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nonsi 08-17-07, 09:44 AM

I say in advance, this Fighter fix is meant to make ALL known [full BAB, no spells, no supernatural abilities] classes obsolete and roll them into one effective purely-combat-focused class that does it all (when it comes to straight combat) without dipping – defend efficiently, react quickly, shrug off physical punishment, evade hazards and return the favor with some extra. It is also meant to allow a large variety of archetypes (Acrobat, Fencer, Foot Soldier, Gladiator, Hunter, Knight, Pirate, Scout, Swashbuckler, Thug... and many more) and to allow a group of fighters reasonable adventuring capabilities on their own, should they adequately compensate for one another. The Fighter is supposed to be a tailor-made generalist - this is an attempt to really make it so for the very first time. Note: the total assault power boost of this fix is manifested as +1 more to hit and +2 more damage at near-epic levels, but in terms of versatility it's a whole new ball game (no more Fighter that can't walk and chew gum at the same time). Before we proceed, I would like to suggest some additional rules that should close the gap created by the absence of the Knight (and some other niches). Shield Ally: As an immediate action, you can place yourself in front of an attack aimed against an adjacent ally. If the attack does not surpass the minimum to-hit against your ally by +6 or more, it is calculated against your AC (might hit and might miss). If you still haven't used your 5'-step allotment, this is where and when you can spend it. Otherwise, it costs you a move action in your next combat turn. Your ally can choose whether or not to swap places with you (at the cost of his/her 5'-step / move action). Tumbling in a threatened area: The DC is 15 +1 / level of the threatening opponent. It's rolled once and evaluated separately against each opponent. 5-foot Step: You can always trade move/standard actions in order to take additional 5-foot Steps. Armor Mastery (medium): Requires: BAB +4 and Medium Armor Proficiency. Armor Mastery (heavy): Requires: BAB +9, Heavy Armor Proficiency and Armor Mastery (medium) Armor Optimization: Choose one type of armor you are proficient with. When wearing that armor type, your armor check penalty is reduced by 2 and your maximum dexterity bonus is increased by 1. This can only be applied to armors that already have a maximum dexterity bonus of at least +1. This feat can be taken multiple times. Each time this benefit is gained for a different armor type. Requires: Armor Mastery with the weight category to which the armor belongs. Graceful Defense: When wearing light or no armor and wielding nothing more than a single 1-handed or light weapon, you may add your CHA-mod (if any) as a dodge bonus to AC. Requires: BAB +4 One-handed Flurry: When wearing light or no armor and having your off hand free, you may flurry with a light weapon or a 1-handed "finessed" weapon. Iron Strike: Your Unarmed Attack does 1d6 (medium size) lethal damage. Requires: Improved Unarmed Strike. Special: without this feat you cannot choose unarmed attack as your weapon of choice (see below) Weapon Specialization Greater Weapon Focus Greater Weapon Specialization Melee Weapon Mastery Weapon Supremacy Now for the revised Fighter……………… The Warrior class Armor proficiencies: All Warriors start proficient with medium armor and shield (up to large) skill points per level: 4 + INT-mod Class skills: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (architecture and engineering / dungeoneering / geography / history / nobility and royalty), Listen, Move Silently, Ride, Sleight of Hand, search, Spot, Swim, Survival, Tumble and Use Rope. Saves: Good Fort & Ref; poor Will Class features: level 1 I – Bonus feat, Combat Orientation level 2 – Bonus feat level 3 – Combat Focus level 4 II – Bonus feat level 5 – Uncanny Dodge level 6 – Bonus feat level 7 – Combat Stability level 8 III – Bonus feat level 9 – Improved Uncanny Dodge level 10 – Bonus feat level 11 – Evasion level 12 IV – Bonus feat level 13 – Counter Attack level 14 – Bonus feat level 15 – Combat Strike level 16 V – Bonus feat level 17 – Attack on the Move level 18 – Bonus feat level 19 – Total Attack level 20 VI – Bonus feat Note: Given this variant, the Combat-Form feats-list is removed. Also, Combat Focus, Combat Stability and Combat Strike DON'T synergize (otherwise you end up with good will saves and are about as difficult to move as a mammoth). Combat Strike, btw, gives a flat bonus of +4. I* – of all the weapons the Warrior is proficient with, choose 1 weapon of focus. The Warrior gains competence bonus of +1 to hit with the chosen weapon. This level of weapon expertise can be purchased with a feat, but all the rest (detailed