Can a high level monk punch a ghost?

[Chess Pwn]

Can the monk's unarmed strike when it bypasses magic work oh incorporeal?

[Lady-J]

only with a +1 amulet of mighty fists or a similar item as you actually need that +1 to hit incorporeals

[toastedamphibian]

I don't have an answer, but I do have a related question that might help get to one.

Can a Gargoyle bite a ghost?

Both answers should be the same. I suspect not, but curious to see if there is any dissent about the topic.

[toastedamphibian]

Well, some can.

Spirit Master

[Imbicatus]

Ki Stike only counts as magic for overcoming DR. Incorperal is not DR, ki fist doesn't work. They would need an amulet of mighty fists, a special ability that allows them to strike incorperal, or there is the cheap fix of an oil of bless weapon.

[graystone]

Chess Pwn wrote:

Can the monk's unarmed strike when it bypasses magic work oh incorporeal?

It can if you take the Ghostslayer feat.

[Ring_of_Gyges]

Monk wrote:

At 4th level, ki strike allows his unarmed attacks to be treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

RAW the answer is pretty plainly 'no'. Being incorporeal isn't a form of DR. Damage reduction is a specific, mechanically defined, thing.

In my home game? Go ahead, it seems fine to me.

[Paradozen]

Actually, the answer is yes

FAQ wrote:

Incorporeal Creatures and "Counts as Magic": Say I have an attack that counts as magical for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction, such as from the monk's ki pool (magic). Does that mean I can't harm an incorporeal creature at all, since the attack doesn't count as magical for that purpose?

Such attacks should also be able to harm incorporeal creatures as if the attack was magic. This will be reflected in future errata.

Even specifically mentions monks.

[Lady-J]

Paradozen wrote:

Actually, the answer is yes

FAQ wrote:

Incorporeal Creatures and "Counts as Magic": Say I have an attack that counts as magical for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction, such as from the monk's ki pool (magic). Does that mean I can't harm an incorporeal creature at all, since the attack doesn't count as magical for that purpose?

Such attacks should also be able to harm incorporeal creatures as if the attack was magic. This will be reflected in future errata.

Even specifically mentions monks.

then whats the point of archetypes and creature abilities that allow them to hit incorporeal with their natural attacks even though they are treated as magical for the purposes of overcoming dr

[Paradozen]

Lady-J wrote:

Paradozen wrote:

Actually, the answer is yes

FAQ wrote:

Incorporeal Creatures and "Counts as Magic": Say I have an attack that counts as magical for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction, such as from the monk's ki pool (magic). Does that mean I can't harm an incorporeal creature at all, since the attack doesn't count as magical for that purpose?

Such attacks should also be able to harm incorporeal creatures as if the attack was magic. This will be reflected in future errata.

Even specifically mentions monks.

then whats the point of archetypes and creature abilities that allow them to hit incorporeal with their natural attacks even though they are treated as magical for the purposes of overcoming dr

Maybe the writer wasn't aware of that particular FAQ. Maybe the ability was written before the FAQ. Maybe it acts as a safeguard for if the ability to count as magic is ever turned off (like a monk out of ki points). Hard to say without asking the writers what their intention is.

Also, note that the aforementioned spirit master gets full damage on undead when combining ki strike and spirit combat, and the feat Ghostslayer works for any weapon rather than unarmed strikes. Neither are left without use because of this FAQ. Simply with different use.

[UnArcaneElection]

The Shadowhunter alternate racial trait available to all Core Races lets you do 50% damage to Incorporeal creatures with any physical attacks, including natural weapons and unarmed strikes.