Bravery: You're not going to impress us with a +11 vs Fear save when historically you could spend a feat (Death Trance, Fearless) at level 1 or be a paladin at level 2 and be immune to fear. It's not even equal to a good Will save. That's ridiculous.
I LIKE the idea of passing a fear save and turning it into a morale bonus. But that's something that should kick in about 10th level, not end game.
Bravery hitting all mind-affecting is a level 6 ability, and still behind the immunities of a paladin. Note that Weapon master option now allows Bravery to all will and Weapon Training to reflex saves as options...
I don't have Stamina options for abilities memorized so I have no idea how stamina interacts with the basic effects you have up there. I can only go with what you are showing.
Godless healing sucks and shoe-horns you into being agnostic. Congrats, you can't follow Gorum, god of war, because you want to be able to heal yourself less effectively then a CMW 1/day.
200 ft in 6 seconds is Olympic sprinting speed. I thought you were talking about superhumans? And yet, unless he's spending stamina, the barbarian and ranger with Run trot on by him after 11th, and either keep up or pass him before then. So, meh.
Armor Mastery is cool enough for a capstone, but what we want is stuff on the way up. He's still MAD on Dexterity, and will likely not hit the limit on his dex because of how fast armor scales on dex limits. You should just make the AC bonus a dodge bonus and be done with it. If he wants extra Dex beyond that, have him get mithral or celestial armor like everyone else.
And that way Armor Mastery actually has some teeth to it. I don't see why you popped the DR to 10/-, when you could just have it scale and stack with adamantine armor instead (which gives a reason to wear adamantine armor).
he regains stamina too slowly. Is that the basic rate? Shouldn't he be wanting to spend 1-2 stamina/rd of combat, or more?
The scaling uses of Bravery take too long. Come on, bravery to help allies, at what level? For a paladin, it's level 2!
Where's his narrative power and ability to influence the setting? To overcome terrain? You've got some dispel options in there, good for you, so he's got some anti-magic.
==Aelryinth
Piling up the immunities makes for lazy class abilities though (the paladin is a notorious example of this).
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Piling up the immunities makes for lazy class abilities though (the paladin is a notorious example of this).
If you don't have magical abilities, the only thing you can do is become immune or highly resistant to them, to counter them.
Which is exactly what the Fighter's shtick should be. Except that has gone to the paladin and the barbarian for magic in general, and to the ranger and rogue for the agility side of it (Evasion + Good Reflex). It doesn't have to be great immunities (Kirth uses the physical, non-magical ones of nausea, exhaustion and the like), but it should be something.
Or flat out Spell Resistance, if it comes down to that.
==Aelryinth
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Bravery: You're not going to impress us with a +11 vs Fear save when historically you could spend a feat (Death Trance, Fearless) at level 1 or be a paladin at level 2 and be immune to fear. It's not even equal to a good Will save. That's ridiculous.Part of the whole Paladin's schtick is that he's a more defensively oriented Martial Class. Bravery is not supposed to equal out to a "good" Will save. A good save has a base of +12 by end game. Bravery places puts the Will bonus in the non-existent margin between bad save progression and good. What that gives you is a decent chance at overcoming Will Save DCs for mind effects rather than a desperate prayer.
I LIKE the idea of passing a fear save and turning it into a morale bonus. But that's something that should kick in about 10th level, not end game.
Bravery hitting all mind-affecting is a level 6 ability, and still behind the immunities of a paladin. Note that Weapon master option now allows Bravery to all will and Weapon Training to reflex saves as options...
Hmmm...then perhaps it should be:
2nd level, he may spend 1 point of stamina to add his bravery bonus to Str, Dex and Con based skill checks. Fear effects that inflict Panicking, Frightened, or Cowering only inflict Shaken.
6th level, he can add this bonus to Will saves against all mind affecting effects. He can spend stamina to add the bonus to Charisma and Wisdom-based skill checks.
10th level, instead of being shaken, the fighter gains a morale bonus equal to his Bravery on his attack and damage rolls for the duration of the condition. Allies within 30ft receive a morale bonus equal to his Bravery on Will Saves against fear effects.
14th level, Allies within 30 ft receive a morale bonus on Will Saves against all mind affecting effect. The fighter may spend a point of stamina to apply his bonus to reflex saves.
18th level, Allies within 30 ft. receive a morale bonus to attack and damage rolls. Insight bonus to AC based on stamina...
Bravery should equate to an immunity to fear very, very quickly. You're a fighter. You're supposed to be BRAVE, not more inclined to run away then a mewling mage because some barbarian flexed his muscles at you.
You aren't going to have the Wisdom, Charisma or other stats to drive that will save into auto-success territory, unlike the Paladin, who is ALREADY immune, or the barb, who can buy up and keep stacking superstitious bonuses. But the very word implies fear does not affect you, and mental discipline.
You are not a Warrior. You are a fighter, the Olympians of melee. Of all of them, you are the most disciplined, the most hard-working, the most training intensive.
And yet, you're the easiest to subvert. Have you ever seen an Olympian with weak willpower? Those guys don't know when to quit. They are CHAMPIONS. Willpower IS their thing.
How bout this: level 2: as written, as a morale bonus vs fear.
level 6: Resolve - The stamina bonus to wis/cha checks can be non-sensical, if you're talking a long term check like diplomacy. Just have it apply.
Now, let him spend a point of stamina for the bonus to apply as typeless against all mind-affecting. That way, it stacks with morale bonus vs fear and becomes substantial VERY quickly.
Level 10: Valor - IF HE MAKES THE FEAR SAVE, he gets the morale bonus as Th/Dmg against the source of the fear effect (and is thus now an auto-scaling buff). If not, he ignores the fear. Spend Stamina for Reflex save improvement (which is a low level effect).
Level 14: 30 or 60 foot Aura of Resolve = MOrale bonus vs fear. All fear effects reduced by one step in this area. All Intimidation effects from the Fighter gain the Aura as a bonus, and the effect is upgraded by one.
Level 18: Aura of Valor - Allies get the morale bonus vs all mind-affecting and Reflex saves. If they make the save vs fear, they get the bravery bonus as th/dmg against the source of the fear effect. If they fail it, they are never more then shaken while inside his aura.
This turns fear effects into potential buffs as terror becomes warrior's pride and outrage. it's a very different method of neutralizing fear and allowing a potential group buff later in the game.
Note: Much of this will not stack with Bardsong, or Heroism/Greater heroism, or Rage, which is FINE, and quite the point. There's now more then one source of morale buffs in the party, and we don't WANT them to stack. We just want to have something we can give away. It's really a nice buff to lower level characters.
100% all the time morale buffs th/dmg are definitely NOT the way to go.
==Aelryinth
Drizzt used two weapons and had an intelligent animal as a magic item, not a class ability. The rest of his abilities were mostly racial based (whatever stealth he had, etc).
Honestly, I felt he was better represented as a Fighter, considering how descriptive his training and combat technique was.Actually, now that I think about it, I seem to recall an rpg-lite-adventure game for xbox or something that had Drizzt as an unlockable playable character. Think it was a Baldur's Gate adventure game (diablo style vs the original RPG-focused versions on PC).
They had him listed as a Fighter, or at least gave him fighter-like advancement.
Baldur s Gate: Dark Alliance I & II
They gave him some spells, Repulsion & Icey Sphere but yeah he seems like a Fighter with a dip of Ranger.
I kind of like your suggestions up until the Aura part. Aura sounds a bit like a supernatural ability terminology. I think a fighter needs to be purely extraordinary. Auras are the Paladin's thing...
Also courage is not an immunity to the emotion of fear. In fact the concept of courage is defined by the ability to feel fear. Bravery...true bravery is acknowledging a dangerous situation and the trepidation that your inherent sense of self preservation places, but doing what needs to be done in spite of the risks.
Paladins resist fear through their faith. They take solace in the righteousness of their cause and they know that regardless of the outcome, someone up in the skies has their back. Barbarians resist fear through their rage. They push all anxiety and common sense to that obscured little corner of their mind and recklessly throw themselves into the fray.
The Fighter has neither, he must accept the truth of a situation in the face of a serious threat. What he does have is experience and confidence in his ability. So while he is not immune to fear, he masters his response to it.
Bravery: Starting 2nd level and every four levels beyond 2nd, the gains a +1 bonus to Will saves against fear effects.
