Fighter
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Fighter
Few heroes are as versatile as a fighter. A fighter can be a nearly indestructible tank, drawing enemy attacks upon himself and serving as a living shield for his allies. A fighter can be a strong-armed thug, wielding his weapon with great precision and deadly force. A fighter can be a master of thrown or ranged weapons, achieving a mastery greater than even a Ranger. A fighter can master combat maneuvers, becoming a deadly grappler or a battlefield controller that shoves enemies into positions where they can be easily cut down by his friends. Above all, however, a fighter is a specialist. He can be any one of these things, but not all of them. The path to these roles is complex and requires endless training, constantly challenging oneself to perform better in each encounter.
A fighter's words and behavior are seldom the most refined, his lack of subtlety is often noteworthy, and his magics are embodied in his person, not spun out through elaborate gestures and exerted will. However, on the battlefield, his mere presence draws the attention and ire of his enemies. In his element, he is a force which cannot be ignored.
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d10
Starting Wealth: 5d6 x 10 gp (average: 175 gp)
Class Skills: The fighter's class skills are Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (Engineering) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str) and Warcraft (Special)
Skill Ranks Per Level: 6 + Int modifier
Table: Fighter
| Level | BAB | Fort | Refl | Will | Combat Edge | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1 | Fighter's Challenge, Martial Prowess, Combat Tactic |
| 2nd | +2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | Bonus Feat |
| 3rd | +3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | Combat Tactic |
| 4th | +4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | +2 | Bonus Feat |
| 5th | +5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | +2 | Combat Tactic |
| 6th | +6/+1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | +2 | Bonus Feat |
| 7th | +7/+2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | +3 | Combat Tactic |
| 8th | +8/+3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | +3 | Bonus Feat |
| 9th | +9/+4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | +3 | Combat Tactic |
| 10th | +10/+5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | +4 | Bonus Feat |
| 11th | +11/+6/+1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | +4 | Advanced Combat Tactic |
| 12th | +12/+7/+2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | +4 | Bonus Feat |
| 13th | +13/+8/+3 | 8 | 4 | 4 | +5 | Advanced Combat Tactic |
| 14th | +14/+9/+4 | 9 | 4 | 4 | +5 | Bonus Feat |
| 15th | +15/+10/+5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | +5 | Advanced Combat Tactic |
| 16th | +16/+11/+6/+1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | +6 | Bonus Feat |
| 17th | +17/+12/+7/+2 | 10 | 5 | 5 | +6 | Advanced Combat Tactic |
| 18th | +18/+13/+8/+3 | 11 | 6 | 6 | +6 | Bonus Feat |
| 19th | +19/+14/+9/+4 | 11 | 6 | 6 | +7 | Advanced Combat Tactic |
| 20th | +20/+15/+10/+5 | 12 | 6 | 6 | +7 | Weapon Mastery, Bonus Feat |
Class Abilities
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A Fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and heavy armor, and light and heavy shields.
Combat Edge (Ex)
Combat Edge represents a Fighter's nigh-invincible grasp of combat. Other classes fight, but a Fighter LIVES for this stuff. Fighters exude a palpable menace simply by existing, a leashed deadly love of conflict that shows as unmistakable as any Wizards arcane might. Every move, every action, every thought, is tinged by their constant wary alertness, their readiness for strife, always planning how to defeat everyone they see, eyes roving sleepily, hungry for the next fight.
Combat Edge begins as a +1 bonus and increases with level as laid out in Table:Fighter, above, and Table:Epic Fighter, below.
Beginning at 1st level, a fighter adds this Combat Edge bonus to many different things (described below).
Fighter's Challenge (Ex)
Beginning at 1st level, during combat, any time the Fighter rolls an attack (including combat maneuvers) against any opponent he can perceive that is within 30 feet (hit or miss), the opponent is Challenged by the fighter. Note that a Challenge does not grant a fighter any knowledge of a foe's location in any circumstance, the fighter must perceive his target as normal. This Challenge is automatic, and cannot be 'turned off' by the Fighter. If you don't want to Challenge a foe, don't swing at it. The utility of the Fighter's Challenge ability is simple: Once a Fighter has attacked a target once, that target is penalized for attacking anyone other than the fighter.
