This question is regarding a PFS Unchained Monk. I understand that Monk's should not wear armor as it reduces there abilities greatly, so I was wondering if there is a way a Monk can benefit from this enchant?
Brawling
Price +1 bonus; Aura faint transmutation; CL 5th; Weight —
The wearer of brawling armor gains a +2 bonus on unarmed attack and damage rolls, including combat maneuver checks made to grapple. Her unarmed strikes count as magic weapons for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. These bonuses do not apply to natural weapons. This special ability does not prevent the wearer's unarmed strikes from provoking attacks of opportunity or make the wearer's unarmed strikes count as armed attacks. The brawling ability can be applied only to light armor.
Construction Requirements
Cost +1 bonus
Craft Magic Arms and Armor, bull's strength
It seems to me to be very helpful with the damage increase. Can a Monk have this enchant placed on the necklace?
A necklace is not light armor, so no it couldn't. Bracers of Armor are also not classified as light armor, so Brawling wouldn't be a valid upgrade for them either.
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They seem to have gone out of their way to keep it from working on monks.
Unfortunate. It's odd to me that this would even be an option in Ultimate Equipment as when it was published Brawler was not even an available class choice.
It does seem they made an armor enchantment to benefit a Monk specifically, and then made it next to impossible for a Monk to select it. I mean, I know he could simply buy some Light Armor and wear it, but the loss would be steep. To bad he couldn't wear something like Parade Armor, or something that qualifies as Light Armor but offers no benefit.
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Unfortunate. It's odd to me that this would even be an option in Ultimate Equipment as when it was published Brawler was not even an available class choice.
It does seem they made an armor enchantment to benefit a Monk specifically, and then made it next to impossible for a Monk to select it. I mean, I know he could simply buy some Light Armor and wear it, but the loss would be steep. To bad he couldn't wear something like Parade Armor, or something that qualifies as Light Armor but offers no benefit.
They didn't make it next to impossible, they made it impossible. I mistakenly purchased brawling braces of armor and used it for several adventures before I realized my mistake sold them back.
So, assuming my 10 year old son wants to stick with the Unchained Monk for PFS play, what are some magic items he can purchase which will directly increase his damage done?
He cannot wear armor and receive any benefits from the Brawling enchant, and he will most likely not carry many weapons except for perhaps a couple specific items made from the special materials (Cold Iron, Silver) so enchanting a weapon for more damage is also out.
Are there any other options, or good damage increasing enchants for the neck item, I believe its called Amulet of Mighty Fists.
So, assuming my 10 year old son wants to stick with the Unchained Monk for PFS play, what are some magic items he can purchase which will directly increase his damage done?
He cannot wear armor and receive any benefits from the Brawling enchant, and he will most likely not carry many weapons except for perhaps a couple specific items made from the special materials (Cold Iron, Silver) so enchanting a weapon for more damage is also out.
Are there any other options, or good damage increasing enchants for the neck item, I believe its called Amulet of Mighty Fists.
I'm a big fan of menacing on an amulet, since that will increase his and others' attack bonus by 2 in a flank, which helps overall damage bunches. With flying kick, Unchained monks have some really nice options for setting up the flank as well. Getting a belt to increase Strength by 2 is also a really good idea, as that gives +1 hit and damage for not too much cost. If someone in the party can use it, a wand of magic fang/weapon for 2 prestige can be nice, though the duration is short, so the designated wand buddy (maybe your character who teams up with your son?) would need to be smart about when to activate it.
Also, how does the Monk's Robe function for a Brawler (if he changes).
Robe, Monk's
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 10th
Slot body; Price 13,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
This simple brown robe, when worn, confers great ability in unarmed combat. If the wearer has levels in monk, her AC and unarmed damage is treated as a monk of five levels higher. If donned by a character with the Stunning Fist feat, the robe lets her make one additional stunning attack per day. If the character is not a monk, she gains the AC and unarmed damage of a 5th-level monk (although she does not add her Wisdom bonus to her AC). This AC bonus functions just like the monk's AC bonus.
Because the Brawler counts as both a Monk and Fighter for feats and items, does this mean he gains the +5 levels to his unarmed damage. As an example, would an 8th level Brawler wearing one of these robes do the Unarmed damage of a 13th level Brawler?
Mark, if he has Magic Fang as a spell like ability (Skinwalker/Werewolf) does that mean he could use a wand of it as well? Do spell like abilities activate the ability to use a wand?
