Fun feats for a tanky fighter?

[_flint_]

There's a little kid playing in my group (8-ish). We gave him a pretty generic fighter build:
human fighter 2
17 str, 13 dex, 16 con, 12 int, 8 wis, 8 chr
feats are improved initiative, power attack, cleave, and weapon focus(longsword)

he uses scale mail, a longsword, and a tower shield

the build is obviously not optimized. My question to you guys is, what feat should he take when he levels up? I'm looking for something that he could either use a lot or never have to remember to use. something that would make the game more fun for an 8 year old. Possibly something that would allow for a cool visual effect or make him feel badass, regardless of whether or not it's any good

[ArcturusV]

Well, there's that Gambit feat, Robilliar's Gambit, something like that, I'm horrible with names.

But since he's already using tower sheilds? Get Leadership. Get a cohort who is also a fighter with a tower shield. Then you can start making shield walls, get feats like Phalanx, Close-Order Fighting, etc. It's all static things so it's not very hard to remember. Plus if you're describing what happens, you can get a lot of moments where you talk about how your buddy saves you, or how you save your buddy, etc. It's not "Flashy", but it's fairly effective for a character who wants to be defensive. Cover on demand, auto miss chances, AC boosting all in one.

[Greenish]

I like Close-Quarters Fighting, it's pretty cool if you're facing big grab-happy monsters. You'll be swatting away the tentactles (or whatever) with your sword. On that note, Combat Reflexes is fun, since who doesn't like shouting "Attack of Opportunity!" in middle of someone else's turn? That leads naturally to Robilar's Gambit, which is a fun tit-for-tat trick.

Shield feats are a more defensive option. Shield Ward allows you to apply shield bonuses to lots of things, and Block Arrow is something you'd expect a shield to do. Tower Shield can't be used offensively, sadly.

Imp. Bull Rush to Shock Trooper is also an option. People don't mention it often, but Shock Trooper is a tactical feat, with two cool options based on bull rushing people around in addition to the charger thingy.

Finally, multiclassing into ToB classes would give him a selection of cool toys to play with.

[Namfuak]

Combat reflexes might not be bad. Give him an extra attack of opportunity. I'd suggest some shield feats from PHBII, but they all seem to preclude tower shield as an option.



Well, there's that Gambit feat, Robilliar's Gambit, something like that, I'm horrible with names.

But since he's already using tower sheilds? Get Leadership. Get a cohort who is also a fighter with a tower shield. Then you can start making shield walls, get feats like Phalanx, Close-Order Fighting, etc. It's all static things so it's not very hard to remember. Plus if you're describing what happens, you can get a lot of moments where you talk about how your buddy saves you, or how you save your buddy, etc. It's not "Flashy", but it's fairly effective for a character who wants to be defensive. Cover on demand, auto miss chances, AC boosting all in one.

Neither of these feats can be taken at 3rd level. The first requires BAB +12, and the second explicitly requires character level 6.

[ArcturusV]

True. But as an end game goal to look towards. Which is always the bane of Fighters. The fact that basic concepts won't come online until you are high level.

Though you could skimp on Leadership by just getting a Hireling to do it for you until level 6. Then take Phalanx or Close Order Fighting at level 3.

The ability to form a shield wall just being something anyone with a Tower Shield can do in the rules. So at least the basic concept can be played off early on.

It might require the DM to play an NPC for the Hireling. But if your 8 year old is somewhat typical and has seen a lot of "power of teamwork" stuff like a lot of children's programming and movies, they should be into the concept.