Talk:Unarmed Strike (5e Variant Rule)

"dealing damage equal to character level" - just to be clear, this means that at 10th level you are dealing the equivalent of 1d20 damage (and monks become insane). Marasmusine (talk) 05:11, 18 February 2016 (MST)

Thanks. I wasn't clear in my meaning. This isn't entirely a strict mechanical thing, just an explanation of variations upon unarmed strike. Since unarmed strike was removed from the PHB, solidifying the ruling that attacks are not weapons, this might not actually be appropriate in the weapons category. Perhaps it should be moved to variant rules... --Kydo (talk) 08:46, 18 February 2016 (MST)

OK it's not a weapon any more. Revised the page text to explain the reasoning behind the creation of this material. --Kydo (talk) 23:30, 18 February 2016 (MST)

Can you add a link to the revised PHB rule? Is it the one in the errata [1]? Marasmusine (talk) 04:14, 19 February 2016 (MST)

I'm still unclear about "dealing damage equal to character level". Does this literally mean if I'm 10th level, my unarmed strike deals a flat 10 damage? (This is the average damage of a 1d20 roll). Do I still add my Strength bonus? If I use this variant with a monk character, does it make the monk overpowered? Marasmusine (talk) 04:20, 19 February 2016 (MST)

I think it is? Unarmed strike used to be in the simple weapons list. Now it isn't. As for damage based on level, there are no specifics. DM could make a chart that scales the damage as you level, make a formula to derive base damage from level, have it deal damage equal to character tier... There's a billion ways to do it. In my games, I always ruled that unarmed strike was a monk weapon, so it dealt martial arts die damage in the hands of a monk, regardless of what it should do in the hands of a commoner. That ruling no longer makes sense in the context of the revision. I still play by my misinterpretation of the rules though- attacks are weapons and weapons are attacks. Doing anything with a weapon that isn't its described attack, (clubbing someone with the hilt of your sword, throwing a lance, etc.) makes it an improvised weapon/attack. --Kydo (talk) 23:15, 19 February 2016 (MST)