likuidice
First Post
As a combat style for a monk, I've been considering the virtues of the unarmed strike/disarm/spring attack combination.
E.g, monk uses hefty movement to spring attack in, steal a nasty looking opponents weapon with his free improved disarm feat, then run away with his remaining movement.
Problems occur when considering the rolls needed to pull this off: the attempt requires an opposed attack roll, with bonuses based on weapon sizes.
DISARM
As a melee attack, you may attempt to disarm your opponent. If you do so with a weapon, you knock the opponent’s weapon out of his hands and to the ground. If you attempt the disarm while unarmed, you end up with the weapon in your hand.
If you’re attempting to disarm a melee weapon, follow the steps outlined here. If the item you are attempting to disarm isn’t a melee weapon the defender may still oppose you with an attack roll, but takes a penalty and can’t attempt to disarm you in return if your attempt fails.
Step 1: Attack of Opportunity. You provoke an attack of opportunity from the target you are trying to disarm. (If you have the Improved Disarm feat, you don’t incur an attack of opportunity for making a disarm attempt.) If the defender’s attack of opportunity deals any damage, your disarm attempt fails.
Step 2: Opposed Rolls. You and the defender make opposed attack rolls with your respective weapons. The wielder of a two-handed weapon on a disarm attempt gets a +4 bonus on this roll, and the wielder of a light weapon takes a –4 penalty. (An unarmed strike is considered a light weapon, so you always take a penalty when trying to disarm an opponent by using an unarmed strike.) If the combatants are of different sizes, the larger combatant gets a bonus on the attack roll of +4 per difference in size category. If the targeted item isn’t a melee weapon, the defender takes a –4 penalty on the roll.
Step Three: Consequences. If you beat the defender, the defender is disarmed. If you attempted the disarm action unarmed, you now have the weapon. If you were armed, the defender’s weapon is on the ground in the defender’s square.
If you fail on the disarm attempt, the defender may immediately react and attempt to disarm you with the same sort of opposed melee attack roll. His attempt does not provoke an attack of opportunity from you. If he fails his disarm attempt, you do not subsequently get a free disarm attempt against him.
Note: A defender wearing spiked gauntlets can’t be disarmed. A defender using a weapon attached to a locked gauntlet gets a +10 bonus to resist being disarmed.
Grabbing Items
You can use a disarm action to snatch an item worn by the target. If you want to have the item in your hand, the disarm must be made as an unarmed attack.
If the item is poorly secured or otherwise easy to snatch or cut away the attacker gets a +4 bonus. Unlike on a normal disarm attempt, failing the attempt doesn’t allow the defender to attempt to disarm you. This otherwise functions identically to a disarm attempt, as noted above.
You can’t snatch an item that is well secured unless you have pinned the wearer (see Grapple). Even then, the defender gains a +4 bonus on his roll to resist the attempt.
So, a monk, with an unarmed strike (required to actually take the weapon away, instead of it falling to the floor) takes a -4 penalty (light weapon), a +4 bonus (improved disarm), and adds his medium base attack, and possibly weapon focus, and melee stat (probably dex, for this kind of build)
His opponent, generally a fighter type (the kind of characters most likely to wield big weapons that this character would want to remove) would have: +4 bonus (usually 2 handed weapons weilded by these types, though smaller weapons for the 2 weapon or sword and board types, dropping to no bonus, or even -4 for twin light weapons) high base attack, likely weapon focus, high primary melee stat, and magical weapon enhancement bonus.
How does the monk pull this trick off in these circumstances, or even as a normal attack option?
I can see the use of depriving archers of their bows (still difficult) or wizards of wands (hardly inconvenient), clerics and rogues would be good targets, but can fall back on other means.
E.g, monk uses hefty movement to spring attack in, steal a nasty looking opponents weapon with his free improved disarm feat, then run away with his remaining movement.
Problems occur when considering the rolls needed to pull this off: the attempt requires an opposed attack roll, with bonuses based on weapon sizes.
DISARM
As a melee attack, you may attempt to disarm your opponent. If you do so with a weapon, you knock the opponent’s weapon out of his hands and to the ground. If you attempt the disarm while unarmed, you end up with the weapon in your hand.
If you’re attempting to disarm a melee weapon, follow the steps outlined here. If the item you are attempting to disarm isn’t a melee weapon the defender may still oppose you with an attack roll, but takes a penalty and can’t attempt to disarm you in return if your attempt fails.
Step 1: Attack of Opportunity. You provoke an attack of opportunity from the target you are trying to disarm. (If you have the Improved Disarm feat, you don’t incur an attack of opportunity for making a disarm attempt.) If the defender’s attack of opportunity deals any damage, your disarm attempt fails.
Step 2: Opposed Rolls. You and the defender make opposed attack rolls with your respective weapons. The wielder of a two-handed weapon on a disarm attempt gets a +4 bonus on this roll, and the wielder of a light weapon takes a –4 penalty. (An unarmed strike is considered a light weapon, so you always take a penalty when trying to disarm an opponent by using an unarmed strike.) If the combatants are of different sizes, the larger combatant gets a bonus on the attack roll of +4 per difference in size category. If the targeted item isn’t a melee weapon, the defender takes a –4 penalty on the roll.
Step Three: Consequences. If you beat the defender, the defender is disarmed. If you attempted the disarm action unarmed, you now have the weapon. If you were armed, the defender’s weapon is on the ground in the defender’s square.
If you fail on the disarm attempt, the defender may immediately react and attempt to disarm you with the same sort of opposed melee attack roll. His attempt does not provoke an attack of opportunity from you. If he fails his disarm attempt, you do not subsequently get a free disarm attempt against him.
Note: A defender wearing spiked gauntlets can’t be disarmed. A defender using a weapon attached to a locked gauntlet gets a +10 bonus to resist being disarmed.
Grabbing Items
You can use a disarm action to snatch an item worn by the target. If you want to have the item in your hand, the disarm must be made as an unarmed attack.
If the item is poorly secured or otherwise easy to snatch or cut away the attacker gets a +4 bonus. Unlike on a normal disarm attempt, failing the attempt doesn’t allow the defender to attempt to disarm you. This otherwise functions identically to a disarm attempt, as noted above.
You can’t snatch an item that is well secured unless you have pinned the wearer (see Grapple). Even then, the defender gains a +4 bonus on his roll to resist the attempt.
So, a monk, with an unarmed strike (required to actually take the weapon away, instead of it falling to the floor) takes a -4 penalty (light weapon), a +4 bonus (improved disarm), and adds his medium base attack, and possibly weapon focus, and melee stat (probably dex, for this kind of build)
His opponent, generally a fighter type (the kind of characters most likely to wield big weapons that this character would want to remove) would have: +4 bonus (usually 2 handed weapons weilded by these types, though smaller weapons for the 2 weapon or sword and board types, dropping to no bonus, or even -4 for twin light weapons) high base attack, likely weapon focus, high primary melee stat, and magical weapon enhancement bonus.
How does the monk pull this trick off in these circumstances, or even as a normal attack option?
I can see the use of depriving archers of their bows (still difficult) or wizards of wands (hardly inconvenient), clerics and rogues would be good targets, but can fall back on other means.
