SteelDraco said:
You know, I hear people say that, but I don't really agree with it. You're never going to be able to do any real damage with the unarmed strike feat. Compared to any combat character of equivalent level, you'll be dealing almost no damage, with more expensive magical bonuses and poor defenses. Grappling is a poor build for the same reason - you might be able to hinder a Medium-sized creature, or even a Large one if you play a goliath or half-ogre, but anything really big is still going to blow your grapple check out of the water. You still won't be able to knock them out - even, say, 1d3+8 (+5 Str, +2 Weapon Specialization (Unarmed), and +1 Mighty Fists) isn't going to cut it against the kind of melee threats you're going to be facing.
If you add some feats that give you an increased damage with unarmed strikes, then sure, it's going to be much more viable. But even then, I think you'd still just be playing catch-up to someone who actually carries a weapon. That's why the monk gets all those funky mystical powers - because they can't actually fight as well as a front-line warrior.
You make good points. You won't be able to dish out the damage like a Greatsword weilder is. You won't be able to grapple with Purple Worms. And you also assume that this is the point.
If you are trying to make an adventurer capable of fighting Purple Worms and Nightcrawlers, I agree that the unarmed Fighter option is not for you.
But if you are trying to model a person skilled at unarmed combat, whose blows hit like bricks, and who can take care of the tuff guys around the neighborhood (or maybe he is the tough guy in the neighborhood), then classing him with Fighter is a much better idea than giving him Monk levels. Like I said,
Depending on what you want to do with the character...
Fighter levels
can produce for you a very good barroom brawler when the mystical element of the Monk would just get in the way.
Yes, this kind of combatant would shrivel when he started running into monsters size Large or larger, or ones with the Swallow Whole ability; in a mostly humanoid setting, which most cities are, this kind of combatant will thrive: he will fit in and nobody can take his weapons away from him.
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Just as an exercise: Fighters get 5 fighter bonus feats by 8th level; they get 3 feats from levles; Humans get a bonus feat at 1st. That's 9. How does this look:
Weapon Focus (US)
Improved Unarmed Strike
Dodge
Mobility
Spring Attack
Weapon Specialization (US)
Power Attack / Combat Expertise / Improved Grapple
Cleave / Improved Disarm / Stunning Fist
Greater Weapon Focus (US)
That's not a bad collection of abilities for someone who wants to fight unarmed. No, it will never be optimal for adventuring, but that's not always the point of character building.
