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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics)

    The Fighter



    {table=head]Level|Base Attack|Fort |Ref |Will |Special|Tactics|Talent Die
    1st|+1|+2|+0|+0|Aspect, Minor Tactics|1|1d4
    2nd|+2|+3|+0|+0|Bonus Feat|1|1d4
    3rd|+3|+3|+1|+1|Armor Mastery|2|2d4
    4th|+4|+4|+1|+1|Bonus Feat|2|2d4
    5th|+5|+4|+1|+1|Battle Style|3|3d6
    6th|+6/+1|+5|+2|+2|Bonus Feat|3|3d6
    7th|+7/+2|+5|+2|+2|Major Tactics|4|4d6
    8th|+8/+3|+6|+2|+2|Bonus Feat|4|4d6
    9th|+9/+4|+6|+3|+3|Rapid Instruction|5|5d6
    10th|+10/+5|+7|+3|+3|Bonus Feat|5|5d8
    11th|+11/+6/+1|+7|+3|+3|Battle Aspect|6|6d8
    12th|+12/+7/+2|+8|+4|+4|Bonus Feat|6|6d8
    13th|+13/+8/+3|+8|+4|+4|Master Tactics|7|7d8
    14th|+14/+9/+4|+9|+4|+4|Bonus Feat|7|7d8
    15th|+15/+10/+5|+9|+5|+5|Battle Master|8|8d10
    16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+5|+5|Bonus Feat|8|8d10
    17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+10|+5|+5|Battle Meditation|9|9d10
    18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+11|+6|+6|Bonus Feat|9|9d10
    19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+11|+6|+6|Perfect Tactic|10|10d10
    20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+12|+6|+6|Perfect Warrior, Bonus Feat|10|10d12[/table]

    Alignment: Any.
    Hit Die: d10.

    Class Skills: The fighter’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex).
    Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) ×4.
    Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

    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).

    Aspect (Ex): At first level, a fighter selects one of two Aspects: Tactician or Leader, gaining the following benefits:

    {table=head]|Tactician|Leader
    Key Ability|Intelligence|Charisma
    New Skills|Appraise, Knowledge (all), Martial Lore, Speak Language|Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Preform (Weapon Drill), Sense Motive
    Bonus Feat|Able Learner|Battlefield Inspiration (see Miniatures Handbook)[/table]

    In addition, certain Tactics and class abilities differ depending on which Aspect the fighter has selected.

    Talent Pool (Ex): At the beginning of every encounter (or scene, for more roleplay-heavy games), a fighter is granted access to a pool of bonus dice, known as his Talent Pool. At first level, this pool consists of only one d4, but it increases by one dice every odd-numbered level. In addition, at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, the size of the dice increases by one step-- d6s at 5th level, d8s and 10th, and so on.

    At any point in the game, a fighter may expend die from his talent pool to gain a bonus on any attack roll, damage roll, saving throw, physical ability check (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), or physical skill check (one based on the aforementioned abilities). He rolls each expended die and adds the result to his check. He may not expend more dice on a single check than his Aspect's key ability modifier. He must expend dice before rolling the original check.

    In addition, Tacticians may expend dice to gain a bonus on Intelligence checks and Intelligence-based skills. Leaders may expend dice to gain a bonus on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skills.

    When not in combat, expended dice are regenerated at the rate of one die every (10-key ability modifier) minutes, to a maximum of one per minute. In addition, at the beginning of each encounter, the Talent Pool refreshes. All expended dice are recovered, although committed die remain committed.

    Tactics (Ex): Tactics are extraordinary abilities, special physical skills and techniques. At first level, and every subsequent odd-numbered level, a fighter learns one Tactic. Initially, he may only learn Minor Tactics. At 7th level, he gains access to Major Tactics, Master Tactics at level 13, and Perfect Tactics at level 19.

    All Tactics require the expenditure of dice from the Talent Pool. Dice are either expended or committed. Committed dice cannot be expended to improve other rolls (see Talent Pool) or to pay for other Tactics. However, at any point on your turn, you may choose to stop committing dice, returning them to your Talent Pool.

    If a Tactic does not specifically say that you can expend or commit any number of dice, you cannot expend extra die to improve the effect. Some Tactics scale based on the size of the die in your Talent Pool- 4 at 1st level (d4), 6 at 5th level (d6), and so on, up to 12 at 20th level (d12). If this is the case, the variable value will be indicated by "X." Some Tactics are only available to Tacticians, and some are only available to Leaders. All Tactics are listed at the end of the class description.

    Bonus Feats: At second level, and every subsequent even-numbered level, a fighter gains a single bonus feat, drawn from the list of fighter bonus feats. Optional rule: If a feat is not a fighter bonus feat, but lists a fighter bonus feat as one of its prerequisites, that feat counts as a fighter bonus feat.

    Once a day, a fighter may take one hour to retrain a number of bonus feats equal to his Intelligence modifier. He must still meet the prerequisites for all his feats and prestige classes, as normal.

    Alternately, he may take one hour to train a number of allies equal to one-half his fighter level. These allies must spend the full hour training, at the end of which they receive the benefits of a number of feats equal to the fighter's Charisma modifier. These benefits last for a number of hours equal to the fighter's level. Allies must qualify for the feats they are being trained in, as normal, and trained feats may not be used as prerequisites for anything except more feats they are being trained in during the same session. All feats being granted by this ability must be drawn from the list of fighter bonus feats, and the fighter must have currently selected them. A character cannot be trained by more than one fighter at a time.

    Armor Mastery (Ex): At 3th level, a fighter may reduce the armor check penalty from any armor he wears by an amount equal to his Strength modifier. He may also ignore the speed penalty from medium and heavy armor.

    Battle Style (Ex): At 5th level, a fighter gains a special ability, based on his chosen aspect.

    Tactician: Once per round, after successfully making an attack of opportunity, or using the Disarm, Feint, or Trip abilities, you may recover one expended Talent Pool die.

    Leader: Once per round, after making a successful attack while flanking a foe, or using the Aid Another combat action (not the skill), you may recover one expended Talent Pool die.

    Rapid Inspiration (Ex): At 9th level, a fighter gains another special ability based on his chosen aspect.

    Tactician: As a move action, you may expend one die from your Talent Pool in order to gain the benefits of a single fighter bonus feat for 1 minute per fighter level. You must meet all prerequisites of the feat. You may only have one iteration of this ability active at a time.

    Leader: As a move action, you may expend one die from your Talent Pool to grant an ally within 60ft the benefits of a single fighter bonus feat you possess for 1 minute per fighter level. The target must meet all prerequisites of the feat. You may only have one iteration of this ability active at a time.

    Battle Aspect (Ex): At 11th level, a fighter may use his Battle Style ability two times per round, as long as he continues to fulfill the conditions.

    Battle Master (Ex): At 15th level, a fighter may use his Battle Style ability any number of times per round up to one-half his key ability modifier, as long as he continues to fulfill the conditions.

    Battle Meditation (Ex): At 17th level, a fighter may take a standard action to regain a number of Talent Pool die equal to one-half his key ability modifier.

    Perfect Warrior (Ex): At 20th level, a fighter may take ten on attack rolls. In addition, retraining his bonus feats, or training allies, only takes one minute per feat.

    Tactics

    Minor Tactics (General)

    • Aspect Combat: Commit one die to use your key ability in place of Strength or Dexterity when making melee or ranged attack rolls. Alternately, you may use your key ability in place of Strength when making melee damage rolls, or add your key ability when making ranged damage rolls. Commit two die to use you key ability for both attack and damage.
    • Combat Speed: Commit one die to gain a bonus to base movement speed equal to (X/2)*5 ft.
    • Twin Skill: At any point where you could make a single melee attack (standard actions, attacks of opportunity, and so on), you may expend a die as a free action to make an addition attack with your off-hand weapon.
    • Parry: When being attacked in melee, as an immediate action, you may expend one die to make a melee attack (if wielding a shield, gain a bonus to this attack equal to the shield's armor bonus). If your attack roll exceeds your opponents, their attack misses. If your opponent's attack is higher, you are considered flat-footed against the attack, and your shield bonus (if any) does not apply.
    • Iron Body: Commit one die. As long as this die remains committed, any time you make a successful Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Fortitude partial), you instead completely negate the effect.
    • Polearm Mastery: Commit one die. You may attack adjacent foes with a reach weapon, and your total reach improves by five feet.
    • Unstoppable Speed: Commit one die to ignore all natural effects which would reduce your movement speed-- difficult terrain, heavy armor, climbing, and so on.


