Monks, Sunder, and Disarm

[Shadowlore]

OK, it seems to me monks are getting taken to the cleaners on something here.

A (medium sized) monk's unarmed attack is considered Tiny (two sizes smaller than the creature's size),

First: Sunder
That means a monk could not sunder an attacker's polearm or longspear (L). That doesn't make much sense to me. If someone is poking a large stick at me, and I can break bricks with my hands, why can't I "karate chop" the part that is near me?

Two: Disarm
Part of martial arts, and indeed part of the mystique around monks and martial artists is the ability to disarm their attackers/opponents. Yet, with the size listing of their unarmed attack, they stand a pathetic chance at it.

Monk disarm (T) vs. Longsword (M): -8 to attempt.
monk vs. longspear(L) or greatsword(L) (2H): -16 (12 just for size difference, and 4 for the weapon being held in two hands).

Now, that just seems ridiculous to me. Is it just me? This means that given the preponderance of longswords and greatswords, monks will rarely be able to disarm their opponents.

Somehow, that doesn't fit with me. Is it just me, or is this possibly an "oops we didn't think about that"?

IMC, I'd probably rule that monk unarmed attacks are size medium, or at worst small. Whaddya think?

Cheers,
Bill

 

[Hypersmurf]

In Sword and Fist p69, there's the optional "Double-Handed Disarm" rule, where a disarm attempted with two hands qualifies as a weapon of the attacker's size.

-Hyp.

 

[Shadowlore]

Re: Re: Monks, Sunder, and Disarm

In Sword and Fist p69, there's the optional "Double-Handed Disarm" rule, where a disarm attempted with two hands qualifies as a weapon of the attacker's size.

-Hyp.

Ahh, cool. Thanks Hyp.

 

[Hawkeye]

There is also a Feat in there in which allows you to Sunder normall with an unarmed attack. I don't have the book in front of me.

Hawkeye