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HammeredWharf
2014-01-27, 01:17 PM
Intro
Most of us have probably seen SOME homebrew Fighter alternatives. While many think Warblade is the Fighter fix we got, imagining a better Fighter is still an amusing thought exercise. So, I made this class, which should (IMO) fix many of the Fighter's problems. The design goals are following:

1. Bonus feats are a privilege, not a penalty and not real class features. Also, Weapon Specialization sucks and doesn't work as a gimmick, so this Fighter gets it for free.
2. No new mechanics with extensive lists and no references to non-core materials. This rewrite should be simple and core-only, because Fighter is a simple, core-only class.
3. The fighter is a highly trained, professional soldier. Her abilities should reflect that.
4. The fighter is a capable leader. She should be able to distinguish friend from foe (via Knowledge: Nobility), attend strategy meetings (via Knowledge: Geography) and know the details of many historical battles (via Knowledge: History).
5. The fighter is a guard. She should have Spot and Listen as class skills.
6. Unlike the Barbarian, the Fighter is a smart soldier, with a variety of special attacks at her disposal. She should benefit from Intelligence.
7. The fighter is a class, so there should be something interesting and/or unique about her.
8. Finally, the fighter shouldn't stumble around the battlefield, getting AoO:d constantly.

While I didn't have a particular tier goal in mind, I think my version of the Fighter is at least very high tier 4 and probably somewhere in the middle of tier 3. I tried to use precise language, but tell me if there's a gaping balance hole in this class. After all, English isn't my first language, so I can and do make mistakes.

Fighter

Alignment
Any.
Hit Die
d10.

Class Skills
The fighter’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Geography) (Int), Knowledge (History) (Int), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) (Int), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis) and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level
(4 + Int modifier) ×4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level
4 + Int modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the fighter. The fighter's class features are extraordinary abilities.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).

Table: The Fighter



Level
BAB
Fort/Will Saves:
Ref Save:
Special:


1
+1
+2
+0
Bonus Feat, Warfare Expertise


2
+2
+3
+0
Bonus Feat, Weapon Focus


3
+3
+3
+1
Battle Senses, Power Attack


4
+4
+4
+1
Bonus Feat, Weapon Specialization


5
+5
+4
+1
Coordinated Assault (Swift action, one attack)


6
+6
+5
+2
Bonus Feat, Special Training +2


7
+7
+5
+2
Tempered Blows


8
+8
+6
+2
Bonus Feat, Greater Weapon Focus, No Escape


9
+9
+6
+3
Aura of Resolve, Sizable Reputation I


10
+10
+7
+3
Bonus Feat, Greater Weapon Specialization, Special Training +4


11
+11
+7
+3
Aura of Resolve (20 ft), Swiftness


12
+12
+8
+4
Bonus Feat, Coordinated Assault (Immediate action, two attacks)


13
+13
+8
+4
Aura of Resolve (Reroll)


14
+14
+9
+4
Bonus Feat, Coordinated Assault (Free action), Sizable Reputation II


15
+15
+9
+5
Mental Bulwark


16
+16
+10
+5
Bonus Feat, Always Prepared


17
+17
+10
+5
Aura of Resolve (30 ft), Uncover Weakness


18
+18
+11
+6
Bonus Feat, Sizable Reputation III


19
+19
+11
+6
Coordinated Assault (Free action, three attacks, flat-footed)


20
+20
+12
+6
Bonus Feat, One Step Ahead



Bonus Feats
At 1st level, a fighter gets a bonus combat-oriented feat in addition to the feat that any 1st-level character gets and the bonus feat granted to a human character. The fighter gains an additional bonus feat at 2nd level and every two fighter levels thereafter (4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, and 20th). These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as fighter bonus feats.

A fighter must meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, unless otherwise specified.

Warfare Expertise
Warfare is a fighter's calling. By dedicating herself to the art of war, she gets bonuses to her social skills.

