So I've got a PC that's a shapeshifting race from mystic races, and she can change into a jaguar with 1 bite and 2 claw attacks. She's also an 9th level monk at this point. The bite does 1d6 and the 2 claws 1d3 normally, but since to monk's unarmed damage raises every few levels, we've increased the damage for her natural weapons since that's what the monk's ability does. Now its getting kind of crazy with the flurry of blows she has like 6 attacks or something, and they all are doing d10 at this point, plus she's got a crazy Str to go with it. So my question is how would other people deal with any kind of animal type creature (ie bite/claw/claw) that also has monk levels?
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Monk Animals
- Thread starter Anubus
- Start date
Infiniti2000
First Post
Easy enough answer is that I would not have adopted your houserule to being with. 
First of all being a monk does not increase natural weapon damage nor allow more attacks to be made with them.
The best the character can do is to make her monk unarmed attacks like normal +6/+6/+1 dealing standard damage for a monk (1d10 for medium sized monk) and make her natural attacks (2 claws and 1 bite) attacking with the -5 penalty (+1/+1/+1) for being secondary natural weapons but they still deal the same damage (1d6 for bite and 1d3 for claws).
The best the character can do is to make her monk unarmed attacks like normal +6/+6/+1 dealing standard damage for a monk (1d10 for medium sized monk) and make her natural attacks (2 claws and 1 bite) attacking with the -5 penalty (+1/+1/+1) for being secondary natural weapons but they still deal the same damage (1d6 for bite and 1d3 for claws).
True enough, but honestly how is a claw attack fundamentally any different than a punch, there's no reason she couldn't paw someone instead, like those declawed cats for example, which would make the attacks "unarmed". So why couldn't she use her two "paw" attacks, then her flurry of blows with her paws, and still get 4 or 5 attacks with the d10, with just the bite staying at d6? Or perhaps sticking closer to the rules a flurry with one paw, then a regular claw and bite as additional weapons?
Infiniti2000
First Post
By your definition, though, a paw attack is not the same as a claw attack. So, why increase the claw attack based on attacking with the paw? It makes no logical sense no matter how you slice it.
Primitive Screwhead
First Post
Monks and damage
My take, and my house rule:
Monks weilding 'monk weapons' deal either the weapons damage or the monk unarmed, whichever is greater. My thinking is why penalize the monk for picking up a weapon that they are supposedly 'better' at?
With the Jacquar form, its natural attacks are not a 'monk weapon', and as such cannot be used in flurry of blows and does not {normally} fall under my HR.
The character would have the choice of either using thier training, fighting as a Monk unarmed and dealing unarmed damage, or fighting as a Jacquar and dealing the forms natural attack damage and using its attack sequence.
My take, and my house rule:
Monks weilding 'monk weapons' deal either the weapons damage or the monk unarmed, whichever is greater. My thinking is why penalize the monk for picking up a weapon that they are supposedly 'better' at?
With the Jacquar form, its natural attacks are not a 'monk weapon', and as such cannot be used in flurry of blows and does not {normally} fall under my HR.
The character would have the choice of either using thier training, fighting as a Monk unarmed and dealing unarmed damage, or fighting as a Jacquar and dealing the forms natural attack damage and using its attack sequence.
Well I really don't want to turn this into me against anyone, but in my later post I never said the paw and claw were the same. I suggested using the paw for the flurry, then a claw and a bite as additional weapons, count 3 weapons here. Also, technically a monks unarmed strikes aren't punches, it specifically states that they are just blows made with some part of your body, whether it be fist, foot, head, knee, whatever, so why not a paw?
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