General Suggestions: Unarmed Brawler (Now With a Hint of Demon)

[BlackOnyx]

Looking for some class/feat suggestions for a martial PC (barbarian base) I recently put together for a friend's campaign (moderate to low op).


Long story short, she's a carefree unarmed brawler with a bit of a reckless streak. Her race (and character model) are based off of this (https://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Carib_(3.5e_Race)) lovely bit of low-key homebrew I came across some time ago (with a few nerfs to the bonuses and bite as well as a -2 CHA penalty that I worked out with my DM).


Combined with a nerfed version of the Troll Blooded feat (Regen 1 every 6 rounds), max CON, and the masochist trait from BOVD, the idea is that her ability to take a punch (..and another and another) is her greatest asset. That said, it'd be nice to have her do well on the damage front as well (or as well as possible, given those constraints).


Some traits/ACFs I've already taken:

Barbarian:
- Skilled City Dweller (swap certain skills)
- Whirling Frenzy ACF (extra attack)
- Spirit Lion Totem (pounce)
- City Brawler (unarmed TWF, ITWF)
- Dashing Step (no charge penalty)
- Unshakable (fear immunity--important flavor aspect)
- Streetfighter (Replaces DR, increases crit threat while charging)


That in mind, what general suggestions might you have for class dips, feats, prcs, and/or ACFs that might suit (mechanically or thematically) a free-spirited unarmed brawler with some demonic heritage?


Preferences I'd like to keep in mind:


- Unarmed (fists) only (essentially optimizing two weapon fighting and charging)

- Martial only, no casters (may consider particularly thematic spell-likes)

- A general "urban barbarian" vibe

- Not beholden to any given god/demon

- No Bear Warrior or Frenzied Berserker

- Trending toward high CON & resistances

- No blatant cheese (again, the campaign's not particularly high op)

[ranagrande]

If you are allowed to take it, the Shou Disciple from Unapproachable East would be the best prestige class for this, by far.

If that doesn't work, you'll definitely want to take the Superior Unarmed Strike feat from Tome of Battle.

You will likely want Snap Kick from Tome of Battle and Flying Kick from Complete Warrior, but see how your DM is going to have them work.

[Darrin]

Is ToB available? Not necessarily for Warblade or Crusader (you want something relatively low-optimization), but for Superior Unarmed Strike and Snap Kick.

How about:

1) Barb 1. Feat: Power Attack. Bonus: IUS. Bonus: TWF.
2) Barb 2. Bonus: Improved Trip (UA Wolf Totem).
3) Fighter 1. Feat: Superior Unarmed Strike. Bonus: WF.
4) Fighter 2. Bonus: IBR.
5) Fighter 3.
6) Fighter 4. Feat: Snap Kick. Bonus: WS.
7) Fighter 5.
8) Fighter 6. Bonus: Melee Weapon Mastery.
9) Fighter 7. Feat: Knock-Down.
10) Fighter 8. Bonus: Improved TWF.
11) Fighter 9.
12) Fighter 10. Feat: Leap Attack. Bonus: Shock Trooper.
13) Fighter 11.
14) Fighter 12. Bonus: Greater TWF.
15) Fighter 13. Feat: Crushing Strike (PHBII).
16) Fighter 14. Bonus: Greater WF.
17) Fighter 15.
18) Fighter 16. Feat: Brutal Strike (PHBII). Bonus: Greater WS.
19) Fighter 17.
20) Fighter 20. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy.

[BlackOnyx]

If that doesn't work, you'll definitely want to take the Superior Unarmed Strike feat from Tome of Battle.

You will likely want Snap Kick from Tome of Battle and Flying Kick from Complete Warrior, but see how your DM is going to have them work.


Really liking the look of Flying Kick now that you point it out.

Superior Unarmed Strike is definitely a good one too (one I've had my eye on as well).



Is ToB available? Not necessarily for Warblade or Crusader (you want something relatively low-optimization), but for Superior Unarmed Strike and Snap Kick.

Yep, anything ToB should be just fine.

I've glanced briefly at both Warblade and Crusader, though I'm not particularly experienced with ToB classes in general...might they be a better fit than a feat focused Barb/Fighter? Or at least worth a level dip, perhaps? (Not necessarily opposed to "higher op" options as long as they're still in line with the concept.)




