Flurry of Blows and Two-Weapon Fighting

[MerricB]

G'day!

Is it possible to combine Flurry of Blows and Two-Weapon Fighting if you are using monk weapons?

Is it possible to combine the two if you are using a non-monk weapon?

Cheers!

 

[Crothian]

flurry of blows is specifically with a monk weapon, so no on the second part. Not sure about the first though.

 

[DreadPollock]

I'm not entirely sure, but I'd say that you cannot combine TWF and Flurry of Blows in any case. If you want to weild 2 non-monk weapons effectively, you will need to take TWF, since you can't flurry with non-monk weapons.

I believe the idea behind the flurry is to allow monks to attack with both hands and/or feet/knees/elbows, like they had the TWF feat, tho it only applies to the select weapons they train with.

My question has always been: can you flurry with all your attacks with a single monk weapon. I'm 12th level, and get 4 attacks at +9/+9/+9/+4. Can I attack all four times with my +2 Keen Kama, or do I have to use both hands?

The Dread Pollock

 

[LordAO]

Can I attack all four times with my +2 Keen Kama,

Yes, you can. Flurry of Blows may often be described as hitting with knees, elbows, etc, but it never states that any number of those attacks must be unarmed.

 

[Li Shenron]

I think there was a FAQ somewhere that stated NOT to combine Flurry with TWF in any case, but it might have been 3.0 still.

I remember there was a discussion about Quarterstaff last summer, if you could get two extra attacks, one from Flurry and one from the second end of the staff, and a lot of argument were made. Anybody remembers if the sage or a FAQ cleared it up?

 

[Camarath]

I believe that the rules as they are written allow Flurry of Blows and Two-Weapon Fighting to stack while using Monk weapons. But there have been Sage email responses that say that Flurry of Blows and Two-Weapon Fighting do not stack.

Also here are some old threads on this issue.
Flurry of Blows + Two Weapon Fighting?
Flurry of Blows
Flurry of Blows and Two Weapon Fighting
[3.5] Monks and two weapons

 

[Hypersmurf]

Is it possible to combine Flurry of Blows and Two-Weapon Fighting if you are using monk weapons?

Strictly as written in the PHB, there is no rule to prevent it... but only if you are not striking unarmed.

Is it possible to combine the two if you are using a non-monk weapon?

Definitely not.

-Hyp.

 

[Unseelie]

Thankfully, someone else linked the various other threads where this has been talked about before. I figure it will be another week or two and someone else will ask the question and start the process all over again.

Hyp is right, there is nothing strictly in the rules to prevent this, assuming monk weapons. Non-monk weapons are right out.

Most people seem to have a gut reaction against it. They consider the concept and immediately figure it has to be too unbalancing and say 'no way, not in my game'.

However, those that have run the numbers show that it's actually a sub-optimal path unless you fight lots and lots of encounters with low ACs.

I'm playing a Ranger/Monk (FR Monastery of the Yellow Rose) built like this and my personal experience supports this. Throw a bunch of critters at me with low AC and I'll clean house. Throw something with enough AC to slow down the fighters and I drop the TWF as it just doesn't pay off.

The penalties rack up quickly and Monks don't do a lot of damage. Factor in 3.5 damage reduction and it's not that effective. I see no reason why it should be 'illegal', but I also wouldn't recommend going down that path.