Fighter

The questing hero, the conquering overlord, the king's champion, the elite foot soldier, the hardened mercenary, and the bandit king -- all are fighters.  Fighters can be stalwart defenders of those in need, cruel marauders, or gutsy adventurers.  Some are among the land's best souls, willing to face death for the greater good.  Others are among the worst, those who have no qualms about killing for private gain, or even for sport.  Fighters who are not actively adventuring may be soldiers, guards, bodyguards, champions, or criminal enforcers.  An adventuring fighter might call himself a warrior, mercenary, a thug, or simply an adventurer.

     Adventures: Most fighters see adventures, raids, and dangerous missions as their job.  Some have patrons who pay them regularly.  Others prefer to live like prospectors, taking great risks in hopes of the big haul.  Some fighters are more civic-minded and use their combat skills to protect those in danger who cannot defend themselves.  Whenever their initial motivations, however, fighters often wind up living for the thrill of combat and adventure.

     Characteristics: Of all classes, fighters have the best all-around fighting capabilities (hence the name).  Fighters are familiar with all the standard weapons and armors.  In addition to general fighting prowess, each fighter develops particular specialties of his or her own.  A given fighter may be especially capable with certain weapons, another trained to execute specific fancy maneuvers.  As fighters gain experience, they get more opportunities to develop their fighting skills.  Thanks to their focus on combat maneuvers, they can master the most difficult ones relatively quickly.

     Alignment: Fighters may be of any alignment.  Good fighters are often crusading types who seek out and fight evil.  Lawful fighters may be champions who protect the land and its people.  Chaotic fighters may be wandering mercenaries.  Evil fighters tend to be bullies and petty villains who simply take what they want by brute force.

     Religion: Fighters often worship Kord, god of strength; St Cuthbert, god of retribution; Hextor, god of tyranny; or Erythnul, god of slaughter.  A fighter may style himself as a crusader in the service of his god, or he may just want someone to pray to before putting his life on the line yet another time.

     Background: Fighters come to their profession in many ways.  Most have had formal training in a noble's army or at least in the local militia.  Some have trained in formal academies.  Others are self-taught -- unpolished but well tested.  A fighter may have taken up the sword as a way to escape the limits of life on the farm, or he may be following a proud family tradition.  Fighters share no special identity.  They do not see themselves as a group or brotherhood.  Those who hail from a particular academy, mercenary company, or lord's regiment, however, share a certain camaraderie.

     Races: Human fighters are usually veterans of some military service, typically from more mundane parents.  Dwarven fighters are commonly former members of the well-trained strike teams that protect the dwarven kingdoms.  They are typically members of warrior families that can trace their lineages back for millennia, and they may have rivalries or alliances with other dwarven fighters depending on their lineages.  Elven fighters, called bushi, are typicaly skilled with the katana.  They are proud of their ability at swordplay and eager to demonstrate or test it.  Half-orc fighters are often self-taught outcasts who have achieved enough skill to earn recognition and something akin to respect.  Gnome and hobbit fighters usually stay with their own lands as part of the area militia rather than adventuring.  Half-elves are rarely fighters, but they may take up swordplay in honor of the elven tradition.  Among the brutal humanoids, few can manage the discipline it takes to be a true fighter.  The militaristic hobgoblins, however, produce quite a number of strong and skilled fighters.

     Other Classes: The fighter excels in straight fights, but he relies on others for magical support, healing, and scouting.  on a team it is his job to man the front lines, protect the other party members, and bring the tough opponents down.  Fighters might not much understand the arcane ways of wizards or share the faith of clerics, but they recognize the value of teamwork.

Game Rule Information

Fighters have the following game statistics.

     Abilities: Strength is especially important for fighters because it improves their melee attack and damage rolls.  Constitution is important for giving fighters lots of hit points, which they'll need in their many battles.  Dexterity is important for fighters who want to be good archers or who want access to certain Dexterity oriented feats, but the heavy armor that fighters usually wear reduces the benefit of a very high Dexterity.

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d10

Class Skills

The fighter's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Battle (Wis), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Int, dungeoneering), Knowledge (Int, engineering),Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).

Skill Points at 1st-Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the fighter.

     Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The fighter is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons and all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields.  Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth.  Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried.

