In honor of the work we did recently on the cleric, I thought it high time to add some versatility to the fighter as well. My goal here is to allow options other than the basic heavy tank--so that, in essence, the swashbuckler becomes merely a fighter variant, as does Monte Cook's unfettered.
Some initial ideas:
* Trade medium, heavy armor, shields for 4 skill points/level (UA "thug" variant);
* Trade 1st level bonus feat for expanded class skill list (likewise);
* Trade bonus feats for +1d6 sneak attack per feat traded in (also suggested in UA);
* Trade d10 HD down to d8 for 4 skill pts/level (in this case, lose heavy & medium armor to gain grace and dodge class features as swashbuckler?)
* I'd like to provide them with uncany dodge options, possibly as bonus feat picks (although in my opinion the fighter should get them at maybe 7th and 13th level anyway).
Other ideas welcome.
What about borrowing from d20 Modern's Fast, Strong and Tough heroes? i.e. rebuild the Fighter class using talent trees.
You might include a "core talent" selectable only at 1st level that dictates the fighter's overall focus: mobility, commando, tank. Such a choice might determine Hit Die, class skills, skill points, and whether Reflex is a good save or not. You could also use this to thematically narrow the fighter's selection of bonus feats.
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It seems to me, what you are describing is called the Rogue. I know most players create a Rogue as either a dungeon expert or a thief.
However, a Three Musketeers style character, or a swashbuckling pirate all are better built using the Rogue class than the Fighter. They already get the skills necessary to flesh out the character. They get several very good abilities that by simply changing the name can be perfect. Instead of Sneak Attack the Musketeer gets Accurate Attacks which do +d6s when the defender is not prepared for the attack. Tumbling, Balance and Climb are already class skills and are basic to these character concepts.
The FIghter Class is better suited for character concepts such as the Knight, Spartan (from "300"), Tank, etc,classes built upon heavy armor and martial prowess first over skills.
If I were going with a Fighter rebuild then I would choose three primary roles, commonly
1) Tank (defensive fighter who can take massive amounts of damage and control the front line of combat and keeps the enemy away from casters who attack and heal from the rear- High Hit Points, High AC and Damage Reduction are all useful abilities)
2) Warrior (aggressive Fighter built upon a balance of defense and offense. One who can deal substantial damage and still remain in combat for sometime. The enemy sees the armored weapon wielding Warrior as a threat to life and limb and seeks to quickly defeat him, thus allowing friendly casters time to attack, buff and heal from the rear - Good hit Points and AC with a good damage out put are useful for this build).
3) Frenzy (a fighter who values high damage over defensive abilities based upon the principle that if my opponent is dead quickly enough then I don't need the extra defenses and I don't need to protect the casters- High Damage out put, stunning attacks, high Critical percentages are useful for this build).
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What about borrowing from d20 Modern's Fast, Strong and Tough heroes? i.e. rebuild the Fighter class using talent trees.
You're probably going to LOVE 4E then. As I understand it, they are going to use Talent trees, with three defined paths per class. Fighter gets to choose which tree he wants to go down, Tank, Warrior, or Frenzy, and how much he wants to incorporate from other paths.
In essence they are using the method used in World or Warcraft. In this application there is Arms, Fury, Protection.
However as with all things 4E we won't know for sure until the books and SRD comes out.
In honor of the work we did recently on the cleric, I thought it high time to add some versatility to the fighter as well. My goal here is to allow options other than the basic heavy tank--so that, in essence, the swashbuckler becomes merely a fighter variant, as does Monte Cook's unfettered.
Sounds good, Kirth. I may be a bit busy in the coming weeks, but I'm up for making another Non-Generic class. The cleric was lots of fun and worked well :)
When you say it should be able to make the swashbuckler, do you mean exactly, or something like it? I ask because I wonder whether we want to keep this OGL-compliant or not.
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Reporting for duty, sir! <with much stomping of feet and pointless yelling and stuff, because, well it is monday morning and why the hell not be obnoxious.>
Since we were quite happy with the way the cleric turned out, can I suggest using the same format?
In which case, stripping the fighter down:
Medium and heavy armor (light/finesse fighters don't use these)
tower shields (basically a 1st level bonus feat)
bonus feat progression (this can be pruned back to the same progression as the psychic warrior as standard)
fortitude save (again light/finesse fighters would probably prefer reflex)
cut back hp
options: 4 choices
more hp (advance to d12)
improved saves (fort and/or reflex)
improved skill selection: 2 SP/ level & 2-3 class skills
improved armor proficiencies
improved bonus feat progression (same as current)
bonus feat: tower shield? (who would take this)
evasive - evasion at 4 improved evasion at 8, requires improved reflex saves
elusive - uncanny dodge, and improved uncanny dodge
meh, it is a start... need more coffee today
It seems to me, what you are describing is called the Rogue.
Except with fewer skill points, all martial weapons, full BAB, no trapfinding or trap sense or evasion... If you imagine a tank fighter (or Monte Cook's warmain) at one end of a spectrum, and a rogue at the other, then the swashbuckler (and unfettered) fall somewhere in between. I'd like to be able to create a customizable class that could be used to create a fighter if you want, or any of the fighter-rogue midpoints as well, without having to multiclass. Unearthed Arcana started the process by describing the "thug" variant fighter, and Complete Warrior continued it with the Swashbuckler base class.
Grindor: Swashbuckler-like is likely to be the best we'll do here.
Dragonmann: Can't function without coffee!
What about borrowing from d20 Modern's Fast, Strong and Tough heroes? i.e. rebuild the Fighter class using talent trees.
These are really cool classes; the only thing I find is that the Modern classes and the standard D&D ones don't really map all that well, and I'm leary of mixing them into D&D, and ending up with a "strong hero 2/fighter 2/wizard 2/tough hero 1/eldritch knight" or something. Would such a monstrosity be balanced vs. just D&D classes?
After looking more into the d20 modern classes, I propose the following amendment to the fighter class:
1. Allow the fighter the "physical prowess" ability at odd-numbered levels (3rd+), as described in the "Dead Levels" article on the WotC D&D web site.
2. Create 6 new fighter bonus feats: Strong Warrior, Fast Warrior, Tough Warrior, Smart Warrior, Dedicated Warrior, and Charismatic Warrior. Each feat allows access to the corresponding d20 Modern talent trees (see d20 Modern SRD), with each talent taking the place of the physical prowess bonus the fighter would otherwise receive.
In this manner, we "roll in" the Dead Levels errata, but at the same time provide the flexibility for a player to create a fighter with uncanny dodge, for example, or who is especially good at tactics, or sundering, or whatever.
1. Allow the fighter the "physical prowess" ability at odd-numbered levels (3rd+), as described in the "Dead Levels" article on the WotC D&D web site.
2. Create 6 new fighter bonus feats: Strong Warrior, Fast Warrior, Tough Warrior, Smart Warrior, Dedicated Warrior, and Charismatic Warrior. Each feat allows access to the corresponding d20 Modern talent trees (see d20 Modern SRD), with each talent taking the place of the physical prowess bonus the fighter would otherwise receive.
In this manner, we "roll in" the Dead Levels errata, but at the same time provide the flexibility for a player to create a fighter with uncanny dodge, for example, or who is especially good at tactics, or sundering, or whatever.
I've been trying this out, and so far it's been a hit. People used to simply "dip" into fighter for maybe 4 levels max; now they actually stay in sometimes. I'd recommend it to everyone who feels that the single-classed fighter was getting the short end of the stick, but who don't want to resort to the "crouching fighter/hidden swordsage" BoNS stuff.