Pugilist

Arrows rain down around her as she runs towards the hobgoblins. Desperate to close the distance, the half-orc fights through the sting of a dozen cuts to reach her foes. The pain only makes her stronger. As she descends on the snarling pack she swings wildly, knocking several hobgoblins off their feet and sending the rest scattering before her. The human braces himself for the impact as the orc rushes him. Then the monster makes a mistake, telegraphing its next move, and that’s all the opening the human needs. He ducks beneath the orc’s wide swing then raises both hands high above his head and brings them down on the orc’s back, forcing the brute to the ground. The dwarf smiles broadly and chuckles as the petty noble raises his hand to strike him for the impudent remark. Quick as a flash, the dwarf shatters the bottle in his hand against the bar and brandishes it before the noble. The young dandy flinches, stumbles backward, and runs away as the dwarf turns back to the bar to order another round.
Wherever they come from, pugilists live a rough and tumble life that leaves them full of determination and reckless, either from overconfidence or desperation. In a fight they can channel this strength of character to dig deep and fight off foes with greater strength of numbers, arms, or armor than anyone else would think possible.

Swagger for Days

Pugilists unconsciously tap into their own inner strength in the form of moxie. This is not an esoteric or mystical energy that flows through the multiverse, but the result of determination forged over a lifetime of hardship with a never-say-die attitude. You can teach someone how to fight but you could never teach someone how to be a pugilist. The secret of mastering moxie doesn’t come from disciplined study or rigorous training, it comes from years of wanting and needing.

Life on the Street

Every city in the worlds of D&D has its back alleys, its underground fighting rackets, its ghettos. The pugilists who live in these places don’t have time to consider the lofty ideals of philosophy or ponder the mysteries of the universe. The pugilists, growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, spend all their time chasing down their next meal or, if they’re fortunate enough to have that, their next drink, bedfellow, or flophouse.
For pugilists, becoming an adventurer might be the only way out of whatever miserable situation they’ve been stuck in since infancy. For others, getting lost out in the world is an escape from the tangled web of debt or enemies they’ve piled up. Other pugilists fight because it’s the only thing they know how to do. Whatever the reason for their adventuring, pugilists are as excited by the prospect of throwing punches as they are spending every last gold coin they earn.

Creating a Pugilist

As you build your pugilist, consider how you came to be a bare knuckle brawler. Did you learn to fight to defend yourself? Was scraping the natural result of your nose for trouble? Or did you learn to fight as a way of intimidating and controlling others? Were you fighting for the entertainment, or did you fight because you had to? Did you try to become a more traditional martial artist but just couldn’t hack it? Pugilists are a rowdy bunch that like to brag about how they learned to fight, so you better have a good story to tell.
What events in your life gave you the sheer determination and will that pugilists call on? Did you spend every day hustling on the street to make ends meet? Were you forgotten and ignored by your family? Were you an outsider in your community who had to constantly struggle against the ignorant stereotypes the people there had of you? The most important element of the pugilist is that they are driven. Once you have decided what events made you into the pugilist you are today, decide how that may shape the actions you take in the future.

Quick Build

You can make a pugilist quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Strength your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the criminal or urchin background.

Pugilist

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Hit Points

Hit Dice: d8 per Pugilist level

Hit Points at first Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per pugilist level after 1st

Proficiences

Armor: Light armor

Weapons: Simple weapons, improvised weapons, whip, hand crossbow

Tools: Your choice of one artisan’s tools, gaming set, or thieves’ tools

Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution

Skills: Choose two skills from Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, Perception, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth.

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Class Features

Fisticuffs

At 1st level, your years of fighting in back alleys and taverns have given you mastery over combat styles that use unarmed strikes and pugilist weapons, which are simple melee weapons without the two-handed property, whips, and improvised weapons. You may not use the finesse property of a weapon while using it as a pugilist weapon.
You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or using only pugilist weapons and you are wearing light or no armor and not using a shield:

• You can roll a d6 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or pugilist weapon. This die changes as you gain pugilist levels, as shown in the Fisticuffs column on the Pugilist table.

