The unarmed fighting style is a terrible waste of an ASI for Monks. At 1st level they can already do 1d8 with a quarterstaff.
Depends on the monk. Some subclass features focus on unarmed strikes (astral, drunken, probably a few others) so the increase can help. Not ideal, but you can swap it for blind fighting at 11th
The average difference between 1d4+mod Vs. 1d8+mod is 2 damage. Grappling requires Str (Athletics) and most Monks dump Str so that last part is null too. If you wanna do more damage early just play a race with a natural weapon.
You could do this with astral monk, custom lineage or vHuman for skill expert feat at level one and expertise athletics. Then boost wisdom and grapple. The ability only says the arms have to be active to use wisdom instead of strength so you can grapple with your real arms and punch them with your astral ones.
And OP, the YouTube D4: D&D Deep Dive just did a Bruiser Video you might find helpful.
The unarmed fighting style is a terrible waste of an ASI for Monks. At 1st level they can already do 1d8 with a quarterstaff.
Depends on the monk. Some subclass features focus on unarmed strikes (astral, drunken, probably a few others) so the increase can help. Not ideal, but you can swap it for blind fighting at 11th
The average difference between 1d4+mod Vs. 1d8+mod is 2 damage. Grappling requires Str (Athletics) and most Monks dump Str so that last part is null too. If you wanna do more damage early just play a race with a natural weapon.
You could do this with astral monk, custom lineage or vHuman for skill expert feat at level one and expertise athletics. Then boost wisdom and grapple. The ability only says the arms have to be active to use wisdom instead of strength so you can grapple with your real arms and punch them with your astral ones.
And OP, the YouTube D4: D&D Deep Dive just did a Bruiser Video you might find helpful.
Blind Fighting, Dueling, Interception, Superior Technique, Thrown Weapon Fighting, and Two-Weapon Fighting all potentially offer more significant benefits. A quarterstaff, is versatile, either that or a shortsword with Dueling Fighting Style will do more damage more consistently than the Unarmed Fighting Style, a dart would work with Interception, and a lot of them work with Thrown Weapon Fighting, a pair of handaxes would work with all of those and the Two-Weapon Fighting Style as well (and be very “Triads” flavored), Superior Technique is a no-brainer good choice, and Blind Fighting is like the diet version of Devil’s Sight. The only legitimate reasons for a Monk to take the Unarmed Fighting Style are temporary at best (as you mentioned), niche & unique (as you mentioned), or narrative.
Depends on the monk. Some subclass features focus on unarmed strikes (astral, drunken, probably a few others) so the increase can help. Not ideal, but you can swap it for blind fighting at 11th
You could do this with astral monk, custom lineage or vHuman for skill expert feat at level one and expertise athletics. Then boost wisdom and grapple. The ability only says the arms have to be active to use wisdom instead of strength so you can grapple with your real arms and punch them with your astral ones.
And OP, the YouTube D4: D&D Deep Dive just did a Bruiser Video you might find helpful.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Blind Fighting, Dueling, Interception, Superior Technique, Thrown Weapon Fighting, and Two-Weapon Fighting all potentially offer more significant benefits. A quarterstaff, is versatile, either that or a shortsword with Dueling Fighting Style will do more damage more consistently than the Unarmed Fighting Style, a dart would work with Interception, and a lot of them work with Thrown Weapon Fighting, a pair of handaxes would work with all of those and the Two-Weapon Fighting Style as well (and be very “Triads” flavored), Superior Technique is a no-brainer good choice, and Blind Fighting is like the diet version of Devil’s Sight. The only legitimate reasons for a Monk to take the Unarmed Fighting Style are temporary at best (as you mentioned), niche & unique (as you mentioned), or narrative.
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