Fighter

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Fighter

Contents

Ability Scores

Fighters gain a +2 class bonus to Strength or Constitution, as long as it isn’t the same ability you increase with your +2 racial bonus.

Backgrounds

Possible backgrounds include: swordmaster, mercenary captain, sea raider, shieldwall spearman, explorer, bouncer, thug, city guardsman, former gladiator, former orc captive, bankrupt nobleman, duelist, and goblin-hunter.

Gear

At 1st level, a fighter starts with a melee weapon or two, a ranged weapon if they want it, armor, and standard non-magical gear that is suggested by the character’s backgrounds.

Gold Pieces

Fighters may start with either 25 gp or 1d6 x 10 gp.

Armor
Armor Type Base AC Atk Penalty
None 10
Light 13
Heavy 15
Shield +1
Melee Weapons
Weapon Category One-Handed Two-Handed
Small 1d4 dagger 1d6 club
Light or Simple 1d6 shortsword, hand axe 1d8 spear
Heavy or Martial 1d8 longsword, warhammer 1d10 greatsword, greataxe
Ranged Weapons
  Thrown Crossbow Bow
Small 1d4 dagger 1d4 hand crossbow
Light or Simple 1d6 javelin, axe 1d6 light crossbow 1d6 shortbow
Heavy or Martial 1d8 heavy crossbow 1d8 longbow
Level Progression
Fighter Level Total Hit Points Total Feats Maneuvers Known Maneuver Pool Available Class Talents Level-up Ability Bonuses Damage Bonus From Ability Score
Level 1 (8 + CON mod) x 3 1 adventurer 3 1st level 3   Ability modifier
Level 2 (8 + CON mod) x 4 2 adventurer 4 1st level 3   Ability modifier
Level 3 (8 + CON mod) x 5 3 adventurer 4 3rd level 3   Ability modifier
Level 4 (8 + CON mod) x 6 4 adventurer 5 3rd level 3 +1 to 3 abilities Ability modifier
Level 5 (8 + CON mod) x 8 4 adventurer
1 champion
5 5th level 3   2 x ability modifier
Level 6 (8 + CON mod) x 10 4 adventurer
2 champion
6 5th level 4   2 x ability modifier
Level 7 (8 + CON mod) x 12 4 adventurer
3 champion
6 7th level 4 +1 to 3 abilities 2 x ability modifier
Level 8 (8 + CON mod) x 16 4 adventurer
3 champion
1 epic
7 7th level 4   3 x ability modifier
Level 9 (8 + CON mod) x 20 4 adventurer
3 champion
2 epic
7 9th level 4   3 x ability modifier
Level 10 (8 + CON mod) x 24 4 adventurer
3 champion
3 epic
8 9th level 4 +1 to 3 abilities 3 x ability modifier

Fighter weapon attack maneuvers deal damage based on the fighter’s level. You also don’t have to keep track of upgrading a 1st level maneuver into a 3rd level maneuver, because all the maneuvers function at your level. You can change which maneuvers you know and have ready whenever you gain a level.

Stats

Initiative, AC, PD, MD, Hit Points, Recovery Dice, Feats, and some Talents are level dependent.

Ability Bonus +2 Strength or Constitution (different from racial bonus)
Initiative Dex mod + Level
Armor Class (heavy armor) 15 + middle mod of Con/Dex/Wis + Level
Armor Class (shield and heavy armor) 16 + middle mod of Con/Dex/Wis + Level
Physical Defense 10 + middle mod of Str/Con/Dex + Level
Mental Defense 10 + middle mod of Int/Wis/Cha + Level
Hit Points (8 + Con mod) x Level modifier (see level progression chart)
Recoveries 9
Recovery Dice (1d10 x Level) + Con mod
Backgrounds 8 points, max 5 in any one background
Icon Relationships 3 points
Talents 3 (see level progression chart)
Feats 1 per Level
Ability Bonus +2 Strength or Constitution (different from racial bonus)

Basic Attacks

Melee Attack

At-Will

Target: One enemy

Attack: Strength + Level vs. AC

Hit: WEAPON + Strength damage

Miss: Damage equal to your level

Ranged Attack

At-Will

Target: One enemy

Attack: Dexterity + Level vs. AC

Hit: WEAPON + Dexterity damage

Miss: —

Class Features

Fighters have two class features: Extra Tough and Threatening.

Extra Tough

You start with nine recoveries instead of the usual eight.

Adventurer Feat Increase your total recoveries by 1.

