Fiddling with Fighters

[steeldragons]

The Hero of Destiny
The Hero may be chosen by the stars, born of a god, foretold in ancient prophesy...or merely the guy in the right place at the right time to pull that sword from the stone, slay the dragon or save the princess/day/world. From King Arthur to Beowolf, William Wallace to the classic heroes and demigods of myth: Heracles, Gilgamesh, Semiramis, Odysseus, et al. Driven by lust for glory, secret grief, famed destiny or doomed fate, the Hero rises in power and reputation until their purpose is revealed and, with some luck, fulfilled.

3rd: Luck of the Destined
When you roll a 1 on an attack roll or an ability check or saving throw for an ability with which you have proficency (Str. or Con.), you can reroll the die. You must use the second roll.

Finger of Fate
At 3rd level, you gain the following benefits:

• Fate’s Favor: You choose a damage type from the following list. You have resistance to damage of this type. Choose from slashing, piercing, bludgeoning, fire, cold, lightning, thunder, acid, psychic, radiant, or necrotic. If saving throws are permitted for an attack dealing this damage type, you roll with advantage.
• Stalwart Heart: You may experience fear, but do not suffer damage or forced movement due to being frightened.
• Fortune's Fitness: You may become ill or suffer damage from sickness, but you can not be killed from damage or effects of mundane disease.
• Fated Flaw: You must choose a condition for which you always roll with disadvantage: poisoned, stunned, incapacitated, restrained, blinded, deafened, charmed, or grappled.

At 9th level, you choose another Favor and another Flaw. At 16th the hero adds a third Favor and gain full immunity to disease.

7th: Legendary Feats: You add 2 an ability score of your choice. Your maximum score for the ability you apply this point to can rise to a maximum of 20.

Once + the ability mod. times between long rests, when you make an ability check or saving throw with this ability, or any other ability with which you have proficiency, you add double your proficiency bonus to the roll.

10th: Hero’s Renown: Your name and [at least a few] deeds live in infamy. You are revered (or feared) enough throughout the land that you can expect hospitality for yourself and up to 8 companions. You will receive room and board from any noble house you let yourself be known. If recognized or annouced in non-noble surroundings (such as a typical inn), the Hero can expect to receive accommodations 1 lifestyle category better than they request.

15th: Mythic Resilience
At 15th level, any damage type for which you have Fate’s Favor becomes full immunity.

18th: The Legend Lives On: You begin to age more slowly than other’s of your race with a vitality that belies your age. For every 10 years that pass, you seem to age only 1. You suffer no fraility from aging and can not be aged magically.

 

[Quartz]

I like this. The Fatal Flaw is particularly good - Conan = Stunned, Bond = Charmed.

 

[steeldragons]

I like this. The Fatal Flaw is particularly good - Conan = Stunned, Bond = Charmed.

Thanks. Exactly my thinking. Odysseus' was also being charmed.

Every Achilles needs an Achilles' Heel.

 

[steeldragons]

Warlord

3rd: Commanding Presence
At 3rd level you have a variety of commands at your disposal that you can use in battle. As your full action (unless otherwise specified, below), your Commanding Presence extends outward from the Warlord's position to a range of 5' per level. The number of allies within that radius that are effected by the warlord's presence can not exceed the warlord's Cha. modifier + level. The warlord uses Commanding Presence a number of times equal to 1 + Charisma modifier before requiring a short or long rest.

You choose one of the following each turn you use your Commanding Presence to effect those around you:

• Reassuring Presence: You grant advantage to a single save roll to allies within your radius who can see you.
• Tactical Advantage: When you make an attack, you grant advantage to attack rolls within your Command radius that can see and hear you.
• Coordinated Retreat: Allies within your Command radius can take the Disengage action as a reaction. You, also, gain the Disengage action at the end of your turn.
• Spur to Action: You grant advantage on the next initiative roll of allies that can see and hear you.
• Coordinated Offense: Allies within our radius can take the Attack or Dodge action as a bonus action if they haven't already taken a bonus action.
• Inspiring Word: You and allies within your radius can spend a HD to renew your hit points during combat. If not in battle and used during a short rest, the warlord's inspiring word grants an extra/additional 1 HD for any allies that can see and hear you.

