Fighter, “The Martial Master”

“Unleash Your Inner Warrior! Master combat, wield mighty weapons, and conquer your foes as a Fighter!”

Some take up arms for glory, wealth, or revenge. Others do battle to prove themselves, to protect others, or because they know nothing else. Still others learn the ways of weaponcraft to hone their bodies in battle and prove their mettle in the forge of war.

Lords of the battlefield, fighters are a disparate lot, training with many weapons or just one, perfecting the uses of armor, learning the fighting techniques of exotic masters, and studying the art of combat, all to shape themselves into living weapons. Far more than mere thugs, these skilled warriors reveal the true deadliness of their weapons, turning hunks of metal into arms capable of taming kingdoms, slaughtering monsters, and rousing the hearts of armies. Soldiers, knights, hunters, and artists of war, fighters are unparalleled champions, and woe to those who dare stand against them.

Role: Fighters excel at combat defeating their enemies, controlling the flow of battle, and surviving such sorties themselves. While their specific weapons and methods grant them a wide variety of tactics, few can match fighters for sheer battle prowess.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d10.

Starting Wealth: 5d6 x 10 gp (average 175gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

Class Skills

The fighter’s class skills are Climb (Strength), Craft (Intelligence), Handle Animal (Charisma), Intimidate (Charisma), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Intelligence), Knowledge (engineering) (Intelligence), Profession (Wisdom), Ride (Dexterity), Survival (Wisdom), and Swim (Strength).

Skill Ranks Per Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level 2 + Intelligence modifier.

The Fighter
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Bonus feat
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	Bonus feat, bravery +1
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Armor training
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Bonus feat
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Weapon training
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+2	Bonus feat, bravery +2
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+2	Armor training
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+2	Bonus feat
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+3	Weapon training
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+3	Bonus feat, bravery +3
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+3	Armor training
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+4	Bonus feat
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+4	Weapon training
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+4	Bonus feat, bravery +4
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+5	Armor training
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+5	Bonus feat
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+5	Weapon training
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+6	Bonus feat, bravery +5
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+6	Armor mastery
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+6	Bonus feat, Weapon mastery

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the fighter.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

A fighter is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).

Bonus Feats

At 1st level, a fighter gets a bonus combat-oriented feat in addition to the feat that any 1st-level character gets and the bonus feat granted to a human character. The fighter gains an additional bonus feat at 2nd level and every two fighter levels thereafter (4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, and 20th). These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as fighter bonus feats. A fighter must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. A fighter is not limited to the list of fighter bonus feats when choosing these feats.

Bravery (Ex)

Starting at 2nd level, a fighter gains a +1 bonus on Will saves against fear. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels beyond 2nd.

Armor Training (Ex)

Starting at 3rd level, a fighter learns to be more maneuverable while wearing armor. Whenever he is wearing armor, he reduces the armor check penalty by 1 (to a minimum of 0) and increases the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by his armor by 1. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, and 15th), these bonuses increase by +1 each time, to a maximum -4 reduction of the armor check penalty and a +4 increase of the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed.

In addition, a fighter can also move at his normal speed while wearing medium armor. At 7th level, a fighter can move at his normal speed while wearing heavy armor.

Weapon Training (Ex)

Starting at 5th level, a fighter can select one group of weapons, as noted below. Whenever he attacks with a weapon from this group, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls.

Every four levels thereafter (9th, 13th, and 17th), a fighter becomes further trained in another group of weapons. He gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls when using a weapon from this group. In addition, the bonuses granted by previous weapon groups increase by +1 each.

For example, when a fighter reaches 9th level, he receives a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with one weapon group and a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls with the weapon group selected at 5th level. Bonuses granted from overlapping groups do not stack. Take the highest bonus granted for a weapon if it resides in two or more groups.

A fighter also adds this bonus to any combat maneuver checks made with weapons from this group. This bonus also applies to the fighter’s Combat Maneuver Defense when defending against disarm and sunder attempts made against weapons from this group.

Weapon groups are defined as follows (GMs may add other weapons to these groups, or add entirely new groups):