The number of targets that can be affected by a Fighter's Challenge each round is only limited by the fighter's ability to make attack rolls against multiple targets. Fighter's Challenge can be applied via attacks of opportunity, and attacks against multiple targets (such as Whirlwind Attack). Every to-hit roll will apply a Challenge to every target attacked.
The effects of a Challenge end at the start of the fighter's next turn. Challenges never stack, even from multiple fighters. The newest challenge is always the current (and only) challenge on a creature. Challenges have no effect on other class abilities, such as the Ranger's Quarry, which aren't identified as a "Challenge".
Challenged foes suffer a penalty on all attack rolls (including ranged or ranged touch) equal to the fighter's combat edge bonus, unless the attack specifically targets, or includes as a target, the fighter who issued the challenge. If the challenged foe makes an area-effect attack, or an attack which targets multiple opponents and the fighter is among the targets, the entire attack suffers no penalty to its attack rolls. If such an attack does not include the fighter among its targets, all of its to-hit rolls suffer the penalty.
Furthermore, if the challenged foe takes a 5-foot step away from the fighter, performs a withdrawal maneuver, or makes an attack which does not include the fighter, the fighter may make a bonus attack against the challenged foe. This bonus attack is a free action which is resolved before the challenged foe's triggering action is completed. If the challenged foe targets the fighter or includes the fighter in his attack, the fighter's challenge provides no benefits to the fighter nor penalties to the challenged foe.
The bonus attack does not use up any of the fighter's attacks of opportunity or immediate actions for the round. The fighter can never make more than one bonus attack against the same challenged foe in a single round.
An action by a challenged foe cannot trigger both a bonus attack and an attack of opportunity. The fighter may choose which of these attacks he wishes to use against the target in these circumstances. Since both attacks of opportunity and the Challenge's bonus attack are resolved before the triggering action, only one is possible.
A fighter's challenge is not considered a "condition" to which roles, such as tanks and threats, are partially immune.
Martial Prowess (Ex)
Beginning at 1st level, the fighter adds the Combat Edge bonus to his to-hit rolls, damage rolls, CMD, and his armor's and shield's Max Dex Bonus. He subtracts the Combat Edge bonus from his armor's and shield's Armor Check Penalty.
Combat Tactic
Beginning at 1st Level the fighter learns a Combat Tactic, and gains an additional Tactic at each odd fighter level thereafter. Beginning at 11th level, the fighter may choose from the Advanced Combat Tactics. Unless specifically noted, no Tactic may be taken more than once.
Bonus Feat
At 2nd level, and at every even level thereafter, a fighter gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement. This means that the fighter gains a feat at each level. The fighter may only select feats that he qualifies for, and he must meet any prerequisites required at the time the feat is selected.
Advanced Combat Tactic
Fighters gain an Advanced Combat Tactic beginning at 11th level and every second level thereafter. This Advanced Combat Tactic pick may be traded down to a basic Combat Tactic pick, if the fighter prefers. Unless specifically noted, no Combat Tactic may be taken more than once.
Weapon Mastery (Ex)
At 20th level, a fighter automatically confirms all critical threats and has his critical damage multiplier increased by 1 (x2 becomes x3, for example) for whichever weapon he is using at the time. In addition, the fighter cannot be disarmed. Ever.
