Unarmed Build Ideas

[King Punch]

A friend is joining a campaign set in Innistrad, humans only and no traits. He wants to play an unarmed character and we were thinking of interesting class ideas/combos. So far soulknife, bloodrager and slayer interest him. Multiclassing is alright with him, do you guys have any fun suggestions?

[Captain Morgan]

What content is allowed? Path of War on the table? The Steelfist Commando is pretty awesome.

The default classes for unarmed are monk and brawler. But there are all sorts of variations and Multiclass things you can do. It's hard to give you more specific advice without more information on what the player values. For example: Utility (how they function out of combat) , versatility (what can they do beyond punch things hard in combat) , defenses(saves, AC, DR) , raw damage, sustainability (how many rounds can the character fighter for), etc. ,

[King Punch]

Primarily: They want to be a frontline combatant who can take/avoid hits as well as he deals them. High AC/Good saves with solid, consistent damage. Secondarily: Having at least some versatility is important; mainly buffs and different damage types interest him. If spellcasting to a degree is feasible he'd like some, however magus is off the table as its already taken. Tertiary: He only needs enough utility that he's not utterly useless outside of combat, being decent at social skills would be nice in this campaign.

[Secret Wizard]

Here's a nice build using the Brawler archetype for Fighters. Not to be confused with the Brawler class.

Class: Fighter
Archetype: Brawler
Traits: Defender of the Society, Indomitable Faith

Race: Half-Elf
Alternate Racial Traits: Dual Minded, Fey Thoughts (Gain Acrobatics and Perception as class skills)

Ability Scores: S14 D15+2 C12 I14 W12 CH7
Pips: +1 to D when he gets a mithral breastplate, rest to STR

FCB: +1 HP/skill points, thanks to Fast Learner

Equipment: Breastplate, Heavy Shield on the off-hand, fight with fists and legs.

Feats:
1. Improved Unarmed Strike, Fast Learner
2. Two-Weapon Fighting
3. Power Attack
4. Dirty Fighting
5. Iron Will
6. Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
7. Pummeling Style
8. Pummeling Charge
9. Disruptive
10. Double Slice
11. Improved Two-Weapon Rend
12. Improved Critical (Unarmed)

At level 12, without Magic items, you are looking at:

Attacks: Unarmed Strike +12/+7/+2 (1d4+16, 19-20/2x), Unarmed Strike +12/+7 (1d4+12, 19-20/2x), Rend (1d10+4)
Special: Pummeling Style to add all attacks together, Pummeling Charge allows you to attack while moving

Versatility: Dirty Fighting to use combat maneuvers while flanking without provoking attacks of opportunity

AC (with mithral breastplate and heavy shield): 23
Special: Adjacent enemies take a -2 penalty to hit and a -9 penalty to concentration checks
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +10
HP: 12d10 + 24

Skills per level: 5 per level

Mind you that's everything without a single magic item other than mithral breastplate.
Tell the magus to get Craft Wondrous item and make this guy some nice Physical belts and you'll see it shine.

That being said, this guy probably would deal more damage using two Cestus and a Light Shield.

[The Dragon]

Rogue or ninja could do nicely. Unchained rogue is pretty good for this, actually. You get dex to damage with your unarmed strikes at level 1, and sneak attack, so you're not so bothered by the lacking base damage on the weapon.

Another option would be warpriest. Either the Sacred Fist archetype, or just the normal version, each have their pros and cons. The upside here is that you get spells.

Soulknife is powerful too. Be sure to grab Gifted Blade for extra versatility.

[avr]

Seconding Steelfist Commando (a warlord archetype from Path of War). It's social, it fights unarmed, it can be a decent tank (a little poor on the reflex save, maybe) and it can do various things in combat just by readying different maneuvers.

[Imbicatus]

Why not an Unchained Monk? They are fantastic unarmed beatsticks, and have decent utility with ki powers and such.

[Secret Wizard]

Here's the Unchained Monk build, using heavily from the Dirty Tactics Toolbox

Class: Unchained Monk
Archetype: Monk of the Mantis
Traits: Honored Fist of the Society, Indomitable Faith

Race: Human
Alternate Racial Traits: Dual Talent (Extra +2 in exchange for the bonus feat and skill points)

Ability Scores: S16+2 D14 C12 I10 W14+2 CH8
Pips: All to STR

FCB: +1/4 Ki point

Equipment: lol.

Feats and Talents:
1. Power Attack, Dodge
3. Dragon Style
4. KI: Barkskin Qingqong Power
5. Dragon Ferocity, STYLE: Flying Kick
6. KI: Elemental Fury
7. Accomplished Sneak Attacker
8. KI: Abundant Step
9. Improved Critical (Unarmed), STYLE: Spinning Kick
10. KI: Ki Leech
11. Iron Will
12. KI: Whatever

[Captain Morgan]

King Punch wrote:

Primarily: They want to be a frontline combatant who can take/avoid hits as well as he deals them. High AC/Good saves with solid, consistent damage. Secondarily: Having at least some versatility is important; mainly buffs and different damage types interest him. If spellcasting to a degree is feasible he'd like some, however magus is off the table as its already taken. Tertiary: He only needs enough utility that he's not utterly useless outside of combat, being decent at social skills would be nice in this campaign.

