Monk Flurry of Blows and Mullticlassing

[posternutbag]

I have seen it mentioned in a thread on the Zen Archer Monk variant that the attack bonus of the Flurry of Blows class feature is/was intended to be dependent on total BAB and that the reference to "Monk Levels" in the Core Rulebook was intended to decouple FoB from the Monk's BAB; ie it probably should have said, "Character Level."

In other words, it was intended that a character who multiclasses out of Monk will still have FoB AB progress with their BAB; however, they might not receive extra attacks that simulate higher level TWF feats because these extra attacks granted at 8th and 15th level are class features and not intrinsic to FoB progression.

Is this indeed the intent of the wording, and if so, can someone point me to the ruling?

[Nixda]

PRD wrote:

Flurry of Blows (Ex): Starting at 1st level, a monk can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action. When doing so he may make one additional attack using any combination of unarmed strikes or attacks with a special monk weapon (kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, and siangham) as if using the Two-Weapon Fighting feat (even if the monk does not meet the prerequisites for the feat). For the purpose of these attacks, the monk's base attack bonus is equal to his monk level. For all other purposes, such as qualifying for a feat or a prestige class, the monk uses his normal base attack bonus.

"For the purpose of these attacks, the monk's base attack bonus is equal to his monk level." Good if you are a pure monk, bad if you multiclass. Some might argue that BAB from other classes are added as usual, but that's not what's written in the rules - FoB isn't really TWF.

[Hauke Klimenko]

Core Rule Book FAQ:

The monk rules for flurry state, "For the purpose of these attacks, the monk's base attack bonus is equal to his monk level." How does this interact with BAB from class levels and racial Hit Dice? Does a multiclassed fighter 19/monk 1 flurry as if his BAB were only +1?
A monk using flurry treats his BAB from monk levels as equal to his monk level. He still adds BAB from other sources (such as other classes or racial Hit Dice) normally to this total.

So a fighter 19/monk 1 has a normal BAB of +19. When he flurries, he treats his monk BAB as +1 (for his 1 level of monk) and still gets BAB +19 from his fighter levels, for a total flurry BAB of +20.

—Sean K Reynolds, 09/10/10

[Nixda]

Thanks!

[Gruuuu]

It is very confusing. Your interpretation is correct, though.
It's calculated exactly like Two-Weapon Fighting with Light Weapons in the off-hand like so: 1 extra attack on a full attack, at a -2 to hit on all attacks.

Interestingly, I don't see any mention of handling Two-Handed Ranged weapons with Flurry or Two-Weapon Fighting. I have to assume the off-hand is light.

For every +5 over +1 BAB while flurrying, add another attack, (remember, use your Monk Level as your partial BAB while flurrying)

So, while flurrying, a Monk 5 Fighter 1 has:
+5 (Monk Level) +1 (Fighter BAB)
His Flurry is going to be
+4/+4/-1

Also, while flurrying, a Monk 8 Fighter 7 has:
+8 (Monk Level) +7 (Fighter BAB)
His Flurry is going to be
+13/+13/+8/+8/+3
(NOT +13/+13/+8/+8/+3/+3, since the third extra attack at -10 is not gained until Monk 15)

[Happler]

Also note that the Fighter 19/Monk 1 does not get all the extra attacks that a monk 20 would get.

So, the Flurry attacks would be:

+18(normal)/+18(extra from flurry)/+13(normal)/+8(normal)/+3(normal)

Since a 1st level monk only has the equivalent of two-weapon fighting and thus only gets 1 extra attack. Also, the Fighter 19/ Monk 1 can only do this with unarmed strikes or monk weapons. (no flurry with a greatsword).

[posternutbag]

Thank you Hauke. That was exactly what I needed.