Tactician base class
Martial adept with a bit of Marshal in it.
Initial notes. Many ideas have since been changed, including such basics as how the core mechanic, plans, even works.
Has access to White Raven, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, and probably some homebrew disciplines I haven't looked for yet.
Large number of maneuvers readied, but they're grouped into "plans" of two or three maneuvers apiece. Whenever you initiate one maneuver from a plan, the others become withheld. This allows for a greater tactical flexibility (more maneuvers to choose from at any time), but the longevity would be lesser (fewer total plans than a typical adept has readied maneuvers). Recovery by swift action + standard to aid another or do nothing. Might also be able to set up plans such that when certain conditions occur, the remaining maneuvers in them become granted again.
Has a limited number of minor and major auras. Major auras might be tied to plans (possibly what determines when you get the remaining maneuvers granted without doing a full recovery); initiating a maneuver lets you project the associated major aura as a free action, but you stop projecting it as soon as you recovery your maneuvers.
Disciplines: Setting Sun, Diamond Mind, White Raven, Revealing Light, ...
Recovery: Full-round action to abandon any of your implemented plans and recover all maneuvers not in any of your plans that are still implemented.
Auras: Project tactical auras, which are like major auras that also link in with plans. No minor auras, since you have stances as a martial adept. Aura bonus progression is slow, like the paladin, since you've got full martial adept goodness.
Maneuvers: You begin your career with knowledge of six martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to you are ..., and ....
Once you know a maneuver, you must ready it before you can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by a tactician is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. Your maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you initiate one.
You learn additional maneuvers at higher levels, as shown on the table above. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it. See Table 3-1: Highest-Level Maneuvers Known (TOB 39), to determine the highest-level maneuvers you can learn.
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered tactician level after that (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), you can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one you already know. In effect, you lose the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. You can choose a new maneuver of any level you like, as long as you observe your restriction on the highest-level maneuvers you know; you need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. For example, upon reaching 10th level, you could trade in a single 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd- or 4th-level maneuver for a maneuver of 5th level or lower, as long as you meet the prerequisite of the new maneuver. You can swap only a single maneuver at any given level.
Maneuvers Readied: You can ready all six of the maneuvers you know at 1st level, and as you advance in level and learn more maneuvers, you are able to ready more, but you must choose which maneuvers to ready. You ready your maneuvers by practicing for 5 minutes, going through the motions of the maneuvers over and over in order. The maneuvers you choose remain readied until you decide to exercise again and change them. You need not sleep or rest for any long period of time to ready your maneuvers; any time you spend 5 minutes in practice, you can change your readied maneuvers.
You begin an encounter with all your readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times you might have already used them since you chose them. When you initiate a maneuver, you expend it for the current encounter, so each of your readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (until you recover them, as described below).
Tacticians are unique among martial adepts, relying on prepared plans to inform their next actions what maneuvers are best to be used in any given situation. When you ready your tactician maneuvers, you must assign them to plans. Each readied maneuver must be assigned to a single plan. Those plans remain fixed until you once again ready your maneuvers. You can prepare any number of plans at once, as long as each plan has at least one maneuver assigned to it, but each plan can have a maximum of two assigned maneuvers assigned.
Maneuvers assigned to unimplemented plans are withheld and inaccessible. When you implement a plan, the maneuvers assigned to that plan are granted to you, but the maneuvers assigned to your other plans remain withheld. Thus, you can only initiate the maneuvers assigned to your current implemented plan. Once implemented, a plan remains implemented until you abandon it, you recovery all of your maneuvers, or you ready your maneuvers and prepare new plans. You can implement a plan as a free action during your turn as long as you have fewer implemented plans than your maximum (typically one).
As a tactician, you can spend a full-round action to reevaluate your tactical situation. When you do, you can abandon any of your implemented plans, rendering the maneuvers assigned to them withheld again. Then, you recover all of your maneuvers not assigned to any still-implemented plans.
