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 attack...