Revised Path: Thoughts on a Skilled Fighter Class

So, it’s Revised Fighter Week! Since this is my gap week between courses of chemotherapy, I’m going to try to compile and revise the past few weeks of entirely random thoughts I’ve had into cogent blog posts, focusing on what a fighter class might look like in a potential Revised version of PF1. You can read about my design goals for such a project, and see an index of articles about it, here.

When developing the soldier class for Starfinder, bumping it from 2 to 4 skill points per level was one of my earliest goals. There was a fair amount of discussion internally about how well that would be received (and to be clear, the idea had a lot of support from other designers who independently wanted to make it happen). The only real perceived downside was that the soldier was very clearly an adaptation of the Pathfinder 1e fighter, and the fighter didn’t have 4 skill points/level, so would the playing public feel 4 skill points as overpowered?

The 4 skill point choice was extremely well received and, having now been extensively played by groups since the game’s release, is clearly not an overpowered choice.

So, when looking at doing a Revised Path updating Pathfinder 1e, my starting point for a fighter class is that it should have 4 skill points per level (and Perception as a class skill, but that’s a different conversation). But… what if that’s not enough?

What if the fighter should have 6 skill points per level?

(art by lobard)

It’s worth noting that this would likely be part of a move that would increase all 2-skill-point-per-level classes to 4, while mostly leaving 4, 6, and 8 skill-points-per-level classes alone. A slight reduction of the total number of skills is also likely (with combining Spellcraft with some kind of Arcana and Religion skills near the top of the list for that). But that’s still a big shift for the fighter, from the class likely to have the fewest skill points to one that could be considered a skill-based class.

Extra skill points will only give a fight a marginal increase in combat ability (largely with Acrobatics and Intimidate checks), but could be a huge boost to their out-of-combat utility. Still, will it make other classes feel useless?

Here’s a look at skill points every Paizo PF1 class, including those from licensed properties (the omdura and vampire hunter) designed by Paizo, and base and hybrid classes. In a Revised Path game we might not need all those classes (I can easily see core and base class options making the arcanist, hunter, shaman, skald, and warpriest redundant as separate classes, for example), but for now I want to consider what I’d do for every official PF1 class.

This list presents class name, followed by PF1 skill points per level/proposed revised skill points per level

Alchemist: 4/4
Antipaladin: 2/4
Arcanist: 2/4
Barbarian: 4/4
Bard: 6/6
Bloodrager: 4/4
Brawer: 4/4
Cavalier: 4/4
Cleric: 2/4
Druid: 4/4
Fighter: 2/6
Gunslinger: 4/4
Hunter: 6/6
Inquisitor: 6/6
Investigator: 6/6
Kineticist: 4/4
Magus: 2/4
Medium: 4/4
Mesmerist: 6/6
Monk: 4/6
Ninja: 8/8
Occultist: 4/4
Omdura: 4/4
Oracle: 4/4
Paladin: 2/4
Psychic: 2/4
Ranger: 6/6
Rogue: 8/8
Samurai: 4/4
Shaman: 4/4
Shifter: 4/4
Skald: 4/4
Slayer: 6/6
Sorcerer: 2/4
Spiritualist: 4/4
Summoner: 2/4
Swashbuckler: 4/6
Vampire Hunter: 6/6
Vigilante: 6/6
Warpriest: 2/4
Witch: 2/4
Wizard: 2/4

Looking at all of those… I really am good with making the fighter a 6 skill point/level class. It joins existing full base attack bonuses classes with that many skill points, the ranger, slayer, vampire hunter, and those vigilantes that take the avenger specialization. There are a few other classes I may want to bump (both barbarian and swashbuckler come to mind), but I’ll tackle those when I get to those classes.

Now, any decision like this is something that has to be iterated. In the end, fighters might end up getting to pick 2 skills from a list and getting a free rank in those skills at each level, or the number of skills might be pared back so far that 4 skill points are more than enough. Or my plans for other fighter class features may make them so flexible and competent that extra skill points feels unneeded.

But any design has to start somewhere, and for my revised fight I’m going to start with 6 skill points/level.

Support
This post ends a fairly lengthy silence here on my blog, which was brought on by the side effects of my chemotherapy. This week is my break between my second and third courses of chemo, so I plan to post a lot more content than a typical week while I can.

If you want to help me cover cancer treatment costs, right now, the main way to offer your support is to purchase Like A Boss, a charity project that friends and colleagues within the game industry created to help pay my medical costs. You can pick it up by itself here, or as part of a bundle here.

Other options are to join (or increase your pledge level to my Patreon) or, if you prefer, donate directly through my Ko-Fi account – https://ko-fi.com/owenkcstephens