A Dark High Fantasy RPG

[Sanglorian]

What if you called hero points 'heroic surges'? That's a nice callback to healing surges, and I think still describes them.

Alright, let's see if I can kill some of your babies.

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Have you seen Dungeon World before? Some of your Streetwise upshots look a bit like the move options in that game.

For example, DW might have a move gather or seed rumours:

When you gather or seed rumours, roll +Streetwise. On a 7+, you gather or seed a rumour. On a 10+, choose two. On a 7-9, choose one.

• It is particularly effective.
• It can't be traced back to you.
• You gather or seed multiple rumours.

The player has agency, but always misses out on something. In some cases, the option(s) not chosen also suggest where the story goes from here - if you seed multiple effective rumours, they can be traced back to you - and there's your next adventure seed.

Whereas I worry that your upshots are a bit unfocused and try to accomplish multiple things. For example, 'gather rumours about a distant town or city' - if you're using Streetwise to do that, that should be the consequence of a success, not a peripheral benefit you may or may not get. If you're using Streetwise to do something else, is play actually improved if you also gather an unrelated rumour about a totally different place?

Likewise with 'deliberately attract attention without it seeming like you're setting up an obvious trap' - what is the core success that this upshot is meant to contribute to? Attract attention with it seeming like a trap? Surely you don't need to roll for that.

When you hide among the populace, roll +Streetwise. On a 7+, you cannot be found by the authorities. On a 10+, choose two. On a 7-9, choose one.

• You do not endanger your hosts.
• You can trust your hosts.

One of the benefits of this model is that if you are trying to hide among the populace without endangering your hosts, you can always do that on a success - but if you don't roll high enough, something else crappy might happen to you instead. Whereas in your model, you can sometimes succeed at hiding but endanger your hosts ... which is effectively a failure, if not endangering your hosts was a priority.

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Also, why split things up into Expert, Warrior and Spellcaster? This siloing has caused a lot of problems with D&D in the past, where warriors can't do cool things out of combat because that's the preserve of the experts, and experts can't do cool things in combat because that's the preserve of the warriors. You're creating an RPG about combat, social interaction and exploration - why create classes that are only good at one or two of those pillars? Particularly since in the source material for fantasy RPGs, warriors are often sages and philosophers, scouts and explorers, leaders and diplomats, etc. (And because we know that the spellcasters will end up good at everything).

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=83822]Sanglorian[/MENTION]

Yes, I like Dungeon World though I've only played a game online once. I haven't read all the rules in depth yet, but I'm not surprised my ideas overlap with it since I think it's a great game

You're right that the upshots I've listed assume a rather limited success on the skill check. Maybe that is a bad idea, and I need to tighten up the focus of the upshots.

As an aside, I like the idea of getting "partial success" and kind of want to include that, but it is often the hardest to adjudicate at the table. Whereas "terrible failure", "failure", "success", and "great success" tend to be more intuitive IME. Maybe hitting your DC exactly is a partial success in the sense of: yes you succeed, but the GM chooses a complication also.

About the archetypes: Yes, I agree with you entirely. Let me explain.

These 3 archetypes are not classes, they contain the classes. Each class is or will be designed for a wide array of challenges, and though not equal in all of them, will have ways to contribute in: challenges, combat, exploration, social encounters, and domain management.

What the archetypes do is establish 6 uses for hero points (or possible heroic surges, as you recommend). A list of 6 is more manageable than a list of 14, for example. It's meant to give each archetype flexibility in a certain aspect of play, yes, and not to overwhelm players. Probably, 5 uses for hero points is about the ideal amount most players can hold in their heads, scribble on the back of their sheets, or the GM can put on an index card.

But the archetypes are not the class. For example, fighters get to select lots of fun non-combat options, some of which are baked right into the fighter's core features.

It's also possible once I finish the Dominion rules that Warriors will get new ways to spend hero points there, not sure yet.

