First time posting here. I was just looking over the new Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and I see the new unarmed fighting style with the fighter it immediately made me want to make one. I have been trying to think over what would be best and thought I would come here for some others inputs. with this, it would be a fighter, thinking battle master simply for all the maneuvers seems best. For races I was thinking human variant because that lvl 1 feat is hard to beat. But then I saw the new Ravenite Dragonborn which seems like a good choice as well for its ability modifiers and the trait it gets of hitting back if you are hit on a reaction once per short or long rest. Then feats, I see a benefit to Charger, Crusher, Grappler, Martial Adept, maybe Tavern Brawler though that seems less effective now with this new fighting style unless you want to grapple everything, Tough and/or Heavy Armor Master, and last Fighting Initiate to pick up something like two-weapon fighting.
I stumbled on this post while researching things for a friend. If you take Tavern Brawler, you can use a shield as an improvised weapon and still do a d6 of damage with your main hand. You can get either the eldritch claw tattoo or the insignia of the claws item to make your fists magic. Taking eldritch knight will allow you to throw your shield and recall it back as a bonus action. Dipping into barbarian could be good if you want to grapple things, as you can then enter a rage first.
I am absolutely having fun with a vanilla mountain dwarf eldritch knight, no feats, we are playing a home game that started at level 3, currently at level 11. Just carrying a handaxe +1 for magic attacks. I never knew having your hands free could have so many options open to you, like swinging on ropes, picking up dropped items, etc... Will maybe asky dm for the eldritch claw so i can go completely unarmed.
Thanks for spurring the creation of another new character (or likely more than one). At first I was looking at Battlemaster for the Maneuvers, but man, there are a lot of maneuvers that specify "melee weapon" in the maneuver. As there are some that do not, it's hard to get around the fact that using unarmed attacks isn't the same as using the leverage of a weapon. Going in heavily armored is kind of nice... I'm just wondering how the damage stacks up over time as the only scaling is increasing how many attacks per round. And if there are enough maneuvers to actually make it through the full range or if this is strictly an interesting place to begin a multi-class character. Or one that quickly becomes MAD dependent.
Instead of using a weapon to make a melee weapon attack, you can use an unarmed strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or similar forceful blow (none of which count as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes.
I do agree on all your other points. Some handwaving or very creative thinking needs to be done to justify a few maneuvers, but it's D&D so... definitely a interesting mental image of a plate armor knight just running up and punching people with their metal fists. Damage is basically the same as a shield and board kind of fighter... except instead of AC you get the ability to grapple easier I guess. Wouldn't be too concerned about damage unless your party is into that kind of thing.
Multiclassing is kind of weird here. The fists are STR and don't count as weapons. While I guess you could take Monk, there's not much benefit to do so (for both mostly Monk and mostly Fighter). I would just stick to full Fighter if you wanted to use unarmed fighting style. Maybe Barbarian but I don't think unarmed strikes mesh well with Barbarian's features.
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if I edit a message, most of the time it's because of grammar. The rest of the time I'll put "Edit:" at the bottom.
Oh yeah, you become a grapple monster with that setup. It really makes party synergy pop... and no, being the main tank isn't always about pure damage. Very much suddenly about control and being able to efficiently use your bonus action and reaction. Still in deep thought... lol...
Instead of using a weapon to make a melee weapon attack, you can use an unarmed strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or similar forceful blow (none of which count as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes.
I do agree on all your other points. Some handwaving or very creative thinking needs to be done to justify a few maneuvers, but it's D&D so... definitely a interesting mental image of a plate armor knight just running up and punching people with their metal fists. Damage is basically the same as a shield and board kind of fighter... except instead of AC you get the ability to grapple easier I guess. Wouldn't be too concerned about damage unless your party is into that kind of thing.
Multiclassing is kind of weird here. The fists are STR and don't count as weapons. While I guess you could take Monk, there's not much benefit to do so (for both mostly Monk and mostly Fighter). I would just stick to full Fighter if you wanted to use unarmed fighting style. Maybe Barbarian but I don't think unarmed strikes mesh well with Barbarian's features.
Eldrich knight/Bear totem barbarian using tavern brawler and unarmed fighting style is a force to be reckoned with.
