How do we make Fighters more interesting, without going down the path of rules-bloat and over-complication? This is a good question, and one the OSR has tried to address for a while now. I came up with several tweaks of my own that I think make Fighters stand out.

Firstly, the introduction of the Explorer Class, and the addition of minimum Ability Score required for Fighters (STR:13, CON:9), help elevate Fighters away from the “default adventurer” status. The exclusivity allows us to beef-up this class without breaking the game too much as each party will likely only have one or two Fighters.

Secondly, I gave Fighters a steadily increasing Attack Bonus (ATT), to ensure that each level they become more deadly at their craft. This is quite easy to do in light of the fact we have removed ATT (traditionally “To-Hit”) as a bonus of high strength. A steadily increasing +1/LV ATT even at LV1 makes these guys physically more imposing.

Thirdly, and continuing in the spirit of the second tweak, Fighters now gain an additional Attack per Combat Round at certain levels. I may be misremembering this (I don’t have a copy to hand), but I seem to remember multiple attacks per round being a thing in 0D&D. Then Fighters were subsequently nerfed by the removal of additional attacks in BX (I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong on that point.) Well, it’s time to put that back in, and to make these guys feared in combat at medium to high levels. Now Fighters are starting to feel like a more special class.

Next, only Fighters can wear Heavy Armor without penalty. Why? Because in addition to the necessary strength required, fighting in bulky armor is a genuine skill. For the untrained, heavier armor would simply become a burden, preventing them from carrying out other tasks, including (but not limited to), hitting other people, moving, running, anything involving fine motor skills, or even gross motor skills. What I’m trying to say is that if you are not trained in the use of heavy armor, as surely Fighters are, then wearing that gear would negatively impact everything else you do. Additionally, because of our helpful minimum ability score requirements, it guarantees that a Fighter has the strength to be able to use such armor in the first place.

Lastly, and continuing on with the theme of minimum ability scores, I added minimum strength requirements to Medium and Heavy weapons (STR:9 for M, STR:13 for H, see Equipment Tables: Weapons, in Book One). These minimum class STR requirement of 13 for Fighters automatically qualifies them for using heavy weapons with two hands. Additionally, most heavy weapons have an additional one-handed minimum STR requirement, which means as a Fighter advances, and inevitably beefs-up their STR ability score with their per-level ability increases, they might qualify for the barbarian-like ability of wielding a great sword with one hand, thus freeing up the other to hold a shield (most Heavy weapons require a STR:15 to wield one-handed while those with “whirlwind” potential require STR:17 – we’ll cover this in a separate post on Weapons, Shields, and Armor.)

So there we have it. Hopefully I have created Fighters that are genuinely good at fighting without breaking the game or turning them into unmitigated super-humans.

Cheers,

Mog.