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So I figure I will not beat around the bush on this and go straight to the meat and potatoes.
Tonight at my PFS game I had a level 9 (Fighter 1 Unchained Monk 8) playing at the table. The parts of the build that matter are as follows:
Improved Trip/Greater Trip/Vicious Stomp
Leg Sweep
Improved Sunder/Greater Sunder
Pummeling Style
Combat Reflexes
The long and short was he would wade into combat against 2 opponents. (In example I double charged with two NPCs toward him since he was out in the open compared to the group.)
He would start with his flurry call the first strike as a leg sweep that he connects with and then follows up with the free trip.
The trip succeeds to which he then follows it up with two AOOs (one from greater trip and one from vicious stomp) I know all of this is legal so far from other FAQs
The two AOOs he then said he converted to Sunders against the weapon. (Still know this is acceptable from other FAQs)
The question comes at this point when he said that pummeling style would combine the two AOOs damage before applying the hardness.
He then with his second attack on the flurry converted the second attack to a trip attempt and did the double AOO Sunder vs the second enemies weapon (Once again using pummeling to combine before hardness)
My question is does it really work this way. From what I can tell it might as it says total the damage from all the hits before applying the reduction. I just figured I would see what you guys think.
Thank you in advance.
Yes, the damage is totaled before apply damage reduction, but the issue here would be whether Pummelling Style can be used to circumvent hardness instead of damage reduction.
Whenever you use a full-attack action or flurry of blows to make multiple attacks against a single opponent with unarmed strikes, total the damage from all hits before applying damage reduction. This ability works only with unarmed strikes, no matter what other abilities you might possess.
Some magic creatures have the supernatural ability to instantly heal damage from weapons or ignore blows altogether as though they were invulnerable.
The numerical part of a creature's damage reduction (or DR) is the amount of damage the creature ignores from normal attacks. Usually, a certain type of weapon can overcome this reduction (see Overcoming DR). This information is separated from the damage reduction number by a slash. For example, DR 5/magic means that a creature takes 5 less points of damage from all weapons that are not magic. If a dash follows the slash, then the damage reduction is effective against any attack that does not ignore damage reduction.
Whenever damage reduction completely negates the damage from an attack, it also negates most special effects that accompany the attack, such as injury poison, a monk's stunning, and injury-based disease. Damage Reduction does not negate touch attacks, energy damage dealt along with an attack, or energy drains. Nor does it affect poisons or diseases delivered by inhalation, ingestion, or contact.
Attacks that deal no damage because of the target's damage reduction do not disrupt spells.
Spells, spell-like abilities, and energy attacks (even non-magical fire) ignore damage reduction.
Sometimes damage reduction represents instant healing. Sometimes it represents the creature's tough hide or body. In either case, other characters can see that conventional attacks won't work.
If a creature has damage reduction from more than one source, the two forms of damage reduction do not stack. Instead, the creature gets the benefit of the best damage reduction in a given situation
So, pummeling style can be interpretted to only work when attacking a single opponent with the entire attack routine, so using it twice does not work. This might be the wrong way to read it, and it may instead mean any apponent who recieves multiple attacks from your flurry or full attack can have it applied. It only works for the attacks from a flurry or full attack action, so he can't use it on his aoo's.
Next it only applies to damage reduction, which is defined above and is a creature property very distinctly different from an objects hardness
Main arguments against:
1. only flurry attacks or full attack action attacks can be used with pummeling style.
2. Pummeling style specifies damage reduction which is a defined in game mechanic separate from, and different from, hardness
Im not sure if i would allow pummeling strike to sum the damage from the AoO's, since those arent part of the full-round action attacks.
Is this one of the FAQ's legal actions the OP mentions?
As for hardness, the feat doesn't mention hardness, so by RAW it's no, it doesn't work.
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Yeah they FAQed that AOO can be turned into Trips, Sunder, Disarm. They also FAQed that Vicious stomp and greater trip both pop the AOOs.
I can understand about the hardness that makes sense because of the whole DR=/=Hardness FAQ because of the whole year of the sky key robot hardness questions.
Though I do question the pummeling style if the AOOs were used as just damage instead of sunder if they should stack as one attack just because of the one line , "...total the damage from all hits before applying damage reduction."
I just would seem that the AOOs grated from greater trip and vicious stomp would still be group in the damage pool before DR is applied.
Yeah they FAQed that AOO can be turned into Trips, Sunder, Disarm. They also FAQed that Vicious stomp and greater trip both pop the AOOs.
I can understand about the hardness that makes sense because of the whole DR=/=Hardness FAQ because of the whole year of the sky key robot hardness questions.
Though I do question the pummeling style if the AOOs were used as just damage instead of sunder if they should stack as one attack just because of the one line , "...total the damage from all hits before applying damage reduction."
I just would seem that the AOOs grated from greater trip and vicious stomp would still be group in the damage pool before DR is applied.
What was the verdict on DR/Hardness?
Either way, AoOs and free action attacks are very much separate from the full attack you're taking.
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What was the verdict on DR/Hardness?
Either way, AoOs and free action attacks are very much separate from the full attack you're taking.
DR is not Hardness and Hardness is not DR. They work similarly in a few aspects but are separate stats that apply to separate types of things and even have separate rules listings.
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AOOs are not part of Pummeling Style.
