Questions about a polymorphed monk

[kerbarian]

I posted an enlightened fist build yesterday which contained some rules questions. It doesn't seem to be attracting much attention, so I'll post the rules questions separately:

Say there's a monk with Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike). The monk also has Greater Magic Weapon cast on his unarmed strike.

Now the monk is polymorphed into another creature. Does INA continue to apply to the unarmed strike of the new form, or is it specific to the unarmed strike of the monk's natural form?

Likewise, does Greater Magic Weapon continue to apply to the new form's unarmed strike, or does it only apply to the unarmed strike of the form the monk had when the spell was cast?

Say the monk was polymorphed into a creature with natural attacks of claw/claw/bite. Can the monk make a full unarmed attack (using feet, elbows, knees, etc.) and also attack with all of the form's natural weapons (claw/claw/bite) as secondary natural attacks?

And a couple more miscellaneous questions:

What happens when an enlightened fist uses his Hold Ray ability on a spell that fires multiple rays (e.g. Scorching Ray)? Are all the rays discharged with the first touch, or would it work more like Chill Touch?

Can a spellscale use Alter Self to turn into a dragon? Spellscales are type Humanoid (dragonblood), with the rule that "For all effects related to race, a spellscale is considered a dragon." Is there any difference here between "race" and type? If not, a spellscale could use Alter Self to turn into a dragon.

That leaves the question of: are there any worthwhile dragon forms of 5HD or less? All I've been able to find so far are a wyrmling green dragon or a dracotaur (MM3). They're not bad, but they're not great, either. I don't have the MM4 yet, but I've heard that there's a bunch of stuff in there about servants of Tiamat -- are there any good possibilities in the MM4 for Alter Self choices of type dragon?

 

[IcyCool]

Say there's a monk with Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike). The monk also has Greater Magic Weapon cast on his unarmed strike.

Assuming your DM approves Improved Natural Attack to work with a monk's unarmed strike, then yes, it continues to work. Your unarmed strike damage is based on size (so a medium monk polymorphed into a medium creature continues to do the same damage (the strength bonus may change due to the new form) as it normally does. Remember, an unarmed strike is different than an attack with a natural weapon such as a claw, bite, slam, etc.

Now the monk is polymorphed into another creature. Does INA continue to apply to the unarmed strike of the new form, or is it specific to the unarmed strike of the monk's natural form?

Unarmed strike damage is based on size, not form, so it wouldn't really matter unless your size changed.

Likewise, does Greater Magic Weapon continue to apply to the new form's unarmed strike, or does it only apply to the unarmed strike of the form the monk had when the spell was cast?

It would continue to apply to your unarmed strike, regardless of form.

Say the monk was polymorphed into a creature with natural attacks of claw/claw/bite. Can the monk make a full unarmed attack (using feet, elbows, knees, etc.) and also attack with all of the form's natural weapons (claw/claw/bite) as secondary natural attacks?

Yes, but if you try to use the secondary natural weapons and flurry, there might be a problem.

 

[kerbarian]

Yes, but if you try to use the secondary natural weapons and flurry, there might be a problem.

That's the case I had in mind, actually. Why would there be a problem with flurry but not other full attacks?

Say the monk is 8th level and has a flurry of +5/+5/+0.

Now he's polymorphed into an Annis, which has 25 str. That would make his flurry +12/+12/+7. The Annis also has natural attacks of 2 claws and a bite. If he uses the natural attacks along with his unarmed strikes, the natural attacks will all be secondary, so they'll be at -5.

If the monk attacks with a flurry of blows, is his attack:
Unarmed strike +12/+12/+7 and 2 claws +7 and bite +7, for a total of 6 attacks?

If not, what would it be, and why?

 

[IcyCool]

That's the case I had in mind, actually. Why would there be a problem with flurry but not other full attacks?

Because a monk cannot use natural weapons in a flurry. If you flurry, all of your attacks suffer a -2 (or lesser penalty as you go up in monk levels). So the hotly debated question is, if you make an attack with a natural weapon in a round that you flurry, does the fact that you take a -2 penalty to that attack mean that you are using the natural weapon in a flurry?

Some people say yes, some people say no.