Brave Resolve: At 6th level, the fighter's confidence adds his Bravery bonus to all Wisdom/Charisma based Skill checks. When making a Will save against mind-affecting effects, he can spend one point of spend 1 point of stamina to add a bonus equal to his Bravery. This bonus stacks with his regular bonus against fear effects. He will only be shaken by any fear effect that normally inflicts frightened or panicked.
Brave Determination: At 10th level, the fighter no longer suffers from any fear effects. Instead a successful Will save against fear effects gives him a morale bonus equal to his Bravery on attack and damage rolls made against the source of those effects. He may spend 1 point of stamina to add his bravery when making a Reflex save.
Brave Inspiration: At 14th level, the fighter's valor...
Command Auras started in 3E with the Marshal, and were totally an xtraordinary thing. Auras were the foundation of the Marshal's ability to radiate command and influence those around him.
The Auras of a Paladin are divinely granted supernatural abilities, definitely not the same thing. Especially since the Aura of a Paladin is a personal radius (10') and the command area of a fighter or Marshal was 30' or 60'...an actual field of command.
So using AURA is just as correct for the fighter as for the paladin. But you can always use terms like 'Mantle' or Zone or Field or suchlike if you really want to.
Hmm. Mantle of Bravery, Mantle of Resolve, and Mantle of Command actually make a decent set of progression names for 10, 14 and 18.
==Aelryinth
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Well, since it seems to be the done thing to post fighter rebuilds at the moment, here's what I'd do.
(Full credit should go to Kirth for the Bravery, Sterner Stuff, Martial Prowess, Combat Mobility, Strategist and Resilience abilities, which I shamelessly ripped from his fighter rebuild.)
2nd: Bonus feat, Bravery (1 step)
3rd: Rugged +1, Iron Skin (1/–)
4th: Bonus feat, Sterner Stuff (sickness)
5th: Strategist (10 ft), Martial Prowess +2
6th: Bonus feat, Bravery (2 steps)
7th: Combat Mobility, Rugged +2, Iron Skin (2/–)
8th: Bonus feat, Sterner Stuff (fatigue)
9th: Defiance, Strategist (15 ft), Martial Prowess +3
10th: Bonus feat, Bravery (3 steps)
11th: Leadership, Rugged +3, Iron Skin (3/–)
12th: Bonus feat, Sterner Stuff (nausea)
13th: Tactical Aid, Strategist (20 ft), Martial Prowess +4
14th: Bonus feat, Bravery (immunity)
15th: Skill Mastery, Rugged +4, Iron Skin (4/–)
16th: Bonus feat, Sterner Stuff (exhaustion)
17th: Master Strategist (25 ft), Martial Prowess +5
18th: Bonus feat, Defy Death's Door
19th: Resilience, Rugged +5, Iron Skin (5/–)
20th: Bonus feat, Weapon Mastery
Martial Prowess (Ex): At 1st-level, the fighter gains a +1 insight bonus to attacks, weapon damage, CMB, and CMD, increases his max Dex bonus from armour by 1 and reduces his armour's check penalty by 1. These modifiers each increase by 1 at 5th, 9th, 13th and 17th-level.
Bonus feat: At 2nd-level and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat, which must be selected from those listed as Combat Feats. Upon reaching 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and/or 20th-level, a fighter can choose to learn one new bonus feat in place of a bonus feat he has already learned, but the old feat cannot be one that was used as a prerequisite for another feat, prestige class, or other ability. A fighter may only do this once at any given level.
Bravery (Ex): At 2nd level, the fighter is immune to effects that cause the shaken condition. For more severe fear, the effect is lessened by 1 step (cowering -> panicked -> frightened -> shaken). The severity is reduced by 2 steps at 6th level, by 3 steps at 10th level, and a fighter of 14th level or higher is immune to [fear] effects.
Rugged (Ex): At 3rd-level, the fighter gains a +1 competence bonus to all saves vs. poison, disease and sleep effects. This bonus increases by 1 at 7th, 11th, 15th and 19th-level.
Iron Skin (Ex): At 3rd-level, whilst wearing medium or heavy armour, the fighter gains DR 1/–. The damage reduced increases by 1 each time at 7th, 11th, 15th and 19th-level.
Sterner Stuff (Ex): At 4th level, the fighter's constant exposure to death and suffering renders him immunity to the sickened condition and causes him to become merely sickened if he would be nauseated. At 8th-level, he becomes immune to fatigue effects and if he would normally be exhausted, he becomes fatigued instead. At 12th-level he becomes immune to nausea and at 16th-level, he is immune to exhaustion.
Strategist (Ex): At 5th level, the fighter gains Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat. In addition, he can choose to reduce his movement speed by 5 ft. for one round in order to extend his threatened area by 5 ft. At 9th, 13th and 17th-level, he can trade an additional 5 ft. (up to his maximum movement speed). Enemies who have not seen the fighter use this ability are not necessarily aware of it.
Combat Mobility (Ex): At 7th level, a fighter can attack twice with a standard action, but your first attack this round suffers a -5 penalty (thus a fighter with a normal BAB of +7 would make both attacks at a base +2).
Defiance (Ex): At 9th-level, a fighter is sufficiently doughty that he can escape unharmed from certain assaults that would fell a lesser man. If he makes a successful Fortitude saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Defiance can be used only if the fighter is wearing armour and a helpless fighter does not gain the benefit of defiance.
Leadership: At 11th-level, a fighter gains Leadership as a bonus feat. Typically, the followers attracted by this feat are warriors, drawn to serve the fighter as part of a standing private army. If the fighter already has the Leadership feat, he gains a +4 insight bonus to his Leadership score instead.
Tactical Aid (Ex): At 13th-level, a fighter can provide tactical advice on the field. As a move action, the fighter can provide tactical aid to either all allies or himself within sight and voice range of his position. He may provide this bonus to both at once, but it becomes a standard action instead. This aid provides a competence bonus to attack or dodge bonus to AC (fighter’s choice) equal to his Intelligence bonus (minimum +1) and lasts for a number of rounds equal to one-half his class level, rounded down.
Skill Mastery: At 15th-level, a fighter may Take 10 on Perception and Sense Motive checks, even if he is rushed or stressed. He may choose to Take 10 on Initiative checks in any combat in which he was not initially surprised. If he does so, he must choose to do this instead of rolling for initiative normally.
Master Strategist (Ex): At 17th level, as a free action, the fighter can designate any portion of his threatened area as difficult terrain.
Defy Death's Door: At 18th-level, a fighter can survive the worst battlefields imaginable. He gains Diehard as a bonus feat and does not die unless his negative hit points equal double his Constitution score. If he already has the Diehard feat, he gains a +5 insight bonus on saves vs. massive damage.
Resilience: At 19th-level, a fighter does not automatically fail saving throws on a 1.
Weapon Mastery (Ex): At 20th level, a fighter chooses one weapon, such as the longsword, greataxe, or longbow. Any attacks made with that weapon automatically confirm all critical threats and have their damage multiplier increased by 1 (×2 becomes ×3, for example). In addition, he cannot be disarmed while wielding a weapon of this type.
Somehow, auras doesn't feel quite right for a fighter. Paladins have auras, which is all about being a beacon of power, divine might & right in this case. Fighters, on the other hand, are about battlefield command and control, barking orders and shouting warnings and crying havoc to inspire their allies. Something like the shouts that warriors in World of Warcraft have seems a better fit here. Make it cost no resources but choose which effect to activate each time. It will hit a larger area but also have a cooldown, so it can't be spammed. It's non-magical, but the bonus type might not stack with a lot of spells and such. It's not as powerful as a paladin's immunities but eventually scales to be better than the bonus those auras provide. Just some thoughts.
"Aura" is just stat-block-speak for "area of effect around the creature who has it, that doesn't have a specific activation cost." Gaze attacks and frightful presence are both examples of "auras" in that sense.
Personally, I prefer the idea of "allies/enemies within hearing/sight" rather than an arbitrary 30'. If that's the difference between a "Shout" and an "Aura", I prefer the shout.
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"Aura" is just stat-block-speak for "area of effect around the creature who has it, that doesn't have a specific activation cost." Gaze attacks and frightful presence are both examples of "auras" in that sense.