    Minor Tactics (Tactician)
    • Cautious Skill: When you would normally provoke an attack of opportunity due to movement or initiating a combat maneuver, you may expend one die to not do so.
    • Stopping Strike: If you make a successful attack of opportunity, you may expend one die to end your opponent's move action on the spot, even if he could normally move farther.


    Minor Tactics (Leader)

    • Covering Combat: Commit one die to protect an adjacent ally. Any melee or ranged attacks against him have a miss chance equal to five times your fighter level. Attacks which fail due to this miss chance strike you instead.
    • Inspire: When an ally within 50 feet rolls a saving throw against an ongoing effect, or against fear, you may expend any number of die up to your Charisma modifier. Roll these dice, and grant your ally a morale bonus to his saving throw equal to the result. You must expend the die before your ally sees the result of his roll.


    Major Tactics (General)

    • Free Running: Expend one die. At the start of your next turn, you gain the benefits of the Freedom of Movement spell for a number of rounds equal to one-half your Strength modifier. This is still an extraordinary ability.
    • Warrior's Step: As a swift action, expend two dice to move up to your speed.
    • Storm of Swords: Expend two dice to make a full attack as a standard action.
    • Riposte: If an opponent makes an unsuccessful melee attack against you, you may, as an immediate action, expend two dice to make a single melee attack against them.
    • Endure: Upon being affected by a hostile spell or spell-like ability, you may, as an immediate action, expend one die to delay the effects of the spell until the beginning of your next turn. You may only use this Tactic once against any given casting of any given spell. Thus, you may delay the damage from a fireball for one turn, but not two. If, however, your opponent casts a second fireball next turn, you may use this tactic against that second spell.


    Major Tactics (Tactican)

    • Crippling Blow: On a successful melee or ranged attack, expend any number of dice, up to one-half your Intelligence modifier. At any point during the next (Intelligence Modifier) rounds, you may roll the expended dice to inflict a penalty equal to the result of the roll to any attack roll, damage roll, or physical skill check the opponent attempts.
    • Called Shot: When making a ranged or melee attack, you may expend two dice. If you hit, in addition to normal attack damage you deal damage to your opponent's Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score equal to one-half your Intelligence modifier.


    Major Tactics (Leader)

    • Direction: As a free action, chose one ally and expend any number of dice up to your Charisma modifier. For the next minute, the chosen ally gains a Talent Pool composed of the die you expended. At any point, he can expend these dice to gain bonuses on attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and physical ability checks, as described under the Talent Pool ability.
    • Order: As a free action, you may expend three dice to grant an ally within 50 feet a single move action, to be taken immediately.


    Master Tactics (General)

    • Relentless: As an immediate action, you may expend three dice to ignore the effects of one spell, ability, condition, or other effect currently affecting you. This does not prevent the effect from affecting other targets. For example, you could use this Tactic to move normally through a solid fog spell, but doing so would not grant allies the ability to do so.
    • Heroic: Commit one die to gain the benefits of either the death ward or mind blank spell. Commit two dice to gain both.
    • Warrior's Surge: As an immediate action, expend two dice to take a standard action. Afterwards, you are fatigued for two rounds. If you use this Tactic again while fatigued, you are instead exhausted.
    • Terror Tactics: As a free action, you may commit any two dice to activate a Frightful Presence effect, with a range of 50 feet. Targets who fail a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 fighter level + Charisma modifier) are Shaken, and those who fail by 5 or more are Frightened. Targets with half as many hit die as you or less are instead Frightened on a failed save and Panicked if they fail by 5 or more. Allies are immune to this effect. Creatures who successfully save against this ability cannot be affected by it again for 24 hours.


    Master Tactics (Tactician)

    • Denial: When an enemy within your reach attempts to use a spell or spell-like ability, you may, as an immediate action, expend two dice and make a single melee attack against the caster. If you successfully hit and deal damage, the spell is countered and the enemy's action is wasted.
    • Stunning Strike: When making a melee or ranged attack, you may expend two dice. If your attack hits, the enemy must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 fighter level + Intelligence modifier). If he fails, he is stunned for one round.


    Master Tactics (Leader)

    • Command: As a swift action, you may commit up to your Charisma modifier dice to grant an ally within 50 feet the benefits of a certain number of Tactics you know. Teaching a Minor Tactic costs two dice and teaching a Major Tactic costs three. To enable your ally to use the Tactics, you must also use the Direction Tactic. If you stop committing the dice, or you move more than 50 feet away, your ally can no longer use the Tactics.
    • Take the Hit: When an ally is targeted by a melee or ranged attack, you may, as an immediate action, expend one die to move up to your speed. If you can move adjacent to the ally being attacked, you are the new target of the attack.


    Perfect Tactics (Tactician)

    • Killing Strike: When making a melee or ranged attack, you may expend five dice. If your attack hits, the enemy must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 fighter level + Intelligence modifier). If he fails, he is instantly killed. An opponent who successfully saves against this ability cannot be affected by it again in the same encounter.
    • Watchful Blade: Commit 4 dice. Any action taken by an enemy within your reach provokes an attack of opportunity, and you may a number of extra attacks of opportunity each round equal to your Intelligence modifier. This ability stacks with the extra attacks of opportunity from the Combat Reflexes feat.


    Perfect Tactics (Leader)

    • Horde Attack: As a full-round action, you may expend any number of dice. For every 2 die expended, you may grant one ally within 50 feet a single standard action.
    • Rally: As a swift action, you may expend any number of dice, up to your Charisma modifier. Allies within 50 feet gain a morale bonus to attack, damage, and saving throws equal to your Charisma modifier for 3 rounds. For every two die expended this way, you may cure one ally within 50 feet of one condition (not including death).


    New Feats

    Tactical Savant
    Prerequisite: Fighter 7
    Benefit: Gain a new Tactic of up to one level lower than the highest level you currently have access to. You may select Tactics from the opposite aspect's list, so a Tactician taking this feat could choose a Leader Tactic.
    Special: This feat can be taken more than once. Each time you take the feat, choose a new Tactic. A fighter can select this feat as one of his fighter bonus feats.

    Prodigious Talent
    Prerequisite: Fighter 3
    Benefit: Add one die to your Talent Pool.
    Special: If you are at least 7th level when taking this feat, add two dice to your Talent Pool. If you are at least 13th level, add three dice. This feat can be taken multiple times. This is not a fighter bonus feat.
    Last edited by Grod_The_Giant; 2012-09-23 at 12:19 PM.
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    STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
    Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Grod's Law: You cannot and should not balance bad mechanics by making them annoying to use

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Ogre in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    typo in the first aspect abilaty... scoundrel should be leader.
    Avatar by Szilard, thank you sir for the fine work!

    my home brew. you should PEACH them...
    Telekineticist
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  3. - Top - End - #3
    Ogre in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Talent Pool: A fighter has access to a pool of bonus dice, known as his Talent Pool. At first level, this pool consists of only one d4, but it increases by one dice every odd-numbered level. In addition, at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, the size of the dice increases by one step-- d6s at 5th level, d8s and 10th, and so on.

    At any point in the game, a fighter may expend die from his talent pool to gain a bonus on any attack roll, damage roll, saving throw, physical ability check (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), or physical skill check (one based on the aforementioned abilities). He rolls each expended die and adds the result to his check. He may not expend more dice on a single check than his Aspect's key ability modifier.

    In addition, Tacticians may expend dice to gain a bonus on Intelligence checks and Intelligence-based skills. Leaders may expend dice to gain a bonus on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skills.

    His talent pool refreshes at the beginning of his turn. Expended dice are regained, but unexpended die do not carry over to the new pool.
    This seems a little powerful to me. You really mean that a fighter would be able to gain a nameless bonus ranging from +1 to +120 to any attack roll, saving throw, initiative check and/or grapple check (only to name a few) every round? That's enough to resist to any spell the big bad wizard will throw at you, or to pulverize Thor in an arm-wrestling challenge (and he has a Str of 92, IIRC). Not to mention that a leader with such bonuses to Intimidate and Diplomacy checks could easily make Asmodeus suicide... Why don't you make the pool refresh every day instead? This way, a fighter would have to choose wheter to have a single huge bonus or many smaller (but still good) bonuses.