A fighter gets a competence bonus equal to her class level on her Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Geography) and Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) checks, Diplomacy checks made to boost the morale of her troops and opposed Diplomacy checks made to negotiate terms of peace and alliances during wartime. This bonus doesn't apply to influencing NPC attitudes.

Weapon Focus
At 2nd level and every five levels thereafter (7th, 12th, and 17th level), a fighter gains Weapon Focus as a bonus feat.

Battle Senses
A fighter can notice even the tiniest cracks in her opponent's attention and utilize them to move around the battlefield.

Starting at 3rd level, a fighter can use her Spot skill in place of Tumble to avoid attacks of opportunity.

Power Attack
At 3rd level, a fighter gains Power Attack as a bonus feat, even if she does not have the normal prerequisites for that feat. If she already has Power Attack, she can select another fighter bonus feat, instead.

Weapon Specialization
At 4th level and every five levels thereafter (9th, 14th, and 19th level), a fighter gains Weapon Specialization as a bonus feat.

Coordinated Assault
As a master tactician, a fighter can find just the right moment to punish her foes.

Starting at 5th level, a fighter can grant her allies an extra attack as a swift action. The fighter may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Int modifier. It affects one ally per fighter level. Each affected ally must be within 30 feet of the fighter and cannot benefit from this ability again until the beginning of her next turn.

Starting at 12th level, the fighter may use this ability as an immediate action. Furthermore, it grants each affected ally an extra attack per use, for a total of two attacks.

Starting at 14th level, the fighter may use this ability as a free action.

Starting at 19th level, this ability grants each affected ally an extra attack per use, for a total of three attacks. Additionally, creatures hit by one of these attacks are considered flat-footed until the beginning of their next turn.

Special Training
A fighter's training allows her to gain expert martial knowledge faster than anyone else.

Starting at 6th level, a fighter gains +2 to her base attack bonus for the purpose of fulfilling the prerequisites of fighter bonus feats. This bonus increases to +4 at 10th level.

Tempered Blows
Knowing exactly how and when to apply force, a fighter can deal powerful blows with relative ease.

Starting at 7th level, a fighter can ignore half of the penalty to melee attack rolls from Power Attack.

Greater Weapon Focus
Starting at 8th level and every five levels thereafter (13th and 18th level), a fighter gains Greater Weapon Focus as a bonus feat.

No Escape
Starting at 8th level, a fighter can use her superb martial skills to prevent foes from fleeing. To use this ability, the fighter must designate a single foe as a swift action. Until the end of the fighter's next turn, the designated foe must make an opposed BAB check against the fighter whenever they try to leave a square the fighter threatens. The fighter may add her intelligence modifier to her roll. If the target fails they immediately halt and lose the action they were performing.

Aura of Resolve
A fighter's resolve in unmatched and spreads to her allies.

Starting at 9th level, a fighter is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of her (including the fighter herself) gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear and mind-affecting effects.

Starting at 11th level, this ability affects allies within 20 feet of the fighter.

Starting at 13th level, it also allows allies within its range affected by fear or a mind-affecting effect to reroll their saving throw against that effect once as a free action.

Starting at 17th level, this ability affects allies within 30 feet of the fighter. Furthermore, the morale bonus and ability to reroll a failed save granted by this ability now apply to all will saves, mind-effecting or not.

This ability functions while the fighter is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead.

Sizable Reputation
Even if she's small, a famous fighter is big in her foes' eyes.

Starting at 9th level, a fighter is treated as one size larger whenever she is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check, if doing so is advantageous to her.

Starting at 14th level, she is treated as two sizes larger for the purpose of these checks.

Starting at 18th level, she is treated as three sizes larger for the purpose of these checks.

The fighter's space and reach remain those of a creature of her actual size. The benefits of this ability stack with other effects that change the subject's size category.

Greater Weapon Specialization
At 10th level and every five levels thereafter (15th and 20th level), a fighter gains Greater Weapon Specialization as a bonus feat.

