Author Topic: Another fighter tweak to go with the rest.  (Read 2603 times)

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ThisGuy01

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Another fighter tweak to go with the rest.
« on: October 24, 2011, 08:34:06 PM »
This all started with an idea I had here http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=13438.0.  I used some ideas I already had along with some ideas that came to me while writing this actual class.  Because I don't want to deal with making a table on here, i'll leave it out and just add the text.  So here it is.

Fighter

Base Attack Bonus: Good
Saves: Good Fort, Good Reflex, Poor Will.
Hit Die: D12
Skill Points: 6+Int (x4 at first level)
Class Skills:  Balance, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (architecture & engineering), Knowledge (dungeoneering),Knowledge (geography),  Knowledge (history), Knowledge (locale), Knowledge (nobility & royalty), Listen, Profession, Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim, Survival, Tumble, Use Rope

Fighter Class Abilities

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: [spoiler]A fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields). In addition, a fighter may choose one exotic weapon to gain proficiency with.[/spoiler]

Bonus Feats:  [spoiler]A fighter gains a bonus feat at 1st level, 2nd level, then every three levels after that (5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 20th).  These bonus feats must be drawn from the list of fighter bonus feats, and the fighter must qualify for them with one exception.  The fighter may treat his ability scores as being two higher for the purposes of qualifying for feats.[/spoiler]

Combat Sight:Weapon Versatility:Focused Training: [spoiler]Fighters are trained intensely on two of the most basic abilities, Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization, the bread and butter of combat.  These feats give fighters a certain advantage over others that have taken them.  Weapon focus grants an additional +1 bonus for every 4 fighter levels, and weapon specialization gives an additional +1 bonus for each 5 fighter levels. (1st Level)[/spoiler]

[spoiler]War bands consist of people from all places and dialects.  At 2nd level and every 3 levels afterwards the fighter adds one additional language to his list of known languages.  [/spoiler]

Learned Ability: [spoiler]A fighter can learn from other combatants he meets, adapting their fighting style into his, achieving his own special way of combat.  At 3rd level and every 3 levels after (6th, 9th, etc.) the fighter may choose to gain one ability from the list below.  All abilities are Extraordinary.
   Sneak attack: The fighter gains 1d6 sneak attack.  This ability can be taken multiple times, each instance increasing the ability by 1d6.
   Evasion: The fighter gains Evasion, as per the Rogue.  You lose the benefits of this ability when carrying a heavy load, but retain them when wearing medium or heavy armor or carrying a medium load.
   Improved Evasion: The fighter gains Improved Evasion, as per the rogue.  The fighter must have Evasion to gain this ability, either from this class or from another.  The fighter must be at least level 11 to take this ability.
   Conviction: A Fighter can resist magical and unusual attacks with great willpower. If he makes a successful Will save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Will half), he instead completely negates the effect. An unconscious or sleeping Fighter does not gain the benefit of conviction.
   Improved Conviction: This ability functions as conviction, except the fighter now takes only half damage even on a failed save. The fighter must have Conviction to gain this ability, either from this class or from another.  The fighter must be at least level 11 to take this ability.
   Tenacity:  A Fighter can resist magical and unusual attacks with great fortitude. If he makes a successful Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Fortitude partial), he instead completely negates the effect. An unconscious or sleeping Fighter does not gain the benefit of tenacity.
   Improved Tenacity: This ability functions as tenacity, except the fighter now takes only half damage even on a failed save.  The fighter must have Tenacity to gain this ability, either from this class or from another.  The fighter must be at least level 11 to take this ability.
   Favored Enemy: The fighter can take this ability to gain a favored enemy as a Ranger.  The fighter must gains the same bonuses as a ranger would.  This ability can be taken twice, the second time giving appropriate increases to the bonuses gained, as per the Ranger.
   Lay on Hands:  The fighter gains the lay on hands ability of the paladin.  To determine the amount he can heal, his Paladin level is equal to his fighter level minus 4.
   Animal Companion: Fast Movement: The fighter gains a +10ft bonus to his land speed. This bonus is halved when he is in medium or heavy armor, or carries a heavy load.
   Improved Fast Movement:  The fighter gains an additional +20ft to his land speed.  Additionally, his fast movement bonuses are now only halved in have armor or when carrying a heavy load.  The fighter must have taken the fast movement ability from this class, and must be 12th level to take this ability.
   Trapsmith: The fighter gains trapfinding as a Rogue, as well as trapsense +2
   Uncanny Dodge: The fighter gains uncanny dodge as the Barbarian.  
   Improved Uncanny Dodge: The fighter gains Improved uncanny dodge as the Barbarian.  The fighter must have taken Uncanny Dodge as a class feature from this class, or have had it already as a class feature and must be 9th level.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Fighters glean bits of knowledge from shared war stories and historical texts.  At 3rd level, the fighter gains an ability that functions as Bardic Knowledge, using the fighter levels instead of bard, though bard and fighter levels stack for the bonus.[/spoiler]

Inspiring Strike (Ex):Penetrate Defenses:Armor Master: [spoiler]All fighters are trained to treat their armor as a second skin.  At 7th level, this takes on an extraordinary quality.  All armor worn by the fighter has its maximum dexterity bonus to AC is increased by 1 and the armor check penalty is decreased by 1.  At 12th level these bonuses increase to 2, and at 17th level they are again increased to 3.  This cannot reduce any armor check penalty below 1.[/spoiler]

