No love for the smart fighter?

[Agent Oracle]

Why not duskblade?

It's a Fighter with Int-based spellcasting (I think) and it's a 20 level class.

 

[kenobi65]

Roy Greenhilt, please pick up the white courtesy phone...

I agree with the Ranger reco. One of the nice bits is that Search is a class skill, as are several Knowledge skills, which you could use to really leverage that Int.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Not really, since most non-Str skills are cross-class for fighters.

So an Int 18 Fighter has 6 skill points per level. He can place 4 of them into Bluff and Tumble - gaining 1 rank in each per level, but he can't even max the ranks in them as, being cross-class, he is also limited in how many ranks he can put in those skills. At 20th level the best he can hope for is 11 ranks in each - at the cost of 22 skill points in each! A rogue, ranger, scout, swashbuckler, etc could have 23 ranks in each for about the same cost (or 22 ranks in each for the exact cost) - and their additional skill points means they could do the same to two more skills (or more) as well.

So the smart Fighter is not a practicle build in d20 D&D - not without multiclassing or choosing a non-Fighter class, anyway. The way the skill system is set up makes it impracticle.

But what does a Fighter need Bluff or Tumble for? He can't tumble in his HEavy Armor (High Int, not High Dex!), and he has no Sneak Attack, so he doesn't care much about the enemies Dex Bonus.

With 8 skill points, Climb, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Jump, Ride, Swim could all be maxed. Most the time, these skills aren't important, but when they are, a smart Fighter doesn't need to worry much.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

A Tumble modifier does not even have to be positive to have some value.

If I want to move 10 feet through a threatened area, a net Tumble skill of -2 means I have a 20% chance of avoiding the AoO entirely. That is almost as good as Mobility.

 

[Klaus]

Not really, since most non-Str skills are cross-class for fighters.

So an Int 18 Fighter has 6 skill points per level. He can place 4 of them into Bluff and Tumble - gaining 1 rank in each per level, but he can't even max the ranks in them as, being cross-class, he is also limited in how many ranks he can put in those skills. At 20th level the best he can hope for is 11 ranks in each - at the cost of 22 skill points in each! A rogue, ranger, scout, swashbuckler, etc could have 23 ranks in each for about the same cost (or 22 ranks in each for the exact cost) - and their additional skill points means they could do the same to two more skills (or more) as well.

So the smart Fighter is not a practicle build in d20 D&D - not without multiclassing or choosing a non-Fighter class, anyway. The way the skill system is set up makes it impracticle.

Guerrilla Scout and Guerrilla Warrior feats. Give a couple of boni, and Spot/Listen and Hide/Move Silently always cost 1 skill point/rank.

 

[Nyaricus]

Why not duskblade?

It's a Fighter with Int-based spellcasting (I think) and it's a 20 level class.

Oooh, actually, this is a good combo as well. The high Int will only help this character class, in fact.

I'd really call it a toss-up between Ranger and Duskblade, now. Depends what you want to go with.

If you do go with 3rd party, I also couldn't stress the Unfettered class for being f'n amazing as a duelist class. Man, it's just awesome!!

cheers,
--N

 

[sukael]

I'm going to second Warblade. d12 HD, assorted maneuvers, and class abilities that get considerable benefit out of a high Int.

 

[Storyteller01]

The Ninja from Rokugan. Not a great front line fighter, but it does have full bab and an impressive skill selection. You also get a boost to initiative based on your Int. There's also deflect arrows, SA, poison use, and a speed increase. Again, it's not much for front line fighting, but it's lots of fun for the imaginitive player.

OA also gives some extra feats for the expertise tree. Defensive Throw and Karmic Strike aren't bad for fighters, especially with the feats out there that act as Dodge (Incarnum Dodge and a few others).

 

[Aus_Snow]

Not really, since most non-Str skills are cross-class for fighters.

So an Int 18 Fighter has 6 skill points per level. He can place 4 of them into Bluff and Tumble - gaining 1 rank in each per level, but he can't even max the ranks in them as, being cross-class, he is also limited in how many ranks he can put in those skills. At 20th level the best he can hope for is 11 ranks in each - at the cost of 22 skill points in each! A rogue, ranger, scout, swashbuckler, etc could have 23 ranks in each for about the same cost (or 22 ranks in each for the exact cost) - and their additional skill points means they could do the same to two more skills (or more) as well.

So the smart Fighter is not a practicle build in d20 D&D - not without multiclassing or choosing a non-Fighter class, anyway. The way the skill system is set up makes it impracticle.

Well, others have addressed the points I was going to, so I won't do that.

But yeah, I also wasn't trying to suggest that the "smart Fighter" was especially viable in 3e - more like demonstrating my lack of knowledge of NWPs (and WPs), probably.

Like this:

Not in 2nd because you could blows those slots on weapon profs.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

A Tumble modifier does not even have to be positive to have some value.

If I want to move 10 feet through a threatened area, a net Tumble skill of -2 means I have a 20% chance of avoiding the AoO entirely. That is almost as good as Mobility.

But once your speed is hampered by armor, you can no longer Tumble. (Otherwise I'd absolutely agree - a low chance to succeed is always better than no chance at all.)