The FighterThe purpose of this rewrite is twofold: 1) make the Fighter awesome in combat without resorting to maneuvers/stances; and 2) give the Fighter a useful out-of-combat schtick. For the former I was inspired by Tome feats, for the latter I struck on making the Fighter a master of battle/weapon/armor/location knowledge. Please let me know what you think.
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d10
Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Fighting Style, Style Dice +1d6, Combat Logistics |
2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Bonus Feat |
3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Style Dice +2d6 |
4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Discern Battle |
5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Style Dice +3d6 |
6th | +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Bonus Feat |
7th | +7/+2 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Fighting Style (2nd) |
8th | +8/+3 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Arms Lore |
9th | +9/+4 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Style Dice +4d6 |
10th | +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Bonus Feat |
11th | +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Style Dice +5d6 |
12th | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Measure the Man |
13th | +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Fighting Style (3rd) |
14th | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +4 | +4 | Bonus Feat |
15th | +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +5 | +5 | Style Dice +6d6 |
16th | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Legend Lore |
17th | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Style Dice +7d6 |
18th | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Bonus Feat |
19th | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Fighting Style (4th) |
20th | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +6 | Timeless Veteran |
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier): Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (Any), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Survival, Swim, and Tumble.
Weapon & Armor ProficiencyA Fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, all armor, and all shields (including tower shields).
Fighting Style (Ex): A Fighter is a true champion of practiced, honed, and perfected martial art. A Barbarian may rely on his rage and toughness, or a Duskblade on his magic to power his blade, but a Fighter relies on his wits, his experience, and his mastery of warfare. To put it simply, he fights
better.
At 1st level, select one of the following fighting styles: Archer, Centurion, Duelist, Juggernaut, Outrider, Master of Arms, Tempest, or Vanguard. Your chosen style defines your area of expertise and grants you exceptional prowess within that field. Your skills outmatch the best warriors in the land. As you gain levels your style improves and you are able to pick up additional styles. Your 2nd style deals damage and improves at your level -6, your 3rd at your level -12, and your 4th at your level -18. Style Dice stack when applicable.
For example, a 15th level Fighter has chosen Duelist as his first Fighting Style, Centurion as his 2nd, and Vanguard as his third. While holding a shield, if he moves 10ft and then attacks a flat-footed foe that missed him with a melee attack within 1 round he deals +6d6 damage from Duelist, +4d6 damage from Centurion, and +2d6 damage from Vanguard.
A Fighter may change his Fighting Styles with a period of practice no less than 60 hours. While most humanoid fighters must normally split this training into several sessions it must be completed in a time no greater than two months. At the end of his training he reassigns all Fighting Styles he has gained from his Fighter levels and then loses a level, as if from being raised from the dead.
Styles[SPOILER]
Archer[spoiler]At 1st level you do not provoke attacks of opportunity for attacking with a ranged weapon in melee and suffer no penalties to attack rolls when attacking a creature threatened in melee or that is prone. You deal your Style Dice in extra damage whenever you attack an enemy within your first range increment.
At 7th level you threaten creatures with ranged weapons for the purposes of making attacks of opportunity provided you hit them with an attack during your turn and that they remain within your weapon's first range increment. Those creatures provoke attacks of opportunity for movement only when they would move beyond your weapon's first range increment.
At 13th level your attacks with ranged weapons ignore damage reduction and regeneration.
At 19th level your attacks with ranged weapons ignore immunity or resistance to critical hits.[/spoiler]
Centurion[spoiler]
At 1st level when an enemy misses you with a melee attack, for 1 round after, if you hold a shield you deal your Style Dice in extra damage when attacking that creature with a melee weapon. As long as you hold a shield and aren't flat-footed, you benefit from the Block Arrows feat and add your shield bonus to touch AC as well as reflex saves made to avoid damage.
At 7th level you may make a shield bash attack against a creature that enters one of your threatened squares as an immediate action. Doing so does not cause you to lose your shield bonus to AC.
At 13th level you may make a Bull Rush attempt against any creature you successfully shield bash. If you do, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity and cannot move with the creature. If your attempt succeeds by 5 or more the creature is also knocked prone.
At 19th level you gain Improved Evasion as long as you hold a shield.
[/spoiler]
Duelist[spoiler]
At 1st level, while you are unarmored and carry a light or one-handed weapon your Base Reflex Save is equal to your Base Fortitude Save, you gain a dodge bonus to AC equal to your Base Reflex Save, you benefit from Uncanny Dodge, and you deal your Style Dice in extra damage when you attack a foe that has been denied its dexterity bonus to AC.
At 7th level, creatures do not deal extra Power Attack damage to you and you may Feint as an immediate action.
At 13th level, creatures flanking you, that attack you and miss, attack another creature of your choice that's flanking you at the same attack bonus. Creatures attacked in this way are flat-footed for the attack and if it hits they are flat-footed for 1 round.
At 19th level, creatures with reach, that attack you and miss, fall prone and are flat-footed while they remain prone in this way.
[/spoiler]
Juggernaut[spoiler]
At 1st level you are treated as one size category larger for all beneficial purposes but reach (gaining only half normal size bonuses), and you deal your Style Dice in extra damage against any creature smaller than you.
At 7th level you are treated as two size categories larger for all beneficial purposes but reach (gaining only half normal size bonuses), and have Damage Reduction 5/--.
At 13th level you are treated as three size categories larger for all beneficial purposes but reach (gaining only half normal size bonuses), have the reach a creature one size category larger, and have DR 10/--.
At 19th level you actually move up a size category, have DR 20/--, and have a 50% chance to turn critical hits into normal ones.