How about:

1) Barb 1. Feat: Power Attack. Bonus: IUS. Bonus: TWF.
2) Barb 2. Bonus: Improved Trip (UA Wolf Totem).
3) Fighter 1. Feat: Superior Unarmed Strike. Bonus: WF.
4) Fighter 2. Bonus: IBR.
5) Fighter 3.
6) Fighter 4. Feat: Snap Kick. Bonus: WS.
7) Fighter 5.
8) Fighter 6. Bonus: Melee Weapon Mastery.
9) Fighter 7. Feat: Knock-Down.
10) Fighter 8. Bonus: Improved TWF.
11) Fighter 9.
12) Fighter 10. Feat: Leap Attack. Bonus: Shock Trooper.
13) Fighter 11.
14) Fighter 12. Bonus: Greater TWF.
15) Fighter 13. Feat: Crushing Strike (PHBII).
16) Fighter 14. Bonus: Greater WF.
17) Fighter 15.
18) Fighter 16. Feat: Brutal Strike (PHBII). Bonus: Greater WS.
19) Fighter 17.
20) Fighter 20. Bonus: Weapon Supremacy.


What did IBR stand for?

Some good feat suggestions overall, tho. Barb/Fighter is how I'd imagined this would likely play out from the get-go. (Feats, feats, feats.)

I especially like the idea of incorporating Weapon Focus progression, Crushing Strike, and Brutal Strike in there. Very appropriate.

[Falontani]

Hammer Fist from Dragon Compendium to get str and a half, specifically doesn't stack with Flurry of Blows.

There is a pretty garbage prestige class in Complete Adventurer called Streetfighter, with a simple fix of making their ability either an At will or a Con mod/times per day would really fit thematically and not be completely worthless.

Frostrager is a good unarmed barbarian, however it is a little bit more.... treehuggery than you'd want for your city barbarian (although plausible if your from the far north or far south)

Fist of the Forest is an amazing unarmed barbarian, however it is truly a druidic version of a barbarian if I've ever seen one.

With Versatile Unarmed Strike your fists count as slashing or piercing when you want them to, meaning you can use that to enter into Dervish, a fun thematic class, however be prepared to sing.

Thayan Gladiator from Champions of Ruin is an amazing unarmed prestige class. Bonus points if you combine the Thayan Gladiator with the Gladiator Class from Sword and Fist AND the Bloodbound organization from City of Stormreach! (actually a really fun concept!)

Finally Drunken Master reskinned to not be drunk (basically a master at using improvised weapons) is pretty good.

[Darrin]

I've glanced briefly at both Warblade and Crusader, though I'm not particularly experienced with ToB classes in general...might they be a better fit than a feat focused Barb/Fighter? Or at least worth a level dip, perhaps? (Not necessarily opposed to "higher op" options as long as they're still in line with the concept.)


It sound like you wanted something low-op or at least simple to play, so I left Warbade/Crusader out. While I very, very dearly love playing Warblades/Crusaders, they require a little more attention to detail than a "I SMASH THINGS WITH MY FISTS" build.




What did IBR stand for?


Shorthand for Improved Bull Rush, a prereq for Shock Trooper (Complete Warrior). One of the advantages of a full BAB unarmed strike build is you can use Power Attack with unarmed strikes. You don't get the same damage multipliers as a two-handed weapon, but if you've got PA... might as well use it!



I especially like the idea of incorporating Weapon Focus progression, Crushing Strike, and Brutal Strike in there. Very appropriate.

I was trying to put together another build that used Fist of the Forest (Complete Champion), some soulmelds, and Hellreaver 5 (Fiendish Codex II) to crank up the unarmed damage dice, but I couldn't quite get it all to come together.

I did consider Brawler (Dragon #295) for improvised weapon shenanigans, but the prereq feats are annoying (Alertness, Combat Reflexes, IUS).

[Falontani]

Gladiator



Level

Class

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Skills

Feats

Class Features


1st

Barbarian

+1

+2

+0

+0

Intimidate +4

Weapon Focus: Unarmed Strike, Improved Unarmed Strike(B), Power Attack, Improved Bullrush

Whirling Frenzy, City Brawler, Lion Totem, Illiteracy, Skilled City Dweller



2nd

Barbarian

+2

+3

+0

+0

Intimidate +5


Uncanny Dodge



3rd

Barbarian

+3

+3

+1

+1

Intimidate +6

Toughness

Dashing Step



4th

Barbarian

+4

+4

+1

+1

Intimidate +7


Rage 2/day



5th

Barbarian

+5

+4

+1

+1

Intimidate +8


Unshakable



6th

Thayan Gladiator

+6

+6

+1

+1

Skills

Improved Natural Attack (Unarmed Strike)(B), Superior Unarmed Strike

Study Opponent



7th

Thayan Gladiator

+7

+7

+1

+1

Skills

Improved Critical (Unarmed Strike)(B)