Anyhow, the archetypes are just an organizational framework to tell you:

• Who can/would want to select which feats. True20 did this. At one point D&D Next did too (not sure about current playtest rules).
• What legendary paths are available/make sense for characters of which archetype.
• What uses of hero points are available/make sense for characters of which archetype.

 

[Quickleaf]

Here's the barebones fighter without any story, without any extra powers or features. Just the cold hard mechanics. I'll add more when I have more time.

Fighter
Archetype: Warrior
Hit points: 10 + Constitution score
Hit points per additional level: 6
Defenses: +2 Fortitude, +1 Reflex, +1 Will (best defenses in the game)
Proficiencies: All armor, shields, all simple and martial weapons
Core features: *Fighting edge, Evaluate combatant, Weapon expertise
Specialties: Archer, Brawler, Dender, Duelist, Gladiator, Man-at-Arm, Slayer, Warlord

Core Features

*Fighting Edge: When wielding a proper weapon in which you are proficient, gain +1 attack and damage, and you can use All Out Attack to make two basic attacks. At legendary tier (11th level) this increases to +2 attack and damage, and three attacks. At epic tier (21st level) this increases to +3 attack and damage, and four attacks.

Evaluate Combatant: Once per round, you can evaluate a creature's combat ability as a free action provided you've had the opportunity to watch them for a bit or seen them in a fight. You may ask one of the following questions:

• What is their attack DC?
• What is their highest or lowest defense?
• Are they a minion, humanoid, standard, elite, champion, or solo?
• Do I recognize their fighting style from a certain geography or mentor?
• Do they have a concealed weapon?

You may not evaluate the same creature again until either you've gained a level or the situation has dramatically changed (at the GM's discretion).

Weapon Expertise: When you succeed on an attack, you gain an extra upshot even if you don't exceed the target's defense by 5+. In addition, as an attack upshot you may choose to change one keyword on your weapon for that attack.

Specialties
At 1st level choose a specialty. If you want to be "just a regular fighter", choose Man-at-Arms.
[sblock=Specialties]
ARCHER
Combat Archery: You can make ranged attacks in melee without provoking opportunity attacks.
Trick Shot: When you make an attack with a bow as a full-round action, you may choose one of these options before rolling to attack:

• Aim: Ignore partial concealment, partial cover, and range penalties.
• Called Shot: Initiate one of these maneuvers against the target if you hit: Bull Rush, Disarm, Hamper, or Trip.
• Volley: Attack all creatures in a 15' radius (ranged burst 1).

BRAWLER
Grappling Specialization: You use the improved unarmed attack (+2 prof, 1d4 damage, knockout). When not wearing heavy armor and fighting with a free hand, gain +1 AC and Reflex, and advantage (+5) to initiating maneuvers.
Improvised Weapons: Treat any found object as a weapon in which you're proficient (see Small Improvised and Large Improvised in Equipment section), with the GM determining any keywords. Thus your Fighting Edgr always applies. However, the benefits of the Weapon Specialization feat do not apply to improvised weapons.

DEFENDER
Shield Specialization: You gain the Shield Specialization feat (sacrifice shield AC/Reflex bonus to apply to adjacent ally), and apply your shield bonus to your Fortitude and Will as well.
Warding Stance: (At-Will - Stance, free action) While in this stance, enemies who attack your allies provoke opportunity attacks from you. In addition, when you hit with an opportunity attack provoked by movement, on a hit you stop the target's movement.

DUELIST
Dual-Weapon Fighting: You gain the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, and your main hand weapon doesn't have to be a light weapon, and you can add your Dexterity modifier damage to your offhand weapon (normally you would not).
Finesse: You can replace any instance of "Strength" in fighter attacks to "Dexterity", regardless of whether your weapon is Light or not.

GLADIATOR
Exotic Weapon Specialization: You gain the Weapon Specialization feat, and gain proficiency with all exotic weapons.
Grisly Finishing Move: When you reduce an enemy to 0 HP, your next attack giants advantage (+5) against any intelligent foe who saw how you dispatched your last enemy.

