3.5 Monk Ki Strike and Damage Resistance

Question

Does a Level 4 Monk deal full damage against a creature with DR 5/Slashing?

From the D20 SRD regarding Damage Reduction: "The creature takes normal damage from energy attacks (even nonmagical ones), spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. A certain kind of weapon can sometimes damage the creature normally, as noted below."

At Level 4, the Monk gains Ki Strike as a supernatural ability, allowing the strikes to be treated as magical for the purposes of damage reduction.

However, does the bit about being treated as Magic matter? The strikes are now a supernatural ability, and supernatural abilities bypass damage reduction. This interpretation would seem to make Ki Strike very broad, and the addition of the Lawful characteristic at level 10 superfluous.

I would expect that a monk would not be able to bypass DR 5/Slashing, but Rules As Written seems to be murky.

Answer 1

The monk description mentions the Improved Unarmed Strike feat which says that it is an unarmed strike which is listed on the weapon table as bludgeoning. Thus, it's not slashing and doesn't bypass the damage reduction. The ki strike being considered magical would only make a difference when fighting a creature with DR 5/magic such as a barghest.

Answer 2

No, it does not bypass the DR. In this case, the supernatural ability does not target the creature as a damage dealing attack - it is a buff targeting the monk's hands. If you have a supernatural ability to summon a badger, that badger does not bypass someone's DR when it attacks them. It is not supernatural, the ability you used to summon it is. Similarly, when you use a supernatural ability to turn your hands magic, they don't then get other properties, they just get the buff.