How do you make the Fighters role more interesting?

Bill Reich · Jul 5, 2017

Is this One-Eye Odin or an Odin-clone? One of my favorite moments as a GM was when Bgordj Half-Beard, a fighter player-character, stood over a slain Hobgoblin, puffed out his chest and shouted "Odin, send me _enemies_" and, of course, the All-Father generously complied. Half-Beard's life has been interesting ever since.

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https://sites.google.com/site/grreference/home/05-the-black-mountain

LegionError121 · Jul 5, 2017

Bill Reich said:
Is this One-Eye Odin or an Odin-clone? One of my favorite moments as a GM was when Bgordj Half-Beard, a fighter player-character, stood over a slain Hobgoblin, puffed out his chest and shouted "Odin, send me _enemies_" and, of course, the All-Father generously complied. Half-Beard's life has been interesting ever since.

--
https://sites.google.com/site/grreference/home/05-the-black-mountain

Nope

One Eye refers to "Gruumsh One Eye"

The main Orc deity who drives Orc forces forward

The Orcs believe that if they stand against his teachings, they will be killed by him and if they serve him and the Orcs run out of enemies, Gruumsh will next come for them

Essentially, Orcs live for violence

But . . . what if you had Orcs that turned his values upside down and used their strength for good?

That be the aspect Human is going for

amerigoV · Jul 5, 2017

I have always found Fighters are the most interesting characters anyway. Think about it - they are the only one that actually does anything heroic. Everyone else needs a shtick of some sort to even be useful on an adventure.

Wizards/Sorcerers are nothing without their magic. One punch in the face and they are out of it. Take the wizard's book away and they will cry like a toddler, and be about as useful.
Thieves are cowards, nothing more the trap detectors. Quite frankly at low level you are better at it than they are (you can walk into the trap and survive, they die just trying to find it).
Clerics need a god to do anything useful. Some make half-decent off-tanks, but that is about it. They don't call 'em miracles for nothing.
Rangers - how many versions have to be released each edition for them to even rank barely above "meh"?
Warlocks consort with demons and should be put down immediately. Otherwise, they would likely just live in their momma's root cellar without their pleading for help from another Outsider.
Paladins - again, god loving momma's boy/girl. Acceptable off-tank at best.
Barbarians - they are respectable, if not unpredictable. But pretty "meh" if they are all madded out for the day. They tend to smell bad too.

Fighter? No matter what you just draw your weapon and kick butt. You can use any weapon, anytime and anywhere. Take your weapon away and your will just smash their face with your mail fist whilst drawing another weapon to eviscerate them. You are the Most Interesting Man (Woman, Person) in the World because you do it yourself. People are naturally drawn to you because you are the best. No tricks, no "magic", just your personal awesomeness.

If you cannot make that interesting at the table, you best play a bard and pretend to be interesting.

(Some of the above is tongue in cheek - but quite frankly too many people focus on numbers. Any character can be interesting regardless of the class/race. Find an edge and run with it).

Jhaelen · Jul 6, 2017

Tony Vargas said:
Well, there's your problem, you're playing D&D! ;P
D&D fighters don't stand out. Except as targets: they're there to take damage instead of the characters who are important to the party's success (and aren't even very good at it, for the most part).

+1
Although, I'd except the 4e fighter: In our 4e group, the fighter's the second-most memorable character (right after my Dragonborn Dragon Magic Sorcerer, naturally ;-)). As a Goliath Warden he's literally rock-solid in the face of the opposition, taking it for the team and making sure the enemies need to go through him first.

Lanefan · Jul 6, 2017

Look no further than the advice in post #2 above - it's bang on.

If your game is all combat all the time, one thing you could try - seeing as in theory you're the best in the party at combat - is to start giving orders during the battles, some of which make sense and some of which don't:

"You, Cleric, go left and roll up the line!" "Rogue - with me up front!" "Wizard, you've been a bad boy - go stand in the corner!" Just for kicks you could start barking orders at the enemies too, if there's any hope they'll understand you. And every combat the orders have to be different, so the others have no idea what's expected of them.

Out of combat - pick a characterization and a voice, then take it just a bit over the top. Exaggerate it too much and it'll come off dumb, but exaggerate it just a bit and you'll have something entertaining, which is the point of the exercise. And don't for a second think that just because you're not the party "face" you're not allowed to talk!

