I have several questions regarding monks that I cannot find an official answer. It is easy enough to come up with a solution for these conundrums for home play but it would be nice to have a unified ruling for Pathfinder Society Organized Play.
First of which, and probably the most common, is: can a monk apply his unarmed strike damage dice to attacks made with certain weapons (such as brass knuckles, cestuses, dan bongs, gauntlets, knuckle axes, and spiked gauntlets)? Furthermore, do these weapons count as an unarmed strike when qualifying for feats that require you to choose one type of weapon (such as Improved Critical, Weapon Focus, or Weapon Specialization)?
The next set of questions has to do with the dan bong in particular. Does the “+2 bonus on [the wielder’s] combat maneuver to grapple” granted by a dan bong also apply to CMD? Can someone wielding a magic don bong apply the enhancement bonus to grapple checks and/or CMD? Does making a grapple check while wielding a dan bong in one hand and with the other hand free impose the normal –4 penalty on the combat maneuver roll for attempting to grapple a foe without two free hands? If no, can someone make a grapple check while wielding a dan bong in each hand and apply the bonuses from both weapons? If a wielder is not proficient with a dan bong, does the wielder suffer the –4 nonproficiency penalty to grapple checks and/or CMD? Although the description of the dan bong does not say to explicitly, does the cord on a dan bong act like a weapon cord by allowing you to recover it as a swift action if it is dropped or disarmed? Does the feat Weapon Finesse allow someone to use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for calculating CMB when making a grapple combat maneuver while wielding a dan bong?
The following question deal with the Pathfinder Society losing the Lantern Lodge. The Lantern Lodge filled an important void in the monk’s weapon proficiencies by allowing members of the Lantern Lodge to learn a monk weapon (or certain other oriental themed weapons) through the trait Weapon Style and the prestige award Familiar Weapons. Will there be another way for monks to gain proficiency with these weapons without spending a feat after the Lantern Lodge is phased out?
