Skirmish Bonds
Source Battlecry! pg. 161
If you bond more deeply with a troop, you can choose one special action or ongoing benefit. This comes from training with your troop during a day of downtime. You can change your selection with another day of downtime, but you can't have more than one special bond for your troop at a time. Skirmish bonds are between one leader and one troop. A leader can't normally transfer these tactics or bonds to a different troop. As noted above, if a leader has formed a skirmish bond with a troop once, that bond takes effect if they lead the troop again—they don't need to spend another day of downtime.
Click here for the full rules on Skirmish Bonds.
Ambush Troops
Prerequisites expert in
Stealth
You’ve trained your troop in several techniques that allows your group to remain stealthy despite your numbers. Any time you and your troop need to attempt a Stealth check, you roll only once and use the higher Stealth modifier. This benefit applies when you explore with your troop—such as when using the
Avoid Notice exploration activity—not only in a skirmish encounter.
In addition, you let your troop take full advantage of creatures that are
off-guard to them, even though most troops can’t coordinate their attacks precisely enough to do so. Creatures that are off-guard to your troop take a –2 circumstance penalty to saving throws and save DCs against your troop’s offensive abilities.
Auditory Concentrate Skirmish Prerequisites expert proficiency with one or more weapons or unarmed attacks
You can attack in tandem with your troop, using your attacks to make openings for your troop to finish the job. When you make a
Strike on your turn, any creature you hit takes a –1 status penalty to saving throws against any offensive ability your troop uses this turn.
Prerequisites You’re a spellcaster, and your troop has spells or an offensive ability with the
arcane,
divine,
magical,
occult, or
primal trait.
You can cast spells in tandem with your troop. When you
Cast a Spell on your turn, any creature that you hit with a spell attack for the spell or that fails its save against your spell takes a –1 status penalty to AC, save DCs, and saving throws against any spell your troop Casts this turn or magical ability your troop uses this turn.
Prerequisites expert in
Diplomacy,
Intimidation, or
Performance
When the chips are down, your troop becomes more dangerous. While your troop has 3 or fewer segments, it gains a +1 status bonus to AC, save DCs, and saving throws, and a status bonus to damage rolls equal to half your level. The damage bonus increases to your full level if the troop has only 2 segments.
Prerequisites expert in Will saves
Your troop automatically critically succeeds at rout checks. If you’re knocked
unconscious, your troop still improves its degree of success on rout checks by one step until the end of the encounter, as a troop with a leader does.
Prerequisites expert in Reflex saves
You’ve developed special formations that give your soldiers more room to dodge, thereby making your group less susceptible to explosions, alchemical bombs, and the onslaughts of other troops. Your troop’s
weaknesses to area damage and splash damage are reduced by half your level (or by 1 if you’re 1st level). This can reduce their weakness to 0 if your level is high enough.
Prerequisites Reactive Strike
Your troop locks down opposing forces, keeping them from repositioning on the battlefield. Your troop gains the Inescapable Onslaught reaction.
Inescapable Onslaught [reaction] Trigger A creature adjacent to the troop uses a
move action that would cause it to no longer be adjacent;
Effect The troop uses the 2-action version of one of its offensive abilities that has an
emanation, but only the triggering creature is affected. In addition, if the creature critically fails its saving throw, the move action is disrupted. If the offensive ability could be used only once per round, this reaction ignores that limit.
Prerequisites You’re a spellcaster.
You develop magical wards for your troops. Your troop gains a +1 status bonus to all defenses against magic.
Prerequisites expert in Acrobatics
Your troop can move across the battlefield nimbly. When you and your troop are moving, the combined unit gains a +5-foot status bonus to all movement Speeds. In addition, if you or your troop uses a special action, spell, or other ability that allows a special type of movement, such as
Wall Jump,
translocate, or a
fly Speed, you can move together even if that normally wouldn’t be possible.
Prerequisites You have the
Rage action.
Your troop learns the incredible rush of raging in battle. When you Rage, your troop gains half the number of
temporary Hit Points you do. These temporary Hit Points last for 1 minute, and the troop can’t gain temporary HP from this ability again for 1 minute.
Auditory Concentrate Skirmish Prerequisites Shield BlockRequirements You’re wielding a shield.
You’ve equipped your troop with shields, and they raise them at your command. You
Raise your Shield, and both you and your troop gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC and Reflex saves until the start of your next turn.
Prerequisites You have a companion (such as an
animal companion,
eidolon,
familiar, or
pet).
Your troop finds your companion creature charming, and the members of your troop have bonded with your pet. Your companion gains
resistance equal to your troop’s level to all damage. If you have an eidolon, when an effect damages both of you, this resistance applies after you determine the higher amount of damage.
If you have an animal companion, its Support benefit applies to your troop as well as you.
Prerequisites You have the
tactics class feature.
Leading troops is second nature to you, and the lessons of your tactics apply to entire groups of allies. Your troop counts as one of your squadmates and doesn’t count against your maximum number of squadmates.
In addition, troops who are your squadmates can use an offensive ability instead of a Strike whenever you use a tactic that would allow them to Strike. If you specifically grant a melee Strike, they have to use an
emanation ability; if you specifically grant a ranged Strike, they have to use a
burst ability. They must use the 1-action or 2-action version of the offensive ability. These offensive abilities count against the number of Strikes you can grant with your tactic. This works with any troop squadmates, whether you’re leading them or an ally is.