Lan-"Cleric - cast Silence on the Wizard! No, not their Wizard, our Wizard! I'm tired of listening to his whining"-efan

Lanefan · Jul 6, 2017

Tony Vargas said:
Well, there's your problem, you're playing D&D! ;P
D&D fighters don't stand out. Except as targets: they're there to take damage instead of the characters who are important to the party's success (and aren't even very good at it, for the most part).

Normally, at this point, I'd shill 13th Age, but even 13A's fighter is a disappointing non-entity (though it is a little better at being a damage magnet).

...wow, glutton for punishment. The Champion archetyhpe is the least-interesting D&D Fighter this millennium. /By design/, as a feature. It's specifically for players who want to avoid any risk of being interesting, even in combat, as well as to avoid having anything to do outside of it.

Of course, you already mentioned it was D&D, so that's prettymuch a given.

Since this is the general RPG forum, I feel free to say 'just play a game that sucks differently from D&D,' one where interesting character concepts get to be interesting, even if they don't happen to include spellcasting.

You're focusing far too much on the mechanics, old boy; and that's less than half of what makes a character memorable and entertaining.

Ignore the mechanics and focus on the character - the stage presence - the entertainment value you can provide your fellow players! Make them laugh! Make them mad! But above all, make them remember you!

Lan-"a Fighter that none who've met him will ever forget"-efan

CydKnight · Jul 6, 2017

You could also be more descriptive about your attacks without your character actually speaking. Perhaps they have a signature move or maybe she prefers to fight one handed with a shield before Noon. I feel it is important to develop your own ideas and descriptions and make them yours and their really is no wrong way here since we aren't dealing with mechanics.

delphonso · Jul 6, 2017

Lanefan said:
"You, Cleric, go left and roll up the line!" "Rogue - with me up front!" "Wizard, you've been a bad boy - go stand in the corner!" Just for kicks you could start barking orders at the enemies too, if there's any hope they'll understand you.

This is what I'd recommend too. Don't be a jerk about it, but you're a Fighter. The only thing you're good at is fighting, and honestly I'd rather have no one else with me in a fight than a Fighter. Be the cool head, the calm, confident commander in the storm of battle. Try to be tactical, cut off routes by collapsing a ceiling with your immense strength, set everyone up in attack formations, or intimidate a crowd of goblins into turning tail.

I don't know any of the prestige classes or any cross class advantages, but I'm sure there's a Homebrew "Warden" or "Commander". Perhaps you should build toward one of those. Take charge in the fight - it's what you were born to do!

hamsterprynne · Jul 6, 2017

I agree with others that, mechanically, the 5e Champion Fighter doesn't support a lot of flavor. However, it is role-playing, so you can bring in flavor by describing how you attack. How is the greatsword swung? Overhead, sideways slash, lunge, etc. Where on the enemy are you targeting? Yell out one-liners as you attack (consider preparing some beforehand). Use intimidation to make enemies cower. Laugh at and mock enemies when they miss or just scratch you.

You can also use other melee combat mechanics, such as shove (includes knocking prone) and grapple (not that useful for a two-handed fighter, but still fun). Use your character's strength to manipulate the battlefield by holding enemies in place or moving them around. Help the magic users setup targets for AOE spells. Your character is the muscle. Use it! These actions may not be as optimal as a weapon attack, but they do give you different things to do.

Tony Vargas · Jul 6, 2017

Lanefan said:
You're focusing far too much on the mechanics, old boy; and that's less than half of what makes a character memorable and entertaining.

Sure, just like a foundation is less than half what makes a skyscraper tall.

The OP's character has plenty of backstory and personality to go around, it just needs something to hang that on - some dramatic moments, some striking heroics, the odd unexpected display of competence, etc...

delphonso said:
I don't know any of the prestige classes or any cross class advantages, but I'm sure there's a Homebrew "Warden" or "Commander". Perhaps you should build toward one of those. Take charge in the fight - it's what you were born to do!

Instead of PrCs, 5e has 'archetypes' of fighter that you pick at 3rd level. Since the character is a 'Champion Fighter,' it already has it's archetype locked in.