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View Full Version : A few questions about a Monk's unarmed strike



Brendan
2009-11-14, 10:56 AM
So, I was thinking, if a Monk uses it's hands as weapons, there are a few interesting uses. Can they be sundered? if so, how much damage would it deal, as hands have some large arteries. Would a heal spell fix it? a craft (weapon)? what could do it?

Secondly, if a monk already has a natural attack, say a claw, then how does it effect damage? Do they need to be made Ki storing to activate monk abilities?

The most important question is about the stacking damage of claw and punch, as that directly relates to a campaign I am in.

The Glyphstone
2009-11-14, 10:58 AM
Unarmed strikes and natural weapons do not stack damage, as they are separate attacks (and Unarmed Strikes can be with any body part anyways). You can, I believe, multiattack with them at a penalty though.

By RAW. body parts can never be sundered except when noted, such as a Hydra's heads.

jmbrown
2009-11-14, 11:02 AM
-Sunder only works on manufactured weapons and shields. You can't sunder an unarmed strike.

-Unarmed strike and natural weapon aren't the same. Unarmed strike can be modified by spells or abilities that target either manufactured or natural weapons, but a monk does not inherently have a natural attack.

-Unarmed strike and natural weapon damage are separate. The monk class' ki strike specifically affects unarmed strikes only thus if a monk did have unarmed strike and a natural attack, only his unarmed strike would be affected by ki strike.

-A monk's increase to damage only affects unarmed strike damage as per the table. If he had a natural attack he could take improved natural attack but it wouldn't in turn improve his unarmed strike.

For example, let's say you have a level 4 vampire monk. He has a natural attack (slam) and an unarmed strike (1d8 plus it's considered magic). On a full attack, you could make an unarmed strike and a slam as a secondary attack or you could make a flurry of blows giving you two unarmed strikes, however, because those unarmed strikes aren't natural weapons you can't also cause energy drain.