Can a multiclassed Hexblade warlock/monk use their Hex Warrior class feature on their Martial Arts unarmed strike?
How about the Pact of the Blade feature to make their unarmed strikes magical?
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\$\begingroup\$ @dsollen Reminder: comments are for clarifying content, not posting small or incomplete answers. Please use answer posts to submit answers instead. \$\endgroup\$ – Rubiksmoose♦ Mar 20 '18 at 14:09
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No to both, unarmed strikes are not weapons
Hex Warrior says:
...whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon that you are proficient with that lacks the two handed property.
Pact of the Blade says:
You can use your action to create a pact weapon in your empty hand. You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it (see chapter 5 for weapon options).
Unarmed strikes are not weapons so they cannot be used. Not to mention that Pact of the Blade works by creating a weapon out of nothing or by transforming an existing magical weapon, neither of which can apply to unarmed strikes.
Unarmed strikes are not listed as a weapon in the PHB after the errata which says:
Unarmed strike doesn’t belong on the Weapons table.
Also, Jeremy Crawford has clarified here:
Unarmed strikes have always been weapon attacks. Here's where the confusion comes in: your unarmed strike (fist, elbow, knee, butt, etc.) is not considered by the rules to be a weapon the way a longsword is a weapon. But the rules let you make unarmed weapon attacks anyway.
and here:
The rule on unarmed strikes is an exception: they can be used for melee weapon attacks, despite not being weapons.
Of course, monk weapons will work as usual and both benefits could be applied to those.
answered Mar 20 '18 at 11:23
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\$\begingroup\$ Great answer! Already +1. The only thing I'd edit is where you say "pact of the Blade is creating a weapon, not using one you already have." Pact of the Blade can transform an existing weapon into your pact weapon, as long as that existing weapon is magical. ("You can transform one magic weapon into your pact weapon by performing a special ritual " PHB, p. 103). But like you mentioned, fists/feet/unarmed strikes aren't weapons, so all the other details of your answer still apply. \$\endgroup\$ – Gandalfmeansme Mar 20 '18 at 17:02
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\$\begingroup\$ @Gandalfmeansme: Thanks and good catch! I have added the clarification to make that statement correct now hopefully. \$\endgroup\$ – Rubiksmoose♦ Mar 20 '18 at 18:11
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No
The Hex Warrior class ability from Xanathar's Guide talks about weapons, and unarmed strike is not a weapon (it was, but was removed in errata and later reprints of the PHB), so this shows that the designers did not want weapon-specific features working with unarmed strike.
Similarly, Pact of the Blade talks about weapons as well. Of course, if you were planning to take 6 levels in monk, your unarmed strikes would be magical anyway as per the Ki-Empowered Strikes class feature.
