Need help with improved natural attack and damage.

[drakoonity]

So my current character is a monk I have a feat to spend at level 4 and was going to pick improved natural attack, but was confused on what my damage was going to be. My group changed the monk's damage by a lot instead of what is said on the table, we made it basically equal to the rogue's sneak attack. I also have a monk belt so atm I am doing a total of 5d6+6 for my damage and was wondering what it would be if I got improved natural attack, and how that would all work. Thanks for any help in advance.

[Spore]

Actually unarmed attacks are nothing like natural attacks and the feat would not work on them by RAW. Standard PC races have no natural attacks listed.

So better ask your DM if he allows that feat to work on unarmed attacks. Along with that houserule of yours, the outcoming damage would be unpredictable. A simple ruling would be: Add another 1d6.

[Crake]

So my current character is a monk I have a feat to spend at level 4 and was going to pick improved natural attack, but was confused on what my damage was going to be. My group changed the monk's damage by a lot instead of what is said on the table, we made it basically equal to the rogue's sneak attack. I also have a monk belt so atm I am doing a total of 5d6+6 for my damage and was wondering what it would be if I got improved natural attack, and how that would all work. Thanks for any help in advance.

Is it like a rogue's sneak attack in that it does extra damage? Or is your fist's damage actually 5d6? If so, I believe the closest thing you'll get to increase the damage by one size category is you just up it from d6 to d8, after all 1d6 goes to 1d8 and then 1d8 goes to 2d6. 2d6 does go to 3d6, i know, but if you follow that convention, and go from 2d6 to 2d8, then 2d8 goes up to 4d6, which is the same upgrade of 3d6 to 4d6.

The reason I give you this explanation is because 5d6 is not actually in the standard weapon damage progression, it goes 2d6->3d6->4d6->6d6->8d6 etc, so after 2d6->3d6, each second increase doubles, skipping 5d6 (along with a bunch of others). So increasing the individual d6s to d8s is probably easier.


Actually unarmed attacks are nothing like natural attacks and the feat would not work on them by RAW. Standard PC races have no natural attacks listed.

So better ask your DM if he allows that feat to work on unarmed attacks. Along with that houserule of yours, the outcoming damage would be unpredictable. A simple ruling would be: Add another 1d6.

I know people discredit it alot, but the FAQ says improved natural attack works fine with a monk's IUS.

[INoKnowNames]

Actually unarmed attacks are nothing like natural attacks and the feat would not work on them by RAW. Standard PC races have no natural attacks listed.

Not true, actually. From a fluffy perspective, Unarmed Strikes pretty much are the humanoid's natural attack. It's certainly the one way we as a species have always been able to attack with since the beginning of our existence.

From the RAW standpoint:


Unarmed Strike, Paragraph 3

A monk’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't know anything about the math for the damage off of the top of my head if it's been changed. Crake seems like he has his head on his shoulders there; I'd go with whatever he said.

[Darrin]

There's also this in the PHB/SRD under the magic weapon spell:

"You can’t cast this spell on a natural weapon, such as an unarmed strike (instead, see magic fang)."

As to your specific problem, you're asking us how to apply a rule from a book to your group's house rule. However, if you're treating the sneak attack as if it were extra damage dice, then is there a portion of your unarmed strike that is not part of the sneak attack? Is it 2d6 + 3d6? If so, then you can advance the 2d6 portion as per the feat text (2d6 -> 3d6), so you'd wind up with 6d6.