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The Amulet is the most straightforward.
- A Belt of Giant Strength to enhance the Strength score will come in handy.
- Monk's Robes will increase the unarmed strike damage die and boost your AC
- Deliquescent Gloves will give that hand's attacks the corrosive property for an extra 1d6 acid damage. It'll also give you benefits fighting oozes without harming yourself. This one is in Ultimate Equipment.
If the monk is going to be Strength-based, I'd also suggest going the Dragon Style route for an extra 50% Strength mod to your unarmed strikes; or 2x your Strength mod for the first attack. Being able to charge through allies/difficult terrain is icing on the cake.
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They didn't make it next to impossible, they made it impossible. I mistakenly purchased brawling braces of armor and used it for several adventures before I realized my mistake sold them back.Unfortunate. It's odd to me that this would even be an option in Ultimate Equipment as when it was published Brawler was not even an available class choice.
It does seem they made an armor enchantment to benefit a Monk specifically, and then made it next to impossible for a Monk to select it. I mean, I know he could simply buy some Light Armor and wear it, but the loss would be steep. To bad he couldn't wear something like Parade Armor, or something that qualifies as Light Armor but offers no benefit.
Not impossible, but certainly very specialized.
First of all, even in the base classes, monks are not the only decent unarmed fighters, though they may be the best. Second, there are several Monk archetypes that trade out flurry of blows. Which means if you have a mediocre wisdom, light magic armor may actually be a decent trade up for you.
Mark, if he has Magic Fang as a spell like ability (Skinwalker/Werewolf) does that mean he could use a wand of it as well? Do spell like abilities activate the ability to use a wand?
No, but it means he won't need the wand as much since he can buff it himself (and it gives him even more reason to put non-enhancement into the amulet). Also, thanks for GMing at Gencon!
I acquired the boon in a game of chance...err, I mean on the Boon Trading thread. My son really wanted to play a werewolf character.
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They didn't make it next to impossible, they made it impossible. I mistakenly purchased brawling braces of armor and used it for several adventures before I realized my mistake sold them back.Unfortunate. It's odd to me that this would even be an option in Ultimate Equipment as when it was published Brawler was not even an available class choice.
It does seem they made an armor enchantment to benefit a Monk specifically, and then made it next to impossible for a Monk to select it. I mean, I know he could simply buy some Light Armor and wear it, but the loss would be steep. To bad he couldn't wear something like Parade Armor, or something that qualifies as Light Armor but offers no benefit.
Not impossible, but certainly very specialized.
First of all, even in the base classes, monks are not the only decent unarmed fighters, though they may be the best. Second, there are several Monk archetypes that trade out flurry of blows. Which means if you have a mediocre wisdom, light magic armor may actually be a decent trade up for you.
There's a Ninja Trick that gives them (and rogues too) Unarmed strike. On my level 12 character I almost took it but opted for a opted for (snakebite) brawler instead. The goal for me was dragon style as he is a spring attacking (scout) rogue.
I thought that Monk archetypes were not available to the Unchained version? Has this been changed?
They specifically made it so Monks couldn't benefit from that enhancement... Because... Reasons, I guess?
And just to add insult to the injury, in the very same book they released the "Bodywraps of Suck", which not only are awful, but also take the same slot as Monk's Robe.
First- looks like this is something to try to sweeten things for nonmonk unarmed builds. They existed...and had their problems. Obviously.
Bodywraps of Might Strikes...while not necessarily intentionally so, have the effect of working well for non monks too- for classes that use normal TWF rules. It makes it actually feasible to mix a regular weapon with an unarmed strike for the offhand. Not optimal, but certainly commonly used in media. But unfeasible with the AoMF, since you are paying for TWF prices, as well as a weapon. Some light advantages, since you can do thing like use snake style, but still have a proper weapon on hand.
Second- Sohei monks. They can flurry in light armor. This makes them very survivable in low levels without turtled stats (ie- DEX/WIS, practically no STR). I am fine with that, since it is the big 'smashy' archetype. They already have 3 levels of weapon training (which in turn lets them grab gloves of dueling).
Brawling enchantment not working on monks is really a sad thing.
I do think there could be something like a monk specifically armor which can be worn by monks without them loosing abilities and enchanted, counting as light armor but being kind of a robe or something similar.
There are some AC 1 armors which would already be good candidates.
UC monks might not need that enchantment, but CRB monks would surely profit.
