O.G.R.E.S. Fantasy: Re-Thinking the Fighter

 I've been working on several projects lately as whimsy strikes me and I consider where to go with Elf Lair Games. One project that is fated to come out eventually is the Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age role playing game, which will be the "Powered by O.G.R.E.S." version of Lovecraftian / Howardian swords and sorcery fantasy gaming. I won't get too much into the conceit of it, suffice to say that in a very real way, you'll be playing the gods of old...long before they become gods. 

As I consider this game and put notes on paper (or virtual paper, as the case may be) I am also thinking about the archetypes of fantasy gaming, in particular, the Fighter. The Fighter had a true niche to play and some real advantages in their 0e, little brown booklet function: at that time they were the only class that applied Dexterity to defense, in the sense that opponents suffered a penalty to hit the "Fighting Man" who had a high Dex score. They also had additional attacks beyond those of original characters (in the form of greater "Man" ratings), and a number of other benefits beyond the simple ability to use all weapons and armor. 

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As the years went on, the Fighting Man (re-named "Fighter") got somewhat diluted. Their additional attacks were stripped back to "an additional attack per hit die against 1 HD opponents or less," which by 5th or 6th level in most campaigns was an ability that was rarely, if ever, used. They also got quickly outclassed by spell casters at higher levels, and were even outclassed by sub-classes like the Ranger and Paladin. The addition of Weapon Specialization did little to offset these issues, and the ability to use any weapon or armor counted for less than it did in the old days. 

People made human fighters, for the most part, because it could be done in 10 minutes flat and required little to no resource management, not because they had a burning desire to play the class. 

Enter 3rd edition, and the attempt to "fix" fighters with a laundry list of Feats. That turned the class into a litany of special bonuses and abilities you had to track, which made it equally as complex as any other class, and they still got overwhelmed by high lever spellcasters. 4th edition failed again to fix the problem by simply turning every class into, essentially, a resource-managing spellcaster. Fighters got sanitzed down to look just like everyone else. 5th edition probably goes the farthest towards fixing the issue, but 5e overall has gotten a bit bloated with rules. 

The Fighter in O.G.R.E.S.

So where does that leave us with O.G.R.E.S.? The prototype for what will become the Fighter or Warrior in WL can be seen in Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars in the form of the Veteran. This is a good start and I'll likely leave the Tracking ability in place, because I like the idea of a fighter as a military-trained or survivalist-type sellsword whose abilities cover strategy, tactics, and tracking in city and wilds as well as just using swords. They will keep the Veteran's ability to add Strength bonus to melee attacks and Dexterity bonus to ranged attacks, something not every class in O.G.R.E.S. can do. 

But let's consider the primary needs and shortcomings of the class as it traditionally stands. 

1. Fighters get outclassed by spellcasters by mid-level. They have comparatively low saves (already partially fixed by moving to the O.G.R.E.S. attribute-based saves) and the wealth of spells that have no saves can really end them. 
2. The ability of the fighter to use any weapon and any armor is a comparatively small bonus--especially in a game where all weapons deal 1d6 damage. 

So how do we address these issues? The answer comes in how class abilities are handled in O.G.R.E.S. - with basic percentile scores. 

Fighters and Magic

In O.G.R.E.S., Fighters gain a spell resistance ability which increases as they go up in level. Whenever targeted by a spell, the Fighter rolls their spell resistance before they make any save. On a success, the spell, regardless of what it might be or whether it normally has a saving throw, doesn't affect them at all. Spell resistance starts at a percentage equal to the Fighter's Constitution score, and increases by 5% per level of experience. A 10th level Fighter, then, will have a spell resistance of 55%. To keep thinks competitive on the battlefield, we'll reduce the spell resistance chance by 10% per level of spell being cast, so if the Fighter is targeted by a 3rd level spell, their spell resistance is reduced by 30%. Spell resistance will cap out at 90%. 

If the fighter fails their spell resistance, they can still make any applicable saving throw the spell might allow.

Note this still needs to be properly playtested, so these numbers are not hard, fast, or final. But where most other class abilities begin by combining two attributes, or at around 50%, this one uses only the Constitution score as a deliberate effort to keep spell resistance relatively low. It's a boon to fighters, not a complete immunity to magic.

This makes warriors a real, credible threat against spellcasters, and something that sorcerers duly fear, as they do in many swords and sorcery works. It's also based on an idea I've used in fantasy gaming for decades (though applied to the way SR works in various games instead of a straight percentile score).

Fighters as Death Dealers

Fighters will gain an additional class ability. For now, and for lack of a better term, let's call it "Death Dealer." Whenever a fighter attacks in combat and misses, they can roll their Death Dealer ability and if it succeeds, they still deal damage equal to their Strength bonus to their opponent. Death Dealer begins at a percentage equal to the Fighter's Strength and Dexterity scores combined, and increases by 5% per level of experience. Again, this needs to be properly playtested. I might reduce the chance to deal death by 5% per 2 hit dice the opponent has. 

If the fighter has Supernatural Attacks, this Death Dealer damage counts as supernatural for purposes of striking creatures that are immune to normal damage. 

Taken together, these two abilities help to offset the core shortcomings of the Fighter that are often cited by players of old-school fantasy games, without making them more complicated to play. Yes, they add an extra die roll to the equation for each spell cast at the fighter and for each attack made by the fighter, BUT it's easy to offset this by simply rolling the attack and Death Dealer, or the Spell Resistance and Save at the same time and referencing as needed, so it shouldn't add any additional time or complexity to combat.

XP Progression

It's probably worth considering that the Fighter's XP progression would need to be raised a bit to account for these two abilities, but I don't think it needs to go up that much, tbh. Neither is really a game breaker ability, and they just bring Fighters in line with Sorcerers, Roguish types, and the lot. 

Again, just some thoughts about Fighters in the Fantasy iteration of O.G.R.E.S., and ideas that can be ported into most fantasy games using mechanics based on the first fantasy RPG. 

If you're interested in exploring the O.G.R.E.S. system, check out Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars available on our web store, or through your favorite local gaming store today!