Improved Unarmed Strike

koz · Post by **koz** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:55 am

For those people who want to punch people in the face...

Rules

A humanoid of Medium size, unless noted otherwise, has a slam attack dealing 1d4 damage. It may gain iterative attacks, and can be used as a secondary attack when attacking with a weapon, albeit at a -5 penalty.

Improved Unarmed Strike [Combat]

You punch people. In the face.

This is a [Combat] feat that scales to your BAB.

0: Your slam attack gains an enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls equal to your character level/3, minimum +1.
1: By spending a swift action, you can make your fists capable of stunning for one round. Anyone hit by your slam attack must make a Fort save (DC 10+1/2 character level+Str modifier) or be stunned for 1 round.
6: Your slam attack ignores DR and hardness.
11: By spending a swift action, you can turn your fists into force effects for one round. Your slam attack is considered a force effect.
16: Everything you strike with your slam attack is affected by the violent thrust option of telekinesis, with a caster level equal to your character level. There is no save against this effect. You can choose to not have this effect occur if you want.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:32 pm

You need durations for the swift action effects, and whether the character can turn off the TK.

Other than that, looks like a good feat for those that don't want to go with the 'mystical warrior' angle of monk.

koz · Post by **koz** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:46 pm

Yeah, thanks for catching those CGF. They seem obvious, but then again, I kinda rushed this.

SunTzuWarmaster · Post by **SunTzuWarmaster** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:24 pm

Save or be stunned is too good for a level 1 character to have, frankly. Keep in mind that the stunned condition makes people drop their weapons. It is (more) balanced at level 6. Swap abilities numbers 1 and 6, and add hardness to 6.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:33 pm

SunTzuWarmaster wrote:Save or be stunned is too good for a level 1 character to have, frankly.

oh no you did not

"Dude, I took a feat and now I can punch a fool and maybe stun him."
"That's cool. I didn't take a feat, and I can cut fools in half with my greatsword... to death."
"I'm overpowered."
"Yeah, you are."

Gelare · Post by **Gelare** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 12:12 am

angelfromanotherpin wrote:
SunTzuWarmaster wrote:Save or be stunned is too good for a level 1 character to have, frankly.
oh no you did not

That +1

koz · Post by **koz** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:46 am

Sorry STW, this time, you missed. Read the Tome monk - this ability is cloned wholesale, except the monk gets a whole other option ON TOP OF THIS.

As for adding hardness, I think I will.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 1:48 am

It would be nice to have a copy of this over in Some Homebrew Tome Style Feats.

http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=48737& ... &start=125

koz · Post by **koz** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 1:51 am

Avoraciopoctules wrote:It would be nice to have a copy of this over in Some Homebrew Tome Style Feats.

http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=48737& ... &start=125

I'll collate all the stuff I've ever written and post it there sometime alongside. The problem is, so much of it is scattered already, it'd take me a while.

SunTzuWarmaster · Post by **SunTzuWarmaster** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 9:55 am

I stand corrected, as I often seem to do here. I was thinking of the +6 ability of Combat School, and that giving it earlier seems kind of powerful.

In that case, as long as we are cloning monks' abilities wholesale, why not just call a spade a spade and grant <Monk Fighting Style or your choice>?

koz · Post by **koz** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 4:35 am

SunTzuWarmaster wrote:I stand corrected, as I often seem to do here. I was thinking of the +6 ability of Combat School, and that giving it earlier seems kind of powerful.

In that case, as long as we are cloning monks' abilities wholesale, why not just call a spade a spade and grant <Monk Fighting Style or your choice>?

Mostly because I dislike wholesale class ability replication off a feat, and a sub-ability at that.

Aktariel · Post by **Aktariel** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:28 am

Mister_Sinister wrote: Mostly because I dislike wholesale class ability replication off a feat, and a sub-ability at that.

Except that... almost every single one of these is ripped whole cloth from the Monk's Fighting or Master/Grand Master Fighting Styles.

I mean, don't get me wrong. For someone who isn't a monk who likes punching people in the face, it isn't bad. But there's no reason for a monk to take it, unless they picked completely different powers - but even then, you have to burn swift actions for some of this stuff, which is right out at higher levels because you're going to be activating Grand Master Fighting Styles instead of half of a regular Fighting Style.

Remember. Feats should grant options that are usable at all levels.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:15 pm

A feat that grants a single monk fighting style would be reasonable. A feat that grants multiple monk fighting styles is probably overpowered.

I think the current design is pretty well balanced. The BAB 1 ability + the BAB 6 ability is equivalent to a monk fighting style, and the combination of 16, 11, and 6 is approximately equivalent to a master style.

The only thing I'd be worried about is actually the combination of this feat and the monk class at high levels, because there would really be some killer synergy. Probably not enough to get too worked up about.

koz · Post by **koz** » Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:05 am

I actually don't believe that it should cause any concern. If you compare this feat to other [Combat] feats and their effectiveness on a monk, I really don't see why this would be unbalanced, particularly if compared to, say, Insightful Strike.