Unarmed Fighting UA

[Nagog]

So a question for the Playground:
I'm rebuilding an old Pathfinder character for an upcoming oneshot, and I'm unhappy with the original build and even less happy with the directly translated result.
The build was heavily based on the titular character of the ps3 game Asura's Wrath, being thematically a perfect combination of Barbarian and Monk, which, while being a great aesthetic and concept, is perhaps one of the worst mashups possible mechanically. Between the Unarmored Defense overlap, the absolutely insane MADness, and the complete lack of synergy between relying on Str or Dex for attack and damage rolls, it falls flat like a bad 90's cartoon.

So, with the Class Features UA releasing the Unarmed Fighting UA, I'm going to attempt to rebuild him. Right now the best forseeable option is Barbarian 1/Fighter X, but I'm unsure what subclass would fit or if many of the class abilities of either class would trigger without a weapon being involved. What do ya'll think?

[Hytheter]

Battlemaster maneuvers all work with unarmed strikes AFAIK, and there's a new maneuver in the UA that combines well with the unarmed fighting style: Restraining Attack. It's a bonus action grapple after you hit with an attack (think Tavern Brawler) that also restrains, so it's the best of Grapple+Prone in one bonus action and triggers the bonus damage of the fighting style to boot. Rage gets you advantage on grappling too so it's unlikely to fail you.

[Arkhios]

So a question for the Playground:
I'm rebuilding an old Pathfinder character for an upcoming oneshot, and I'm unhappy with the original build and even less happy with the directly translated result.
The build was heavily based on the titular character of the ps3 game Asura's Wrath, being thematically a perfect combination of Barbarian and Monk, which, while being a great aesthetic and concept, is perhaps one of the worst mashups possible mechanically. Between the Unarmored Defense overlap, the absolutely insane MADness, and the complete lack of synergy between relying on Str or Dex for attack and damage rolls, it falls flat like a bad 90's cartoon.

So, with the Class Features UA releasing the Unarmed Fighting UA, I'm going to attempt to rebuild him. Right now the best forseeable option is Barbarian 1/Fighter X, but I'm unsure what subclass would fit or if many of the class abilities of either class would trigger without a weapon being involved. What do ya'll think?

While Martial Arts feature lets the monk use Dexterity for attack and damage rolls with unarmed strikes and monk weapons while unarmored and wielding eligible weapons, they are not forced to use Dexterity. A monk can use Strength for relevant attack and damage rolls with unarmed strikes and monk weapons, and still benefit from Martial Arts' other features, such as the increased damage die, bonus action attack, as well as flurry of blows and other class features that care about what you wear or wield.

Barbarian benefits from having a decent dexterity score due to their Unarmored Defense (10+dex+con) so it's not that big of an investment to be entirely honest. Likewise, having 13 or 14 in Wisdom is not that bad for them, either, since they lack proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. The ability score a barbarian/monk needs the least is, funnily enough, Constitution. Constitution affects very few barbarian features (IIRC, only a few sub-classes make any meaningful use of it). Multiclassing requirements between barbarian and monk are only str 13, dex 13, and wis 13. You can leave constitution at 12 or so, while keeping strength as your highest score, with dexterity and wisdom close behind.

In fact, following array with point-buy would work just fine:
Str 15, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 8
As a v.Human, depending on which class you start with, you could take Resilient (Dexterity w/Barbarian or Wisdom w/Monk), and use racial modifiers on the other two odd scores.
Barbarian's d12 hit die is enough to not worry about hit points even though your constitution was only 12 forever.


I've played Pathfinder (mainly Pathfinder Society) for a little over 10 years starting from it's Alpha-phase and I consider myself well acquainted with the system. Could you perhaps share the original build in spoilers so I might take a look at it, and maybe offer some further insights for a conversion?

[JackPhoenix]

As a v.Human, depending on which class you start with, you could take Resilient (Dexterity w/Barbarian or Wisdom w/Monk), and use racial modifiers on the other two odd scores.

You start as a monk. You have no choice if you want to use Wis for unarmored defense, you only get UD from the first class that grants it.

[Teaguethebean]

Because monks came up you could totally play an armored monk using strength after starting fighter. You lose a lot of the monk bonuses but keep stunning strike meaning 13 dex and high wis and str would make you a dangerous threat on the field.

[Arkhios]

You start as a monk. You have no choice if you want to use Wis for unarmored defense, you only get UD from the first class that grants it.

I wasn't sure how it went, as I was AFB, but yeah. Makes sense.

[Nagog]

You start as a monk. You have no choice if you want to use Wis for unarmored defense, you only get UD from the first class that grants it.

I thought you could choose which to take when you have multiple AC calculations? Tbh it's never come up for me, typically I shoot for one that works well with my build and never feel the need to pick up another later.

[JackPhoenix]

I thought you could choose which to take when you have multiple AC calculations? Tbh it's never come up for me, typically I shoot for one that works well with my build and never feel the need to pick up another later.

Sure. If you're tortle monk someone casts Mage Armor on, you can pick. However, "If you already have the Unarmored Defense feature, you can’t gain it again from another class."