    Another problem is that with fresh new talent points every round, a fighter can, any round choose to*:
    (*From now on, I'll consider a 20th level Medium fighter, just for simplicity)

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Twin Skill: At any point where you could make a single melee attack (standard actions, attacks of opportunity, and so on), you may expend a die as a free action to make an addition attack with your off-hand weapon.
    Do ten extra attacks if an enemy provokes an AdO.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Polearm Mastery: Commit one die. You may attack adjacent foes with a reach weapon, and your total reach improves by five feet.
    Full power attack any opponent within 60+ ft which he has line of sight with.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Crippling Blow: On a successful melee or ranged attack, expend any number of dice, up to your Intelligence modifier. Until your next turn, you may, at any point, roll the expended die to inflict a penalty equal to the result of the roll to any attack roll, damage roll, or physical skill check the opponent attempts.
    Become untoachable if not surrounded by enemies.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Called Shot: When making a ranged or melee attack, you may expend two dice. If you hit, in addition to normal attack damage you deal damage to your opponent's Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score equal to your Intelligence modifier.
    Kill or disable an opponent with a single attack (unless he has very high stats).

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Direction: As a free action, chose one ally and expend any number of dice up to your Charisma modifier. Until the beginning of your next turn, the chosen ally gains a Talent Pool composed of the die you expended.
    Give the chance to do any trick I listed to one of his fellow.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Watchful Blade: Commit 4 dice. Any action taken by an enemy within your reach provokes an attack of opportunity, and you may s number of attacks of opportunity each round equal to your Intelligence modifier.
    This last one is actually a typo


    In any case, there are a lot of good ideas that greatly fix some of the fighter weaknesses (action economy, resistance to spells, anti-mage abilities and so on). The big single problem is that the way talent points refresh is too exploitable.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    My guess is that Twin Skill is meant to only be usable once per opportunity and not chain with itself (i.e., not "spend ten dice, make ten attacks"), right? Ditto for Polearm Mastery and Called Shot not stacking with itself? Crippling Blow actually seems fine even as-is, in my humble opinion.
    Avatar by araveugnitsuga.

  5. - Top - End - #5
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Eurus View Post
    My guess is that Twin Skill is meant to only be usable once per opportunity and not chain with itself (i.e., not "spend ten dice, make ten attacks"), right? Ditto for Polearm Mastery and Called Shot not stacking with itself? Crippling Blow actually seems fine even as-is, in my humble opinion.
    Those are actually only additional examples. The real problem is having the chance to get a nameless bonus up to +120 on almost anything you need one time a round.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    If a Tactic does not specifically say that you may expend or commit multiple die, you can't. I'll add that in, which should prevent all of the Tactic abuses that you mentioned.

    As for the large numbers... my thinking was that most of the die would be committed, or spent on Tactics, or else parceled out a little bit at a time. But now that I think about it, it should probably work like the Factotum's Inspiration Points, where they refresh at the beginning of every scene or encounter. And/or limit the number of dice which may be expended on any one roll to your Aspect's key ability modifier, or even half the ability modifier. Maybe kick the progression up to 2/3rds level to compensate. Thoughts?
    Last edited by Grod_The_Giant; 2012-09-07 at 01:14 PM.
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    STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
    Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
    Grod's Grimoire of the Grotesque: An even bigger book of variant and expanded rules for 5e.
    Giants and Graveyards: My collected 3.5 class fixes and more.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Grod's Law: You cannot and should not balance bad mechanics by making them annoying to use

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    As for the large numbers... my thinking was that most of the die would be committed, or spent on Tactics, or else parceled out a little bit at a time. But now that I think about it, it should probably work like the Factotum's Inspiration Points, where they refresh at the beginning of every scene or encounter. And/or limit the number of dice which may be expended on any one roll to your Aspect's key ability modifier, or even half the ability modifier. Maybe kick the progression up to 2/3rds level to compensate. Thoughts?
    I think that could be a start. I would go farther and eliminate the additional die like that altogether because when you have the die increase in number like that your tactics by default increase in price even though their effectiveness remain the same while bonuses to your rolls are skyrocketing. I say bring it back done to actual points modified by a certain modifier and allow points to be spent on a set or slightly scaling amount of die to x types of rolls.

  8. - Top - End - #8
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Amnoriath View Post
    I think that could be a start. I would go farther and eliminate the additional die like that altogether because when you have the die increase in number like that your tactics by default increase in price even though their effectiveness remain the same while bonuses to your rolls are skyrocketing. I say bring it back done to actual points modified by a certain modifier and allow points to be spent on a set or slightly scaling amount of die to x types of rolls.
    I dunno... firstly, I find that much more boring, not to mention entirely too much like the Factotum. Secondly, if I switch to dice/encounter (and I think I will, for reasons of Balance), then given the limited number of die, and the need/drive to spend them to Tactics... well, you can still probably auto-succeed on one or two die rolls/encounter, which is hardly devastating, especially for a melee character.

    Update: I have switched to the Talent Pool refreshing per encounter/scene (a term admittedly not generally used in D&D). Still undecided about increasing the number. I probably will. Or maybe I'll let you add, say, half your key ability to your pool.
    Last edited by Grod_The_Giant; 2012-09-09 at 04:23 PM.
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    STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
    Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
    Grod's Grimoire of the Grotesque: An even bigger book of variant and expanded rules for 5e.
    Giants and Graveyards: My collected 3.5 class fixes and more.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Grod's Law: You cannot and should not balance bad mechanics by making them annoying to use

  9. - Top - End - #9
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Now with dice pool mechanics!)

    Added new feats.
    Hill Giant Games
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    STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
    Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
    Grod's Grimoire of the Grotesque: An even bigger book of variant and expanded rules for 5e.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Uncle Pine View Post
    Those are actually only additional examples. The real problem is having the chance to get a nameless bonus up to +120 on almost anything you need one time a round.
    Well, here's the thing. Most of the stuff you can add bonuses to isn't necessarily an issue. You can auto-succeed on probably two or three rolls per round, short of extraordinarily bad luck. If you burn it all to guarantee hits on your attacks, you're not saving any to defend yourself from saving throws that get thrown your way. If you burn it on damage, you're barely keeping pace with a blasting wizard's "1d6-per-caster-level" spells. If you spend it to grapple someone, they can break the grapple on their turn. If you spend it on Diplomacy or Intimidate... well, social skills are just plain busted, and you can break them just as easily without this class.

    Beating Thor in an arm-wrestling contest... is a bit of an issue, yeah. Mostly, I think that's because it doesn't make much sense for talent dice to apply to strength checks -- a flat Str check should represent pure brawn, right? Unless it represents using your experience to blatantly cheat or something.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Eurus View Post
    Beating Thor in an arm-wrestling contest... is a bit of an issue, yeah. Mostly, I think that's because it doesn't make much sense for talent dice to apply to strength checks -- a flat Str check should represent pure brawn, right? Unless it represents using your experience to blatantly cheat or something.
    True... I was mostly thinking about the opposed Strength checks in things like Bull Rush and Trip attempts. (Although I bet Thor has fighter levels himself :P). Not quite sure how to clarify things like that, or even if I need to...
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    True... I was mostly thinking about the opposed Strength checks in things like Bull Rush and Trip attempts. (Although I bet Thor has fighter levels himself :P). Not quite sure how to clarify things like that, or even if I need to...
    Yeah. Pathfinder had the convenient "combat modifier bonus/defense". I suppose you could just say "opposed checks made as part of combat maneuvers"?
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    This is a pretty cool fighter fix. Couple of things I see:

    Endure seems too expensive for its effect. I'd either say spending dice equal to the spell level should flat ignore the spell, or spend one die to delay a spell one round. Probably the latter, so it isn't rendered completely useless by Relentless.

    Minor thing, but Heroic references a Mind Shield spell...did you mean Mind Blank?

    Terror Tactics lets you expend any number of dice, but doesn't have anything that scales with dice spent.

    Also think Denial is a bit too expensive. Countering one level-appropriate spell basically uses up your entire pool of dice for the encounter. I'd figure a flat two dice.

    Stunning Strike likewise. You spend low dice and expect it to fail, or your entire pool just to get a level-appropriate DC. I'd give it a flat number and use a standard 10 + 1/2 level + abil mod DC.

    Killing Strike has the same issue as Stunning Strike (and oddly, this means it costs just as many dice to stun as to kill).

    Horde Attack also seems too expensive. You're already giving up your full round action for your allies' standard actions, so the die cost should be mitigated, I think.