Swiftness
An experienced fighter can easily change her position on the battlefield or perform physical feats most are incapable of.

Starting at 11th level, a fighter can take an extra move action during her turn.

Mental Bulwark
A fighter's mental discipline is absolute.

Starting at 15th level, a fighter is immune to all mind-affecting spells and effects.

Always Prepared
Using clever formations and tactics, a fighter can give her allies an edge in combat.

Starting at 16th level, all allied creatures within 60 feet of the fighter (including the fighter herself) gain a bonus to their Initiative equal to the fighter's Intelligence modifier.

Uncover Weakness
A fighter can skillfully strike at the weaknesses her foe's spells cover and utilize openings provided by her companions' magical support.

Starting at 17th level, a fighter gains an insight bonus to her attack rolls equal to the number of ongoing spells currently in effect on the object or creature multiplied by her Intelligence modifier.

One Step Ahead
A legendary fighter's intuition is never wrong. She can surprise the mightiest foes and quickly react to unthinkable surprises.

Starting at 20th level, a fighter's opponents are always treated as unaware of her when determining who gets a surprise round.

Remian Emberton
2014-01-27, 01:44 PM
I don't know if I agree with the Aura of Resolve ability. That seems like a magical effect and one of the big points of the fighter is that their abilities aren't mystical.

HammeredWharf
2014-01-27, 02:02 PM
I can see your point. However, the idea behind it is that a Fighter can pep talk his party members into not being afraid of nasty critters and periodically check on them to see they're not going crazy, so he's not doing anything supernatural. This is consistent with Marshal's auras, which are also Extraordinary.

Zale
2014-01-27, 03:17 PM
I don't know if I agree with the Aura of Resolve ability. That seems like a magical effect and one of the big points of the fighter is that their abilities aren't mystical.

I honestly don't see why that's a big point. At all. You are going to have to rely on magic sooner or later. Does it matter if the magic comes from your class features or not?

I like the 17 level ability. Taking advantage of magical effects is what I expect a warrior in a heavily magical game to do.

Overall, it seems like a good team fighter. It has the ability to lock down movement, if it can get within range, and can provide assistance to other members of the group. It gains a good amount of immunities, and has a much better skill list than the normal fighter.

I'm a terrible judge of balance, but I think it's a good job.

Veklim
2014-01-27, 06:13 PM
Not a bad shot at all, you're firmly Tier 4, and maybe brushing Tier 3 indeed, it's a combat JOAT, and the scope for different builds is much better since you get so many free iterations of the feats every fighter hates having to take (w.foc & spec, greaters, etc).

One question (for now), why don't they get their Intelligence to their own initiative score..? Always Prepared gives every ally a bonus to initiative equal to your int, but you yourself get no bonus...? That's just....unfair!

HammeredWharf
2014-01-28, 01:18 AM
One question (for now), why don't they get their Intelligence to their own initiative score..? Always Prepared gives every ally a bonus to initiative equal to your int, but you yourself get no bonus...? That's just....unfair!

You're your own ally, so it also gives the initiative bonus to you.

XionUnborn01
2014-01-28, 01:22 AM
You're your own ally, so it also gives the initiative bonus to you.

Not that I disagree but is there RAW support for this? Just want to make sure to avoid any unnecessary arguments.

Hadrian_Emrys
2014-01-28, 01:34 AM
Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Core Rulebook I v.3.5, Glossary, p. 304
"Ally: A creature friendly to you. In most cases, references to "allies" include yourself."

In order to fall in line with typical wording conventions, I'd consider tweaking the elaboration of the effect to something like "all allied creatures within 60 feet of the Fighter".

HammeredWharf
2014-01-28, 01:43 AM
Yes, that's probably better. I also specified the fighter is included, because the rule is more ambiguous than I remembered.

XionUnborn01
2014-01-28, 02:25 AM
Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, Core Rulebook I v.3.5, Glossary, p. 304
"Ally: A creature friendly to you. In most cases, references to "allies" include yourself."