MAN-AT-ARMS
Weapon Specialization: You gain the Weapon Specialization feat, but select 3 weapon groups (instead of one).
Extra Basic Attack: Choose an extra basic attack (you have 3 instead of 2 to start with).

SLAYER
Cleave: You gain the Cleave feat (attack again after downing an enemy), and you can use it once per turn (instead of once per round).
Great Weapon Brute: When wielding a great weapon you deal +3 damage. This increases to +6 at legendary tier, and +9 at epic tier.

WARLORD
[/SIZE]​Warlord's Command: When allies within earshot spend a hero point while following your commands, they gain advantage on the action associated with spending the hero point.
Insoiration: (Encounter and At-Will - Hero Point, free action 1/round) Once per encounter you can grant an ally within earshot a use of one of their stunts without having to spend a hero point. You can also spend a hero point on behalf of an ally within earshot, allowing them to use one of their stunts.
[/sblock]
Basic Attacks
At 1st level choose two basic attacks (in addition to your basic melee attack & basic ranged attack).

Heroic Features
At levels 2, 6, and 10 choose one of the following features.
[SBLOCK=Heroic Features]
Arms Lore
When encountering a weapon for the first time, you may ask one of the following questions:

• What is this weapon's name, who crafted it, and who was its wielder?
• What special properties does this weapon have, and how are they activated?
• Would this weapon be particularly effective against (insert a creature type here)?

Assured Athlete
You can take 10 on Athletics and Strength checks even when under pressure.

Burden Bearer
Increase your carrying capacity and encumbrance threshold by 4 load slots. Also, when carrying one fallen companion, they never cause you to become encumbered.

Campaigner
You may use Evaluate Combatant to appraise a military encampment, fortification, or military unit, asking one of the questions:

• What is the name of the unit, what is its banner, and who is its commander?
• About how many soldiers are there, and what is their overall strength, morale, and fighting readiness?
• Are there any holes in their defense or weak points in their logistics I might exploit?

Flexible Warrior Feat
Gain a bonus Warrior feat which you may retrain during each extended rest.

Forced March
When you are leading the party during overland travel, increase the party's speed by +5' (+1 square), and you and your allies gain advantage (+5) to Constitution checks to perform a forced march.

Mark
You can single out an adjacent foe, and as long as they are adjacent their attacks that don't include you are disadvantaged (-5). Only one enemy is subject to your mark at a time.
Out of combat, this grants advantage (+5) to Intimidate a creature of lower level that you.

Stand Your Ground
As a move action, you can assume a stance that lasts until you willingly move. While in this stance, Trip and forced movement attempts against you are disadvantaged (-5), or with map & minis reduce forced movement by 5' (1 square) and gain a save vs. getting knocked prone.
Out of combat, this gives you advantage (+5) to Diplomacy checks when defending your position.

Steely Reputation
In addition to the normal benefits of reputation (e.g. getting free room and board, complimentary healing at a favored temple, and so on), you can call upon one of these boons once per week in a settlement:

• Rouse 1d6 hirelings who you've impressed to help in some endeavor, either for a reduced price or for free.
• Convince common thugs or bandits to back down from a fight.
• Convince local authorities to give you leniency regarding a minor infraction, like forgetting to peacebond your weapon, breaking curfew, or cracking some skulls at the tavern.

Weapons of Labor
When you wield a weapon for a non-combat application, you have advantage (+5) on the corresponding check and deal double damage to any objects. This includes using an axe to chop a wooden gate, pick to break stone, hammer to forge armor, etc.
[/SBLOCK]

Heroic Attacks
At levels 3, 5, 7, and 9 choose one of the following attacks OR follow the advancement track for one of your existing attacks.

Legendary Path
At 11th level choose a legendary path OR another fighter specialty. If you want to be "just a regular fighter", choose Legendary Fighter.

Legendary Features
At levels 12, 16, and 20 choose one of the following features.

Legendary Attacks
At levels 13, 15, 17, and 19 choose one of the following attacks OR choose a heroic attack OR follow the advancement track for one of your existing attacks.