Threatening

Whenever an enemy attempts to disengage from you, it takes a penalty to its check equal to your Dexterity or Constitution modifier, whichever is higher.

The penalty doesn’t apply if you are stunned, grabbed, or otherwise incapable of making an opportunity attack.

Adventurer Feat Whenever an enemy fails to disengage from you, you also deal damage to that enemy equal to your Dexterity or Constitution modifier. At 5th level, damage is double the modifier. At 8th level, it’s triple.

Champion Feat Whenever a non-mook enemy fails to disengage from you, it’s vulnerable to your attacks for the rest of the battle.

Class Talents

Choose three of the following class talents.

You get an additional fighter class talent at 6th level.

Fighters have flexible attacks called maneuvers; you roll your attack and then choose which maneuver you want the attack to use. You only get to use one maneuver with each attack, so it’s usually best to choose maneuvers with a few different triggering rolls

Cleave

Once per battle, make a fighter melee attack as a free action after one of your melee attacks drops an enemy to 0 hp.

Adventurer Feat If you have your move action available, you can use it before making your Cleave attack to reach an enemy you are not already engaged with.

Champion Feat You can use Cleave twice each battle, but only once a round.

Epic Feat You gain a +4 attack bonus with your Cleave attacks.

Comeback Strike

Once per battle as a free action, make another attack with a –2 penalty after your first fighter attack during your turn misses.

Adventurer Feat You no longer take the –2 penalty to your Comeback Strike attacks.

Champion Feat Once per day, you can use Comeback Strike twice in a battle.

Epic Feat You gain a +4 attack bonus with your Comeback Strike attacks.

Counter-Attack

Once per round when the escalation die is even and an enemy misses you with a natural odd melee attack roll, you can make a basic melee attack dealing half damage against that enemy as a free action. (The attack can’t use any limited abilities or flexible attack maneuvers.)

Adventurer Feat Your Counter-Attack attack now deals full damage.

Champion Feat You can use Counter-Attack once per turn instead of once per round (in effect, you’re free to Counter-Attack once per enemy turn).

Epic Feat You can now use Counter-Attack when the escalation die is 3+.

Deadeye Archer

Your attacks with d8 ranged weapons (heavy crossbow, longbow) now deal d10 damage per level. Your attacks with d6 ranged weapons (light crossbow, shortbow) now deal d8 damage per level. In addition, your misses with basic ranged attacks deal damage equal to your level.

Adventurer Feat If you spend a quick action to aim before making a ranged basic attack, add your Dexterity modifier to the damage if you miss.

Champion Feat Once per battle, expand your crit range with a fighter ranged attack by 4 (usually to 16+) for that attack. Declare you’re using this feat power before you roll the attack.

Epic Feat Your crit range with ranged weapon attacks expands by 1 (usually to 19+).

Heavy Warrior

Once per battle while wearing heavy armor, when you are hit by an attack that targets AC, as a free action, you can take half damage from that attack instead.

Adventurer Feat Once per day, you can use Heavy Warrior twice in a battle (against different attacks).

Champion Feat You can also use the power against an attack that targets PD.

Epic Feat Once per day, you can reroll a recharge roll for a magic armor power.

Power Attack

Once per battle before you roll an attack, you can declare you’re using Power Attack to deal additional damage with that attack roll. If the attack hits, you deal the following additional damage:

Deal 1d4 additional damage per level if you are using a one-handed weapon.

Deal 1d6 additional damage per level if you are using a two-handed weapon.

Adventurer Feat You deal the additional Power Attack damage even if the attack misses.

Champion Feat One battle per day, you can use Power Attack twice in the battle.

Epic Feat One-handed weapon damage using Power Attack increases to 1d6 per level; two-handed weapon damage using Power Attack increases to 1d8 per level.

Skilled Intercept

Once per round as a free action, roll a normal save (11+) to intercept an enemy who is moving to attack one of your nearby allies. You can pop free from one enemy to move and intercept the attack. If you are engaged with more than one enemy, the others can take opportunity attacks against you.

The moving enemy makes its attack with you as a target instead. If you’re wearing heavy armor and the attack hits, you only take half damage.

Adventurer Feat You can pop free from up to two enemies when using Skilled Intercept.

Champion Feat You gain a bonus to your Skilled Intercept save equal to the escalation die.

Epic Feat Enemies can’t make opportunity attacks against you during your Skilled Intercept movement.

Tough as Iron

Once per battle, you can rally using a quick action instead of a standard action.

