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First thing, the fighter doesn't need any improvement in realation to his fighting ability, I know that.
What he needs is improving his ability in other areas.
Basic idea:
Give him 4 skill points per level. Particularly I believe that 4 per level should be the minimun for all heroc classes, with more skillful classes getting six (ranger, bard) and the rogue, as skill master should have eight.
Add perception to his skill list. Remove Knowledge Dungeoneering and Knowledge Engineering.
Give him the folowing ability:
Fighting Knowledge(Ex): At firsth level the fighter chooses two Knowledge skills and another skill not on the fighters list. This skills become class skills for the Fighter.
Maybe add a suggestion list of possible skill combinations you can take depending on background, to help lazy GMs and indecisive players, like:
Soldier: Engineering and Dungeoneering; Acrobatics or Heal
Aristocrat: Nobility and Religion or History; Appraise or Diplomacy
Streetraised: Local and Nature; Stealth or Sleight of Hand
More involved idea:
Another idea would be giving him a couple of new class abilities.
My suggestion would be at level 4 and then 12 the fighter can choose from a small pool of abilities. A list with 8 to 12 abilities would be enough. This abilities would have to meet two critria:
One: be useful out of battle but not so much during it. Fighter are already great damage dealers they don't need help in that area. Using Intimidate instead of Diplomacy to gather information is a good examle, it rewards charismatic fighter and those that spend a feat or two to improve intimidate. Giving a bonus to Intimidate, on the other hand, would just make Demoralize builds more abusable.
Two: Have a Fighter flavor. Rogue Talents have many similarities to this idea, so it would be best to keep the fighter abilities as something unique. The sweet spot for the flavor of those abilities would be too brutish and jock type for rogues, too disciplined for barbarians and too ruthless for paladins.
My first name for this wouldbe Diversified Training but I think there's an ability with that name already. Not sure.
So, what do you guys think?