Immortal Destiny
At 21st level choose an immortal destiny OR another fighter specialty. If you want to be "just a regular fighter", choose Immortal Warrior.

Immortal Features
At levels 22, 26, and 30 choose one of the following features.

Immortal Attacks
At levels 23, 25, 27, and 29 choose one of the following attacks OR choose a heroic or legendary attack OR follow the advancement track for one of your existing attacks.

 

[GMMichael]

Right now it's more a collection of ideas, glorified house rules yearning to become their own system.

Anyhow, I call it Elderblade.

Great name! You kinda lost me when the comparisons to Forry came out, but I'd love to hear about the "dark high fantasy" campaign setting.

First off, initiative would be simultaneous for three main reasons:

• First, it encourages players to talk ahead of time about creative strategies/tactics especially since they matter a bit more (since the dying Orc can still stab you!), and since players can coordinate and take turns amongst themselves as they please without worrying about where a Held Action puts them in the initiative count. It also makes ranged attacks a bigger part of gameplay compared to 4e which often is melee-focused.
• Second, it reduces alpha-striking with an inflated initiative score and makes Surprise more important. I'd also be building several options you can choose when you gain Surprise to make it a bigger part of gameplay.
• Third, no more tracking initiative! When you need to find our who goes first or a PC and monster are clearly trying to go before each other there can be an contested initiative check between the two or three or whatever.

I love initiative discussions.
- How does simultaneous initiative promote ranged attacks?
- Surprise should be important! Which it isn't - when each combatant has 50+ hit points...
- Don't let your PCs discuss a battle strategy once combat starts. There's no reason why the enemies should sit and wait for that - and it forces PCs to do some roleplaying-discussion prior to getting into fights.
- No tracking initiative: good! I'm curious to know if the number of disputed-sequence-actions (that require initiative checks) will eventually outweigh the hassle of checking initiative once at the start of combat.

A missed attack would never mean "you miss, next." Instead a player would choose from several missed attack options:

• study foe or situation and learn something.
• gain advantage and +1 die damage against same enemy on an attack next round as you wait for their guard to drop, keep battering their shield, or just get more determined to kill them.
• reposition within your current zone.

This game is about player creativity, right? Let the PC explain how he failed to cause damage.

Player defined character keywords would be part of character creation. When leveraged they can gain you advantage, but GM may call upon them to impose disadvantage, all depending on the situation. Keywords overall would play a more prominent role than in 4e.

You'll help players be creative by asking them to describe their characters -before- applying rules to their characters.

Streamlined action economy:

Eliminating minor actions & reintroducing full-round actions & consolidating opportunities & immediate actions/interrupts into reactions. Also reduce the number of reaction-granting powers.

Or...consolidating everything into 3 actions per round?

Classes would be divided into 3 Archetypes, each archetype would share common hero point Stunt List, have access to common feats, and choose from same pool of Paragon Paths (though some might be class-restricted).

Looks like adding archetypes just complicates character design. Is that your intention?

Feats -overhauled!

Feats would be fewer in number, you'd get less of them, and they'd get a big power up. However, I'd aggressively strip out feats which just inflate numbers - those sorts of things would be core class features or just cut out entirely.

You can accomplish this by preventing feats from granting bonuses to skills, attacks, saving throws, and AC.

Check this game out, it might give you some inspiration or validation:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?350867-Modos-RPG-Playtest-1-the-One-True-System

 

[Quickleaf]

Great name! You kinda lost me when the comparisons to Forry came out, but I'd love to hear about the "dark high fantasy" campaign setting.

Thanks Mike! At some point I'll get the setting stuff organized, it's scattered across 50 pages or so right now.

