Useful monk waepons

[frost890]

I am currently running a game and one of the PC'S has a monk. He is asking for ways that he can up his Un armed damage through non-magical equipment. He brought up the idea of gauntlets but to me it sounds like replacing the hand with a weapon. The only thing I can think of is a fist pack but I want him to choose things for the character not just take the only idea I can think of. Any help out there?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

I am currently running a game and one of the PC'S has a monk. He is asking for ways that he can up his Un armed damage through non-magical equipment. He brought up the idea of gauntlets but to me it sounds like replacing the hand with a weapon. The only thing I can think of is a fist pack but I want him to choose things for the character not just take the only idea I can think of. Any help out there?There are lots of ways to boost a monk's unarmed damage. Several examples used here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?285801-Tippy-s-Terrifically-Terrible-Trial/page25&p=15474863#post15474863).

[frost890]

Thanks for the reply. They are all first level so most of the magic items are out of there league. Mabe some wraps with studs? We will see.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

If he has a decent Strength score, he should use a quarterstaff two-handed. If not...he should get a decent Strength score, STAT.

[frost890]

I think he wants something that can be enchanted latter to help his unarmed strike.

[Flickerdart]

I think he wants something that can be enchanted latter to help his unarmed strike.
A quarterstaff is literally free, there's no reason to keep it after you can afford magic items.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

A quarterstaff is literally free, there's no reason to keep it after you can afford magic items.It's just a big stick, yes.

And when he can start affording some of the stuff I linked to earlier, he can use the stick for firewood or something.

[Chronikoce]

Since you're the DM you have the freedom to houserule. As such I suggest the following.

Allow the player to wear cestus but apply unarmed strike damage. It used to function that way but was changed because apparently monks can't have nice things.

In terms of damage output it will allow him to stay relevant as the party levels but won't outstrip stuff like damage focused barbarian builds.

Plus if he has already suggested gauntlets it sounds like the flavor he is going for would match the cestus nicely.

[Telonius]

I get the impression you're going after a couple of separate things here: things that will help increase a Monk's unarmed damage, things that a Monk can use with flurry of blows, and things that a Monk can channel his unarmed damage through.

As far as I'm aware, there's only one weapon [EDIT: In 3.5. Pathfinder is a different story, with Cestus available] - the Scorpion Kama, from Magic Item Compendium - that allows a Monk to channel their Unarmed Damage through it. You could certainly reverse-engineer the cost and enchant another weapon (maybe a Quarterstaff or some other Monk weapon) in the same way, but as it is there's nothing officially published that can do that. So unless you're building to that, there is nothing you can do to get unarmed damage through a weapon.

There are a bunch of "Monk weapons" listed in the Monk entry, but those don't actually do unarmed damage. All "Monk weapon" means is that a Monk can use the weapon as part of a Flurry of Blows. Technically gauntlets (or studded wraps, brass knuckles, or however you describe it) are not considered a Monk weapon, but it's a common enough house rule to allow them in.

As far as improving unarmed strikes directly, there are two items - the Necklace of Natural Attacks, and the Amulet of Mighty Fists - that can allow you to add enchantments (like Frost, or Flaming, or etc.) to the strikes. Monk's Belt is a more obvious choice for increasing damage during the lower levels. Anything that increases your Strength will help as well. Note that none of these things are actually weapons; they're Wondrous Items.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Monk's Belt is a more obvious choice for increasing damage during the lower levels.Obvious, yes, but wrong. Monk's belts are for non-monks. For monks, you basically pay 13,000 gp for about +1 to AC and damage and +1 Stunning Fist use per day (but only if you actually wasted your monk feat on it). That's pretty bleh, at best.

[Flickerdart]

Monk's Belt is a more obvious choice for increasing damage during the lower levels.
Is it? According to the MIC, a 13,000gp item is level-appropriate treasure for 13th level characters, and the soonest a character can afford one (following the DMG suggestion that no more than half your WBL should be spent on one item) is 8th. That's 7 levels away for these guys, and solidly in the mid-levels.

[Telonius]

Obvious, yes, but wrong. Monk's belts are for non-monks. For monks, you basically pay 13,000 gp for about +1 to AC and damage and +1 Stunning Fist use per day (but only if you actually wasted your monk feat on it). That's pretty bleh, at best.

It becomes a bit more worthwhile when your size is increased - which is something a Monk ought to be doing as much as possible. Relatively cheap for the numbers it gives, too; 13,000 for the damage and an untyped AC, compared with a 12,000gp gap between Gauntlets of Ogre Power +2 and a Belt of Giant Strength +4. (By the time you're talking about Giant Strength +6 you're probably at the point where the belt isn't giving you a benefit).

[Urpriest]

It's worth pointing out that in general, this isn't something non-magical items do. With only a very few exceptions, non-magical items are supposed to be largely interchangeable and not especially complicated: something that lets you get around a major downside of your class would generally be a magic item unless it was something baked into the game's expectations like a spell component pouch.