Crack Shell:Overpowering Attack: [spoiler]Upon attaining 16th level, the fighter learns patience over speed.  By spending a full round action to deliver a single attack, its power is greatly increased.  The fighter deals 2-1/2 times damage and adds his constitution modifier as a bonus to the roll, before multiplying.  If he makes any other attacks the round this ability is used, such as attacks of opportunity or those granted by spells, those attacks also benefit from this ability. Creatures immune to critical hits are not immune to the extra damage from this ability.[/spoiler]

Ageless Veteran:[spoiler] At 19th level, the fighter has seen it all and done it all.  He becomes a native outsider, gaining damage reduction 10/magic and cold iron.  He no longer takes any penalties from aging, but gains only half the normal bonuses (round up).  [/spoiler]

There are a few abilities taken from other fighter fixes here and plenty of inspiration from them.  Please give me feedback as I'm not good with figuring out tier value, though i don't expect this to take him much higher as it doesn't fix some of the problems but gives him a little more versatility.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2011, 09:33:56 PM by ThisGuy01 »

Garryl

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Re: Another fighter tweak to go with the rest.
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2011, 11:58:51 PM »
Given the armor proficiencies, Evasion might be better served as an armored equivalent. Normally, it can only be used while wearing light or no armor.

Penetrate Defenses is just bad in its current incarnation. Spending a round to get a chance for a tiny amount of extra damage (assuming you don't just bypass the DR anyways) can't be intended. To get a mere 5 point reduction in the DR of an equal-level/CR foe means you need to roll 52 points above your maximum ranks in Spot. Plus, Crack Shell obsoletes it only 3 levels later, giving an actual attack for your action, a much greater effect that applies to more things and benefits your allies, and with a DC that scales in your favor, not your opponent's.

Crack Shell has the usual issues of sundering, namely destroying your gear. It also doesn't have a way to repair armor that isn't completely destroyed.
A Guide to Free D&D - A resource of free, official D&D resources on the web.
General listing of my homebrew.
Links to things I've worked on
[spoiler]
Idiot Crusader, refreshing maneuvers for free every round.
The Opposed Checks Handbook - Under construction.
Adaptations Handbook - Under construction.
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ThisGuy01

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Re: Another fighter tweak to go with the rest.
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2011, 09:18:02 PM »
Thanks for commenting.
Quote
Given the armor proficiencies, Evasion might be better served as an armored equivalent. Normally, it can only be used while wearing light or no armor.

Gah! I forgot to put that in, adding now...

Quote
Penetrate Defenses is just bad in its current incarnation.

I agree it's not awesome.  I couldn't figure out how to make it work while not being just stupid.  One idea I had was to have them make a spot check once, with the same current DC, success would let them ignore DR equal to their Wis modifier for rounds equal to their fighter level.

Quote
Plus, Crack Shell....etc.

I got crack shell much closer to what I wanted that I got penetrate defenses.  Though now that I think about it, the names should probably be swapped...maybe not, that's not really important. 

On healing armor that's not broken, I'd say something along the lines of a craft check with the normal DC, taking 1 hour/point of armor repaired.  Does that seem reasonable, possibly costing like, 100GP/point repaired?

RobbyPants

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Re: Another fighter tweak to go with the rest.
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2011, 12:28:34 PM »
Quote
Penetrate Defenses is just bad in its current incarnation.

I agree it's not awesome.  I couldn't figure out how to make it work while not being just stupid.  One idea I had was to have them make a spot check once, with the same current DC, success would let them ignore DR equal to their Wis modifier for rounds equal to their fighter level.
I'd make the Spot check a swift action, and have it ignore an amount of DR equal to by how much you bet the DC.

It really wouldn't be that overpowered. You'd have to sink points into the skill, which will improve at the same rate as enemy CRs. If you have a 14 Wis (which might be generous), your Spot should be your level + 5, which matches nicely to the CR + 5 DC. You'll have a 55% chance to actually meet that DC, so you have a 50% chance to roll higher. So, 50% of the time, you still don't overcome any DR, and the rest of the time, you overcome anywhere from 1 to 10 points.

You could probably have the result last the whole fight, and even allow re-rolls (allowing them to take the better result), and it still wouldn't be overpowered. The fight will probably be over in less than 5 rounds, and it might take a round or two before he's even ignoring 5 points of DR. It's no big thing.

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ThisGuy01

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Re: Another fighter tweak to go with the rest.
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2011, 09:23:28 PM »
Hmm...how's this?

Penetrate Defenses
Make a spot check with a DC equal to the target's CR+3.  If you succeed, you ignore an amount of damage reduction equal to the amount you beat the DC by.  At 7th level, you gain the ability to destroy any spell granting DR.  You can spend a standard action to make an attack at your highest base attack bonus and roll damage like normal if you hit.  The spell granting the DR is subject to the effects of Dispel Magic, using half your class level as your caster level (max 10), and with a bonus on the roll equal to half the damage you dealt.  If you use this ability, the attack on the magic only deals half damage to the creature as the rest of your force went into breaking the spell.



I kinda liked the idea of attacking magic but maybe I should make that some sort of separate ability?  I don't know, further comments are welcome.