Hi to all,
Right to the point, I like what I've seen in Pathfinder but the fighter still lacks a bit, although I do like what's been done to him.
Personally I'd come up with some new 'Fighter' feats to give him something new.
E'g DRAW & THROW. Prerequisites-Quickdraw. This feat allows a fighter with a Free Hand to draw & throw a weapon as part of a move. Note the thrown weapon must not require two hands to do so and the fighter must have a hand free.
DRAW & THROW MASTERY. Prerequisites-DRAW & THROW. This feat allows the fighter to draw and throw as part of a charge. He must have to charge at least 30 ft to use this feat.
TACTICAL CHARGE. A fighter with this feat can charge without going in a completely straight line. they can deviate by 45 degrees during the charge but must charge the last 10ft in a straight line.
EXPERIENCED WARRIOR. Once per encounter the fighter can do a COUP DE GRAS on an enemy with lower HD than him.
WEAPON MASTERY: Prerequisites- Weapon specialisation. Once per encounter on a critical hit the PC can choose to sever a limb of an enemy. The limb removed is random and the target gets a FORT save of 10 plus the BAB of the attacker, to prevent the injury. D20; 1 Foot,2-7 lower leg,8-10 leg at thigh,11-15 lower arm, 16-18 Arm at shoulder, 19-20 Hand.
There are a few things 4th ed has opened up to make fighter more interesting in combat( although ridiculously complicated)which has inspired me a little. Fighters should be able to do 'special' combat techniques and not just slug it out with enemies.
The Feats I've put here are just possibilities but I daresay there could be more fun items to create.
Let me know what people think.
WEAPON MASTERY: Prerequisites- Weapon specialisation. Once per encounter on a critical hit the PC can choose to sever a limb of an enemy. The limb removed is random and the target gets a FORT save of 10 plus the BAB of the attacker, to prevent the injury. D20; 1 Foot,2-7 lower leg,8-10 leg at thigh,11-15 lower arm, 16-18 Arm at shoulder, 19-20 Hand.
I'm not keen on the idea of targeted damage like this, last seen with the Sword of Sharpness in AD&D 2E. An abstract hit points system doesn't really support it very well.
We have to give a chance to Pathfinder to grow. So far I just love what they have done with classes and races. Now everything looks fun to play. I always loved the fighter and always thought they where good and knew how to built powefull ones, but I loved what they've done with it now. I can't wait for the complete feats list coming soon.
Fighter should have more combat technics available to them, something tactical feats somewhat brought in D&D 3.5. Taken in the right combination you'd end up with a lot of different tactics to use in fight.
One option could be to replace the weapon training by the opportunity to specialise more in one weapon in particular. Instead of weapon training you could receive weapon focus and specialisation (and greater version if they aren't already fused together), followed by mastery, supremacy and others inspired by the not-so-OGL of the D&D PHB2.
DRAW & THROW MASTERY. Prerequisites-DRAW & THROW. This feat allows the fighter to draw and throw as part of a charge. He must have to charge at least 30 ft to use this feat.
The Hurling Charge feat (Minatures Handbook pg 27) lets you do this.
TACTICAL CHARGE. A fighter with this feat can charge without going in a completely straight line. they can deviate by 45 degrees during the charge but must charge the last 10ft in a straight line.
The Twisting Charge skill trick (Complete Scoundrel pg 90) allows a turn of up to 90 degrees during a charge.
EXPERIENCED WARRIOR. Once per encounter the fighter can do a COUP DE GRAS on an enemy with lower HD than him.
IMO this is way too powerful.
WEAPON MASTERY: Prerequisites- Weapon specialisation. Once per encounter on a critical hit the PC can choose to sever a limb of an enemy. The limb removed is random and the target gets a FORT save of 10 plus the BAB of the attacker, to prevent the injury. D20; 1 Foot,2-7 lower leg,8-10 leg at thigh,11-15 lower arm, 16-18 Arm at shoulder, 19-20 Hand.
Reminds me of the Combat and Tactics charts. I just prefer the critical hit deck from Game Mastery for this sort of randomness.