I did this on my Gonzo blog, but we have gotten new options and a few changes coming, so it is time to revisit this article. This was cross-posted on the SBRPG blog as well.
One of the reasons I originally felt so indifferent toward Old School Essentials was the fighter class, which doesn't really have much "to" it compared to other OSR games. On the surface, the class is just a d8 hit die, all weapons and armor, and the best to-hit table. Despite its simplicity, you can push the class to high performance within the rules and with a few optional rules.
Weapon Proficiency
First, use the optional weapon proficiency rule (OSE-AF-PT, 23) and specialize in a single weapon for +1 to hit and damage. If your STR is high, this will stack significantly and make a huge difference.
Racial Abilities
The second thing you can do is use the character races with the modifiers, giving your fighter some extra abilities. Humans will get these, too, if you lift the race class and level restrictions (OSE-AF-PT, 78 & 86), and these abilities are beneficial for fighters. Even other races' abilities are helpful for fighters, with some having AC bonuses and making excellent defensive warriors.
Early Domains
You will also advance faster than many other classes, so save that money, use hirelings, and establish that domain early. You can do this at any level. Even a small wooden building is a domain structure and can be built in 3 days for 1,500 gp. This can attract a small camp of settlers and followers; through story events, these could be loyal warrior retainers.
Use these rules. If the hex you start in is your claim, which is unsettled and unclaimed land, build that stronghold and get those followers early. You may find that the fighter and his loyal band of warriors can even outshine the mage and other classes quickly.
Magic Items
Magic items are upgrades! There are many more than the usual "magic weapons and armor" here, and many items are must-haves for an epic hero. If you can find a particular pair of gauntlets, or a girdle of giant strength (far better in OSE than it is in 5E by miles), prepare to amaze even 5E players with how epic and cool your character becomes. Magic items are more critical for OSE character upgrades than in 5E.
This is what I love about the old-school games: the rules may not give you a lot of '5E freebie powers,' but you can more than make up for that with smart play, roleplaying, and steering your character's story right. This level of engagement is what makes these games so rewarding.
Carcass Crawler One
Well, let's keep looking for some more official inspirations and options published in the official 'zine publications, in this case, Carcass Crawler Issue One.
CC1 - Gargantuans
In this issue, we get the gargantuan player race (CC1, p21), and when used as a stand-alone character option, it can level to 10th level as a fighter. This race can also wield two-handed weapons with one hand, using the OSE "attacking with two weapons" rule (OSEAFP, p236), for a -2 on the primary weapon and a -4 on the secondary, and two attacks a turn total.
Combine that with the high strength to-hit modifiers of the gargantuan, the high damage of two-handed weapons, weapon proficiencies (OSEAFP, p23), and you will have a beast of a half-giant character who is a literal wrecking machine in combat, even at level one. This is one of the most potent melee builds in the game, and you do not need to mod the game to have it with official rules sources.
CC1 - Goblins
There are other races here that make for some excellent fighter options, such as the goblin getting a +2 AC versus large creatures (CC1, p22), making them an excellent choice as a defensive "nut" versus dragons and other large beasties, especially in plate mail with a shield. The goblin can get to 8th level as a fighter, which is good given the scope of most campaigns.
The infravision and detection options of goblins are also convenient, along with a high CON-based resistance save modifier. With a CON of 15-17, they get a +4 to all saving throws versus poison, spells, and magic wands, rods, and staves (CC1, p22)! That is a crazy good saving throw modifier, one of the best in the game. Do not sleep on a goblin fighter; they can be lethal and highly survivable.
CC1 - Black Powder Weapons
We have rules for black-power weapons in this issue, too, perfect for high-seas swashbuckling and pirate-themed games, as well as early colonial horror gaming settings, like Lamentations of the Flame Princess. OSE has you covered if you want to use this system with Renaissance and Colonial-Era gaming.
CC1 - Combat Talents
We have something for any type of fighter, too, even our brute or any other fighter in the game! We get Combat Talents (CC1, p. 28), which give our fighters new abilities at levels 1, 5, and 10! We can select cleave, which provides us with a Swords & Wizardry-style ability to strike a second opponent when one is defeated. There are leadership, defensive, two-weapon, and other options here that beef up our fighters and make them feel like other old-school games in the OSR genre.
Carcass Crawler Five
Of note here is the special materials article, which includes both adamantine and mithral as armor and weapon upgrades, for lower weight and extra AC and damage. Also, there is no rule saying adamantine magic weapons and armor cannot exist, but such an item would be amazingly rare and powerful.
Also note that the bone, bronze, and stone options in this article are perfect for OSE Dark Sun games.
Scout Magazine One
Don't sleep on the great third-party zines for OSE! There is an optional rule in this edition allowing fighters to replace their attack bonus with their level, giving them the best to-hits in the game. This is a potentially game-breaking change, as it means +14 at 14th level, versus the old value of +9, so that is a five-point swing for just fighters.
Even at level one, this is the only class that gets a +1 attack bonus. This makes a fighter a strong choice, even for new characters. By level two, you are starting to outpace the group in delivering hits in battle.
But considering this will allow pure fighters to outshine paladins, rangers, and the other "+9 at level 14" classes, changes my mind on this houserule, and elevates pure fighters into lethal dealers of death who can consistently land blows on anyone foolish enough to get close. This also sets them apart from those classes in terms of being able to hit, while those other fighter classes begin to get all sorts of special abilities.
Also, considering that most campaigns will never reach level 14, and level 10 is a better, more reasonable campaign end for many, that would only be a +3 difference, which feels about right. If the game ever gets to level 14, let them have it. The highest AC in OSE is the gold dragon at AC 21, so that is still a 7+ to-hit, or a 30% miss rate for the +14 maxxed out fighter. Figure another +5 for STR and magic item bonuses, and we are at 2+, which is still not game-breaking.
Those are sure-thing hits, but compare that to the power of other 14th-level characters, and I would say sure-thing hits at max-level are a great class feature for them, considering they get very little else.
An alternative way to do this is just bump the existing attack bonus table up by +2 and cap it at +11 at 14. That is a good mid-ground compromise, but another part of me feels "add the fighter level" is cleaner and more of a dramatic change the class needs. Fighters give up so much for so little benefit.
This is becoming one of my favorite OSE fighter houserules, and it eliminates the need to pull in the S&W fighter rules for OSE. And the Scout Magazine books are excellent; they feel very close to official content, and they are very well-made and interesting.
OSE Fighters are Good
Fighters seem weak at first glance, but there are a lot of options here. The basic fighter is one of the reasons I look at games like Swords & Wizardry and OSRIC, just to give that class a few more abilities and interesting play mechanics. We are getting 1 HD multi-attacks as an optional rule in the new version of the game, so things will change.
But until the new edition drops, there is plenty we can do to make the fighter class attractive and back to being the damage dealers and frontline soldiers that we expect them to be. All of these options and houserules add a lot to the fighter and place it among the best class choices in OSE.
This is the old school; if something seems broken, we don't head out to crowdfunding sites to buy new games. We find fixes for the games we got, use them, patch, houserule, and tailor the game to our liking. We check community sites and third-party zines for fixes. We share information and let others know about the rules and zines we use.
And then, we play.