    Those are the only things that stand our as off to me. An idea I have (since it sounds from the discussion like the class was originally written to recover its dice every round), is to give it an ability that lets it recover a few expended dice per round. Actually, if you want to fill up the dead levels, you could say something like at 3rd, 9th, and 15th, it recovers one expended die per round, and at 5th, 11th, and 17th it gets a bonus die that it can only use to commit. Just a thought.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Quellian-dyrae View Post
    This is a pretty cool fighter fix. Couple of things I see:
    Ah, thank you! (For the compliment and the criticism) Costs carried over from when the dice pool refreshed every round. I'll attend to those.

    Those are the only things that stand our as off to me. An idea I have (since it sounds from the discussion like the class was originally written to recover its dice every round), is to give it an ability that lets it recover a few expended dice per round. Actually, if you want to fill up the dead levels, you could say something like at 3rd, 9th, and 15th, it recovers one expended die per round, and at 5th, 11th, and 17th it gets a bonus die that it can only use to commit. Just a thought.
    Mmm, not a bad idea, not a bad idea at all... (though I will note that the odd-numbered levels aren't really dead, since that's when he gets new tactics)
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Added a number of new abilities, mostly related to dice pool refreshes, filling in "dead" levels... actually, I'm a bit worried I may have gone too far. Though still not as far as my original conception of the class.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    I should mention that I'm bad at balance. But let's see.

    First round is quick notes while I read any before I read any comments.

    Class skills: good. More is better. You might consider bluff, for feinting, but I don't see any obvious gaps.

    Aspects: more classes should have that. Every class becomes better with some choices between features. And I see the Leader gains Bluff, so I guess my last point is moot.

    Talent pool: a good base mechanic and very versatile. Doesn't seem overpowered. I would consider adding it on combat maneuvers as well (grapple, trip, etc.)

    Retraining feats: I'm not sure I like it, from a fluff perspective. What is the ingame reasoning for why the fighter can sometimes do a certain technique, but not other times? From a rules perspective, probably necessary.

    Training seems like a thing that could end up very overpowered somehow, when handed to an optimizer, but in a mid-powered game, it should be strong, but manageable. Four feats at level two, however? Very good.

    Armour mastery: very good.

    The list of tactics is a bit long and it's late, I'll go over that tomorrow.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    A'ight. I'll give this the full treatment, like a guide.

    Color ranking:
    Great! This is a strong part of the class, and fits with fluff and crunch.
    Good! This is definitely a nice thing to see.
    Meh! Situational, or nice but not stand-out.
    Nope! This just doesn't work.

    Note: This color is reserved for the use of sarcasm, humor, and light-hearted pointing out of issues.

    1. Chassis and General Appearance
    Looks good, nice organization and grammar. Easy to read, makes sense. You've added emphasis in a lot of places, and broken things up quite a bit. Fantastic job on that.

    BAB makes sense, I wouldn't expect anything lower than that, or the D10. Fighters have more skills, and more SkP, which is good to see. Sadly, the only good ones are Spot, Listen, and Intimidate. I would have expected a few more, perhaps some knowledges, though it does make sense that you wouldn't have much. This IS a class about fighting, not learning. Or is it?

    When we look at the core choices (see next section), we find that these problems are completely eliminated, allowing you a very interesting dichotic focus with your skills.


    2. Core Choices

    When presented with the class, we have two options: base your advancement off of Intelligence, or Charisma. While this does sound good, my first problem is that it forces this to not be a fighter: this is more a Tactician or Marshall class. That said, I believe your recognize this, and it has a legitimate place. So it's still kinda cool to see a dual-progression class, as I know how hard that is to do, and how much work it takes.

    My second problem is one that many WotC classes face: MAD. You don't want to be dependent on Multiple Attributes, and this adds yet another one to the poor, poor, dying fighter's back. I mean Strength and Con have to be there, automatically. Dex is nice, and helpful in a lot of ways. Then add Cha or Int? Questionable, but I could see it coming off.

    Talent Pool:
    This is a nice ability, nice indeed. My only problem is: how often can you use these? Is this once per day? Once, ever? If the latter, what about the ones from last level? Do they carry over? If the former, though, how do you get the back? Resting? Meditating? Traning some? Reading or discussing? Will this be different for the Tacticians and Leaders? Anyway, lots of questions, but easy to answer.

    Tactics:
    THIS is what it's all about, right here. I LOVE these little babies... The fact that there are different ones for both progressions, at every level, tells me how much work and thought you put into this. It shows, creating a neat, solid, character. There could be some issues, but I'm not seeing much.

    Twin Skill: I understand that you were trying to go for TWF, but this is fairly powerful. Still, it's once per turn, and only one attack, so not a problem with me.

    Mettle:Nice to see, though this may be a bit low for a class with such bad saves.

    Combat Speed: What is the "X" for?

    Freerunning: Regardless of the fact that this isn't what "freerunning" is about, it's still a 5th level spell available for level 7, for a martial character, as an Ex ability.

    Crippling Blow: At level 7, this means that you're rolling 1d6 (average 3.5) to damage their attacks every time. That's a huge difference at that level. Nice to see, though, as it seems balanced decently against wizards.

    Direction, Order: Do they gain your tactics as well?

    Killing Strike: Though this seems majorly OP on the surface, it is a fortitude save, and it is only 1/2 your CL+ Int Bonus, so it seems almost underpowered.

    Bonus Feats:
    So, you get ten of these... seems pretty normal, since they are fighters, which are famed for getting feats, but I think I'm not alone in saying: The Fighter Feat System STINKS the way WotC wrote it. Do these guys have to live up to the same rules as normal fighters? Do they have to go through painfully unusable chains to get to half-decent abilities? [COLOR="Dark Orange"]They seem like filler, to me. [/COLOR] Not bad, though, because of the extra abilities there. Re-training is useful, and allows for quick character swaps. I could see that being a problem, but this is melee, so I'll let it go. Training your friends [with a lot of rules]could be useful as well. My question is, does this count for feats that aren't gained with these bonus feats?


    3. Minor Features


    Armor Mastery:
    Small, but nice.

    Battle Style:
    While this could be abused, it's nice to see a recovery mechanic (though I presume it's not the main one.) I'd be careful, as AoOs and Aid Another checks are fairly easy to make, and come up often. Don't want those dice getting used very much, otherwise it's a +Yes modifier.

    Rapid Inspiration:
    This is good, quite good, but you need more specifics. Do you (or they) have to qualify for the feat? Does it have to be a fighter feat? What if the feat doesn't make sense mechanically (like a feat specifically for races, or Wild Cohort) to appear and disappear in minutes?

    Battle Meditation:
    Hm. Another recovery mechanic, but still no main one... this is level 17, so it most certainly has to be a backup, but... Hm.


    4. Overall Thoughts, Conclusion:

    I think you are in danger of having too many points. For example, the fighter gets bonuses whenever he drops a dice or two, right? So he decides to put in five, to go all-out nova on one blow, to destroy the boss. Now, he Aids Another with a friend five times, so that they can make the best underwater basket every conceived. And WHAAAAAZAM! he's got the 5 dice, a dead boss, and a badass basket. Seems like a little much. At least the basket ought to go.

    Seriously, though, I do see that you've limited the number of dice quite a bit. In addition, you've put up a dichotomy at the higher levels: do I spend one dice on a high bonus, or a bunch of those high dice on a really nice option? A terrible dilemma, methinks.

    Good news is, this all is mostly easy to fix. So thar ye go!

    5. Preferred Build, Build-break Possibilities


    Lead By Example
    I'd go leader, pump up the Talent Pool. Take Prodigious and Precocious Talent (the former as often as possible), and then Tactical Savant for some of my fighter feats. My other ones would be Martial Initiator feats. Dip one level of Warblade (probably first level, with second level being Crusader). Take White Raven, all the way, with some dips in Diamond Mind and Iron Heart for THF. By level 10, you've created a melee monster, who also is really great for his teammates. By the time he reaches mid levels, they're just good.

    Use Your Head
    Take this at first level, perhaps at 4th, as a dip. Then, take Precocious Talent as soon as possible. Take Prodigious Talent where necessary. Then?

    Go Wizard. Go Psion.

    Done. Bonus to attacks, saves, and INTELLIGENCE-BASED CHECKS. Like, oh, say, an opposed casting check. Or, perhaps, your saves? This is a pretty good safety net for squishy casters, and a great one or three level dip.
    [Note: Depending on interpretation, some parts, such as the "Intelligence Checks" parts won't work. In fact, they most likely won't. This is for illustration, and the rest of the build stands.]

