Monks and Perminent Greater Magic Fang

[ankalla]

I have a monk that wants to have a druid cast greater magic fang upon their fist, and make it permanent via the permanency spell, giving her a +4 bonus to her fist. According to the rules, this is an appropriate use of greater magic fang. This would cost in the ballpark of 8500 GP, assuming that she finds one of sufficient power who is willing.

I am not sure how to handle this exactly, because at that price, it seems out of balance. A +4 weapon would cost her 32,000 GP. An amulet of Mighty Fist would cost her 96,000 GP (though would apply to all her limbs). The Magic Fang is subject to dispel, unlike the weapon, which could merely be suppressed, and could not be improved, as a weapon would, but still, it seems a little cheap for such a bonus.

Which also brings up another dilemma: If she has this cast on only one limb, how does that affect her attack? She would need to attack with the same limb every time to get this bonus, which seems a little contrived for typical monk combat. Additionally, it seems to me that Fury of blows would have a funky calculation to accommodate that one hand has a higher attack than the rest.

I have considered forcing her to apply such an enchantment to all her limbs, resulting in a cost of around 34,000 GP, which balances reasonably well with a +4 weapon, but this seems like a clumsy approach.

Has anyone dealt with this issue before, or have some advice on how to deal with this. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all in advance.

 

[Artoomis]

Of course, it's dispellable, so it's not as good as an item.

Let's double-check the cost.

Permanency @ 16th level, 5th level spell = 10x5x16 = 2400
Magic Fang @ 16th level, 3rd level spell = 10x5x3 = 150
XP xost = 5x1,500 - 4,500

Total = 7,050

Hmmm... did I do anything wrong? I sued 16th level since you said you wanted +4 out of it.

 

[ankalla]

Of course, it's dispellable, so it's not as good as an item.

Let's doyble-check the cost.

Permanency @ 16th level, 5th level spell = 10x5x16 = 2400
Magic Fang @ 16th level, 3rd level spell = 10x5x3 = 150
XP xost = 5x1,500 - 4,500

Total = 7,050

Hmmm... did I do anything wrong? I sued 16th level since you said you wanted +4 out of it.

No, that looks right. I just ballparked the fiigure becasue I do not have the books with me currently.

 

[Darklone]

Well. With one fist, she can't use flurry of blows (at least not with the bonus on all attacks). And the +1 to all natural weapons sounds much nicer

Just throw some Dispel magics at her

 

[Hypersmurf]

Well. With one fist, she can't use flurry of blows (at least not with the bonus on all attacks).

Why not?

A monk with a single cold iron kama can use it for every attack in a flurry against a creature with DR X/Cold Iron, no?

Edit - in fact, from the FAQ update today:

"If you’re allowed three attacks in a flurry, and you have a +1 alchemical silver sai (or other special monk weapon), you could use the sai up to three times in the flurry."

-Hyp.

 

[ankalla]

Why not?

A monk with a single cold iron kama can use it for every attack in a flurry against a creature with DR X/Cold Iron, no?

Edit - in fact, from the FAQ update today:

"If you’re allowed three attacks in a flurry, and you have a +1 alchemical silver sai (or other special monk weapon), you could use the sai up to three times in the flurry."

-Hyp.

Doesn't this give my monk the ability to gain a +4 bonus for the price of 7070? I am not argueing, but that seems a little out of whack. Why would a monk ever buy an Amulet of Mighty Fist +4 for 96,000? Even if this enchantment got dispelled 10 times, it would still be a better investment than the amulet.

 

[Artoomis]

Doesn't this give my monk the ability to gain a +4 bonus for the price of 7070? I am not arguing, but that seems a little out of whack. Why would a monk ever buy an Amulet of Mighty Fist +4 for 96,000? Even if this enchantment got dispelled 10 times, it would still be a better investment than the amulet.

Yep, it looks that way, doesn't it? Of course, you need 2 NPC high-level spell casters working in concert for this - a wizard and druid. That might not be so easy to find. Also, it might or might not be so easy to find a second time, after it's dispelled.

Still, if you have a generous DM, it could work and even (possibly) be cost-effective. More power to you!

 

[AuraSeer]

Even if this enchantment got dispelled 10 times, it would still be a better investment than the amulet.

Not really. Remember that the monk who uses permanency will spend a lot of time without the magic.

If your campaign is anything like mine, dispel magic is the single most commonly used spell in the world. Sure, the monk manages to find the right two spellcasters and pay a few thousand gold for magic fists. But then he and his party go to invade a dungeon, and he gets dispelled in the first round of the first combat. The "magic hands" bonus goes away, and he can't get it back until the adventure is done and he has a chance to get back to town. For the majority of his combats, he won't get to use the bonus at all.

 

[Oscar carramiñana]

In the draconomicon the greater magic fang is available to wiz I think

I hope that helps

 

[Thanee]

The greater magic fang spell description, the idea behind the monks unarmed attacks/flurry (attacking with several different body parts), the amulet of mighty fists price and the FAQ don't really fit together.

Bye
Thanee