I asked these questions in another thread a while ago, but never got an answer. I figured I had enough questions to warrant a new thread anyway.
I'm building an 'unarmed' Barbarian under the 'Brutal Pugilist' APG archetype, and I've run into a series of questions. I'm sure if I were a more experienced player I might be able to answer some of these, but as it stands, I turn to your guidance on these issues. Thanks in advance for any help you provide, I'll put the knowledge to good (or evil) use.
1. Abilities that Simulate Two-Weapon-Fighting:
a. Do abilities such as the 'Greater Brawler' Rage Power grant me 'Improved TWF' at 6th level and 'G TWF' when appropriate?
b. If not, can I take 'Imp. TWF' without the 'TWF' prerequisite if I have the 'Greater Brawler' rage power?
2. Multiclassing Monk and Other Classes:
a. If I'm using unarmed strikes (or monk weapons) can I still flurry as if I were a monk of my character level?
b. If so, does the 'Flurry of Blows' ability still give me 'I. TWF' at 8th character level?
c. If not, can I take 'I. TWF' without having taken 'TWF'?
d. Do the monk's unarmed strike rules always apply to me, even with only one level of monk? As in, are unarmed strikes never considered secondary weapons for the purposes of applying Strength and 'Power Attack' bonuses to damage? (Effectively giving me the 'Double Slice' feat for unarmed attacks only).
e. If I were to take levels of Barbarian after taking levels of Monk, and take the 'Animal Fury' rage power, gaining a Bite attack, would this attack be considered an 'unarmed attack'? If so, would that make it a primary attack? (eliminating the -5 penalty, and allowing me to apply full strength and Power Attack bonuses)
3. PC's who have Claw or Natural Attacks
a. If I take the 'Beast Totem' Rage Power, (granting me 2 claw attacks at my full BAB), is there any way, at any level, I could make any more than two attacks specifically using my claws?
b. Can I attack with both claws as a standard action, or is a full round attack still required to strike with both?
c. Am I still considered unarmed for the purposes of making Attacks of Opportunity?
d. Are both my hands considered 'free' for the purposes of not taking penalties to grapple checks?
e. Am I considered 'unarmed', taking a -4 penalty on disarm checks?
f. Because my hands are technically empty, do I still 'take' a weapon from an enemy on a successful disarm attempt?
g. Because I am not using a weapon, may I use a Buckler at no penalty to attack?
h. Are my hands considered empty for other reasons (spellcasting, combat or roleplaying) not discussed?
1. Abilities that Simulate Two-Weapon-Fighting:
a. No.
b. Yes, but you can only access it when raging, since you are disqualified for those feats when not raging/don't have the prerequisite feats. But GMs may disagree on this point.
2. Multiclassing Monk and Other Classes:
a. No. You can flurry, but only at your monk level (even though you do benefit from an increase in BAB from other classes).
E.g. a monk6/barbarian4 would flurry at +8/+8/+3-
b. No. Not untill your monk level reaches 8th.
c. No.
d. Yes. But only when unarmed.
e. No. It is not an off-hand attack, but a secondary natural weapon and will always take -5 unless you take the multi-attack feat.
3. PC's who have Claw or Natural Attacks
a. As a monk you can use all your unarmed attacks while fighting unarmed, though they are all treated as secondary attacks and thus suffer -5 to attack rolls.
E.g. a barbarian6/monk1 can attack unarmed including natural attacks from beast totem at +6(unarmed strike)/+1 /+1(claw) or flurry at +5/+5(unarmed strike)/+0/+0(claw)
b. You need to make a full-attack action in order to attack more than one time.
c. Not when using natural weapons or Unarmed Strike.
d. Yes.
e. No.
f. Not if you did the disarm with a claw attack/natural weapon.
g. No.
h. Generally, yes.
1. Abilities that Simulate Two-Weapon-Fighting:
a. Do abilities such as the 'Greater Brawler' Rage Power grant me 'Improved TWF' at 6th level and 'G TWF' when appropriate?
No.
b. If not, can I take 'Imp. TWF' without the 'TWF' prerequisite if I have the 'Greater Brawler' rage power?
I think you can, except you lose access to those feats the moment you stop raging.
2. Multiclassing Monk and Other Classes:
a. If I'm using unarmed strikes (or monk weapons) can I still flurry as if I were a monk of my character level?
