Undrave
Legend
This is something that as come up a few time in the Zouave thread: What does it mean to be a level 1 Fighter, exactly?
Here is what the class description has to say about Fighters:
I posit that the default fluff, and thus what informs the mechanical design of the Fighter, is someone who has had extensive training and already fought many battles before turning to a life of adventure.
Meanwhile, you have others like Paul Farquhar who say:
(Not picking on him or anything, he was just a good quote)
Which is a view I think is unfair to the Fighter because it's used to diminish what they can or COULD potentially do. Wizards having spent years studying magic is basically the default for the Wizard class, but not the Fighter? I think level 1 should be level 1 for everyone (barring Sorcerer and Warlock maybe).
While I think you absolutely CAN roleplay that classless character with a Fighter (or any class really), I don't believe it is the default assumption on which the class is MECHANICALLY based. I don't believe you can be a Fighter without special training. It doesn't mean you can't be a farm boy, but you gotta have swung a sword a few times otherwise you wouldn't have proficiency with it. Same with the armor proficiencies.
Hence why I put the poll in this thread: What is your default image of a level 1 Fighter? The first thing that comes to mind?
I think this also raise the question of what it means to have a level? What steps should a commoner take to go from only having a Background to having a Class Level? Sure, a level 1 hero has 0 XP, but I don't think it automatically means they have no relevant experience either.
Here is what the class description has to say about Fighters:
Questing knights, conquering overlords, royal champions, elite foot soldiers, hardened mercenaries, and bandit kings—as fighters, they all share an unparalleled mastery with weapons and armor, and a thorough knowledge of the skills of combat. And they are well acquainted with death, both meting it out and staring it defiantly in the face.
WELL ROUNDED SPECIALISTS
Fighters learn the basics of all combat styles. Every fighter can swing an axe, fence with a rapier, wield a longsword or a greatsword, use a bow, and even trap foes in a net with some degree of skill. Likewise, a fighter is adept with shields and every form of armor. Beyond that basic degree of familiarity, each fighter specializes in a certain style of combat. Some concentrate on archery, some on fighting with two weapons at once, and some on augmenting their martial skills with magic. This combination of broad general ability and extensive specialization makes fighters superior combatants on battlefields and in dungeons alike.
TRAINED FOR DANGER
Not every member of the city watch, the village militia, or the queen’s army is a fighter. Most of these troops are relatively untrained soldiers with only the most basic combat knowledge. Veteran soldiers, military officers, trained bodyguards, dedicated knights, and similar figures are fighters.
Some fighters feel drawn to use their training as adventurers. The dungeon delving, monster slaying, and other dangerous work common among adventurers is second nature for a fighter, not all that different from the life he or she left behind. There are greater risks, perhaps, but also much greater rewards—few fighters in the city watch have the opportunity to discover a magic flame tongue sword, for example.
I posit that the default fluff, and thus what informs the mechanical design of the Fighter, is someone who has had extensive training and already fought many battles before turning to a life of adventure.
Meanwhile, you have others like Paul Farquhar who say:
It goes back to the first principle of the fighter - a default farm boy hero with no special training at the start of the story. Feats allow for the flexibility to develop that "classless" hero in a wide range of different directions.
(Not picking on him or anything, he was just a good quote)
Which is a view I think is unfair to the Fighter because it's used to diminish what they can or COULD potentially do. Wizards having spent years studying magic is basically the default for the Wizard class, but not the Fighter? I think level 1 should be level 1 for everyone (barring Sorcerer and Warlock maybe).
While I think you absolutely CAN roleplay that classless character with a Fighter (or any class really), I don't believe it is the default assumption on which the class is MECHANICALLY based. I don't believe you can be a Fighter without special training. It doesn't mean you can't be a farm boy, but you gotta have swung a sword a few times otherwise you wouldn't have proficiency with it. Same with the armor proficiencies.
Hence why I put the poll in this thread: What is your default image of a level 1 Fighter? The first thing that comes to mind?
I think this also raise the question of what it means to have a level? What steps should a commoner take to go from only having a Background to having a Class Level? Sure, a level 1 hero has 0 XP, but I don't think it automatically means they have no relevant experience either.