PHB, chapter 7 wrote:Code: Select all
Unarmed Attacks
Gauntlet 2gp 1d2 1d3 x2 1lb. Bludgeoning.
Unarmed Strike --- 1d2(3) 1d3(3) x2 --- Bludgeoning.
Light Melee Weapons
Gauntlet, spiked 5gp 1d3 1d4 x2 1lb. Piercing.
(3) The weapon deals nonlethal damage rather than lethal damage.
Gauntlet: This metal glove protects your hands and lets you deal lethal damage rather than non-lethal damage with unarmed strikes. A strike with a gauntlet is otherwise considered and unarmed attack. The cost and weight given are for a single gauntlet. Medium and heavy armours (except breastplate) come with gauntlets.
Gauntlet, Spiked: Your oppenent cannot use a disarm action to disarm you of spiked gauntlets. The cost and weight given are for a single gauntlet. An attack with a spiked gauntlet is considered an armed attack.
Strike, Unarmed: A Medium character deals 1d3 points of nonlethal damage with an unarmed strike, which may be a punch, kick, head butt, or other type of attack. A Small character deals 1d2 points of nonlethal damage. A monk or any other character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat can deal lethal or nonlethal damage with unarmed strikes, at her option. The damage from an unarmed strike is considered weapon damage for the purposes of effects that give you a bonus on weapon damage rolls.
An unarmed strike is always considered a light weapon. Therefore, you can use the weapon finesse feat (page 102) to apply your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to attack rolls with an unarmed strike.
Right. So gauntlet attacks reference unarmed strikes to grab the normal unarmed strike rules, which are light weapon status, IUS ability to swap the damage type without penalty, and not being armed (the rules for which you find under attacks of opportunity p137 and unarmed attacks p139). TiaC might want to read those.
But when you're wearing gauntlets, you can obviously still make unarmed strikes. Kicks, head butts, or other types of attacks, wearing armour makes no difference to that, helmets and steel boots do nothing. You get a choice, make a gauntlet attack for 1d3 damage or an unarmed strike for 1d3 nonlethal damage, both varying by size like every other weapon.
And when you're a Monk, and your class power causes your unarmed strikes to do 2d10 damage, you can still choose to make a gauntlet attack for 1d3, because it's still not the same thing as your unarmed strike. Even though it's an unarmed attack and references the unarmed strike rules.
And it's fucking pointless, as I said several pages ago. All the weird shit people want to put on gauntlets they can just put on their unarmed strike, because monks get to do that. Enchant it, it's a weapon for monks. Silver it, it's a weapon for monks. Cast flaming weapon on it, because
unarmed strikes are a fucking weapon for monks.
PHB, 41 wrote: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 manufactured weapons or natural weapons ...
@What would it look like?
Strike, Unarmed: A Medium character deals 1d3 points of nonlethal damage with an unarmed strike, which may be a punch, kick, head butt, or other type of attack. A Small character deals 1d2 points of nonlethal damage.
A character with Improved Unarmed Strike (such as a monk), or any other character wearing medium or heavy armour (except Hide) can deal lethal or nonlethal damage with unarmed strikes, at her option. The damage from an unarmed strike is considered weapon damage for the purposes of effects that give you a bonus on weapon damage rolls.
It's not a separate weapon by the other interpretation, it's not in the weapon table, there's no gauntlet entry. You don't have gauntlet attacks, you just have unarmed strikes that can do lethal damage for some characters. Probably expand that to anyone holding a weapon really, for pommelling, or even all your improvised weapons and spiked crap and so on, changing the damage type and crit range as desired. For monks too, spiked monks for x3 crits and piercing damage, cool.
PC, SJW, anti-fascist, not being a dick, or working on it, he/him.