• When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a pugilist weapon on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike or grapple as a bonus action.

Iron Chin

Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing light or no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 12 + your Constitution modifier.

Moxie

Starting at 2nd level, your experience laying the beatdown on others has given you a moxie you can channel in the midst of battle. This swagger is represented by a number of moxie points. Your pugilist level determines the maximum number of points you have, as shown in the Moxie Points column of the Pugilist table.
You can spend these points to fuel various moxie features. You start knowing three such features: Brace Up, The Old One-Two, and Stick and Move. You learn more moxie features as you gain levels in this class. You regain all expended moxie points when you complete a short or long rest.
Brace Up You can use a bonus action and spend 1 moxie point to brace for attacks. Roll your fisticuffs die + your pugilist level + your Constitution modifier and gain that many temporary hit points.
The Old One-Two Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 moxie point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.
Stick and Move You can use a bonus action and expend 1 moxie point to make a shove attack or take the Dash action.

Street Smart

Beginning at 2nd level, carousing, shadowboxing, and sparring all count as light activity for the purposes of resting for you. Additionally, once you have caroused in a settlement for 8 hours or more, you know all public locations in the city as if you were born and raised there and you cannot be lost by non-magical means while within the city.

Bloodied But Unbowed

Starting at 3rd level, when you take damage that reduces you to half your maximum hit points or less, you can use your reaction to gain temporary hit points equal to your pugilist level + your Constitution modifier and you regain all expended moxie points. You cannot use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

Fight Club

Starting at 3rd level, you choose a fight club that best exemplifies your style: Arena Royale, Bloodhound Bruisers, Dog & Hound, Piss & Vinegar, the Squared Circle, or the Sweet Science, all detailed at the end of the class description. Your fight club grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 11th, and 17th level.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Dig Deep

Starting at 4th level, you discover a strength inside you that can’t be broken. As a bonus action, you gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage for one minute. At the end of that minute you gain a level of exhaustion.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Haymaker

Starting at 5th level, before you make an attack that does not already have disadvantage, you can declare you are swinging wild haymakers. You make all weapon attack rolls until the end of this turn with disadvantage and when you deal damage with a pugilist weapon or an unarmed strike you do not roll for the weapon’s damage die, but use the maximum die result instead.

Moxie-Fueled Fists

Starting at 6th level, your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to non-magical attacks and damage.

Fancy Footwork

At 7th level, you gain proficiency in Dexterity saving throws.

Shake It Off

Starting at 7th level, you can use your action to end one effect on yourself that is causing you to be charmed or frightened.

Down But Not Out

At 9th level, when you use your Bloodied But Unbowed feature you can choose to also use this feature. If you do, you add your proficiency bonus to your damage with unarmed attacks and pugilist weapons for the next minute. You can use this feature again after you complete a long rest.

School of Hard Knocks

By 10th level, you’ve graduated top of the class at the school of hard knocks and you took most of them on the head. You have resistance to psychic damage and gain advantage on saving throws against effects that would make you stunned or unconscious.

Rabble Rouser

Starting at 13th level, word of your exploits travels quickly in cities and other settlements. Once you have taken a long rest by carousing in a settlement, you gain advantage on all Charisma (Persuasion) and Charisma (Intimidation) rolls made against the people who live there.

Unbreakable

Starting at 14th level, you gain advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws. Additionally, whenever you make a saving throw and fail, you can spend 1 moxie point to reroll it and take the second result.

Herculean

At 15th level, your carrying capacity is doubled, and when you deal damage with a melee weapon or unarmed strike to an inanimate object that damage is doubled. Your standing jump distance is the same as your running start jump distance.

Fighting Spirit

Starting at 18th level, when you have 4 levels of exhaustion or fewer and are reduced to 0 hit points, you regain half of your maximum hit points, half of your maximum moxie points, and gain a level of exhaustion. You cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Peak Physical Condition

At 20th level, your Strength and Constitution ability scores increase by 2 to a maximum of 22. Additionally, when you take a long rest you recover 2 levels of exhaustion instead of 1 and you regain all your expended hit dice instead of half your expended hit dice.

