Pugilists turn close-quarters grit into a disciplined art. They fight with fists, improvised weapons, and the nerve to stay on their feet when others would fall. Their mechanical niche is durable, resource-driven melee pressure: they combine reliable unarmed attacks, grappling, and short bursts of resilience without spellcasting.
Every room has a weapon. Every setback is another round.
Durable close-quarters striker and controller
At a glance
Hit die d10
Strength
ConstitutionYou gain proficiency with simple weapons and improvised weapons. While unarmored or wearing Light armor, wielding no Shield, and using only simple melee or improvised weapons, you can make an Unarmed Strike as a Bonus Action, use your Fisticuffs die for Unarmed Strike and Pugilist weapon damage, and treat improvised weapons as having the Sap mastery property.
While unarmored or wearing Light armor and wielding no Shield, your base AC is 12 + your Constitution modifier.
You gain Moxie Points as shown on the class table, regaining all expended points when you finish a Short or Long Rest. You learn Brace Up, One-Two Punch, and Stick and Move: Brace Up grants temporary HP equal to a Fisticuffs die roll + your Pugilist level + Constitution modifier; One-Two Punch lets you spend 1 point to make two Unarmed Strikes as a Bonus Action; Stick and Move lets you spend 1 point as a Bonus Action to make an Unarmed Strike and then take the Dash or Disengage action.
When you take damage, you can use your Reaction to regain all expended Moxie Points. If you are at or below half your Hit Point maximum, you also gain temporary HP equal to four times your Pugilist level. Once used, you must finish a Short or Long Rest to use this again.
When you fail a Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Charisma ability check, you can expend 1 Moxie Point and add a Fisticuffs die to the check. If it still fails, you regain the point and cannot use this feature again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.
When you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike, you can deal its normal damage and also choose to attempt to Grapple or Shove it as part of the same attack.
Choose a Pugilist subclass. Your subclass grants features at Pugilist levels 3, 6, 10, and 14.
Ability Score Improvement
As a Bonus Action, steel yourself for 10 minutes. You have Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage and ignore the effects of Exhaustion levels 1–5. Once you use this, you must finish a Long Rest to use it again, unless you take 1 Exhaustion level (no action required) to regain its use.
You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
When you hit with an Unarmed Strike or Pugilist weapon attack, you can expend 1 Moxie Point to deal maximum damage with that attack instead of rolling its damage dice. On a hit, you regain the expended point.
When you deal damage with an Unarmed Strike or improvised weapon, you can choose for it to deal Force damage instead of its normal damage type.
You gain the feature granted at this level by your Pugilist subclass.
When damage would reduce you to 0 Hit Points but not kill you outright, you can drop to 1 Hit Point instead. Once you use this feature, you must finish a Long Rest to use it again.
Ability Score Improvement
Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d12 damage when you hit with an Unarmed Strike or attack with a Pugilist weapon. This damage is the same type dealt by the weapon or Unarmed Strike. You can forgo this extra damage to apply one of the following effects. Endanger. The next time the creature is hit by an attack, the attack deals the maximum result of the attack’s damage dice rather than rolling. Provoke. The creature has Disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you until the end of your next turn.
You gain the following benefits. Heavy Lifter. Your Strength score is doubled when determining your carrying capacity. Pillar Breaker. When you hit an object with an Unarmed Strike, the hit is a Critical Hit. Unmatched Athlete. Your jump distance is doubled
At the start of each of your turns (no action required), you can remove one Exhaustion level on yourself or end one of the following conditions on yourself: Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Paralyzed, Poisoned, Restrained, or Stunned. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest unless you take a level of Exhaustion (no action required by you) to restore your use of it.
You gain the feature granted at this level by your Pugilist subclass.
Ability Score Improvement
You can use a Bonus Action to dig deeper. For 1 minute, you have all the benefits of your Dig Deep and can use your School of Hard Knocks twice per turn instead of once. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest. Starting at level 20, you can use it twice before a Long Rest.
You have Advantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution saving throws. Additionally, whenever you make a saving throw and fail, you can expend 1 Moxie Point to reroll it, and you must use the new roll.
When you roll Initiative and have no Moxie Points remaining, you regain 2 Moxie Points.
Ability Score Improvement
You gain the feature granted at this level by your Pugilist subclass.
When you roll Initiative, you regain 2 expended Moxie Points. If you have no Hit Point Dice remaining, you regain one Hit Point Die.
Ability Score Improvement and Epic Boon
Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 2, to a maximum of 25. In addition, when you roll Initiative and have fewer than 4 Moxie Points, you regain Moxie Points until you have 4.
StrengthConstitutionHit pointsHit Point Die: per Pugilist level.
Saving throwsStrength and Constitution saving throw proficiencies. Iron Chin offers a Constitution-based AC when unarmored or wearing Light armor and carrying no Shield.
ArmorLight armor.
WeaponsSimple weapons and improvised weapons.
ToolsNone.
Saving ThrowsStrength and Constitution. Choose two skills from Acrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Sleight of Hand.
Skill choicesAcrobatics, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Sleight of Hand
ResourceMoxie Points; you regain all expended points on a Short or Long Rest.
MulticlassingTo multiclass into Pugilist, you need Strength 13 or Constitution 13. You gain the Pugilist Hit Point Die and the level 1 features Fisticuffs and Iron Chin. Your unarmed and improvised-weapon benefits require the stated armor and shield restrictions.
Hold the line, protect your people, and make every attempt to pass you costly.
Anything within reach is part of your style.
Read the rhythm, break the guard, and finish the bout on your terms.
Pugilists turn close-quarters grit into a disciplined art.
They fight with fists, improvised weapons, and the nerve to stay on their feet when others would fall. Their mechanical niche is durable, resource-driven melee pressure: they combine reliable unarmed attacks, grappling, and short bursts of resilience without spellcasting.
Stay close enough to pressure enemies, but use grapples and Shoves to control who can reach your allies.
Moxie is both your burst offense and emergency staying power; spend it deliberately, then use Bloodied But Unbowed or a short rest to get back in the fight. Your strongest defenses require no Shield and no armor heavier than Light.
Most pugilists learn through a neighborhood gym, a working crew, a traveling circuit, or repeated hard lessons in the street.
Their initiation is rarely ceremonial: a mentor tests their discipline, teaches them how to protect themselves and others, and makes clear that surviving a fight is not the same as winning it.
Ordinary people often see pugilists as brawlers first and skilled protectors second.
In working neighborhoods they may be trusted defenders; in polite circles their callused hands and improvised methods can make them seem unruly.
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