Epic Fighter
Table: Epic Fighter
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Combat Edge | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21st | +21/+16/+11/+6 | 13 | 7 | 7 | +7 | Epic Combat Tactic, Exacting Strikes Rank 1 |
| 22nd | +21/+16/+11/+6 | 13 | 7 | 7 | +8 | Bonus Feat |
| 23rd | +22/+17/+12/+7 | 14 | 8 | 8 | +8 | Epic Combat Tactic |
| 24th | +22/+17/+12/+7 | 14 | 8 | 8 | +8 | Bonus Feat |
| 25th | +23/+18/+13/+8 | 15 | 9 | 9 | +9 | Epic Combat Tactic, Exacting Strikes Rank 2 |
| 26th | +23/+18/+13/+8 | 15 | 9 | 9 | +9 | Bonus Feat |
| 27th | +24/+19/+14/+9 | 16 | 10 | 10 | +9 | Epic Combat Tactic |
| 28th | +24/+19/+14/+9 | 16 | 10 | 10 | +10 | Bonus Feat |
| 29th | +25/+20/+15/+10 | 17 | 11 | 11 | +10 | Epic Combat Tactic, Exacting Strikes Rank 3 |
| 30th | +25/+20/+15/+10 | 17 | 11 | 11 | +10 | Bonus Feat |
| 31st | +26/+21/+16/+11 | 18 | 12 | 12 | +11 | Epic Combat Tactic |
| 32nd | +26/+21/+16/+11 | 18 | 12 | 12 | +11 | Bonus Feat |
| 33rd | +27/+22/+17/+12 | 19 | 13 | 13 | +11 | Epic Combat Tactic, Exacting Strikes Rank 4 |
| 34th | +27/+22/+17/+12 | 19 | 13 | 13 | +12 | Bonus Feat |
| 35th | +28/+23/+18/+13 | 20 | 14 | 14 | +12 | Epic Combat Tactic |
| 36th | Apotheosis! | |||||
Epic Class Abilities
Exacting Strikes (Ex)
Once a Fighter reaches Epic levels, his Challenge gains a deadly new dimension. Exacting Strikes is a reflection of a Fighter's incredible skill in combat. As a Fighter hits a Challenged foe more and more often, he learns more and more about that foe's strengths, weaknesses, fighting style, movement, everything. As a result, the Fighter's attacks get stronger and stronger.
Each time a fighter successfully strikes a foe, he gains an Exacting Strike against that foe. At the beginning of every combat round, the Fighter adds up the total number of Exacting Strikes he has made against each of the foes he is attacking, multiplies that total on each foe by the Rank of his Exacting Strikes ability, and adds that number as bonus damage (not precision damage) to every successful attack he makes that round against each of those foes.
When the fighter accumulates Exacting Strikes against multiple opponents, he records each successful strike separately for each opponent. Attacks against an opponent only benefit from the Exacting Strikes inflicted in previous rounds on that particular enemy. Furthermore, if the fighter ever ends his turn without placing a Fighter's Challenge on a foe (by attacking or any other means), any Exacting Strikes on that foe are lost.
Note that Exacting Strikes are only summed at the beginning of each round, so this class ability provides no benefit in the first round (or surprise round, if any) of combat. Each successive round after the first uses the sum of all Exacting Strikes made at any point during this combat (as long as a Fighter's Challenge is applied to the foe in question each round). Needless to say, a fighter with this ability can dish out some amazing damage as a fight wears on, if he is willing to put his full attention on just one or two foes.
- Example:
- A 29th level Fighter with Exacting Strikes 3 is attacking a foe five times a round with his Longsword of Speed.
- At the beginning of the first round, he has struck his opponent zero times, and so gains no damage from his Exacting Strikes. During the first round he hits the foe five times, Challenging it and gaining five Exacting Strikes.
- At the beginning of the second round, he has struck his foe five times and so gains three points of damage times five Strikes, or fifteen points of bonus damage which is added to his total damage with each attack of his weapon made against that foe. This bonus damage is the same type of damage as that done by his weapon (i.e. slashing), and is added to his normal damage for purposes of overcoming DR. During the second round he hits the foe an additional four times (he missed once) and gains four more Exacting Strikes against it, for a total of nine.
- At the beginning of the third round, he has struck his foe nine times and so gains twenty-seven points of bonus damage with every attack he makes against that foe. Sadly, he cannot keep attacking that foe, as he must break off to distract a monster which has the hapless rogue in its mouth. Since he does not attack the foe, his does not Challenge it, and the Exacting Strikes are lost.
Note that it is possible, if the Fighter has area of effect attacks, or Cleave, or ranged weapons, or reach weapons, to stack and maintain Exacting Strikes against as many foes as he can manage. It is left to the player to decide how best to use this ability in every situation.
Epic Combat Tactic
Fighters gain an Epic Combat Tactic beginning at 21st level and every second level thereafter. Fighters may choose a lower level Tactic of any sort with an Epic Tactic selection. Unless specifically noted, no Epic Combat Tactic may be taken more than once.