A bevy of monk-related feat questions...

[Vurt]

No, I'm not going anywhere near improved natural attack, so don't worry! Rather, I need some simple rules clarifications on the following:

1) If a monk has the weapon finesse feat, are his unarmed attacks considered light weapons for purposes of the feat, thus allowing the feat's benefit?

2) If yes, does the weapon finesse feat also affect a monk's grapple check?

3) Does weapon focus (unarmed) affect a monk's grapple check, or does the monk specifically need to take a corresponding weapon focus (grapple) to do so?

Cheers,
Vurt

 

[Lord Pendragon]

1) If a monk has the weapon finesse feat, are his unarmed attacks considered light weapons for purposes of the feat, thus allowing the feat's benefit?

Yes.

2) If yes, does the weapon finesse feat also affect a monk's grapple check?

No. "Grapple" is a separate weapon from "Unarmed Attack."

3) Does weapon focus (unarmed) affect a monk's grapple check, or does the monk specifically need to take a corresponding weapon focus (grapple) to do so?

You have to have Weapon Focus (Grapple). Grappling and Unarmed Striking are not the same thing. Note that it's Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike), not Weapon Focus (Unarmed)--encompassing everything done without a weapon.

 

[Crothian]

1) yes, a monk can take weapon finesse and have that appoly to his unarmed attacks

I'm not sure what are the answers for the next two though, good questions though.

 

[Pinotage]

No, I'm not going anywhere near improved natural attack, so don't worry! Rather, I need some simple rules clarifications on the following:

1) If a monk has the weapon finesse feat, are his unarmed attacks considered light weapons for purposes of the feat, thus allowing the feat's benefit?

2) If yes, does the weapon finesse feat also affect a monk's grapple check?

3) Does weapon focus (unarmed) affect a monk's grapple check, or does the monk specifically need to take a corresponding weapon focus (grapple) to do so?

Cheers,
Vurt

1) Yes. A monk's unarmed strike is considered a natural weapon and hence a light weapon, and hence Weapon Finesse applies to it.

2) By the RAW a grapple check is based on strength.

3) Not by the RAW no. A grapple check is BAB+Str+Size modifier. There are other feats that improve your grappling, such as Improved Grapple, but I'm unsure about a Weapon Focus (Grapple). Grappling isn't really considered a 'weapon' per se, so I'd say no.

Pinotage

 

[Lord Pendragon]

There are other feats that improve your grappling, such as Improved Grapple, but I'm unsure about a Weapon Focus (Grapple). Grappling isn't really considered a 'weapon' per se, so I'd say no.

WEAPON FOCUS [GENERAL]
Choose one type of weapon. You can also choose unarmed strike or grapple (or ray, if you are a spellcaster) as your weapon for purposes of this feat.

There is definitely a Weapon Focus (Grapple). Note that Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike) and Weapon Focus (Grapple) are specifically mentioned as separate feats, though, so it seems clear that Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike) doesn't apply to grappling.

 

[Diirk]

I think Weapon Focus (Grapple) just counts for the initial touch attack to initiate the grapple, but not the grapple check (which isn't an attack roll, thus weapon focus has no effect on it) itself, or something funky like that.

Don't quote me on that tho !

 

[azmodean]

1) Yes
2) No
3) You need Weapon Focus(grapple), Improved grapple is better, but you probably already have it and they stack.

On the other hand, when you successfully deal damage with a grapple, you do unarmed strike damage, so weapon specialization(unarmed strike) would apply.

Can you power attack on a grapple? if so how does it work?

 

[smetzger]

Can you power attack on a grapple? if so how does it work?

How about Haste?

 

[Doctor Shaft]

I'd imagine you could Power Attack on a grapple... but the penalty just to attack normally is -4, is it not?

With power attack, you're just asking to never hit anything. Maybe.

 

[Vurt]

How odd...

I see that by the RAW, your dexterity bonus doesn't enter into the grapple check. Mind you, by the same token, per the SRD it's your strength bonus (only) that affects a melee attack roll, and the weapon finesse feat was written specifically to get around that.

Which begs the question, is there a corresponding feat out there in the wealth of WotC material to do the same thing for grapple checks? Or is this just too unbalanced?

It's also interesting that weapon focus (unarmed strike) wouldn't help you with the melee touch attack needed to start a grapple, although you could think of it as being trained specifically to hurt and not grab I suppose. Also, I didn't realize that weapon focus (grapple) wouldn't affect the grapple check by the RAW, but only the initial grab! Talk about a weak feat!

In any case, thanks for all the input. I very much appreciate it.

Cheers,
Vurt