I hate armor

[Aus_Snow]

And what of the Cleric?

Kill them because they are b0rken, of course.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Having actually worn plate mail and climbed mountains, I would deem any attempt to climb mountains while wearing plate mail to be impossible.

But you're a level 1 human commoner.
Surely a high level fighter, if he can slay red dragons and...slay other scary things (they really can't do much else, huh?) could manage a physical task you found impossible?
Cripes, a level 1 dwarf isn't even encumbered in full plate!

D&D fighters, at least in 3e & before, don't make good lightly/un-armored fighters. The Swashbuckler might work better, as would the Unfettered class from Arcana Evolved/Unearthed.

Yes, that's the crux of the matter. There are many, many, many ways in 3E to make a lightly armored or unarmed combatant. The problem is if you specifically want him to be a Fighter. Even then, only if you're unwilling to go into a more specialized Fighter prestige class focused on lightly armored fighting. Fighters get the best armor proficifiencies in the game, and no benefit if they choose to not use them. if you want to specifically be a fighter without worrying about armor, make up some flavor/mechanical hybrid like dragonscale husk from Dragon Magic. That alternate class feature is dragon-related, but could be easily generalized. In return for your fighter armor proficiencies, you grow scales to protect you like armor. You can even shed them if you want, though it takes time to grow back.

Or the UA class defense variant, whatever.

These words pertain to an edition of D&D that I do not play.

I thought 4E still had spell component pouches?

In any case, the OP plays 3E, so the check all armor, weapons, and spell components at the door policy would work in his game. At least for those w/o Eschew Materials.

 

[jdrakeh]

But you're a level 1 human commoner.
Surely a high level fighter, if he can slay red dragons and...slay other scary things (they really can't do much else, huh?) could manage a physical task you found impossible?
Cripes, a level 1 dwarf isn't even encumbered in full plate!

Maybe, but more heroes surely die attempting to kill red dragons than do heroes survive fighting them. Just because something can happen doesn't mean that it will happen, especially not with consistency. Hence high DCs.

I thought 4E still had spell component pouches?

I don't play 4e, either.

 

[Imp]

3e introduced the chain shirt and the breastplate which are at least somewhat helpful for addressing this; conquistadors explored all sorts of wildernesses in breastplates (some of the time at least), so having adventurers wear that when tooling around is a little more plausible, while chain shirts allow the classic "aha! you thought I was unarmored!" routine.

I'm not such a huge fan of the monk dip for fighters, because with point buy, dropping a 14 in wisdom is kind of going out of your way with most characters. (Fighters with 14 Int are a lot more common IME.) Less of a pain just to buy a mithril chain shirt to wear about town I always figured.

 

[Njall]

Well, to be fair, you could address the problem keeping your dex score high and equipping a pair of bracers of armor.
On the other hand, stacking magic items never gave me the idea that my character was skilled at something
So, as far as 3e goes, here are a couple of ways to play a "skilled swordsman".
Keep in mind that they're not optimized by a long shot, and that in many cases, they give up a lot to achieve their high AC.
Anyway: Duelists are one of your best bets. Take Einhander (PHB2), Deadly defense, a couple of levels as a monk, Carmedine Monk (Champions of Valor) and you're set: 35+ AC when fighting defensively at higher levels, before magic. I played a monk 2(cobra strike variant)/Swashbuckler 1/Fighter 2/Scout 4/Ranger 2/Duelist 10 in a high level one-shot game a couple of years ago. He was pretty much untouchable ( 78 AC when fighting defensively, without combat expertise, IIRC).