I understand and to a limited extent I agree. It's an abstraction for an omnipresent / unlimited-immediate-action usable effect. However, in both the thematic and mechanical sense, auras still don't feel quite right. If a fighter is about battlefield command, why are we limiting them to a tiny section of the fight like this? Their warcries should be influencing whole armies, which according to Ultimate Campaigns is apparently a square that is 500 ft. on a side. If they're not going to be doing that immediately but instead scale up to that kind of range by high level, then it should still be wide enough to cover a small-scale engagement at lower levels. I'm talking about covering a really large room at first, then a complex of a few small close-clustered buildings a few levels later, then a decently-sized open area like a wide field later on, etc. Also, simply having an omni-present effect doesn't quite seem to suit the idea of commanding troops in the chaotic melee of ancient battles. Sometimes soldiers lose track of things and need their commanders to get their attention, or they'll pursue without thinking, run in fear, etc. A fighter bellowing out a commanding cry to have his soldiers change tactics at a moments notice seems like a better fit than simply having a sudden change to an effect in a comparatively tiny area.
I tinkered with redoing the fighter a long time ago, but real life caught up with me for a good while and never quite managed to finish it.
I would like a fighter being able to learn martial stances within fighting schools. Switching between stances from these schools and possibly adopting several stances at once later on, the benefits would increase with levels and might shift between or adopt multiple stances simultaneously.
leadership/morale, evasion/swiftness, powerful attacks/overwhelming defences, endurance/resisting attacks, exploiting weaknesses/knowledge, intuition/focus.
I don't think I have my notes any more but I might try and recreate something similar sometime coming week, or maybe someone else wants to have a crack at it. Tome of Battle was inspiration for this obviously but not quite as magical as that.
Well, since it seems to be the done thing to post fighter rebuilds at the moment, here's what I'd do.
(Full credit should go to Kirth for the Bravery, Sterner Stuff, Martial Prowess, Combat Mobility, Strategist and Resilience abilities, which I shamelessly ripped from his fighter rebuild.)
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
Please note: you've got 'Wall of Text' problem here.
I took one look at that last block and refused to read it. either take the time to break it up for readability, or no one is going to read it lightly.
==Aelryinth
|
Well, since it seems to be the done thing to post fighter rebuilds at the moment, here's what I'd do.
(Full credit should go to Kirth for the Bravery, Sterner Stuff, Martial Prowess, Combat Mobility, Strategist and Resilience abilities, which I shamelessly ripped from his fighter rebuild.)
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
Please note: you've got 'Wall of Text' problem here.
I took one look at that last block and refused to read it. either take the time to break it up for readability, or no one is going to read it lightly.
==Aelryinth
Like so:
Martial Expertise: At 1st-level, the fighter gains Combat Expertise as a bonus feat and may count his Int as 13 for the purpose of selecting combat feats when gaining a new fighter level.
Martial Prowess (Ex): At 1st-level, the fighter gains a +1 insight bonus to attacks, weapon damage, CMB, and CMD, increases his max Dex bonus from armour by 1 and reduces his armour's check penalty by 1. These modifiers each increase by 1 at 5th, 9th, 13th and 17th-level.
Bonus feat: At 2nd-level and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat, which must be selected from those listed as Combat Feats. Upon reaching 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and/or 20th-level, a fighter can choose to learn one new bonus feat in place of a bonus feat he has already learned, but the old feat cannot be one that was used as a prerequisite for another feat, prestige class, or other ability. A fighter may only do this once at any given level.
Bravery (Ex): At 2nd level, the fighter is immune to effects that cause the shaken condition. For more severe fear, the effect is lessened by 1 step (cowering -> panicked -> frightened -> shaken). The severity is reduced by 2 steps at 6th level, by 3 steps at 10th level, and a fighter of 14th level or higher is immune to [fear] effects.
Rugged (Ex): At 3rd-level, the fighter gains a +1 competence bonus to all saves vs. poison, disease and sleep effects. This bonus increases by 1 at 7th, 11th, 15th and 19th-level.
Iron Skin (Ex): At 3rd-level, whilst wearing medium or heavy armour, the fighter gains DR 1/–. The damage reduced increases by 1 each time at 7th, 11th, 15th and 19th-level.
Sterner Stuff (Ex): At 4th level, the fighter's constant exposure to death and suffering renders him immunity to the sickened condition and causes him to become merely sickened if he would be nauseated. At 8th-level, he becomes immune to fatigue effects and if he would normally be exhausted, he becomes fatigued instead. At 12th-level he becomes immune to nausea and at 16th-level, he is immune to exhaustion.
Strategist (Ex): At 5th level, the fighter gains Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat. In addition, he can choose to reduce his movement speed by 5 ft. for one round in order to extend his threatened area by 5 ft. At 9th, 13th and 17th-level, he can trade an additional 5 ft. (up to his maximum movement speed). Enemies who have not seen the fighter use this ability are not necessarily aware of it.
Combat Mobility (Ex): At 7th level, a fighter can attack twice with a standard action, but your first attack this round suffers a -5 penalty (thus a fighter with a normal BAB of +7 would make both attacks at a base +2).
Defiance (Ex): At 9th-level, a fighter is sufficiently doughty that he can escape unharmed from certain assaults that would fell a lesser man. If he makes a successful Fortitude saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Defiance can be used only if the fighter is wearing armour and a helpless fighter does not gain the benefit of defiance.
Leadership: At 11th-level, a fighter gains Leadership as a bonus feat. Typically, the followers attracted by this feat are warriors, drawn to serve the fighter as part of a standing private army. If the fighter already has the Leadership feat, he gains a +4 insight bonus to his Leadership score instead.
Tactical Aid (Ex): At 13th-level, a fighter can provide tactical advice on the field. As a move action, the fighter can provide tactical aid to either all allies or himself within sight and voice range of his position. He may provide this bonus to both at once, but it becomes a standard action instead. This aid provides a competence bonus to attack or dodge bonus to AC (fighter’s choice) equal to his Intelligence bonus (minimum +1) and lasts for a number of rounds equal to one-half his class level, rounded down.
Skill Mastery: At 15th-level, a fighter may Take 10 on Perception and Sense Motive checks, even if he is rushed or stressed. He may choose to Take 10 on Initiative checks in any combat in which he was not initially surprised. If he does so, he must choose to do this instead of rolling for initiative normally.
Master Strategist (Ex): At 17th level, as a free action, the fighter can designate any portion of his threatened area as difficult terrain.
Defy Death's Door: At 18th-level, a fighter can survive the worst battlefields imaginable. He gains Diehard as a bonus feat and does not die unless his negative hit points equal double his Constitution score. If he already has the Diehard feat, he gains a +5 insight bonus on saves vs. massive damage.
Resilience: At 19th-level, a fighter does not automatically fail saving throws on a 1.
Weapon Mastery (Ex): At 20th level, a fighter chooses one weapon, such as the longsword, greataxe, or longbow. Any attacks made with that weapon automatically confirm all critical threats and have their damage multiplier increased by 1 (×2 becomes ×3, for example). In addition, he cannot be disarmed while wielding a weapon of this type.
(Thanks for that Riuken. That's an artefact caused by copying from OpenOffice, where it is properly formatted.)
Well, since it seems to be the done thing to post fighter rebuilds at the moment, here's what I'd do.
(Full credit should go to Kirth for the Bravery, Sterner Stuff, Martial Prowess, Combat Mobility, Strategist and Resilience abilities, which I shamelessly ripped from his fighter rebuild.)
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **...
Please note: you've got 'Wall of Text' problem here.
I took one look at that last block and refused to read it. either take the time to break it up for readability, or no one is going to read it lightly.
==Aelryinth
Like so:
** spoiler omitted **...
1) Still using the Raise Dex instead of just giving him an AC bonus, i.e. a useless ability until higher levels unless you are a finesse, dex-based fighter. Always nice to have a class ability that does nothing.
he can only retrain a bonus feat every 4 levels. Riiiight.
He's finally immune to fear at level 14! Not bad for a level 2 effect.
Combat Mobility: How does this interact with 2 weapon fighting? It's basically a flurry of blows...with a higher penalty.
Why is Rugged a Competence bonus? I don't see where 'skill' comes in vs poison, disease and sleep. Make it morale or typeless.
Ironskin should just be folded in with Martial mastery. Although I see you did it this way to force the wearing of medium/heavy armor, and it does not work with shields.
Sterner Stuff: Immunity to fatigue is a 1/day effect at level 1 option for humans, and immunity to exhaustion also level 1 for oracles. For a scaling benefit, this is hugely slow and underpowered. To actually be reasonably useful, it needs to come online about 9th level, when exhaustion and fatigue attacks become spell assaults. Simply always granting a fort save against those spell attacks, and getting a bonus on fort saves vs exhaust/fatigue, would be more balanced and come online earlier, while keeping the 'high level flavor' of Immunity at bay.
