Is the monk's increased unarmed damage considered "an effective size increase?"

[Ravingdork]

In regards to the new FAQs on stacking size increases for damage, I wonder where certain rule elements fall: actual size increase, or effective size increase.

Take the monk's unarmed damage, for example. Is that considered an "effective size increase?" If my monk is wearing stonefist gloves, does he gain any benefit? Or does he just take the higher increase from his monk levels?

[Nicos]

The text never say it is so it is not. Stonefist gloves work just fine.

[Nefreet]

A Monk's unarmed damage progression uses different language than all of the effects covered by the FAQ.

It's not "treated as X size categories larger".

[Darksol the Painbringer]

In order to determine whether it's one or the other, or something else, we need to review the RAW of the Monk:

Unarmed Strike wrote:

A monk also deals more damage with his unarmed strikes than a normal person would. The unarmed damage values listed is for Medium monks. A Small monk deals less damage than the amount given there with his unarmed attacks, while a Large monk deals more damage.

Since the ability says that a monk's unarmed strike damage still increases if the Monk is larger (or decreases if smaller), logic dictates that if it were to be of either choice, it would be an effective size increase.

However, it's unsure as to whether that's really the case. Reviewing abilities like Lead Blades (which would affect a Monk's Unarmed Strike), it says this:

Lead Blades wrote:

Lead blades increases the momentum and density of your melee weapons just as they strike a foe. All melee weapons you are carrying when the spell is cast deal damage as if one size category larger than they actually are. For instance, a Medium longsword normally deals 1d8 points of damage, but it would instead deal 2d6 points of damage if benefiting from lead blades (see table below). Only you can benefit from this spell. If anyone else uses one of your weapons to make an attack it deals damage as normal for its size.

If you compare the two bolded parts, they aren't phrased the same. The Monk Unarmed Strike feature doesn't make any mention of increasing damage "as if X sizes larger, as determined by his Monk level" which Lead Blades states, and Lead Blades gives a quantified set benefit that doesn't change. One is still one, no matter what CL is thrown on it, but the Monk's scales with class level.

With these comparisons, as well as the RAI regarding spells like Lead Blades and Strong Jaw working with Unarmed Strikes, specifically a Monk's, there's nothing that causes overriding here, meaning the Monk has nothing to worry about here.

Thank god. They don't need another Crane Wing Nerf Bat.