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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6270246" data-attributes="member: 20323">From At-Will Fighter Powers/Maneuvers > Fighting StylesTL;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.----- 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: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:-----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 BladeWeapon Group: Two-Handed BladeApprentice: 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.</blockquote>

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