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For example, I made a monk of the Spiker race (Planar Handbook). A Spiker gets 1d8 extra damage added to all melee rolls for the spikes. Would Warrior Born (+1 racial damage to all weapon rolls) then add the extra damage to both the spikes and the unarmed danage separately?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Spikers are a race from the Planar Handbook p.14. That is not outside material. Warrior Born is a background feat that was compiled from 3e to fit the d20 System. It is detailed in an outside source that is simply named “Feats.” The benefit for the feat is “You gain a +1 racial bonus to all weapon damage rolls.” \$\endgroup\$ Sep 18, 2019 at 13:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ RE: The feat "was compiled from 3e to fit the d20 System." What's this mean exactly? In what text did the feat originally appear? \$\endgroup\$ Sep 18, 2019 at 19:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ Quoted from the introduction of Feats: “You possess what we consider to be the definitive guide on feats. Compiling the best of everything through August, 2002 and adding in over 200 new feats, this book replaces everything else you’ve come to love about 3rd Edition feats. So, if it’s not in this book, it doesn’t belong in the game.” I use the book as a supplement. It does not say which sources were used to compile the feats. \$\endgroup\$ Sep 18, 2019 at 19:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ It does not say which of the 100+ books in the Open Game License was responsible for which feat. \$\endgroup\$ Sep 18, 2019 at 20:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ “The open nature of the d20 System has allowed for some interesting design ideas, but not all of them mesh with the mechanics of 3rd edition or even made sense. As a result, some broken feats that you’ve come to love have been altered here to make them more balanced, user-friendly, or in General more useful.” \$\endgroup\$ Sep 18, 2019 at 20:10

1 Answer 1

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No, “extra damage” is part of the same “damage roll” that Warrior Born gives a bonus to, not a separate “damage roll” that would get a separate copy of Warrior Born’s bonus. You only get the +1 once.

But the situation is more complicated than that because you have misunderstood how the spiker race works.

The spikers from Planar Handbook do not get “1d8 extra damage to all melee rolls for the spikes.” Their natural spikes function like armor spikes, and armor spikes do not have their damage added to melee attacks.

Natural Spikes (Ex): A spiker’s skin is replete with sharp, jagged spikes. A spiker can deal extra piercing damage on a successful grapple check, or deal piercing damage with a melee attack, as if she wore armor spikes.

(Planar Handbook pg. 15)

Be aware that the spiker is very poorly-written. Its DR 2/bludgeoning is described as “A spiker’s spiny skin grants resistance to bludgeoning attacks, though piercing or slashing attacks slip through normally,” (PlH 15). DR 2/bludgeoning is vulnerable to bludgeoning, not resistant to it; to get the described effect, it should be DR 2/piercing-or-slashing. Their resistance to acid 5 includes a description that rather randomly discusses rusting attacks and how they don’t work (PlH 15).

This sentence from natural spikes is another problematic sentence, though it’s better than the DR situation. It is just a complicated sentence that should have been broken up more for clarity. This is the actual structure of the sentence:

A spiker can (

  • deal extra piercing damage on a successful grapple check,

or

  • deal piercing damage with a melee attack,

) as if she wore armor spikes.

These two things a spiker can do are separate; the “extra damage” only applies to the grapple. Dealing piercing damage with a melee attack is a separate melee attack for just the armor spike damage, not adding it on to some other melee attack. You would need to have an attack available in order to make the spike attack.

So for example, you could use two-weapon fighting to attack with a sword and then attack with the spikes, treating the spikes as your “offhand” weapon, but you need to be using a full-round action to attack and you need to use the two-weapon fighting option and take the relevant penalties. As a standard action, you could attack with the spikes, but you would be attacking with just the spikes. When you attack with the spikes—either alone or as part of a two-weapon fighting scenario—bonuses to your melee attacks and melee damage apply to the spike attack, because it’s a separate attack.

Alternatively, during a grapple, you do get an extra 1d8 piercing damage on top of your typical damage when you use the “damage your opponent” option. So if you have a spiker without any size bonuses or unarmed strike bonuses,1 and a Strength of 10 (for a +0 bonus),1 and the Warrior Born feat, you deal 1d3 + 1 (for Warrior Born) nonlethal bludgeoning damage + 1d8 piercing damage. The Warrior Born bonus does not apply to the piercing damage separately because it is not a separate damage roll: despite being a different die, and despite being a different damage type, the “damage roll” that Warrior Born gives a +1 bonus to is 1d3+1d8 as one “damage roll.” This is the same situation as sneak attack or a flaming weapon or what have you, which would also not benefit from Warrior Born repeatedly.

Note that all of this is also identical to what happens when someone wears spiked armor. That’s all this is: armor spikes without having to wear armor. It works exactly the same way.

  1. I realize in your case the spiker is a monk, and hopefully has a Strength considerably greater than 10, this is just for simplicity.
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  • \$\begingroup\$ A Spiker Monk makes unarmed attacks. The spikes are a natural part of that attack. To say that the attack needs to be either/or is the same as saying a Fang dragon needs to make a special attack for its increased damage instead of it being natural. \$\endgroup\$ Sep 18, 2019 at 20:19
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Amaranthine I can’t claim to really follow the argument you are making, but I can assure you that there is absolutely no correct way to read that sentence other than the way I have read it. The spiker’s natural spikes are just that, natural “armor” spikes, and work in exactly the same way as regular armor spikes, which is to say, either add their damage to grappling damage, or are used separate as their own attack. There is no way to add them to regular unarmed strike attacks. That is not a feature they offer. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Sep 18, 2019 at 20:22

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