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Starting Equipment

You start with the following equipment in addition to the equipment gained by your background:

• (a) leather armor or (b) any simple weapon

• (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack

• (a) a set of artisan’s tools (b) a gaming set or (c) thieves’ tools

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Subclass Options

Fight Clubs Despite the name, fight clubs are not formal fraternities or sororities, but collections of pugilists who, by training or happenstance, share a similar style. In some D&D worlds, fight clubs can tell you a lot about where a person comes from, while in others there are representatives of many fighting styles in all metropolitan areas.

Arena Royale

Pugilists in the Arena Royale fight club travel the world earning their keep as equal parts performer and gladiator. Whether performing in staged physical competitions, or fighting it out in unscripted brawls, pugilists in the Arena Royale care as much about the theatrics of a fight as they do its outcome. Pugilists in this fight club also care deeply about their reputation and work to build up local and regional legends about their performing personas.

Bonus Proficiency

Starting when you choose this Fight Club at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Performance skill, if you don’t have it already. If you do, you gain proficiency in your choice of the Intimidation or Persuasion skill.

Persona Libre

Also at 3rd level, you create an alternate persona that you can adopt or discard as a bonus action on your turn. When you create an alternate persona you should give the persona a striking name as well as some physical signifier (such as a mask, colorful cape, or another prominent idiosyncratic feature). Unless you tell a creature, or the creature sees you adopt your persona, they do not know you and the adopted persona are the same person.
Additionally, you have a pool of persona points equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). When you use an ability that costs moxie points, you can spend persona points instead. In addition, before you make a Charisma ability check you can spend a persona point to add your Strength modifier to the result. You can only use persona points while you have adopted your persona. You regain all expended persona points when you finish a long rest.

Work the Crowd

At 6th level, while you have adopted your alternate persona, you can use your action to inspire your choice of fear or adoration in those nearby. When you do, all creatures within 30 feet who can see you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier) or be charmed, if you chose adoration, or frightened if you chose fear. This effect lasts for one minute. Each time a creature takes damage from you or one of your allies it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on a success. You can use this feature again after you finish a long rest.

High Flyer

Starting at 11th level, your base movement increases by 10 feet, your jump distance is doubled, and you can use a bonus action on your turn to take the Dash action.

Signature Move

Starting at 17th level, you create a signature move that you can use while you have adopted your alternate persona. Give your signature move a name and a description. You can replace one of your unarmed attacks or attacks with a pugilist weapon on your turn with this signature move.
When you use your signature move, you can jump in any direction up to your movement speed, make an attack roll with advantage against a creature in your reach and, if you hit, the attack is a critical and the creature is stunned until the end of your next turn. If you hit with your signature move, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again. If you miss with your signature move, you regain the use of it after 1 minute.

Bloodhound Bruisers

Pugilists in the Bloodhound Bruisers fight club are notorious for looking for trouble and finding it every time. Members of this fight club are highly observant of character traits and physical evidence and can form an almost supernatural connection to the cities they live in. Most use these abilities to become urban defenders of the downtrodden but others lend their talents to less savory organizations.

Ever Vigilant

When you choose this fight club at 3rd level, you have advantage on initiative rolls. During the first round of combat, you have advantage on attack rolls against creatures who haven’t acted yet.

Detective Work

Also at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Insight, Investigation, or Perception. In addition, when you make an Intelligence (Investigation), Wisdom (Insight), or Wisdom (Perception) ability check you can spend 1 moxie point to gain advantage on that ability check.

Scrap Like a Sleuth

At 6th level, you can use a bonus action and expend 2 moxie points to hone in on the idiosyncrasies and bad habits of an enemy you can see within 30 feet. When you do, you have advantage on weapon attacks against the creature and you add your proficiency bonus to your AC against attacks made by that creature. These effects continue for 1 minute or until you use this feature again.

Heart of the City

Starting at 11th level, when you take a long rest in a settlement, you can choose to become familiar with the settlement. When you use this feature again, you replace your previous familiar settlement with the current one. You gain the following benefits while in a familiar settlement:

• You cannot be surprised and you add your proficiency bonus to your initiative.