About the name...I choose "Elderblade" for five reasons:

• Elderblade is meant to refer to our oldest and greatest weapon - our minds - reflected in this quote from an NPC: "In the Elder Age, 'tis neither spell nor blade, but the mind of they that wield it."
• It evokes the brooding mystery of dark fantasy and magic of high fantasy, at least I hope.
• It alludes to the power balance between wizards (elders) and fighters (blades), that the game's design and setting presume.
• It is my nod to the OSR which Elderblade shares some sensibilities with.
• And it's an in-game reference: the Elderblade is the setting's most powerful magic sword, an artifact forged in elven blood that has not been seen in ages.

I love initiative discussions.
- How does simultaneous initiative promote ranged attacks?
- Surprise should be important! Which it isn't - when each combatant has 50+ hit points...
- Don't let your PCs discuss a battle strategy once combat starts. There's no reason why the enemies should sit and wait for that - and it forces PCs to do some roleplaying-discussion prior to getting into fights.
- No tracking initiative: good! I'm curious to know if the number of disputed-sequence-actions (that require initiative checks) will eventually outweigh the hassle of checking initiative once at the start of combat.

Good questions:
-In simultaneous initiative, the archer shoots the same time you move for cover or move to close distance, so you can still get hit. In turn-based initiative you can move to cover *before* the archer or even charge and kill them before they fire.
-I've really re-tooled surprise to make it a big deal, and to offer variable surprise benefits the ambushes can choose from.
-The idea behind simultaneous initiative is to encourage advance thinking, even if brief, sort of like a football huddle...and then once combat is happening there are no more tactical pow-wows.
-Yes, no tracking initiative. I'm thinking that making a contested initiative check is a privilege not a right in this system. So the player has to establish some way either mechanically (thru feats or class options or a readied action) or narratively (thru context of the scene or a good idea) to earn an initiative check. It's a very different paradigm from D&D where initiative checks are assumed.

This game is about player creativity, right? Let the PC explain how he failed to cause damage.

I wish I had players who would do this! If you do, more power to you. The main idea behind the miss rules is to short-circuit bad luck streaks when a player rolls like 4 or 5 misses in a row. Still need to tweak it, but that's the core reasoning.

You'll help players be creative by asking them to describe their characters -before- applying rules to their characters.

Depends on the player type. Certainly that is true for some, but not true for others.

Looks like adding archetypes just complicates character design. Is that your intention?

On the contrary, I think it simplifies it for three reasons.

First, because I knew hero point stunts were going to be a part of this game, I also realized that there were certain things it made sense for certain characters to do with them that other characters it didn't make sense for. Instead of listing Fighter Stunts, Barbarian Stunts, Paladin Stunts, and so on, I consolidate the rule into Warrior Stunts. Now if you've played a Fighter before and decide to play a Paladin next character, you already know the stunts you can perform, likewise if you're a Fighter and you're helping a younger/newer player with a Ranger.

Second, because it helps make feat selection easier by separating out the feats you don't have to worry about. I want to make a Fighter, ok, so the only feat lists I need to consider are General and Warrior. Awesome that reduces the number of feats for me to look thru by maybe 30%! Saved time at character creation means simpler.

Third, on the design side it means I can make fewer Legendary Paths open to more classes. So I can make a Giant Slayer path which a barbarian, fighter, paladin, or ranger could take, rather than having to duplicate that across four classes. So less design quantity of work and fewer Legendary Paths is simpler.

Anyhow, that's how I've been thinking about the use of 3 archetypes.

You can accomplish this by preventing feats from granting bonuses to skills, attacks, saving throws, and AC.

That's very much the way I'm leaning. At first I thought about getting rid of feats entity but when I realized how much they can add...I don't know, I'm torn. My current writeup has feats as you describe - though I'm tempted to add Skill Focus, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, and Lightning Reflex ...though modifying them to be more than just a bonus.... because they *are* ways of describing certain types of characters.

Check this game out, it might give you some inspiration or validation:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?350867-Modos-RPG-Playtest-1-the-One-True-System

I'll give it a look thru!

 

[Quickleaf]

So I got the fighter specialties posted and am starting to work thru the non-combat features you can choose.