+1 Natural Armor



8th

Thayan Gladiator

+8

+7

+2

+2

Skills


Stunning Critical, Silver Strike



9th

Thayan Gladiator

+9

+8

+2

+2

Skills

Snap Kick

Natural Weapon Focus



10th

Thayan Gladiator

+10

+8

+2

+2

Skills


Imbue Natural Weapon, +1 (+2 total) Natural Armor



11th

Thayan Gladiator

+11

+9

+3

+3

Skills


Adamantine Strike



12th

Thayan Gladiator

+12

+9

+3

+3

Skills

Shock Trooper

Savage Strike



13th

Thayan Gladiator

+13

+10

+3

+3

Skills


Natural Weapon Master, +1 (+3 total) Natural Armor



14th

Gladiator

+14

+12

+3

+3

Skills


Improved Feint



15th

Gladiator

+15

+13

+3

+3

Skills

Hammer Fist

Study Opponent



16th

Gladiator

+16

+13

+4

+4

Skills


Exhaust Opponent



17th

Gladiator

+17

+14

+4

+4

Skills


Roar of the Crowd



18th

Barbarian

+18

+15

+5

+5

Skills

Improved Two Weapon Fighting(B), Greater Two Weapon Fighting




19th

Barbarian

+19

+15

+5

+5

Skills


Streetfighter



20th

Fighter

+20

+17

+5

+5

Skills

Flying Kick

New Class Abilities





You could (and should) most definitely change the level order here! However you get the important bits, On a charge you get 10 attacks each doing (3d6+1d12+str 1.5 17-20*3), you have Shock Trooper. Your Full Attack (just looking at BAB) is +16/+16/+16/+16/+11/+11/+6/+6/+1/+1, if you critically hit then they need to save vs stun. You gain bonuses if you have a crowd of non combatants. Skills aren't done, (at all) but you could easily add in a bunch of intimidate. Throw in Never Outnumbered because you can.

[ShurikVch]

Besides the all aforementioned, there are some things:

Classes and PrCs:

Pugilist - variant of Fighter from Dragon #310.
Have slightly different list of bonus feats, and can take instead them special Pugilist Abilities:
Combo – The 1st & 2nd unarmed strike per round can be a "Combo", which have their BAB's averaged.
Heavy Hitting – Unarmed strikes do +2 non-lethal damage. Can be taken multiple times. Min lvl is 2nd.
Iron Jaw – The Pugilist gains Damage Reduction equal to his/her Constitution modifier vs. non-lethal damage. Also, the Pugilist gains a +1 bonus to saves vs. being Stunned.
Shake It Off – Any Stunning effect has its duration reduced by 1 round (minimum of 1 round). Also, fast healing 1 for non-lethal damage only. Can be taken multiple times.

Weapon Master (Sword and Fist)
The primary attraction of this PrC is the Ki Damage - the "Maximize Spell" for weapon damage, usable 1/day/level
Also, if you will go up to 9th level - Whirlwind Attack as a standard action
Downsides: six feats as prerequisites, and since one of them is Combat Expertise - you can't dump your Int

Brawler (Dragon #295)
Crowd Fighting - +1 moral bonus to attacks when threatening three or more opponents at the same time (+2 at 3rd level, +3 - at 5th)
Subdual Damage Reduction - at 4th level, gets DR /- vs. non-lethal damage equal to Con bonus
Bludgeoning Substitution - at 5th level, half of bludgeoning damage you suffered is converted to non-lethal damage (which may be further reduced by Subdual Damage Reduction)

Fierce Grappler (Dragon #295)
Power Strike - at the 2nd level, +1 size of your unarmed damage die (and +1 more - at 4th level)
Great Grappler - A 2nd-level fierce grappler can hold and pin creatures up to two size categories larger than she is.

