Pugilist FAQ
What are the main Pugilist class features?
This Pugilist's main features are Fisticuffs, Iron Chin, Moxie, Street Smart, Bloodied but Unbowed, a Fight Club, Dig Deep, Extra Attack, Haymaker, Moxie-Fueled Fists, Fancy Footwork, Shake It Off, Down But Not Out, School of Hard Knocks, Rabble Rouser, Unbreakable, Herculean, Fighting Spirit, and Peak Physical Condition. Moxie returns after a short or long rest.
The Pugilist progression steadily improves unarmed damage, short-rest Moxie, resilience, and the ability to turn punishment into momentum.
1st level: Fisticuffs
Fisticuffs defines unarmed strikes and pugilist weapons and provides the scaling Fisticuffs die.
It also establishes the class's basic bonus-action brawling routine.
1st level: Iron Chin
Iron Chin allows Constitution to replace Dexterity for Armor Class while wearing light or no armor and not using a shield.
This makes Constitution a central class ability.
2nd level: Moxie
Moxie Points fuel special abilities and return on a short or long rest.
The starting options are Brace Up, The Old One-Two, and Stick and Move.
Fight Clubs later add more ways to spend Moxie.
2nd level: Street Smart
Street Smart turns the Pugilist's urban experience into practical exploration knowledge.
The feature makes carousing and familiarity with settlements mechanically relevant.
3rd level: Bloodied but Unbowed
Bloodied but Unbowed triggers after the Pugilist drops to the feature's low-health threshold.
It provides temporary hit points and restores Moxie, then requires a rest before it can be used again.
3rd level: Fight Club
The Fight Club is the subclass.
Fight Club features arrive at:
3rd 6th 11th 17th
4th level: Dig Deep
Dig Deep grants temporary resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage but applies exhaustion when the effect ends.
This is a powerful but costly defensive choice.
5th level: Extra Attack
The Pugilist attacks twice when taking the Attack action.
5th level: Haymaker
Haymaker trades attack accuracy for maximum damage-die results for the relevant attacks during the turn.
In this d8 Moxie/Fight Club version, Haymaker uses the original accuracy-for-maximum-damage tradeoff; later Pugilist revisions use a different class chassis.
6th level: Moxie-Fueled Fists
Unarmed strikes count as magical for overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
7th level: Fancy Footwork and Shake It Off
Fancy Footwork grants Dexterity saving throw proficiency.
Shake It Off allows the Pugilist to use an action to end one effect causing the charmed or frightened condition.
9th level: Down But Not Out
Down But Not Out improves the Pugilist's offensive momentum when Bloodied but Unbowed is activated, subject to its long-rest restriction.
10th level: School of Hard Knocks
School of Hard Knocks grants resistance to psychic damage and improves defense against effects that would leave the Pugilist stunned or unconscious.
13th–15th level: hardened veteran features
Rabble Rouser improves the Pugilist's social reputation in settlements after carousing.
Unbreakable improves several physical saving throws and lets Moxie fuel rerolls.
Herculean improves carrying capacity, damage to objects, and jumping capability.
18th level: Fighting Spirit
Fighting Spirit provides a major recovery when the Pugilist would otherwise be reduced to 0 hit points, with exhaustion as part of the cost structure.
20th level: Peak Physical Condition
At 20th level, Peak Physical Condition increases Strength and Constitution by 2, up to 22, and improves long-rest recovery by removing 2 exhaustion levels and restoring all expended Hit Dice.
How the features work together
Fisticuffs creates reliable attacks.
Iron Chin and Brace Up create durability.
Moxie creates tactical choices.
Bloodied but Unbowed restores momentum under pressure.
Dig Deep trades future exhaustion for immediate survival.
Later features make the Pugilist increasingly difficult to disable or keep unconscious.
The Fight Club supplies the specialist identity.