     Bonus Feats: At 1st-level, the fighter gets a bonus feat.  The fighter gain an additional bonus feat at 4th-level and every four levels thereafter (8th, 12th, etc).  These bonus feats must be drawn from the following list: Ambidexterity, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge (Mobility, Spring Attack), Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Expertise (Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Whirlwind Attack), Improved Critical, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike (Deflect Arrows, Stunning Fist), Mounted Combat (Mounted Archery, Trample, Ride by Attack, Spirited Charge), Point Blank Shot (Far Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Shot on the Run), Power Attack (Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Sunder, Great Cleave), Quick Draw, Two-Weapon Fighting (Improved Two-Weapon Fighting), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (Weapon Specialization).

     Weapon Focus: At 1st-level, the fighters gains the feat Weapon Focus for free.

     Second Wind (Ex): At 1st-level a fighter has a limited well of stamina that you can draw on to protect yourself from harm.  Once per day, as a standard action, you can gather a second wind and regain 1d10 + your fighter level in hit points.

     Combat Stance (Ex): At 2nd-level the fighter develops a specific type of combat stance or style.  This is dependent on the fighter's preferred method of combat and is typically a general type training that is not nearly as involved or specific as the martial training of a cavalier or samurai.  Upon achieving 8th and 14th level the fighter may learn a new combat stance, or specialize in a combat stance he already has (though he may only do this once).  The available combat stances are as follows:

     Crushing Stance: A fighter specialized in the use of high damage, two-handed weapons such as the greatsword, great club, polearms, the bastard sword, and any medium or large weapon that requires two hands to wield in combat.  When a fighter who is trained in this stance rolls a 1 or a 2 on his damage dice, he may reroll his damage dice and must use the new roll even if a 1 or a 2 is rolled again.  A fighter who takes double training in this stance may reroll his damage roll if a 3 is rolled as well.

     Defensive Stance: A fighter trained in defensive stance typically wears heavy armor and carries a shield to protect himself.  What this means is that when wearing Medium or Heavy armor (but not light), and carrying a shield (but not a buckler), gains an additional +2 training bonus to their AC.  This bonus is due to the fighter's ability to position himself so the armor and shield takes the brunt of the attack, making this a dodge-like bonus.  This means that any condition that denies the fighter his Dex bonus to AC, or when caught flat-footed, he cannot apply this bonus to his AC.  Double proficiency in the Defensive Stance allows the fighter to increase the Max Dex Bonus of his Medium or Heavy armor by +2.

     Dueling Stance: A fighter is trained in the art of dueling, wielding a Light or Medium weapon in one hand and nothing else in his off-hand, this includes an off-hand weapon, a shield, or buckler.  When using this stance the fighter gains a +2 training bonus to his attack rolls.  Double proficiency in this stance sees the fighter's AC increase by +1 when dueling.

     Protector Stance: A fighter who trains in this stance is dedicated to the protection of others, not just himself.  When wielding a shield (but not a buckler) the fighter may use his shield to protect an ally within 5 feet of him by granting that ally the fighter's shield bonus to AC.  However, when doing this, the fighter looses the shield bonus to his own AC for that round.  The player must declare his use of Protector Stance at the beginning of the combat round.  When a fighter double trains in this combat stance he may retain the shield bonus to his AC as well.

     Two-Weapon Stance: An extension of two-weapon fighter, when a fighter trains in this stance he may add his full strength bonus to the damage of his off-hand weapon.  When a fighter double trains in this stance he may wield two medium weapons while incurring the penalty for a light weapon in his off-hand.

     Bravery (Ex): Starting at 3rd-level, the fighter gains a +1 bonus to Will saves against fear.  This bonus increases by +1 for every 3 levels thereafter.

     Weapon Specialization: At 4th-level, the fighter gains the fighter only feat weapon specialization for free.  The fighter may take this feat for any weapon he has weapon focus in and may choose weapon specialization as feat, bonus or otherwise, from this point on.

     Heroic Surge (Ex): At 5th-level, the fighter gains the ability of Heroic Surge.  This ability allows the fighter to take one additional standard, move, or attack action, either before or after your regular actions.  You may use Heroic Surge a number of times per day depending on your level (shown on the table below), but never more than once per round.

     Armor Mastery (Ex): At 11th-level, the fighter gains a damage reduction of 5/- when wearing armor and/or using a shield that the fighter has the armor specialization feat for.  This DR increases to 10/- at 18th-level.

     Weapon Mastery (Ex): At 20th-level, the fighter chooses one weapon he has weapon specialization in, such as a longsword, greataxe or longbow.  Any attacks made with that weapon automatically confirm all critical threats and have their damage multiplier increased by 1 (×2 becomes ×3, for example). In addition, he cannot be disarmed while wielding a weapon of this type.