In my opinion, I'd say no. It would default back to the monk's "normal" sized unarmed damage the second it left the bow.
Again, just how I'd read and rule it at my table, others may disagree.
By RAW while large the monks unarmed attack damage is increased, so by RAW even if the arrows where tiny it would do his current unarmed damage. May not be the intent but I don't see what prohibits it.
I think its pretty clear that any projectile weapon would shrink back to normal size when fired by an enlarged person. No arguments there.
So with the enlarged monk, when that arrow is in his possession it is one size, but once he fires it it will shrink to normal size. Clearly there would be a decrease in damage due to the decrease in size.
For that reason I'd think that the Zen Archer using his ki point to do unarmed damage with his arrow while enlarged would result in the arrow doing his normal unenlarged unarmed damage. The arrow would clearly shrink to normal size, so should do damage as if it were not enlarged. Since the damage is based on the monk's unarmed damage, it should be the same as if the monk were not enlarged.
This makes being enlarged a poor option for the Zen Archer monk, as he would take a -1 penalty to attacks while enlarged for size (and possibly another -1 to ranged attacks for the dex penalty if his dex is higher than his wisdom).
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I was also going to say that for similar reasons this would make Reduce Person an attractive spell for the Zen Archer. But apparently there is a difference in how Reduce Person and Enlarge Person work with regards to projectile weapons.
Reduce person says that projectile weapons, such as arrows, do damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them; so with reduce person an arrows damage is based on the smaller size, since the bow that it is smaller. And the text distinguishes between thrown and projectile weapons, such that thrown weapons do normal damage but projectile weapons do damage for the smaller size.
Enlarge person apparently works differently. It specifically states that both projectile and thrown weapons do normal damage as opposed to increased damage for being large. It makes no mention of projectile weapons doing damage based on the size of the weapon from which it is fired.
So for some reason the arrow damage is reduced for reduce person but not increased for enlarge person. But thrown weapons do normal damage for both reduce and enlarge. Go figure. I guess archers just can't win.
Why does a smaller arrow affect the monks unarmed damage? The monk is effectively putting his punch into an arrow and I don't think it matters how big the arrow is. Nothing says the monk does unarmed damage according to the size of the arrow fired. It does say it does the monks unarmed damage, which when enlarged is increased.
So, if you rule that enlarged projectile weapons deal damage based on their size, as the following clearly supports...
All equipment worn or carried by a creature is similarly enlarged by the spell. Melee weapons affected by this spell deal more damage (see Table: Tiny and Large Weapon Damage). Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any enlarged item that leaves an enlarged creature's possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown and projectile weapons deal their normal damage. Magical properties of enlarged items are not increased by this spell.
...then how do you deal with the following...
Melee and projectile weapons deal less damage. Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any reduced item that leaves the reduced creature's possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown weapons deal their normal damage (projectiles deal damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them).
...for surely they both can't be true.
I personally rule in the favor of the PCs (and any enemies who use the same trick).
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Well, they *have* put in a few hard caps. Like when they clarified that the enhancement bonus on a weapon couldn't go past +10, which meant that a paladin with a +10 weapon didn't get any benefit from his divine bond.
And then the slew of outraged protests that followed.
Plus, some people are happier without a hard cap since it lets them try to build for a higher maximum whatever.
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Yah, basically, it's a logic check here.
Check monk unarmed damage
Apply unarmed damage to replace arrow normal damage
Fire arrow
Regardless of whether the arrow is on his person or flying away from him, his unarmed strike is still sitting on his enlarged person and thus retains the damage increase from size.
Another way to look at it is this.
You measure a person's waist. It's 22 inches. You go and make them a pair of pants with a 22 inch waistline. When they come back in, they've put on weight and their waistline is 24 inches.
The pants are still 22 inches, because the information you took was set by your measurement, not their real time waist size.
By RAW while large the monks unarmed attack damage is increased, so by RAW even if the arrows where tiny it would do his current unarmed damage. May not be the intent but I don't see what prohibits it.BY RAW again the increased monk damage is based on SIZE. Since the arrow is reverting to a normal size the INSTANT it leaves the bow, the damage scales back down as well.
You want to do large sized ranged damage as a zen monk.. Carry a Large set of bows and arrows. About the size of the ones you saw on Avatar.
The increased monk damage is based on MONK size NOT arrow size, a medium monk with a small bow does just as much damage as a medium monk with a colossal bow
Why not just cast Gravity Bow instead? It would have the desired effect on your arrow unless I'm mistaken about the text.
Greetings, fellow travellers.
Why not take enlarge person as one case and reduce person as another case working differently then the aforementioned?
*shrug*
Also, I don't see a problem in houseruling it any other way, i. e. allowing the weapons to deal more damage when enlarged and deal less damage when shrunk - for consistency reasons.
Ruyan.
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Why not just cast Gravity Bow instead? It would have the desired effect on your arrow unless I'm mistaken about the text.
Gravit Bow is a personal range spell, otherwise that would be a great idea. Most monks can't cast Gravity Bow ;).
But a wand with Gravity Bow and max ranks in UMD would make it feasible, eventually...
So, if you rule that enlarged projectile weapons deal damage based on their size, as the following clearly supports...
All equipment worn or carried by a creature is similarly enlarged by the spell. Melee weapons affected by this spell deal more damage (see Table: Tiny and Large Weapon Damage). Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any enlarged item that leaves an enlarged creature's possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown and projectile weapons deal their normal damage. Magical properties of enlarged items are not increased by this spell....then how do you deal with the following...
Melee and projectile weapons deal less damage. Other magical properties are not affected by this spell. Any reduced item that leaves the reduced creature's possession (including a projectile or thrown weapon) instantly returns to its normal size. This means that thrown weapons deal their normal damage (projectiles deal damage based on the size of the weapon that fired them)....for surely they both can't be true.
I personally rule in the favor of the PCs (and any enemies who use the same trick).
Plus, the PC is using an ability that the normal rules anyway.
Weapon size doesn't matter when applying unarmed damage. Whether it's a shuriken or giant scythe, if you substitute unarmed damage, it's based upon your Current size.
Here's a trick, carry huge arrows, shrink them, then use a normal bow to fire them, they become huge arrows after leaving your bow.
