Conversion Kit: Dirty Fighter

Kit Overview

• Investment Type: 'Half' Feat (In place of an Ability Score Increase [ASI])

• Minimum Investment: One of your precious ASI slots- this stings less if you're a Fighter or Rogue.

• Overall Impact: You are able to utilize unconventional forms of attack without penalty, making combat more expressive, and opening up new strategies.

Investment

This is one of the easiest conversion kits to access, in theory. By simply taking the Tavern Brawler feat, you have access not to a single new fighting style, but to a variety of new techniques ranging from unconventional weapons and unarmed strikes to truly off-the-cuff improvisation that may fit with any number of fighting styles.

Evaluating the investment here is a little bit odd though, because while any conversion kit does you no good unless you use it, you're likely to think you'll use this more than you actually will. You'll imagine yourself throwing stones, plucking a lit torch from a sconce and swinging it like a flaming club, or any manner of truly off the cuff attacks- but realistically, you need a plan.

And I hear you- "how can I plan to use an improvised weapon"?

But here's the thing, improvised does not strictly mean you've made the decision to use an object as a weapon in the moment. The weapon can be improvised in the sense that it is not meant to be used as a weapon- or, if you ask certain designers, a weapon being used in a way it is not meant to be used is considered improvised.

And there's the rub: the real investment is yours, not your character's. To get a plan in place, you need to understand what an 'Improvised Weapon' is in terms of DnD5e. If you're the type to use this feat, your wheels might already be turning.

So what is an improvised weapon?

• It is a distinct type of weapon- it is not a simple or martial weapon.

• It deals 1d4 damage, and it is a thrown weapon with a 20/60 range.

• It does not have any other properties- it is not a finesse weapon, a heavy weapon, a light weapon, or two-handed weapon (By default).

• It is still a weapon, for any feature which may require one.

So simply put, you can't (effectively) two weapon fight, sneak attack, great weapon fight, or similar with an improvised weapon. We'll discuss what you can do in the mechanical impact section, but I wanted to set aside any misconceptions out of the gate.

Before we move on to the narrative impact, I'm going to lay out the feat's benefits, because they're rather broad:

• You add your proficiency bonus to attacks with improvised weapons.

• You roll a damage die with your unarmed attacks, rather than dealing a single point of damage.

• When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike or improvised weapon on your turn, you can use a bonus action to attempt to grapple the target.

Narrative Impact

The narrative suggested here is obvious- you're a brawler. You fight with your bare hands, grab the nearest combatant by their shirt collar, and maybe smash an empty ale bottle over their head.

But your narrative options? Those are near limitless.

Are you a fighter that catches foes off guard with shield bashes, pommel strikes, and kicks? A paladin or cleric so committed to hunting undead and fiends that they utilize holy water and wooden stakes as a matter of course?

An alchemist or wizard that deploys alchemical concoctions by splashing or tossing them at nearby foes?

A monk whose flowing movements and measured blows are supplemented by a pragmatic willingness to apply brute force where necessary?

An assassin who deploys inhaled poisons by simply lobbing their containers?

If you have an unconventional combat tactic in mind, this feat will make it possible. The trouble is going to be getting something out of it mechanically. If you don't mind losing a little mechanical edge for a little bit of expression, there are some very cool things you can do. However, let's look at ways you can get a mechanical boost out of it.

Mechanical Impact

Okay so we've talked about how there's some interesting imagery we can get out of this feat, and maybe some mechancial benefit, but how do we get there?

I think there are three broad categories of mechanical impact you can get out of this feat. In no particular order Brawling, Unconventional Weapons, and Payload Delivery.

That's a whole bunch of seemingly meaningless jargon: let me explain.

Brawling

This is the impact the feat was named for. This is best used by strength-based frontliners: the usual suspects are Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, and Paladins.

However, we're aiming for unconventional here aren't we? Blade Pact Warlocks, Rangers, Clerics, and Wild-Shaped Druids can certainly get in on the action if they have the strength to back it up- or a Rogue with expertise in Athletics.

The trick to brawling is simple: You want to leverage the feat's 3rd benefit and grapple as a bonus action. You probably want to dole out some damage on that grappled target or take advantage of the grapple to keep them disabled.

So you need two things here: a trigger for the grapple and a follow-through. Fighting unarmed or with a one-handed weapon is ideal here. Good thing this feat sets you up for that in several ways.

To trigger your bonus action grapple, you need to make a successful unarmed strike or with an improvised weapon. Depending on how many free hands you normally have, that might be quite easy, or it might be a little complicated.

Monks have it easy here, every attack they're likely to make opens up this bonus action. Afterwards you can follow through with Flurry of Blows, perhaps even knock them prone if you're following the Way of the Open Hand. You could even use both hands to grapple and do this to two separate targets while continuing to fight with your feet- though your DM might start to balk at this point. Wild-Shaped Druids have it just as easy- even if your DM doesn't consider natural attacks unarmed strikes (a fair interpretation, to my mind), nothing's stopping you from making an unarmed attack anyway- just don't use the teeth and claws until you have your target grappled.

