shifty louts

The Honorable Vanguard and The Ruthless Knife of Armsmen

Inspired by Idraluna's treatment of Chromatic Magi, I was inspired to formulate something along the same lines for Fighters.

This martial formulation also maps neatly onto the alignment system: honorable vanguard are lawful, ruthless knife chaotic, with the ruthless vanguard / honorable knife being neutral.

HONORABLE VANGUARD ←→ RUTHLESS KNIFE

Fighters as Diametrical Poles

Starting Ability: An Armsman can make one attack/HD when fighting 1HD foes.

At level 4, an Armsman gets a +1 bonus to all attacks

At level 4, adds +1 toĀ moraleĀ checks of any troops led

At level 7, +2 bonus to all attacks

At level 8, and above, an Armsman is aware of invisible opponents within 3ā€

At level 9, an Armsman achieves the martial special ability.

Their effects were ripped from NBatemen's treatment of fighters in his Devil World game

Martial Axis Power Archetype
Honorable Vanguard Their bare fists become imbued with moral rightness, hitting foes immune to non-magical attacks. chivalric knight, wuxia champion
Ruthless Vanguard On a to Hit roll of 20 they make —a perfect cut—and kill foes of 8HD or less instantly. hinterland berserker, soldier of fortune
Honorable Knife On a to Hit roll of 20 they make —a perfect cut—and kill foes of 8HD or less instantly. gentleman duelist, spy for the crown
Ruthless Knife Immune to all mind altering spells (e.g, charm, feeblemind, confusion, etc), and deal 1 extra damage with Battleaxes and Halberds. wet-work assassin, quiet sociopath