The Street Saint, a subclass for the new Pugilist now on D&D Beyond, shows what happens if your Paladin could punch.
The new Pugilist class on D&D Beyond from Sterling Vermin is a perfect illustration of how sometimes all you need is just the barest niche to carve out. You’ll find a ton of room for innovation, inspiration, and experimentation in this subclass. Because the Pugilist is a new third-party class given space on D&D Beyond. It’s not WotC-official, but honestly, I don’t think that should stop anyone.
After all, any game of D&D is all about the balance that you personally find. Even if you play strictly according to the rules at all times and never make a ruling without personally calling up a designer and getting clarifications, you’re going to run things the way that makes sense and feels good to you. So if a new class feels good, even if it’s “not official” – or better still, even if it’s someone’s homebrewed creation, you’re playing D&D the way it was intended to be played. Especially when it has subclasses like the Street Saint Pugilist, which blends Paladins and punching into a new flavor all its own.
The Street Saint Pugilist – Holy Haymakers
Actually, I think it’s more of a blend of Paladin and Cleric. Pugilists are all about rising above the adversity of a grim life on the gritty streets. They’re meant to be the sort of piss and vinegar-filled brawlers (and Piss and Vinegar is the other subclass I have yet to review) who aren’t afraid to get dirty.
Street Saints, then, are Pugilists whose faith was tested and tempered. They are as much about resolve and trying to live righteously as they are about punching. And in D&D terms, this means the gods have taken note and as a result they have magic powers.
Starting with Channel Divinity at level 3. If you’ve ever played a Cleric or a Paladin, you know what this does. once per Short or Long Rest you can Channel Divinity to produce a variety of magical effects – in this case you have two to pick from: Fists of Faith, which imbues your fists with (righteous) fury, allowing you to deal an extra 1d4 radiant damage for a minute. Or pick Grace of the Gods which gives you Resistance to Necrotic Damage and a pseudo Bless on Saving Throws. Not bad, but it’s far from broken.
The other level 3 feature is Lay on Hands. This is straight up a weaker version of the Paladin’s Lay on Hands feature but ported over for a Pugilist. Why is it weaker? Well it gives you a smaller pool of hit points you can pull from – only 3 x your level as opposed to the Paladin’s 5 x level. It’s an important distinction and one that highlights a subtle weakness of this subclass (and many other 5.5E subclasses).
It has a lot to do with identity. Because subclasses are one of the few points where you can really customize and express your character. They’re one of the few actual choicecs you get when you level up. Otherwise, your class determines what you’ll get and when. But the Street Saint Pugilist takes a few levels before it feels like it gives you anything different to play with.
It just sort of grafts on Paladin features as you progress – which isn’t bad, but I think the lack of something more specifically “saintly” for the Street Saint to do really bears up. At level 3 your subclass comes into play once per Short Rest. At best.
At higher levels, this sense of parallel Paladin progression feels a little sharper. At level 6, you gain Ravaged but Resolute. This feature upgrades your Bloodied But Unbowed, allowing you to replenish your Lay on Hands pool of healing once per Long Rest. Which isn’t bad. But it focuses too much on a secondary feature.
At level 11, you gain the ability to conjure up a protective Aura of Resilience. Whenever you use a Pugilist’s Dig Deep, you radiate a protective aura that gives your allies Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. I really like this because it complements the things that a Pugilist is going to be doing anyway. I feel like the Street Saint could stand to blend a little more things like this.
And then at level 17, Hallowed Hands comes into play giving you a potent buff to how you play – though it feels like something the Pugilist should have earlier. It lets you spend some of your Lay On Hands pool of healing to deal extra Radiant damage (up to your level) – and to me this feels like something a Street Saint should have at level 3. I like that it explores the Paladin niche, but I think it would be better served by giving it something to make it feel different.
As far as the Pugilist subclasses go, this one is probably my least favorite – but even then it has interesting ideas. And the five other subclasses (and core Pugilist class) are still fun to explore.
Check out the Pugilist and all six of its subclasses on D&D Beyond!
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