Fighter talents

Battle Addict

Peace and quiet makes you twitchy and nervous. You need the excitement of battle like a drug.

On your first attack roll in a battle, roll twice and choose the result you like.

Adventurer feat: When you hit with a melee attack, add the escalation die to damage. Double the bonus at 5th level, triple it at 8th.

Champion feat: If your first attack is a miss despite rolling twice, you can use the ability again on your second attack.

Epic feat: At the start of battle, roll your recovery dice and gain as many temporary hit points.

Bigger Stick

Your attacks with heavy two-handed melee weapons (greatsword, greataxe) now deal d12 instead of d10 damage per level. Your attacks with light two-handed melee weapons (spear) now deal d10 instead of d8 damage per level.

Adventurer feat: If you spend a quick action to prepare a wide swing before making a two-handed melee basic attack, add your Constitution modifier to the damage if you hit. Double the bonus at 5th level, triple it at 8th.

Champion feat: Also deal the above extra damage on a miss.

Epic feat: You deal an extra weapon damage die on a hit with a two-handed weapon attack.

Bravado

When you are outmanned and outgunned, it takes guile and skill to do the unexpected to turn the tide of battle.

Once per battle, as a standard action, you can pull off an attack that is outside of what is normally covered by the rules. Smash a pillar to collapse the ceiling. Flip a table and charge into a wall of enemies with it. Smash an enemy into an open pit of lava. Improvise. Your GM will help you with the specifics, such as how many enemies you can catch, what the damage would be, and any additional effects. This talent allows you to pull off the stunt without additional skill checks, but you still need to roll to attack.

Combat Challenge

You are a dominant force on the battlefield, and you prove it with every strike.

When you attack an enemy you are engaged with, regardless of hit or miss, you mark the target. The mark remains until the end of your next turn, or until the target successfully disengages from you. While the target is marked, it takes a -2 penalty to attacks that do not include you. When that enemy makes an attack that does not include you, you can make a basic melee attack against it as an interrupt action.

Adventurer feat: If a marked enemy can pop free from you through an ability, it still has to succeed at a disengage check.

Champion feat: You gain a +2 bonus to melee attacks triggered by your mark.

Epic feat: Marked enemies must succeed at a disengage check even if they use a teleport or similar powers to get away from you.

Fencing

You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage with one-handed melee weapons.

Adventurer feat: You gain a +1 bonus to PD in light or no armor.

Champion feat: You gain a +2 bonus to your critical threat range with small and light one-handed melee weapons.

Flexible Tactics

Treat every fighter maneuver that is a "flexible melee attack" as a "flexible melee or ranged attack". This talent allows you to trigger the maneuvers with a ranged attack roll, but everything else remains the same. For example, if the maneuver grants a melee attack, that attack is still a melee attack and not changed to a ranged attack. For maneuvers that require a shield, you can't use them with a bow, but with a one-handed ranged weapon like a throwing axe.

If a maneuver has a feat that allows you to use it with ranged attacks (like Precision Attack), you gain that feat for free.

Adventurer feat: You can switch between melee and ranged weapons as a free action.

Maneuver Mastery

You gain an additional feat per level, which you can use on your Fighter maneuvers. From first level, this is an adventurer feat, from 5th level, a champion feat, and from 8th level, an epic feat.

Champion feat: You gain a bonus fighter maneuver at two levels below your current pool available.

Overworld Guardian

You are a proud citizen of Horizon, or any of the other flying realms of the archmage. You are a city guard, or a private guard of a wizard or an academy. On that job, you have picked up a few arcane tricks.

Choose a wizard utility spell of up to your level and gain it as a power.

Adventurer feat: If you are attacked by a spell or magic effect, you gain a +2 bonus to defenses.

Champion feat: Once between short rests, reroll a die to recharge a magic item.

Epic feat: You gain a second utility spell, of up to two levels lower than your own.

Punish Mistakes

You exploit any slip-up and misstep of your enemies immediately.

When an enemy you are engaged with rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll, you can immediately make a basic melee attack against that enemy as a free action.

Adventurer feat: You can make a fighter melee attack instead, which allows you to use maneuvers.

Champion feat: The opponent is vulnerable to your attack.

Epic feat: Once per battle, you can use this power on a natural 1-5.

