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Try these:
Add BAB to Initiative (for everyone, including foes).
Make Light armor grant DR 1/-, Medium armor DR 2/- and Heavy armor DR 3/-.
Light helm grants +2 AC vs. crit confirmations, Great helm grants +4 AC vs. crit confirmations and -2 Perception penalty.
Power Attack, Point Blank Shot and Combat Expertise are free to anyone who meets the pre-requisites.
Those changes have made a world of difference in our campaigns and haven't required a great deal book-keeping or re-balancing to pull off.
Might wanna add the dex version of power attack to that list.
(Can't spell it's name cause' I'm dumb, but it requires 13 dex, and only works for light weapons)
Might wanna add the dex version of power attack to that list.
(Can't spell it's name cause' I'm dumb, but it requires 13 dex, and only works for light weapons)
Ugh - sorry, didn't mention this because it might not be for everyone, but we got rid of Weapon Finesse as a feat and instead made it a weapon trait. Basically if a weapon has the Finesse trait then it uses Dex for its attack bonus automatically (ranged weapons, light weapons and some special cases like the rapier and the whip), effectively giving everyone the Weapon Finesse feat for free as well.
Yeah, weapon fenesse is a pain to try and get early while staying relevant.
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I've always said that what martials really need isn't bigger numbers; YMMV.
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Numbers aren't the main problem with martials. It's that for classes dedicated to combat, they're only good at only ONE aspect of combat (doing damage) that any class with a decent Strength and a BAB that isn't terrible can do.
I did implement the free Power Attack, Deadly Aim, Combat Expetise, and Weapon Finesse in my game and have seen suggestions for adding BAB to initiative, which I liked.
I use some of these:
-Power Attack, Deadly Aim & Combat Expertise are "actions", not feats (note: combat expertise replaces fighting defensively)
-Point Blank shot is rolled into precise shot
-Weapon finesse is a weapon property
-Stacked together a bunch of improved maneuver feats (into "improved nimbe maneuvers" & "improved mighty maneuvers") though I kept the "greater" maneuvers separate.
I do however take issue with BaB added to initiative, I can see it hurt the sneaky classes (ninja, rogue, inquisitor_, since I can see them never getting initiative in a surprise round again. I can imagine other problems related to buffing & caster being hurting enemies, but that's another issue. I also wonder how it would end up at high levels, where monsters have ridiculously higher BAB than the players.
What levels have these been tested? I've only got a month or so of testing for my own stuff, and low-level at that.
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Adding mobility, scaling feats and more skill points would help much more, IMO...
As I said many times: Options are the most valuable resource you can have. Not Numbers... OPTIONS. Actual, viable options.
If you're interested, you can read more about my thoughts on the matter here.
I'm with some of the other posters above. These rules, while interesting and for the most part balanced, don't really address the issues.
I haven't seen complaints about martials being too slow or too squishy, or not getting fast enough feat access.
Could you expound a bit on the perceived issues that these rules address?
Numbers aren't the main problem with martials. It's that for classes dedicated to combat, they're only good at only ONE aspect of combat (doing damage) that any class with a decent Strength and a BAB that isn't terrible can do.
I did implement the free Power Attack, Deadly Aim, Combat Expetise, and Weapon Finesse in my game and have seen suggestions for adding BAB to initiative, which I liked.
I was just throwing these out as some of the house rules that have worked well for us, not necessarily as 'THE' fix for martials. Most of those changes actually benefit all the other classes as well if not quite as much.
We've done a few other things too - anyone with 2 skill ranks gets 4 instead, and standard Fighters all gain the 'Maneuver Mastery' class feature that would normally come with the Lore Warden archetype, maxing out at +10 at 19th level. I find that really helps the Fighter carve out a separate niche from the Barbarian, Ranger and Paladin and makes Maneuvers a viable option even at later levels.
Numbers aren't the main problem with martials. It's that for classes dedicated to combat, they're only good at only ONE aspect of combat (doing damage) that any class with a decent Strength and a BAB that isn't terrible can do.I was just throwing these out as some of the house rules that have worked well for us, not necessarily as 'THE' fix for martials. Most of those changes actually benefit all the other classes as well if not quite as much.
Aye, but I'm always very wary of buffing any class/character/content in a way that does not need it in lieu of addressing the class/character's core issues, because this not only does not solve/mitigate the issues, but also it could lead to unintentional consequences. To me, it's just not good design, especially when the changes don't add gameplay or make the classes any more fun. This is why I favor the feat changes more than the simple number bonuses.
Admittedly, I do think giving a class feature to the fighter where wearing armor grants him DR is kind of cool.
Not sure about the DR. At low levels the martials can keep up just fine, and the DR is rather good. At high levels the martials fall behind and the DR is insignificant.
Unsure about the BAB. I can see where you're going with this, but I'd suggest that the fighter (as that's who this is really talking about) simply take Reactionary and Improved Initiative instead. If you roll up enough other feats (PA, finesse, maneuvers, etc) there should be room.
I've done something vaguely similar with helmets; I think helmets should see some more love.
But as the other posters have said, a fighter is fine when fighting. It's the rest of the time when there's a problem. Also, rogues gain very little from these.
Try these:
Add BAB to Initiative (for everyone, including foes).
Make Light armor grant DR 1/-, Medium armor DR 2/- and Heavy armor DR 3/-.
Light helm grants +2 AC vs. crit confirmations, Great helm grants +4 AC vs. crit confirmations and -2 Perception penalty.
Power Attack, Point Blank Shot and Combat Expertise are free to anyone who meets the pre-requisites.
Those changes have made a world of difference in our campaigns and haven't required a great deal book-keeping or re-balancing to pull off.
Like the house rule for the feats, already use then too, except for Combat Expertise (since I already house rule a Base Defense Bonus equal to 1/2 BAB for all, PCs and Monsters)
Dont like the BAB as initiative bonus, since it hurts rogues.
Like the helm bonuses.
Would have to try armor DR bonuses to see if it works fine (would allow it to stack with Barbarian DR class feature, otherwise barian class feature would be weakened).