searching for a rad monk-esque class

[leeooo]

heyoo, i've been searching for a rad monk-esque class and haven't really been having much luck doing so, would you dudes/dudettes mind helping me? thanks in advance to anyone who suggests somethin'!

p.s it would be super rad if anyone knew of any brawler/pugilist-esque classes
p.p.s i am the worst at finding stuff, so please link the classes you dudes/dudettes suggest

[Specter]

By Monk-esque, you mean... not Monk?

Well, you could go Barbarian or Fighter with Tavern Brawler. For fighter, go Battlemaster to apply your dice to your punches. For barbarian, well, go wild. What I'd suggest as a final is Battlemaster 4/Bearbarian 16.

[Joe the Rat]

To reiterate on builds:
Tavern Brawler is essential. It's the only non-monk route to actual damage dice for unarmed attacks.

Barbarian is probably the best chassis for a not-Monk. 10+Dex+Con for unarmored AC is good for the strong, beefy type. You need at least one level of Barbarian to make it work.

Battlemaster Fighter gets you extra damage that comes in the form of maneuvers (tripping, pushing, disarming, "taunting"). Paladin, on the other hand, gives you the ability to punch people with holy fire. That requires a bit of Charisma (13 to multiclass), but if you want to get your showboat on, you probably want some charisma anyway.

Is there a particular reason why you don't want monk?

On finding a pugilist/brawler:
Have you tried the DM's Guild? using "pugilist" or "brawler" as your search term pops up a whole bunch of fan-made options. DMGuild stuff passes a marginal sniff test.

Or there's the danddwiki. They've got a whole section for 5e 'brews, and a lot less sniffing.

Then there's our own homebrew section (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?15-Homebrew-Design). Not technically published, but you'll get a better overall class of material.

[baticeer]

There is a pugilist class on DMs guild which is based on how the Monk plays and has been well-received (good ratings, was one of the products that Wizards featured in their DMs guild spotlight section in dragon+)

[SilverStud]

Given that your specifically said the word "pugilist" in your request, I believe that the Pugilist class is 800% what you're looking for.

I purchased (like $2) it on DMGuild, and it is AWESOME. I give it 5 Stars for being fun, flavorful, and also balanced.