The Fighter: What makes them the best class? - RPG Class Spotlight - How to be a Great Role Player
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 авг 2024
- The fighter class archetype, what makes them the best RPG class? We take a look at this diverse class, their knowledge of combat and how you can bring the storytelling aspect of the fighter class to the front!
Food for thought; not every fighter is a member of the city watch, or part of an army. Sometimes they are not well trained, some are dedicated knights. A fighter when monster slaying is very much second nature for them, they relish the moment, or do they?
Want to use an existing character as inspiration? Take a look at Hercules, Beowulf, Sinbad and also Spartacus or Richard the Lionheart.
Happy Role Playing! See you next Episode, and thanks for watching.
Click the bell icon if you want to be notified when new episodes are launched!
UPLOAD SCHEDULE:
Wednesdays: Game Master Tips, Guides and How To's
Thursdays: Player Character Tips, Guides and How To's
......... ............. ..................... ............... .................. ........................
Want some cool modules, maps, and also help support our channels via Patreon? / greatgamemaster
Or support us by buying your RPG stuff at Amazon:
(US): amzn.to/2xTszFF
(UK): amzn.to/2sQbP3y
Essential stuff that we think every role player needs: www.amazon.com...
.......... ............. ................. .................... ...................................
To Stalk me and ask questions go here:
Website: www.greatgamem...
Facebook: / greatgamemaster
Twitter: / howtogm
I also have run an actual game play session on Bacon Battalion which you can find here: / baconbattalionrpg
![[TF2] The Russian Bear Trap](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YFNSwz2_rOA/mqdefault.jpg)
My personal favorite way I’ve seen fighters played is as the mentor character. He’s old, out of practice, possibly a drunk; but when trouble comes to his town, he dons his armor and blows the dust from his shield. And once he’s met up with the other characters with enough backbone to call themselves adventurers, he can’t let them go out alone; these youngsters are going to get themselves killed fighting the way they do! So he stands in front of them, teaching by example, and doing his best to pass on tactics and techniques to these young heroes.
That's a REALLY cool idea, maybe I'll try that once
2 years after you commented this, I just started a new campaign where i'm playing a grizzled, always tired, ex mercenary battle master herding a party of eccentric weirdos into investigating a mysterious plague. Our first session ended with my character reluctantly pulling our cart over by some ruins so our rogue could look for loot, only to be ambushed by a giant monster. he's gonna be pissed next sesion
Fighter sought to be one of my favourite class, at the side of Paladins. What I love about them is that they are such simple characters than only sought to bloom into the most complexe one. For one reason or another, my fighters always ended up being great character, and are all still remembered/discussed by my friends to this day, even years later.
Only one of my wizard characters managed to do it.
Fighters really are a blank page waiting to be written.
Oh god, i thought you were shadiversity
He is and just poses as two different people to not make people think he has two youtube channels so he can make more money, like rtgame and callmekevin who are the same irish boy.
You are not alone.
The thing with the fighter is, it is mechanicaly one of the easier classes, but from the story the one with the least "handholding" on a clreic or wizzard you can always fall back to class mechanics or tropes to find inspiration for your story, the fighter is a lot more a "blank slate" in that regard. On the other hand a fighter can basicly be everyone that had some kind of education in the arts of battle so you are very flexible with the story of the fighter without clashing with any mechanics.
I always end up giving him either a story about family, loyalty, faith, revenge, self-discovery, self-discipline, a series of unfortunate events or just money/the sake of it.
The main problem about fighters is that there are so many possible things you could do, all this freedom can either get to your head or just you end up not having a single idea on what to do with all this freedom, priests and scholars all pretty much come from a common place so it's easy start from there and arguably rogues too as it's much easier to just go with little backstory.. but at least you'll have an easier time after that with no-nonsense "just hit them in the head" mechanics.
personally i make my fighters either commoners wishing to gain lands/potential a kingdom through their marshall prowess, or exiled young lords looking to reclaim their ancestral home from evil relatives/rival house/orcs/demons/kobolds etc
Funny fighter a player ran: blacksmith's daughter with an independent streak and a decent sword, stuck in a zombie apocalypse in a ruined country overrun with zombies and hobgoblins. So much fighting to be done, but more than she could handle without teamwork, smarts, and a bit of growth in other areas. Turned out well!
A possible nice "twist" is the mercenary, not just a "im in it for the money"... a traveling knight without a lord IS essentially a mercenary. Which opens wonderful story opportunities for this class in particular
I'm playing that right now. My character was a bodyguard for a rich merchant until he fucked up and let his master die. Nobody wanted to hire him after this so he took the job from the empire, guarding a ranger on an expedition to the pole. That turned into more than it was supposed too (which was really fun, since I, as a player, didn't know about the secret plans the empire had with this expedition either and my outrage over being played was genuine) and now he's in this whole mess including this 4000 year old druid and the far realm, and appearently he turned into a pyromaniac while staring into the realm of fire for too long and all ofr that in the first session.
Vtm Halle a traveling knight without a Lord is called a freelancer.
Luckyleol Gaming
A freelancer who kills stuff is called a mercenary.
