D&D 5E [+]What does your "complex fighter" look like?

[Reynard]

Yeah I have played in games were we level from 3rd to 8th over 7-8 months where the closest we came to combat was a slap here a shove there and 1 time training dueling

I would say combat is on average about 50% of my 5e D&D and about 65-70% if you add up all previous editions.

These two paragraphs are at odds.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I love everything about this and would totally play it (in fact it is similar to how I play hecblades) but may I suggest the Druid as your chaise.

A bunch of exploits leveled 1-9 that you can prep x number of and use y number per long rest but you can regain some during short rest.

Then instead of wildshape you have styles. Enter a style get a set of new defenses and attacks that are soesfic to the individual style

Give them 2nd attack at 11th

not bad, but mine had the benfit of only needing 5 levels of effect for the 'spells' and each could have 3-5 options, and then the big daily and the invocations ones... yours requires level cantrip through 9 and takes up as much aspace as a caster... then more since the styles wont be from MM it will need to be detailed out

 

[HammerMan]

These two paragraphs are at odds.

How.
Becuse sometimes we have little to no combat in order to get to an over all 50% that means sometimes it has to be well over 50%.

If I count every campaign for 8 years I think about half the time has been spent in combat (ballpark) but I have had campaigns with so few fights it isn’t funny

 

[HammerMan]

not bad, but mine had the benfit of only needing 5 levels of effect for the 'spells' and each could have 3-5 options, and then the big daily and the invocations ones... yours requires level cantrip through 9 and takes up as much aspace as a caster... then more since the styles wont be from MM it will need to be detailed out

Yeah someone up thread suggested giving martial as much room as casters.

 

[Reynard]

How.
Becuse sometimes we have little to no combat in order to get to an over all 50% that means sometimes it has to be well over 50%.

If I count every campaign for 8 years I think about half the time has been spent in combat (ballpark) but I have had campaigns with so few fights it isn’t funny

You said you went 8 months with essentially no combat and then called it 50%. That would mean for another 8 months you would do literally nothing but fight. That seems highly unlikely.

 

[HammerMan]

You said you went 8 months with essentially no combat and then called it 50%. That would mean for another 8 months you would do literally nothing but fight. That seems highly unlikely.

Well I don’t think I ever spent 8 months in pure combat since my old 2e mega dungeons I would say I have played in games where combat is almost 0 and ones where combat are 70-80%. Over 8 years I would ballpark it to about 50%

Now part of this comes from switching who is DM.

 

[Corinnguard]

Fighter | Level Up The A5e Fighter, I like to think, is a much better version of the 5e fighter. In A5e, all of the martial classes can pick maneuvers from at least two of the 11 Combat Traditions. The A5e Fighter, depending on which of the A5e Fighter subclasses you chose from (Brute, Duelist, Gladiator, Knight, and Sharpshooter) gets to pick out a third combat tradition to be proficient in. They have the Steely Mien, Martial Lore, Reputation, and War's Toil for their social pillar experience.

A5e even fixed that issue Fighters with the Two-Weapon Fighting Style have (where the number of primary hand attack far outstrips your single offhand attack). I don't even miss the loss of Action Surge or Second Wind for this class.

 

[HammerMan]

Fighter | Level Up The A5e Fighter, I like to think, is a much better version of the 5e fighter. In A5e, all of the martial classes can pick maneuvers from at least two of the 11 Combat Traditions. The A5e Fighter, depending on which of the A5e Fighter subclasses you chose from (Brute, Duelist, Gladiator, Knight, and Sharpshooter) gets to pick out a third combat tradition to be proficient in. They have the Steely Mien, Martial Lore, Reputation, and War's Toil for their social pillar experience.

A5e even fixed that issue Fighters with the Two-Weapon Fighting Style have (where the number of primary hand attack far outstrips your single offhand attack). I don't even miss the loss of Action Surge or Second Wind for this class.

That sounds like a great start

 

[Umbran]

I don't understand why people want to give the fighter more social and exploration abilities when there are martial classes that focus on these things. Why should the fighter be a generalist who is good at everything.

Mod Note:
Look, you made this a (+) thread. You shouldn't question the basis for your own (+) thread!

If you don't know why folks want it, don't start a thread asking for their versions of it - start a thread asking folks why they want it..

 

[Celebrim]

NOTE: This is a + thread -- because I know I myself have been a little dismissive about this concept. Since it keeps coming up, I want to try and actually understand this desire and understand what the missing need is. So please let's all try and keep it both positive and productive.

In my game, the Fighter represents the archetypal skilled and trained warrior - all sorts of skilled and trained warriors whether martial artists, warrior monks, soldiers, duelists, commanders, bodyguards, knights, gladiators, or what have you are covered under the Fighter class.

To me the idea of the perfectly constructed fighter class is that there is nothing that a fighter can do that is siloed behind subclasses or feats such that it is inaccessible to any fighter. Regardless of what a fighter can do, your standard fighter as they level up will get somewhat better at that thing. They may specialize in one particular aspect of combat to get better at that thing, such as a favored weapon, issuing orders, different combat maneuvers, recognizing ways to get small tactical advantages, protecting their friends, and so forth but they shouldn't need to be a special sort of fighter to have a chance at doing something or to get better at doing something. Basically, every aspect of mundane combat and martial prowess and expertise should be available to all fighters, and they should have the option of improving in it without necessarily sacrificing their particular specialty.