Sometimes you just need to be smart enough to know when RAW no longer makes sense for your game. A hint is when an ability is so good, you have no reason to do anything else. If you want to let players 1 hit enemies regardless of how many hp they have, you do that. Finding something more stupidly broken proves nothing.

Except it's not broken. In any situation where they'd be able to do that, any monk could just stun lock the monster to death for less Ki points, and a wizard or sorcerer or a paladin or warlock built for nova damage would do even more awful things to the monster if they can afford to blow all of their resources.

There's nothing in the rules that even suggests the ki point limit is meant to apply to the non-spell disciplines and I don't think it's a coincidence the non-spell disciplines don't involve any area effects. The ki point limit is there to keep the area spells capped at the equivalent of a 1/3 caster.

Quote from Wtfdndad >>

Sometimes you just need to be smart enough to know when RAW no longer makes sense for your game. A hint is when an ability is so good, you have no reason to do anything else. If you want to let players 1 hit enemies regardless of how many hp they have, you do that. Finding something more stupidly broken proves nothing.

 
The implication here almost seems to be that anyone who doesn't think these features are broken are not "smart enough"?

I'll assume you're not intending to imply that.

I don't view this as broken. The Open Hand ability is powerful, but so is an Archdruid infinite wildshapes, so is using Wish spell (especially if you're Wizard) - every class is incredibly powerful at these levels. None of this is broken, just needs the DM to readjust their encounters. Nothing stops you putting the party against mirrors of themselves or open hand monks or death paladins with their super divine smite and aura powers. Or an evil sorcerer summoning meteor swarms or just swarms of undead who, even dropping to 0 HP from the Quivering Palm will just rise again because technically they did not receive damage and have a really low DC on rising up again with the undead fortitude. Or maybe one big super zombie thing with the same ability. Or constructs that have no ki to manipulate making them immune. Or... You get the idea.

By the time you reach these levels you will hopefully have the experience as a DM to handle making adjustments to factor the high level abilities. A challenge? Yes. Broken? Nope.

Everything is up to the DM to decided, but i don't see how this is a RAW vs RAI thing at all. It doesn't cast a spell so therefore the ki limit does not apply, period.