@@johnfraire6931 maybe he is just a free lancer
@@gabriel300010
Ayyy, etymology
a fighter with good strength and athletics and a little bit of quick thinking can pull all kinds of clever tricks by applying their physical powers to the environment. ran out of javelins, so pull a stone out of the castle wall and hurl it. flip over a table to provide cover, pull a door off its hinges and hold it above your party to provide a giant shield against a rain of arrows, hurl a piece of furniture or a barrel down the stairs to tumble over your pursuers, you dont need magic to pull creative moves that any sensible DM or GM should allow and applaud.
My favourite character I've ever played started out as a joke build in a heavily houseruled campaign that grew to be a hero.
He was a noble dwarven fighter who fought with a shovel. A gimmick build but the DM allowed it since part of my backstory was how he forged it himself to be quite a deceptively effective tool (just look at the real life applications of military shovels), and wanted to make a new name for himself loose from status. It was a way to lean into the gimmick and have him deliver grand dialogue about the glory of combat for the greater good. He really developed into the front-lining paragon of the party that makes people call the class "hero" at times. Add a good group of fellow players whose characters he had great interactions with (especially the wizard but really all of them had fun characters) and it was probably the best campaign I've partaken in.
And it all started as "haha, Shovel Knight would totally be a dwarven fighter." But that little fighter managed to pass on his code of Shovelry. (Such as "it would probably be good idea to bury these bodies.")
One of the great aspects of the fighter is that it's the most realistic class. Most of us aren't professional thieves, Priest typically aren't as interesting in the real world, And I've only met one wizard on the subway (and i think he was lying, or crazy). A fighter is like you, and is the easiest to see yourself as. No matter the fantasy world, i'll always ask myself what i would do in a situation, and since i don't have magic or certain abilities in my everyday life, I tend not to immediately consider them.
Most of us are not professional fighters either....
@@Bullettear666 but most of us can learn the basics
@@zThaRipper7 Sure , aswell you can learn pickpokcting skills (dont do recomend it tho) and aswell you can learn how to be more stealthy.
@@rodry751 true but to b as stealthy and as skilled as a rogue in dnd is different. Anyone can learn to fight n use weapons like a fighter tho. But I do get ur point and I agree
11:19 Bless you!
heucl meucl-heucl , I reflexively said bless you when he sneezed and then realized it's a video. . .I might need more sleep.
Omg watching it in 0.25 speed had me on the floor
As a lover of the martial arts, including HEMA, I love to describe how my character attacks. The flourishes, the stances, the parts they target, the parries and ripostes, and especially the finishers/executions.
I made a lizardfolk fighter who fancied himself a swashbuckler, but said 'what ho' at inappropriate moments and his insults to his enemies never made sense. But he was lovable for how hard he tried!
I have a Lizardfolk fighter on the backburner, but the DM hasn't come by to start the whole thing yet. I was reading up on Lizardfolk and apparently they are very cold and calculating, and don't emote like most other races, so I was going to run with that and channel my inner Drax the Destroyer.
I love what Pathfinder has done with the classes to make it easier to customize the benefits to a particular path of a certain class... for example, the Fighter is able to be an archer, and with the Archer Archetype, you would gain certain abilities that an ordinary fighter who decided to specialize, or focus on archery would not gain to make you better. My favorite archetypes of this one are the Armor Master who maximizes the protective ability of the armor they employ, and the Unbreakable, who is the fighter who simply cannot die or be stopped. each is interesting and provides a unique flavor and beautiful variance on the classic Fighter class.
5e D&D does much the same thing, but from the ground up, allowing for different fighting styles to be picked at 1st level and different specialisations at 3rd. The Battlemaster Fighter is one of my favorite classes in any edition of D&D.
My dwarf fighter learned the "two handed thrower" perk in pathfinder. He also had a thing for greataxes. This led to Longbeard the dwarf throwing 2 greataxes per turn in combat before plowing into the fray with his super powerful enchanted greataxe.
He was meant to be a throwaway character that I used to learn the game with before moving onto a more advanced class but I quickly fell in love with this impulsive, self-centred greataxe thrower
Name dropping Captin Carrot...instant like.
I'm surprised Captain America wasn't mentioned. The guy's a great example of an exotic weapon fighter with the whole frisbee-shield thing.
The tiny sword made me laugh! I dod not expect it!
Thank you for the video, Guy. I, too, was disillusioned by my Fighter character, but this reignited my love for her.
One of my favourite characters was basically a half orc fighter. She was a gladiator that was used to the showmanship of fighting so she made sure each combat scene was entertaining more that just trying to win. I also had a lot of fun exploring the personality because I didnt have to think too hard on what ability to use where I wouldnt be able to do that if I was constantly looking up spells
Bless you.
And great video as always.
I actually had the idea of the Badass for a fighter, Like Goblin Slayer or Doom Guy. Some one who is a master with SO many weapons that they have one for any situation.
I still believe that Carrot is a perfect example for a Paladin (down to the magic, when you think about it, despite it not being so conscious, but still it comes from the setting), particularly since he shows a good example of Paladin that can still decieve and manipulate without breaking his code.
