Power Blow

[Dalin]

I was recently helping a friend optimize his martial artist a bit. I was impressed with Power Blow. You need to dump enough points into it to get to at least every-other-turn (at -5), but that's doable on a starting budget. With even a moderate strength score, you can dish out some impressive damage. His ST 13 martial artist is kicking for 2d+11. That includes his boots, Karate, Unarmed Master, and Seven Secret Kicks (in addition to Power Blow 17). Once he invests nine points into Mantis Strike, he'll be at 3d+13.

Has anyone here played a martial artist for long enough to bump Power Blow over 21 to triple strength? It would cost a bloody fortune to get up high enough to swallow a -20 for an every-turn strike, but that would be pretty insane (in a good way).

I must admit that I thought MAs were a bit underpowered, but now that I've read through the abilities more carefully, it seems like they can stay competitive with the other melee types.