Specializing in Punching

Any priest can specialize in Punching (or Wrestling, or Martial Arts). Of all the types of priests, though, only the Fighting-Monk can specialize in more than one unarmed combat style. The DM may decide for his own campaign that Priests other than the Fighting-Monk may not specialized in any unarmed combat, or that certain types of priests (for example, of the god of peace) may not.

In order to do specialize in Punching, the Priest must devote a Weapon Proficiency slot to Punching. When he does, he gets the following benefits:

He gains a +1 bonus to all his attack rolls with Punching;

He gains a +1 bonus to all damage with Punching; and

He gains a +1 chart bonus with all Punching attacks.

The chart bonus is a reflection of the character's superior accuracy with Punching. When the Fighter-Monk rolls and successfully hits, as you know, the roll itself determines which maneuver was made.

But on a successful hit, the Punching Specialist can modify that result. If he has a chart bonus of +1, he can choose the maneuver one higher or one lower on the chart.

Example: The fighter-monk Toshi punches an orc. He rolls a 18 to hit, and this turns out to be a successful hit. On the "Punching and Wrestling Results" chart, we see that this is a Rabbit Punch. But Toshi is a Punching Specialist with a chart bonus of +1. He can choose instead for the result to be a Wild Swing (which does less damage and has an inferior chance of accomplishing a knockout) or a Kidney Punch (which does the same damage but has a superior chance of accomplishing a knockout). He changes the maneuver from a Rabbit Punch to a Kidney Punch.

Only if a character Specializes in Punching and thus has a chart bonus can he affect his punch results in this manner.

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