As for the warriors, good examples would be Dalinar and Adolin Kholin from Brandon Sanderson's "The Stormlight Archive", who have interesting characters outside being really good at hitting stuff (Dalinar loves "The Way of Kings", ponders about honor and codes, and is trying to keep the kingdom united, Adolin is a fashion expert) and character development outside battlefields.
They are also interesting because, when we have Dalinar's flashback in the third book, they deconstruct the idea of a Fighter who is only good at fighting, showing how it destroys his life outside combat and makes him little more than an animal even in the eyes of his closer friends.
Right now I'm playing an Eladrin Eldritch Knight Fighter who prefers using a bow. She comes from an old noble family that had to flee when the humans came to their land (that was already a thing in the world we're playing in and my DM let me integrate my character in that way) and now she as the only heir wants to return to her family's land and of course had the training a Noble would receive (which makes her a fighter) but is also a very intelligent woman who already knows a few cantrips due to her race and wanted to learn more and therefore became an Eldritch Knight.
It's very interesting to play around with the race which very openly communicates her emotions.
With her the class is more the logical way to handle her in combat than being the main focus.
Waiting for the video about the Druids, nice channel!
Hello sir, I very much appreciate your videos. I was an original AD&D player and only recently came back for 5E, so I am very glad to have your help understanding things in a way that goes beyond basic mechanics. I think that's lacking in the 5e online material and very important to increasing everyone's enjoyment of the game. In fact, that's what I would comment about this particular video. You are doing something I see most players doing in this video, which is building a character out of a popular movie character or an online mechanic. I think, especially for fighters, that only scratches the surface. Fighters are everywhere in all media, and can be made out of things that are just in our environment. I went to a restaurant called Raglan Road recently and just being there was enough to inspire a fighter. Also, I'm a wrestling fan and from that sources probably have 50 or 60 fighters and barbarian builds as well as a few others. That's why I started with a fighter, just as you said, a simple mechanic with plenty of room for making a character. The sources here could be MMA fighters, boxers, the concept of an olympic figher, radio personalities, historical characters,, all kinds of sources from all over the world, and most sources seem to make fighters before anything else.. The possibilities are myriad, especially for fighter, if one closes their eyes to the rulebook as they create the personality and character concept.
I played a scholarly, exploring eldritch knight. He sought artifacts and general knowledge about the world in order to expand his towers library and benefit the world through knowledge. He felt that it was up to him because the wizards in the tower were too engrossed in their studies and someone had to discover new knowledge. Reason he wasn't a wizard himself was because he came from a poor background and only got properly introduced to magic was when he became a city guard that got the assingment of guarding the library door. From there he snuck into the library when no one was looking and read books until wizards noticed him and saw potential. He was always kindly, perhaps a bit too literal and overly helpful. He always took notes. He was one of my favorite characters.
I recently made a battle master fighter based on Guan Yu, the deified Chinese warrior from the Three Kingdoms era. He wields a glaive/halberd, as well as a longbow when needed, and rides a horse as much as possible. He's arrogant and vain, believing that he us the greatest warrior in the land and challenging others to best him, giving them pointers and tips to make them better warriors. He is also very honorable, often to his detriment, scolding the group for using sneaky tactics and magic tricks to win fights. He's learning, though. Very fun character.
Bliss you! In the future when Guy sneezes have him in a golden glow. He can stop look at his hand and say "A cleric must have blessed me!"
My first character is a fighter, subclassed as a Champion. His thing is that he has trained himself to a point, under his dwarven master, where he is now a great sword master, in order to take out the people, who wronged him. Due to past injuries sustained, he has a thing where he doesn't sleep on his back or on his stomach, but on his side, facing whomever he's sleeping next to, depending if the party's on the road. His back is always against a surface so that he can never be attacked from behind again. When he travels, he keeps his shield on his back at all times as added protection. He's paranoid like that and has made for a memorable look.
props for the willow drop. underrated movie
Thanks for suggesting Willow to me. Just watched it and man what a great movie.
Fighter! My favorite. The easy mechanics give you more room for roleplaying
I am multiclassing my character from rogue into rogue-fighter due to the dice taking me that way :D
And i’m loving it!
Evolving characters are the best :)
The fighter's Stronghold was a great mechanic that really should be brought back. People talk about the 'power disparity' between weapon-swinging fighters and dimension-altering spellcsters, and it really started when Strongholds stopped being a Fighter class feature and started being a 'party' thing. They may not get reality-altering class features, but they did get to have a significant impact on the game world they live in. People are more inclined to trust a Fighter of such renown, because they didn't 'cheat' or get glory spoon fed to them by the divine to achieve it. They earned their renown the hard way, and people respect that enough to follow that example. It gave fighters a thing to manage while everyone else was managing their libraries of spells and skills, and roots in the world just as deep as any warlock.
I was experimenting with a kind of Cross-Class build, a Fighter~Ranger
By taking the Ranger half down the Bow Style, I could then take the Sword Style of the Ranger, via the Fighter through the Bonus Feats, which would give me a Ranger in all technical areas, but supported by the Fighter of being able to break bodies in half
my group's fighter has done a lot with his character. He probably has the most personality out o all of our players. He's a duergar who got his hands on the most powerful magic item in our homebrew game, and then refused to give it to any of our spellcasters. He has since crit failed trying to use it twice. Never thought a boring fighter would have our table cracking up so much.
