I wrote this table back in December, and only just rediscovered it. I was reading Jon Peterson's Playing at the World at the time, which is a history of our hobby from its roots in wargaming up through the early years of D&D. Alas, I cannot find the reference in the book at the moment, but apparently a number of referees came up with variant abilities for the Fighting-Man class to roll at first level, to help distinguish one from the next, somewhat in the way that Magic-Users and Clerics are distinguished by their choice of spells.
I was quite taken with the idea, and I thought an 11-66 table, with 36 entries, would provide enough variety for few fighters to be the same, but not take too long to write (also, I have a fondness for 11-66 tables after playing so much of Avalon Hill's Samurai, which uses one for random events each turn). So this is what I came up with; it probably could use a bit more creativity (like Zak S.' random advancement Alternative Fighter), but I'm still using bog-standard fighters in my game:
Fighter Abilities
When generating a fighter-character at first level, roll once on this table using 2d6. Read one as the tens and one as the ones.
11 +1 to hit with swords
12 +1 to hit with pole arms
13 +1 to hit with axes
14 +1 to hit with maces
15 +1 to hit with bows
16 +1 to hit with slings
21 +1 to hit with crossbows
22 +1 to hit with spears and javelins
23 +1 to hit with daggers
24 +1 to hit with hammers
25 +1 to hit in melee
26 +1 to hit with missiles
31 -1 AC with shields
32 +1 damage in melee
33 +1 damage with missiles
34 +1 damage
35 +1 to hit
36 +1 to hit when fighting alongside a companion
41 -1 AC in mail armor
42 -1 AC in plate armor
43 grant -1 AC from your shield to your companion next to you
44 may climb sheer surfaces as a same-level thief when in leather armor
45 may move silently/hide in shadows as a same-level thief when in leather armor
46 may open locks as a same-level thief (when not wearing gauntlets)
51 knows one first level magic-user spell (cannot cast it while armored)
52 knows one first level cleric spell
53 may turn undead as a first level cleric
54 +1 hp per hit die
55 may dual-wield weapons for -1 AC
56 may dual-wield weapons for +1 to hit
61 eldritch aura--may use normal weapons to strike creatures only struck by magical weapons
62 25 gp income per month
63 100 gp income per month
64 knightly title--some discretion as to what this entails, but certainly deference from inferiors, exemption from taxation or some other legal burden, access to a higher social circle, etc.
65 +1 morale to followers
66 +1 to number of retainers one may lead
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