The first book in the series, as well as the largest expansion to non-magical combat that we'd see until Player's Option - Combat & Tactics came along, PHBR1 The Complete Fighter’s Handbook was supplement that I borrowed long before I owned a copy.I distinctly recall being pleased by what could be done with the fighter specializations found herein. I’d been reading some of the earlier Drizzt Do’Urden books, and recalled a passage where Artemis Entreri (fighting a few other drow) “marveled at how they could fight with two weapons of equal length.” Given that I was a rules lawyer even then, I was quite happy to note that this book made that possible if you put a weapon proficiency slot toward Ambidexterity and specialized (something this book made possible) in the two-weapon fighting style.
Kits, however, left me somewhat cold. My eyes quickly learned to shift immediately toward the end of each listing, where it outlined what mechanical benefits you gained and what drawbacks you had to accept in exchange for them. I also quickly learned to glance at the proficiencies section (both which ones you had to take in order to use the kit, and which ones it gave you for free), but the rest of it was quite secondary to my mind, and not just in terms of skills…that’s a pun, y’all (since each kit has a “Secondary Skills” section, in case you used those instead of proficiencies; both were technically optional under the AD&D 2E rules, but the former were quickly forgotten by almost everyone, while the latter kept inching their way closer to being mandatory parts of the game).
I actually did make an effort to learn this book’s “punching, wrestling, and martial arts” maneuvers, absolutely none of which has stayed in my mind through to now. I can only assume I did this because my younger self saw “martial arts” and immediately dove in. As it stands, this was nothing like the wuxia-flavored fighters, ninjas, or monks that we’d see later (or, for that matter, in AD&D 1E). Even so, I eagerly lapped it up.
The same couldn’t be said for things like the hit location rules or the outline for tournaments. The former struck me as too cumbersome even then, and the latter just seemed boring. Why would my fighter be winning a jousting tournament instead of exploring ancient tombs and battling goblin hordes? The sections on crafting your own armor and weapons were a little more interesting, in that they had a practical use, but were so downtime-heavy that I just figured I’d buy what I needed. It wasn’t like these were rules for enchanting them or anything. Speaking of which, I appreciated the new weapons and armor quite a bit; more variety with the tools of the trade was always a good thing.
Overall, it was good stuff.
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