Backgrounds are very important for fighters!
Is anyone getting the audio and video not synced up? I reloaded the page, but it didn't help. None of the other videos are doing it.
Ffourteen Problem's on your end. Works fine here.
Maybe I'm just imagining it. But it seems like the audio track is half a second ahead of the video. But this is the only thing I've watched that is doing it.
you aren't wrong.
Is it just my eyes being weird or is the sound out of synch?
It could be the ears being weird or the images are out of synch.
probably out of synch
yup just a bit off.
Make a perception roll with a 20% difficulty penalty, for your eyes are distracted by the soothing tone of Guy's voice.
@@thejmax crap, nat 1
That sneeze was incredible.
The Fighter is one of the best classes for a Generalist. Not so great for the specialist, but the action surge, second wind, and the extra ability score improvement allow Fighters to be really elastic in their ability to perform any number of assignments as the party requires.
It can be a good exercise in basic role play to given an average bloke off the street. The character has to be adaptable and survive and exercise his wits. This can invite the player to invest in the character personally and drive them to a deeper connection. "We don't antagonize the thugs in the tavern and we flee the brawl because we've only got a club between the four of us and we don't want to die or go to jail and we observe our game setting and learn about the story and are able to contribute to the arc"
Very good work! My first char was a "foot soldier" who followed orders word by word and it was soooo much fun to play that.
I'm now DMing a long term campain and I feel like I need a bit of your thoughts on warlock-like classes.
So, random bit of trivia. Madmartigan, the character from Willow that was mentioned in the video? He was the main source of inspiration for Pathfinder's Iconic Fighter, Valeros. The two even look very similar when you compare Wayne Reynolds' drawing of Valeros to a film still of Madmartigan.
Willow is an amazing movie!
i find it one of those, technically boring movies, that once you start watching you can't stop
Love the idea of a soldier following orders who is none to bright.
"you want me to dig a trench over there do you sir? righto."
Proceeds to dig a trench the whole night as the whole party has forgotten that what they sent them to do.
Intro cracked me up :D
One thing that makes fighters super fun to play is the relationship with their weapon. If you play one right a spearman it should be drastically different from a fencer. A lot of this comes down to feats and role playing but when done right they are an amazingly fun class.
The true strength of the fighter is not in his muscles. It's his mind, he won't back down to anyone or anything, even if he's outmatched. Even if he's going to die he'll fight like he's going to win. There's other mele classes with magic, or stealth and cool tricks. But when it comes down to who's willing to go the hardest when things get hard it's the Fighter, he doesn't have magic or cool tricks to fall back on, he overcomes situations with his mind by mastering his emotions. Don't care what anyone says the Fighter has the strongest will of any class, and the biggest set of fucking balls. That's why I love the Fighter.
One of my favorite characters to look at for inspiration when creating a fighter is Duncan Idaho from the Dune series, especially when he is training to be a Swordmaster.
YES! IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!
I love your fighter review, and share these same sentiments. I've become a meme in my own d&d party. I play fighter who collect magic items and incorporate them into my class. So I don't feel so static, as I'm only hitting people. We permanently call immovable rods, shenanigan sticks cause of my actions.
I’m rather fond of how simple the fighter is, ironic considering I was initially enamored by the casters.
Battle Master & Eldritch Knight’s are both something that weren’t touched on in this post that I would have liked more clarification on, maybe another video for another time perhaps?
Favorite class, bar none, for a lot of the reasons you listed, but also because it helps ground the party. Most my friends favor spell-caster classes, and so it usually falls to the fighter, who granted, is leagues beyond what most mortal warriors could be, to remind the party that not everyone in the world around them can bend reality with the flick of a wrist.
In many cases people look at it in this way:
Now we finally got a role play group up and running! That was not easy! (Finding the people... Reaching some agreement at ... when to play ... where to play ... ARGH!)
So we better get the most out of it! As long as it lasts! (Until someone leaves the group with a pathetic excuse about having to move far away... Or similar... My goldfish ate my character sheet.)
People are looking for quality time, and... let us just be honest about it: "Fighter" is the choice LEAST likely to deliver such.
Our current group has 2 Fighters: A Dwarf Brute, and a Human Battle Master. Our Brute rocks anything two handed and the Battle Master is dual wielding Long Swords with his fighting style and feat geared to it. Our dwarf's thing is more or less 'Honor to his clan and name', and our human's thing is 'repay a debt I owe to the Warlock (me) for keeping me alive in a military platoon'. The backstory is simple, and they're fighting style compliment each other. Human dives in and uses everything in turn one to deal as much damage as possible to one thing or a ton of small things, where Dwarf comes in and mops up the things that are alive with Great Weapon Master's -5/+10, or vice versa. They both wade in and easily mop up anything small, or really beat down the big thing to let the Paladin get his true target ready for a Divine Smite + Searing Smite, and let out Rogue get into place to pop off sneak attacks.
oh jesus that pause after the sneeze hahahaha
the easiest way to make a strong party member is always a fighter with a solid backstory and quirk, my current favourite character is an ex-soldier, father's son that fought together with him in battle. On his last battle under a standard his father lost his life defending their lord and, while they ended up winning and the lord that got his life saved offered to knight him for his family's service, but after a breakdown he ended up rejecting the offer and left home instead.