• Axes: bardiche, battleaxe, collapsible kumade, waraxe dwarven, gandasa, greataxe, handaxe, heavy pick, hooked axe, knuckle axe, kumade, light pick, mattock, orc double axe, pata, throwing axe, and tongi.
• Blades, Heavy: Ankus, dueling sword, sword bastard, chakram, double chicken saber, double walking stick katana, elven curve blade, estoc, falcata, falchion, flambard, greatsword, great terbutje , katana, khopesh, klar, longsword, nine-ring broadsword, nodachi, scimitar, scythe, seven-branched sword, shotel, temple sword, terbutje, and two-bladed sword.
• Blades, Light: bayonet, butterfly knife, butterfly sword, chakram, dagger, Deer horn knife, gladius, hunga munga, kama, katar, kerambit, kukri, machete, madu, manople, pata, quadrens, rapier, sawtooth sabre, scizore, shortsword, sica, sickle, starknife, swordbreaker dagger, sword cane, wakizashi, and war razor.
• Bows: longbow, composite, shortbow composite, longbow, and shortbow.
• Close: bayonet, brass knuckles, cestus, dan bong, emei piercer, fighting fan, gauntlet, heavy shield, iron brush, katar, light shield, madu, mere club, punching dagger, rope gauntlet, sap, scizore, spiked armor, spiked gauntlet, spiked shield, tekko-kagi, tonfa, unarmed strike, wooden stake, and wushu dart.
• Crossbows: double crossbow, hand crossbow, heavy crossbow, launching crossbow, light crossbow, heavy repeating crossbow, light repeating crossbow, and tube arrow shooter.
• Double: bo staff, chain spear, dire flail, double walking stick katana, double-chained kama, dwarven urgrosh, gnome hooked hammer, kusarigama, orc double axe, quarterstaff, two-bladed sword, and weighted spear.
• Firearms: all one-handed, two-handed, and siege firearms.
• Flails: battle poi, bladed scarf, chain spear, dire flail, double chained kama, Flail, flying blade, gnome pincher, halfling rope-shot, heavy flail, kusarigama, kyoketsu shoge, meteor hammer, morningstar, nine-section whip, nunchaku, sansetsukon, scorpion whip, spiked chain, urumi, and whip.
• Hammers: aklys, battle aspergillum, club, greatclub, heavy mace, hammer, light, light mace, mere club, planson, taiaha, tetsubo, wahaika, and warhammer.
• Monk: bo staff, brass knuckles, butterfly sword, cestus, dan bong, deer horn knife, double chained kama, double chicken saber, emei piercer, fighting fan, hanbo, jutte, kama, kusarigama, kyoketsu shoge, lungshuan tamo, monk’s spade, nine-ring broadsword, nine-section whip, nunchaku, quarterstaff, rope dart, Sai, sansetsukon, seven-branched sword, shang gou, shuriken, Siangham, temple sword, tiger fork, tonfa, tri-point double-edged sword, unarmed strike, urumi, and wushu dart.
• Natural: unarmed strike and all natural weapons, such as bite, claw, gore, tail, and wing.
• Polearms: bardiche, bec de corbin, bill, crook, glaive, glaive-guisarme, guisarme, halberd, hooked lance, lucerne hammer, mancatcher, monk’s spade, naginata, nodachi, Ranseur, rhomphaia, tepoztopilli, and tiger fork.
• Siege engines: Ballista, bombard, catapult, corvus, firedrake, firewyrm, gallery, ram, siege tower, springal, trebuchet, and all other siege engines.
• Spears: amentum, boar spear, chain spear, elven branched spear, javelin, harpoon, lance, longspear, orc skull ram, pilum, planson, shortspear, sibat, spear, tiger fork, trident, and weighted spear.
• Thrown: aklys, amentum, atlatl, blowgun, bolas, boomerang, brutal bolas, chakram, club, dagger, dart, deer horn knife, halfling sling staff, harpoon, hunga munga, javelin, lasso, kestros, light hammer, net, poisoned sand tube, rope dart, shortspear, shuriken, sling, sling glove, spear, starknife, throwing axe, throwing shield, trident, and wushu dart.

Armor Mastery (Ex)

At 19th level, a fighter gains Damage Reduction 5/- whenever he is wearing armor or using a shield.

Weapon Mastery (Ex)

At 20th level, a fighter chooses one weapon, such as the 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.

Fighter Character Concepts

The Quintessential Fighter
Author Matthew Sprange
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2002

A fighter is far more than a mere sword-swinger. Indeed, he has the potential to be the most flexible character class of all, for his consummate skill in combat leaves plenty of room for role-players to concentrate on his background, past associations, recent history and most of all, why he actually became a fighter in the first place.

Whether running from the forces of law and order as an outlaw, just completing a term of service within a mercenary warband or having performed heroic acts to defend his home village, every fighter has his or her own story to tell. Within this chapter we will take a look at greatly widening the possibilities for every character that starts off as a fighter.

Character Concepts provide a range of templates for each character class that will allow a player to quickly and easily create a ready background for every new character he generates. As well as providing both a small bonus and penalty to his character’s capabilities, each Character Concept gives a ready base for role-playing, thus greatly shortening the time taken during character creation, as well as granting that oft-needed inspiration so important for a player to feel ‘at home’ with his new character.

Any one Character Concept may be applied to a character as it is being created. The listed bonuses and penalties are applied, any role-playing description modified and adjusted to take into account the template and then the character is ready to play! From this point forth, both the player and the Games Master should be aware of the Character Concept chosen and take steps to ensure the character is played accordingly. It must be stressed, Character Concepts are a role-playing tool, not simply a method to gain lots of new abilities!