monks unarmed attack with a prestiage class?

[ivrob]

If a 6th level monk were to take all the levels of Acolyte of the Fist (Dragon 296 p. 72 by Monte Cook), would the monks unarmed attack bonus increase or stay at +4/+1 ?

 

[Dimwhit]

I don't know the official rule, but since once you take a level outside of Monk you can't go back to that class, I would be inclined to say the attack bonus stays at +4/+1.

 

[Spatzimaus]

The unarmed attack would stay at the +4/+1 (or more likely, you'd choose to use your full BAB with the usual -5 progression), unless the PrC specifically said that it increased the Unarmed Attack Bonus. I'm pretty sure Acolyte of the Fist has that clause; several other PrCs have it, with similar clauses for unarmed damage, foot speed, etc.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Actually, I've heard people debate this. There is an opinion (backed by quotes of some sort, if I remember correctly,) that you'd add the bonuses together for the first attack, but that iterative attacks are figured out using only the unarmed progression.

So assuming Acolyte is a +10 BAB class (I don't have it):

The Monk6/Acolyte10 would have a UBAB of +14/+1, or an ordinary BAB of +14/+9/+4

 

[DonAdam]

Acolyte of the Fist specifically stacks with Monk BAB, so this is a non-issue.

 

[Zhure]

Actually, I've heard people debate this. There is an opinion (backed by quotes of some sort, if I remember correctly,) that you'd add the bonuses together for the first attack, but that iterative attacks are figured out using only the unarmed progression.

So assuming Acolyte is a +10 BAB class (I don't have it):

The Monk6/Acolyte10 would have a UBAB of +14/+1, or an ordinary BAB of +14/+9/+4

OA, page 33-34
"Character who have levels of only monk classes always get more unarmed attacks than they would noramlly get based on their base attack bonus (additionaly attacks at intervals of -3, instead of -5). Characters who have levels in other classes as well may or may not gain an advantage from this, and any advantage is often slight.

"Table 3-1: Multiple Unarmed Attacks
Base Attack Bonus Additional Unarmed Attacks
+0 .... ---
+1 .... ---
+2 .... ---
+3 .... ---
+4 .... +1
+5 .... +2
+6 .... +3
+7 .... +4/+1
+8 .... +5/+2
+9 .... +6/+3
+10 ... +7/+4/+1
+11 ... +8/+5/+2
+12 ... +9/+6/+3
+13 ... +10/+7/+4/+1
+14 ... +11/+8/+5/+2
+15 ... +12/+9/+6/+3

"Example: Asako Turima is a 10th-level monk/4th-level henshin mystic. His base attack bonus is +10 (+7 from his monk levels, +3 from his henshin mystic levels). Normally, this would give him an additional attack at +5. He can instead take the additional unarmed attacks listed for his +10 attack bonus (since the entire bonus is derived from monk and mystic levels) on Table 3-1: Multiple Unarmed Attacks, +7/+4/+1. Thus, he can make four attacks in a round with an unarmed strike (or a monk weaopn), at +10, +7, +4 and +1. When using another weapon, he can make two attacks at +10 and +5. He has the unarmed damage, AC bonus and speed of a 14th-level monk.

"Togashi Tidaiko, however, is a 3rd-level samurai/5th-level monk/ 7th-level tattooed monk. Her base attack bonus is +11 (+3 from her samurai levels, +3 from her monk levels, and +5 from her tattooed monk levels). Normally she would have two additional attacks at +6 and +1. She can instead take the additional unarmed attacks listed for a +8 base attack bonus from her monk and tattooed monk levels on Table 3-1, +5 and +2. She makes three attacks in a round, whether armed or unarmed. If unarmed (or using a monk weapon), she can choose whether to strike at +11/+6/+1 or at +11/+5/+2. Armed with an ordinary weapon, she must attack at +11/+6/+1. She has the unarmed damage, AC bonus, and abase speed of a 12-th level monk."

from the PHB, page 55
"Monk Base Attack Bonus: The monk is a special case because her additional unarmed attacks are better than her base attack bonus would suggest. For a multiclass monk fighting unarmed, the character must either use the additional attacks given for her monk levels (only) or the additional attacks that are standard for her combined base attack bonus, but not both. "

Hope that helps,
Greg

 

[Gilwen]

Sean K. Reynolds site has his views on this, the link is:
http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/misc/whymonkBABshouldstack.html

Allowing the BAB's to stack has worked well in my campaign without any balance problems.

my 2 cp.

Bryan