First time posting here. I was just looking over the new Tasha's Cauldron of Everything and I see the new unarmed fighting style with the fighter it immediately made me want to make one. I have been trying to think over what would be best and thought I would come here for some others inputs. with this, it would be a fighter, thinking battle master simply for all the maneuvers seems best. For races I was thinking human variant because that lvl 1 feat is hard to beat. But then I saw the new Ravenite Dragonborn which seems like a good choice as well for its ability modifiers and the trait it gets of hitting back if you are hit on a reaction once per short or long rest. Then feats, I see a benefit to Charger, Crusher, Grappler, Martial Adept, maybe Tavern Brawler though that seems less effective now with this new fighting style unless you want to grapple everything, Tough and/or Heavy Armor Master, and last Fighting Initiate to pick up something like two-weapon fighting.
What do you all think? Any ideas of your own?
I stumbled on this post while researching things for a friend.
If you take Tavern Brawler, you can use a shield as an improvised weapon and still do a d6 of damage with your main hand.
You can get either the eldritch claw tattoo or the insignia of the claws item to make your fists magic.
Taking eldritch knight will allow you to throw your shield and recall it back as a bonus action.
Dipping into barbarian could be good if you want to grapple things, as you can then enter a rage first.
|| Sol Night-Arrow, Tabaxi Ranger ||
||Currently DMing a Homebrew Campaign ||
Guides or Important Threads of Mine ----- || List of ALL Official Familiars || My Homebrew Monsters ||
Level 3 One Shot Character Concepts ----- || Fist of the Gods || Triple Tap Hunter || Bullseye Dartmaster || Captain America ||
^^^Those are Links BTW^^^
I am absolutely having fun with a vanilla mountain dwarf eldritch knight, no feats, we are playing a home game that started at level 3, currently at level 11. Just carrying a handaxe +1 for magic attacks. I never knew having your hands free could have so many options open to you, like swinging on ropes, picking up dropped items, etc... Will maybe asky dm for the eldritch claw so i can go completely unarmed.
Thanks for spurring the creation of another new character (or likely more than one). At first I was looking at Battlemaster for the Maneuvers, but man, there are a lot of maneuvers that specify "melee weapon" in the maneuver. As there are some that do not, it's hard to get around the fact that using unarmed attacks isn't the same as using the leverage of a weapon. Going in heavily armored is kind of nice... I'm just wondering how the damage stacks up over time as the only scaling is increasing how many attacks per round. And if there are enough maneuvers to actually make it through the full range or if this is strictly an interesting place to begin a multi-class character. Or one that quickly becomes MAD dependent.
Do note unarmed melee attacks are "melee weapon attacks" but don't count as "attack with a melee weapon" or anything like that.
Relevant Quote:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#MeleeAttacks
Instead of using a weapon to make a melee weapon attack, you can use an unarmed strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or similar forceful blow (none of which count as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes.
I do agree on all your other points. Some handwaving or very creative thinking needs to be done to justify a few maneuvers, but it's D&D so... definitely a interesting mental image of a plate armor knight just running up and punching people with their metal fists. Damage is basically the same as a shield and board kind of fighter... except instead of AC you get the ability to grapple easier I guess. Wouldn't be too concerned about damage unless your party is into that kind of thing.
Multiclassing is kind of weird here. The fists are STR and don't count as weapons. While I guess you could take Monk, there's not much benefit to do so (for both mostly Monk and mostly Fighter). I would just stick to full Fighter if you wanted to use unarmed fighting style. Maybe Barbarian but I don't think unarmed strikes mesh well with Barbarian's features.
if I edit a message, most of the time it's because of grammar. The rest of the time I'll put "Edit:" at the bottom.
Oh yeah, you become a grapple monster with that setup. It really makes party synergy pop... and no, being the main tank isn't always about pure damage. Very much suddenly about control and being able to efficiently use your bonus action and reaction. Still in deep thought... lol...
Eldrich knight/Bear totem barbarian using tavern brawler and unarmed fighting style is a force to be reckoned with.
|| Sol Night-Arrow, Tabaxi Ranger ||
||Currently DMing a Homebrew Campaign ||
Guides or Important Threads of Mine ----- || List of ALL Official Familiars || My Homebrew Monsters ||
Level 3 One Shot Character Concepts ----- || Fist of the Gods || Triple Tap Hunter || Bullseye Dartmaster || Captain America ||
^^^Those are Links BTW^^^