I like the new fighter, but one of it's new abilities does bother me: the feat swapping ability.
At 4th level and every 4 after, the fighter can swap out one of his bonus feats for a new bonus feat, if it is not a prerequisite for another feat, etc.
Which is good! Much needed flexibility!
Also bad! Because you can only swap out one feat, and you have to have chosen it as a bonus feat.
The best swap is obviously the one at 4th level, which gives one last chance to change your mind about your main weapon before Weapon Training locks you down. (Oh, you chose an exotic weapon? Well, you're hosed then, ain't ya?) At the higher levels, this ability starts to require a level of planning equal to a sorceror's spells known or Versatile Performance.
I think this ability needs a power-up to make thing easier on us poor muddle-headed fighter players. Possible changes in order of increasing severity:
* Fighter may switch out any one combat feat.
Small change, but it keeps the player from having to track which feats are the bonus feats.
* Fighter may instead change the (parenthesis) in a weapon feat chain over to another weapon.
So your fighter player has finally wised up to the limitations of the whip? This change can help. Also great for low-magic campaigns, where the PCs may not get their choice of magic weapon.
*Fighter may swap out a feat chain.
This is probably overdoing it, though it would be great for backpedaling out of an Improved-Greater manuver chain that isn't working out.
Which do you like, or is there a better way? And hey, those who like it as is, how do you take advantage of it?
I think that's a good step towards capturing the spirit of the rule
re: fighter bonus feat vs. any combat feats,
I don't see why not, and honestly I don't think most players specially mark "this feat was a bonus feat", they just write the name of the feat down, and if you check it all the feats should add up with how many you're supposed to have. even for organized play PFS charsheets. Certainly on levels where you gain both a normal feat (/human bonus feat) and a fighter bonus feat, do people really keep track of that most of the time? Basically, I don't see a problem with allowing this - only restriction that would at all makes sense would be bonus Feats granted by other classes, and they are from a restricted list (i.e. swapping out a Ranger Style Feat for Greater Cleave would be a bad thing).
Given the Fighter is the class most suited to new players because it's simple, I'm actually surprised this nit-picking restriction made it into the final game, since it forces the player to track all this stuff, when that isn't normally necessary.
re: swapping out feat chains (or re-'targeting' weapon specific feat chains)
NO. You can achieve this one feat at a time, and you are gaining plenty of feats in the mean time to achieve your goal faster. I would completely allow a Fighter player to "Save" their Feat-Swaps for a later point if they don't want to use it right away, allowing them to swap out multiple Feats at once.
If one of my players isn't having fun because of a certain character choice, I readily let them change that choice, mid-game even, if it improves their fun.
I don't let them do it willynilly, mind you. Races are generally set and if you change classes (for example, a new book came out with something that better represents your character) it better be close in concept. Feats and skills and things of a similar nature (like variable class abilities) that simply aren't working out can be readily switched out with my permission.
I try to minimize drastic changes to a character, and to avoid having to retcon some previous encounter/story plot as part of the change, but I WILL do it if it means we can all continue to have a good time.
If a player isn't having fun at my table, then I've let him down somehow.
* Fighter may instead change the (parenthesis) in a weapon feat chain over to another weapon.
So your fighter player has finally wised up to the limitations of the whip? This change can help. Also great for low-magic campaigns, where the PCs may not get their choice of magic weapon.
I would definitely allow this as a houserule. It seems very reasonable to me.
Something
LOL! Love the screename!
My Ranger is a good Drow Ranger, but he's not like drizzt at all. He has a Panther as an AC, but he uses two shortswords, and his name is Drizzile, not Drizzt ;)
Well, in PH2, WotC introduced a rather open 'change class abilities' rule.
Granted, I don't think it's OGL, but there's at least precedent.
SomethingLOL! Love the screename!
My Ranger is a good Drow Ranger, but he's not like drizzt at all. He has a Panther as an AC, but he uses two shortswords, and his name is Drizzile, not Drizzt ;)
He should grow a pencil-thin mustache :)