Even if you could see it a bit cliché, his story follows with his religious study of swordfighting ending up as a jack of all trades master of nothing sort of guy, always in his mail and armed enough to supply a small party, he can wield effectively any weapon from his region while also offering what he has to properly arm whoever trails along with him. His flaws are quite glaring as he's wary of the church, stubborn, rash and often ends up biting more than he can chew, his almost maniacal dedication with contracts and weapons makes him follow a militaristic schedule with daily excercise and equipment care, he can be of great benefit to a party but his behavior can throw off, bother and unnerve the other party members as well as endanger himself meaning that to progress as a character he would need to learn again how to be a normal person and work in a group.
"The Champion is a paragon of virtue"
Me looking at my orc champion fighter and laughing.
If you are going to talk about mass combat, then the one type of fighter you should have mentioned would be the Warlord/Tactician. Sure, that person is going to be great in hand to hand combat, but that is not where his/her strength is; he/she will truly shine when it comes to coming up with the strategies that utilizes everyone's strengths to overcome any foe, or obstacle. He/she will not only have vast knowledge on combat tactics, but also a force of personality to rally others. The best example I can think of is Xena; remember, she started off as Warlord, with a mighty army.
I know what you mean about the fighter getting dull as the levels rise.
Here's me (Fighter): I'll attack with my 'fighterweapon', Hits, 16 damage, and second attack also hits for 12.
Now it's the Rogue: - Cue 5 minutes of dodging darting and a sneak attack.
Now it's the Cleric: - 5 minutes of spiritual weapon, and a smite or osme support work.
Now It's the Idiot Bard: - 15 minutes of vacant staring at spells and abilities, followed by a heal and a weak attack.
You get the feeling your 30 seconds per combat round is getting you short-changed.
My Tip is to not dump the "smart" stats.
Put a worthwhile value into Int, Wis or Chr, and take a related skill.
Suddenly you're the fighter who can Talk, Perceive or Investigate, not just Lurch the Meatshield.
Having some smarts allows you to diversify through upgrades, multiclass dips or feats as you ascend the greasy pole of character level.
Beginning of the video
“that’s actually not a sword..., it’s a tiny sword”
I'm playing a mountain dwarf fighter nowadays, really high strength and con, dwarven axe and shield, very high ac and good damage (duelist-brute). Everyone else is playing a severely under strength character. However I also put vastly more effort into backstory than the other three combined, along with plenty of GM plot hook potential. One player's character backstory is nothing more than what I included about them in my own! The end result is that thus far, my very basic hit stuff tank has had by far the most personality and frankly, things to do, of all the characters. Little of it is dice rolling mind you. My fighter is perceptive, athletic, and also has medicine and herbalism (combat medic).
You have six fingers on your right hand, someone's been looking for you.
Fighters are amazing; there are so many things to do with them. However, the DND champion is not great and needs some sort of change. It is designed as the straight damage dealer but the extra crits don't rival the battle master while he has dice and never matches the brute.
Gareth Lamb Brute? The UA one?
Gareth Lamb try dual wielding with the champion. Essentialy quadripling the crit chances.
I disagree you got down it and be a sharpshooter and its nuts.
Personally, I think the Eldritch Knight is in far more need of a rework. Weapon Bond is nice, and some fun things to do with Arcane Charge, but the EK shouldn't be a fighter with option of magic. It should be a Fighter who wields magic along side their swordplay. 5e did a better with the Arcane Archer and should fixed up the Eldritch Knight while they were at it.
Ateas Dhavar that or remove the evocation+abjuration limitation
My all time favorite class. In skills and role play. I typically try to start a business or occupation. Like once I made a restaurant and I'd make food from the monsters I killed in the field
This is just the way I go about playing the game, whatever system. If I make 10 characters seven are human, and seven are fighters. It''s hard to say why exactly but I like to play mundane humans, maybe even as a bit of a way to make other players race have more contast to a human, and I like that magical characters are contrast against mundane solutions. I love the craft of mundane ingenuity. And it's an interesting character, he doesn't have magic or divine protection, only the will of perfecting his craft, taking a simple piece of metal or wood and using only that tool and the mind to be the change they want in the world.
There are all sorts of nuances, this character is noble so he's more geared to fight in expensive armor. Another may have little more than a wood quarter staff and padded jerkin but he trained to be quick and nimble. My personal favorite, an aging alcoholic fighter who in his old age relies a lot more on his shield than he used to. So many great stories to be told. Look at Game of Thrones, there are a hundred awesome unique fighters and mundane characters.
Mad Martigan! My first character in ad+d was modeled after him. What makes the fighter the best class? It has the least amount of paperwork. You are the guy who is only worried about the murdering aspect to murder hobo-ing, this is your class.
Madmartigan was the best movie fighter ever!
Willow saying; "You really are a great warrior!" and Madmartigan spinning his sword and falling on his butt was epic!
