Unarmed Class Options

Do you want the thrill of defeating foes with your bare hands, without all the boring studying and lame spiritual enlightenment of becoming a monk? Then this is precisely the thing for you. Here, I will detail several class options that I believe to be the simplest and quickest way to integrate an unarmed playstyle into nearly any class.

Path of the Totem Warrior

For the barbarian options, I propose a new spirit animal for the Path of the Totem Warrior, the gorilla.

Totem Spirit

Gorilla. Your unarmed strikes now deal 1d8 + your Strength modifier damage, and 1d10 + your Strength modifier while you are raging. Additionally, your unarmed strikes count as melee weapons for the purposes of your Rage and Reckless Attack features. The spirit of the gorilla turns you into a creature capable of killing with your bare hands.

Aspect of the Beast

Gorilla. You gain the unparalleled strength and jungle capabilities of a gorilla. Your unarmed strikes now count as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical damage. Additionally, you gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, and are not hindered by nonmagical difficult terrain caused by plants.

Totemic Attunement

Gorilla. While you're raging and have a creature grappled, you deal an additional die of damage with your unarmed strikes against that creature.

Fighting Style

For fighters, paladins, and rangers, granting them the ability to fight with their fists is as easy as creating a fighting style available to them all.

Fisticuffs

Your unarmed strikes now deal 1d6 + your Strength modifier damage, and you cannot increase that damage die in any way. Additionally, if both your hands are free when you make an unarmed attack, you may choose to refrain from adding your proficiency bonus to your attack roll, and if you hit with that attack, you add twice your proficiency bonus to the damage roll.

Pact Boon

One of the things that makes warlocks so great is their customisability, and one of the most often overlooked ways to achieve something with a warlock is the Pact Boon. It's basically a second subclass!

Pact of the Arm

Perhaps you lost your arm, from disease or war or a million other reasons, or perhaps you simply desire another with which to interact wtih the world. Whatever the case, your patron has granted you an arm, either a replacement or an extra, reminiscent of their form. This arm functions exactly like another arm, and can be used for anything you would use your arm for.

When you gain this pact boon, choose one damage type of acid, cold, fire, lighning, poison, or thunder. When you make an unarmed attack with your new arm, your damage die becomes a d6, and you use Charisma for your attack and damage rolls. Additionally, when you make a grapple check with this arm, you make a Charisma (Athletics) check rather than Strength.

If you lose this arm, you may perform a one hour ritual to your patron, in order to receive a new one, in which case, your previous arm disappears. Additionally, if a warlock with a different boon loses one of their arms, they may perform the same ritual to exhange their current boon for this one, and change any applicable invocations.

Eldritch Invocations

These invocations are specific to the Pact of the Arm.

Amorphous Arm

Prerequisite: Pact of the Arm

Your arm is unstable and seems to shift its shape when you will it to. You can fit your pact arm through any gap as narrow as half an inch without squeezing.

Lengthened Arm

Prerequisite: Pact of the Arm

Your pact arm grows to an unnatural length, and you can stretch it at will for short periods. You can make unarmed attacks against and grapple enemies up to 10 feet away, and interact with objects up to 20 feet away with your arm. Additionally, you can use your Charisma instead of your Strength for all Athletics checks.

Double-Slap

Prerequisite: 5th level, Pact of the Arm

You can attack with your arm twice, instead of once, when you take the Attack action to make an unarmed strike on your turn.

Rotting Touch

Prerequisite: Pact of the Arm

You may cast inflict wounds once using a warlock spell slot, and regain the ability to do so on a long rest. When you cast it in this way, you may choose to deal the damage type you chose when you gained this boon or necrotic damage.

Powerful Strikes

Prerequisite: 12th level, Pact of the Arm

Your unarmed strikes now deal 2d6 + your Charisma modifier damage on a hit.