Primal Rager (Dragon #295)
Strength of the Beast - by reducing the duration of your Rage, you will get +1 Str and Con for each round that you give up
Power Strike - +1 size of your unarmed damage die (and +1 more - at 3rd level)
Quell the Rage - the "pause button" for your Rage; works up to your Wis mod rounds; you aren't suffering post-rage fatigue during the QtR
Damage Reduction - DR 1/-. Also, allow to penetrate DR /- of your enemies
Heart of the Beast - during the Rage, DR increased to 2/-, unarmed damage gets one more +1 damage die size, and switch damage type to slashing (fluffed as "you growing claws!", but doesn't works on RAW for claws)

Firestorm Berserker (Dragon #314)
Kindling - works like Instantaneous Rage feat
Inner Flame - cold resistance equal to your Firestorm Berserker level + Con bonus
Fire Immunity - at the 3rd level
Heat - during the Rage, +1d6 fire damage with your unarmed attacks or with metallic weapons (+2d6 - with Burning Rage feat)
Breath Fire - at the 3rd level, as a standard action (doesn't provokes AoO), 10' cone, 3d6+Con bonus fire damage (Ref half), every usage reduce duration of your Rage by 1 round (can't be used in final round)
Inner Inferno - you may sacrifice 1d4+1 Con to increase duration of you Rage by the same amount of rounds. (Warning! Once you used it - it will work automatically, until you either roll successful Fort save, or burnt to ashes)
Sheath of Flame - creatures who're attacking you in melee (without reach weapon) are take fire damage (1d8 + Con mod); usable 1/day at 7th level, 2/day - at 9th, and 3/day - at 10th
Ventilating Shout - once per day, you may select to end your Rage - even if Inner Inferno is out of control; everybody in 15' radius (except you) will suffer 1d6 fire damage per your Firestorm Berserker level

Feats:
Blazing Berserker (Sandstorm) - fire subtype during the Rage
Empty Hand Mastery (Oriental Adventures) - increases damage die size of your unarmed strike; unfortunately, six feats as prerequisites :smallfrown:
Ettercap Berserker (Unapproachable East) - +2 to saves vs poison, and during Rage - +6 Con (during Greater Rage - +8)
Fists of Iron (Sword and Fist/Oriental Adventures/Complete Warrior) when activated +1d6 of unarmed damage; the main reason - it's prerequisite for Empty Hand Mastery; old sources - because it isn't easy to get Stunning Fist as a non-Monk, and older versions don't required it :smallannoyed:
Frozen Berserker (Frostburn) - cold subtype during the Rage
Great Stag Berserker (Unapproachable East) - during the charge, +4 to attack and -4 to AC
Hammer Fist (Dragon Compendium) - your unarmed damage gets +1.5 Str bonus (like Two-Handed weapon)
Ice Troll Berserker (Unapproachable East) - +2 natural AC during Rage (during Greater Rage - +4)
Ki Shout (Oriental Adventures) - 1/day, you may make opponents in 30' shaken for 1d6 rounds; it's a prerequisite for Empty Hand Mastery
Mad Foam Rager (Player's Handbook II) ability to delay effect may separate life and death sometimes
Reckless Offensive (Races of Faerûn) - -4 AC for +2 attack
Reckless Rage (Races of Stone) - -2 more to AC, +2 more to Str and Con
Snow Tiger Berserker (Unapproachable East) - one more way to pounce (with light weapon only)

[BlackOnyx]

Fist of the Forest is an amazing unarmed barbarian, however it is truly a druidic version of a barbarian if I've ever seen one.


Agreed, I really like the idea behind this one. A shame they don't have a demonic variant with most of the same abilities.



With Versatile Unarmed Strike your fists count as slashing or piercing when you want them to, meaning you can use that to enter into Dervish, a fun thematic class, however be prepared to sing.


Yeah, I'm thinking I'll be picking up VUS at some point in the next few levels. (Dervish'd definitely be interesting, haha.)



Thayan Gladiator from Champions of Ruin is an amazing unarmed prestige class. Bonus points if you combine the Thayan Gladiator with the Gladiator Class from Sword and Fist AND the Bloodbound organization from City of Stormreach! (actually a really fun concept!)


First I've heard of the two. I really like the focus on showmanship and natural weapons between the them.


**



It sound like you wanted something low-op or at least simple to play, so I left Warbade/Crusader out. While I very, very dearly love playing Warblades/Crusaders, they require a little more attention to detail than a "I SMASH THINGS WITH MY FISTS" build.


Ha, fair enough. "Straightforward" definitely suits the character concept (instinctual brawler vs. seasoned fighter). That said, I still might take a look to see what kind of offerings a level dip here or there might grant.



Shorthand for Improved Bull Rush, a prereq for Shock Trooper (Complete Warrior). One of the advantages of a full BAB unarmed strike build is you can use Power Attack with unarmed strikes. You don't get the same damage multipliers as a two-handed weapon, but if you've got PA... might as well use it!


