The Evolution of the Fighter

[mhensley]

What follows is a by-the-number comparison of your average first level Fighter found in the various versions of D&D. The ground rules followed for this comparison were: Human Fighter with the average stats that would be expected from using the standard stat generation method for a given edition. Stats were arranged in the same order for each fighter with Strength the highest stat and descending to Charisma with the lowest. Equipment would be long sword, shield, and the best armor that average starting money would allow. After generating the fighters for each edition, they would then be paired up against an unending stream of Goblins (also from that edition), one at a time, to see how effective they were.

First up, the fighter from the little brown books-

OD&D Fighter
STR- 13
DEX- 12
CON- 11
INT- 10
WIS- 9
CHA- 8

AC- 18
HP- 4.5
Hits Goblin- 40%
Damage- 3.5


OD&D Goblin
AC- 14
HP- 2.5
Hits Fighter- 20%
Damage- 3.5

FIGHT!
It will take the Goblins an average of 7 rounds to kill this Fighter.
The fighter will take down an average of 2.8 Goblins with him.


Notes: The only bonus the OD&D Fighter gets from his stats is a 5% xp bonus from his Strength. All weapons in OD&D do 1d6 damage. All AC's given here have been stated in ascending AC's to make comparisons easier.

 

[mhensley]

Next, the fighter from the Moldvay Basic set-

BD&D Fighter
STR- 13 (+1)
DEX- 12
CON- 11
INT- 10
WIS- 9
CHA- 8

AC- 18
HP- 4.5
Hits Goblin- 45%
Damage- 5.5

BD&D Goblin
AC- 14
HP- 2.5
Hits Fighter- 20%
Damage- 3.5

FIGHT!
It will take the Goblins an average of 7 rounds to kill this Fighter.
The fighter will take down an average of 3.2 Goblins with him.


Notes: Weapon damage has increased due to a Strength Bonus and to using the optional rules for variable weapon damage (which is more common than not) so that the long sword does 1d8.

 

[mhensley]

The fighter from the AD&D (1st and 2nd edition are almost identical here)-

AD&D Fighter
STR- 15
DEX- 14
CON- 13
INT- 12
WIS- 11
CHA- 10

AC- 17
HP- 5.5
Hits Goblin- 50%
Damage- 7.5

AD&D Goblin
AC- 14
HP- 2.5
Hits Fighter- 15%
Damage- 3.5

FIGHT!
It will take the Goblins an average of 11 rounds to kill this Fighter.
The fighter will take down an average of 8 Goblins with him.


Notes: Stats here assume an average spread given by rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest. None of the stats give a bonus. The Fighter has double specialization with the longsword which gives him +3/+3 and 3/2 attacks.

 

[mhensley]

The fighter from D&D 3.5-

3e Fighter
STR- 15 (+2)
DEX- 14 (+2)
CON- 13 (+1)
INT- 12 (+1)
WIS- 10
CHA- 8 (-1)

AC- 19
HP- 14
Hits Goblin- 50%
Damage- 6.5

3e Goblin
AC- 15
HP- 5
Hits Fighter- 20%
Damage- 3.5

FIGHT!
It will take the Goblins an average of 19 rounds to kill this Fighter.
The fighter will take down an average of 9.5 Goblins with him.


Notes: This Fighter has these Feats- Weapon Focus(longsword), Toughness, Dodge.

 

[mhensley]

The fighter from D&D 4-

4e Fighter
STR- 18 (+4)
DEX- 14 (+2)
CON- 13 (+1)
INT- 12 (+1)
WIS- 11
CHA- 10

AC- 19
HP- 28
Hits Goblin- 65%
Damage- 9.5 (basic attack)

4e Goblin BlackBlade
AC- 16
HP- 25
Hits Fighter- 35%
Damage- 5.5

FIGHT!
It will take the Goblins an average of 18 rounds to kill this Fighter.
The fighter will take down an average of 5 Goblins with him.


Notes: This Fighter has these Powers: Reaping Strike, Passing Attack, Brute Strike. He is assumed to use all of these in these fight along with an Action Point which gave him another attack. He also takes a Second Wind at some point which gave him an additional 7 hit points.

Thanks to Andur and Mengu for help with the 4e stats! I just changed the Powers to make more sense for this exercise.

 

[Henry]

OD&D Fighter

HP- 4.5

Minor quibble, but the fighter had 3.5 points - everybody used d6's for hit dice.

 

[el-remmen]

Notes: This Fighter has these Feats- Weapon Focus(longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword), Dodge.

You need to be 4th level to have weapon specialization.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Weapon Specialization (longsword)

They'd need to be a 4th level Fighter to be able to choose that feat.

Gah, ninjaed.

But never mind that, this is quite interesting (you might just need to change that feat, is all.) If it's a longsword, maybe sword & board, so. . . hm, it's been a while. . .

 

[el-remmen]

They'd need to be a 4th level Fighter to be able to choose that feat.

Me = Ninja

 

[mhensley]

Minor quibble, but the fighter had 3.5 points - everybody used d6's for hit dice.

The OD&D fighter gets 1d6+1 at first level.