acid_ninja
2011-07-21, 12:47 AM
I'm all about pathfinder but, unfortunately, the fighter is still the red-headed stepchild. I'm trying to find a way to make the fighter tier 3. I've got a couple ideas that I'd like to run by the playground:
Skills:
Give them 4 skill points per level. Add Perception, Diplomacy, Knowledge (History) and Knowledge (Nobility) to the list of class skills.
New Mechanic:
Give the figher a pool, similar to the Magus' arcane pool, that they can spend points from to power special abilities. Call it the 'battle pool' or something. I'm thinking make it equal to 1/2 fighter level + either Int or Wis - not sure which (maybe player's choice?). Refreshes after 8 hours' rest. There would be a default use and then 'menu choices' as you level up. I'm thinking maybe one every three levels.
Menu choices:
You may spend a point to gain one move action (must be at least a 6th level fighter)
You may spend a point to get a new saving throw that you failed last round
You may spend a point as an immediate action to make an AoO (the opponent must still provoke the AoO)
You can spend a point as an immediate action to re-roll a single melee attack (made after the attack is rolled but before you know if it hits or not)
You can spend a point to gain the benefits of one combat feat for the duration of the encounter. You must still meet the pre-requisites of the feat.
You may spend a point to add a bonus of 1/2 your fighter level to any combat manuever check.
Other tweaks:
Any combat feat that provides a static bonus (dodge, weapon focus, etc) scales, providing the same bonus again at every level divisible by 5. While this is good for everyone, its especially good for fighters since their main thing is feats and making feats better makes fighters better.
Spring attack, cleave, vital strike and dirty trick are simply attacks for a fighter (and a fighter only), allowing them to be used together (and in conjunction with trip, disarm and sunder). (Not sure how to define a fighter for this purpose. I'd almost say that you can do it only if they were taken as fighter bonus feats, but that would involve a lot of bookkeeping)
What I'd like help with is:
a) figuring out what the pool should be based on. 1/2 fighter level + ? Wis or Int are obvious choices but I don't want to make the fighter MAD. OTOH, these are meant to compliment what a fighter can already do and allow them to do it more, so they're not meant to be too much of an investment. Basing it on STR cuts out the MAD but I don't think it works flavor wise. Maybe make it straight fighter level? I like that because the whole point is to make the fighter more viable as a 1-20 class and not to encourage dips.
b) balancing the menu choices and working out a progression - how many choices do you get? What choices can you have at which level? Any other ideas?
Skills:
Give them 4 skill points per level. Add Perception, Diplomacy, Knowledge (History) and Knowledge (Nobility) to the list of class skills.
New Mechanic:
Give the figher a pool, similar to the Magus' arcane pool, that they can spend points from to power special abilities. Call it the 'battle pool' or something. I'm thinking make it equal to 1/2 fighter level + either Int or Wis - not sure which (maybe player's choice?). Refreshes after 8 hours' rest. There would be a default use and then 'menu choices' as you level up. I'm thinking maybe one every three levels.
Menu choices:
You may spend a point to gain one move action (must be at least a 6th level fighter)
You may spend a point to get a new saving throw that you failed last round
You may spend a point as an immediate action to make an AoO (the opponent must still provoke the AoO)
You can spend a point as an immediate action to re-roll a single melee attack (made after the attack is rolled but before you know if it hits or not)
You can spend a point to gain the benefits of one combat feat for the duration of the encounter. You must still meet the pre-requisites of the feat.
You may spend a point to add a bonus of 1/2 your fighter level to any combat manuever check.
Other tweaks:
Any combat feat that provides a static bonus (dodge, weapon focus, etc) scales, providing the same bonus again at every level divisible by 5. While this is good for everyone, its especially good for fighters since their main thing is feats and making feats better makes fighters better.
Spring attack, cleave, vital strike and dirty trick are simply attacks for a fighter (and a fighter only), allowing them to be used together (and in conjunction with trip, disarm and sunder). (Not sure how to define a fighter for this purpose. I'd almost say that you can do it only if they were taken as fighter bonus feats, but that would involve a lot of bookkeeping)
What I'd like help with is:
a) figuring out what the pool should be based on. 1/2 fighter level + ? Wis or Int are obvious choices but I don't want to make the fighter MAD. OTOH, these are meant to compliment what a fighter can already do and allow them to do it more, so they're not meant to be too much of an investment. Basing it on STR cuts out the MAD but I don't think it works flavor wise. Maybe make it straight fighter level? I like that because the whole point is to make the fighter more viable as a 1-20 class and not to encourage dips.
b) balancing the menu choices and working out a progression - how many choices do you get? What choices can you have at which level? Any other ideas?