I wanted to bring up Ability Scores quickly, since I'm giving them some increased importance (but looking at waydoing or make having an 18 in a "primary stat" necessary) and doing some slightly new things with them.

Namely, I'm look at ways for the actual ability score to mean something rather than just the modifier. If I can't, then I'm inclined to drop ability scores entirely and just keep modifiers as a way to simplify. Some of the ideas I've been playing with so far...

Strength
- Score is load points you can carry, similar to Dungeon World, so 1 load point is ~7.5 lbs; it just makes figuring out encumbrance and weight limits easier with smaller numbers.
- Score x20 is maximum overhead lift in pounds.
- Score also may determine maximum hardness of object you can outright break (rather than deal damage to), considering making this a fact of the game without a roll, not certain about it.

Constitution
- Score is maximum amount of System Shock an adventurer can take in their lifetime. System Shock would come up when certain spells call for it, like polymorph, which requires a system shock check (a Fortitude defense roll) or the recipient adopts the mind of an animal for the spell's duration. Dying and getting resurrected, being petrified and restored, magical aging - all these would count as system shock.

Dexterity
- perhaps Dexterity score could be used for initiative somehow.

Intelligence
- Brain Clock. I've used this before and it is effective. When faced with an urgent or time-limited puzzle/riddle, I give each player real-world minutes equal to their character's Intelligence score. So if you're playing a character with Intelligence 10, after 10 minutes you can no longer solve the puzzle/riddle. Now, whether you can still contribute to helping another Player's character solve it depends on how your group approaches meta-game stuff like this. It is a fairly specific usage of Intelligence however; after all, your group is *probabaly* not coming up against a time-limited puzzle/riddle every session. But when it's needed, it serves it's purpose well.

Wisdom
- Sanity is the only use I've seen for the Wisdom score, as sort of the mental resilience counterpart to system shock. While I haven't been using it in my games, and it seems a bit fiddly, it certainly would fit the dark fantasy themes I've been playing with.

Charisma
- Score is # of follower points. A hireling, for example, is 1 point, while a competent army is probably 50. This is doubled at legendary tier, and again at epic/immortal tier (need to decide on which name to use). Leadership feat would double it, and so would certain Legendary Paths / Epic Destinies.

TL;DR I've brought back a toned down version of system shock. I'm bringing back helmets too.

 

[GMMichael]

Namely, I'm look at ways for the actual ability score to mean something rather than just the modifier. If I can't, then I'm inclined to drop ability scores entirely and just keep modifiers as a way to simplify.

This might be a little radical for your system, but ability scores make really good damage limits. For a D&D style game, you might say that hit points are equal to the sum of STR, DEX, and CON. Or one better: hit points equal level times the sum of the physical modifiers.

 

[Quickleaf]

This might be a little radical for your system, but ability scores make really good damage limits. For a D&D style game, you might say that hit points are equal to the sum of STR, DEX, and CON. Or one better: hit points equal level times the sum of the physical modifiers.

Yeah, they do. That was sort of the idea behind the old optional system shock rule with Constitution score as max # resurrections, and also in the 3e Unearthed Arcana with Wisdom score as sanity limit.

About your sum of physical modifiers x level idea...it's interesting...but leads to the rather unusual situation of a STR 10, CON 10, DEX 10 character having 0 HP at 1st level (0+0+0 x 1= 0)

For my purposes, I'm being cautious about adding too much detail. For example, you notice I'm implementing a sort of question system akin to Dungron World; at one point I considered making Wisdom score the number of questions you could ask per adventure or session, but it just was too meta-game and complex (who keeps track? why can't I ask more questions?). So I dropped that idea like a hot potato. I keep going back to my driving goal with this RPG/house rules: to encourage, challenge, and reward creativity.

Creativity is a funny beast. Feed it too little and it starves with nothing to springboard off of, but feed it too much and it flounders, bogged down under detail. So my goal is something familiar enough not to have to be entirely re-learned, something simple enough that it doesn't bog down play and hamper creativity, yet something detailed enough that it inspires player creativity. I know that's a bit "high concept", but it's my magic editing comb whenever I critique my ideas or apply others' critiques for Elderblade:

Does it encourage, challenge, and reward creativity?

