Jen the GM wrote:
It says "you can spend a swift action to make a retaliatory unarmed strike attack against that opponent."
What kind of attack is this? Full attack, standard atttack, attack of oppertunity?
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And second, semi-related question. Do natural attacks count as unarmed strikes and if not, does the feral combat training feat make them count as unarmed strikes?
To the second question, natural attacks are attacks that creatures have "naturally" - like claws, bite, talons, slam, etc.
They are generally broken into primary and secondary attacks, where secondary attacks give an attack penalty and do less damage. Some example secondary attacks are: hoof, wing.
The bottom line is that natural attacks can be thought of as "built-in weapons".
The complete rules on natural attacks are found in the universal monster rules. These rules conclude by saying "Some creatures do not have natural attacks. These creatures can make unarmed strikes just like humans do."
Unarmed attacks carry a different set of problems, such as they do not threaten squares, and using them invokes attacks of opportunity, etc. Try to throw a punch against a guy armed with a Katana and you'll see why.
Monsters have specific feats that apply to natural attacks, just like humanoids have specific feats that apply to unarmed attacks, so I would not think the two would mix/cross-pollinate.
Back to the 1st question:
"you can spend a swift action to make a retaliatory unarmed strike attack against that opponent."
It is exactly as it says: a swift action which is resolved as an unarmed strike. It is not a full attack, a standard attack or an attack of opportunity. It does not use up your standard action; it does not use up one of your attacks of opportunity; it does not use your full attack, though unless something else is going on, you cannot do one this round anyway since you had to be moving in the first place.
PS.. Most (all?) of the penalties for fighting unarmed are removed by taking Improved Unarmed Strike feat, so you can look there to quickly see what the drawbacks are to using Unarmed attacks.
But remember, none of these apply to natural attacks. A lion's claws are *very* threatening and lethal. ;)
The benefits of the Feral Combat Training feat are somewhat specific.
If you are of a race that has, or otherwise acquire, a natural attack, then taking this feat allows you to use any other feats you have that normally only apply to unarmed strikes to attacks with your natural weapon, and if you're a monk you can weave in attacks with your natural weapon into your flurry.
Example: Stunning Fist, which states "Stunning Fist forces a foe damaged by your unarmed attack". If you had a natural weapon, you would not be able to use stunning fist with it, unless you take Feral Combat Training.