Defiance: I'm trying to think of ANY fort effect doing half damage on a save (Inflict wounds spells?). Poison tends to be all or none. This is an example of a class ability that seems nice, except it does absolutely NOTHING, effectively. It might be used 1-2 times in a fighter's whole career, and the GM will have to DELIBERATELY put such an attack in.
Leadership: What replaces this in campaigns where Leadership is not allowed? (which is usually the default). just another General Feat? I personally let the cohort be of level -1 if he's a fighter of the same school (virtually same combat feats) as the fighter himself (effectively a battle-brother or student).
Tactical Aid: This needs a range or you're going to have arguments. Combine with line of sight. Normally these bonuses are morale bonuses, but competence works.
You may wish to have it operate off Charisma as a morale bonus, or Intelligence as a Competence bonus (fighter's choice). And have a feat where they stack!
Skill Mastery: I would include the take 10 on Bluff Checks used to Feint. I would also let him take 15 on the initiative checks, effectively giving him an initiative bonus, otherwise you're just, on average, saving him a die roll.
Note that since you aren't giving him any bonuses to Sense Motive or Perception, and monsters usually have better stats, you're effectively 'guaranteeing him a higher chance to lose' if he doesn't get some sort of bonus on this check. Skill Mastery is only good if you're the one with the higher Skill Mod. So, either a 'take 15', or add Bravery or Martial mastery to the checks if you actually want to improve his chances of a win.
As an interesting variant, you could also have him choose to go before the person with the next higher Init, and/or choose to improve his place in the init order by 1 every round, until he's going first, if he wants to.
Master Strategist: You may want to raise the Acrobatics DC and simply disallow abilities that allow others to ignore difficult terrain vs this level 17 ability!!!! (i.e. equal to a 9th level spell?)
Defy Death's Door: this 18th level ability is mechanically the Equivalent of taking the Toughness and diehard feats, and a +5 bonus vs Massive Damage. He should be immune to having to save vs massive damage, period. Note he can't even sleep in armor yet.
Resilience: I call this ability Luckless. Since we don't know what his good saves are (he doesn't call them out in his other notes), I'm assuming this means he just has a good chance of always making a Fort Save. It would mean having a min Con of 23 so you can autopass a minimum DC 23 9th level spell Fort save.
Mechanically, it actually means "You're immune to Fort saves of DC 20ish and lower that allow saves." Which includes most non-monster poisons, among other things, and most Monster Poisons combined with Rugged.
It should probably allow Fort saves against effects that don't normally allow such saves, too.
Weapon Mastery: I've always loathed this ability because the weight of it applies unevenly. I suggest instead of the default, having it treat all weapons as base 18-20/x3, so the longsword wielder comes off as good as the rapier, scythe and falcata wielder (while limiting the worst of abuse of the exotic weapons).
It also moves the benefit from one weapon to all weapons, but whatever weapon you've got Keen or Improved Crit on is best.
If you want to make a 17th+ BAB Feat that caps the Weapon Spec chain with a +Crit Modifier, that is something else.
No healing, recovery or enhanced movement options. Better Fort-save centered defenses. No ability to adapt to changing martial/tactical conditions at all. No gold efficiency anywhere.
==Aelryinth
My key goal with that build was to have evenly-spaced abilities to encourage taking Fighter all the way up to 20th and not overloading the first few levels.
The bonus feat and Weapon Mastery abilities are just the vanilla ones. I did mean to include a versatility ability to allow him to apply weapon feats to whole groups of weapons, rather than just one type, but I simply forgot. (I didn't list the saves because I didn't change them from vanilla.)
I was going to make Rugged a resistance bonus, but of course that would be pointless, so I just wrote in competence instead. Untyped would probably be better, I agree, but I don't really like untyped bonuses. For Defiance, the key thing I was thinking of was disintegrate, though there are probably others. I also wanted something that played around his existing saves, without granting him better saves overall.
Good point on C/Mobility. I was trying to get around the whole "stand still and fight" issue, but I hadn't noticed that I'd simply reinvented the flurry of blows. I was making a point of not simply stealing other classes' abilities, given my comments earlier in this thread.
Tactical Aid should probably be morale, yes. Re: Skill Mastery, both Perception and Sense Motive are class skills, but I suppose that the Martial Mastery bonuses could add to that, yes.
I suppose that making him immune to massive damage with DDD wouldn't be a problem. I didn't include sleeping in armour, because either he already has Endurance (for Diehard) or I might as well just give it out too.
As for healing, recovery etc., I considered a Second Wind style power, but it would have to be significant to be relevant and I didn't go any further with that train of thought. I didn't include any magic item stuff, because I didn't want to step on the toes of anyone using Automatic Bonus systems.
Step on Toes.
The crafting feats Step on Toes. Why can't the fighter? they are already in the default rules.
including Endurance as part of the increase in Martial mastery would make a good series of feats you could include at each level it increases. They are more thematic for the fighter then the ranger, after all.
Step on toes. Take school efficiencies. Shamelessly steal archetype powers. Rip off class abilities.
You're try to make a core competent all around fighter. People can use feats to super specialize him.
The wizard basically gets his gear for half price or free (per level spells). The fighter's gear is even more essential to him, and he gets NONE of it for free. Don't hesitate for a second in giving the fighter tons of price breaks. Can you imagine an Olympian in our world who doesn't get sponsors to help him with all his money requirements for training and equipment? That is effectively what you are doing.
==Aelryinth
So, I've made some changes and include the class as a whole below. As before, HD, BAB and saves are unchanged, and significant credit should go to Kirth, for inspiring this build in the first place.
2nd: Bonus feat, Bravery (1 step)
3rd: Rugged (Endurance), Iron Skin (1/–)
4th: Bonus feat, Sterner Stuff (sickness)
5th: Strategist (10 ft), Martial Prowess +2
6th: Bonus feat, Backbrother, Bravery (2 steps)
7th: Bladestorm (magic), Rugged (Diehard), Iron Skin (2/–)
8th: Bonus feat, Sterner Stuff (fatigue)
9th: Defiance, Strategist (15 ft), Martial Prowess +3
10th: Bonus feat, Bravery (3 steps)
11th: Leadership, Recover (2/day), Iron Skin (3/–)
12th: Bonus feat, Sterner Stuff (nausea)
13th: Bladestorm (material), Tactical Aid, Strategist (20 ft), Martial Prowess +4
14th: Bonus feat, Bravery (immunity)
15th: Indomitable Will, Skill Mastery, Recover (1/day), Iron Skin (4/–)
16th: Bonus feat, Sterner Stuff (exhaustion)
17th: Bladestorm (adamantine), Master Strategist (25 ft), Martial Prowess +5
18th: Bonus feat, Defy Death's Door
19th: Resilience, Recover (3/day), Iron Skin (5/–)
20th: Bonus feat, Weapon Mastery
Martial Prowess (Ex): At 1st-level, the fighter gains a +1 insight bonus to all attacks, weapon damage, CMB, and CMD whist wielding a weapon with which he is proficient and may modify his armour's AC, max Dex bonus and check penalty by 1. These modifiers each increase by 1 at 5th, 9th, 13th and 17th-level.
Bonus feat: At 2nd-level and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat, which must be selected from those listed as Combat Feats. At each level he gains a new combat feat, he can choose to learn one new bonus feat in place of a bonus feat he has already learned, but the old feat cannot be one that was used as a prerequisite for another feat, prestige class, or other ability. A fighter may only do this once at any given level.
Bravery (Ex): At 2nd-level, the fighter is immune to effects that cause the shaken condition. For more severe fear, the effect is lessened by 1 step (cowering -> panicked -> frightened -> shaken). The severity is reduced by 2 steps at 6th, by 3 steps at 10th, and a fighter of 14th-level or higher is immune to [fear] effects.
Rugged (Ex): At 3rd-level, the fighter gains Endurance and Diehard at 7th-level, both as bonus feats. He may add his Martial Prowess to all saves vs. poison, disease and sleep effects, as well as to all Bravery & Sterner Stuff conditions to which he is not already immune. If a fighter would not normally be granted a saving throw versus these effects, he may make one at DC (15 + trap's CR or ½ originator's HD).