Ah, my bad. For some reason it just wasn't coming to mind.


The PA/IBR/Shock Trooper/Leap Attack chain is an interesting one...as a two weapon fighter, I've been a bit hesitant to take anything that would lower my attack roll any further (like PA would by itself). Four feats is a bit expensive to overcome that, but it might just be worth it in the end.


**



You could (and should) most definitely change the level order here! However you get the important bits, On a charge you get 10 attacks each doing (3d6+1d12+str 1.5 17-20*3), you have Shock Trooper. Your Full Attack (just looking at BAB) is +16/+16/+16/+16/+11/+11/+6/+6/+1/+1, if you critically hit then they need to save vs stun. You gain bonuses if you have a crowd of non combatants. Skills aren't done, (at all) but you could easily add in a bunch of intimidate. Throw in Never Outnumbered because you can.


First off, wow. Thanks for going through all the trouble of making a table! (You even incorporated the ACFs I'd mentioned I'd wanted!) Thanks a ton.


On sheer number of attacks alone, that is really something else. Coupled with the performance aspect, I really like where the whole thing's going.


While I'm not sure I'd be able to commit to a *full* 15 levels of gladiator and thayan gladiator (too many feats I want), I think I might just have to find a way to incorporate at least a few of them in the coming levels. (Bringing up the idea of skill tricks is a good point too.)


**



Besides the all aforementioned, there are some things:


Classes and PrCs:


Pugilist - variant of Fighter from Dragon #310.
Have slightly different list of bonus feats, and can take instead them special Pugilist Abilities:
Combo – The 1st & 2nd unarmed strike per round can be a "Combo", which have their BAB's averaged.
Heavy Hitting – Unarmed strikes do +2 non-lethal damage. Can be taken multiple times. Min lvl is 2nd.
Iron Jaw – The Pugilist gains Damage Reduction equal to his/her Constitution modifier vs. non-lethal damage. Also, the Pugilist gains a +1 bonus to saves vs. being Stunned.
Shake It Off – Any Stunning effect has its duration reduced by 1 round (minimum of 1 round). Also, fast healing 1 for non-lethal damage only. Can be taken multiple times.


Very appropriate, actually. Thanks for bringing that up.


A shame that my DM probably wouldn't allow Iron Jaw and Shake it Off to play off the Troll-Blooded feat he approved for my character, haha. (I wouldn't blame him.) Still, even if it's nonlethal only, the DR and fast healing aspect definitely fits the character.


I'd been thinking about taking endurance anyway (for steadfast determination), so the extra feat helps.



Feats:
Blazing Berserker (Sandstorm) - fire subtype during the Rage
Empty Hand Mastery (Oriental Adventures) - increases damage die size of your unarmed strike; unfortunately, six feats as prerequisites :smallfrown:
Ettercap Berserker (Unapproachable East) - +2 to saves vs poison, and during Rage - +6 Con (during Greater Rage - +8)
Fists of Iron (Sword and Fist/Oriental Adventures/Complete Warrior) when activated +1d6 of unarmed damage; the main reason - it's prerequisite for Empty Hand Mastery; old sources - because it isn't easy to get Stunning Fist as a non-Monk, and older versions don't required it :smallannoyed:
Frozen Berserker (Frostburn) - cold subtype during the Rage
Great Stag Berserker (Unapproachable East) - during the charge, +4 to attack and -4 to AC
Hammer Fist (Dragon Compendium) - your unarmed damage gets +1.5 Str bonus (like Two-Handed weapon)
Ice Troll Berserker (Unapproachable East) - +2 natural AC during Rage (during Greater Rage - +4)
Ki Shout (Oriental Adventures) - 1/day, you may make opponents in 30' shaken for 1d6 rounds; it's a prerequisite for Empty Hand Mastery
Mad Foam Rager (Player's Handbook II) ability to delay effect may separate life and death sometimes
Reckless Offensive (Races of Faerûn) - -4 AC for +2 attack
Reckless Rage (Races of Stone) - -2 more to AC, +2 more to Str and Con
Snow Tiger Berserker (Unapproachable East) - one more way to pounce (with light weapon only)


Some more good options. Thanks for bringing them to my attention.

