Fighter

Fighters are the masters of hand-to-hand combat, champions of all sorts of attacks, defenses, and styles.

  • Fighters deal more damage and are more accurate with their weapons than any other character class. They attack faster, and can perform a multitude of attacks in a short period of time.
  • Fighters can use the broadest possible selection of weapons and armor.
  • Fighters are more resilient than other characters, with a stronger ability to resist or throw off negative effects (such as with saving throws).
  • Fighters are tough, with substantial hit points, and a great AC.
  • Fighters are capable of combat maneuvers that bolster allies and handicap foes, using specific weapons for specific effects against specific enemies. They can trip, disarm, stun, and protect, and they know when to use a spear and when to use a mace and how to most effectively employ those.

Iconic Fighter Abilities

Equipment Mastery

Fighters are consummate tool-users, and their tools of choice are implements of war. If there is a suit of armor, they can wear it. If there is a weapon, they can wield it. They master their equipment to a tremendous degree, and get more out of it than most. They may adopt a favored fighting style, preferring one set of implements to another, but their ability to swap out for whatever they need to use is unmatched. Fighters are amazing in their versatility.

Greater Ability

Fighters recieve a bigger aggressive bonus from Strength and a bigger defensive bonus from Dexterity than any other warriors.

Combat Maneuvers

A fighter is a master of combat, and so they have an astonishing array of tricks and talents to put on display in the thick of a fight. They use elaborate acrobatics, acts of true tactical genius, and an intimate knowledge of how to inflict and resist damage to resist their enemies in particular ways, and cause their eventual undoing. A fighter reads a battle like an unfolding narrative, and it is a story that is often easy for a fighter to read and predict.

Grit

A fighter who is knocked down will almost always get back up. A fighter who is wounded will almost always press on. A fighter who is frightened…well, there is almost no such thing. Fighters bounce back from attacks easily, resisting them better than most, and turning horrible wounds into mere inconveniences. They press on and on and on in the face of overwhelming odds, and often emerge from the other side, battered, but breathing.

Courage

A fighter stands her ground, and often persuades others to stand with her. She resists charms and deceptions, and she inspires others by her words and actions, helping them get up when they are down, revive when they are unconscious, and continue when they thought they couldn't. A fighter stands in the path of attacks deliberately, protecting those who cannot protect themselves, negating the threat from the adversary, and attracting dangerous attention.

The Fighter Play Experience

Combat

In combat, a fighter is in their element. Effective at destroying their enemies and at protecting themselves (and their allies), fighters rarely feel a threat from the creatures they must fight.

Exploration

A fighter's armor and equipment may slow them down a bit in exploration, but, unencumbered, their naturally high Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity should serve them well. While they have few specific special abilities for dealing with their environment, they are quite adept at crossing any obstacle, and living through many disasters.

Interaction

A fighter, given their favoring of physical abilities, is generally not so capable when dealing with other PC's. They are at no specific disadvantage — they may have adequate Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma scores — they simply have no inherent aptitude. That said, they are quite relatable, and harbor few of the otherworldly qualities of many other classes.

Leadership

Fighters are not necessarily part of an organization at the outset (though they may be part of a military unit), but their heroism attracts the attention of others, causing others to come under their banner, and causing them to be recognized quickly as lords and freeholders. A fighter makes the land peaceful, subdues the dangerous denizens, and generally improves the survivability of everyone around them, attracting a diverse and potent array of allies.