[PF] Novel Ways to Play Martial Characters

[inertia709]

To give martial characters some options, WotC introduced Tome of Battle to 3.5. Pathfinder has done no such thing (yet). Other than your standard TWF, THF, S&B, tripper, grappler and archer, what are some other ways to play martial characters? I like the flowing monk myself - although it is primarily a tripper (or at least that's how I'd play it), it also gives you options to reposition enemies, granting you some battlefield control, without costing a precious standard action.

[Starbuck_II]

To give martial characters some options, WotC introduced Tome of Battle to 3.5. Pathfinder has done no such thing (yet). Other than your standard TWF, THF, S&B, tripper, grappler and archer, what are some other ways to play martial characters? I like the flowing monk myself - although it is primarily a tripper (or at least that's how I'd play it), it also gives you options to reposition enemies, granting you some battlefield control, without costing a precious standard action.

Well, they did create style featss.
Snake style is just a Counter maneuver in Setting Sun school called Baffling Defense (same mechanics: sense motive as AC), but as a stance.

Crane Wing lets you deflects one attack 1/rd.

Sadly those are the only truly unique ones.

[deuxhero]

Asumming you just forgot to mention mounted chargers or they fall into one of the things listed...

Only Magus and Spellslinger 1/Fullcaster 19 come to mind.

[Blyte]

There are some nice tactical martial characters, like the cavalier <order of the dragon>, and if you are up for 3rd party, the warlord is pretty nifty.

It let's you play a bit of a support role, as well as sitting in melee and imposing your might on the enemy.

[North_Ranger]

I should think the whole idea of class archetypes also lets you do a fair bit of customizing your martial characters.

[Twilightwyrm]

Well, Net fighting has gotten an upgrade. It can be now used to trip, disarm, or blind along with a primary weapon. Interesting substitute for a shield to be sure.
I also quite like the Scorpion Style. Let's you cut your foe's movement, inflict stagger on them, which is effectively slow. The end of the style also lets you make multiple attacks, or (more optimally) force a save or die against petrification. These last two can also be used against any flat-footed enemies, which opens up a number of more stealthy options.

[GoatBoy]

Melee has plenty of options in PF, they just aren't all arranged in a Big Book of Pathfinder Weeaboo Fightan Magics. They are hidden in lists of feats, alternate class features, and optional rules, ie. called shots (which are simple enough).

[jmelesky]

Let's see...

I've seen people get plenty of mileage out of the Lore Warden fighter archetype. Dirty Trick is, as a maneuver, incredibly useful and flexible -- make a debuff fighter! Combine it with a level or two of Maneuver Master monk so you can dirty trick for free at the start of your full attack (dirty trick for free to blind them, trip, then use an iterative to actually hit them...).

Barbarian rage powers add a bunch of options, too. The Spell Sunder power is pretty interesting -- use the sunder maneuver to suppress or dispel magic effects. For extra fun, combine it with the Archer fighter and sunder from range ("The wizard is flying 100 feet above you" "It's okay, I have my bow" "Yes, but he's going to zap you with spells" "No, no, I mean I dispel his fly with my bow so he drops 100 ft, taking damage and ending prone in the square next to me" "Oh, crap").

Alternately, combine the feat Dazzling Display with the rage power Terrifying Howl, and suddenly you have an area-effect barbarian. Round one, everyone's shaken. Round two, everyone flees.

The Brawler fighter is useful for a couple of different builds. It makes a good base for the S&B fighter, but it also works incredibly well as the core of a reposition-based fighter. Enemy keeps moving out of flanking? Move him back in, and give the rogue an attack of opportunity at the same time. You want some battlefield control? Actually control where your opponents can stand. Again, combine with some Maneuver Master for some fast repositioning.

The style feats are worth looking into beyond just Crane Style. Panther Style is another interesting one, giving you free counterattacks on most AoOs against you (eventually resolving before the AoO itself). Many of them are really designed for use with monk features, but with all the archetypes, monk has become a very dippable class. Mantis Style makes your Stunning Fist more effective. Several of the styles give you elemental effects in addition to your normal unarmed strikes.

Are you looking for anything in particular? There are lots of options out there for PF martial.