Having the monk's unarmed damage die increase as the monk gains levels creates an awkward curve in the monk's combat effectiveness. A house rule I've implemented for monks is to simply keep their unarmed strike damage fixed at 1d6. Instead, at 4th level (when their unarmed damage would normally increase to 1d8), they're allowed to add their Wisdom modifier to damage with both unarmed strikes and monk weapons--basically anything they can use flurry of blows with.
In addition to eliminating the weird power curve, keeping unarmed strike damage consistent offers a couple of other benefits. First, monks with mediocre Strength scores, say 12 or 13, become much more viable (and those are the sort of numbers many players are left with after tending to Dex and Wis).
Secondly, with an unarmed strike doing the same damage as most monk weapons, it's not the clear-cut optimal choice. He can opt to specialize in either unarmed strikes, where he can take advantage of unarmed strike feats (q.v. The Complete Warrior) or he can focuse on monk weapons, which grants more options in terms of magical weapon properties and weapons made of special materials.
In addition to eliminating the weird power curve, keeping unarmed strike damage consistent offers a couple of other benefits. First, monks with mediocre Strength scores, say 12 or 13, become much more viable (and those are the sort of numbers many players are left with after tending to Dex and Wis).
Secondly, with an unarmed strike doing the same damage as most monk weapons, it's not the clear-cut optimal choice. He can opt to specialize in either unarmed strikes, where he can take advantage of unarmed strike feats (q.v. The Complete Warrior) or he can focuse on monk weapons, which grants more options in terms of magical weapon properties and weapons made of special materials.
