Noticed some very confusing issues in the Dragon Style feat and how it interacts with other feats/features/gear.
First, how much damage would you apply to the first unarmed strike? It seems like RAW (and pure RAW) says you add 2.5STR because the feat says you may add 1.5STR to damage, which would presumably stack with the normal strength to damage, since they come from different sources. Now, I doubt that this is the intent, but it seems to be what RAW says.
Secondly, how would this feat interact with the agile weapon quality? Would you get 1.5DEX or 1.5STR+DEX?
Third, how does this interact with flurry of blows? Flurry of Blows states that you apply your full strength to damage, not half or 1.5. So would this feat trump flurry or vice versa.
Just for some reference here are the relevant texts:
Per RAW you have a 1xSTR and a 1.5xSTR since it's the same bonus they don't stack, you take the higher. Similar to the two-handed fighters overchop.
Per quick RAW you could either do 1xDEX or 1.5xSTR being that it says you can use your dex instead of your strength mod, which is 1.5str. But not super sure on this one. I could maybe see 1.5xDEX, but defanately not both.
The feat trumps flurry. If you take the next feat in the line you flurry with unarmed at 1.5xSTR on all attack, 2xSTR on the first.
Do not have a link but SKR say you do not get 1.5 dex with an agile amulet as it would be more powerful than the feat intended. Also applying the common sense rule you only get 1.5 str damage and if you take the next feat in the line you get 1.5 str damage on all attacks and never get 2x str. This horse has been beaten to death time after time. Do a quick search and you will find this same answer in several places.
Agile does not go up to 1.5. It would have to say it replaces strength in all ways, but agile is very specific. If the GM wants it to work then he can, but the rules dont support it.
Also applying the common sense rule you only get 1.5 str damage and if you take the next feat in the line you get 1.5 str damage on all attacks and never get 2x str.
From what I've seen (I could be wrong), the consensus is that you do get 2x str on the first unarmed strike if you have dragon style and ferocity, no?
I read it as you get 1.5 str mod on all unarmed strikes if you have the correct dragon style feats. The first attack is not 2x in any case from what the way I read it.
Also applying the common sense rule you only get 1.5 str damage and if you take the next feat in the line you get 1.5 str damage on all attacks and never get 2x str.
From what I've seen (I could be wrong), the consensus is that you do get 2x str on the first unarmed strike if you have dragon style and ferocity, no?
The way the feats are worded, yes.
Dragon Style changes the first strike to 1.5x, Ferocity adds 50% to every unarmed strike.
Likely, it's unintended, but they'd need to issue a FAQ or errata to fix it.
If you're concerned with how this interacts with Agile, it shouldn't be affected (either 2x Str or 1x Dex).
In response to the OP
This topic has been discussed before.
There is not a clear cut answer, expect for Agile + FoB - there are no offhand attacks during a flurry, agile gives you full Dex to every attack.
Touching on Dragon Style - the intent is to imitate a dragon's bite, which always gets the "2 hand*" bonus, even though it's not their only natural weapon. (*I'm not going to argue semantics about this interpretation)
Taking this into consideration, Agile should not get bumped up to 1.5x Dex since it's disallowed. But there is some minor ambiguity, given that it's not actually a 2 handed attack (yay, more semantics :P ).
Short answer is "ask your GM".
Benefit: While using this style, you gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against sleep effects, paralysis effects, and stunning effects. You ignore difficult terrain when you charge, run, or withdraw. You can also charge through squares that contain allies. Further, you can add 1-1/2 times your Strength bonus on the damage roll for your first unarmed strike on a given round.
Normal: You cannot charge or run through difficult terrain, and you cannot charge through a square that contains an ally. With an unarmed strike, you usually add your Strength bonus on damage rolls.
You have to compare the Normal block with the Benefit block. If it were simply adding on an additional 1.5x Str damage, it wouldn't say anything about it in the Normal block because would be an addition to normal rather than a change to normal. Note that Dragon Ferocity includes no Normal block, meaning that the additions it gives are on top with no subsequent alterations to normal operation. Therefore, since the Normal block specifies you "normally" add only 1x Str bonus to damage, the 1.5x Str bonus to damage is a change to that default, not an addition.
