most potent" (the "strongest vibrations", RP-wise), while the others stay "dormant". Then, once the "most potent" is activated (thus used), you then choose what's the next "most potent" Quivering Palm from your stack to be applied on a later date.
In summary : if you apply two Quivering Palms on the same target, then stop the vibrations for your first Quivering Palm (and get its effects), you can still stop the vibrations for your second Quivering Palm on a later day (and get its effects).