below) can only be gained via Warrior levels. II – The Warrior gains competence bonus of +2 to damage. This benefit is gained after 4 weeks of intense training (and so on – according to the appropriate level). Choose a second weapon of focus (from any category you're proficient with), trailing 1 step from the Warrior's primary weapon of focus. The second weapon's benefit is gained after 1 week of intense training. You can swap priorities by either retraining or simply postponing training in the first place. III – The Warrior's hit bonus increases to +2 and he gains +1 AC against melee attacks with his primary weapon of focus. A 3rd weapon is added as weapon of focus, starting at stage I. IV – The Warrior's damage bonus increases to +4 and his +1 AC-adjustment is valid to all attacks. A 4th weapon of focus is added. V – The Warrior's hit bonus increases to +3 and his AC adjustment against melee attacks is increased to +2. A 5th weapon of focus is added. VI – The Warrior's damage bonus increases to +6 and his +2 AC-adjustment is valid to all attacks. This is as far as weapon-skill can ever be advanced. A 6th weapon of focus is added. * Each level of weapon skill grants a cumulative +1 bonus to resist having your weapon disarmed or sundered. If you resist successfully, you gain the same bonus on reactive sunder or disarm attempts. Note: the motivation behind this added bonus is that practically nearly all Fighters take the specialization route (with 2 or 3 levels delay at most) – and naturally it comes at the expense of versatility. Removing Weapon Mastery and Weapon Supremacy balances things against steps V and VI (and Weapon Mastery is technically impossible IRL). Combat Orientation: For the sole purpose of qualifying for any combat feat that has an ability minimum requirement indicated, add 1/2 the Warrior's level (round up) to the required ability's score. Uncanny Dodge & Improved Uncanny Dodge: Same as CORE Rogue. Evasion: Same as CORE Rogue, except it's also applicable with medium/heavy armor, if it comes with Armor Mastery and you have max-DEX-bonus of at least +2 with it. The main Idea is to discourage dipping... and if a Rogue can grasp the concept by 2nd level, why not a full combattant at 11th level. Counter Attack: This works in a different manner than CORE. You hold back your attack completely. If attacked before your next combat turn, you get to make your full attack against your 1st offender – before s/he strikes. Otherwise, before your next combat turn, any adjacent opponent provokes an AoO. For the latter, you may also utilize your 5'-step (if you haven't used it already) to gain this advantage. Attack on the Move: The Warrior has learned to apply an attack when making a move action (but not during any other move equivalent action). Attacking on the move allows only a single attack, so before striking the Warrior must decide if he uses his primary or secondary attack (if a secondary weapon is used). Attack on the Move requires perfectly fluent motion, therefore cannot be performed if the Warrior's STR/DEX/CON has been reduced by a crippling attack of any sort or when treading rough terrain (the latter is ignored if the Warrior has Flawless Stride class feature from another class). Attacking on the move is always made at the Warrior's full BAB, but the move action (how ever long the Warrior chooses to make it) must be performed in a straight line. Potentially, the Warrior can attack on the move up to 3 times in a combat turn, but iterative attacks (the 2nd and the 3rd) must either continue forward in the same direction of the previous attack or in a forward diagonal of up to 45 degrees. Furthermore, a medium sized Warrior cannot make 2 consecutive attacks on the move against adjacent squares, meaning he must move at least 10' before making an iterative Attack on the Move (and the distances double with each size increase). This maneuver can also come before or after a standard action (with the same constraints when it comes after). Attack on the Move provokes AoO's. Total Attack: As a total round action (denying anything else, including 5'-step and swift/immediate/free action) the Warrior commits himself to a single foe and gains a +2 hit bonus to each attack that follows a successful hit and may continue attacking until just before his next attack bonus is negative (modifiers are calculated afterwards). For instance, a 20th level Warrior with an extremely lucky sequence could generate the following unmodified attack-rolls: +20 / +17 / +14 / +11 / +8 / +5 / +2. The same Warrior, missing 3 times in a row and nailing his 4th attack, would make +20 / +15 / +10 / +5 / +2. This maneuver takes a toll of -2 to AC and all Ref saves and provokes AoO's from anyone but the target of the total attack - until the Warrior's next action.