The Agile property, then, lets you apply Dex bonus instead of Str bonus to affected weapons. Dragon Style only changes 1x Str to 1.5x Str; Dexterity isn't strength, therefore it would have no effect if you use the Agile property to change Str to Dex. Dragon Ferocity, however, adds a (untyped) bonus equal to half your strength bonus; it's unrelated to the normal Strength (or substituted Dexterity) bonus normally associated with melee attacks. So, with an Agile AoMF, using Dragon Style and Dragon Ferocity, you don't increase your normal Dex bonus to damage to 1.5x Dex, but you do get an additional, untyped bonus equal to 0.5x your Str bonus.
It takes a bit of analytic reading, but that doesn't mean it's poorly worded.
The agile property applies 1.5 DEX to two-handed weapons, right? (I don't have the appropriate book so I would not know if there is some sort of restriction). If so, despite SKR's statements regarding intent, it would seem that it is equally applied to Dragon Style (i.e. 1.5 DEX) IMO.
EDIT: Ah, there IS such a restriction. So, nevermind the above.
Dragon Style applies to the first unarmed strike you make on a given round... so, it shouldn't matter if that unarmed strike occurred as part of your attack routine or perhaps as an AoO?
For example, if your first unarmed strike in any given round is an AoO (say from Vicious Stomp), you would gain the benefits of Dragon Style on that attack. Correct?
You could say that the first Unarmed Strike you make, even as an AoO, gets the benefit of Dragon Style, but AoOs are specifically called out to happen "outside the normal flow of combat" so terms like "first" would not be applicable at all. For example, if you make an AoO outside your turn, would it count as first against the previous turn you took or against the next turn you're going to take? The correct answer is "neither"; it exists outside the flow of combat so it's simply "an attack", not subject to any ordinal value. However, if you cast, say, a Touch spell as a Magus and took a free Unarmed Strike to deliver it (via Spellstrike), that would most certainly benefit from Dragon Style's damage bonus.
So dragon style does not work with AoO's? I'm asking from a PFS view point... If we assume a character has; shield slam, UAS, Dragon Style, Vicious Stomp (and any pre-Reqs I've missed).
On his initiative he makes an attack with his shield and gets a free bull rush attack. The foe is adjacent to a wall and the bull rush is sufficient to knock them prone. Vicious stomp grants him an AoO, which must be an UAS. Because this is his first UAS, would it qualify for Dragon Style?
I think that it would, but if he had already made an UAS (either on his turn or as an AoO described above), it would not qualify for Dragon Style until his initiative count came up again...
Well...
I think the issue comes from people (and I lump myself in here) not being super precise in their thinking about the terms "round" vs "turn".
Typically, you wouldn't have need to track "first in a round", but a literal reading says that once initiative resets (a new round), benefits from Dragon Style reset too. Therefore, if you manage to make an attack that is also an UAS anytime between this reset and your initiative, it benefits from Dragon Style.
On the other side of things, if you wait until your lowest iterative to make any UAS's, such an attack would also be your first UAS during a round and would benefit.
You can still miss whatever attack is your first UAS and "waste" the benefit though.
I think the easier way to play it is initiative to initiative (meaning most dragon style attacks would only be made during their turn), but that's not the wording in the feat.
For the sake of simplicity, I feel it's better to omit AoOs from qualifying for anything that requires it to be any ordinal attack in a round. For one thing, the Initiative round is an abstract thing; what's the difference between taking an attack as an AoO on someone's initiative of 1 and taking an AoO on the next person "in turn" at initiative count 33? Would you say, "Well, since I didn't make any other unarmed strikes on my turn and that was my first AoO, it's the "first in the round" so I get bonus strength factor, but then my next AoO technically happens in a brand new round (we'll presume Combat Reflexes) so it also benefits"?
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