Flurry of Blows uses your Monk level only. It doesn't stack with other classes, other than the BAB.
b. If so, does the 'Flurry of Blows' ability still give me 'I. TWF' at 8th character level?
See above
c. If not, can I take 'I. TWF' without having taken 'TWF'?
Taking TWF would mean you can use TWF with weapons other than unarmed strikes and special monk weapons, but at a weaker attack bonus, since Flurry of Blows treats your Monk level as your new BAB, similiar to Fighters/Paladins/Rangers etc. The better choice is to find ways to make new weapons useful with Flurry of Blows.
d. Do the monk's unarmed strike rules always apply to me, even with only one level of monk? As in, are unarmed strikes never considered secondary weapons for the purposes of applying Strength and 'Power Attack' bonuses to damage? (Effectively giving me the 'Double Slice' feat for unarmed attacks only).
I don't think unarmed strikes were ever considered secondary weapons. They will always be Light weapons but allowed to use Power Attack. If you attack with a longsword primary, then use your off-hand attack to make an unarmed strike, then yes, you will be using 1/2 Strength bonus for damage.
e. If I were to take levels of Barbarian after taking levels of Monk, and take the 'Animal Fury' rage power, gaining a Bite attack, would this attack be considered an 'unarmed attack'? If so, would that make it a primary attack? (eliminating the -5 penalty, and allowing me to apply full strength and Power Attack bonuses)
The bite attack is a natural attack, meaning if you use it on conjunction with an unarmed strike, it will suffer the -5 penalty for being a secondary attack (or -2 if you have Multiattack feat). Back in 3.5, you were allowed to combine natural attacks with flurry of blow attacks. As in, you'd make your Flurry attacks first, then continue with whatever natural attacks you had. The ruling was, if you had claw attacks, one of your claw attacks was sacrificed to perform the flurry. Weird, I know. It made for some deadly illithid monks, however. Pathfinder changed it so that if you use natural attacks in conjunction with unarmed strikes/special monk weapons, you cannot gain the extra attacks from Flurry of Blows. You'd use your normal amount of attacks from your BAB and the natural attacks. Which is silly, IMO. I allow the use of both.
3. PC's who have Claw or Natural Attacks
a. If I take the 'Beast Totem' Rage Power, (granting me 2 claw attacks at my full BAB), is there any way, at any level, I could make any more than two attacks specifically using my claws?
There is one way. In 3.5e, there was a book called the Draconomicon. If you have it, go to the feats section (there's 2 sections, one for DM's, the other for players, it's in the DM section). There're feats called Rapidstrike and Improved Rapidstrike. They allow you to make an extra natural attack if you have a pair or more of natural weapons (two or more claws, two or more tentacles, etc.). Improved Rapidstrike gave even more extra natural attacks, with attack penalties, and to a maximum of 4 extra attacks I think. It was the only 2 feats that granted monsters extra attacks similiar to manufactured weapons and BAB. I use those feats heavily as a DM, it makes for some fun and scary encounters
b. Can I attack with both claws as a standard action, or is a full round attack still required to strike with both?
Full Round, you need to use Full Attack Action for both
c. Am I still considered unarmed for the purposes of making Attacks of Opportunity?
No, with claws, you're considered armed.
d. Are both my hands considered 'free' for the purposes of not taking penalties to grapple checks?
Yes
e. Am I considered 'unarmed', taking a -4 penalty on disarm checks?
I don't think so
f. Because my hands are technically empty, do I still 'take' a weapon from an enemy on a successful disarm attempt?
Yes
g. Because I am not using a weapon, may I use a Buckler at no penalty to attack?
No, you still take -1 penalty to attack using an arm with the buckler attached
h. Are my hands considered empty for other reasons (spellcasting, combat or roleplaying) not discussed?
Yes
Thanks for your answers.
One more question though, because I'm a little new to the boards...
Now that my questions have been answered, is it standard procedure here to delete the thread to clear up clutter, or to leave it open for others who may have similar questions?
The claws are normally considered primary unless the ability that grants them says otherwise.
And no, you cannot use TWF with a claw. Natural attacks are in their own little world for the purposes of attack routines. You can mix it with the use of your katana, and the katana will be unaffected. Unfortunately, all natural attacks are made secondary if you mix them with a manufactured attack. So that means -5 to hit and 1/2 bonus damage from strength and power attack.