To me the fighter and rogue are excellent analogs. The fighter is all about feats and acquires them faster than any other class*. The rogue is all about skills and acquires them faster (or more plentifully) than any other class*. The main difference is that the fighter is better at hitting (BAB), better at staying alive (d10 vs d6), and will generally have a higher AC (better armors available).
However, in return for this martial prowess over the rogue, the rogue has a lot more flavor to it. Skills are in much greater supply than feats, and the rogue also gets some defensive abilities like Uncanny Dodge and Evasion. In fact, at high levels a rogue gets a feat (or rogue-special ability) every 3 levels.
Hey! Wait a second! Rogues are supposed to be all about skills, not feats!
I think the only way to alter the core fighter while retaining its customizability, elegance, and limited flavor, is to increase feat acquisiton at higher levels. No one needs more/better reasons to dip into fighter for 1-6 levels, they incentives are already there. No, what is needed are incentives to hit 7th, 9th, 11th, and higher levels in fighter. Personally I like the odd feat at first level in Fighter. You can recreate this at 7th, 13th, and 19th level to do away with some dead weight. So:
1 Feat
2 Feat
3
4 Feat
5
6 Feat
7 Feat
8 Feat
9
10 Feat
Only 3 dead levels all the way to 10th (and this does almost nothing for anyone who has dipped in for front-loaded feats, this is rewarding people that are sticking with the class). Now rogues get a new fundamentally awesome ability at 10th level and every 3 levels afterwards. One idea I was toying around with is doing something similar for fighters. Get ready to cringe because the idea actually kinda stems from Mystic Theurge...double bab bonus for a level, with a restriction on weapons you have Weapon Focus with. *ducks* It would look like this:
11 Combat Mastery** +1 BAB when using a weapon you have Weapon Focus with
12 Feat
13 Feat
14 Feat, Combat Mastery II +2 BAB " " "
15
16 Feat
17 Combat Mastery III +3 BAB " " "
18 Feat
19 Feat
20 Feat, Combat Mastery IV +4 BAB " " "
These are pretty big bonuses to a core class (which is not something I advocate on a large scale). But I think this would keep people excited about playing a high-level fighter. Please note that you would only get your 4th iterative attack faster than other BAB-per-level classes (Ranger, Barbarian, etc) - you still don't get your 3rd attack until 11th level. This change retains the simplicity of the class, but keeps it exciting for higher levels. It sounds radical, given the structure of 3rd edition, but makes a lot of sense if you compare it to 2nd edition (where at higher levels a Fighter would hit more often than a similarly experienced Ranger or Barbarian, though back then it was called THAC0).
*- I haven't kept up-to-date on books and I hope this is true, but something may have been printed which supercedes them.
**- If that particular ability name is used, something like it can be used instead.
However, in return for this martial prowess over the rogue, the rogue has a lot more flavor to it. Skills are in much greater supply than feats, and the rogue also gets some defensive abilities like Uncanny Dodge and Evasion. In fact, at high levels a rogue gets a feat (or rogue-special ability) every 3 levels.
Hey! Wait a second! Rogues are supposed to be all about skills, not feats!
I think the only way to alter the core fighter while retaining its customizability, elegance, and limited flavor, is to increase feat acquisiton at higher levels. No one needs more/better reasons to dip into fighter for 1-6 levels, they incentives are already there. No, what is needed are incentives to hit 7th, 9th, 11th, and higher levels in fighter. Personally I like the odd feat at first level in Fighter. You can recreate this at 7th, 13th, and 19th level to do away with some dead weight. So:
1 Feat
2 Feat
3
4 Feat
5
6 Feat
7 Feat
8 Feat
9
10 Feat
Only 3 dead levels all the way to 10th (and this does almost nothing for anyone who has dipped in for front-loaded feats, this is rewarding people that are sticking with the class). Now rogues get a new fundamentally awesome ability at 10th level and every 3 levels afterwards. One idea I was toying around with is doing something similar for fighters. Get ready to cringe because the idea actually kinda stems from Mystic Theurge...double bab bonus for a level, with a restriction on weapons you have Weapon Focus with. *ducks* It would look like this:
11 Combat Mastery** +1 BAB when using a weapon you have Weapon Focus with
12 Feat
13 Feat
14 Feat, Combat Mastery II +2 BAB " " "
15
16 Feat
17 Combat Mastery III +3 BAB " " "
18 Feat
19 Feat
20 Feat, Combat Mastery IV +4 BAB " " "
These are pretty big bonuses to a core class (which is not something I advocate on a large scale). But I think this would keep people excited about playing a high-level fighter. Please note that you would only get your 4th iterative attack faster than other BAB-per-level classes (Ranger, Barbarian, etc) - you still don't get your 3rd attack until 11th level. This change retains the simplicity of the class, but keeps it exciting for higher levels. It sounds radical, given the structure of 3rd edition, but makes a lot of sense if you compare it to 2nd edition (where at higher levels a Fighter would hit more often than a similarly experienced Ranger or Barbarian, though back then it was called THAC0).
*- I haven't kept up-to-date on books and I hope this is true, but something may have been printed which supercedes them.
**- If that particular ability name is used, something like it can be used instead.
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Not to derail but what is wrong with that solution? Is it on a higher power curve than Core material or does it just not have the right 'feel' for a Fighter?
