[RPG] Does the number of unarmed strikes increase with BAB or limbs

pathfinder-1eunarmed-combat

When performing an unarmed strike, does a PC get more strikes based on their limbs?

i.e. punching with both hands, knees, headbutt, etc.

Or does the PC get more unarmed strikes based on the BAB?

It states that US is not a natural weapon, but rather considered a light weapon so I'm guessing you get more as your BAB increases but I want to be sure.

I'm curious about this for all the classes, not specifically monk.

Best Answer

Both

Unarmed strikes follow the rules for manufactured weapons, despite behaving like natural weapons in a lot of senses (and despite not being manufactured!). That means you get iteratives with them from BAB.

But having more limbs also means you can use two-weapon or multiweapon fighting. These combat styles get more attacks based on the number of limbs. For instance, a four-armed creature with BAB +1, 16 Strength, and Multiweapon Fighting would get four attacks with light or unarmed weapons, for a full-attack of +2/+2/+2/+2. If the creature was a monk and used Flurry of Blows, they’d even get a fifth attack: +0/+0/+0/+0/+0. Note that this is the same whether the creature is using unarmed strikes or, for example, daggers.

Final note: some argue that “unarmed strike” is a single weapon, that you only have one of, and therefore you cannot two-weapon/multiweapon fight with multiple unarmed strikes. That’s stupid and inane, and I’ll have nothing more to say about it beyond mentioning that the argument exists.