Free-hand styles, two-weapon styles, unarmed strikes and gauntlets: how do they work?

[FlashRebel]

I'm generally the kind of player who likes sticking to the rules and doesn't try to make stuff up when it's convenient, then I have a few questions about (mostly) fighter feats with two weapons or a free hand as a prerequisite:

- The rules state pretty clearly that unarmed attacks are not weapons, even for monks, and don't benefit from effects that apply to weapons. Does this mean that two-weapon fighting feats don't work with unarmed attacks at all since they require to wield one weapon in each hand?

- Gauntlets are weapons and not unarmed attacks (makes sense since, you know, you strike with the gauntlet and not your fist directly) and leave your hand free. Does this mean that a fighter with any main-hand one-handed weapon and an off-hand gauntlet is treated as both wielding two weapons and having a free hand to use feats?

[thenobledrake]

Looks like yes, and yes are the answers to your questions.

[masda_gib]

1) Yes, most fighter feats don't work with unarmed attacks because of the distinction. You will have to look into the monk class for useful feats.

2) I would say yes because that exactly gets called out in the description of the free-hand trait:

free-hand wrote:

When you’re not wielding anything and not otherwise using the hand, you can use abilities that require you to have a hand free as well as those that require you to be wielding a weapon in that hand.

If you have both feats, you could first use Double Slice and then Snagging Strike in one round with your setup.