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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnSnow" data-source="post: 5814090" data-attributes="member: 32164">WotC should watch The Thirteenth Warrior, The Three/Four Musketeers (1973/74), Jason & the Argonauts, King Arthur, The Seven Samurai, one of the Harryhausen Sinbad pictures, and several other movies where a group of fighters goes adventuring together.Using those as examples, it seems to me that "the fighter" (as an archetype) should be proficient with all weapon styles and types, but particularly skillful or specialized in a couple or a few.The ideal world would be to have fighters start knowing (but not specialized in) all "styles" of combat, including:Single WeaponWeapon and ShieldDual-WeaponTwo-handed WeaponThrown WeaponRanged WeaponUnarmed CombatSpecializing in a particular style should give you the ability to do things that aren't unique to the weapon you choose. For example, weapon and shield style should give you access to various shield maneuvers. Similarly, the ability to strike with both ends of a weapon would be a feature open to anyone specialized in the Two-handed weapon style (and thus usable by greatsword users as well as staff and spear-wielders). Ranged weapon benefits would include those aspects of it that benefit a longbowman, crossbowman, and slinger.Other than that, the fighter should get to pick from a selection of weapons, those he is particularly good with. There's a couple different ways to cut this up, but I'd suggest:AxesBowsCrossbowsFlailsHammers & PicksHeavy BladesLancesLight BladesMaces & clubsPolearmsSlingsSpearsStavesNow, our intrepid 1st-level fighter can use all of the above. But he should be especially skilled with a few (his favored weapons) and masterful with, say, one. As he goes up in level, his level of competency goes up, but so does his mastery of his preferred weapons. He should also be able to broaden the list of weapons with which he is particularly skilled.This has the benefit of setting individual fighters apart from each other. It also allows the player to make a skilled combatant to his taste. If I, as a player, don't want my fighter to be particularly skilled with ranged combat, I devote none of my weapon or style specialization feats to ranged weapons. But if I want that capability to be one of my areas of specialty, it should be an option. The trick is accepting that while the fighter is a very versatile class, it can't be all things to all people in practice - he has to make choices. If you set this system of weapon use up properly, you might make some of the lower levels of the system accessible to other classes selectively (barbarians, paladins, rangers or rogues might be able to specialize in a single style or two, for example, or pick up greater skill with a couple categories of weapons).But it's important to point out that, at the end of the day - the fighter is the weapon master. A ranger might be the equal to the greatest archer of his level, but unlike his fighter counterpart, he's not also the greatest (or second greatest) swordsman around.Then throw on some truly usable skills and you've got a character class that, while highly flexible, still fills a solid niche in the game world.</blockquote>

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