I love the fighter. I’m really interested in historical European martial arts and I enjoy describing my attacks using real sword techniques.
That's the biggest joy of playing a fighter
if all you do is hit stuff, might as well put effort into each hit
I have a human fighter (Pretty generic) that has lived in dwarvish halls as he had ran away from his family.of farmers and has researched a ancient technology with his dwarven mentor that has recent sent him crazy so Kojote (human fighter ) had to kill him.
He has now got a mechanical hand, a missing ear and a " magic " crossbow that has no range limit
"I am the greatest swordsman that ever lived"
Yes! You are very right!
Bless you, good sir.
I know you talked about the gladiator, but what about the duelist? Making a dex based figher is extremely fun and can do some serious damage, as well as having a built in RP mechanic. I had a character that acted as a second in Noble duels and had to be primary quite a few times. As he leveled I ended up giving him skill feats to broaden his RP function, which was not a hindrance to his combat function. I didn't have to multi-class to have a multi-facited character.
Please, could you make a video on designing your first adventure? I just started cutting my teeth on 5E and I feel so overwhelmed and am afriad I might be railroading my group!
I've always felt like fighters are calmer barbarian, that's why I've always struggled with them
My current character is my first ever fighter and it's a dragon born dragoon that jumps way too much, also last combat I used a meat shield which was fun.
How ever I always planned to switch it around mid game by letting him to become a commader of an anti dragon knight outpost (his parents were killed my an ancient red dragon).
Out of the six 5e sub-classes, champion, battle master, eldritch knight, samurai, cavalier, and arcane archer... I find battle master to be the most enticing. I have yet to play a 5e fighter, but I like a good team player type character.
Depending on the system, fighters can come in many flavours:
The Holy Warrior: They may not have the spells and abilities of the Paladin, but they are the evangelical heart of the team. They are strong willed and assist the party. Perhaps they do have a few holy spells, but still not as effective as Paladins and Clerics.
The Arcane Dabbler: They are not spell swords or battlemages. They are still primarily warriors. However with a few spells. Usually spells that enhance their combat abilities, making them even more powerful. They may not be adept in magic, but they can be called upon for their arcane knowledge and ability to sense magic.
The Athlete: Jumping, running, climbing and swimming come naturally to this fighter. Their physical prowess is not just for the battlefield. The athlete is full of energy, even with only four hours sleep. They are dashing around, extremely evasive and incredibly tough.
The Underdog: It happens to the best of us. During character creation, rather than getting those awesome 14's, 15's, 16's, 17's and 18's, you're stuck with middling to awful stats. Don't ask for a reroll. Instead why not embrace the fighter who has 8 Strength, 9 Dexterity, 7 Constitution, 5 Intelligence, 8 Wisdom, and 9 Charisma? Turns out the party Wizard is better at wielding a sword than you. Your party's scrappy rogue is actually better at wielding a battleaxe than you are. The barbarian who has never seen a longbow in their life, can wield it better than you. You are the weakest and most useless party member. You can only do the one thing, fight and you're terrible at it. That is the point. The sheer frustration of being useless at what you do best, is what makes The Underdog's journey fascinating. Don't re-roll. Just roll with it.
The Tactician: They know a lot about tactics, various enemy types, strategic positioning and have a counter for every move. Extremely aware of their surroundings and always thinking two steps ahead. They many not know any magic, but they can neutralise magic users. They may not be sneaky, but no rogue can ever get the drop on them. As for their initiative, they always start first. Forever alert and never making small talk, a tactician's mind is always about staying alive. The tactician is also the person who figures out whats going on before the rest of the party does. They may not be charismatic, but they excel at reading people and situations.
The Leader: Leaders bolster the team with various battle cries. They know a little first aid and survival, but excel when it comes to charisma. In social situations, the leader will always step forward. In delicate diplomatic situations you can always count on them. They may not be the best at fighting, but they are the face of the team. Supportive, passionate, hard working and inspiring. The Leader is the one you want in charge of your party.
The Rogue Fighter: Levels in a rogue like class is certainly beneficial though not always needed. This Fighter is sneaky, smooth talking and generally a pain in the neck. This diamond in the rough is normally a mercenary or hired thug. Their shaky moral code, combined with their stealth, deception and dirty fighting, makes for an unpredictable fighter.
The Soldier: For this build, take some fighting classes and do a ton of research. The Soldier is extremely disciplined. They are good at anticipating, countering and hitting foes with a variety of weapons. However, this is not your Hollywood warrior, because you the player have actually done your homework. Your descriptions of this fighter are realistic. For extra role playing points, consider fatigue, survival needs, basic first aid and a methodical approach. You may joke around, but when the going gets tough, only you have the willpower and fighting techniques to see you through.
The Pit Fighter/Gladiator: You know the sort. Scrappy, trash talking slave of a fighter, who is a combination of athlete, performer and martial artist. Yes you know unarmed combat, but unlike the Monk, you are not some mystical lawful aligned perfectionist. You fight dirty. You are as comfortable with a blade as you are with your fists.
