| Jasco |
| 1 person marked this as FAQ candidate. |
Despite having played with and as monks for years I was rereading their class abilities, because I have that kind of time, and noticed something odd in maneuver training. In particular it's a very specific wording that I feel like has a big impact on the way in which monks would deal with maneuvers. Obviously this is all about Reading as Written and not intention.
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Maneuver Training (Ex)
At 3rd level, a monk uses his monk level in place of his base attack bonus when calculating his Combat Maneuver Bonus. Base attack bonuses granted from other classes are unaffected and are added normally.
----(emphasis mine)
Now, specifically, the issue I have is this: Using this wording, it appears to me that a monk with the level 8 +6/+6/+1/+1 Flurry BAB (or any combination of BAB with iterative attacks) would use his full level in place of the +1 if he were to make a trip (as an example) attempt instead of an attack. In effect, if tripping the last attack would also have a +6, his level minus the penalty for flurrying.
If Maneuver Training dictated that you used your Monk Level AS your BAB it would be an easy argument to say that the staggered progression would still be in effect since it's your second attack. But Maneuver Training seems to cut Base Attack Bonus out of your consideration for Maneuvers entirely. Instead it simply has you calculate your CMB without your BAB at all. You replace it with your level, which as written wouldn't necessarily be any lower for being a later attack.
To me it seems like the only way to take that, based on the writing of the ability. It would certainly make ending your turn with a trip an appealing notion.