Monks, Unarmed Damage, and Monk Weapons

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

Is there a feat or ability that a monk can get that allows them to use their unarmed damage in place of the normal damage for monk weapons?

I'm thinking that I saw this somewhere, but I cannot remember where.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[akbearfoot]

There was a specific monk weapon someplace that I remember did this...but it was expensive, and had a bunch of other effects too. Don't remember where I saw it at.

Slippery slope though...there are feats to use basically anything as a monk weapon. Not sure if it's balanced to have slashing or piercing wielding monks doing monk damage with flurry and x2 strength bonuses on highly enhanced weapons stacked with Ki focus.

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

Very good points about the balance issues... That's why I was hoping there was an official feat or ability that did this.

Somehow, I'm thinking that monks should be able to do this. If it were a feat, the pre-requisites would be difficult to assign, though.

Hmmm... Maybe someone else will know.

Thank you.

 

[Ranger REG]

Two options:

1) expend one use of Stunning Fist per day to inflict unarmed damage for any one of the special monk weapons.

2) If you're using Action Point (from Unearthed Arcana), expend 1 AP.

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

Those are two interesting options, Ranger REG.

Right now, I'm thinking of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (and other martial arts movies). I have no idea how to spell the names of the characters, but the main ones that do most of the fighting seem to rely on a lot of weapons (the Green Destiny, for starters).

Seems to me that these are monks... Maybe monk/rogues. Either way, it seems that despite their amazing mastery of unarmed strikes (martial arts), they like to use weapons just as much, if not more. That being the case, it seems the characters believe that the weapons are as effective, if not more effective, than their unarmed strikes.

I'm thinking there should be something in DnD that's similar.

If a rogue can add their sneak attack damage, in certain situations, it seems that there ought to be a rule that monks could take advatage of to substitute their unarmed damage for the damage dealt by a weapon they're wielding...

Arcana Evolved has a class called the Oathsworn that is very similar to the monk. One of the class abilities allows an oathsword to throw any object and apply unarmed damage (similar to monk's) instead of what the object would cause as a thrown weapon.

Is there a prestige class that has such an ability with melee monk weapons?

 

[Gloombunny]

I'm thinking there should be something in DnD that's similar.

Swordsage with Improved Unarmed Strike. You even get to use an actual sword instead of some wonky Okinawan weapon improvised from a farming tool.

 

[pawsplay]

Those are two interesting options, Ranger REG.

Right now, I'm thinking of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (and other martial arts movies). I have no idea how to spell the names of the characters, but the main ones that do most of the fighting seem to rely on a lot of weapons (the Green Destiny, for starters).

They are swordsages and warblades. If you aren't using Bo9s, they are probably fighters with Improved Unarmed Strike (how much damage do they really do by kicking, anyway?)

 

[Herobizkit]

Ask your DM to use the old martial arts rules from 1ed Oriental Adventures. Monks could always substitute their h2h damage in place of the weapons categorized under "martial arts", so long as you were actually proficient in a martial art.

Don't forget that weapons, unlike hands alone, give benefits such as a better chance to disarm, entangle, trip, and so on.

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

Thanks, everyone.

I don't have the Bo9S, yet. It's on my list to get, though. (Not planning to convert to 4E...)

I did find the Drunken Master prestige class in Complete Warrior, last night. The Drunken Master has an ability to use improvised weapons that deal at least 1d4 points of damage plus the usual unarmed strike damage.

I'm still thinking that there should be a feat, out there somewhere, in all those 3.5 books that allows this without the baggage the Drunken Master comes with.