When preparing plans, you can assign an additional maneuver to each of them at 7th level (bringing your total to three), and again at 18th level (bringing your total to four).
Stances Known: You begin play with knowledge of one stance from any discipline open to tacticians. At *th, *th, and *th level, you can choose additional stances. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended, and you do not have to ready them. All the stances you know are available to you at all times, and you can change the stance you are currently using as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance description.
Unlike with maneuvers, you cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one you already know.
Auras (Ex): As a tactician, your presence and leadership exerts an effect on creatures in your vicinity. You can learn to produce different effects, or auras, over the course of your career. You may project one minor aura and one major aura at a time. If you possess the ability to project auras from multiple sources, the number of auras of any given type that you can project at once does not stack.
Activating an aura is a swift action. The aura remains in effect until you use a free action to dismiss it or you activate another aura of the same kind (major or minor). You can have an aura active continually; thus, an aura can be in effect at the start of a combat encounter even before you take your first turn.
As a tactician, activating an aura is a purely mental action. Unless otherwise noted, your auras affect all creatures within 60 feet (including yourself) that you can communicate with, even if you don't share a language. A creature must have an Intelligence score to be subjected to an aura (mindless creatures cannot be directly affected by your auras). Your aura is dismissed and you cannot project an aura while you are dazed, unconscious, stunned, paralyzed, or otherwise unable to communicate.
Some auras affect your enemies instead of, or in addition to, your allies. Unless otherwise stated, the save DC of your aura is equal to 10 + 1/2 your class level + your Charisma modifier.
Except where otherwise noted, all modifiers granted by your auras are morale bonuses (or penalties) with a magnitude equal to your aura bonus (bonuses add your aura bonus, penalties subtract it). These morale bonuses and penalties still affect targets immune to mind-affecting effects that are otherwise subject to your aura.
Tactical Aura: Beginning at 3rd level, you can project a tactical aura. A tactical aura grants allies bonuses or harms enemies. The magnitude of the bonus granted by your tactical auras is initially +1, and it improves by 1 at 8th level and every 5 levels thereafter. You learn two tactical auras of your choice at 3rd level. As your tactician level increases, you gain access to new auras, as indicated on the table above.
Unlike other auras, you cannot project tactical auras freely. When you prepare a plan, you can assign up to two of your tactical auras to it, although some abilities allow you to assign more auras at a time to the same plan. Unlike maneuvers, you can assign a given tactical aura to any number of plans at once. When you activate a plan, you can begin projecting any of its tactical auras as a free action. You can only project a tactical aura while a plan it is assigned to is active. Each tactical aura can only be assigned to a single plan at a time.
In addition to its standard effect for projecting it, each tactical aura lists a tactical condition. If a tactical aura is assigned to a plan and you witness the listed condition as it occurs, you can abandon one of your current plans as an immediate action to implement the associated plan. When a tactical condition refers to "a nearby ally", it means you or an ally that would be within the are of the aura if you were projecting it. Similarly, when a tactical condition refers to "a nearby opponent", it means an opponent that would be within the are of the aura if you were projecting it.
Some tactical auras also list one or more plan requirements. A plan must meet those criteria in order to have the aura assigned to it.
- Constant Vigilance: Allies within the aura gain blindsense out to 5 feet per point of aura bonus and can see through nonmagical darkness within the aura. Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus on initiative checks and on Listen and Spot checks.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally is attacked or damaged while flanked, flat-footed, or denied Dex to AC or by an attacker that has total concealment.
Plan requirements: Two or more maneuvers that are boosts or are Diamond Mind, ..., or Revealing Light maneuvers.
- Elemental Endurance: Allies gain resistance to acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic damage equal to five times your aura bonus.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally takes acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage that reduces it to half its maximum hit points or less..
Plan requirements: Two or more counters.
- Elusive Technique: Attacks against allies suffer a 10% miss chance, plus 5% per point of aura bonus (maximum 50%).
