Do I add my Strength modifier to the damage of unarmed strikes if I have the Tavern Brawler feat?

Question

From my understanding, the attack roll would be 1d20 + Proficiency + Str modifier. My question is about the damage roll. Would that be 1d4 + Str modifier, or just 1d4?

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Valley Lad · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-10T06:40:18.447

16

Absolutely

The SRD states clearly (whether you are a Tavern Brawler or not) that:

...you can use an unarmed strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or similar forceful blow (none of which count as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier.

(emphasis mine)

And when you take the Tavern Brawler feat:

Your unarmed strikes use a d4 for damage.

That means the "1" in the above formula (the base damage) changes to 1d4 -- it does not say that it takes away the Strength modifier, so you still keep that modifier.

edited Feb 10 '19 at 06:40

answered Feb 10 '19 at 06:35

Valley Lad

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Could you explain why the d4 replaces just the "1" and not "1 + your Strength modifier"? I don't see where you're getting that from. – jwodder Sep 17 '19 at 18:24
2

The Sage Advice Compendium's answer to "How do I know which ability modifier to use with an attack roll and its damage roll?" indicates that the ability modifier is added to both attack and damage rolls of all "melee weapon attacks" (which unarmed strikes are). Crawford also unofficially tweeted in May 2016: "When making a weapon attack, you add your ability modifier to the damage, unless a feature tells you not to.", further supporting your conclusion. – V2Blast Nov 06 '19 at 07:13

Do I add my Strength modifier to the damage of unarmed strikes if I have the Tavern Brawler feat?

1 Answers1

Absolutely

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