Adventurer Feat Once per day, you can rally twice during a battle as a quick action, without needing to roll a save for the second rally.

Champion Feat Increase your total number of recoveries by 2.

Epic Feat When you roll a natural 20 with an attack, you gain an additional use of Tough As Iron this battle.

1st Level Maneuvers

Brace for It

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any miss

Effect: Until the end of your next turn, the first critical hit you take from a melee attack becomes a normal hit instead.

Adventurer Feat Brace for it now works against a critical hit from any type of attack.

Champion Feat Brace for it works against any number of critical hits before your next turn.

Carve an Opening

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural odd roll

Effect: Your crit range with melee attacks expands by a cumulative +1 this battle until you score a melee critical hit. When you score a melee critical hit, your crit range drops back to normal.

Champion Feat The crit range bonus from carve an opening is +2 instead of +1.

Deadly Assault

Flexible melee or ranged attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural even hit

Effect: Reroll any 1s from your damage roll. You’re stuck with the rerolls.

Adventurer Feat Now you can reroll both 1s and 2s with deadly assault.

Champion Feat Deadly assault now also triggers on a natural 17+.

Defensive Fighting

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Natural 16+; if you fight with a shield, also any natural even roll

Effect: Gain a +2 bonus to AC until the end of your next turn.

Adventurer Feat You also gain the bonus to Physical Defense.

Champion Feat The bonus increases to +3.

Epic Feat You also gain the bonus to Mental Defense.

Grim Intent

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural even miss

Effect: The next time you would deal miss damage with a melee attack, add a WEAPON die to that damage. At 5th level, instead add 2 total WEAPON dice; at 8th level, instead add 3 total WEAPON dice.

Heavy Blows

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural even miss

Effect: You gain a bonus to your miss damage with that attack equal to the escalation die.

Champion Feat If you attacked with a two-handed weapon, heavy blows can trigger on any miss, odd or even.

Epic Feat The bonus instead equals double the escalation die with a one-handed weapon, or triple it with a two-handed weapon.

Precision Attack

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any hit with a natural 16+

Effect: You gain a bonus to the damage roll equal to your Dexterity modifier. At 5th level, the damage bonus increases to double your Dexterity modifier; at 8th level the damage bonus increases to triple it.

Adventurer Feat You can now use precision attack with a ranged attack.

Second Shot

Flexible ranged attack

Triggering Roll: Natural 16+

Effect: After this attack, you can make a basic ranged attack with the same weapon (as long as it’s not a weapon that takes a quick action to reload or draw) with a –4 attack penalty.

You can’t use any maneuvers with the second attack.

Champion Feat The second shot attack penalty is –2 instead.

Tail Whip

Source B2

Flexible melee attack

Special: You must be a Dragonspawn.

Triggering Roll: Natural 2-4

Effect: Choose one: an enemy you’re engaged with takes damage equal to your Dexterity modifier (5th level: double your Dexterity modifier; 8th level: triple it); OR on your next fighter melee attack against this target, you can roll two d20 and choose the best result.

Adventurer Feat Add your level to the damage you deal with tail whip.

Champion Feat This power now triggers on a natural 2–5.

Epic Feat Twice a day, you can trigger this power on a natural 1.

Shield Bash

Flexible melee attack

Special: You must be using a shield.

Triggering Roll: Any natural even roll

Effect: The target pops free from you after the attack (does not allow opportunity attacks).

Adventurer Feat If the target is also engaged with any of your allies, you can have it pop free from them as well.

Champion Feat Once per battle, you can also daze the target (save ends) of your shield bash attack, if that enemy is staggered.

Two-Weapon Pressure

Flexible melee attack

Special: You must be using a weapon in each hand.

Triggering Roll: Any miss

Effect: Until the end of your next turn, you gain a +2 melee attack bonus against the target.

Champion Feat The bonus increases to +4.

3rd Level Maneuvers

Hack & Slash

Flexible melee attack

Special: You can use this maneuver only once per round.

Triggering Roll: Any natural even roll, when the escalation die is 2+

Effect: Make another melee weapon attack against a different target.

Make ’em Flinch

Flexible ranged attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural even miss

Effect: Add the higher modifier from your Strength or Dexterity to the miss damage. At 5th level the damage bonus increases to double your chosen modifier; at 8th level the damage bonus increases to triple it.

Punish Them

Flexible melee attack

Special: You can use this maneuver only when you make an opportunity attack.

Triggering Roll: Any hit with a natural 16+

Effect: The target is dazed until the end of its turn.