• You have darkvision to a range of 120 feet.

• When you make an ability check using the Insight, Investigation, or Perception skills that adds your proficiency bonus, add twice your proficiency bonus instead.

• You cannot be lost by any means.

• When you are not in combat, you can travel between any two points in the settlement twice as fast as your speed would normally allow.

Eyes Wide Open

Starting at 17th level, you can use a bonus action and spend 1 moxie point to open your senses to your surroundings for 1 minute. During this time, you have advantage on saving throws against being blinded or deafened and have truesight out to a distance of 30 feet.

Dog & Hound

You’ve never had a friend you could rely on that walked on two legs. Lucky for you, you’ve got the best four- legged friend a body could ask for. Pugilists in the Dog & Hound fight club are as faithful to their canine companions as their canine companions are to them.

Bonus Proficiency

When you choose this fight club at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with the Animal Handling skill if you don’t already have it. If you do, you gain proficiency in your choice of the Perception or Survival skill.

Brawler’s Best Friend

Also at 3rd level, you gain a hound that accompanies you on your adventures and fights alongside you. Your hound can be any breed of dog or similar canine creature, but uses the statistics of a wolf (found in appendix A of the Monster Manual). You add your proficiency bonus to your hound’s AC, saving throws, attack rolls, and damage rolls. For each level you gain after 3rd, your hound gains an additional d8 hit die and increases its hit points accordingly. You can use a bonus action on each of your turns to verbally command your hound to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action that turn. It does not have its own turn unless you are incapacitated or absent. If you are incapacitated or absent, the hound acts on its own (continuing to act on your turn, if you are incapacitated), focusing on protecting you and itself. The hound never requires your command to use its reaction, such as when making an opportunity attack. If your hound dies, you can obtain a new one by spending 8 hours bonding with a canine animal that isn’t hostile to you.

Mutt With Moxie

At 3rd level, you share everything with your faithful hound: food, shelter, even moxie. When you use certain moxie abilities, your hound gains a benefit as well.
Brace Up. When you gain temporary hit points as a result of using your Brace Up moxie ability, your hound gains the same number of temporary hit points.
The Old One-Two. When you use your The Old One- Two moxie ability, your hound can make one or both attacks instead of you.
Stick and Move. When you use your Stick and Move moxie ability, your hound can take the Dash action.

Arcanine Bite

At 6th level, your hound’s attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to non-magical attacks and damage.

Coordinated Attack

Also at 6th level, you and your canine companion form a more potent fighting team. When you use the Attack action on your turn, if your hound can see you, it can use its reaction to make a melee attack.

Hound’s Best Friend

At 11th level, when a creature deals damage to your hound with an attack, you can use your reaction to make an opportunity attack against that creature if you are within range.

Dire Hound

Beginning at 17th level, you use the statistics for a dire wolf (found in appendix A of the Monster Manual), instead of a wolf, for your hound, except that its size remains Medium. These statistics are modified as described in your Brawler’s Best Friend feature.

Piss & Vinegar

Pugilists in the Piss & Vinegar fight club revel in their reputations as heels. Widely despised for their obscene curses and dirty tricks, these pugilists take pride in their ability to provoke and fight to win at all costs.

Bonus Proficiency

Starting when you choose this fight club at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with the Intimidation skill if you don’t have it already.

Salty Salute

Also at 3rd level, you have mastered the art of the enraging insult. You can use a bonus action on your turn to provoke a creature within 60 feet who can see or hear you. That creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature takes your fisticuff’s damage die + your Charisma modifier in psychic damage and has disadvantage on any attack rolls it makes that do not include you as a target before the start of your next turn. For any of your Piss & Vinegar features that require your opponent to make a saving throw, the saving DC is calculated as follows:

Piss & Vinegar save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Dirty Tricks

Starting at 6th level, you have a few tricks up your sleeve to even the odds when the going gets rough. You can each of these dirty tricks once and regain their use when you finish a short or long rest.
Heelstomper. When you deal damage with an unarmed attack, you attempt to slow the creature you hit. The creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, you gain 1 moxie point (up to your maximum) and its movement speed is halved for one minute.
Low Blow. When you deal damage with an unarmed attack you can choose to hit them below the belt. The creature must make a Strength saving throw. On a failure, you gain 1 moxie point (up to your maximum) and it is knocked prone.
Pocket Sand. You can use a bonus action to attempt to blind a creature within 5 feet. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, you gain 1 moxie point (up to your maximum) and it is blinded until the end of its next turn.