Charismatic Leader
The warlord, be it through valor and sacrifice to warrant devotion or cruelty and intimidation to warrant fear, is a forceful personality among [what they often consider] "their" comrades or troops. The warlord gains proficiency with Charisma in addition to their other fighter abilities (Str. & Con.). For ability rolls that would normally use Constitution, the warlord can use their Charisma score/modifier instead if it is higher.

7th: Into the Ground
As a bonus action following a successful melee weapon attack, you force the target to make a Strength save to beat DC 8 + proficiency bonus + Str. modifer. Failure means you have successfully imposed the prone condition. The warlord may make this attempt 1 + Str. mod. before requiring a long rest.

10th: Lead by Example
When you make a successful weapon attack that deals maximum damage or brings a foe to 0 or less hit points, all allies within who can see you roll their next attack roll with advantage.

15th: Inspiring Presence
When you use your Inspiring Word to spend HD during a battle now lets allies within your Commanding Presence radius who can see and hear can spend 2 HD to renew hit points.

18th: Devastating Offensive
At 18th level, all attacks made by yourself and allies who can see you add your Cha. modifier to damage rolls.

 

[steeldragons]

The Weaponmaster
Submitted as a replacement for (or in addition to) the existing “Champion” subclass, the Weaponmaster is the closest thing to a “default” fighter. This most broadly generic subclass is a specialist warrior with their chosen weapons, Whether exceeding through intensive training, pure talent, sheer luck,, or any combination of the two, the weaponmaster “masters” the battlefield through the effectiveness of the weapon at the end of the their arm(s).

3rd: Weapon Specialty: At 3rd level you choose a group of weapon (typically that synergizes with your chosen Fighting Style) with which you excell. The possible groups are:

• Swordsman: any size or type of sword, scimitars, rapiers, etc...
• Axeman: Hand axes, battle axes, glaives, and other predominantly slashing damage weapons.
• Spearman: spears, javelins, halberds and other polearms, predominantly piercing weapons.
• Bludgeoner: maces, hammers, staves, morningstars, and other predominantly bludgeoning weapons.
• Thrower: daggers, darts, slings, and other small easily thrown objects (stones, plates, etc...).
• Bowman: choose between pulled bows or crossbows.

You know how to use your weaponry (or pieces thereof) to deal any style of damage you want: slashing, piercing or bludgeoning, as desired/declared before an attack is made.

Your attacks with any weapon of your specialty type is considered a Critical Hit on a roll of 19 or 20. At 9th level, the weaponmaster gains a Critical Hit on rolls of 18-20. At 16th the fighter’s attack is a Critical Hit on rolls of 17 or more.

Parry
In lieu of an attack on your turn, you may use your action to use your weapon to parry incoming attacks. This grants the fighter a bonus to their AC until the beginning of their next turn equal to +2. If the fighter is wearing no or light armor or is using a single-handed weapon and shield, the parry bonus to AC is increased to +3.

7th: Mastery Strikes: You choose 2 of the following special maneuvers. The use of one of these maneuvers requires a declaration by the player prior to using it for a turn.

• Versatile Strike: When using a single-handed martial weapon of your speciality that does not normally have the Versatile descriptor, you may now use it as a versatile weapon. Doing so requries the use of both hands, as normal. You also suffer no penalty from using a single-handed weapon with the versatile property as an off-hand weapon/attack.
• Artful Strike: When using a martial weapon that does not normally have the Finesse descriptor, you may opt to use your Dexterity bonus on your attack and damage rolls instead of Strength.
• Thrown Strike: Your knowledge and balance with your weapons of choice grant them the Thrown descriptor. If they already possess the thrown property (like hand axes or spears), you add 20’ to the weapon’s thrown range. If the weapon does not already possess the thrown property, you may make a thrown attack with it, adding Str. to hit and damage, without penalty, and it now has a maximum thrown range of 20’.
• Called Strike: You take careful aim to strike where and how hard you want. On a successful attack, the fighter hits where they want and the player can determine damage, up to half the normal damage of the attack (+ applicable modifiers) without rolling any dice.
• Subduing Strike: You roll your attacks and damage as normal, but any damage dealt is non-lethal, “subdual” damage that does no permanent or significant harm to the target. A creature reduced to “0” hit points with subdual damage must surrender to the fighter or is knocked unconscious. All subdual damage is regained, without spending HD, on a short rest.

