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One of the advanced weapon training features for fighters is

Combat Competence (Ex) For any weapon in the associated weapon group with which the fighter is not proficient, the penalty on attack rolls taken as a result of not being proficient is reduced by an amount equal to the fighter’s weapon training bonus with that weapon group. Once the penalty is reduced to 0, the fighter becomes proficient with such weapons.

The part I'm not sure about is how I would treat proficiency due to this feature. This applies mostly to exotic weapons that are part of the fighter's chosen weapon group.

For example the Flambard is part of the Blades,Heavy weapon group but is an exotic weapon so a fighter would suffer penalty due to nonproficiency when using it. However I can drop the penalty to 0 as early as level 9 with a Gloves of Dueling and selecting Advanced Weapon Training: Combat Competence.

How would I show that I have proficiency with the example Flambard? Do I give myself Weapon Proficiency(Heavy,Blades) as a bonus feat? What happens if my Gloves of Dueling are removed? Does this feature make me eligible for feats that require proficiency with the weapon (example: Weapon Focus(Flambard)?

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1 Answer 1

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  • Marking down to your character sheet weapon proficiency (heavy blades group) should suffice, for the sake of saving space on your character sheet.
  • If your gloves of dueling would be removed and you wouldn't have enough natural fighter weapon training bonus to cancel nonproficiency, recalculate to see how much nonproficiency penalty you still have with your normal fighter weapon training bonus.
  • The Combat competence says: "once the penalty is reduced to 0, the fighter becomes proficient with such weapons", so yes, it should make your character eligible for feats that require proficiency. Do note however the previous bulletin, since if you still have nonproficiency penalty after your gloves of dueling are removed, you lose the proficiency and the ability to use any feats/abilities that required it.
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  • \$\begingroup\$ Is there a resource that confirms this is the case? It seems we've both come to similar conclusions. I did learn from your answer that a fighter would effectively lose his feats/abilities that relied on proficiency if his weapon training bonus dropped, so I would like to accept your answer. However I would like to see some official source confirm this is actually how it works. \$\endgroup\$
    – Visfarix
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 20:25
  • \$\begingroup\$ The rules are already presented although a bit indirectly. The ability states that it reduces the penalty through the fighter weapon training bonus, while the gloves strictly say that it increases that said bonus. The resources are already presented on your original question. See also this: rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/96010/… \$\endgroup\$
    – PnP
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 21:31
  • \$\begingroup\$ I can't show you any more rules as this is a much of a corner case, but there are plenty of cases in which the system allows magical items to suffice for feat and/or class ability prerequisites. For example casters with not enough high casting stat and a headband of [casting stat] in order to cast spells of higher level if your casting stat is not high enough, or belt of giant strength to suffice for power attack feat prerequisite of 13+ strength. General idea though should be that the bonus that the magic item gives should be somewhat permanent. \$\endgroup\$
    – PnP
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 21:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ I was hoping there would be an FAQ, tweet, article, or something somewhere to clarify this proficiency, but if there isn't then this is probably good enough. \$\endgroup\$
    – Visfarix
    Commented Mar 7, 2017 at 15:41

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