Shieldbearer

Once per battle, when you wield a shield, you can force an opponent to reroll an attack against you.

Adventurer feat: Your shield also grants a +1 bonus to PD.

Champion feat: Increase your AC bonus from shields to +2.

Epic feat: The reroll takes a penalty equal to the escalation die. If your opponent still hits you, you don't expend this power.

Spirit Warrior

You have befriended an animal that accompanies you on your journey. This can be a natural animal that you trained, or a totem guardian that you have formed a bond with on a spirit journey. Your bonded totem can act as a guide in unknown territory. It can warn you of approaching supernatural creatures and other dangers. You gain a 5 point background to represent the guidance your totem can provide.

Your companion also has one ability from the Wizard familiar list.

Adventurer feat: Once per battle, you can reroll a saving throw with your Wisdom modifier as a bonus.

Champion feat: Your spirit companion has a second familiar ability.

Epic feat: For one battle per day, your spirit companion provides you with resist psychic 18+.

Swordmaster

Fencing is an art. A deadly art. Like dancing, the key is to feel the rhythm and let it guide your body from head to toe. On the battlefield, your grace is unmatched.

Once per battle, you can increase the natural d20 roll of one melee attack by 1.

Adventurer feat: If you do and the attack is still a miss, you deal extra damage equal to your Dexterity or Charisma modifier and you can pop free from the opponent.

Champion feat: If you roll a natural 20 on an attack, you regain the use of this talent.

Epic feat: Once per day, you can increase the roll by 3 instead.

Tactician

You fight with your brains, always one step ahead of your opponent. You can substitute Intelligence for Dexterity or Constitution with your Threatening class feature and in the effects of fighter maneuvers.

In addition, starting from 3rd level, you can choose a tactic from the Commander class instead of a fighter maneuver. The tactic must be two levels lower than your Fighter class level. Use Intelligence instead of Charisma for their effects.

Two Healthy Fists

You do not suffer the standard -2 penalty to unarmed attacks, and your damage die with unarmed melee attacks is increased to d6. If you have both hands free, you gain the two-weapon fighting bonus with unarmed attacks (you can reroll natural 2 on the attack die). If you have your hands full, you can still make unarmed attacks such as kicks and headbutts.

Adventurer feat: When you are grabbed, you don't take a penalty to disengage checks, and you don't grant the grabbing enemy an attack bonus.

Champion feat: Increase the unarmed damage die to d8.

Epic feat: Increase your critical threat range with unarmed attacks by 2.

War Orphan

You have known nothing but combat in your life. The borderlands of your childhood were ravaged by invading orcs, creeping horrors from the hellholes and rampant monstrous creatures. Your parents were killed in these attacks, and you have only faint memories of them, if any. By all accounts, you should have been one of the forgotten victims of those wars, but you pulled through. Starving, begging, scavenging, you persisted. You had nobody and nothing to rely on but yourself. You picked up arms when you were old and strong enough to hold a sword. War is the only thing you know, but you have learned how to survive.

You gain a +1 bonus to PD and MD. In addition, you add your Constitution modifier saving throws.

As a natural loner, you have no interests in the greater machinations of powerful beings, and start the game with one less icon relationship, for a total of two. You gain an additional relationship point at 5th and 8th level as normal.

Adventurer feat: Add your Constitution modifier to death saves.

Champion feat: Once between short rests, reroll a skill check related to survival and take the second result.

Epic feat: Roll d12 for recovery dice.

Watchman

You have spent years in the city watch, as a guard of a palace or temple, or on guard duty as a soldier. You gain a 5 point background to represent that training. Among other practical skills, this has taught you to stay awake even on long, uneventful watches, and always keep your eyes open for potential danger.

Roll twice on Wisdom-based checks to notice sneaking enemies, stalkers and ambushes. 

Adventurer feat: Add your Constitution to initiative rolls when the party is attacked during a short rest or full healup.

Champion feat: Roll twice on Constitution-based skill checks to avoid falling asleep, or to wake up immediately and be combat ready.

Epic feat: Even if your enemies use supernatural means like teleports and invisibility for an ambush, you can always roll to notice them, and the difficulty is never higher than normal.

 

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Version 0.2, 28 Nov 2016 

See also: Fighter maneuvers.

Art credit: Kir-Tat - Christina 2