The Fighter

By Awful Good Games with minor adaptations by Sage1029

It’s a thankless job—living day to day by your armor and the skill of your arm. To dive heedlessly into danger. They won’t be playing golden horns for the time you took that knife to the ribs for them in the bar in Bucksberg. No flock of angels to sing of the time you dragged them, still screaming, from the edge of the Pits of Madness, no.

Forget them.

You do this for the guts and the glory. The scream of battle and the hot, hot blood of it. You are a beast of iron. Your friends may carry blades of forged steel but, fighter, you are steel. While your traveling companions might moan about their wounds over a campfire in the wilderness, you bear your scars with pride.

You are the wall—let every danger smash itself to nothing on you. In the end, you’ll be the last one standing.

Building a Fighter

Pick your Race

Dwarf

When you are attacked by an enemy, deal +1 damage to them the next time you attack them

Elf

When you are faced off against a single opponent, gain Advantage to Hack and Slash

Halfling

When you Defy Danger by using your small size, gain Advantage

Human

Once per combat, you may re-roll a single damage roll, either yours or someone else's

Choose why you learned to fight

Glory

You want fame and fortune. When you come across a dangerous opponent, tell the GM what part of it you intend to keep, and gain Advantage to get it

Protect

You want to protect others. Who have you saved? Who have you failed? When you use Defend to protect someone else, a 6- counts as a 7-9

Survival

You were put in a situation—stranded in the wilderness, conscripted into an army, enslaved in a gladiatorial arena, or something else—where you had no choice but to either fight or die. When you take your Last Breath, you may roll +CON

Starting Moves

Your fighter starts with 25-COIN. Your Damage Die is d10. You start with all these moves:

Battle-Ready

You can spend a piece of Adventuring Gear to choose one:

• A weapon with the Close tag
• A weapon with the Hand, Thrown, and Near tags

Combat Awareness

When you spend a few moments observing a creature’s weaponry, whether natural or manufactured, the GM will tell you how much damage they deal, as well as any associated tags. Gain Advantage when you Discern Realities during a fight.

Armored

You ignore the Clumsy tag on armor you wear.

Weapon Specialization

Though you know how to use any weapon, choose a category you’re most specialized with:

• Dual-Wielding: When you attack with two melee weapons, roll twice and choose the higher result
• Missile Weapons: Your ranged attacks gain Piercing-2
• Sword & Board: When you use Defend while carrying a shield, on a 7+ hold +1
• Two-Handers: When you wield a weapon with the Two-Handed tag, deal +1-Damage

Advanced Moves

Levels 2-5

When you gain a level from 2-5, and you choose to take an Advanced Move, you may choose from these moves:

Exploit the Opening

When you Defy Danger, ✴on a 10+ gain Advantage to Hack and Slash your attacker.

Iron-Clad

When you wear armor with the Clumsy tag, gain +1-Armor.

Keen-Eyed

Requires: Missile Weapon Specialization
When you Discern Realities against a creature in combat, ✴on a 7-9 you also take +1-Damage to your next attack against it, and ✴on a 10+ you instead take +1d4 damage to your next attack against it.

Know Your Enemy

When you Spout Lore about a creature, ✴on a 7+ you also gain Advantage to defeat it.

Makeshift Armory

When you have a short period of time (a half hour or so) and the necessary materials, you can create a makeshift weapon, suit of armor, or shield. Choose an option from Battle-Ready or one of the following:

• A weapon with the Two-Handed and Reach tags
• Crude armor (1-Armor) or shield (+1-Armor)

Piercing Shots

Requires: Missile Weapon Specialization
When you Volley against a target at Near range, deal +1d4 damage and the attack ignores the target’s armor.

Press the Attack

Requires: Dual-Wielding Specialization
When you Hack and Slash with two melee weapons, gain Advantage to Hack and Slash the same target again.

Rampart

Requires: Sword & Board Specialization
When you have hold from Defend and are carrying a shield, take +1-Armor ongoing.

Second Specialization

Choose a Weapon Specialization that you don’t have and gain the corresponding move.

Shattered Shield

Requires: Sword & Board Specialization
When you are struck by a physical attack, you can instead use your shield to absorb the brunt of it: the shield is destroyed, but you take no damage.

