Monk question.

[Penguinizer]

Just a simple question. Do natural weapons stack with monk damage. or are they separate.

[Nahal]

I think you'd take whichever is higher, since attacking unarmed is basically attacking with natural weapons. An overly generous plan would be to increase your natural weapon damage at the same rate as monk unarmed damage (so when your damage would normally go from 1d6 to 1d8, your claws would go from 1d10 to 2d6). WotC probably has a policy though.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

Unarmed Strikes and Natural Weapons are not the same thing.

Monk's have special rules for their unarmed damage, which has nothing to do with any Natural Weapons they may have.

[Penguinizer]

ok, that clears things up.

[Arceliar]

It's worth it to note that most natural weapons can be used as secondary attacks in conjunction with flurry of blows. For example, a half dragon monk with 2 claws and a bite could make a flurry of blows (even two weapon fight) using their feet, knees, etc, and still get in 2 claws and a bite attack as secondary weapons.

[brian c]

Unarmed Strikes and Natural Weapons are not the same thing.

Monk's have special rules for their unarmed damage, which has nothing to do with any Natural Weapons they may have.

Right, because "unarmed" also includes headbutts, elbows, knees, etc. If you have natural weapons, those count separately from unarmed.

[Penguinizer]

The occasion here is a monk (using a custom race for a pbp) with natural claw attacks doing 1d6 damage. He has Monks belt and is a large creature, so he does 3d6 un-armed. I was confused about that was the natural weapon damage added to the un-armed damage. This cleared up that pretty well.

[Person_Man]

The occasion here is a monk (using a custom race for a pbp) with natural claw attacks doing 1d6 damage. He has Monks belt and is a large creature, so he does 3d6 un-armed. I was confused about that was the natural weapon damage added to the un-armed damage. This cleared up that pretty well.

You get your normal attack routine or Flurry of Blows routine, and then after that you can use your claws as a secondary natural attack (at -5 to hit), assuming that you can normally use your claw as a secondary natural attack.

Anyone can do this, not just Monks, usually with bite, tail, etc. Monks just benefit from the fact that they don't have to carry a weapon to make a melee attack, which frees up their hands so that they can also use their claw attack.

The big benefit of natural attacks is that they all qualify for Power Attack. So if you're a full BAB class with lots of natural attacks and the right feats, you can deal a huge amount of damage.