Monks and Piranha Strike / Power Attack

[Wiggz]

The wording addressing Unarmed Strike under Monks says 'there is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.'

I presume that means that they also gain full damage benefits from Piranha Strike or Power Attack when using unarmed strikes along with Two-Weapon Fighting, correct?

[Krodjin]

That's how I read it & play it. Moreover, if the Monk is using a Temple Sword or Quarterstaff 2 handed they get to add 3:1 with Power Attack.

Recent errata/FAQ to Flurry says a monk can make all attacks with a single weapon - so really 2 handing a Temple Sword is a great stategy for a Monk.

[Veldebrand]

Flurry of Blows wrote:

A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands.

This says to me that they get the full strength bonus (or 1x), and makes no mention of 1.5 times the STR bonus a two-handed weapon normally gets.

Power Attack wrote:

This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls.

This might be a grammar issue, but I think the idea is to give the 1.5 times (or 3:1) bonus to power attack when you are using something that normally gives 1.5 times the STR bonus.

[kyrt-ryder]

The wording may have changed since 3.5, I don't feel like pulling out my CRB to confirm, but rapiers were totally viable for 2 handed power attack in 3.5, one just couldn't get the increased strength bonus for 2-handing them (or at least that's how I remember it going.)

[Atarlost]

I recommend allowing 3:1 power attack. It's the only thing that puts weapon monks in band with other martials. Do not let the relative weakness of unarmed monks (except non-flurrying grapple builds) lead you to nerf armed monks into similar impotence.

[Kazaan]

The bonus damage from Power Attack isn't linked to the strength bonus. It just so happens that, for common usage, they coincide in ratio. For example, take the Double Slice feat. It allows you to apply full Str bonus to an off-hand attack. But you'd still only get half bonus from Power Attack because it's an off-hand. Special abilities that apply full Str to off-hand attacks don't boost the bonus from Power Attack to full. Neither would a special ability that boosts 2-h damage to 2x Str bonus increase the Power Attack bonus to 2x. The two are completely segregated, related only by dependence on how many hands are used to wield a weapon and whether it's used as off-hand or not.