Monks with non-'monk weapons'

[Christian]

PH 3.5, pg. 41:

"A monk's attacks may be with either fist interchangeably or even from elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may even make unarmed strikes with her hands full."

Hrmm. Does this mean that a monk wielding, say, a glaive, could:

a) Mix glaive and unarmed attacks? (When not using flurry of blows.)

b) Make unarmed flurries while still having the glaive ready? (To make attacks of opportunity at 10' reach, for instance.)

I'm inclined to say yes, but I'm curious for some opinions ...

 

[Nifft]

I'd say yes, and yes, for the reason you listed.

A Monk/Sorcerer could flurry even if he were holding a Rod in one hand and a Wand in the other, so why not a weapon?

And yes, I think that a Monk with a Reach weapon threatens every square within 10 ft., which makes it useful for them to have a level or two in a class which grants proficency in all of them.

(I've got a Monk/Paladin IMC, and he's been effective with a variety of weapons.)

-- N

 

[Will]

(blinks) Huh... you know... WOW.

That makes monk very very handy. Might be worth a character taking a level of monk to be an effective polearm wielder!

I never thought of that.

 

[Christian]

(blinks) Huh... you know... WOW.

Yeah, that was my reaction when that thought hit me. At about 2 AM this morning-it must have come to me in a dream. I was almost fascinated enough to crawl out of my warm bed and check the wording in the PH. But not quite.

 

[Henrix]

I would say that a monk making full attack with unarmed strikes can hold, but not be ready with, a glaive. I.e. he would not be able to make AoOs with the glaive.

This is not explicit in the rules, but would be how I judged as DM.

 

[Christian]

I would say that a monk making full attack with unarmed strikes can hold, but not be ready with, a glaive. I.e. he would not be able to make AoOs with the glaive.

What about a)? Would you let a monk make a full attack (without flurrying) with a combination of unarmed strikes and polearm strikes? (Given that he's high enough level to have multiple attacks without flurrying, obviously.)

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

Yeah, that was my reaction when that thought hit me. At about 2 AM this morning-it must have come to me in a dream. I was almost fascinated enough to crawl out of my warm bed and check the wording in the PH. But not quite.

You don't sleep with your player's handbook? Pfft..amateur.

 

[Will]

I would let a monk swap between unarmed and weapon attacks in a regular attack iteration... given they have no off-hand penalties, and can strike with hands full, etc etc, I think it's perfectly reasonable.

The more I think about it, the more monk looks like a very good initial level for fighters.

 

[Christian]

You don't sleep with your player's handbook? Pfft..amateur.

If it had been on its shelf in my bedroom, I might have gotten up to glance at it-but I'd left it in the dining room the night before.

That said, I suspect my wife would object if I tried to actually sleep with it. She's funny that way.

 

[James McMurray]

That said, I suspect my wife would object if I tried to actually sleep with it. She's funny that way.

That's what nightstands are for.