Mean Old Cuss

At 11th level, your threats and mean spirited tricks pack an extra punch. When you make a Charisma (Intimidation) ability check, you can use your reaction and spend 1 moxie to give yourself advantage on the roll. When a creature makes a saving throw against one of your Piss & Vinegar features, you can use your reaction and spend 1 moxie to give that roll disadvantage.

The Uncouth Art

Starting at 17th level, you gain the ability to offend every creature in the room with minimal effort. When you use your Salty Salute feature, you can choose to target a number of creatures within 60 feet who can see or hear you up to your level in this class instead of a single creature. You gain 1 moxie point (up to your maximum) the first time each creature targeted in this way hits you with an attack before the start of your next turn. You can use this feature again after you finish a long rest.

The Squared Circle

Pugilists who fight in the Squared Circle know you don’t have to knock an opponent senseless to get them to submit. Of course, members of the Squared Circle do beat their opponents senseless, they just know they don’t have to.

Groundwork

Starting when you choose this fight club at 3rd level, you gain the following additional moxie features.
Compression Lock. When a creature attempts to break a grapple with you and succeeds, you can use your reaction and spend 1 moxie point to force the creature to roll again. The creature must use the second result.
Quick Pin. When a hostile creature’s movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction and spend 1 moxie point to make a grapple attack instead of an opportunity attack.
To the Mat. You can use a bonus action and spend 1 moxie point to make a grapple attack against a creature within range. If successful, the creature is also knocked prone.

Meat Shield

At 6th level, when you have an enemy creature grappled, you gain half cover against all attacks made against you by a creature you are not grappling. When a weapon attack made by a creature you are not grappling misses you, you may use your reaction and spend 1 moxie point to have that creature make the same attack with a new roll against an enemy creature you are grappling.

Heavyweight

At 11th level, you count as one size larger than you are for the purposes of grappling. In addition, you can move your full movement speed when you are dragging or carrying a grappled creature your size or smaller.

Clean Finish

At 17th level, your mastery of grappling reaches its peak. While you have a creature grappled, you gain advantage on all attacks against it. Additionally, when you make an unarmed strike or pugilist weapon attack against a creature you have grappled, you score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

The Sweet Science

Pugilists who practice the Sweet Science hit hard, fast, and often. This style is sometimes used by fighters who battle for the entertainment of the upper classes, but is just as often practiced in the back alleys and the bars by those whose next breath depends on a knockout.

Cross Counter

Starting when you choose this fight club at 3rd level, you can block the brunt of an attack and launch one of your own in the same fluid motion. You can use your reaction and spend 2 moxie points to reduce the damage of a melee weapon attack made against you by 1d10 + your Strength modifier + your pugilist level. If you reduce the damage to 0, you can make an unarmed strike, or pugilist weapon attack, against a creature within range as part of the same reaction.

One, Two, Three, Floor

At 6th level, when you use your bonus action to use the Old One-Two and hit the same creature with both attacks, you can spend 1 moxie to make an additional unarmed strike against that creature as part of the same bonus action. If you hit, the creature is knocked prone in addition to taking damage as normal for your unarmed strike.

Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

At 11th level, when you reduce damage from an attack to 0 and successfully hit an enemy creature using your Cross Counter feature you regain 1 moxie point (up to your maximum).

Knock Out

At 17th level, when you hit with an unarmed strike or pugilist weapon, you can spend 1 or more moxie points to try to knock out the opponent instead of dealing damage. Roll 3d12 + 2d12 for every moxie point spent after the first and add your pugilist level to the result; if the total is equal to or greater than the creature’s remaining hit points, it is unconscious for 10 minutes.