Listed damage type is "—", that's not bludgeoning. That means no brawling weapon enchantment. For a non-PFS game, ask your GM, though, I'd presume there are very few GMs who wouldn't allow it.
They are unlike Amulet of Mighty Fists in this crucial way: they do not modify your unarmed strike. Your unarmed strike modifies your handwraps.
That's not true: "However, masterwork handwraps can be enchanted as weapons, providing their benefits on unarmed attacks the character makes with her hands."
You don't attack with handwraps as weapons. They're weapons when it comes to item creation stuff, but not for just about anything else.In case you're not aware, disarm, sunder and trip are can be made with a weapon, thus profit from the weapon's enhancement bonus even without the brawling enchantment.
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Yes, I'm resurrecting a dead thread.
The damage, critical range, and damage type of the handwraps themselves are irrelevant, since they 'don’t alter the damage a character’s unarmed attacks deal.' Unarmed Strike is, in and of itself, the vehicle through which the damage, critical range, and damage type are determined. The sole purpose of masterwork handwraps is so that they can be enchanted as weapons, thus providing their benefits on any unarmed attacks the character makes with their hands.
So yes, masterwork handwraps can, in fact, be enchanted to have the brawling special weapon ability (as an unarmed strike is a light bludgeoning weapon).
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So yes, masterwork handwraps can, in fact, be enchanted to have the brawling special weapon ability (as an unarmed strike is a light bludgeoning weapon).
100% wrong. You aren't enchanting unarmed strike, you're enchanting handwraps.
There is literally just one question: Are handwraps "a light bludgeoning weapon". The enchantment doesn't ask for a weapon that somehow makes some attacks not made with the weapon but with something else that deals bludgeoning damage better. The enchantment doesn't ask whether the purpose of the weapon has something to do with some other attack that deals bludgeoning damage. They ask whether the weapon itself can do bludgeoning damage, and the handwraps without any doubt can not do so. Which makes them ineligable for the Brawling enchantment.
The damage, critical range, and damage type of the handwraps themselves are irrelevant, since they 'don’t alter the damage a character’s unarmed attacks deal.'
This makes literally no sense. Why would a line that says something else doesn't change alter what the weapon can be enchanted with? Also, that line has nothing to do with damage type, it's about damage dice.
Unarmed Strike is, in and of itself, the vehicle through which the damage, critical range, and damage type are determined.
For the attack? Yes. But you aren't attacking, you're enchanting a weapon.
I'd say ask your GM. Since the entire point of handwraps is to enhance unarmed strikes without needing the amulet of mighty fists, most would probably say that they qualify as bludgeoning weapons. But some won't. I'd also ask about getting them made from special materials. My monk got some mithril wraps to get past DR/Silver.
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Taken from the text for handwraps:
"Some martial artists also weave small coins or metal bars into their handwraps, adding special material effects as well. Handwraps don’t alter the damage a character’s unarmed attacks deal. However, masterwork handwraps can be enchanted as weapons, providing their benefits on unarmed attacks the character makes with her hands."
You're looking at just the damage die. I am not, because lets not forget that bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage are a thing as well.
The handwraps themselves are the vehicle to provide the weapon special ability to your unarmed strike. Because if we follow your line of logic, then that means that brawling can't be applied to an amulet of mighty fists (as it also does not have a listed damage, critical range, or damage type).
Let's look at another weapon... the cestus. It also is worn on the hands, but unlike handwraps, it has a listed damage (1d3/1d4), critical range (19-20/x2), and damage type (bludgeoning or piercing). Those supersede the damage, critical range, and damage type of the unarmed strike.
The reason why handwraps don't have those things listed is because the unarmed strike takes precedence in that regard. Because let's not forget that some feats and abilities can alter the damage type of an unarmed strike (the feat Hamatulatsu immediately comes to mind, as you can choose to do bludgeoning or piercing damage when using it). To not take that into account with handwraps would limit their use. And denying them brawling would impose a further limit that they really don't need.
Now if I'm wrong, then so be it. I can accept that and move on. After all, I'm no professional game designer and I wasn't there when they decided to work on the item in question. All I'm doing is offering my take on how it works.
You're looking at just the damage die. I am not, because lets not forget that bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage are a thing as well.
No, what I'm looking at is the damage type in their statistics.
The handwraps themselves are the vehicle to provide the weapon special ability to your unarmed strike. Because if we follow your line of logic, then that means that brawling can't be applied to an amulet of mighty fists (as it also does not have a listed damage, critical range, or damage type).
The AoMF says "this amulet can grant melee weapon special abilities, so long as they can be applied to unarmed attacks". The amulet tells you to use unarmed strikes to qualify, but there is no text like that for Handwraps.
That's the whole issue - the handwraps have text for applying stuff when attacking with unarmed strikes, but what they don't have is text for treating them like unarmed strikes when it comes to enchantments. Without such text, the only thing that is relevant are the statistics of the handwraps themself, which does not list them as bludgeoning.
Your mistake is that you see "masterwork handwraps can be enchanted as weapons, providing their benefits on unarmed attacks the character makes with her hands" and mentally insert "treating them as unarmed strikes" behind the comma. The text doesn't contain language abotu treatign or countign the handwraps as somethign else, and it also doesn't contain language that mention which enchantments can be used. Withotu such text, the only thing we can use is the default, and by default the brawling enchantment checks the damage type section.
Don't get me wrong, I do think it's either an oversight (as in something the author didn't consider), or that the author didn't want to or wasn't allowed to add extra text. I do agree that handwraps not qualifying for Brawling it totally unintuitive and weird. I even believe that if the Brawling enchantment ever saw a reprint, its text would be changed to include handwraps.
But none of that changes the RAW.
The reason why handwraps don't have those things listed is because the unarmed strike takes precedence in that regard.
I think the reason they aren't listed is to make clear that you don't attack with them. In any case, for anything except weapon enchantments, they don't need statistics.
Brass knuckles, cestus, dan bong, emei piercer, gauntlet, and rope gauntlet all have the issue that they talk about your unarmed strikes and how they modify them, but then they present full weapon statistics, which means you should attack with them as weapons using the given staticstics, and it's left in the air* how things that modify unarmed strikes interact with them. You obviously can't attack with both a weapon and an unarmed strike at the same time, so you would have to choose, but they still affect your unarmed strikes even if you don't attack with them as weapons, e.g. by letting you deal lethal damage.
The handwraps sidestep that entire bog of unclearness by not having any weapon staticstics, which means you can't possibly attack with them as weapons. They tell you exactly how they affect your unarmed strikes (materials and weapon enchantments), indeed they literally state that they don't alter the damage you deal with unarmed strikes.
All I'm doing is offering my take on how it works.
The problem is that, consciously or unconsciously, what you're actually doing is offering your take on how you think they should work. That you're talking about purpose shows that - RAW don't care about purpose. Dito for your talk about "impose a further limit that they really don't need", an argument based on balancing, again something RAW doesn't care about.
handwraps do not have a set damage type. a monk with boar style or any of the other styles that let him change what kind of damage he deal with his unarmed strike might use them for piecing or slashing damage all the time.
by themselves the handwraps have no set damage and can't be enchanted as if they had any. the user uses his own unarmed strike damage when he has them equipped and gain the magical abilities they have (if there is any).
it's kind of a trade off with the amulet of mighty fists where the amult effect all attacks even with legs or headbutt etc, and cost more per plus and the handwraps let the user add special material and get up to any weapon bonus (+10, +5 + 5 of abilities), but only effect attacks made with the hands so some things (like unchained monk's style strikes that do not use the hands) won't work with them.