Now if you're a Fighter wielding a one handed weapon and nothing else, well, problem solved. If you're a Fighter or maybe Barbarian wielding a two handed weapon, you can simply take one hand off of the weapon to strike and grab. You might be able to follow through by using your weapon to make improvised attacks against the target. If your DM rules that the two-handed property can't be overridden by making improvised attacks, you might be able to use knees, feet, or elbows to strike the grappled target.

If you're a sword-and-board Paladin or Fighter, well, now things are more complicated. You can drop your weapon to make an unarmed strike followed by a grapple, but your DM is unlikely to let you pick that weapon back up immediately if it doesn't work. But you can make an improvised attack with the shield, and drop the sword to execute the grapple if it works. If you're a two-weapon Ranger or similar you can execute a similar maneuver by striking with the pommel or handle of your weapon and dropping one of them to execute the grapple. The follow-through here consists of further improvised attacks with the shield, or attacks with the remaining one handed waeapon.

Unconventional Weapons

Many pieces of 'adventuring equipment' in the PHB are treated as improvised weapons when you attack with them. This feat, oddly, is the only way to gain proficiency in the use of these weapons.

Alchemist's Fires, Acid Vials, Holy Water, and Oil Flasks are the only 'official' options I'm aware of, but even these are useful as sources of on-demand elemental damage for characters that don't normally have access to it.

I struggle to think that a DM who wasn't utterly adversarial would refuse to allow you to make other simple weapons- a molotov cocktail, for example. I also think it would be perfectly reasonable to deliver inhaled or contact poisons by lobbing a vial. That's pretty much the definition of an improvised weapon attack- plus there's precedent in in most of the 'official' improvised weapons for lobbing vials.

This makes for an extremely unpredictable character if you're a non-caster. Battle Master Fighters, Rogues (especially Thieves), and certain Monks can deploy a simply staggering number of tactical options- from the right damage for the situation, to devastating conditions, to denying an area to their foes.

If you are a caster, there are some neat tricks you can do with spells. Fire spells can be enhanced by oil, and using a catapult spell to launch an improvised item doesn't require you to be proficient, but at low levels it's nice to be able to use the item if you're out of spells. The primary draw of using this method with spellcasters, in my mind, is that casters tend to be proficient in the sorts of tools that create unconventional weapons, so you can keep yourself supplied.

This fits quite well with Artificers and Wizards for most tools. Clerics, Paladins, and perhaps Celestial patron Warlocks could create Holy Water. It seems less likely that Sorcerers or other types of Warlocks would use this method, but nothing is stopping them.

Frankly, if you're the type to use spells that don't deal direct damage, you're more likely to find use for unconventional weapons. If not, your damage spells will always far outstrip the usefulness of these items. If you're playing a Thief or Battle Master, you 're already looking for opportunities to apply a unique skill set- this just expands your toolbox.

Payload Delivery

There's little tactical benefit to this technique, in most scenarios. This method disregards the damage and other properties of improvised weapons, and simply uses the fact that improvised weapons are weapons to deliver the damage of another feature in a flavorful or unexpected manner.

This primarily serves the purpose of expression without sacrificing effectiveness, but you might also gurantee that you can use your class features even if your weapons are not accessible- this may or may not be important to you depending on your campaign and character.

Paladins and Warlocks can deliver their (Eldritch) Smites through improvised weapons so long as the attack is a melee attack, and Battle Masters can deliver their maneuvers at range or in melee through improvised weapons. Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade, favored by Bladesingers and Eldritch Knights, don't discriminate against improvised weapons. In certain circumstances, this might let you continue to fight effectively even if you're doing another important job with your hands, such as bearing the party's light source.

Delivering conditional damage, such as sneak attack or great weapon fighting, can be more challenging since improvised weapons don't have properties, but you might convince a DM that a rail spike should be a finesse weapon or that a table should be heavy. Talk to your DM about these sorts of strategies before you take this feat.

Kit Support

Talk to your DM. Improvised Weapons fall almost entirely under the purview of the collaboration between players and DM. Odds are good that if you aren't trying to break the game (and none of these strategies should), your DM will look for ways to reward you for adopting an unconventional strategy. Especially if they know where you're going with it ahead of time.

That said, most of the ways to enhance the use of this feat that are actually found within the system are the few items on the adventuring gear table that are called out as improvised weapons- which we have discussed at length.

Perhaps there are others floating around in various published adventures or setting books- if you have access to those books, perhaps give them a once over.

Pitfalls

I don't need to tell you that your DM can handily ruin this one for you.

What I do need to tell you is that if your plan isn't thought through, if you haven't explained your plan to your DM beforehand and they balk, or if you're expecting this feat to form your entire battle strategy rather than being a single tool for your kit, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

Otherwise, making sure your character can use at least two of the feat's three applications reduces the odds your strategy will simply never be relevant in actual play.