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I need help to understand the monk's ability (the ki strike) to overcome damage reduction. Our party had to fight a (3.5.edition) dragon with a resistance of +4/adamantine. My monk character is a 13th level character overall, but a 7th level monk. He wears a magical Monk's robe, and therefore he treats his unarmed strikes as if he was a 12th level monk.

His unarmed attacks are treated as magic weapons ever since he reached 4th level (cf. ki pool description), but they're treated as if they were magic weapons with what enhancement equivalent (+1,+2,+3 or +4) ? Would the Monk's robe increase the bonus equivalent of such attacks?

The Monk's description states that the Monk can overcome adamantine resistance at level 16. Does it mean that the weapon enhancement bonus equivalent of his unarmed attacks will only be +4 at that level (using the table on page 562)?

If the character casts "Magic Weapon" (he's also a sorcerer), giving his unarmed strike a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls, does it increase the weapon enhancement bonus equivalent (i.e., does it stack?).

While we're at it, does the Smite Evil (SUpernatural) ability of the paladin (adding the Charisma bonus to the attack rolls) increase the weapon enhancement bonus equivalence for the monk's unarmed attacks?

Thanks for your help!

According to the Beta rulebook, being proficient in the Acrobatics skill increases the Dodge bonus when fighting defensively or using full defense. If being proficient = having 1 rank, then I believe it's too easy to obtain the Dodge bonus increase. It makes taking 1 rank in Acrobatics more powerful than taking a Feat.

It would be useful if the Combat feats were grouped together on Table 6-1, like Item Creation Feats and Metamagic Feats are.

I don't know if it has been done elsewhere, but I thought it would be interesting to have a thread where people can suggest either additional Combat maneuvers (using the proposed Combat maneuver system) or adding options to existing ones.

One maneuver I think would be cool is some sort of GRAB AND THROW maneuver, whereupon on a successful maneuver check, you manage to throw your opponent 5 feet sideways (right or left). If your attack exceeds the DC by 5 or more, you can throw your opponent an additional 5 feet (thus creating the possibility of an attack of opportunity on the foe from a nearby ally). Like other combat maneuvers, a special feat could be necessary to avoid provoking an AoO to perform the maneuver..

Instead of being a different maneuver altogether, it could be part of the TRIP maneuver if the attack exceeds the DC by 5 or more.

Other suggestions ? I know someone mentioned "THROWING SOMEONE" as part of the GRAPPLE maneuver, once the foe is pinned...

I mentioned this elsewhere (in another forum thread), but this might be the right place :

Is the Black Tentacles spell description clear ?

The spell was used in our latest gaming session and there was some confusion regarding the rules.

"Every creature within the area of the spell is the target of a combat maneuver check made to grapple each round"

"Roll ONLY ONCE for the entire spell effect and apply the result to all creatures in the area of effect"

entire spell effect : i.e., spell duration ?

"The black tentacles receives a +5 bonus ON GRAPPLE CHECKS MADE against opponents it is already grappling"

But if the check was rolled once for the entire spell effect, what other grapple checks ? Or is the +5 bonus applied to the first roll result ? But if a target has been grappled on the first check and that the combat maneuver check is made against a static DC (as per the combat maneuver rules p. 150), what use is the +5 bonus since the same roll result is used for the entire spell effect?

I would understand if a single roll each round was applied to all creatures in the area of effect (to make things easier) but not one roll for the entire spell effect... Subsequent "checks" against already grappled targets become useless.

Of course, perhaps I'm just misreading the spell description.

Note- there is a typo on p. 150 in the "Performing a Combat Maneuver" section, last line of 1st paragraph : "manuever"

Spell description says : "Roll only once [attack roll + CMB] for the entire spell effect and apply the result to all creatures in the area of effect". But the Grapple action usually requires a successful grapple check each round to maintain the hold. Since the DC of a grappling check is static (15 + target's CMB), a character victim of a Black Tentacles' initial grapple check is automatically held the subsequent rounds. Why mention then that the "black tentacles spell receive a +5 bonus on grapple checks made against opponents it is already grappling" ?

Our party's sorceress Alira was grappled in the initial round by our foe's Black Tentacles -- DM's check beat DC to grapple Alira which was 20 (15+5 BAB+ 0 STR). Since DM rolled "only once for entire spell effect", there was no need to re-roll at +5 --- grappling Alira was automatic! And if she wanted to break the grapple, she needed to make a successful combat maneuver check at DC 15+ tentacles' CMB (15) = DC 30 !

Considering her own CMB is only 5 (BAB + STR), not much she could do.

Am I understanding the spell correctly? Why the +5 bonus if a single roll is used?

As a related clarification question, PF rules say that performing a Combat Maneuver requires an attack roll, adding the character's CMB to the result. Since the character's BAB is already included in the CMB, is the attack roll in performing a combat maneuver simply a d20 roll or is it a normal attack roll (with all usual bonuses including BAB) + CMB ???

Also, could someone help a character break free of a grapple? In the exemple above, could our fighter have helped Alira break free of the tentacles' grasp ?

I would appreciate some clarifications. Thanks!