Adventurer Feat If the target was moving, it stops moving and loses the rest of its move action.

Champion Feat The dazed effect is now save ends.

Epic Feat The target is now weakened (save ends) instead of dazed.

Steady Now

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural even miss

Effect: You gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier.

Champion Feat The temporary hit points increase to double your Constitution modifier.

Strong Guard

Flexible melee attack

Special: You must be using a shield.

Triggering Roll: Any miss

Effect: One ally next to you (including an ally engaged with the same enemy as you) gains a +2 AC bonus until the start of your next turn or until you are no longer next to them.

Champion Feat Bonus also applies to PD.

Epic Feat Bonus increases to +3.

5th Level Maneuvers

A Dozen Cuts

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural even hit

Effect: The target also takes ongoing damage equal to double your Dexterity modifier, or triple it at 8th level.

Champion Feat Once per battle, you can trigger a dozen cuts with a natural odd hit.

Hero’s Skill

Flexible melee or ranged attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural even miss

Effect: Add +2 to the attack roll, then halve any damage dealt by the attack if it hits.

Champion Feat Add +4 to the attack roll instead of +2.

Epic Feat The damage is no longer halved on a hit after using hero’s skill.

Sword Master’s Anticipation

Flexible melee attack

Special: You must have the Skilled Intercept talent to use this maneuver.

Triggering Roll: Any natural even roll

Effect: The next time you use Skilled Intercept this battle, your Skilled Intercept save automatically succeeds.

7th Level Maneuvers

Gather Breath

Source B2

Flexible melee attack

Special: You must be a Dragonspawn.

Triggering Roll: Any natural off miss

Effect: You regain a use of your dragonspawn breath weapon power.

Epic Feat When you use this power but don’t use your breath weapon that same round, add a number of damage dice equal to your Constitution modifier to your breath weapon damage the next time you hit with it this battle.

Never Surrender

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any natural even roll

Effect: You can roll a save against a save ends effect.

Epic Feat You gain a +2 bonus to the save.

Spinning Charge

Flexible melee attack

Special: You must have moved before the attack.

Triggering Roll: Any natural even hit

Effect: After dealing damage, you can pop free from the target, move to a different nearby enemy, and make a basic melee attack against that enemy. You can’t use any maneuvers with the second attack, and it deals only half damage.

Epic Feat If the escalation die is 3+, the second spinning charge attack deals full damage.

Sword of Destiny

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Natural 20

Effect: You can heal using a free recovery.

Epic Feat If the escalation die is 3+, you can now trigger sword of destiny with a natural 18+.

9th Level Maneuvers

Combat Mastery

Flexible melee attack

Special: You can use this maneuver only once per battle.

Triggering Roll: Natural 16+

Effect: Increase the escalation die by 1.

Epic Feat Combat mastery now also triggers on any natural even hit.

Set ’em Up

Flexible melee attack

Triggering Roll: Any hit with a natural 16+

Effect: The crit range of your attacks against the target expands by 3 (generally 17+) until the end of the battle (cumulative).

Epic Feat The crit range bonus from set ’em up now also applies to any ally who attacks the target while you are engaged with it.

Fighter Multiclass

See Multiclassing for general multiclassing rules.

Fighters count as skillful warriors. Your weapon dice don’t drop one step if both of your classes count as skillful warriors.

You lag one level behind two columns of the Fighter Level Progression Table: Maneuvers Known and Maneuver Pool Available. You also won’t get the fighter’s normal bonus talent at 6th level, instead receiving it at 7th level.

As a 1st level multiclass fighter, you start knowing two maneuvers from the 1st level pool.

Armored Warfare

Adventurer Tier Once per battle while wearing heavy armor, use an attack from a class that normally takes an attack penalty while wearing heavy armor without taking that penalty.

Champion Tier You can now ignore heavy armor attack penalties while the escalation die is 3+.

Key Modifiers

Key Modifier Other class
Str/Dex Monk, Ranger, Rogue
Str/Con Barbarian
Str/Int Necromancer, Occultist, Wizard
Str/Wis Cleric, Druid
Str/Cha Bard, Chaos Mage, Commander, Paladin, Sorcerer

 

Section 15: Copyright Notice

13th Age Archmage Engine, version 3.0. Copyright © 2013-2015 Fire Opal Media. All Rights Reserved. Licensed under the Open Game License.

B2: Bestiary 2: Lions & Tigers & Lionbears. Copyright © 2017 Pelgrane Press.

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