Tactical condition: A nearby ally is hit a second or subsequent attack in a single round.
Plan requirements: Two or more maneuvers that are counters or are Setting Sun, Shadow Hand, or Phantom Battlefield maneuvers.
- Defensive Formation: Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus to any damage reduction they may have. Allies that do not already have it are treated as having DR 0/- before applying this aura's bonus.
Tactical condition: A nearby enemy deals damage with a melee or ranged attack that reduces a nearby ally to half its maximum hit points or less.
Plan requirements: Two or more maneuvers that are counters or are Iron Heart, Stone Dragon, or Crushing Juggernaut maneuvers.
- Flexible Doctrine: Each ally gains an insight bonus on a single attack roll, saving throw, or check of their choice each round. The ally must choose to apply this bonus before making the roll.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll or saving throw.
Plan requirements: No more than one maneuver of each type (boost, counter, rush, or strike).
- Hold Fast: Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus on Balance checks and on checks, rolls, and saves made to resist being bull rushed, tripped, or forcibly moved. Allies also have a 15% chance to negate the extra damage from critical hits and precision damage per point of your aura bonus.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally is forcibly moved, knocked prone, or receives a critical hit.
Plan requirements: Two or more maneuvers that are counters or are Devoted Spirit, Stone Dragon, or Crushing Juggernaut maneuvers.
- Mindful Assault: Allies gain a bonus on attack rolls.
Tactical condition: A nearby enemy is missed by a second or subsequent attacks from nearby allies in a single round.
Plan requirements: Two or more strikes.
- Resilient Technique: Allies gain a bonus on all saves.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally fails a saving throw.
Plan requirements: Two or more counters.
- Shield Wall: Allies gain a bonus to Armor Class.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally is hit a second or subsequent attack in a single round.
Plan requirements: No boosts.
- Stand Until The End: Allies gain fast healing equal to your twice aura bonus. This fast healing cannot heal any creature above half its maximum hit points.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally takes damage from a melee or ranged attack that reduces it to half its maximum hit points or less.
Plan requirements: Two or more maneuvers that are boosts or are Devoted Spirit, Mechanus Hand, or Undying Call maneuvers.
- Unflinching Aggression: Allies gain a bonus on weapon damage rolls equal to 1d4 per point of aura bonus.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally deals damage with a melee or ranged attack that reduces the target to half its maximum hit points or less.
Plan requirements: No counters.
- Utmost Haste: Allies gain a 5-foot bonus to all movement speeds, plus an additional 5 feet per point of aura bonus. Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus on Balance, Climb, Survival, and Swim checks. If your aura bonus is at least +3, allies can move 10 feet as a swift action, using any movement mode they possess, as long as they perform no other movement during the round (as with a 5-foot step). If your aura bonus is at least +4, this movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Tactical condition: A nearby ally performs a double move, run, or withdraw action.
Plan requirements: All maneuvers are rushes or are Setting Sun, Tiger Claw, or Shifting Steel maneuvers.
TODO: More auras.
TODO: Probably will want to tone down the plan requirements, if not remove them entirely. I'm mostly just playing around with the idea now while it's in such a vague state.
Starting at 7th level, the range of your auras increases by 30 feet (to a total of 90 feet). Their range increases by 30 feet again at each of 12th and 17th level.
Side Objectives (Ex): Beginning at 12th level, you can have an additional plan implemented at once. Additionally, you gain Extra Aura (tactical aura) as a bonus feat, allowing you to project one more tactical aura at once than normal (for a total of 2 tactical auras). You must activate or dismiss your auras separately. You need not meet the prerequisites of this feat.
Backup Plan (Ex): Beginning at xth level, when you prepare your plans, you can designate one of them as a backup plan. You can assign one fewer maneuver and tactical aura than normal to this plan. You can abandon a plan to implement the backup plan as though it was assigned an aura with a tactical condition of "any time".
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