Engilbrand
First Post
Quick background: I understand why some people think that the Fighter is weak. I don't really care. I use to play them all the time, but now I like things with strange abilities. Binders and Incarnates are cool. As I was looking through Magic of Incarnum the other day, an idea hit me. "Hum..." I said. "People seem to think that the Fighter is weak. I like this essentia stuff from Magic of Incarnum. What about mixing that with the Fighter?" "That could be a bit unbalanced. Unless you add in a Tome of Battle idea."
So, mix-and-match ideas I did. Here's what I came up with:
Give Fighters points. Call them Fighter points. FP. Just like an Incarnate, a Fighter gets 1 FP per level until level 14, then they get 2 FP until level 20. That's gives a 20th level Fighter 26 FP. Fighters can use their FP to improve their Fighter bonus feats only. This will require making some minor changes to Fighter bonus feats. Also, give them certain limitations or interesting bonuses.
Example: Monal is a 20th level Fighter. One of his bonus feats is Improved Initiative. Just like normal, he gains +4 to his Initiative. He has 26 FP. For each FP that he puts into Improved Initiative, he gains another +1. If he puts 5 FP into Improved Initiative, he automatically "wins" initiative and is at the top of the order for the entire combat. He now has 5 more FP to invest in his other feats.
"Where does ToB come in?" I hear you wondering. A Fighter chooses where all of his Fighter Points go at the very beginning of combat. Technically, as soon as the DM says roll for Initiative, he has to take a second and choose where his points go. That's when he chooses to do 5 FP into Improved Initiative or not. When the combat is done, all of his FP go back into a pool to be pulled upon the next time a combat comes around. He may not switch around points during combat.
"What about feat chains? Won't Weapon Focus and Specialization suck when you have the Greater versions?" No. Fighters don't need a RIDICULOUS power-up. Just a little one. Here's one of the ways to balance these sorts of situations. The amount of FP that one puts into a Greater version is limited by the amount invested in the lesser version.
Example: Monal has used a lot of his points on other bonus feats. He has 5 more FP. He has WF, WS, GWF and GWS. If he wants to put 1 FP into GWF, he has to also put at least one into WF. 2 FP would therefore give him an extra +3 to hit. With his last 3 FP, he puts 2 FP into WS and 1 FP into GWS, giving him an extra +4 to his damage.
The last part of this: There is a certain amount that may be invested into a bonus feat based on the number of levels in Fighter. For every 4 levels, you may invest an extra point into a feat.
Levels 1-4 = 1
Levels 5-8 = 2
Levels 9-12 = 3
Levels 12-15 = 4
Levels 16-19 = 5
Level 20 = 6
What do people think of this idea? Is it worth exploring? Would anyone like me to actually write out some of the bonuses gained by investing Fighter Points into bonus feats? This also gives a great reason to stick with Fighter to the higher levels. More points equal more power. Nifty extra abilities at 5 and 6 points could be that added draw that some people need to stick with Fighter.
So, mix-and-match ideas I did. Here's what I came up with:
Give Fighters points. Call them Fighter points. FP. Just like an Incarnate, a Fighter gets 1 FP per level until level 14, then they get 2 FP until level 20. That's gives a 20th level Fighter 26 FP. Fighters can use their FP to improve their Fighter bonus feats only. This will require making some minor changes to Fighter bonus feats. Also, give them certain limitations or interesting bonuses.
Example: Monal is a 20th level Fighter. One of his bonus feats is Improved Initiative. Just like normal, he gains +4 to his Initiative. He has 26 FP. For each FP that he puts into Improved Initiative, he gains another +1. If he puts 5 FP into Improved Initiative, he automatically "wins" initiative and is at the top of the order for the entire combat. He now has 5 more FP to invest in his other feats.
"Where does ToB come in?" I hear you wondering. A Fighter chooses where all of his Fighter Points go at the very beginning of combat. Technically, as soon as the DM says roll for Initiative, he has to take a second and choose where his points go. That's when he chooses to do 5 FP into Improved Initiative or not. When the combat is done, all of his FP go back into a pool to be pulled upon the next time a combat comes around. He may not switch around points during combat.
"What about feat chains? Won't Weapon Focus and Specialization suck when you have the Greater versions?" No. Fighters don't need a RIDICULOUS power-up. Just a little one. Here's one of the ways to balance these sorts of situations. The amount of FP that one puts into a Greater version is limited by the amount invested in the lesser version.
Example: Monal has used a lot of his points on other bonus feats. He has 5 more FP. He has WF, WS, GWF and GWS. If he wants to put 1 FP into GWF, he has to also put at least one into WF. 2 FP would therefore give him an extra +3 to hit. With his last 3 FP, he puts 2 FP into WS and 1 FP into GWS, giving him an extra +4 to his damage.
The last part of this: There is a certain amount that may be invested into a bonus feat based on the number of levels in Fighter. For every 4 levels, you may invest an extra point into a feat.
Levels 1-4 = 1
Levels 5-8 = 2
Levels 9-12 = 3
Levels 12-15 = 4
Levels 16-19 = 5
Level 20 = 6
What do people think of this idea? Is it worth exploring? Would anyone like me to actually write out some of the bonuses gained by investing Fighter Points into bonus feats? This also gives a great reason to stick with Fighter to the higher levels. More points equal more power. Nifty extra abilities at 5 and 6 points could be that added draw that some people need to stick with Fighter.