If you're not going the Duelist route, two weapon fighting is your friend.
Two Weapon Defense ( and relative chain ) are terribad as far as optimization goes, but they're pretty flavorful and not that bad coupled with certain classes. For example, the TWD chain, 4 levels as a thief-acrobat and 5 levels as a Tempest net you +8 AC when fighting with 2 weapons, and another +7 AC when fighting defensively.
Dervishes are even better ( and TWD is not such a bad idea for them to take, since they can't use shields, so Improved Buckler Defense is out): a dual wielding Scout 4/Ranger 2/Tempest 5/Dervish 9 with Swift Hunter and Improved Skirmish can easily reach AC 40 without magic items, whenever he moves 40+ ft during his turn ( Expeditious Dodge (RotW), +2 Skirmish, +2 Improved Skirmish, Elaborate Parry, Two Weapon Defense...) while still dealing a decent amount of damage.
Other options to increase your AC include Improved Combat Expertise ( CW), Armor of God (Complete Champion), Swift Ambusher and Daring Outlaw ( Rogue 12/Swash 3/Scout 3 deals a ton of skirmish/sneak attack damage, and stacks the Swashbuckler's dodge bonus with the Scout's Skirmish bonus ), Invisible Blade ( a cheesed out monk/invisible blade/duelist adds his Int bonus x3 to his AC with Carmedine Monk )...

In the end, playing a character that's good at defending himself in 3.x is not impossible, just pretty hard and not really the best choice from an optimization standpoint

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Well, I suppose the question is, what kind of character do you want to play? Rapier using swashbuckler? Dodging and tumbling monk? Mobility and spring attacking scout?

There's tons of ways to make a dex-based type with high AC. Unfortunately, your big question seems to be "I want a fighter who has all the bonuses of armor with NONE of the drawbacks." That's a bit cake wanting while hungry.

If you want to go wild with the tumbling and dodging, look at psychic acrobat from Untapped Potential. Take one part Wuxia and one part parkour, mix in with advancement in monk levels, mind blade progression, sneak attack, or any other mobility based combatant that you want (like scout), add a bit of psionic focus, and there you go; you'll be running up walls, jumping off of sword flats, and flipping away from arrows next thing you know.

 

[abhorsen950]

I can understand what you mean and as said before a house rule could be put into place
but im not sure if you like this is f your a high level fighter why not just where light or medium armour?

Regards
ABH

 

[delericho]

I would be really interested in hearing more about this. The only options I know of for a (single classed) fighter to boast AC without using armor and/or magic items is Dodge and Combat Expertise.

Does your group play Core Rules Only? Also, what method do you use for ability score generation?

I ask because I have seen several threads (notably on Paizo.com) complaining that armour becomes obselete very quickly, usually because of obscure PrC combinations, combined with a very generous point-buy that allows inflated Dex as well as Str for Fighters.

Of course, that doesn't really help with your issue...

One thing you might consider is asking your DM about using the Class-based Defense Bonus rules from Unearthed Arcana. Essentially, these give all characters an AC bonus based on class and level that does not stack with armour.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Step 1: Take plate armour off Fighter.
Step 2: Put it on Wizard.

That wouldn't have slowed down my last 3.5 arcanist- he wore Scale Mail, Lg. Shield and swung a Maul.

He had the Draconic Breath feat and relied on spells without somatic components.

And what of the Cleric?

See aforementioned rules about tabards- though most clergy are readily identifiable by their vestments- and laws.

Simply put: you cast a spell in anger, you're subject to arrest and trial.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Well, it's a fantasy game, not a realism simulator. Jedi don't need armour; neither does Drizzt ...

Actually, Drizzt wears +4 mithril chain mail.

I'm of the opinion that only an idiot would venture forth into a place where he was likely to get hit by a sword or an axe without armor; however, a person wearing armor in town (in most situations) is just stupid. People will ostracize him. Merchants will refuse to do business with him. After all, he must expect a fight to break out, otherwise he wouldn't be wearing armor. That shows little respect for the townsfolk. Plus, there is a point where the slight risk of combat is not worth wearing the armor all day, taking off to take a leak, sweating in it all day, being unable to scratch your nose, etc. Any dm worth his salt will nip that in the bud. And he'll start applying penalties for wearing armor all day, as well. Armor is a fine tool, when used properly. You wear it when you expect combat, not to the local whore house. Now if you hate armor that much, you should play in a campaign set after the advent of gunpowder. Guns pretty much make plate mail obsolete.