The fighter is a great class for anyone to use when first trying out a game. In most RPG game systems, they are the easiest to manage with the least amount of abilities to keep track of.

However, I have noticed that more seasoned players tend to gravitate toward classes that have more pizzazz. The fighter may have the best Bonus to Hit (BtH), they get Weapon Specialization, and they get the multiple attacks each round. But the Barbarian and Monk also eventually get multiple attacks each round (Whirlwind Attack and Hand-to-Hand Combat, respectively), but the rules for each of those classes make their own approaches unique, and the Barbarian and Monk also get a substantial number of their own very niche class flavor. The result is that players I know will use the other classes and just accept that their BtH will be one lower than if they had been a Fighter.

How do my players respond to the difference in class abilities? In my 4-year Barrowmaze campaign, there were only 2 Fighter PCs out of the more than 30 characters created for that deadly campaign.

There has been a shift in my new Aufstrag campaign when I put into play the Expanded Class rules from the Players Archive, which allows players to pick portions of other classes and combine them together to great a new class identity, or character concept (albeit with a much larger XP requirement to level up). The players are really enjoying this new approach, as am I, since it is more creative and fun than the 3E prestige class system, or the 5E subclass system (prestige classes used and threw-away classes left and right without a real identity, and 5E subclasses narrow things down too much, in my view). In my new campaign there is one Rogue/Fighter, one Cleric/Fighter, and a couple more PCs where the Fighter class has slipped to third-tier support.

So things have gotten better, and yet I can’t help but feel that the Fighter is still being viewed simply as a class to boost up the other “better” and “more exciting” classes. What more could be done to give it a sense of standing proudly on its own?

The solution I am play testing is actually rather simple and doesn’t involve adding new abilities, but simply giving a little boost to what the class already has.

1. I allow Combat Dominance to appear right away at 1st level. This ability allows Fighters to make an extra attack against 1 HD or less monsters. The Fighter still gets everything else on the Fighter chart (shown below) just as before, but by giving Combat Dominance at first level, this gives the Fighter an immediate benefit that no other class has and truly demonstrates the pivotal ability of what this class represents.
   
   Many Fighter characters may have a background as a soldier or militia member of a town or community, and that means they will frequently encounter others who are roughly their skill level (i.e. 1 HD or less).
   
   Making extra attacks against 1 HD or less creatures also doesn’t break the game, since it is only effecting 1 HD monsters.
   
   It also doesn’t step on the benefits of the Barbarians or Monks, since their extra attacks take place against higher level creatures later on in the game.
   
   As a result, the Fighter is now one step closer to more successfully taking down the masses of minions that can sometimes descend upon the group. When you add the fact that Combat Dominance adds additional attacks against 1 HD or less creatures at 4th, 8th, 12th 16th, and 20th level, they will stand out even more against the horde if players focus on this class.
   
2. Another thing players frequently mention is that Fighters should be able to have Dexterity as their Prime Attribute. I agree. I know I have missed the triple class options that Elves had in AD&D 1E. Even if you use the Expanded Class options from the Players Archive, each race only has 2 (for non-humans) or 3 (for humans) Prime Attributes available to them, so that can limit the class combinations of a person that may want to recreate an Elfin Cleric/Fighter/Thief, or Elfin Fighter/Magic-user/Thief. In the case of this character type, I think an Elf should have that flexibility, and so by allowing a Fighter to have Dexterity as its Prime Attribute, the player can create that dynamic character concept that reflects the versatility that a long-lived elf would’ve been able to manage due to their ancestry.

So there you have it. Two simple changes that I think can give the Fighter that little boost they need to keep them interesting and desirable for play. What do you think?