Ironically, one of the strongest martial classes ingame, the barbarian, bot CRB and UC, can greatly profit from the brawling enchantment. Just pick up improved unarmed strike and the rage powers to back that up.
With some feats from weapon masters handbook you could even get the scaling monk damage now.
Personaly i find that enchantment best on ninjas and rogues though, since those may want to fight unarmed and really need some more backup then. Knockout Artist and Sap mastery feats are great there too!
With a belt of mighty hurling a STR monk can become a cool unarmed fighter and shuriken thrower! That´s something i´m currently playing and great fun. Also cool to wear a jingasa and have a khakkhara^^
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Also, how does the Monk's Robe function for a Brawler (if he changes).
Robe, Monk's
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 10th
Slot body; Price 13,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
This simple brown robe, when worn, confers great ability in unarmed combat. If the wearer has levels in monk, her AC and unarmed damage is treated as a monk of five levels higher. If donned by a character with the Stunning Fist feat, the robe lets her make one additional stunning attack per day. If the character is not a monk, she gains the AC and unarmed damage of a 5th-level monk (although she does not add her Wisdom bonus to her AC). This AC bonus functions just like the monk's AC bonus.
Because the Brawler counts as both a Monk and Fighter for feats and items, does this mean he gains the +5 levels to his unarmed damage. As an example, would an 8th level Brawler wearing one of these robes do the Unarmed damage of a 13th level Brawler?
No, he'd do unarmed damage of a 13th level Monk (which is identical I believe), and the AC bonus of a 13th level Monk (which progresses 1 level sooner than the Brawler).
Here's how it works...
...for unarmed damage: Add 5 to your brawler's level, find the damage for that level on the monk chart. That's your new unarmed damage. Because of how this item is worded, you don't get any of the other unarmed tricks a monk gets, just the improved damage dice.
...for AC bonus: as it's the same bonus for both classes, they don't stack, so you'll want the monk's version as it has a slightly faster progression. Add 5 to your brawler's level, find the AC bonus for that level on the monk chart. That's your new AC Bonus. It's a little fuzzy how it's parsed out, but I'm of the opinion you do get the wisdom bonus to AC. However, it's better to have the light armor with brawling on it, so it's a moot point.
Effectively, you just increase your brawler damage and AC bonus 5 levels, BUT the bonus progression for a monk's AC bonus is just a little different, so you follow that progression instead.
Brawling Armor was intended to be a tool to make unarmed strikes a bit better for non-Monks who wanted to build for them; remember the Brawler Fighter came out in the same book.
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So, assuming my 10 year old son wants to stick with the Unchained Monk for PFS play, what are some magic items he can purchase which will directly increase his damage done?
He cannot wear armor and receive any benefits from the Brawling enchant, and he will most likely not carry many weapons except for perhaps a couple specific items made from the special materials (Cold Iron, Silver) so enchanting a weapon for more damage is also out.
Are there any other options, or good damage increasing enchants for the neck item, I believe its called Amulet of Mighty Fists.
One piece of advise I got was to get ghost touch on the amulet of mighty fists. It was the BEST purchase I ever made.
Since for example Magic Vestment treats an outfit of regular clothing counts as armor that grants no AC bonus, would it be appropriate to have it as an enhancement for a robe, vest etc?
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So, assuming my 10 year old son wants to stick with the Unchained Monk for PFS play, what are some magic items he can purchase which will directly increase his damage done?
He cannot wear armor and receive any benefits from the Brawling enchant, and he will most likely not carry many weapons except for perhaps a couple specific items made from the special materials (Cold Iron, Silver) so enchanting a weapon for more damage is also out.
Are there any other options, or good damage increasing enchants for the neck item, I believe its called Amulet of Mighty Fists.
Some more advise, get an adamanite monk weapon as soon as possible. Then enchant it to +1 and then add Ki-focus. I use the temple sword but any monk weapon will work. The Ki-Focus allows the weapon to use a monk's ki strike abilities that are normally only allowable with flurry. Things like magic, cold iron, silver that bypass damage reduction.
I am a Dex based monk so I also picked up Agile Body Wraps of Might Strikes. This Agile property allows me to add my dex bonus for damage instead of Str to my unarmed strikes. Body wraps are very expense. And the Agile is found in the PS Field Guide.
For the UC monk there is a style strike called Shattering Punch. It allows one of the attacks in a flurry to bypass ANY damage reduction. Very helpful.