Sorry for the stupid subject line. Sometimes you just want to stand out in the crowd

Simple question really... I'm just still a little fuzzy on the monk/weapon choice thing. If I use monk in a build, what is the downside of using a more powerful weapon then Kama? Does it just have to do with having to take extra feats, or are there gimps to the playability of the character? No, there is no penalty whatsoever, you can simply take another weapon like you always do, those that your feats allow you to take, corresponding to the weapon feats gained by your class(es).

The thing is, wearing a kama, a pre-epic BAB of 16 gives you 6 attacks per round, compared to 4 of any other weapon, and you can activate Flurry of Blows with a kama, which gives another APR for -2 AB, which is really worth it.

Just read my sig.
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Quote: Posted 12/19/06 19:54 (GMT) -- FinneousPJ

Thax the Shadow Dragon sez: MONKS USE KAMAS. Just ask him.

Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 08/08/07 02:53

Quote: Posted 08/08/07 02:22 (GMT) -- mochamage

Sorry for the stupid subject line. Sometimes you just want to stand out in the crowd

Simple question really... I'm just still a little fuzzy on the monk/weapon choice thing. If I use monk in a build, what is the downside of using a more powerful weapon then Kama? Does it just have to do with having to take extra feats, or are there gimps to the playability of the character?

A monk can use their class abilities while wielding a kama. They get to use the Monk APR schedule - each attack is at -3 instead of -5, so a BAB of 10 will get 4 attacks per round at 10/7/4/1 instead of 2 at 10/5. They can use Flurry of Blows while wielding a kama, adding 1 more attack per round while taking a -2 to all attacks (in the example above, they would get 5 attacks at 8/8/5/2/-1).

If a monk wears armor or a shield, they lose all class abilities. If they wield a weapon other than a kama, they lose the APR (but can still keep the Monk AC so long as they don't wear a shield or armor). They can deflect arrows so long as 1 hand is empty (i.e. not while dual-wielding kamas). They can only use SF or QP when unarmed (but you can easily be a kama monk, and put the kama on a hotkey to switch back and forth to use SF).

Builds with even a single Monk level can still get a big offensive bonus by wielding a kama - up to 8 attacks per round single-wielding, vs. a max of 5 with any other weapon (10 vs. 7 when dual-wielding).

TM Thanks so much for the responses!
Sorry I wasn't quicker to respond, I was... away.
So to carry it one step further, if I'm doing a monk/cleric combo, where strength and AB and weapon damage, etc. can be buffed... how does it all come out of the wash?? Does the APR of the kama/double kama or the damage of the more powerful weapon come out on top? And does the number of feats required for either of those (taking into account other things those feats could be used for) make it more or less worthwhile?

Edited By mochamage on 08/08/07 04:16

The extra damage from a more powerful weapon becomes insignificant when you add the cleric buffs.

The AB table and the extra attacks you get with kamas let you deliver all that buffed up damage more times per round.

The monstrous synergy in a kama wielding cleric/monk is so powerful that monster grinding easily becomes boring. Thanks Mick, my questions are done.



...for now.

Edited By mochamage on 08/08/07 10:07