[/spoiler]
Master of Arms[spoiler]
At 1st level you gain proficiency with all exotic weapons and armor, you gain a +4 bonus to all Bull Rush, Disarm, Grapple, Overrun, and Trip checks, and you deal your Style Dice in extra damage whenever you successfully Bull Rush, Disarm, Grapple, Overrun, or Trip a creature.
At 7th level, creatures you successfully Bull Rush, Disarm, Grapple, Overrun, or Trip are Staggered for 1 round.
At 13th level, you deal your Style Dice in extra damage to any creature that is Dazed or Staggered.
At 19th level, creatures you successfully Bull Rush, Disarm, Grapple, Overrun, or Trip are Dazed for 1 round.
[/spoiler]
Outrider[spoiler]
No ideas yet. Help?
[/spoiler]
Tempest[spoiler]At 1st level you have the ability to make an attack with your off-hand weapon using your full strength modifier to damage and suffering no penalties any time you make an attack with your main-hand weapon and at the same attack bonus. You deal your Style Dice in extra damage each time you hit with both weapons.
At 7th level you may add the higher of your main-hand or off-hand weapon's enhancement bonus as a shield bonus to your AC and you may enchant any two weapons as long as both are either light or one-handed for the price of enchanting one. They need not receive the same magic properties.
At 13th level when you attack a creature you gain a +2 bonus to your attack roll for each attack that has hit that creature this round.
At 19th level the second time in a round in which you deal a creature your Tempest Style Dice damage you knock that creature prone. The third time you slay the creature instantly (death effect).[/spoiler]
Vanguard[spoiler]
At 1st level you gain a +10ft bonus to speed, ignore armor check penalties, and deal your Style Dice in extra damage when you attack a creature after moving at least 10ft.
At 7th level you gain Pounce. You also gain a bonus to AC for 1 round equal to your number of Style Dice after you move at least 10ft.
At 13th level you may move 10ft as a 5ft step. This allows you to take a 5ft step in difficult terrain. You may also take a 5ft step as an immediate action.
At 19th level you constantly benefit from
Freedom of Movement as an extraordinary effect.
[/spoiler]
More to come...
[/SPOILER]
Style DiceAt 1st level when making attacks in the way specified by his Fighting Style a Fighter deals 1d6 additional damage. This additional damage improves by 1d6 at every odd-numbered level hereafter except for levels 7, 13, and 19 when the Fighter obtains new Fighting Styles.
Combat Logistics (Ex): A Fighter gains a bonus equal to his class level on all Appraise, Gather Information, Knowledge (Geography), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Local), Search, and Survival checks as well as any Knowledge checks made to identify monsters and their special powers and vulnerabilities. He may locate and disable traps as a Rogue does and Track as the feat. Knowing is half the battle.
Bonus FeatsAt 2nd level and every four levels thereafter a Fighter gains a bonus feat chosen from the list of Fighter feats. He must meet the prerequisite of any feat chosen this way. He may change any number of these bonus feats after 1 hour of practice, but when he does he must retain any feats that are prerequisites for other feats he has.
He is also able to change specific weapons designated or mentioned by his feats to any other specified weapons during this practice one for another.
Discern Battle (Ex): Starting at 4th level a Fighter may study a site where creatures did battle and learn about what took place there with amazing accuracy and uncanny insight. This ability requires 10 minutes and may be used on one corpse or 10ft radius area at a time.
Using this ability on a corpse is similar to the
Speak With Dead spell except that the effect can only provide answers to questions related to the fighting that took place immediately before the creature's death (the ability fails if the Fighter mistakenly uses it on a creature that did not die from violence).
Using this ability on an area is similar to the
Stone Tell spell except that the effect cannot reveal information about anything covered or concealed in the area and only reveals information about the most recent violence done in the area.
Arms Lore (Ex): Starting at 8th level, when crafting masterwork weapons or armor a Fighter may add an enhancement bonus up to 1/2 his class level half of which may be magical properties. To do so costs him extra gp equal to half the total value of the enhancements and properties, but does not increase the time required to create the items.
This effectively grants him the Craft Magic Arms & Armor feat, but he may craft these items despite having no caster level and without knowing the requisite spells as long as those spells are not of a level higher than 1/2 his Fighter class levels.
He may also identify magical weapon or armor properties of items he handles with an Appraise check as a free action against DC 20 + highest spell level among spells required to add the property.
Measure the Man (Ex): Starting at 12th level, by observing a creature for 10 minutes, or by threatening a creature for 3 consecutive rounds in combat, the Fighter may learn a great many things. He learns the creature's alignment, its base attack bonus, and its Fighter feats (if any). If he is threatening the creature in combat he also detects its surface thoughts as the
Detect Thoughts spell as long as he continues to threaten the creature.
Legend Lore (Ex): Starting at 16th level, a Fighter may produce an extraordinary
Legend Lore effect at-will as the spell; however he may only perform this task if the person, place, or thing is at hand and only by succeeding at an appropriate skill check (Appraise for an object, Gather Information for a person, or Knowledge (Geography or History or Local, DMs discretion) for a place) at DC 30.
Using this ability requires 1d4x10 minutes like normal; however, you may engage in any sorts of activities while doing so, even stressful activities like combat.
You may not retry a Legend Lore attempt for a particular person, place, or thing until you gain a level.
Timeless Veteran (Ex): At 20th level a Fighter's deeds have already gone down in history, and having left his mark on the multiverse, he takes his experiences and rides them into the sunset. He no longer suffers penalties from aging, removing any that he has already accrued, and becomes exempt from and immune to Divination effects. He is also immune to calling, death and polymorph effects.