Iron Skin (Ex): At 3rd-level, his speed is not reduced whilst wearing medium armour, and at 7th-level, this extends to heavy armour as well. In addition, whilst wearing medium or heavy armour, the fighter gains DR 1/–. This reduction increases by 1 each time at 7th, 11th, 15th and 19th-level.
Sterner Stuff (Ex): At 4th-level, the fighter's constant exposure to death and suffering renders him immunity to the sickened condition and causes him to become merely sickened if he would be nauseated. At 8th, he becomes immune to fatigue effects and if he would normally be exhausted, he becomes fatigued instead. At 12th, he becomes immune to nausea and at 16th-level, he is immune to exhaustion.
Strategist (Ex): At 5th-level, the fighter gains Combat Reflexes as a bonus feat. In addition, he can choose to reduce his movement speed by 5 ft. for one round in order to extend his threatened area by 5 ft. At 9th, 13th and 17th-level, he can trade an additional 5 ft. (up to his maximum movement speed). Enemies who have not seen the fighter use this ability are not necessarily aware of it.
Backbrother: At 6th-level, if a fighter has any combat feats which are also teamwork feats, he may treat his allies as also possessing those feats for determining whether he gains effect from them. His allies gain no effects unless they too have those feats and all tactical conditions must be met at the time.
Bladestorm (Ex): At 7th-level, a fighter can make two attacks as a standard action, but all attacks this round suffer a -2 penalty. All weapon attacks that the fighter makes are considered to be magical for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction. At 13th-level, a fighter can make three attacks as a standard action, but all attacks this round suffer a -4 penalty. All weapon attacks that the fighter makes are considered to bypass magic, silver or cold iron damage reduction. At 17th-level, a fighter can make four attacks as a standard action, but all attacks this round suffer a -6 penalty. All weapon attacks that the fighter makes are considered to bypass magic, silver, cold iron or adamantine damage reduction.
Defiance (Ex): At 9th-level, a fighter is sufficiently doughty that he can escape unharmed from certain assaults that would fell a lesser man. If he makes a successful Fortitude saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Defiance can be used only if the fighter is wearing armour and a helpless fighter does not gain the benefit of defiance.
Leadership: At 11th-level, a fighter gains Leadership as a bonus feat. Typically, the followers attracted by this feat are warriors, drawn to serve the fighter as part of a private standing army. If the fighter already has the Leadership feat, he gains a +4 insight bonus to his Leadership score instead. (If Leadership is prohibited in the campaign, the fighter may instead choose any general feat for which he meets the prerequisites.)
Recover: At 11th-level, a fighter may take a standard action once per day to instantly heal 2 hp per fighter level, end all bleeding effects and prompt a new save against any condition to which his Rugged class ability applies. This increases to 2/day at 15th and 3/day and 19th-level.
Tactical Aid (Ex): At 13th-level, a fighter can provide tactical advice on the field. As a move action, the fighter can provide tactical aid to either all allies or himself within 30 feet and line of sight of his position. He may provide this bonus to both at once, but it becomes a standard action instead. This aid provides a morale bonus to attack or dodge bonus to AC (fighter’s choice) equal to his Intelligence bonus (minimum +1) and lasts for a number of rounds equal to one-half his class level, rounded down.
Indomitable Will (Ex): At 15th-level, a fighter under an ongoing [mind-affecting] effect may attempt an additional Will save each round to end the effect. If the effect does not normally allow a save, the fighter gains a Will save (DC 25) to end the effect.
Skill Mastery: At 15th-level, a fighter may Take 15 on Perception and Sense Motive checks, even if he is rushed or stressed, on Bluff checks used to feint in combat and on Initiative checks in any combat in which he was not initially surprised. If he does so, he must choose to do this instead of rolling normally.
Master Strategist (Ex): At 17th-level, as a free action, the fighter can designate any portion of his threatened area as difficult terrain. This imposes the fighter's level as a penalty on all hostile Acrobatics and Fly checks made within the area.
Defy Death's Door: At 18th-level, a fighter can survive the worst battlefields imaginable. He automatically passes saves versus death from massive damage and does not die unless his negative hit points equal double his Constitution score.
Resilience: At 19th-level, a fighter does not automatically fail saving throws on a 1. In addition, his Defiance ability allows him to suffer a reduced effect, even when he fails his save against such effects.
Weapon Mastery (Ex): At 20th-level, the fighter cannot be disarmed and all weapon attacks deal piercing, bludgeoning and slashing damage, no matter what weapon he is wielding. Any weapons for which the fighter has selected Improved Critical automatically confirm all critical threats and have a threat range of 18-20 (x3), unless better.
I would move Recover to before 11th level. Probably to 3-5th, right with all his other healing/immune stuff starting to kick in.
Resilience at 19 needs to be reworded. Not sure what Defiance does for him then. Auto half damage from all fort save stuff? Remember, level 19 ability!
Indomitable Will might be moved down to 10th or so (it's what Improved Iron Will and Slippery Mind should be). I like the ability...even if he doesn't have a great Will save, eventually he'll get free...
Good rewrite.
Still has no ability to customize for the day.
Still has no movement options/greater speed, although effectively has Pounce. Kirth uses guaranteed access to a flying mount, and just pushes it into the 'leadership' category.
Healing comes late, get it in earlier so it's actually useful early in career.
==Aelryinth
Well, I did consider letting him choose a certain number of combat feats to "prepare" in the morning, as if they were spells, but I thought that doesn't really fit the flavour. (To be fair, even the resistance to poison & disease is only in because I was going hard on the "Fort save, Fort save, Fort save" theme.)
Training each day to excel (enough to get a bonus) in a particular thing doesn't sound like Fighter flavour?
It's not just you, I've heard that argument few times and I don't understand it.
Well, I did consider letting him choose a certain number of combat feats to "prepare" in the morning, as if they were spells, but I thought that doesn't really fit the flavour. (To be fair, even the resistance to poison & disease is only in because I was going hard on the "Fort save, Fort save, Fort save" theme.)
Sounds like a crappier version of Martial Flexibility, which already exists.
My Fighter revision can retrain all his Bonus Feats in the start of each day, and no one complained.
Being able to retrain LONG TERM feats on demand shouldn't cause any problems, because the benefits of feats are so small, they can't enormously shift a situation like being able to change a spell loadout can.
'Preparing feats' in the morning is nothing more or less then saying "I'm going to focus on using X tactics today" or "Training like X today." Having a mindset for working on sprints and a totally different one for working on endurance is obvious. Just ask a triathlete or a pentathlete if there are different mindsets involved in different parts of what they do.
Ergo, when I use martial flexibility, the added feats stay until flexibility is used again. "Frak, we're not on the open plains anymore, I don't need to focus on mounted combat! We're going to the duke's ball! Let me run through unarmed combat and courtly weapon techniques today..."
==Aelryinth
Well, in my case, I was thinking that a fighter "retraining" his bonus feats each morning essentially makes him a martial caster and increases his "challenge factor" to play properly, but it does also radically decrease what my school careers adviser used to call "the cock-up factor". Then again, I think I prefer that option to the brawler's ability to snap his fingers and suddenly have a new temporary combat feat, which is D&D's equivalent of electron tunnelling. (Quantum physics gag!)
Well, if you retrain 'all' the bonus feats, that's, wow, a lot of feats.
But if you restrict it to just a handful at a time, and the rest remain static, that works out just swell.
Maybe his Int bonus affects how many he can retrain, mmm? It would be nice if you could assign him a 'featbook' of feats he could draw from, and he could add to the featbook over time. that way he couldn't grab willy-nilly new feat he hears of, and there'd be limits on what he could grab based on what he actually took the time to train in.
But that would be too realistic and time-consuming to track for most players.
On my fighter rebuild, it's 'one' of the numbers I use the bravery bonus for. Bravery t/day for bravery #/feats, he can go grab combat feats, with a 'free' grab in the morning when he does his exercises. They stick around as his focus for special attention until he changes his mindset and grabs a different set to focus on.
A fighter walking into the ducal ball will have a completely different mindset on what, how, and who he'll be fighting then someone on open plains, vs a dungeon dive, vs a massed battle, vs monsters vs giants vs men vs kobolds vs dragons.
==Aelryinth
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If I'd do a reworked fighter, I'll make sure that a NPC fighter of Level X would be an equally formiddable boss character to a wizard of Level X.
Full-attack before/after full movement, immunity to ability damage/drain, charm/compulsion, death attack, energy drain, and petrification after a certain level would be a good start...