The Noble Fighter: You were born into riches. You were trained by the best swordsman and archery teachers from a young age. You are the classically trained text book fighter. For this build, look up real life fighting treaties. Your fighting style is based on these techniques. The upside is that you are a disciplined finesse (or dexterity) based fighter, with a light frame that favours epees, foils, sabres and rapiers. The downside is that you are predictable (a trait that your foes will endlessly exploit). You are also naive, snobbish and let's face it, a terrible person. You look down on the poor, are entitled and if you're a male, you are sexist. Discuss this one with the GM and other players, because there are many personality traits that The Noble Fighter has that may make some players feel uncomfortable (especially female players).
What do you make of this list?
I know, D&D is the one grand system to advertising classes.
But I think classes are not characters. Classes are not even molds to form a character (in a roleplaying sense - for game mechanics they are of course).
I see classes as little more then a rule and skillset, a template.
What you do with this template is up to you. a class limits some directions, but it boosts in others.
That said, choose a class according to your playstyle, or what you want to be able to do.
And then build a character around this idea.
Like in the video - why doese the archer *need* to be a ranger? Why has the highwayman to be a rouge?
If you stop letting a class define your character entirely, you open up so much more possibilities.
Small example, allthough not from D&D but from 'The Dark Eye' (It's similiar in many regards to D&D as it is high fantasy with classes and levels).
Character started off as double-class 'shepperd' - 'mercenary' (classes here define more what you did, before you started adventuring and not entirely what you do while adventuring).
Idea: Young shepperd living in some greek-culture island-kingdom. On some day a cyclops walks along (of course they live there in the wilderness), plucking some sheep from the flock and walks away, ignoring the screaming guy behind him.
The young hero, however (not the brightest star on the night-sky, but more brave then good for him) followed the cyclops to his den. Then, what might have been a really short and painful career turned out otherwise:
The cyclops, not hungry anymore and in a bit of a trollish attitude towards this pesky human told him in a solemn voice:
"You, brave man - will once be the greatest hero of them all. Now go and find your destiny."
Long story short, the young shepperd runs of to find his destiny... (starting by stealing a ceremonial brass-cuirass, from the royal guard and then leaving the islands very quickly, joining a mercenary group for some time, but then walking away, to become the hero, he was prophecied.
He now looks like a love-child between King Leonidas from 300 and Marv from SinCity, fights in the most outdated armor availible and with weapon types not in use since 200 years. And he is this kind of impulsive hero who goes:
Lord: "The evil guy has kidnapped my daughter!"
Hero: "Ok. I'm on it." *start to run off*
Rest of the party: "Hey! Wait!"
Hero: "What? Daughter kidnapped. Have to free her!"
Rest of the party: "You should at least let the lord tell you *where* she is!"
Hero: "Oh...."
Morale: none of theese classes, neither shepperd nor (ex)-mercenary, indicate some 'good' or 'heroic' character. But their abilities and start-stats work very well with the idea I had in mind. So you might tweak some values in time, you might restrain you from some ablities, you don't need anyway to play the character you want.
You can do everything, even in a class-based system.
11:19 Acid Breath
Best opening ever
I really appreciate your videos. I'm interested to know your opinion in Arcane Archers?
What about the D&D Warblades? More flavored and interesting version of the fighter?
My personal favorite fighter build was one based around Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
EDIT because it needed to be said: LAUNCELOT: Um, I think when I'm in this idiom, I sometimes get a bit, uh, sort of carried away.
I’m actually about to start playing a fighter in my DM’s game, 5e and I’m intending to go Eldritch Knight to workmahic and the blade. For his background, we’re still working it out but so far he was in a militia and trained in medicine to act as a unit medic. In fact, that’s most of what I am planning on for his down time, to work as a doctor in between adventures. Possibly helping at the temple in their hospital wing or eventually opening his own practice.
Tony B my 5e fighter is going with combat mastery. She's a halfling raised by dwarves with the defensive fighting style. Her AC at level 1 is a 19. Nothing can hit her xD
Tony B
Eldritch Knights can be quite weak ability-vise, it's often weak. Perhaps look into some Remastered buffed Eldritch Knight options online
Mine's 19 as well lol with the defensive style :)
ano, I know its not as direct as the battlemaster or champ (course were level 1 so might go one of those, stats are just fine for any of the three just expecting EK). Spell casting might not be as badass, but im thinking flavor and versatility (also our group doesn't have a arcane caster, might not be getting one either). Also it opens me up to a number of organizations in my DM's world that give access to different spells, abilities etc. Might be able to channel spells through my sword (like duskblade/spellsword in 3.5) or re-equip my bonded weapon to a different type of weapon, depends on the organization I join (if I get the chance). Having a full round of attacks delivering weapon + spell damage, not bad I think.
I love to play halberd wielding fighters, specially now in 5th edition. I may not be the best damage dealer, but I keep enemies away from squishy people and focused on me.
He-Man = barbarian.
I've always thought of Inigo as swashbuckler rogue
"You don't belong in a story you belong in a combat" -My GM
Ikr even the combat sucks, I had to fight goblins with multiattack as early as level 1 but everyone else at the table is fun and we make jokes about how much he suck behind his back because taking suggestions to improve himself is also something he's terrible at
bless you
I still think the Ranger is the best story character because you have the chosen prey and there's so many choices there. I had a man hunter before who was the last member of a clan that was genocided by a city state that wanted the land because of its rich resource. So the ranger was basically an assassin, but with some serious style and didn't have to just rely on stealth.