Steel Fist Commando will get him some spellcasting like options, in the form of anime style special attacks he can activate. (More like Kenshin than Naruto.) If it's allowed I'd tell him to use it. It matches everything you mentioned. The Broken Blade and Thrashing Dragon disciplines work wonders for unarmed.

Beyond that, there have been a couple solid enough builds posted here. The Mutagenic Mauler Brawler Archetype gets a really solid buff instead of martial versatility. A Barbarian or Bloodrager dip nets you rage, though you will lack many rounds per day. A fighter (Brawler) dip can also net you nice feats and damage boosts.

[Irthos]

You mentioned he was interested in soulknife and bloodrager - both of those classes have archetypes that focus on unarmed combat.

Soulknife's deadly fist archetype is good if you don't have a lot of wealth spread around. Your enhancement bonus automatically increases as you gain levels, and with the right blade skills you can make pretty much every combat ability key off Wisdom. Add in gifted blade for some manifesting, and you can have an incredible AC with basically no equipment.

I haven't played with the bloody-knuckled rowdy archetype for bloodrager, so I can't say much about that one. You'll be giving up a number of good abilities for big damage dice, but bloodrager already has a lot going for it.

Both of these archetypes, and also the brawler, have the advantage of working just fine in armor, which means you can wear brawling armor for a nice unarmed bonus. It's super-inexpensive, so I'd recommend grabbing one as soon as wealth allows.

[King Punch]

We both were interested in bloody knuckled rowdy, and were mulling over a possible build. Maybe Master Of Many Styles 2/ Bloodrager 18. Perhaps taking Dragon Style and Dragon Ferocity as well as Pummeling Style? Unless it would be better to go Straight bloodrager and use the archetype.

[Scott Wilhelm]

How about a Druid/Warpriest? Be an Animal Shaman and get Natural Attacks by level 2. Apply Sacred Weapon to your Natural weapon damage, turning into large and huge monsters. Take Martial Versatility so you can apply it to any natural attack you have for any animal form you turn into. Take Shaping Focus, and you will continue to grow in your Wild Shape as you take more levels in Warpriest and increase your Sacred Weapon Damage. Your DPR will be obscene, hundreds.

I wrote up a build on another thread.

Way of the Angry Bear

[King Punch]

He really has never found the idea of wild shaping interesting, and prefers to remain in a humanoid form. Steelfist Commando would be perfect, but the DM hates Tome of Battle and anything that might resemble it so it'd probably get denied.

[Shakalaka]

Another one for you. Not sure how well it would work

Whirling Dervish Swashbuckler, Weapon Master Fighter, Master of Many Styles Monk. Uses a rapier/dagger for 1st 2 levels.

1st Swashbuckler.
Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus - Unarmed Strike
2nd Swashbuckler.
3rd Monk.
Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Snake Style, Piranha Strike
4th Swashbuckler.
5th Swashbuckler.
Combat Reflexes, Weapon Specialization - Unarmed Strike
6th Swashbuckler.
7th Monk.
Pummeling Style, Snake Sidewind
8th Fighter.
Combat Style Master
9th Fighter.
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Snake Fang
10th Fighter.

[Secret Wizard]

King Punch wrote:

We both were interested in bloody knuckled rowdy, and were mulling over a possible build. Maybe Master Of Many Styles 2/ Bloodrager 18. Perhaps taking Dragon Style and Dragon Ferocity as well as Pummeling Style? Unless it would be better to go Straight bloodrager and use the archetype.

BKR does have an issue - when it first receives a free style feat, it qualifies FOR NONE.

Esoteric Magus would be better imho.

[Scott Wilhelm]

King Punch wrote:

He really has never found the idea of wild shaping interesting, and prefers to remain in a humanoid form. Steelfist Commando would be perfect, but the DM hates Tome of Battle and anything that might resemble it so it'd probably get denied.

There are other ways to get a natural attacking build as a human. The Feral Mutagen Alchemal Discovery, which gives you claws and a bite. There is the Helm of the Mammoth Lord, which gives you a Gore Attack. 1 level in White Haired Witch gives you a Hair Attack. As a Tengu, you could get your Claws and Bite as a Racial Trait, but as a Human, you can take the Martial Versatility Feat which would allow you to apply Improved Natural Attack to all your natural attacks.

You can take Martial Versatility again to apply Weapon Focus to all your natural attacks, and that will let you apply Warpriest Sacred Weapon Damage to your Natural Attacks. The Minor Blessing of Destruction gives you +1 Damage every 2 Warpriest Levels for all 5 attacks.

The Hair has a sort of Grab Ability, so if you wore Armor Spikes, you get to do Armor Spike Damage with every successful Grapple Attack, and you get that with every hit with the Hair. Take Hamatula Strike, and you also get it with your Bite and Gore attacks, which are piercing. Take Snake Style, and your Unarmed Strikes become Piercing, so activate Hamatula Strike. You could take Feral Combat Training and apply Snake Style, and therefore Hamatula Strike to your Claws, too. Or you could take Martial Versatility for Snake Style, though I think in this case the former would be better.