Questions about monk's attack and Magic Fang/wild shape

[Syunsuke]

Excure me about my English.
I have some questions about monks.


Supose a druid casts Magic Fang on me.
1. If I my BAB is +6/+1 and attack unarmed, both attacks receive benefit of Magic Fang becouse I attack with right fist twice. I think this is correct.
2. If I attack with both hands, my off hand attack isn't affected by Magic Fang. Is this correct?
3 Supose I'm a monk. Can I get benefit of Magic Fang with my all unarmed attack? PHB says "monk's attack can be fist, kick, head or whatever". So I want to ask.
And what happens when I use flurry of blows ?


Well, I have to ask more generally "How should I treat attaks of a Magic Fang-ed Monk?"


If I'm a monk and polymorphed to animal or I'm monk/druid and use wild shape;
1. Can I use unarmed BAB? How about flurry of blows?
2. Can I use monk's unarmed damage?
3. If I'm under effect of Magic Fang, how can I treat my attacks?

Again, I want to konw how I should treat attacks of an animal shape Monk?

 

[Noldor Elf]

There is no definite answer for question about Magic Fang and Monk. Based on the description of Flurry of Blows ability in PHB I would say that you get the bonus from Magic Fang to all your normal attacks but not to your extra attack from Flurry of Blows.

I would allow using unarmed BAB all the times and Flurry of Blows with those animals that are allowed multiple attacks with their natural attack.

No increased unarmed damage with claw, bite or other attack where damage is based on sharp edge of something.

While wildshaped/polymorphed the Magic Fang effects one of your natural attacks.

 

[jlhorner1974]

From the SRD:

Magic Fang
Transmutation
Level: Drd 1, Rgr 1
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature touched
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
Magic fang gives one natural weapon of the subject a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls. The spell can affect a slam attack, fist, bite, or other natural weapon. (The spell does not change an unarmed strike’s damage from subdual damage to normal damage.) If the character is a good druid, the natural weapon is considered blessed, which means it has special effects on certain creatures.


For your "Druid casts magic fang on me" questions:

(1) is correct, the magic fang does apply to iterative attacks, so long as you use the same body parts for all attacks (right fist, left foot, head, etc.)

(2) is also correct. Magic fang only applies to ONE natural weapon -- one fist, one foot, one elbow, your head, etc. If your right fist is magic fanged, I don't believe you get any bonuses for attacking with your left fist.

(3) Monks don't have "off hand" attacks in the sense that they can attack with any combination of fist, foot, elbow, headbutt attacks in a round with no penalty. The Two-Weapon Fighting feat is not needed. In terms of magic fang, though, you only get to pick one of your natural attacks to enhance. If you enhance your left fist and you attack with your left fist and then kick with your right foot, your fist attack gets the magic fang bonuses, but the kick does not. For flurry of blows, there is nothing that says you cannot use the same hand or foot to make the flurry attacks, so I say you can get the bonuses on your extra flurry attack if the extra attack uses the same fist or foot you chose for magic fang.


For the questions of the monk/druid, I don't believe there are any official rules for (1) or (2) at all, so it is up to you how to handle it.

(1) Does the monk get to use unarmed base attack bonus (UBAB) for making attacks? This is a tough call. I would say that you can use either the animal's natural stats (the animal's BAB and number of attacks and damage) or your monk stats (monk UBAB, monk iterative attacks, monk damage) whichever you prefer. I would also have to say that you can flurry in animal form.

(2) Can you apply increased unarmed damage? Since it is possible for monsters with class levels to be monks, I say yes, IF you use your monk UBAB and number of attacks. The core books even cite the example of a troll monk (which is pretty darn scary) and I would have to conclude that the troll can benefit from the increased unarmged base damage. A monk dragon would be pretty scary, I think.

(3) If you are magic fanged, you still only get to choose one attack. In tiger form, you could pick left claw, right claw, or bite -- the magic fang bonus does not apply to all three. This is the one question I think everyone will agree on.

 

[Witness]

1. Yes you are correct

2 & 3. Yes your off-hand attack is affected, or at least should be. The Monk's unarmed attack ability represents a single natural weapon. Regadless of with what body part he is delivering an attack it is always an unarmed attack. Some creatures have different attack bonuses for each nattural weapon (ie. 2 seperate claw attacks). Others have a single natural weapon that that actually includes more than 1 actual physical body part (a single listed Claw attack that represents a simultaneous attack with both claws.) For the first creature, Magic Fang would enhance and affect only 1 physical natural weapon (their teeth, their right claw or their left claw). For the latter, Magic Fang would actually affect both claws because the natural weapon actually constitutes both claws. The Monk is the same way; his unarmed attack represents any attack with a body part, not just attacks with his left hand, or his right hand, or his right foot, etc.

 

[jlhorner1974]

I can see Witness' argument. His interpretation is just as reasonable, if not better. I could understand it either way.

Since there is no explicit statement about whether magic fang affects all a monk's attacks or just one particular hand or foot, just make your own ruling.

Maybe 3.5 will have a specific statement on this.