As for fighters I did have a really fun knight who was a warforged who was rebuilt by the mage son of a lord, but when the son ws killed away at war the family came to realize that I had retained a part of the son's spark and was sorta like his half brother twin similar but not quite him thing. So I was like the adopted son of a lord, but being a warforged I wasn't respected by the other noble households because I'm not really a noble I'm a machine, and its was great having all those dynamics set up, but in the end I was this extremely loyal knight with some solid story behind it.
In one of the games that me and some friends used a world building tool to build a world together I played a nomadic mercenary type warrior. My character lost friends and family at a young age and vowed he would not fail to defend those he chooses to protect, but he is not perfect and a man that hires him is wanted dead by a competing merchant. My character was sleeping with him out in the stars in the dunes of the desert. My character came from the desert so he felt like he could deal with foes who may not be used to it. My character wore white armor or it was cover in white cloth I should say. He used a spear and tower shield and used phalanx type fighting. Assassins got into the area where the merchant and my character were sleeping. The merchant was awake and had made a fire. The assassins got in close and the merchant panicked and yelled to wake my character. My character got up and fought the assassins. My character got distracted by one of the assassins and the other assassin killed the merchant. In failing to protect the merchant my character felt a deep sorrow. He began to fight with rage and he killed the assassin that killed the merchant. As he was fighting the last assassin he tore the mask from their face to reveal a woman under the mask. My character kept fighting and eventually the assassin made a mistake and lunged to deeply and my character shield bashed her knocking her down and making her lose her weapon. My character walked up to her while she was on the ground. At this moment my character had conflicting feels about killing her. She then yelled at my character to kill her. My character decided to walk away, but as he tried she tried to stab him in the back. My character turned around and stabbed her with his spear. She was so far impaled by the spear that he torso touched his hand that was holding the spear. Her dagger was stabbed into my character shield but did not go through. Only again my character found great pain. He tried to save lots of people in the game. If he killed anyone or failed to save someone he would do a ritual burial in which he would pray for their soul. I did this every time someone died. It was interesting.
In my opinion the fighter really comes down to one word: Honour. How does your fighter measure honour? What is honourable to them? Do they gain honour from killing enemies or from protecting friends? Do they gain it from following orders or by liberating themselves from them? Do they gain it from outsmarting their enemies or by proving that they are strongest? Is it honourable to acquire wealth for yourself and your family or to forsake wealth for your people? I'm sure there are other interpretations I've missed.
Oh boy digging a trench, my favorite!
Great tips.
What is the name of the music that plays at the end?
Can you add background music to your videos. I love the information that you give but it’s hard for me to just sit there listening to you in a really quiet atmosphere. Just something elegant or something that fits the video theme.
you could also be a knigh who reached his goal and then kinda lost everything because he laid back ... so almost like "Erec" in the Arthur roman
Weeeell... Technically, it's not a Fighter, but it's almost mechanically the same as the Fighter except it does have stuff like Parry and Riposte, as well as Superior Feint later on. I'm talking about the Swashbuckler. Of course, there is some distinct flavour to the Swashbuckler, but on its own without a backstory it can certainly be boring as well.
I decided to play as a Swashbuckler named Kiri in the official Pathfinder adventure path Curse of the Crimson Throne (fantastic AP, I'm sure you've heard of it and might have played it). Either way, I obviously won't spoil what happens, but I gave Kiri a lot of backstory that fit with the campaign's setting: the city of Korvosa. She grew up on the streets poor as they come, but as she made friends with a couple fellow orphans, Fina and Kaeros, she worked with them to create a sort-of home in the back alley.
Those NPCs actually ended up becoming very important later on as a sort of vulnerability for Kiri, and it ended up being a really awesome character moment! That and any time the city itself is involved.
Dungeon World made The Fighter interesting. It forever changed my viewpoint.
What about the bard?
What would be done to make a character work if the character is a hybrid of two races, for example: being both a Half-Elf and a Half-Orc
James Dragonhammer ask the player what appeals to them about each race. And if needed ask what stat bumps they like from the class. Then u as the DM choose what you think fits.
Had a player wanting to be half elf halfling. Gave him stat increase of the Grugach elf, as well as the halfling lucky trait and the poison resist from halfling.
Pick one and they get it. The other is just rp
My problem with fighters is that there is nothing that makes them unique. If your goal is to be a melee fighter the fighter class might not even be your first choice which I think is sad. Sure barbarians and even rangers are warrior types but when you think about making a melee fighter who is lightly armed fighter is probably not your first choice and making a combat rouge makes more sence than a fighter if you want to go swashbuckler type. They are supposed to be versatile through feats, but their lack of skill points and the weighting toward heavy armour means they usually end up being a two handed weapon or shield fighter, not very versatile at all really. Part of the reason all the specialty classes exist, like samurai or cavalier, is because fighters are too generic. It is probably the most multiclassed class (at least in my games) because of the extra feats, HP and base attack that it offers to more interesting classes.