Flurry of Blows multiple targets

[Awakened Kitten]

Ok... so first post :)
I know that this is probably already answered somewhere in other discusions, but I was curious: Could a Monk use his/her Flurry of Blows to attack multiple enemies? I'm just curious because I think it would be really cool to hit a bunch of people if you were surrounded or to maybe throw a Shruiken at one person and hit the person in front of you. Thanks!

[Pink Dragon]

Yes. A monk can hit multiple enemies, and can even make a single 5' step while doing that.

[thorin001]

This is answered in the full attack section of the core rules.
Attacks are done one at a time. You can evaluate the effects of the first before making the second, so if the foe drops you can switch to a different target. Or you can switch to a different target just because you feel like it.

[Awakened Kitten]

Awesome. Thanks both of you.

[Kitty Catoblepas]

The Munk (Unchained Monk) can move his fast movement bonus in between attacks if he uses the Flying Kick Style Strike.

[Anonymous Warrior]

Side note: if, after your first attack, you don't feel you should continue to attack, you can instead call it quits, and take a move action instead (even to move away, if you haven't yet used a 5 foot step.)

[Alderic]

Anonymous Warrior wrote:

Side note: if, after your first attack, you don't feel you should continue to attack, you can instead call it quits, and take a move action instead (even to move away, if you haven't yet used a 5 foot step.)

I don't think you can do that with a Flurry of Blows, since it is its own full round action.

[Andy Brown]

prd wrote:

Starting at 1st level, a monk can make a flurry of blows as a full-attack action

Flurry is a full-attack action, not a full round action, therefore all the full-attack rules apply, including stopping at any point and taking a move action if you only take one attack.

Having said that, and taking into account the interaction of BAB boost & flurry penalty, if I had a player who was consistently starting a flurry and then changing to a single attack and move, without that attack putting the target down, I'd be having a gentle word about messing with the rules.

[Anonymous Warrior]

Andy, why is that? It's not game breaking, you can't move and then start a flurry/full attack normally. More over, the Unchained Monk doesn't suffer any penalty for a flurry.

It's clever, but legit, and makes the monk (an acknowledged, officially, insufficiently powerful class) slightly better.

[Alderic]

So I guess that idea came to me after reading too many times the faq about flurry and haste.

Which also means the rules, unless we're all missing something, seem to imply that an unchained monk can use a style strike as part of a flurry of blows, make that single attack and then move away ?

Something doesn't seem right when a "flurry" is a single punch, followed by a 30+ feet walk.

[Selvaxri]

If you had the ability to use your Monk's "special strike" ability multiple times [like via Hand Wraps of Blinding Ki], you can go nuts in a group.

my hungry ghost monk does this as a preferred tactic in combat.

[CBDunkerson]

Alderic wrote:

Something doesn't seem right when a "flurry" is a single punch, followed by a 30+ feet walk.

It's not.

Rather, the character started out planning to make a full round action flurry of blows... but dropped the opponent after the first hit and thus instead made a single standard action unarmed strike and used their remaining move action to walk away.

[Andy Brown]

Anonymous Warrior wrote:

Andy, why is that? It's not game breaking, you can't move and then start a flurry/full attack normally. More over, the Unchained Monk doesn't suffer any penalty for a flurry.

It's clever, but legit, and makes the monk (an acknowledged, officially, insufficiently powerful class) slightly better.

It's certainly not game breaking, and doesn't make much difference at most levels, but from 9th level on the attack bonus of a flurry is better than for a non-flurry, and I'd rather have a word about cheesiness before it makes a difference (though I'm fully aware that monks need all the help they can get :) )

I've not really looked at UMonk, but a quick glance suggests I should probably not worry about things.

[Chess Pwn]

I believe if you do something that is a special full-attack, TWF, Flurry, multi-shot, rapid shot, etc. That you're locked into the full attack and can't convert. Because those things only work for a full-attack so you can't change your mind after 1 attack. For a normal full-attack, there isn't any difference between the attacks.

[fretgod99]

Chess Pwn wrote:

I believe if you do something that is a special full-attack, TWF, Flurry, multi-shot, rapid shot, etc. That you're locked into the full attack and can't convert. Because those things only work for a full-attack so you can't change your mind after 1 attack. For a normal full-attack, there isn't any difference between the attacks.

Technically, I believe this is correct (which is the best kind of correct!). When you full attack, you can benefit from the "deciding between" language. But if you use that full attack action to use a special ability, you've essentially already decided before you attack.

That being said, I've never had a problem with someone taking the penalties for TWF for instance, then changing course after the first attack resolves. Because at that point, it's all penalty and no benefit. For something like Manyshot, however, that wouldn't fly because you've already gotten the benefit.

[Komoda]

fretgod99 wrote:

Chess Pwn wrote:

I believe if you do something that is a special full-attack, TWF, Flurry, multi-shot, rapid shot, etc. That you're locked into the full attack and can't convert. Because those things only work for a full-attack so you can't change your mind after 1 attack. For a normal full-attack, there isn't any difference between the attacks.

Technically, I believe this is correct (which is the best kind of correct!). When you full attack, you can benefit from the "deciding between" language. But if you use that full attack action to use a special ability, you've essentially already decided before you attack.

That being said, I've never had a problem with someone taking the penalties for TWF for instance, then changing course after the first attack resolves. Because at that point, it's all penalty and no benefit. For something like Manyshot, however, that wouldn't fly because you've already gotten the benefit.

At my table we all agreed that if there is any new information or obvious reason to end the attack routine than it is fine. For instance, if the monk rolls a 19 on the die and realizes that it is a miss and he should now run away like a scared little girl, no problem. Or if he finds out that his fist can't damage the opponent, or if he drops the opponent, still no problem.

However, if he rolled a 1 or missed with a 10, those are not valid reasons to change tactics when you get a bonus to the attack roll with a flurry.

YMMV. Happy Gaming.