    Quick Dip Tip
    Take this at first level, as with use your head, take Precocious talent (IF) you have a bonus to Cha or Int. If not, you'll need Prodigious Talent to carry your weight. Decent for just that one extra boost in a day, especially for rogues or face characters.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by SamBurke View Post
    A'ight. I'll give this the full treatment, like a guide.
    Thanks!

    Looks good, nice organization and grammar. Easy to read, makes sense. You've added emphasis in a lot of places, and broken things up quite a bit. Fantastic job on that.
    Thank you.

    My second problem is one that many WotC classes face: MAD. You don't want to be dependent on Multiple Attributes, and this adds yet another one to the poor, poor, dying fighter's back. I mean Strength and Con have to be there, automatically. Dex is nice, and helpful in a lot of ways. Then add Cha or Int? Questionable, but I could see it coming off.
    True, although I did add in a tactic that lets you use your key ability for attack rolls and/or damage, which should mitigate it somewhat...

    This is a nice ability, nice indeed. My only problem is: how often can you use these? Is this once per day? Once, ever? If the latter, what about the ones from last level? Do they carry over? If the former, though, how do you get the back? Resting? Meditating? Traning some? Reading or discussing? Will this be different for the Tacticians and Leaders? Anyway, lots of questions, but easy to answer.
    Well, ****. That must have gotten deleted when I tried to change it. Refreshing works like Inspiration Points-- back to full at the beginning of every encounter or scene. I'll fix that straightaway.

    Twin Skill: I understand that you were trying to go for TWF, but this is fairly powerful. Still, it's once per turn, and only one attack, so not a problem with me.
    It's... any time you make an attack with one weapon, you can expend a die and make a second attack. So... not once per turn, but still only one attack?

    Mettle:Nice to see, though this may be a bit low for a class with such bad saves.
    Good Fortitude, and he can spend die to boost the others.

    Combat Speed: What is the "X" for?
    Size of the die in his Talent Pool-- 4 at 1st level, 6 and 5th, and so on. It's mentioned in the Talents section.

    Freerunning: Regardless of the fact that this isn't what "freerunning" is about, it's still a 5th level spell available for level 7, for a martial character, as an Ex ability.
    It's a 4th level spell, so it comes online at the same level. It's considered one of the vital buffs at high levels, and I feel like it was close enough to Ex that I could fit it in there... think it's too much?

    Crippling Blow: At level 7, this means that you're rolling 1d6 (average 3.5) to damage their attacks every time. That's a huge difference at that level. Nice to see, though, as it seems balanced decently against wizards.
    Ok.

    Direction, Order: Do they gain your tactics as well?
    No, just the ability to spend die to boost rolls. But there is that lovely Command Tactic a few levels later...

    Killing Strike: Though this seems majorly OP on the surface, it is a fortitude save, and it is only 1/2 your CL+ Int Bonus, so it seems almost underpowered.
    So it's ok?

    Bonus Feats:
    So, you get ten of these... seems pretty normal, since they are fighters, which are famed for getting feats, but I think I'm not alone in saying: The Fighter Feat System STINKS the way WotC wrote it. Do these guys have to live up to the same rules as normal fighters? Do they have to go through painfully unusable chains to get to half-decent abilities? [COLOR="Dark Orange"]They seem like filler, to me. [/COLOR] Not bad, though, because of the extra abilities there. Re-training is useful, and allows for quick character swaps. I could see that being a problem, but this is melee, so I'll let it go. Training your friends [with a lot of rules]could be useful as well. My question is, does this count for feats that aren't gained with these bonus feats?
    Whelp, feats are one of the defining features of the fighter, for better or worse. Obviously, I'd recommend using a feat fix, but... Retraining helps, certainly, making the more situational feats useful again.

    Training... actually, it would make sense to be able to grant any feat on the fighter bonus feat list that you know, wouldn't it? I'll add that in.


    Battle Style:
    While this could be abused, it's nice to see a recovery mechanic (though I presume it's not the main one.) I'd be careful, as AoOs and Aid Another checks are fairly easy to make, and come up often. Don't want those dice getting used very much, otherwise it's a +Yes modifier.
    I mean, you can attempt any of the actions every turn. I'm not too worried about Aid Another, since it does mean sacrificing your standard action, far and away the most valuable resource in the system. AoOs might be bad, though... I mean, it's a limited number of times per round, but... too much, you think?

    Rapid Inspiration:
    This is good, quite good, but you need more specifics. Do you (or they) have to qualify for the feat? Does it have to be a fighter feat? What if the feat doesn't make sense mechanically (like a feat specifically for races, or Wild Cohort) to appear and disappear in minutes?
    Yeah, I'll add the clarification in. Basically, it's the same as the training option under bonus feats-- fighter bonus feats that you know, and they must qualify.

    Battle Meditation:
    Hm. Another recovery mechanic, but still no main one... this is level 17, so it most certainly has to be a backup, but... Hm.
    Now that I've put the main recovery mechanic back in?

    4. Overall Thoughts, Conclusion:

    I think you are in danger of having too many points. For example, the fighter gets bonuses whenever he drops a dice or two, right? So he decides to put in five, to go all-out nova on one blow, to destroy the boss. Now, he Aids Another with a friend five times, so that they can make the best underwater basket every conceived. And WHAAAAAZAM! he's got the 5 dice, a dead boss, and a badass basket. Seems like a little much. At least the basket ought to go.
    Seriously, though, I do see that you've limited the number of dice quite a bit. In addition, you've put up a dichotomy at the higher levels: do I spend one dice on a high bonus, or a bunch of those high dice on a really nice option? A terrible dilemma, methinks.
    So, basically, limit the recover mechanisms some more? (I'll also note that it's only the combat Aid Another action, not the skill version)


    5. Preferred Build, Build-break Possibilities


    Lead By Example
    I'd go leader, pump up the Talent Pool. Take Prodigious and Precocious Talent (the former as often as possible), and then Tactical Savant for some of my fighter feats. My other ones would be Martial Initiator feats. Dip one level of Warblade (probably first level, with second level being Crusader). Take White Raven, all the way, with some dips in Diamond Mind and Iron Heart for THF. By level 10, you've created a melee monster, who also is really great for his teammates. By the time he reaches mid levels, they're just good.
    Doesn't sound too bad, and I sometimes have a hard time objecting to buffmeisters...

    Use Your Head
    Take this at first level, perhaps at 4th, as a dip. Then, take Precocious Talent as soon as possible. Take Prodigious Talent where necessary. Then?

    Go Wizard. Go Psion.

    Done. Bonus to attacks, saves, and INTELLIGENCE-BASED CHECKS. Like, oh, say, an opposed casting check. Or, perhaps, your saves? This is a pretty good safety net for squishy casters, and a great one or three level dip.
    [Note: Depending on interpretation, some parts, such as the "Intelligence Checks" parts won't work. In fact, they most likely won't. This is for illustration, and the rest of the build stands.]
    Opposed casting checks are generally based on flat caster level, methinks.

    Quick Dip Tip
    Take this at first level, as with use your head, take Precocious talent (IF) you have a bonus to Cha or Int. If not, you'll need Prodigious Talent to carry your weight. Decent for just that one extra boost in a day, especially for rogues or face characters.
    So what I'm taking away from all this is that I should get rid of Precocious Talent? Seems reasonable; I was kind of worried about that one to start with.

    Glad you liked the fix, though!
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    On to tactics. If I don't comment, they are probably fine.

    Aspect combat: very necessary. Very, very necessary. Should perhaps be a class feature outright, though I'm not sure how exactly you justify charisma to attack from a fluff standpoint here.

    Twin Skill: Seems powerful at first glance, but probably isn't, actually, given the many, many weaknesses of TWF.

    Parry: Attack roll, not attack check. You should probably change "you are unarmed" to "that attack misses you" or something, since the wording is not entirely clear.

    Combat mobility: not that I'm complaining, but the name seems to indicate that it's meant to only prevent AoOs from moving. As written, it prevents all AoOs.

    Stopping Strike: finally, a tanking ability that works. Especially with polearm mastery.

    Inspire: that bonus seems huge.

    Major tactics all seem necessary and helpful.

    Endure: once against any given spell... once in how much time? Once per an instance of the spell? Once against the spell in your life? Once per encounter per spell?

    Crippling Blow, Called shot: I was ready to comment on this class' problems with weakening opponents beyond just physical damage. This helps a lot.

    Overall impression:

    This seems to suffer from some of the same problems as the fighter. It suffers much less from them, though.

