Girallon Arms totem bind interaction with racial claws

[wicthor]

What happens to claw natural weapons coming from a race trait (lizardfolk, feral template, etc.), if that creature is a totemist and binds Girallon Arms to totem chakra?
- The soulmeld overwrites the original claws (and maybe downgrades), so it will have 4 identical claws?
- The soulmeld not affects the racial claws, just adds 2 extra claws (only usable for secondary attacks)?*
- The soulmeld upgrades the racial claws to next die step, and adds 2 extra claws (only usable for secondary attacks)?*
- The soulmeld adds some extra damage to racial claws (like Beast Claws magic item)?*
- The game crashes, and I have to buy a new GM?

*= If so, the 2 extra 'spectral' claws will be part of the same set of natural weapons as the racials regarding primary/secondary weapons while doing a full attack?

I cannot find any related rule or forum post. Does anyone have any idea of the outcome?
Rule, book, page references are welcome.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

RAW it gives you four identical claws, one is primary and the other three are secondary.

However, this is a case of ask-your-DM because in most cases you would take the better of the two. So if your racial claws are better, you get to keep them and add two secondary girallon claws.

There's no way it's any of the others, except maybe the last one if book-throwing occurs.

[Buufreak]

By RAW, if you start with 2 claws, and the meld adds 4 claws, you now have 6 claws. Your dm miles may vary.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

By RAW, if you start with 2 claws, and the meld adds 4 claws, you now have 6 claws. Your dm miles may vary.

Right, but two of those additional claws are on the same limbs as your original 2 claws, and you can't use one limb to wield multiple weapons in a single full attack.

[Buufreak]

Right, but two of those additional claws are on the same limbs as your original 2 claws, and you can't use one limb to wield multiple weapons in a single full attack.

The arms is fluff, and maybe even rai, but it isn't raw. Rules text simply states you gain 4 claws, and details how to resolve those on a full attack.

[Zombimode]

The arms is fluff, and maybe even rai, but it isn't raw. Rules text simply states you gain 4 claws, and details how to resolve those on a full attack.

Upon reviewing the description of Girallon Arms I don't think that is true. The description of the Girallon Arms soulmeld clearly describes it as an overlay to your arms and fingers:


Incarnum coalesces around your arms and upper torso, forming
blue-white fur that seems to enhance your arm and chest muscles.
It also extends from your fingers to form ghostly claws that, despite
their insubstantial appearance, help you gain purchase while
climbing or grappling.

Emphasis mine.

And as we know from the general description of soulmelds they are actual physical things.

Then the Totem Bind goes on that it grows two additional arms and that it enhances the two overlayed claws the meldshaper already has:


Incarnum forms two additional, powerful arms that spring out
from your ribs. These spirit arms mirror the movements of your
real arms. All four of your arms are tipped with long claws that no
longer seem ghostly, but quite real—and quite sharp.

There may be body configurations that could result in Totem binded Girallon Arms providing you with 4 claw attacks in addition to other claw attacks you might have, but with the standard humanoid form with two arms you can make 4 claw attacks with Girallon Arms but no more since all your arms are used up (as DM I would rule that Girallon Arms can never downgrade existing claw attacks, but that's just me).

[Buufreak]

Yup. And every bit of that is flavor text. So in a strict raw vs rai discussion (like I am trying to get across here), raw says you gain 4 more claws. Hard stop. You can look into whatever sort of flavor text, italic text, whathaveyou, but until there is a standardized rule for limiting only using claws by how many arms you have, regardless of your pre existing attacks, you gain an additional 4, fully usable in the full attack.

[Zombimode]

Yup. And every bit of that is flavor text. So in a strict raw vs rai discussion (like I am trying to get across here), raw says you gain 4 more claws. Hard stop. You can look into whatever sort of flavor text, italic text, whathaveyou, but until there is a standardized rule for limiting only using claws by how many arms you have, regardless of your pre existing attacks, you gain an additional 4, fully usable in the full attack.

D&D 3.5 makes no distinction between "text that counts" and "text that doesn't count". There is descriptive text that informs about what happens in non-mechanical words, and there is text that provides additional mechanical information. In order to understand what an ability, spell or monster is, how it works and how it interacts with the world you have to take its full description into consideration.