[ShurikVch]

Some more things:

Dragon #359 have Craft (body modifications)
One of possible applications is Combat Mod: Weapon - such as "install silver and cold iron caps on her knuckles (which count as silver or cold iron gauntlets)."
The cost is double from the common non-magical weapon.
For unarmed combatant, it's nice to don't care about the DR/material.
Silver caps on one hand, and cold iron - on another one. :smallwink:

The same issue have also Mourning Mutate feat, which, in its "Spongy flesh" variant, gives DR 3/- vs. nonlethal damage

Also, "(Now With a Hint of Demon)", right?
So, Abyssal Heritor Feats (Fiendish Codex I):
Claws of the Beast - +1 bonus on damage rolls with natural weapons and unarmed strikes for each Abyssal heritor feat
Cloak of the Obyrith (required Chaotic alignment) - You gain DR 1/lawful, +1 per additional Abyssal heritor feat
Primordial Scion (required Chaotic alignment and any one Abyssal Heritor Feat) - Weapons you wield are treated as chaotic-aligned and deal +1d6 damage to lawful targets per two Anyssal heritor feats
Poison Talons (required Claws of the Beast and any two other Abyssal heritor feats) - Your unarmed strike becomes poisonous (1d4 Str/1d4 Str)

[BlackOnyx]

Some more things:

Dragon #359 have Craft (body modifications)
One of possible applications is Combat Mod: Weapon - such as "install silver and cold iron caps on her knuckles (which count as silver or cold iron gauntlets)."
The cost is double from the common non-magical weapon.
For unarmed combatant, it's nice to don't care about the DR/material.
Silver caps on one hand, and cold iron - on another one. :smallwink:


Huh...that's actually kind of interesting. I wonder if you couldn't make the case that a "weapon" like that could be enchanted as well. (If nothing else, it's a fun idea to play with, haha.)



Also, "(Now With a Hint of Demon)", right?
So, Abyssal Heritor Feats (Fiendish Codex I):


Ah, thank you. That's the kind of stuff I was looking for.



Claws of the Beast - +1 bonus on damage rolls with natural weapons and unarmed strikes for each Abyssal heritor feat



Useful. A shame they aren't retractable tho.



Poison Talons (required Claws of the Beast and any two other Abyssal heritor feats) - Your unarmed strike becomes poisonous (1d4 Str/1d4 Str)


Oh dear. That could get pretty ridiculous with 6-10 attacks per round.


It wasn't one you listed, but I actually find myself liking the "Vestigial Wings" feat. Not particularly potent, but great flavor should she (the pc) ever come to face/embrace her demon side.


**



Berserker strength acf from PH2 is weaker than whirling frenzy perhaps, but fits much better if you are going mostly with barbarian levels.
(see last line in this entry, which explains how it works for rage-related abilities).


I'd actually played around with the idea a bit. It'd be interesting, but the flavor & mechanics of frenzy work well with what I'm shooting for.


Although I say "barbarian base," in reality I'm thinking 6 levels at most (enough for certain ACFs to come into play). While having access to frenzy will be nice in a pinch, I imagine this PC will be seeing a fair amount of combat in "normal" mode as well.




Single level dip in crusader for Martial Spirit and other healing/abilities. Steely resolve + furious counterstrike also fit the theme.


Nice. I'd been wondering what ToB might have to offer. I'll definitely take a look at these & some of the other forms.




Feat: Lady's gambit - this enables more of the above and gives you a nice bonus to both attack and damage and also fits well thematically.


Ooh. Oooh. That's good. It might come a bit later in my progression (I still need to find time to take Iron Will at some point), but I really like that one. Very fitting.

[ShurikVch]

Note: I mentioned the Primordial Scion mostly not because of damage boost vs. rather restrictive category of enemies, but because chaotic-aligned weapon is one more counter to possible DR

Improved Outer Planar Heritage (Planar Handbook) - one more way to overcome "alignment" DR

Chaos Rage (Dragon #326) - works like Practiced Spellcaster feat, but for Barbarian Rage; also, you will get an aura of chaos (as Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/cleric.htm))

Also, Fanged Ring (Dragon Magic) is a must-have item for almost any unarmed build: it grants Improved Natural Attack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsterFeats.htm#improvedNaturalAttack) for your Unarmed Strike), and inflicts Con damage at critical hits; 10000 gp

[schreier]

Fist of the Forest can be great - with increased unarmed damage and con to AC

Shen (Warriors of the Animal Fist) can really progress open hand as well.

If you wanted to consider 3 levels of warlock with eldritch claw and beast strike (my guess is no, but ...) -- you double your open hand damage + 3d6 (and you can grow it with a greater chausuble of fell power