    Namely: it is very good in combat, no mistake. Granting people actions, covering them, and very much killing an enemy are all good. The problem is that I don't see much it can do out of combat. Frightful presence, save boni and Freedom of Movement can be re-purposed out of combat, and physical skill checks help, but I'd rather see a few tactics that are more out of combat focused, you know?

    How about a few abilities that help with skill checks such as intimidation or spotting enemies? Leader abilities for stirring speeches?

    I know it's difficult to find much, here, for fighter fluff, but it just seems this class is very limited. Capable at what it does, but limited.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Eldan View Post
    Aspect combat: very necessary. Very, very necessary. Should perhaps be a class feature outright, though I'm not sure how exactly you justify charisma to attack from a fluff standpoint here.
    You may be right. I'll drop it in at, I think, 3rd level, and move Armor Mastery somewhere else. (Don't want it too early, otherwise it's too dip-friendly).

    Parry: Attack roll, not attack check. You should probably change "you are unarmed" to "that attack misses you" or something, since the wording is not entirely clear.
    Fixed, thanks.

    Combat mobility: not that I'm complaining, but the name seems to indicate that it's meant to only prevent AoOs from moving. As written, it prevents all AoOs.
    It should (and now does) block AoOs from movement and combat maneuvers.

    Stopping Strike: finally, a tanking ability that works. Especially with polearm mastery.
    Thank you!

    Inspire: that bonus seems huge.
    Eh... fear's always been pretty easy to counter. And it's not that cheap in terms of dice expenditure to get those huge bonuses, either...

    Endure: once against any given spell... once in how much time? Once per an instance of the spell? Once against the spell in your life? Once per encounter per spell?
    Once/casting/spell. Should be clarified now, complete with example.

    Overall impression:

    This seems to suffer from some of the same problems as the fighter. It suffers much less from them, though.

    Namely: it is very good in combat, no mistake. Granting people actions, covering them, and very much killing an enemy are all good. The problem is that I don't see much it can do out of combat. Frightful presence, save boni and Freedom of Movement can be re-purposed out of combat, and physical skill checks help, but I'd rather see a few tactics that are more out of combat focused, you know?
    The skill points and knowledge/charisma skills should help. Your aspect lets you spend dice to boost Intelligence or Charisma based checks, which helps a lot. And the physical skill checks are good, especially, when you can commit large numbers of die for superhuman results.

    (I've changed the main die pool mechanic, so that die regenerate out-of-combat as well as at the start).

    How about a few abilities that help with skill checks such as intimidation or spotting enemies? Leader abilities for stirring speeches?
    I'll see what I can do.

    I know it's difficult to find much, here, for fighter fluff, but it just seems this class is very limited. Capable at what it does, but limited.
    The ability to expend dice on skills helps a lot, methinks, but I'll work on some out-of-combat Tactics.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    OK, just skimmed this, at the outset it looks pretty solid already in a lot of respects, couple of things to mention though.

    Firstly, this still has the same trouble the fighter has always had, it kinda lacks things to do in contribution to the group outside of combat. In combat this dude rox sox, but beyond the hack'n'slash, he's flailing about a bit.

    Secondly, noticed the Tactician's Rapid Inspiration ability doesn't mention whether or not you need meet the requirements of the feat you temporarily gain, is this an oversight or your intention?

    Shall read through more thoroughly later if time permits, and give a fuller accounting!
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Working on a set of new Tactics- a new Tactician and Leader for each level. So far I've got:

    (Minor Tactic: Always Ready: You may expend dice from your Talent Pool on initiative checks.)

    Minor Tactician: Warlord's Eye: You may expend dice from your Talent Pool and Spot and Listen checks.

    Minor Leader: Rallying Cry: As an immediate action, expend one die to grant all allies within earshot a +X bonus to initiative, up to your own initiative count. If your ally's initiative count was already higher than yours, they do not benefit from this ability.

    Major Tactician: Experienced Campaigner: You may make a special fighter knowledge check with a bonus equal to your Intelligence modifier plus as many dice as you choose to expend to see if you know some relevant information about notable people, important places, or military tactics. Otherwise, this ability works like Bardic Knowledge.

    Major Leader: Soaring Speech: You may make a speech lasting 10 minutes and expend any number of dice up to one-half your Charisma modifier. Roll these die to grant all allies who can hear you gain a morale bonus to skill checks equal to the total you rolled. This bonus lasts for ten minutes per point of your Charisma modifier. After being affected by this ability, allies cannot benefit from it again for 1d4 days.

    Master Tactican: ???

    Master Leader: ???

    Perfect Tactician: ???

    Perfect Leader: ???
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    The Fighter



    {table=head]Level|Base Attack|Fort |Ref |Will |Special|Tactics|Talent Die
    1st|+1|+2|+0|+0|Aspect, Minor Tactics|1|1d4
    2nd|+2|+3|+0|+0|Bonus Feat|1|1d4
    3rd|+3|+3|+1|+1|Armor Mastery|2|2d4
    4th|+4|+4|+1|+1|Bonus Feat|2|2d4
    5th|+5|+4|+1|+1|Battle Style|3|3d6
    6th|+6/+1|+5|+2|+2|Bonus Feat|3|3d6
    7th|+7/+2|+5|+2|+2|Major Tactics|4|4d6
    8th|+8/+3|+6|+2|+2|Bonus Feat|4|4d6
    9th|+9/+4|+6|+3|+3|Rapid Instruction|5|5d6
    10th|+10/+5|+7|+3|+3|Bonus Feat|5|5d8
    11th|+11/+6/+1|+7|+3|+3|Battle Aspect|6|6d8
    12th|+12/+7/+2|+8|+4|+4|Bonus Feat|6|6d8
    13th|+13/+8/+3|+8|+4|+4|Master Tactics|7|7d8
    14th|+14/+9/+4|+9|+4|+4|Bonus Feat|7|7d8
    15th|+15/+10/+5|+9|+5|+5|Battle Master|8|8d10
    16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+5|+5|Bonus Feat|8|8d10
    17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+10|+5|+5|Battle Meditation|9|9d10
    18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+11|+6|+6|Bonus Feat|9|9d10
    19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+11|+6|+6|Perfect Tactic|10|10d10
    20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+12|+6|+6|Perfect Warrior, Bonus Feat|10|10d12[/table]

    Alignment: Any.
    Hit Die: d10.
    All fine up to hear, although I like fluffy fluff with my crunchy crunch. Cool Image by the way.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Class Skills: The fighter’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex).
    Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) ×4.
    Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
    I personally think that fighters should get martial lore and perform (weapon drill) since they were skills mostly made for fighters, but it depends on the playstile of the specific fighter, so don't take those seriously.

    The 4 skill points per level is certainly a nice increase from the meager 2 points per level.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    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).
    Good

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Aspect (Ex): At first level, a fighter selects one of two Aspects: Tactician or Leader, gaining the following benefits:

    {table=head]|Tactician|Leader
    Key Ability|Intelligence|Charisma
    New Skills|Appraise, Knowledge (all), Speak Language|Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Sense Motive
    Bonus Feat|Able Learner|Battlefield Inspiration (see Miniatures Handbook)[/table]

    In addition, certain Tactics and class abilities differ depending on which Aspect the fighter has selected.
    Both interesting archetypes and it is probably possible to make some more later. The skills suggested above, Martial Lore and Perform (Weapon Drill) might fit one archetype each.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Talent Pool (Ex): At the beginning of every encounter (or scene, for more roleplay-heavy games), a fighter is granted access to a pool of bonus dice, known as his Talent Pool. At first level, this pool consists of only one d4, but it increases by one dice every odd-numbered level. In addition, at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, the size of the dice increases by one step-- d6s at 5th level, d8s and 10th, and so on.

    At any point in the game, a fighter may expend die from his talent pool to gain a bonus on any attack roll, damage roll, saving throw, physical ability check (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), or physical skill check (one based on the aforementioned abilities). He rolls each expended die and adds the result to his check. He may not expend more dice on a single check than his Aspect's key ability modifier.

    In addition, Tacticians may expend dice to gain a bonus on Intelligence checks and Intelligence-based skills. Leaders may expend dice to gain a bonus on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skills.

    When not in combat, expended dice are regenerated at the rate of one die every (10-key ability modifier) minutes, to a maximum of one per minute. In addition, at the beginning of each encounter, the Talent Pool refreshes. All expended dice are recovered, although committed die remain committed.
    This is good and interesting, although I have a question, can the fighter decide to roll a die after rolling the original roll? For example if he is going to attack (at level 1) does he roll 1d20 and 1d4 or does he roll a d20 and depending on the result decides to also roll the d4? Once he gets more dice, can he do it that way too? For example at level 3 can he roll a d20 to hit, then a d4 and if the result is still low enough roll the second d4?

