Clinging Hands and Weapon-Based Combat Maneuvers

[This Side]

Starfinder Armory has an augmentation called Clinging Hands

Quote:

Your hands are covered with tiny fibers like those on a gecko’s toes. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your KAC against disarm combat maneuvers and to attacks to perform disarm and grapple combat maneuvers. You can ignore any increase to the DCs of Athletics checks to climb due to slipperiness, iciness, or heavy gravity. You can’t benefit from clinging hands if you are wearing armor or gloves that have not been either tailored or adjusted for you (Core Rulebook 196).

My question is, does this biotech augmentation still provide bonuses to disarm and grapple combat maneuvers if you are using a weapon with the disarm/grapple special property? RAI I would assume it would not, since having sticky hands doesn't mean you weapon does a better job at disarming foes. However, RAW it doesn't specify at all with the blanket statement of +2 to combat maneuvers.

[Garretmander]

I think you've hit the nail on the head.

That said, it does improve your grip on your own weapon. That should help you perform disarm maneuvers at least. Grapple, less obvious.

[Metaphysician]

Just because you are using a disarm/grapple weapon, doesn't mean you are *only* using a disarm/grapple weapon. Your hands don't vanish, and they don't necessarily spend all their time gripped on a pommel. I would say the bonus fully applies, via improved grip on your weapon and improved ability to provide "off-hand" assistance to your own maneuvers.

[Magyar5]

All of this depends on the type of bonus granted. Since these are 'untyped' bonuses (see page 266), then they do indeed stack.

Metaphysician is correct. Don't believe the movies when it comes to actually disarming an enemy. I urge you to research various fighting styles with both weapons and unarmed and explore their instructions. You will find that in many, many, many cases that disarming an opponent with solely a weapon is unlikely if not impossible. It's usually a combination of the weapons utility combined with your free hand maneuvering the weapon out of the enemies grip.

Of course you can skip all this and just chop off their appendages and literally dis-arm them. Go get those severe wound critical weapons.

[Ravingdork]

What's being asked exactly? This gives you a bonus to DEFEND against maneuvers of that type. It does nothing for offense.

What weapon you are wielding, if any, never really enters into it.

[HammerJack]

Your hands are covered with tiny fibers like those on a gecko’s toes. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your KAC against disarm combat maneuvers and to attacks to perform disarm and grapple combat maneuvers. You can ignore any increase to the DCs of Athletics checks to climb due to slipperiness, iciness, or heavy gravity. You can’t benefit from clinging hands if you are wearing armor or gloves that have not been either tailored or adjusted for you (Core Rulebook 196).

The bonus is both defensive and offensive.

[Ravingdork]

Oh, so it is. I thought it was just poor sentence structure.