Howdy -- sorry if this has already been done to death. I'd love something definitive for a game I'm about to be playing in.
Short version: Fighter-type whose strategy is to grapple while wearing spiked armor.
Question: What feats and enhancement bonuses apply to what?
I see a couple of possibilities here.
1) I can take Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization:Armor Spikes. If this ruling works, I can magick-up my armor spikes and be making unarmed attacks AND grapple checks with +2 to hit and +3 damage (Feats + Magic bonuses). However, if I were forced to grapple without my armor, I'd lose those bonuses, since my specialty is in the armor, not grappling per se.
2) Spikes aren't considered individual weapons. If I want to get bonuses on grapple checks AND unarmed strikes, I have to take those feats seperately. However, I can take WF and WS:Grapple and still be at +2 to hit and +3 to damage while grappling (+1/+2 from feats and +1/+1 from the enhancement bonus to the Armor Spikes).
3) A grapple while using armor spikes is a special scenario that could use either of the feats. I could have Weapon Focus: Armor Spikes AND Weapon Focus:Grapple. Since Weapon Focus doesn't stack, however, I gain no benefit (other than cover my options if I lose my armor) from having both feats at once (I don't get a +2 to attacks because I have Weapon Focus in Grapple AND Spiked Armor).
The basic mess-around is a Cleric2/Fighter4 with Improved Grapple and whatever Weapon Focus/Specialization Feats would give him bonuses while grappling (although if possible, I'd like to specify the spiked armor, since I might want it for unarmed attacks as well). He's got the cleric levels because he'll eventually be casting Silence on himself and then moving in to grapple wizards.
Also, when I grapple and used Spiked Armor, the book has one possible bit of ambiguity -- it says "you do additional piercing damage". I read this as saying "You do 1d6 damage instead of 1d3." But it could also be read as "You do 1d3 bludgeoning, plus 1d6 for the spikes." I'd just like to confirm that my first reading is correct.
Thanks again.
Short version: Fighter-type whose strategy is to grapple while wearing spiked armor.
Question: What feats and enhancement bonuses apply to what?
I see a couple of possibilities here.
1) I can take Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization:Armor Spikes. If this ruling works, I can magick-up my armor spikes and be making unarmed attacks AND grapple checks with +2 to hit and +3 damage (Feats + Magic bonuses). However, if I were forced to grapple without my armor, I'd lose those bonuses, since my specialty is in the armor, not grappling per se.
2) Spikes aren't considered individual weapons. If I want to get bonuses on grapple checks AND unarmed strikes, I have to take those feats seperately. However, I can take WF and WS:Grapple and still be at +2 to hit and +3 to damage while grappling (+1/+2 from feats and +1/+1 from the enhancement bonus to the Armor Spikes).
3) A grapple while using armor spikes is a special scenario that could use either of the feats. I could have Weapon Focus: Armor Spikes AND Weapon Focus:Grapple. Since Weapon Focus doesn't stack, however, I gain no benefit (other than cover my options if I lose my armor) from having both feats at once (I don't get a +2 to attacks because I have Weapon Focus in Grapple AND Spiked Armor).
The basic mess-around is a Cleric2/Fighter4 with Improved Grapple and whatever Weapon Focus/Specialization Feats would give him bonuses while grappling (although if possible, I'd like to specify the spiked armor, since I might want it for unarmed attacks as well). He's got the cleric levels because he'll eventually be casting Silence on himself and then moving in to grapple wizards.
Also, when I grapple and used Spiked Armor, the book has one possible bit of ambiguity -- it says "you do additional piercing damage". I read this as saying "You do 1d6 damage instead of 1d3." But it could also be read as "You do 1d3 bludgeoning, plus 1d6 for the spikes." I'd just like to confirm that my first reading is correct.
Thanks again.