In order to fall in line with typical wording conventions, I'd consider tweaking the elaboration of the effect to something like "all allied creatures within 60 feet of the Fighter".

Fair Enough. I guess I've never/don't remember reading that you actually counted as your own ally. I just wanted to bring it up because I thought most abilities say something along the lines of "You and all allies within X feet." Maybe that's just what I imagined.

Carry on then.

Wargamer
2014-02-26, 11:02 AM
I like it. This is a lot more elegant than most Fighter "fixes", in that it still feels like a Fighter, not a Spellcaster like most of the fixes do.

Personally, I would like a little bit more variation on a few abilities. For example, "Aura of Resolve" works well for a Good Fighter or a team-focused fighter, but perhaps an Evil Fighter, self-focused or anti-mage Fighter might suit an ability like...

Armour of Contempt
Hatred itself is the surest defense

Starting at 9th level, if a Fighter is subjected to a spell or ability that allows a Will Save to negate, she may make a Fortitude Save instead.

Starting at 11th level, if a Fighter is subjected to an attack that allows a Reflex save for half damage, she may make a Fortitude save instead

Starting at 13th level, if a Fighter is subjected to an attack that allows a Reflex save for half damage, she may make a Fortitude save instead. If the save is passed, no damage is taken.

Starting at 17th level, if a Fighter is subjected to an attack that allows a Reflex save for half damage, she may make a Fortitude save instead If the save is passed, no damage is taken. Furthermore, if the save is failed, the Fighter takes only half damage.

This ability functions while the fighter is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead.

drew2u
2014-02-26, 11:16 AM
I just wanted to commend you on creating a fighter class that doesn't rely on per-day abilities.
That's one thing I think the fighter can excel over other classes is that when spellcasters are out of spells, the barbarian can't rage, clerics/paladins can't lay on hands anymore, etc, that the fighter still has access to all of her abilities.

Magikeeper
2014-02-26, 02:45 PM
This is a great fix. It's still tier four, I think, but it is a solid class that I would have no issue outright replacing the fighter with in games I run. Or play in, for that matter. It truly feels like the same class, only better designed. Although play testing would be needed to confirm it is as nice as it looks on paper.

Some of the abilities could use a slight rewording though.

@No Escape
Quite sure this should be reworded. Among other things there isn't really a reason to state that it can only be used once per round. Using multiple swift actions in the same round is far from easy and a person that manages to gain the ability to do that has earned it. Another issue is that the fighter can currently use this ability, and then move. Or even teleport away should they have an item for that. "Travel away" is also rather vague. If they are both in the air, and the fighter has a flight item, and the other guy is falling, and the fighter flies away after using this, what happens? RAI is clear in that case, I think. RAW is not.

Suggested wording:
Starting at 8th level, a fighter can use her superb martial skills to prevent foes from fleeing. To use this ability the fighter must designate a single foe she threatens as a swift action. Until the end of the fighter's next turn, the designated foe must make an opposed modified BAB check (BAB + Intelligence Modifier) against the fighter whenever they try to leave a square the fighter threatens. If the target fails they immediately halt as though they had used up all their move actions for the round.

I used the Stand Still feat as a base, although the wording might still need a little tweaking. If you only intended for the fighter to get the bonus the wording could instead be something like:

Until the end of the fighter's next turn, the designated foe must make an opposed BAB check against the fighter whenever they try to leave a square the fighter threatens. The fighter may add her intelligence modifier to her roll.

@Sizable Reputation
Sizable Reputation is called 'Legendary' reputation in the table. I don't know if its wording is correct as well - the intent is that the fighter counts as a size category larger both when making trip/grapple/etc checks and when opposing them, yes?

@Special Training
Why does Special Training cap at 20? You can't normally take epic feats before being level 21+ anyway. Not to mention that I'm pretty sure there do not exist any feats that require a BAB over 20. It's an unneeded cap that's confusing due to the implication that it actually serves some sort of purpose when it does not.


