Archives of Nethys
Skirmish Bonds
Source Battlecry! pg. 161If 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.
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.
Combo Attack
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.
Coordinated Casting
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.
Desperate Fervor
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.
Discipline
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.
Dispersed Formation
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.
Inescapable Troop
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.
Magical Defenses
Prerequisites You’re a spellcaster.
You develop magical wards for your troops. Your troop gains a +1 status bonus to all defenses against magic.
Mobile Troop
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.
Rage and Rule
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.
Shield Wall [one-action]
Auditory Concentrate Skirmish
Prerequisites Shield Block
Requirements 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.
Troop Mascot
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.
Under Command
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.
Alchemical Enhancements [one-action]
Alchemical Manipulate Skirmish
Prerequisites Alchemical Crafting, expert in Crafting
You’ve trained your troops to identify, harvest, and combine reagents to perform basic alchemy, granting them potent oils they can apply to their weapons. During your daily preparations, you can choose cold, electricity, fire, or poison. You command your troop to apply the alchemical oils to their weapons as you do the same. Until the end of your next turn, your next weapon Strike and your troop’s next offensive ability each deal an additional 1d6 damage of the chosen type. The damage increases to 2d6 if you’re a master in Crafting and 3d6 if you’re legendary in Crafting. Once you use this bond, you can’t do so again for 1d4 rounds.
Dirty Tactics
Prerequisites You have the sneak attack class feature.
Though some upstanding and traditional commanders might frown on your methods, none can deny their effectiveness. You’ve taught your troops ways to create openings on the battlefield, setting up enemies for your underhanded attacks. If an enemy fails or critically fails its saving throw against one of your troop’s offensive abilities and takes damage, that creature is off-guard to you until the end of your turn.
Elemental Attunement
Prerequisites You have the kinetic aura class feature.
You’ve spent time attuning your kinetic gate to recognize your troop as an extension of yourself. When you Channel Elements, you can choose for your kinetic aura to affect your troop’s space and a 5-foot emanation from the troop, rather than a 10-foot emanation from you. Your troop is immune to any negative effects from your kinetic aura.
Special If you have the Aura Shaping feat, you can also reduce your kinetic aura’s area so that it only affects your troop’s space, or you can increase the kinetic aura’s size so that it affects a 10-foot emanation or 15-foot emanation from your troop.
Esoteric Drills [one-action]
Esoterica Manipulate Skirmish
Prerequisites You have the Exploit Vulnerability action.
You’ve trained your troops to recognize countless creatures’ weaknesses, outfitted them with esoterica of their own, and drilled them in their use. If you’ve successfully Exploited Vulnerability against a creature, your troop’s offensive abilities now apply the weakness from your mortal weakness the same way your Strikes do. This bond can’t be used at the same time as Share Weakness. This benefit ends when your Exploit Vulnerability ends or you use Esoteric Drills again, whichever comes first.
Investigative Squad
Prerequisites You have the Devise a Stratagem action.
You’ve drilled your troop in the finer arts of investigation and deduction. The troop has learned to spot clues related to your cases and take after your lead in stratagems you employ. Your troop always shares your bonuses from Pursue a Lead. In addition, if you Devise a Stratagem and choose the attack stratagem, until the beginning of your next turn, the target takes a –1 status penalty to saving throws against any offensive ability your troop uses, and the offensive abilities ignore an amount of the target’s resistance equal to half your level. If you Devise a Stratagem and instead choose skill stratagem, your troop gains the same bonus to its next Intelligence-, Wisdom-, or Charisma-based skill check or Perception check involving the target before the start of your next turn.
Poison Guard
Prerequisites master in Fortitude saves
You’ve given your troop a crash course in dealing with toxins and diseases, supplemented with special meals to boost immunity. Your troop gains a +2 status bonus to saving throws against disease and poison as well as poison resistance equal to half your level. The poison resistance increases by 1 if you’re trained in Crafting, 2 if you’re an expert, 3 if you’re a master, and 5 if you’re legendary.
Second Skin
Prerequisites master proficiency in any type of armor or unarmored defense
You’ve drilled your troop units in how best to maintain, don, and maneuver in their armor—especially when clashing with other troop formations. By spending 10 minutes adjusting and repairing the group’s armor, your troop gains temporary Hit Points equal to your level for 8 hours. In addition, the troop gains a +2 item bonus to its AC and to Reflex saves against other troops’ offensive abilities that deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.
Stylish Gambit [one-action]
Bravado Skirmish
Prerequisites You have the panache class feature.
You’ve taught your troop that style and grace can make the most reckless combatants come out on top. They’ve gained a bit of your bravado and the limited ability to take advantage of panache. You attempt an action that has the bravado trait for you, with your troop acting alongside you; this should be something that a troop could reasonably accomplish at the GM’s discretion. Only you need to attempt any associated check, but if the action involves movement, your troop moves along with you. The DC must be at least equal to a standard DC of your troop’s level. If you succeed, not only do you gain panache, your troop also gains panache, granting it an identical status bonus to its Speeds that panache grants you. In addition, the next 1- or 2-action offensive ability your troop uses deals an additional amount of precision damage granted to you by precise strike (if any). Once the action is completed, your troop loses panache. Your troop can’t add this additional precision damage more than once per round.
Unflinching
Prerequisites master in Will saves
You’ve drilled your troops to stand steadfast against the worst their foes can bring to bear; your incredible willpower has rubbed off on them, allowing them to shrug off fear and other attempts to emotionally influence them. If your troop rolls a success on a saving throw against an emotion effect, it critically succeeds instead. If your troop rolls a critical failure on a saving throw against an emotion effect, it fails instead. These modifications also apply to rout checks. At the end of its turn, the troop reduces the value of its frightened condition by 2 (rather than 1).
Unstoppable Tide
Prerequisites master in Athletics
You’ve put your troop’s units through intense calisthenics and other exercise regularly as well as outfitted them with climbing gear and the like; no barrier can stop them, with walls, moats, and the like being just additional battlefield terrain for them to maneuver through. Your troop gains climb and swim Speeds of 10 feet or increases each of these Speeds by 5 feet if they already have it.
Vigilant Guards
Prerequisites expert in Perception
You’ve trained your troop to be alert to any dangers so that it’s always on the lookout for threats and ready for combat at a moment’s notice. As long as you lead your troop, you also gain the benefits of Scouting in addition to any other exploration tactic you choose, and you grant a +2 circumstance bonus to initiative rolls (instead of the usual +1).
Shelyn's Corner
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