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So I made a couple more changes and yes, I know that the brawler's quick-change ability is faster, but I want the fighter to be about perfect planning and preparation, not calling magical techniques that he then forgets shortly thereafter. (I added Versatility, moved Recover to progress alongside Sterner Stuff, added Strong Soul to take its place at 11th-level and split Indomitable Will into two effects at 10th and 15th.)
2nd: Bonus feat, Martial Versatility, Bravery (1 step)
3rd: Rugged (Endurance), Iron Skin (1/–)
4th: Bonus feat, Recovery (1/day), Sterner Stuff (sickness)
5th: Strategist (10 ft), Martial Prowess +2
6th: Bonus feat, Backbrother, Bravery (2 steps), Versatility (1/day)
7th: Bladestorm (magic), Rugged (Diehard), Iron Skin (2/–)
8th: Bonus feat, Recovery (2/day), Sterner Stuff (fatigue)
9th: Defiance, Strategist (15 ft), Martial Prowess +3
10th: Bonus feat, Indomitable Will (once), Bravery (3 steps), Versatility (2/day)
11th: Leadership, Strong Soul, Iron Skin (3/–)
12th: Bonus feat, Recovery (3/day), Sterner Stuff (nausea)
13th: Bladestorm (material), Tactical Aid, Strategist (20 ft), Martial Prowess +4
14th: Bonus feat, Bravery (immunity), Versatility (3/day)
15th: Indomitable Will (ongoing), Skill Mastery, Iron Skin (4/–)
16th: Bonus feat, Recovery (4/day), Sterner Stuff (exhaustion)
17th: Bladestorm (adamantine), Master Strategist (25 ft), Martial Prowess +5
18th: Bonus feat, Defy Death's Door, Versatility (4/day)
19th: Resilience, Recovery (5/day), Iron Skin (5/–)
20th: Bonus feat, Weapon Mastery
Bonus feat: At 2nd-level and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat, which must be selected from those listed as Combat Feats and for which he meets the prerequisites.
Martial Versatility: At 2nd-level, a fighter may spend 15 minutes of preparation each morning to exchange a number of his bonus combat feats (up to to his Martial Prowess bonus) for another combat feat for which he also meets the prerequisites. The old feat cannot be one that is was being used as a prerequisite for another feat, prestige class, or other ability. At 6th-level, once per day for one minute, he may re-prepare his combat feats. At 10th, he can do this as a full-round action 2/day, at 14th, as a standard action 3/day, and at 18th-level, as a move action 4/day.
Recover: At 4th-level, a fighter may take a standard action once per day to instantly heal 2 hp per fighter level, end all bleeding effects and prompt a new save against any condition to which his Rugged class ability applies. He may recover like this once more per day at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th-level.
Strong Soul (Ex): At 11th-level, the fighter may add his Martial Prowess bonus to all saves vs. death effects, negative energy, energy drain and ability damage or drain, including saves made to remove negative levels.
Indomitable Will (Ex): At 10th-level, a fighter may add his Martial Prowess bonus to all saves vs. charms and compulsions and if he fails a save against such an effect, he may re-attempt the save the following round, but only once per effect. At 15th-level, a fighter under an ongoing [mind-affecting] effect (of any type) may attempt an additional Will save each round to end the effect. If the effect does not normally allow a save, the fighter gains a Will save (DC 25) to end the effect.
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Why not allow fighters to pick the equipment tricks for free and just get them at a set level?
They could retrain those as well each day, would off them some fun things to do with equipment.
Also weapon styles would be a cool thing for a fighter to have. Like wielding a spear and being able to block 1 ranged attack a round, getting lunge for free with it and cleave as for the length of the spear.
Change up a bit how some of the weapons work, could allow the fighter to be more versitile. If when you look in the CRB and each weapon basically just say, HIT IT WITH A STICK, there is something wrong.
I am not expert but I just think the "blandness" of how weapons work might be what holds back the "weapon master"
That's where the new Weapon Master 'Magic item tricks' Mastery would be a useful thing.
If fighters are the masters of weapons/gear, then just GIVING them the ability to use gear better then other classes is saving on gold costs.
And one of those abilities is the very essential ability to FLY.
==Aelryinth
So I made a couple more changes and yes, I know that the brawler's quick-change ability is faster, but I want the fighter to be about perfect planning and preparation, not calling magical techniques that he then forgets shortly thereafter. (I added Versatility, moved Recover to progress alongside Sterner Stuff, added Strong Soul to take its place at 11th-level and split Indomitable Will into two effects at 10th and 15th.)
** spoiler omitted **
Bonus feat: At 2nd-level and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat, which must be selected from those listed as Combat Feats and for which he meets the prerequisites.
Martial Versatility: At 2nd-level, a fighter may spend 15 minutes of preparation each morning to exchange a number of his bonus combat feats (up to to his Martial Prowess bonus) for another combat...
That's quite good from most standpoints.
Here's a thought...if he can't get Leadership at 11th, he gets an Animal Companion of his choice with the flying ability, choosing from Roc, Griffon, Hippogrif, Pegasi, or whatnot. He may also spend a general feat at this level for the same benefit if he IS allowed to take Leadership. If he does so, his cohort automatically gets such a mount as well.
==Aelryinth
It would be nice if his mount were either very hard to kill, or else easily replaceable. If someone dispels your overland flight, you cast it the next day. If someone kills your paladin's warhorse, you wait a week and re-summon it. If someone kills the griffon you spent the last 11 levels hatching from an egg... then what?
Only rocs can be animal companions it seems, but they'd certainly suit an 11th-level fighter, even using the ranger's -3 penalty to effective druid level. Giant eagles, griffons and pegasi are all magical beasts, but I think they'd qualify under cohort rules, if you don't squint too hard. :)
(Apparently, they count as cohorts of 6th, 8th and 6th-level, respectively.)
Well, I added the below to my Leadership section, but short of wondrous figurines or paladin mount shenanigans, all I can think to answer Kirth is hand-waving the issue and bringing in the other creature you were training at the same time.
Alternatively, the fighter may gain a roc as an animal companion (with his effective druid level equal to his fighter level -3) or may attract a giant eagle, griffon or pegasus as a cohort, following the normal rules for monster cohorts.
Yeah, unless you look at it being a 'spirit' that is awarded to the fighter as an acknowledgement of his prowess, it IS hard to replace without a hand-waver.
Which is a problem.
On the other hand, unless you gear it out, it's also nowhere near as tough as most cohorts of that level. Which makes it less useful then even a Called creature.
Ugh. Maybe at least give it the advanced template?
Note that pegasi, griffons and hippogriffs count as animals for purposes of the animal training rules. I'd just extend it to Animal Companions for this purpose.
Alternately, he could Name a weapon or armor and turn it into an intelligent item, one with the power of flying? That would be an interesting work around...and move the fighter away from reliance on beasts, which is a ranger/nature thing, and back to his gear, which is more his style?
The new Weapon Master rules have a style that is about doing this sort of thing. I believe any magic item with a transmutative effect can be mastered to allow flying, to some extent. (don't have the book).
If part of a magic item, it's an 18,000 gp benefit for it to be able to cast overland flight at the fighter's level 1/day, roughly approxing the Intelligent Item rules, or Fly 3t/day.
==Aelryinth
Of course, making an item intelligent has its own issues, namely potential ego conflict and that whilst legendary warriors having personal weapons is a historical trope, intelligent personal weapons are probably specific to Gary Gygax's febrile imagination.
Which book are you referring to, Aelrynth?
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Intelligent personal weapons are probably specific to Gary Gygax's febrile imagination.
Moorcock, Michael. Stormbringer (1965)
Also Glirendree, in Larry Niven's "Not Long Before the End" (1969)
Oh, of course, Stormbringer! That's probably the very example that Gygax had in mind.
For what it's worth, I reduced my fighter table write-up to only listing new abilities each time, to see what it looked like. It holds together quite well, though listing Sterner Stuff four times is probably a bit dubious.