    Similarly does the fighter know the effect of their rolls before deciding to add more dice?

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Tactics (Ex): Tactics are extraordinary abilities, special physical skills and techniques. At first level, and every subsequent odd-numbered level, a fighter learns one Tactic. Initially, he may only learn Minor Tactics. At 7th level, he gains access to Major Tactics, Master Tactics at level 13, and Perfect Tactics at level 19.

    All Tactics require the expenditure of dice from the Talent Pool. Dice are either expended or committed. Committed dice cannot be expended to improve other rolls (see Talent Pool) or to pay for other Tactics. However, at any point on your turn, you may choose to stop committing dice, returning them to your Talent Pool.

    If a Tactic does not specifically say that you can expend or commit any number of dice, you cannot expend extra die to improve the effect. Some Tactics scale based on the size of the die in your Talent Pool- 4 at 1st level (d4), 6 at 5th level (d6), and so on, up to 12 at 20th level (d12). If this is the case, the variable value will be indicated by "X." Some Tactics are only available to Tacticians, and some are only available to Leaders. All Tactics are listed at the end of the class description.
    Interesting will read on tactics further down and comment on them later.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Bonus Feats: At second level, and every subsequent even-numbered level, a fighter gains a single bonus feat, drawn from the list of fighter bonus feats.

    Once a day, a fighter may take one hour to retrain a number of bonus feats equal to his Intelligence modifier. He must still meet the prerequisites for all his feats and prestige classes, as normal.

    Alternately, he may take one hour to train a number of allies equal to one-half his fighter level. These allies must spend the full hour training, at the end of which they receive the benefits of a number of feats equal to the fighter's Charisma modifier. These benefits last for a number of hours equal to the fighter's level. Allies must qualify for the feats they are being trained in, as normal, and trained feats may not be used as prerequisites for anything except more feats they are being trained in during the same session. All feats being granted by this ability must be drawn from the list of fighter bonus feats, and the fighter must have currently selected them. A character cannot be trained by more than one fighter at a time.
    Personally I like this, although imho WotC didn't do a thorough job when selecting fighter bonus feats. I would add the caveat that he can select any feat that he can qualify for, due to having a feat on the fighter bonus list (that is a prerequisite for the feat that he wants to obtain).
    For example Knock-down strikes to me as a feat that should be on the fighter bonus feat list, but it isn't. And since it has improved trip as a prerequisite (a fighter bonus feat) it is easy to spot as a potential bonus feat for fighters.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Armor Mastery (Ex): At 3th level, a fighter may reduce the armor check penalty from any armor he wears by an amount equal to his Strength modifier. He may also ignore the speed penalty from medium and heavy armor.
    I would make this scale, giving the heavy armor speed at later level (or at later level allowing them to run). It is not overpowered and thematic so it is good.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Battle Style (Ex): At 5th level, a fighter gains a special ability, based on his chosen aspect.

    Tactician: Once per round, after successfully making an attack of opportunity, or using the Disarm, Feint, or Trip abilities, you may recover one expended Talent Pool die.

    Leader: Once per round, after making a successful attack while flanking a foe, or using the Aid Another combat action (not the skill), you may recover one expended Talent Pool die.
    It is nice to see a recovery method. It is also nice that doesn't come online at first level, this way players get less things to worry about at the beginning.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Rapid Inspiration (Ex): At 9th level, a fighter gains another special ability based on his chosen aspect.

    Tactician: As a move action, you may expend one die from your Talent Pool in order to gain the benefits of a single fighter bonus feat for 1 minute per fighter level. You may only have one iteration of this ability active at a time.


    You should make sure that they meet the prerequisites. There are [epic] fighter feats.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Leader: As a move action, you may expend one die from your Talent Pool to grant an ally within 60ft the benefits of a single fighter bonus feat you possess for 1 minute per fighter level. You may only have one iteration of this ability active at a time.
    Cool

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Battle Aspect (Ex): At 11th level, a fighter may use his Battle Style ability two times per round, as long as he continues to fulfill the conditions.
    Nice to have.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Battle Master (Ex): At 15th level, a fighter may use his Battle Style ability any number of times per round up to one-half his key ability modifier, as long as he continues to fulfill the conditions.
    Same as above.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Battle Meditation (Ex): At 17th level, a fighter may take a standard action to regain a number of Talent Pool die equal to his one-half his key ability modifier.


    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Perfect Warrior (Ex): At 20th level, a fighter may take ten on attack rolls. In addition, retraining his bonus feats, or training allies, only takes one minute per feat.
    It is good even if not spectacular.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Tactics

    Minor Tactics (General)

    • Aspect Combat: Commit one die to use your key ability in place of Strength or Dexterity when making melee or ranged attack rolls. Alternately, you may use your key ability in place of Strength when making melee damage rolls, or add your key ability when making ranged damage rolls. Commit two die to use you key ability for both attack and damage.
    • Combat Speed: Commit one die to gain a bonus to base movement speed equal to (X/2)*5 ft.
    • Twin Skill: At any point where you could make a single melee attack (standard actions, attacks of opportunity, and so on), you may expend a die as a free action to make an addition attack with your off-hand weapon.
    • Parry: When being attacked in melee, as an immediate action, you may expend one die to make a melee attack (if wielding a shield, gain a bonus to this attack equal to the shield's armor bonus). If your attack roll exceeds your opponents, their attack misses. If your opponent's attack is higher, you are considered flat-footed against the attack, and your shield bonus (if any) does not apply.
    • Mettle: Commit one die to gain the benefits of Mettle.
    • Polearm Mastery: Commit one die. You may attack adjacent foes with a reach weapon, and your total reach improves by five feet.
    • Unstoppable Speed: Commit one die to ignore all natural effects which would reduce your movement speed-- difficult terrain, heavy armor, climbing, and so on.
    Maybe Mettle is too strong being available at level 1 (Specially for dips) other than that all seem cool.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Minor Tactics (Tactician)
    • Cautious Skill: When you would normally provoke an attack of opportunity due to movement or initiating a combat maneuver, you may expend one die to not do so.
    • Stopping Strike: If you make a successful attack of opportunity, you may expend one die to end your opponent's move action on the spot, even if he could normally move farther.


    Minor Tactics (Leader)

    • Covering Combat: Commit one die to protect an adjacent ally. Any melee or ranged attacks against him have a miss chance equal to five times your fighter level. Attacks which fail due to this miss chance strike you instead.
    • Inspire: When an ally rolls a saving throw against an ongoing effect, or against fear, you may expend any number of die up to your Charisma modifier. Roll these dice, and grant your ally a morale bonus to his saving throw equal to the result.
    Those seam alright, maybe the Inspire make it work within a range or as an area (if it is against the same effect).

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Major Tactics (General)

    • Free Running: Commit one die to gain the benefits of the Freedom of Movement spell. This is still an extraordinary ability.
    • Warrior's Step: As a swift action, expend two dice to move up to your speed.
    • Storm of Swords: Expend two dice to make a full attack as a standard action.
    • Riposte: If an opponent makes an unsuccessful melee attack against you, you may, as an immediate action, expend two dice to make a single melee attack against them.
    • Endure: Upon being affected by a hostile spell or spell-like ability, you may, as an immediate action, expend one die to delay the effects of the spell until the beginning of your next turn. You may only use this Tactic once against any given casting of any given spell. Thus, you may delay the damage from a fireball for one turn, but not two. If, however, your opponent casts a second fireball next turn, you may use this tactic against that second spell.
    I would change the freedom of movement, making it work for a round after expending 1 die? Continuous freedom of movement seems really strong?

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Major Tactics (Tactican)

    • Crippling Blow: On a successful melee or ranged attack, expend any number of dice, up to your Intelligence modifier. Until your next turn, you may, at any point, roll the expended die to inflict a penalty equal to the result of the roll to any attack roll, damage roll, or physical skill check the opponent attempts.
    • Called Shot: When making a ranged or melee attack, you may expend two dice. If you hit, in addition to normal attack damage you deal damage to your opponent's Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score equal to your Intelligence modifier.
    This seem quite strong, specially the called shot, it can deal quite a lot of ability damage, I will reduce to half your int modifier, and maybe make it not stake with itself.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Major Tactics (Leader)

    • Direction: As a free action, chose one ally and expend any number of dice up to your Charisma modifier. Until the beginning of your next turn, the chosen ally gains a Talent Pool composed of the die you expended.
    • Order: As a free action, you may expend three dice to grant an ally within 50 feet a single move action, to be taken immediately.
    What can the ally do with the talent pool?

