comrade raoul
Explorer
This thread will only be interesting to you if you think the last ten levels or so of the fighter class are underpowered (such that fighters have strong incentives to take levels in barbarian, rogue, or some prestige class or other rather than staying fighters all the way through), and you're interested in fixing that. (You might, like me, think fighters were just fine when 3.0e came out but look pretty lackluster after the power creep from the 3.5e revisions and the Complete books.) Apparently lots of people think this; there have been a lot of attempted fixes over the years. This particular attempted fix takes a hint from rogues and gives fighters a special ability (or extra fighter feat!) at 11th, 15th, and 19th levels, as follows. (Note that this is just a first pass; I'm not convinced that the abilities, as written, aren't too strong. I tried to balance them against rogue special abilities, but doing it that way might be too generous.)
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Special Ability
On attaining 11th level, and at every four levels thereafter (15th and 19th), a fighter gains a special ability of his choice from among the following options.
Crushing Blow (Ex)
Twice per day, a fighter with this ability can declare any melee or ranged attack a crushing blow. If he successfully hits, he deals double normal damage, or increases his critical hit multiplier by +1 if the crushing blow is also a critical hit. The fighter must declare that he’s using the ability before making the attack roll; if he misses, the daily use is wasted. A fighter can’t use his crushing blow more than once per round.
Defensive Bastion (Ex)
A fighter with this ability can momentarily greatly increase his defensive abilities to get out of a tight spot. Twice per day, as a free action, the fighter can provide himself with a +5 dodge bonus to his AC and DR 5/– for one round.
Expanded Repertoire (Ex)
The fighter gains either the Exotic Weapon Proficiency or the Weapon Focus feat with a number of weapons equal to 3 + his Intelligence modifier. He can distribute the benefit of this ability across both feats, and even acquire both proficiency and Weapon Focus with a given exotic weapon. For example, a fighter with an Intelligence of 15 might use this ability to take Weapon Focus with two weapons, to take Exotic Weapon Proficiency with a third weapon, and then to take both Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus with a fourth.
Mental Resilience (Ex)
Twice per day, when called upon to make a Will save, a fighter may make a Fortitude save instead. (That is, he adds his Fortitude bonus, rather than his Will bonus, to his roll.) He must declare that he’s using the ability prior to making his saving throw roll.
Tactical Coordination (Ex)
A fighter with this ability is good at leading and coordinating groups. If the fighter is within 30 feet of at least one ally whom he can hear and see, the fighter and all allies who can see and hear the fighter gain a +1 dodge bonus to their AC, a +1 bonus to Reflex saves, and a +2 bonus on Initiative rolls. (The latter benefit doesn’t retroactively improve a character’s Initiative requirement if he meets the requirements of this ability after rolling Initiative, however.)
Weakening Critical (Ex)
A fighter with this ability can deliver critical hits with such precision that his blows weaken and hamper their targets. An opponent damaged by one of the fighter’s critical hits also takes 1d6 points of Strength damage.
Weapon Mastery (Ex)
When the fighter wields a weapon that he’s taken the Weapon Focus feat with, he gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls. This stacks with the benefit from Weapon Specialization.
Feat
A fighter may choose a feat from his standard list of bonus feats in lieu of gaining a special ability.
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Note that if you're using this fix, you probably shouldn't also use the 3.5e Greater Weapon Focus and Greater Weapon Specialization feats -- the Weapon Mastery special ability above probably makes those redundant. (For what it's worth, I'd do away with those feats but make Improved Critical a fighter-exclusive feat, available at 8th level. This version, as you might guess from my signature, would stack according to 3.0e rules.)
So. Too strong? Too weak? Just right?
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Special Ability
On attaining 11th level, and at every four levels thereafter (15th and 19th), a fighter gains a special ability of his choice from among the following options.
Crushing Blow (Ex)
Twice per day, a fighter with this ability can declare any melee or ranged attack a crushing blow. If he successfully hits, he deals double normal damage, or increases his critical hit multiplier by +1 if the crushing blow is also a critical hit. The fighter must declare that he’s using the ability before making the attack roll; if he misses, the daily use is wasted. A fighter can’t use his crushing blow more than once per round.
Defensive Bastion (Ex)
A fighter with this ability can momentarily greatly increase his defensive abilities to get out of a tight spot. Twice per day, as a free action, the fighter can provide himself with a +5 dodge bonus to his AC and DR 5/– for one round.
Expanded Repertoire (Ex)
The fighter gains either the Exotic Weapon Proficiency or the Weapon Focus feat with a number of weapons equal to 3 + his Intelligence modifier. He can distribute the benefit of this ability across both feats, and even acquire both proficiency and Weapon Focus with a given exotic weapon. For example, a fighter with an Intelligence of 15 might use this ability to take Weapon Focus with two weapons, to take Exotic Weapon Proficiency with a third weapon, and then to take both Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus with a fourth.
Mental Resilience (Ex)
Twice per day, when called upon to make a Will save, a fighter may make a Fortitude save instead. (That is, he adds his Fortitude bonus, rather than his Will bonus, to his roll.) He must declare that he’s using the ability prior to making his saving throw roll.
Tactical Coordination (Ex)
A fighter with this ability is good at leading and coordinating groups. If the fighter is within 30 feet of at least one ally whom he can hear and see, the fighter and all allies who can see and hear the fighter gain a +1 dodge bonus to their AC, a +1 bonus to Reflex saves, and a +2 bonus on Initiative rolls. (The latter benefit doesn’t retroactively improve a character’s Initiative requirement if he meets the requirements of this ability after rolling Initiative, however.)
Weakening Critical (Ex)
A fighter with this ability can deliver critical hits with such precision that his blows weaken and hamper their targets. An opponent damaged by one of the fighter’s critical hits also takes 1d6 points of Strength damage.
Weapon Mastery (Ex)
When the fighter wields a weapon that he’s taken the Weapon Focus feat with, he gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls. This stacks with the benefit from Weapon Specialization.
Feat
A fighter may choose a feat from his standard list of bonus feats in lieu of gaining a special ability.
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Note that if you're using this fix, you probably shouldn't also use the 3.5e Greater Weapon Focus and Greater Weapon Specialization feats -- the Weapon Mastery special ability above probably makes those redundant. (For what it's worth, I'd do away with those feats but make Improved Critical a fighter-exclusive feat, available at 8th level. This version, as you might guess from my signature, would stack according to 3.0e rules.)
So. Too strong? Too weak? Just right?
