Monks, gauntlets, questions galore !

[Tatsukun]

Hi all,
A question that came up in our game recently. Can a monk wear silvered gauntlets and get through a lycanthrope’s DR? If he does, can he still use flurry of blows?

I guess the crux of the argument is this…

1) If a gauntlet is a (non-monk) weapon, a monk can’t flurry of blows with it
2) If a gauntlet is armor, a monk can’t wear it
3) If it is neither, can you silver it? Does it have an effect? If you wear a silver ring, do all your unarmed attacks count as silver?

Some other thought we had on the issue…

1) If a monk can attack unarmed with his hands full, that means he uses all of his body to attack. Is there a penalty to hit if he has to limit himself to punching?
2) If a monk has silvered gauntlets, admintite kneepads, and cold iron-toe boots can he get through the DR’s of any monster susceptible to those materials equally well?
3) If you enchant your gauntlets, do you still do your (enhanced) monk damage, plus the bonus from the enchantment?
4) If a monk can wear magic gauntlets for non-weapon purposes, for example gauntlets of ogre power, can he then silver THOSE?

You see the questions go on for a while. Is there any good reference about what a monk can and cannot do with his unarmed attacks and flurry?

Thanks all in advance

-Tatsu

 

[pawsplay]

Can a monk wear silvered gauntlets and get through a lycanthrope’s DR? If he does, can he still use flurry of blows?

Yes, and yes. A gauntlet is included in many suits of armor, but it is a weapon (of sorts), and as a weapon, it's effect is to transform the user's damage to lethal.

"This metal glove protects your hands, and lets you deal lethal damage rather than nonlethal damage with unarmed strikes. A strike with a gauntlet is otherwise considered an unarmed attack."

And there you have it.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The 3E Main FAQ was fairly insistent that a gauntlet is a non-monk weapon, and thus cannot be used with a monk's unarmed damage, rate of attacks (in 3E), or Flurry...

-Hyp.

 

[Unseelie]

Thirded...

A gauntlet is a weapon, so a silvered gauntlet would be perfectly fine and would work against a lycanthrope. However, it is not a monk weapon, so no flurry or ki strikes. I don't have my PBH with me, but I'm guessing that Quivering Palm might be a problem as well.

As a monk can strike with any portion of his or her body, if the player wants to flurry, he loses the benefit of the silvered gauntlet.