 

[Quickleaf]

EDIT: I finished the heroic non-combat features for fighters.

Still looking for a way to give them a "Grit" feature which boosts Endurance and ability to shake off conditions.

Helmets
One thing I miss from way back is the appearance of helmets in D&D. The conspicious lack of helmets is probably one of the big art changes in 3e & 4e. Generally the assumption has been "the suit of armor includes a helmet." One of the things I like about including helmets as a piece of gear is that it helps answer some narrative questions like "can I knockout the armored guard with a karate chop to the neck?" or "I shoot the knight in the face...er, I guess thru the slit in his helmet?" The helmet is one of those things that seems to be a detail which actually helps with inspiring creativity in combat. And then there's the drinking uses for helmets...

I've cooked up some quick helmet rules, but I'm hesitating on whether or not to include them because they're definitely adding complexity and are more simulationist in feel. While I've got nothing about simulation gaming, I think Elderblade (like the games that inspired it) is better served with a fast, loose style of play.

Anyhow,here are the rules. I don't know if they'll survive the cutting floor however...

-

Helmets provide a bonus to AC and Fortitude. While armor assumes a coif and gauntlets/gloves as part of the suit (and removing either reduces the armor bonus by -1), some characters may opt for even more protection with a bassinet helm or crusader's style great helm that fits over the coif. Helmets do not require proficiency.

A Bassinet Helm (+1 AC, 0 load slots, 10gp) just covers your head. It grants a save (10+ on a d20) to avoid knockout attempts. However it causes your Perception to be disadvantaged (-5).

A Great Helm (+2 AC, 1/2 load slot, 40gp) covers your entire head and face. It makes you immune to knockout attempts and grants a save (10+ on a d20) to reduce critical hits to normal hits. However your attempts to reposition to avoid flanking are disadvantaged (-5) and so are your Perception checks.

 

[Quickleaf]

From At-Will Fighter Powers/Maneuvers > Fighting Styles

TL;DR Fighters have fighting styles (a little like a monk) instead of at-will attacks. Skip to the bottom for an example Fighter fighting style.

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I've been thinking about what I've been calling "basic attacks" (4E's at-will powers) as they relate to each class, particularly the fighter. The question I've asked myself is:

Do defined at-will attacks encourage, challenge, and reward creativity?

I think it's fair to say the 4E treatment does not do a good job of that, though it does have DMG page 42, a godsend for DM's interpretting wild and zany player ideas. The trick with using page 42 (the improvisation page) this way is that the players need to be trying things outside the box. One observation of the powers system is that players tend to rely on it heavily rather than describing what their character is doing. I think as DM, regardless of edition, part of the job is teasing out more descriptive detail from tight-lipped players, and this can be doubly true with 4E. At 4E tables I've gamed with, power names are often swapped for creative ideas. That's definitely not the style I'm going for in Elderblade; I want to encourage players to come up with creative ways to swing a sword.

I wouldn't say that older editions of D&D were particularly good as this either. "I swing my sword (or shoot my bow)" was about the extent of a fighter's contribution to combat, and creative player ideas were wholly left to DM fiat. Later on a series of combat maneuvers would become strongly defined as a combat option for fighters, and then opened up for any character in 3E.

That gets back to my thinking about what sorts of combat maneuvers can a fighter perform that other characters cannot? And in answering this question, how does that encourage, challenge, and reward creativity?

I want to encourage everything from "I grab the burning log and smash the goblin chief in the face" to "I throw my sword at him, like in the movies" to "I twist forward, half-handing my great sword and attempting to lock his hilt with my own and wrench his sword from his grasp." Improvisation, cinematic action, hardcore Western martial arts. It should all be possible, fun, and relatively effective.