2nd: Bonus feats (even levels), Versatility, Bravery (1 step per 4 levels)
3rd: Rugged (Endurance), Iron Skin (medium; 1 + 1/4 levels)
4th: Recovery (1/day per 4 levels), Sterner Stuff (sickness)
5th: Strategist (10 ft + 5ft per 4 levels)
6th: Backbrother, Versatility (1/day + 1 per 4 levels)
7th: Bladestorm (magic), Rugged (Diehard), Iron Skin (heavy)
8th: Sterner Stuff (fatigue)
9th: Defiance
10th: Indomitable Will (once)
11th: Leadership, Strong Soul
12th: Sterner Stuff (nausea)
13th: Bladestorm (material), Tactical Aid
14th: Bravery (immunity)
15th: Indomitable Will (ongoing), Skill Mastery
16th: Sterner Stuff (exhaustion)
17th: Bladestorm (adamantine), Master Strategist
18th: Defy Death's Door
19th: Resilience
20th: Weapon Mastery
I'd like to see an improvement to Dazzling Display that in essence gives him the frightful presence ability, with chances for shaken/frightened/panicked/cowering. If you tie it to the Intimidate skill, you encourage him to to invest in that and have a high Cha.
I seem to recall thinking up some stuff about "getting more out of magic items", in a feat chain sort of thing, and then giving the starting feat to Fighters for free.
I thought I mentioned it in my addition to the "In this thread we fix the Fighter" thread (linky), but I guess I hadn't.
Found my old notes on it... here's what I wrote up so far:
NEW FEAT TYPE: Exploits
Exploit feats grant new supernatural abilities that are dependant on wielding or carrying a magic item. The user exploits the magical energy in the item to perform these new abilities. All exploit feats have a prerequisite of some kind of magical item. Unique items specific for the feat have their creation method listed in the Special.
Many exploit feats temporarily drain some of the magic of the item to gain their effect. If a magic weapon, shield or armor's enhancement bonus is reduced to 0, the item is temporarily treated as non-magical and loses all magical effects until the duration is over.
EXPLOIT MAGIC DEVICE
You are able to tap into the magic of your items to create powerful new effects.
Prerequisites: Use Magic Device 11 ranks or base attack bonus +11
Benefit: While wielding a magical weapon or item, you can perform supernatural combat and skill maneuvers. Upon selecting this feat, you may select a single Exploit feat.
Note: Fighters gain this feat automatically at 11th level.
OVERWHELMING MANEUVERS (Exploit)
You are a juggernaut of force in combat.
Prerequisites: Str 21, Exploit Magic Device, Puissant, base attack bonus +13, wielding a magical weapon
Benefit: When performing the following maneuvers you affect your foes much more drastically, or can affect an entire area.
Bull Rush - On a successful bull rush, the target flies a minimum of 50 feet, and an additional 50 feet if you exceed their CMD by 5 or more. The target takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet of travel they must make. Anyone in the victim's path is also subjected to your bull rush check, and takes similar damage based on the remaining distance they will have to travel. If the victim(s) strike an object, that object takes similar damage. If this breaks the object the victims continue; if not, the victims fall prone and take that additional damage as well.
Grapple - You can start and maintain a grapple, and pin all with a single hand. Doing so means you do not gain the grappled condition. You cannot deal grapple damage while maintaining a grapple in this way, although you can attack normally with another limb. You can use the modified reposition or drag maneuver (see below) to toss your victim, ending the grapple.
Overrun - When making an overrun attempt, you affect an area twice as wide as the area you occupy, however you only need to succeed against a single opponent to continue moving. When you successfully overrun a target, they take 5d6 bludgeoning damage. This is increased to 10d6 if you exceed their CMD by 5 or more.
Reposition or Drag - On a successful reposition or drag, you can instead toss your target 50 feet, and an additional 50 feet if you exceed their CMD by 5 or more. The victim can be moved into or through a space that is intrinsically dangerous when tossed in this way. Any creatures or objects in the path of this victim are subjected as if from a modified bull rush check (see above).
Trip - You can slam the ground with your foot or weapon, causing a shockwave that threatens to trip all enemies in an area. You may affect either a 25 foot radius burst, or a 50 foot cone; all creatures in the area are affected by your one trip attempt. Also, the ground in the area of effect is now treated as difficult terrain.
Using these maneuvers in this way reduces the enhancement bonus of your weapon by 1 for each different maneuver used. This lasts until the beginning of your next turn.
Special: An item that provides an enhancement bonus to unarmed strikes (such as the amulet of mighty fists) can be used as the requisite magic weapon for this feat.
PUISSANT (Exploit)
You are a giant in strength, and even sometimes in size.
Prerequisites: Str 21, Exploit Magic Device, base attack bonus +11, wearing a magic belt
Benefit: While wearing a magical belt, you are not limited by the size of your opponent when making combat maneuvers. Also, you gain the following supernatural abilities.
Demolition - When attacking objects, you gain a +10 bonus to damage and to Strength checks against break DCs.
Giant Form - As a swift action, you can grow one size category larger (doubling your height and multiplying your weight by 8). You gain a +4 size bonus to Strength, and gain the new bonuses and penalties of the new size category (other than ability score adjustments). This does not stack with any other effects that alter your size.
The size change comes into effect the following round, and requires a swift action each round to maintain, otherwise you shrink back down to normal size and lose the benefits the following round. Alternatively, you can spend a full round action to immediately grow in size for a duration of 1 minute, however you lose the magical benefits of the belt for that duration.
SKYWARD (Exploit)
You can leap into the air, fighting flying creatures on their own terms.
Prerequisites: Expoit Magic Device, Acrobatics 11 ranks or base attack bonus +11, wearing magical shoulder wear
Benefit: While wearing a shoulder slot item (such as capes, cloaks, or pauldrons), you can gain the ability to fly. The magic item reshapes into a semblance of wings, granting a flight speed equal to your land speed. While flying in this manner, you use your Acrobatics skill for Fly checks. Your maneuverability is based on speed: 10 or less (Clumsy), 20 (Poor), 30 (Average), 60 (Good), 90 or higher (Perfect). Maneuverability and size modifiers are applied to the acrobatics checks as normal for the fly skill.
You must spend a swift action to activate and maintain this flight each round. If you are in the air when the effect ends, you fall at a normal rate but take no damage and land upright.
If instead you spend a full round action, you gain flight until actively stopped, however the magical benefits of the worn item are temporarily deactivated. Flight in this manner can be ended as a free action, immediately returning the magical abilities of the item, although you fall normally, taking normal falling damage.
DEPTHWARD (Exploit)
You can dive to the greatest depths, functioning perfectly under water.
Prerequisites: Exploit Magic Device, Swim 11 ranks or base attack bonus +11, wearing magical neck wear
Benefit: While wearing a neck slot item (such as amulets, necklaces, or periapts), you can breathe comfortably even while underwater and gain a swim speed equal to your lang speed. You must spend a swift action to activate and maintain the swim speed each round. If instead you spend a full round action, you gain double your land speed as a swim speed until actively stopped, however the magical benefits of the worn item are temporarily deactivated. Swim speed in this maner can be ended as a free action, immediately returning the magical abilities of the item.
NIMBLE (Exploit)
You leap around the combat field, using amazing movement to confound your foes.
Prerequisites: Dex 21, Exploit Magic Device, base attack bonus +11, wearing magical foot wear
Benefit: While wearing magical foot wear, your long and high jump checks are equal to 2 feet per DC beaten, you are not penalized for not having a running start, and always land on your feet from any fall as long as you are conscious. You also gain the following abilities.
Latch On - You may latch on to a creature that is larger than you. You must have a free hand to catch hold, and must make a grapple check to succeed, however you are not grappling and neither you nor the creature is considered grappled. The creature is affected by your total weight for encumbrance purposes. After you have latched on, you occupy the same space (taking up one of the squares or the same square), and must use a climb check (DC equal to the creature's CMD) to move to a different square.
You are limited to making attacks as if in a grapple, and may make grapple checks to injure the creature.
If the creature makes a successful grapple check, they can knock you from their body or initiate a normal grapple, and you move to an adjacent free square. If there are no free squares, you fall prone under the creature.
Wall Walk - As a swift action, you may gain a climb speed equal to your land speed. You must end your movement for the round on solid land, or have a hand free and make a climb check to hang on.
If instead you use a full round action, your climb speed lasts for 1 minute, however the magical benefits of the worn item are temporarily deactivated. This can be ended as a free action at any time to return the magical abilities of the item.
CELERITY (Exploit)
Your movements are quick and hard to follow.
Prerequisites: Dex 21, Exploit Magic Device, base attack bonus +13, wearing magical hand wear
Benefit: While wearing magical gloves or other hand wear, you gain the following actions:
Deft Touch - After making a successful attack with a finessed weapon (light weapon or other weapons, such as a rapier), you may make a Dirty Trick, Disarm, Steal or Trip combat maneuver as a free action. If the maneuver is sucessful, you may also deal 1 point of Strength or Dexterity damage to the victim of the maneuver.
