Fighter

When the clash of steel rings out in dark forests or dimly lit dungeons beneath the earth, it is the fighter who bears the brunt of the combat. Fighters are trained in the use of weapons and armour, usually beginning their adventuring careers after a stint of training as a town guardsman, soldier, man at arms, bandit, pirate, or mercenary.

Fighters are the backbone of an adventuring party; without them to hold the line, the other members of the party will be overrun before they can bring their own skills to bear. Fighters are the most powerful characters in melee or missile combat, whether on offence or defence. Together with the ranger and paladin, they have the most hit points, and their ability to survive the most brutal battles is therefore unrivalled.

They also have the best chance “to hit” of all the classes, particularly at higher level. They may use any kind of armour, shield, or weapon. Most fighters look forward to the day when their reputations will bring them into the ranks of the lesser nobility, where fighting prowess and armed followers are more important than high-flown bloodlines. It is no small matter to carve a freehold out of the wilderness, but to do so is to leave behind a legacy in a world where most fortune-seekers die an unsung death.

A fighter of 9th level or higher who has built a castle and cleared a wide area around it of monsters (at least a 20 mile radius), will attract a body of mercenaries to his or her service, provided that these are paid a fair wage. He or she will also be able to tax each freeholder, at up to the maximum rate of 1 gp per month per resident. Some players may choose to retire a character at this point, satisfied that the character has entered the historical records and legends of the campaign world. Others may choose to view the stronghold merely as the first step toward the pinnacles of mythic power. Such player-held castles and villages provide a higher-level party with a base for adventures, a stronghold against enemies, and possibly the introduction of feudal politics and war into their already-eventful lives.

Fighter Class Abilities

Bonus Attacks: Fighters with melee weapons attack once per round at 1st to 4th levels (1/1 attacks); at 5th to 9th levels, they attack thrice every two rounds (3/2 attacks); and at 10th or higher levels they attack twice per round (2/1 attacks). A partial additional attack (e.g. 3/2 attacks) means that the extra attack is taken on odd-numbered rounds in the combat sequence, hence two attacks on the first round, one on the second, two on the third and one on the fourth, if applicable.

Fighting the Unskilled: When the fighter is attacking creatures with less than a full hit die (i.e. less than 1d8 hit points), in melee combat only, the fighter receives one attack for each of his or her levels of experience, e.g. a 4th-level fighter attacking goblins would receive 4 attacks per round.

Note that this overrides a fighter's level-based multiple attacks, and is not in addition to them.

NB: A fighter exercising multiple attacks departs from the normal initiative procedure. The fighter will automatically attack first in the round unless fighting an opponent with multiple attacks of its own (in which case initiative should be rolled as normal). The fighter’s second attack in any given melee round will come last in the sequence.

Weapon Specialisation (optional): With the permission of the GM, weapon specialisation may be selected during character generation. If weapon specialisation is not selected during character generation, it remains forever unavailable to the character, barring some magical or divine intervention.

If weapon specialisation is in play, fighters may take a second proficiency in the same weapon as the first, granting them one extra attack every 2 rounds with the weapon (hence 3/2 attacks with a melee weapon at 1st level, 2/1 at 5th and 5/2 at 10th), +1 to hit and +2 damage owing to their skill. Specialisation costs one proficiency “slot” for melee weapons and crossbows, and two “slots” for missile weapons other than crossbows.

Double Specialisation (optional): For melee weapons that are not polearms or two-handed swords, a third weapon proficiency may be used to specialise further; this increases combat bonuses to +3 to hit and +3 damage with the weapon.

Optional Rule: Where a fighter of extremely high level or with many bonuses “to hit” actually requires a negative score to hit his or her target, then at the GM’s option, the negative score may be converted to a positive and applied as additional damage to the automatic hit. Thus, for example, a 20th level fighter with 19 strength and a +5 sword attacking an AC 2 dragon would require a roll of -8 to hit it; the character would be allowed to modify his or her damage roll by +8.