Unarmed Strike
At 1st level, a monk gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A monk’s attacks may be with fist, elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a monk may make unarmed strikes with his hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed. A monk may thus apply his full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all his unarmed strikes.
Usually a monk’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but he can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on his attack roll. He has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A monk’s unarmed strike is treated as both a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
A monk also deals more damage with his unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown above on Table 3–10. The unarmed damage values listed on Table 3–10 is for Medium monks. A Small monk deals less damage than the amount given there with his unarmed attacks, while a Large monk deals more damage; see Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage on the table given below.
Small or Large Monk Unarmed Damage Damage Damage Level (Small Monk) (Large Monk) 1st–3rd 1d4 1d8 4th–7th 1d6 2d6 8th–11th 1d8 2d8 12th–15th 1d10 3d6 16th–19th 2d6 3d8 20th 2d8 4d8 Bonus Feat: At 1st level, 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a monk may select a bonus feat. These feats Table 3–10: Monk Base Attack Fort Ref Will Flurry of Blows Unarmed AC Fast Level Bonus Save Save Save Special Attack Bonus Damage* Bonus Movement 1st +0 +2 +2 +2 Bonus feat, flurry of blows, –1/–1 1d6 +0 +0 ft.
stunning fist, unarmed strike 2nd +1 +3 +3 +3 Bonus feat, evasion +0/+0 1d6 +0 +0 ft.
3rd +2 +3 +3 +3 Fast movement, +1/+1 1d6 +0 +10 ft.
maneuver training, still mind 4th +3 +4 +4 +4 Ki pool (magic), slow fall 20 ft.
+2/+2 1d8 +1 +10 ft.
5th +3 +4 +4 +4 High jump, purity of body +3/+3 1d8 +1 +10 ft.
6th +4 +5 +5 +5 Bonus feat, slow fall 30 ft.
+4/+4/–1 1d8 +1 +20 ft.
7th +5 +5 +5 +5 Wholeness of body +5/+5/+0 1d8 +1 +20 ft.
8th +6/+1 +6 +6 +6 Slow fall 40 ft.
+6/+6/+1/+1 1d10 +2 +20 ft.
9th +6/+1 +6 +6 +6 Improved evasion +7/+7/+2/+2 1d10 +2 +30 ft.
10th +7/+2 +7 +7 +7 Bonus feat, ki pool (lawful), +8/+8/+3/+3 1d10 +2 +30 ft.
slow fall 50 ft.
11th +8/+3 +7 +7 +7 Diamond body +9/+9/+4/+4/–1 1d10 +2 +30 ft.
12th +9/+4 +8 +8 +8 Abundant step, slow fall 60 ft.
+10/+10/+5/+5/+0 2d6 +3 +40 ft.
13th +9/+4 +8 +8 +8 Diamond soul +11/+11/+6/+6/+1 2d6 +3 +40 ft.
14th +10/+5 +9 +9 +9 Bonus feat, slow fall 70 ft.
+12/+12/+7/+7/+2 2d6 +3 +40 ft.
15th +11/+6/+1 +9 +9 +9 Quivering palm +13/+13/+8/+8/+3/+3 2d6 +3 +50 ft.
16th +12/+7/+2 +10 +10 +10 Ki pool (adamantine), +14/+14/+9/+9/+4/+4/–1 2d8 +4 +50 ft.
slow fall 80 ft.
17th +12/+7/+2 +10 +10 +10 Timeless body, +15/+15/+10/+10/+5/+5/+0 2d8 +4 +50 ft.
tongue of the sun and moon 18th +13/+8/+3 +11 +11 +11 Bonus feat, slow fall 90 ft.
+16/+16/+11/+11/+6/+6/+1 2d8 +4 +60 ft.
19th +14/+9/+4 +11 +11 +11 Empty body +17/+17/+12/+12/+7/+7/+2 2d8 +4 +60 ft.
20th +15/+10/+5 +12 +12 +12 Perfect self, +18/+18/+13/+13/+8/+8/+3 2d10 +5 +60 ft.
slow fall any distance *The value shown is for Medium monks. See below for Small or Large monk damage. must be taken from the following list: Catch Off-Guard, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge, Improved Grapple, Scorpion Style, and Throw Anything. At 6th level, the following feats are added to the list: Gorgon’s Fist, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Trip, and Mobility. At 10th level, the following feats are added to the list: Improved Critical, Medusa’s Wrath, Snatch Arrows, and Spring Attack. A monk need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them.