Shimmer Step - Your speed and 5 foot step are increased by 10 feet (15 foot step). If you've moved at all in the round, you may spend a swift action to gain 50% miss chance against attacks.
Lightning Strike - When making a full attack, you may make an additional attack as a swift action. This is otherwise treated as a normal attack.
STOUT (Exploit)
You are incredibly hardy and resilient.
Prerequisites: Con 21, Exploit Magic Device, base attack bonus +11, wearing magical chestwear
Benefit: While wearing magical chest wear (such as jackets, mantles or shirts), if you successfully save against a disease or poison, you are immediately cured and become immune to that specific affliction for 24 hours.
As a swift action, you can gain fast healing 3 for the round. Alternatively, you can spend a full round action to gain regeneration 3 (acid) for 1 minute, however the magical benefits of the worn item are temporarily deactivated. This can be ended as a free action at any time to return the magical abilities of the item.
ANIMATED ARMOR (Exploit)
Your armor slides and changes at your will.
Prerequisites: Con 21, Exploit Magic Device, Stout, base attack bonus +11, wearing magical armor
Benefit: You can don armor and shields as a move action, the armor opening and folding itself around you. If a shield or armor can be donned faster then it still does so. Shields attach themselves to your arm, leaving your hand free regardless of the shield type (using the same rules as for bucklers). Also, while wearing magical armor you gain the following abilites.
Ablative Armor - When taking a total defense action, you can cause metal plating to cover your body's vital areas. The armor slides out of your existing armor, fully appearing at the beginning of your next turn, and grants DR 10/adamantine as well as 100% fortification. Every time you take physical damage, the armor absorbs some of the shock and break apart, reducing the effect by 1 DR and 10% fortification per hit. If a critical hit or sneak attack is negated by the fortification, it loses 50% of it's fortification. Once reduced to 0% fortification, the armor has been completely broken away, losing any remaining DR (if any).
Expanding Armor - As a standard action, you can cause your armor to expand or retract in segments, changing the armor between light, medium and heavy category types. The armor uses the table below depending on which category it is in, although it is made entirely of the same material as the original armor, adjusting any properties as needed for the new category. At any point, you can revert the armor to it's normal properties as a swift action.
Category . . . Armor Bonus . . Max Dex . . ACP . . ASF . . Spd 30 / 20 . . Weight
Light Armor . . . . . . +3 . . . . . . . . . +6 . . . . . -1 . . . 15% . . 30 ft / 20 ft . . . . 15 lbs
Medium Armor . . . . +5 . . . . . . . . . +4 . . . . .-3 . . . 20% . . 20 ft / 15 ft . . . . 20 lbs
Heavy Armor . . . . . +8 . . . . . . . . . +2 . . . . . -6 . . . 35% . . 20 ft1 / 15 ft1 . . 35 lbs
1When running in heavy armor, you move only triple your speed, not quadruple.
Instant Shield - As a free action that can be taken out of turn, you can make your shield compress into, or expand out of, your armored arm or hand, granting a shield bonus for only the moment needed to block attacks. A shield can be formed even if you are not currently wielding one, creating a light steel shield that has the same enhancement bonus as your armor. A shield used in this manner does not cause any armor check penalty or impede the use of that arm as it only exists for an instant.
WEAPON CABLE (Exploit)
You have learned extraordinary combat and utilty skills with a unique weapon cord.
Prerequisites: Exploit Magic Device, base attack bonus +13, wielding an adamantine cable
Benefit: You have learned a series of tricks and combat abilities that rely on your special made adamantine weapon cable.
Ranged Strike - You have learned how to make lightning fast thrown attacks that use the cable to bring the weapon instantly back to you. You may make melee attacks with this weapon at a range of 50 feet. If the weapon is a normal throwing weapon, it is limited to 50 feet maximum range but you can return the weapon to your hand immediately.
Entangling Strike - You may use your weapon to make a disarm, sunder or trip combat maneuver at a range of up to 50 feet. If you fail to trip, you cannot be tripped in return.
You can also entangle a target using a grapple check. When done in this manner, you are connected to the target and can attempt to drag or reposition them (though a reposition always has to be to a square in your direction). You can attempt to tie up an entangled target with a further grapple check (at the normal -10 penalty).
Garrote - You may use just the weapon cord itself to strangle a victim. If the victim was unaware of the attack completely (either because you were hidden, or not considered a threat), and you are adjacent to them, you can make an attack roll with the wire (it is treated as a +5 close weapon). If you are successful, you are considered grappling the victim and they must make a grapple check on their turn to break your hold vs your grapple CMD + 5. If they fail to break your grapple, they fall unconscious by their next turn as if they had failed their constitution check for drowning. Continuing to strangle the victim causes them to continue the drowning process (next round they are at -1 and dying, the following round they are dead).
As this is strangulation, and not just suffocation, this ability functions on creatures that don't need to breathe, but still have a circulatory system.
Grappling Hook - You may use your weapon and weapon cord as a 50 foot long grappling hook. Failing your climb check and falling only drops you back to the 50 foot length.
Special: Two weapons can be used with these abilities, however you only have 25 foot reach with each weapon, unless you have an adamantine cable for each.
Item Statistics:
Adamantine Cable
Aura faint transmutation; CL 11th
Slot none; Price 15,000 gp; Weight -
Description
This wire thin metal cable is actually made of woven threads of adamantine, and is a little over 50 feet long. It is typically connected at one end to a belt, scabbard, vambrace or gauntlet, and the other end to a weapon. Attaching and removing a weapon (or from your person) requires a move action. The wire automatically re-coils itself when no force is exerted on it.
It is extremely thin, almost impossible to see (-40 to checks to see the wire), and has a hardness of 40 with 6 hitpoints, and a break DC of 35. If the magic is disrupted, then it's inherent properties are a hardness of 20, 2 hitpoints, and a break DC of 25, and it loses the ability to coil itself.
Construction
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, adamantine wire (3,000 gp, DC 35 metalworking), animate rope; Cost 6,000 gp + 3,000 gp (adamantine wire)
Feats for Strength, Dexterity and Constitution builds, as well as ways to gain Flight or Underwater movement/survivability, and an example of a magic item specific feat (weapon cable).
The point of these feats were to give amazing post 10th level abilities that actually *mean something*. Knocking people flying, or regenerating, or flight.
It goes without saying that exploit feats would be something the Fighter could pick for his bonus feats.
Any intelligent weapon that is so because it was Named by the fighter is probably NOT going to have ego conflict with its parent.
The Weapon master's handbook, just came out. One of the alternatives to continuing Weapon Mastery they give is extra magical uses for fighter gear by the fighter.
==Aelryinth
Oh, of course, Stormbringer! That's probably the very example that Gygax had in mind.
For what it's worth, I reduced my fighter table write-up to only listing new abilities each time, to see what it looked like. It holds together quite well, though listing Sterner Stuff four times is probably a bit dubious.
** spoiler omitted **
Technically, you just put repetitious stuff in a side table, just like spellcasters do!
If Sterner Stuff looks bad, rename each stage so it's plain there is an upgrade beyond a mere number. Stern Stuff, Sterner Stuff, Sternest STuff and Totally Hardcore, Man.
==Aelryinth
I seem to recall thinking up some stuff about "getting more out of magic items", in a feat chain sort of thing, and then giving the starting feat to Fighters for free.
I thought I mentioned it in my addition to the "In this thread we fix the Fighter" thread (linky), but I guess I hadn't.
Found my old notes on it... here's what I wrote up so far:
NEW FEAT TYPE: Exploits
Exploit feats grant new supernatural abilities that are dependant on wielding or carrying a magic item. The user exploits the magical energy in the item to perform these new abilities. All exploit feats have a prerequisite of some kind of magical item. Unique items specific for the feat have their creation method listed in the Special.
Many exploit feats temporarily drain some of the magic of the item to gain their effect. If a magic weapon, shield or armor's enhancement bonus is reduced to 0, the item is temporarily treated as non-magical and loses all magical effects until the duration is over.** spoiler omitted **...
Do you have the new Weapon master's Handbook? How similar are your exploits to the magic item supplementals they use?
==Aelryinth
Nope, no idea.. and I wrote those over a year and a half ago.. apparently gathering dust on an old text file on my computer.