I was checking out Catfolk the other day on d20pfsrd.com, and noticed the FCB listed for monks under the Paizo FCB's.
I'm wondering if this is correct because I haven't found any other source online verifying this. I couldn't find a Paizo site confirming it, and even under the Monk page on d20pfsrd.com it isn't listed.
It seems like an incredibly strong effect as far as a favored class bonus is concerned, but gets me excited for a potential new monk build.
Can someone confirm this?
On a side note, selecting the FCB at level 1 sets claw blades to be treated as a monk weapon, I'm assuming that does not include the base natural attack claws? If you are a DM and one of your players asks you to allow the base claws to be treated as monk weapons, would you? I'm sure my DM will houserule it in, but I'm interested in outside perspectives here.
Thanks for your input in advance.
It's fresh content from Blood of the Beast. ^_^
Claw blades are a specific racial weapon, not to be confused with the claws natural attack. I'm not sure whether I would allow that substitution myself, but if your GM is fine with it, that's what counts.
Kalindlara wrote: It's fresh content from Blood of the Beast. ^_^
Claw blades are a specific racial weapon, not to be confused with the claws natural attack. I'm not sure whether I would allow that substitution myself, but if your GM is fine with it, that's what counts.
Oh that makes sense as to the lack of internet presence. I appreciate the quick reply.
The biggest problem I can see is some of the archetypes really push monk weapons. The monk I'm planning would use the Scaled Fist and Weapon Master archetypes; the weapon master gives Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization as bonus feats for your chosen monk weapon. It wouldn't be too much of an issue to just go with Claw Blades instead of the claws natural attack, I just really enjoy the idea of dishing out damage without manufactured weapons.
Actually that brings me to another question along these lines. Is Weapon Focus (Claws) sufficient for Claw Blades? Or would I need Weapon Focus (Claw Blades) as well? I can see this being necessary for RAW, but seems very weird and clunky for RAI.
Looking at claw blades again, I'd forgotten how confusing they are. Forget that "completely separate weapon" bit above - this requires deeper thought.
|
1 person marked this as a favorite.
|
So it looks like, once claw blades get involved, you treat your natural claw attacks as manufactured weapons for all purposes. This means that you get all benefits of manufactured weapons (iterative attacks, etc.) but not the benefits of natural weapons (making both claw attacks without Two-Weapon Fighting, combination with other natural attacks, etc.) You do still benefit from anything that improves your claw attacks, though, such as the increase to damage from Catfolk Exemplar.
So:
-You only treat them as a monk weapon when claw blades are involved, not when using your unaltered claws.
-Weapon Focus (claws) would work. The claw blades only augment your existing claws.
-The weapon master archetype should work fine - but, again, only when using claw blades.
Yea, I'm getting the vibe that they could've been a little better worded. Here's what I'm understanding from reading other forum threads:
- Claw Blades are not a separate weapon from the claw natural attack, they merely change the weapon type from natural attack to a manufactured light slashing weapon.
- Claw Blades provide a +1 enhancement bonus to claw attacks, and can be enhanced further as if they were masterwork
- Now because they are manufactured, they no longer benefit from effects that buff natural attacks (rip Magic Fang) but are now subject to your full BAB iterations and TWF/Flurry of Blows.
That seems to sum up everything confusing about them. Now since they add a +1 enhancement bonus, the first enchantment on a set costs 2000 additional gold right? Say I wanted to add Agile to one set, the total cost would become 2305? Or is the 2000 the base price with the weapon price included? That's something I've never been too clear on.
--And it seems you type faster than me.
Thanks for all of your help.
Edit* Or do I need to first have the +1 cost for the enhancement bonus (even though there is one on the claw blade baseline) and then add agile for the 8000 cost of a +2 weapon?
You need to start with a +1 enhancement bonus, just like you would for a masterwork weapon (which is essentially what the claw blades represent). This grants you the enhancement bonus to damage and makes them magical. Then you can move on to agile. So the total cost for a single hand's worth of +1 agile claw blades would be 8,305 gp. It looks like you've got it in the edit. Also note that, while they are no longer subject to natural weapon effects, you can use manufactured weapon effects like magic weapon just fine.
And happy to help. ^_^
Note that the bonus to hit for any masterwork weapon, such as a masterwork longsword, is an enhancement bonus... which is not the same thing as a +1 weapon. This is why a +1 weapon doesn't grant a total of +2 to hit; the enhancement bonuses from the +1 and from masterwork don't stack.
That makes sense. Where I was getting tripped up was the line "A weapon with a special ability must also have at least a +1 enhancement bonus", but wasn't sure if the masterwork covered that since all magic weapons are masterwork. I think that could've been phrased a little better on paizo's part (the text is directly from paizo's page about magic weapons).
They inherited it from 3.5. The phrasing is a bit rough and dated (back to 2000, essentially).
It doesn't say "+1 enhancement bonus to attacks or damage" so a specific "+1 enhancement bonus to attacks" wouldn't work.
James Risner wrote: It doesn't say "+1 enhancement bonus to attacks or damage" so a specific "+1 enhancement bonus to attacks" wouldn't work. Ah ok, now that is a distinction I can get behind. Thanks for the reply.
Recent threads in Rules Questions
|
Contributor