Slayer

Requires: Two-Hander Specialization
Attacks you make with Two-Handed weapons deal +1d4 damage and gain the Messy tag.

Sundering Blows

Requires: Two-Hander Specialization
Attacks you make with a Two-Handed weapon gain Piercing-1. When you Hack and Slash with a Two-Handed weapon, ✴on a 12+ the target’s armor is reduced by 1 until they have time to heal or repair the damage.

The Best Defense...

Requires: Sword & Board Specialization or Dual-Wielding Specialization
When you spend hold from Defend to reduce damage while wielding two weapons or carrying a shield, reduce it by an additional 1d4 points.

Levels 6 Onwards

When you gain a level from 6 onwards, and you choose to take an Advanced Move, you may choose from these moves, or the Levels 2-5 Moves.

...is a Good Offense

Requires: The Best Defense...
When you spend hold from Defend to deal damage to your attacker, deal +1d4 damage.

Cleave

When you slay an enemy with a melee attack, gain Advantage to Hack and Slash another enemy.

Devastating Strike

Requires: Two-Hander Specialization
When you Hack and Slash with a Two-Handed weapon, ✴on a 12+ you act as if your class damage die rolled a 10. Any other bonus dice are still rolled.

Distracting Shots

Requires: Missile Weapon Specialization
When you use ranged attacks to Aid or Hinder an ally, either take the 7-9 result or roll +DEX with Advantage. Either way, lose a LOAD worth of Ammo if your weapon uses Ammo.

Field Smith

Requires: Makeshift Armory
Add this to the list of choices you can make with Makeshift Armory:

• A weapon with the Close and +1-Damage tags
• A weapon with the Two-Handed, Reach, and +1-Damage tags
• Serviceable armor (2-Armor), or crude armor (1-Armor) and a shield (+1-Armor)

How I Got These Scars

You are immune to the effects of CON debilities (but are still forcibly retired if you reach the fourth rank of CON debility). When you tell someone about your scars, gain Advantage to convince them to do what you want.

Mighty Slayer

Replaces: Slayer
Melee attacks you make with a Two-Handed weapon deal +1d8 damage, and gain the Messy and Forceful tags.

Precise Aim

Replaces: Piercing Shots
When you Volley against a target that is at Near range, ✴on a 10+ deal your damage and you can choose one:

• Your shot strikes true—deal +1d6 damage
• Your shot disorients or stuns the target—you or an ally gains Advantage against them
• Your shot strikes one of the target’s limbs—it does not function normally until they have time to heal it

Protector

Requires: Rampart
When you have hold from Defend and are carrying a shield, allies within arms reach of you gain +1-Armor.

Rapid Shot

Requires: Missile Weapon Specialization
When you Volley, ✴on a 10+ you can throw another weapon or spend a LOAD of Ammo to roll your damage twice and use the highest result, or deal your damage to another target.

Shield Mastery

Requires: Sword & Board Specialization
When you use Defend while carrying a shield, hold +1. ✴On a 6-, you still Hold-1, and ✴on a 12+ you Hold-5.

Well-Rounded Warrior

Requires: Second Specialization
Choose a Weapon Specialization that you don’t have and gain the corresponding move.

Twin Strike

Requires: Press the Attack
When you Hack and Slash with two melee weapons, ✴on a 7+ you can deal +1d6 damage to your target, or 1d8 damage to another enemy you can reach.

Whirlwind Attack

Requires: Two-Hander Specialization
When you Hack and Slash while wielding a Two-Handed weapon, ✴on a 12+ you deal your damage to every enemy you can reach.

Death Move: Shatter Bars, Cleave Gates

When you finally fall, you make sure someone’s coming with you. With every last bit of strength you have in your weary bones, you make a final, ultimate strike. When you die, choose any enemy you can see and deal double your maximum damage to them. This attack does not stop at your target - everything between you and your target, as well as everything directly behind your target out to Far range, is also hit. If you were using a bladed weapon, you create a rending scar, tearing through everything in its path. If you were using a bashing weapon, you create a crushing quake, shattering everything in its path. If you were using a stabbing weapon, you create a gouging hole, piercing through everything in its path. With this final blow completed, you collapse, very much dead.

Credits

Fighter playbook by Awful Good Games. The text of The Druid is released under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The Death Move is from Boldly Games' Grim World.