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Master Tactics (General)

    • Relentless: As an immediate action, you may expend three dice to ignore the effects of one spell, ability, condition, or other effect currently affecting you. This does not prevent the effect from affecting other targets. For example, you could use this Tactic to move normally through a solid fog spell, but doing so would not grant allies the ability to do so.
    • Heroic: Commit one die to gain the benefits of either the death ward or mind blank spell. Commit two dice to gain both.
    • Warrior's Surge: As an immediate action, expend two dice to take a standard action. Afterwards, you are fatigued for two rounds. If you use this Tactic again while fatigued, you are instead exhausted.
    • Terror Tactics: As a free action, you may commit any two dice to activate a Frightful Presence effect, with a range of 50 feet. Targets who fail a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 fighter level + Charisma modifier) are Shaken, and those who fail by 5 or more are Frightened. Targets with half as many hit die as you or less are instead Frightened on a failed save and Panicked if they fail by 5 or more. Allies are immune to this effect.
    How does warrior's surge work with creatures that are immune to fatigue. Probably you should make enemies immune to terror tactics for 24 hours after being exposed to it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Master Tactics (Tactician)

    • Denial: When an enemy within your reach attempts to use a spell or spell-like ability, you may, as an immediate action, expend two dice and make a single melee attack. If you successfully hit and deal damage, the spell is countered and the enemy's action is wasted.
    • Stunning Strike: When making a melee or ranged attack, you may expend two dice. If your attack hits, the enemy must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 fighter level + Intelligence modifier). If he fails, he is stunned for one round.
    Denial should only work if the attack is against the enemy that used the spell or spell-like ability.
    Stunning strike is ok I guess, it probably won't be overpowered at this level.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Master Tactics (Leader)

    • Command: As a swift action, you may commit up to your Charisma modifier dice to grant an ally within 50 feet the benefits of a certain number of Tactics you know. Teaching a Minor Tactic costs two dice and teaching a Major Tactic costs three. To enable your ally to use the Tactics, you must also use the Direction Tactic. If you stop committing the dice, or you move more than 50 feet away, your ally can no longer use the Tactics.
    • Take the Hit: When an ally is targeted by a melee or ranged attack, you may, as an immediate action, expend one die to move up to your speed. If you can move adjacent to the ally being attacked, you are the new target of the attack.
    Both seem nice and cool.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Perfect Tactics (Tactician)

    • Killing Strike: When making a melee or ranged attack, you may expend five dice. If your attack hits, the enemy must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 fighter level + Intelligence modifier). If he fails, he is instantly killed. An opponent who successfully saves against this ability cannot be affected by it again in the same encounter.
    • Watchful Blade: Commit 4 dice. Any action taken by an enemy within your reach provokes an attack of opportunity, and you may s number of attacks of opportunity each round equal to your Intelligence modifier.
    I would make watchful blade, modify combat expertise, but don't grant extra attacks of opportunity.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Perfect Tactics (Leader)

    • Horde Attack: As a full-round action, you may expend any number of dice. For every 2 die expended, you may grant one ally within 50 feet a single standard action.
    • Rally: As a swift action, you may expend any number of dice, up to your Charisma modifier. Allies within 50 feet gain a morale bonus to attack, damage, and saving throws equal to your Charisma modifier for 3 rounds. For every two die expended this way, you may cure one ally within 50 feet of one condition (not including death).
    Both nice.

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    New Feats

    Tactical Savant
    Prerequisite: Fighter 7
    Benefit: Gain a new Tactic of up to one level lower than the highest level you currently have access to.
    Special: This feat can be taken more than once. Each time you take the feat, choose a new Tactic. A fighter can select this feat as one of his fighter bonus feats.
    Can he select tactics from the other list? A leader can select tactician tactics?

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    Prodigious Talent
    Prerequisite: Fighter 3
    Benefit: Add one die to your Talent Pool.
    Special: If you are at least 7th level when taking this feat, add two dice to your Talent Pool. If you are at least 13th level, add three dice. This feat can be taken multiple times. This is not a fighter bonus feat.
    Nice feat.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    Quote Originally Posted by Grod_The_Giant View Post
    The skill points and knowledge/charisma skills should help. Your aspect lets you spend dice to boost Intelligence or Charisma based checks, which helps a lot. And the physical skill checks are good, especially, when you can commit large numbers of die for superhuman results.
    Oh. Right. I must admit that I totally missed that. As you were, then.

    How about a third archetype for wisdom, did you ever think about that? A guardsman type, perhaps, or a scout, focused on perception abilities. Let your allies see through illusions, let them not be surprised if you aren't, that kind of thing. Would be neat.
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    Default Re: "Hey, GitP, what time is it? Fighter fix time!" (Though with some new mechanics

    I personally think that fighters should get martial lore and perform (weapon drill) since they were skills mostly made for fighters, but it depends on the playstile of the specific fighter, so don't take those seriously.

    Both interesting archetypes and it is probably possible to make some more later. The skills suggested above, Martial Lore and Perform (Weapon Drill) might fit one archetype each.
    Good idea. More archetypes are certainly possible, although they're require new recovery mechanisms and specialty Tactics.

    This is good and interesting, although I have a question, can the fighter decide to roll a die after rolling the original roll? For example if he is going to attack (at level 1) does he roll 1d20 and 1d4 or does he roll a d20 and depending on the result decides to also roll the d4? Once he gets more dice, can he do it that way too? For example at level 3 can he roll a d20 to hit, then a d4 and if the result is still low enough roll the second d4?

    Similarly does the fighter know the effect of their rolls before deciding to add more dice?
    Good point. Fixed- he must commit dice before he knows the result of the roll.

    Personally I like this, although imho WotC didn't do a thorough job when selecting fighter bonus feats. I would add the caveat that he can select any feat that he can qualify for, due to having a feat on the fighter bonus list (that is a prerequisite for the feat that he wants to obtain).
    For example Knock-down strikes to me as a feat that should be on the fighter bonus feat list, but it isn't. And since it has improved trip as a prerequisite (a fighter bonus feat) it is easy to spot as a potential bonus feat for fighters.
    I like the idea, certainly. I've put it in as an optional rule, so people who disagree with you don't have to discard the entire 'brew.

    I would make this scale, giving the heavy armor speed at later level (or at later level allowing them to run). It is not overpowered and thematic so it is good.
    <Shrug> Easier to keep it all in one place.

    You should make sure that they meet the prerequisites. There are [epic] fighter feats.
    Good point. Fixed.

    Thanks for the catch.

    It is good even if not spectacular.
    The other capstone is, of course, the Perfect Tactic you got at 19th level.

    Maybe Mettle is too strong being available at level 1 (Specially for dips) other than that all seem cool.
    These sorts of things do usually come online in the 3-5 range. But I've nerfed it down to only apply to Fortitude effects.

    Those seam alright, maybe the Inspire make it work within a range or as an area (if it is against the same effect).
    Whoops. Fixed.

    I would change the freedom of movement, making it work for a round after expending 1 die? Continuous freedom of movement seems really strong?
    Yeah, could be. I've made a few changes along those lines.

    This seem quite strong, specially the called shot, it can deal quite a lot of ability damage, I will reduce to half your int modifier, and maybe make it not stake with itself.
    Yeah, OK.

    What can the ally do with the talent pool?
    The same things you can. I'll put that in.

    How does warrior's surge work with creatures that are immune to fatigue. Probably you should make enemies immune to terror tactics for 24 hours after being exposed to it.
    Fixed the second point, but I'm not really sure how to address the first. It should have an effect, no doubt about it, but I'm really not sure what.

    Denial should only work if the attack is against the enemy that used the spell or spell-like ability.
    Stunning strike is ok I guess, it probably won't be overpowered at this level.
    Whoops. Fixed that for 'ya.

    I would make watchful blade, modify combat expertise, but don't grant extra attacks of opportunity.
    I don't want to force you to take the feat (even with retraining). I'll make the extra attacks stack-- this is the capstone, after all. Wizards have 9th level spells. You're certainly justified in attacking everything that moves.

    Can he select tactics from the other list? A leader can select tactician tactics?
    Good idea. Fixed.

    Thanks for the review, and the compliments!
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