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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Maxperson" data-source="post: 9231841" data-attributes="member: 23751">a d4 IS an effective option.  A fighter with d4+3 for strength is doing 5.5 damage on average. Using a longsword it's only 7.5.  A few points difference is trivial. The designers made 5e so that you can play with very low bonuses and/or base damage and do very well in 5e. If you(general you) feel that you need to have high base damage and maxed out stats, that's entirely in your(general you) head, not the design of the game.I still wouldn't tie that to Athletics.  Tie it to fighting style.  At 1st level with the +2 proficiency, you'd be using a d4.  At 9th level when you hit +4,  you'd be using a d6.   You'd cap at d8 when you hit 17th level.  That still leaves monks in front while giving fighters significantly better unarmed damage.</blockquote>