The fighter can use their specialty moves 1 + Str. modifier times before requiring a short or long rest.

10th: Combat Superiority: You gain an additional Fighting Style and select an additional weapon group with which you gain the benefits of Weapon Speciality.

15th: True Master: You gain proficiency with the Smith and Woodworker’s (for bowyer/fletchers, spear makers, etc...) Artisan tools, if you do not already possess them. You may repair and craft weapons of your weapon speciality type that are of surpassing quality and value. With 1 month of downtime and requisite material costs, you may craft 1 weapon or 15 pieces of ammunition (such as arrows) created by you are of a quality to be considered +1, bypass mundane weapon resistances or immmunities, and will fetch double their normal cost for their beauty and craftsmanship from an interested buyer/market. Also, weapons that are already +1 quality or higher can be improved by an additional +1 with one month of downtime for you to repair/rework with your own hand.

At 17th level you may create 1 weapon per year of +2 quality. At 19th level, and only once in your lifetime, the Weaponmaster may create a single weapon of +3 ability and may include the magical ability(-ties) of a rare or very rare magical weapon. The details, costs, and special materials that may be needed/quested after for crafting such a special item are left to the DM’s discretion and imagination.

18th: Enhanced Mastery: You choose 2 more Mastery Strikes and may use them 3 + Str. mod. times before needing a short rest.

 

[Quartz]

Does the Warlord gain proficiency in Cha?

Tactical presence doesn't seem to be much use. PCs will all have the same proficiency bonus, and there won't be that many mooks within 20'. Consider granting Advantage instead.

Coordinated retreat seems a little weak: how about making it so that all allies within 20' can take the Disengage action? You might also allow allies to take the Disengage action as a Reaction (perhaps at a higher level).

Does Into the Ground apply after every attack? If so, that's very powerful and better than the Shield Bash feat.

There's a discontinuity in Inspiring Word - should the 16th level ability affect self and 2 allies?

I like your wording of Lead By Example. You might like to restrict the effect to 20' radius.

Have you considered reworking the whole slightly to work off a Command Radius? The Command Radius would be 20' at 3rd level and increase at higher levels. You might further allow the Warlord to wield a standard to increase the Command Radius (and a magic standard might increase the CR even further) but would restrict the Warlord to one-handed weapons only (because the other would be holding the standard).

 

[Quartz]

With regards to the Weaponmaster:

Weapon Speciality just feels wrong and far too powerful. The critical range is huge: a 17th level character with Advantage gets a critical on over a third of her strikes. And changing the damage type is well off. How about changing that to ignoring Resistance against the damage of that type of weapon (like the feat for wizards wrt elemental damage)?

Parry looks to be good at low levels but increasingly a poorer choice at higher levels. How about imposing Disadvantage or using the proficiency bonus?

Subduing Strike seems pretty useless at even modest levels.

Versatile weapon: what are the game effects of using a 1H weapon as a 2H weapon?

True Master: you should disallow improving a +3 weapon to a +4 weapon. And I think that the proficiency - but not the magical abilities - should be gained much earlier.

 

[steeldragons]

As I understand it (and I could be wrong) using a versatile weapon with 2 hands lets you add another weapon die of damage. Naturally, it requires two hands and so precludes the use of a shield or casting a spell or anything else you'd need a free hand for.

I did want to add, and forgot, for the Weapon Speciality thing to add no penalty to use while mounted...and I REALLY like your suggestion about having it ignore the resistance instead of permitting any damage type...effectively the same thing, but sounds a lot simpler.

I really should have made the disclaimer for the Warlord, I have never played 4e. I've never seen one in play. I have no real love for anything I've heard of them...So this was, literally, me googling their powers and seeing what seemed the most useful or flavorful to justify their use as a subclass since there is/seems much clamoring for it.

By way of that, thanks very much for your notes on the warlord and I'll definitely be giving it another look and reworking some things...I really like your command radius idea...and the standard.

 

[bedir than]

As I understand it (and I could be wrong) using a versatile weapon with 2 hands lets you add another weapon die of damage. Naturally, it requires two hands and so precludes the use of a shield or casting a spell or anything else you'd need a free hand for.

Versatile weapons increase the size of the die for damage. A Staff goes from d6 to d8; a battleaxe from d8 to d10.

 

[steeldragons]

Ah. That's it. Thanks. Knew it was something with more damage.