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So, one of my players has decided to dip into the Monk class to pick up the prerequisites for the Combat Style Feats in Ultimate Combat. His main class is Paladin.
My question is, can he perform those styles while in any sort of armor?Although I don't see it in the rules, it just strikes me as odd that someone in full plate could pull off Crane Style, or any of the other styles for that matter. Especially considering that Rangers can't even use their Combat Styles if they're wearing anything heavier than medium armor.
For reference, here is the rule from the Ranger Combat Style description:
"The benefits of the ranger's chosen style feats apply only when he wears light, medium, or no armor. He loses all benefits of his combat style feats when wearing heavy armor."
I would also like to ask if those feats can be used while wielding a weapon. Once again, although it doesn't state it specifically in the text for the feats themselves, in the description for the type of feat it does say that they are "intricate unarmed fighting styles".
Any clarification on this would be much appreciated :)
Using them with armor and weapons is fine.
I had similar thoughts, and investigated a bit a while back. I haven't seen anything in the RAW that would prevent you from using these styles with armor or weapons. I assume monks can do them with weapons too. One can imagine the spirit of the crane style even while holding a quarterstaff in two hands.
Moving beyond RAW, I do tend to agree that someone in plate armor standing on one leg with their arms tucked in and longsword sticking out from their armpit sounds like it would look pretty ridiculous, and wouldn't probably work as well as hoped. But maybe we shouldn't take it so literally.
Having done the martial arts for years, these stylized stances are really best though of as (a) where is your balance point (b) how is your weight distributed (c) what are the strike and defend options from that position. Usually, the one legged stance is considered transitory... you are simply passing through it to move from one position to the next it is useful for training purposes because with practice, you are constantly in control of your center even while moving forward or retreating, because the transition has been practiced to pass through your center (i.e. weight on one foot, balanced, pulled in). To stand and hold it like karate kid is not realistic and you only see it in the movie because it is a Hollywood thing. (Having said that, someone will say their dojo does it... would be interested to hear more, I have never seen it in the wild.)
Anyway, this is how I justify it. Someone in plate trained in Crane style would have trained similarly, always bringing their foot that is not on the ground close to their other foot when transitioning between stances, when waiting to act, having most of the weight on one foot regardless of the specific stance. You can do this while having the other foot on the ground, it may not look like it but it is very deliberate. Our sensei would stop and test us whenever he wanted to make sure we could lift one of our feet and tap the floor while still being rock steady. The "Wing" part of it would be using not just the blade, but your positioning and elbows and shoulders. Someone swings at you, instead of just using the blade to deflect, step into the strike, use your elbows and shoulders to help off-balance the striking arm, and push to opponent off-balance. Someone who intensely trains in "peripheralization" and control of their center, could train to do so in plate armor, no problem. I am no expert on western fight styles, but would quite expect someone covered it in some sword fighting manual at some point. I guess the point of the feat is that you have moved beyond this as just another part of your general fighting style, you have practiced this one aspect to the point that you are really, really, good at maximizing its effectiveness.