Could a monk wearing a pair of gauntlets attack and still
apply her unarmed attack bonus and unarmed damage?
Could the monk use her class abilities that require
successful unarmed strikes, such as her stun ability, while
wearing gauntlets? How much damage would a monk
wearing a pair of gauntlets deal? If the gauntlets had an
enhancement bonus (such as a +2 enhancement bonus) or a
special ability (such as flaming burst), would a monk
wearing these gauntlets gain any benefit? Can gauntlets
even have weapon enhancement bonuses or weapon special
abilities?
Both gauntlets and spiked gauntlets are weapons (that ’s why
they are both listed on Table 7–4 in the Player’s Handbook). A
pair of gauntlets or spiked gauntlets can be magically
enhanced, just as any other weapon can.
Although a nonmonk wearing a pair of gauntlets is still
considered unarmed (see the next two questions), a monk
wearing gauntlets is using a weapon. A monk cannot use any of
her special unarmed attack abilities (unarmed damage, stunning
attack, and so on) when using a weapon. A monk can use her
unarmed attack rate with a special monk weapon, but gauntlets
are not a special monk weapon. A monk wearing gauntlets does
not provoke attacks of opportunity when striking an armed foe
with gauntlets. The monk deals the same damage as any other
character of her size (1d3 points of damage for a Medium-size
character). The monk would get the benefits of any magical
properties the gauntlets might have.