-----------------------------

@Aura of Resolve
Aura of resolve should list its improvements in the order it gets them. Even though level 13 does something different, it is still confusing to have it after the level 17 benefit.

On alternate class features, Aura of Resolve does benefit the solo fighter until the level 15 immunity is acquired. The suggested contempt aura is a bit odd as well - this fix has a good will save, why do we need to swap it with a fort save?

That said, it would be nice if Aura of resolve's level 17 bonus had a "Furthermore, " ability that added a little effect the fighter themselves could benefit from. Like maybe:

"Furthermore, the moral bonus and ability to reroll a failed save granted by this ability now apply to all will saves, mind-effecting or not."

^This would still fit the theme, and would be a nice progression for the fighter themselves (Reroll at 13, gain mental immunity power at 15, gain defenses against other will saves at 17). Keep the mental immunity power separate though.

The level 13 ability should be reworded as well, since right now I'm not sure when they get to make the roll. They might even be able to make two rolls whenever effected and pick whichever one is higher - which is not usually how these abilities work.

Also, even though it is indeed the case that you count as your own ally, the level 13 ability might want to note that as well.


------------------------------------------
EDIT:

@Coordinated Assault
This one has a pretty big issue. As it stands right now, you could:
Step 1: Gather 10 5th level fighters.
Step 2: Give them bows and/or reach weapons.
Step 3: Have them buff each other to create a death ball that makes 110+ attacks per round for several rounds.

The combo gets even better at higher levels, but level 5 fighters are enough. Even if you only gather 5 level 5 fighters you're looking at a ball that makes 30+ attacks per round.

20 level 5 fighters are harder to stuff within 30ft of each other but such a ball would be making 420+ attacks per round.

I think you should alter the ability to only buff a single chosen ally.

Veklim
2014-02-26, 08:19 PM
Fixing coordinated assault is simple enough (although I firmly agree it needs it). Simply state no one may gain more than one additional attack per round in this way. Good catch btw Magikeeper, entirely missed that first time through!

HammeredWharf
2014-03-04, 10:16 AM
Oh, and here I thought this thread died for good. Glad you like it!


Personally, I would like a little bit more variation on a few abilities. For example, "Aura of Resolve" works well for a Good Fighter or a team-focused fighter, but perhaps an Evil Fighter, self-focused or anti-mage Fighter might suit an ability like...

I'd prefer to avoid alignment-specific abilities. I think being brave and inspiring is rather alignment-neutral, which is why I made AoR work as it does. An evil fighter could RP it as telling her subordinates what she does to deserters.

@Magikeeper
Thanks for detailed feedback and suggestions! I made some tweaks to the abilities you criticized.

@No Escape
I liked your suggested wording. I changed it a bit, because I think the wording of Standstill is ambiguous. "Used up all their move actions"? What if I'm moving with a swift action? I think my wording also prevents teleportation, which is nice.

@Sizable Reputation
The wording was copied from goliaths' Powerful Build. I think it affects both types of checks by RAW. I added some additional info I originally omitted for some reason. Probably because it is or may be redundant.

@Special Training
I'll admit I don't know how epic feats work, so I've removed the clause as per your suggestion.

@Aura of Resolve
Changed it according to your suggestion. The 13th level ability affects the ally whenever they are in the zone, so the fighter could technically run around the battlefield and give rerolls, but only one per effects per ally.

@Coordinated Assault
Yes, I had my doubts about this one. Now that I think about it, it can be broken in certain situations. I fine-tuned it so it can only affect you once per turn (thanks for the suggestion, Veklim!), has a scaling limit on how many allies it can affect and gives additional attacks per use rather than allowing extra uses per round. It still only gives attacks, so it isn't as useful to the Broken Ones, aka casters. Limiting it to one ally would make it rather weak.

I added the flat-footing effect to the lvl 19 upgrade. That should make it less "meh" when casters have 9th level spells. Losing immediate actions can be very annoying and it's a flavorful effect.