Beast Shape and Weapon Finesse

[Reynard_the_fox]

Am I right in assuming that you don't gain Weapon Finesse from transforming into a small (or smaller) creature? That is, even a gnome with a high dex modifier in the shape of, say, a viper, needs to have taken the feat Weapon Finesse before he has a snowball's chance in hell of hitting anything? Also, would an Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists be necessary to deal more than 1 damage per attack?

Thanks!

EDIT: Oh yeah, and Shield and Mage Armor continue to add their respective +4 bonuses when beast shaped, right?

[StreamOfTheSky]

Any creature size Tiny or smaller uses dexterity on all attack rolls (this includes combat maneuver rolls). Small, no dice.

Without a way to do dex instead of str to damage or a bonus damage source like smite evil or sneak attack, the damage will probably be pretty bad, yeah.

Yes, Shield and Mage Armor would still add their full bonus, as would any enhancement bonuses to physical armor/shield the creature had. Only the base, mundane armor is halved for tiny or smaller. And again, the line is at tiny, not small.

[Reynard_the_fox]

Thanks. Do you know where it says that Tiny or smaller uses dex on attack rolls in the rules? I see it says so for the CMB in the combat section, but I can't find any other references.