Monks with non-'monk weapons'

[Wolfspirit]

I know this has come up in the past, but I don't think there was ever an official answer. I think some people gave them a penalty or some such, but yeah, it's a cool idea.

I'd actually thought about that after seeing a picture of two people sparring in Sword and Fist, one has a Glaive fighting an unarmed man.

 

[Henrix]

The 3.0 FAQ said:

If a monk wields a one-handed weapon, can she use her
unarmed damage if she kicks or headbutts someone? Or
does the monk have to actually be unarmed to get this
damage? What if the monk is armed with a two-handed
weapon?
A monk wielding a one-handed weapon (other than a special monk weapon) can use the rules for fighting with two weapons and can use her unarmed strike as an off-hand attack, with all the appropriate penalties (see page 39 in the Player?s Handbook). The unarmed strike is considered a light weapon.
Although the Player?s Handbook mentions using the
unarmed attack only as an off-hand attack, there?s no reason why a monk couldn?t make her unarmed attack her primary attack. In this case, the monk still must use her (lower) armed attack rate.
If the monk wields a two-handed weapon, she can use a kick or similar attack as an off-hand attack. This works just like an off-hand attack made along with a one-handed weapon attack.

But these days monks have only a single BAB (thank WotC!), and the PHB says that there is no such thing as an off-hand unarmed attack. So, I suppose that mixing unarmed and non-monk-weapon armed iterative attacks is OK. And you would have the glaive ready for AoOs.


Taking a level as monk can be a good choice for a fighter. You get unarmed attacks, a bonus feat, a couple of extra skill points, and +2 to all saves, in exchange for one point BAB and a hit point or two.

 

[Telperion]

Hate to burst your buble guys, but...
From PHB 3.5, page 40, under Flurry of Blows(Ex) paragraph two:
"When using flurry of blows, a monk may attack only with unarmed attacks or with monk special weapons."

On the other hand this has been changed in 3rd party d20 products. For example the Fists of Mithril lose proficiency with most core monk special weapons. Instead they gain proficiency with simple weapons and the longsword. In addition they may now use flurry of blows with longsword, dagger and quarterstaff. It's a step towards what you guys are talking about, but not quite there yet. A flurry of blows with a polearm is a great idea though, so maybe someone should make a PrC about it?

 

[Artoomis]

Hate to burst your buble guys, but...
From PHB 3.5, page 40, under Flurry of Blows(Ex) paragraph two:
"When using flurry of blows, a monk may attack only with unarmed attacks or with monk special weapons."

...

Actually, the above comments specifically do NOT include flurry of blows. It's a fascinating point made above - with a 10' reach weapon, a monk threatens both 10' and 5' away.

Fascinating.

 

[Telperion]

Actually there is a PrC for this already .
Player's Guide to Monks and Palandins.
Page 97 - 99.

It only allows you to use the longspear with the flurry of blows, and I'm not sure if you can use unarmed attacks interchangably with the Dance the Dawn class ability. It says: "As long as she is wearing no armor, the adept may use her longspear against adjacent foes and continues to make use of the weapon's reach, effectively threatening those areas adjacent to her position and eliminating the weapon's drawback."

It seems silly that suddenly, because she is wielding a pole-arm, the monk can no longer kick, elbow or punch while holding a monk special weapon. Certainly holding a pole-arm occupies your hands, but that's no different from using a quarterstaff.

Anyway, the PrC is great, although I'll ask around about those interchangable attacks.

EDIT: I think I found the answer. Page 98; Spear Specialist, last sentence. "Levels in Dawn Spear adept do not stack with monk levels for the purpose using flurry of blows with any other monk weapon, or while unarmed." I think that states that you can't use interchangable attacks while using flurry of blows with a longspear. *sighs* Well it's still a good PrC .

 

[Telperion]

Actually, the above comments specifically do NOT include flurry of blows. It's a fascinating point made above - with a 10' reach weapon, a monk threatens both 10' and 5' away.

Fascinating.

Oops. My bad. I obviously haven't woken up yet.