What might make sense is to not make it about the individual attack but the fighting style. In 3e/4e those were handled with feats, but I'm trying to move away from a feat-based game (it is a barrier to more casual players, makes character creation -especially above 1st level- take longer, and encourages power-gaming). In 2e they were imbedded in kits. But what if they were one of the core features of the Fighter class? So the Fighters is distinguished from common soldiers right off the bat by how he or she moves, with precision and grace associated with martial arts.

So that leaves the question: how to mechanically represent a fighting style for the Fighter class that doesn't just become a narrow list of "here's what you can do" that players must either memorize or consult during play? It's got to encourage creativity.

I already gave the fighter some Specialties based on weapon/fighting style, for example you can be a Slayer who wields two-handed weapons or a Brawler who wields a one-handed weapon (or very possibly something improvised). Does fighting style depend on the weapon? Absolutely! Does fighting style also transcend the specific weapon? I tend to think it does. If you look at Italian Swordsmanship, for example, you see the specific swords changed a lot over the course of history, but fundamentals like tempo and guard remained. Then again, it was still about one-handed swords and not, for example, axes.

I'm not sure yet how this will look. 

For inspiration I checked out 7th Sea's Swordsman class which has setting-defined fighting schools, for example:

MacDonald
Country: Avalon
Weapon: Claymore
Cost: 25 xp
Description: Trained in the use of the claymore. They have a reputation of ignoring defense to get in a killing blow. This style is taught in the Highland Marshes.

Apprentice: You ignore the claymore’s one unkept die penalty to their Attack roll.
Journeyman: Before rolling to hit, you may spend any number of Action Dice. If your Attack is successful, each of those dice adds a +1k1 damage dice to the damage roll.
Master: You roll and keep one extra die on damage rolls for a claymore (making it a 5k3 weapon).

Skills: Athlete or Heavy Weapon
Advantages: Swordsman’s Guild
School Knacks: All start at rank 1; Beat (Heavy Weapon), Lunge (Heavy Weapon), Pommel Strike (Heavy Weapon), Exploit Weakness (MacDonald)

In 7th Sea maneuvers  (knacks) are "unlocked" by getting training in a corresponding fighting style...which are all very weapon specific. For my purposes of encouraging creativity, I like the idea that anyone can try to disarm an opponent, or pommel strike a goblin, or feint a guard. So maybe knowing a fighting style makes you *better* at a certain list of maneuvers?

That makes sense, and it could stack with Specialties, either as part of a specialty, a list of choices under a Specialty, or completely independent of Specialties.

One thing apparent from 7th Sea is that choice of weapon doesn't lock you into just one school/list of maneuvers. For example, with two-handed swords, you can choose from: MacDonald - beat, lunge, pommel strike; Shan Dian Dao Te - beat, corps a corps, feint; or Serselmik - feint, tagging, whirl.
Maybe among the elves there's a two-handed sword fighting style that emphasizes parrying and disarming? Why not? Really, it could be left entirely up to the player, as in: "Choose 3 maneuvers which you have advantage in" (with suggestions for world-building reasons).

The other thing fighting schools do in 7th Sea is bundle several feat-like benefits together in an advancement track. IMO it makes it easier for a new player to create a character handling the combat feats this way.

OK, here's my very rough attempt at putting these thoughts together:

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Fighting Style: Fighters are no common foot soldiers; they are skilled armed martial artists. At 1st level, a Fighter chooses a fighting style, gaining the "apprentice" benefit. At levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, and 30 a fighter either picks a new fighting style, or advances their rank in an existing fighting style (apprentice > journeyman, journeyman > master).

Here is an example fighting style:

Kthorvinthi Great Blade
Weapon Group: Two-Handed Blade
Apprentice: You don't provoke opportunity attacks when making the following maneuvers with a two-handed blade - disarm, trip, and whirl. In addition, you suffer no penalty wielding a two-handed blade in close quarters because you can half-hand it.
Journeyman: Your two-handed blade attacks gain reach (reach 2 with map & minis).
Master: As a standard action, you may attack all adjacent creatures when wielding a two-handed blade.