RULES OF WAR
CHAPTER 4
Protective Commander Your allies benefit from your protective guidance. Prerequisite: Commander rating 1, any lawful alignment. Benefit: Allies within 30 feet of you gain a +1 morale bonus on saving throws. Pursuing Commander You direct your soldiers to chase down any cowards who dare try to escape your iron grip. Prerequisite: Commander rating 2, lawful evil alignment. Benefit: Allies within 30 feet of you deal an extra 1d6 points of damage against foes who are frightened or panicked. This benefit is considered a morale bonus. Reckless Commander You inspire your allies to charge ferociously into battle. Prerequisite: Commander rating 2, chaotic evil alignment. Benefit: Any ally who begins her turn within 30 feet of you deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on the next charge attack she makes during her turn. This benefit is considered a morale bonus. Runt-Squasher Commander Your soldiers delight in fighting foes that are smaller than themselves. Prerequisite: Commander rating 2, Large or larger size, any evil alignment. Benefit: Allies within 30 feet of you gain a +2 morale bonus on attacks made against foes at least one size category smaller than they are. Sneaky Commander You are good at surrounding your enemies, then striking from all sides. Prerequisite: Commander rating 5, chaotic evil alignment, sneak attack ability. Benefit: Allies within 30 feet of you deal an extra 1d6 points of damage against foes that they flank. This benefit is considered a morale bonus. Spellslinging Commander The spellcasters in your command are inspired by your presence and can channel extra energy into their combat spells. Prerequisite: Commander rating 3, ability to cast 1stlevel spells, Spellcraft 5 ranks. Benefit: Any area spell cast by an ally within 30 feet of you deals an extra 1d6 points of damage. Only spells that deal damage gain this bonus. This benefit is considered a morale bonus.
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Steadfast Commander You are skilled at getting your troops to hold the line against the fiercest attacks.
Prerequisite: Commander rating 5, lawful good alignment. Benefit: Allies within 30 feet of you gain a +2 morale bonus to Armor Class against foes who move at least 5 feet before attacking.
Tyrannical Commander Your soldiers are more afraid of you than they are of the enemy. Prerequisite: Commander rating 5, lawful evil alignment, Intimidate 5 ranks. Benefit: Allies within 30 feet of you gain a +5 morale bonus on morale checks but automatically become panicked if they fail a morale check.
VICTORY POINTS
Whenever PCs fight in a massive battle, the players will naturally want to know how their success or failure impacts the fate of the army as a whole. You can’t roll every attack in a battle involving thousands of soldiers, and if you simply decide how much impact the PCs had on the battle based on your estimation of their performance, that decision might seem arbitrary to the players and can rob them of a sense of satisfaction. By assigning victory points to the various missions PCs undertake during a battle, you can provide the PCs and their players with a sense of accomplishment but still maintain control of the overall direction of the war. At its heart, the victory point system is a way to reward PCs for adventurous behavior. Players will have some sense of what sorts of activities earn their characters victory points, and they know that those victory points can affect the outcome. During the battle, the PCs will try to earn as many victory points as possible (subject to the lure of other rewards such as treasure, experience points, and the recognition points discussed later in this chapter). When the battle nears its climax, the DM compares the victory point total amassed by the PCs to a list of potential outcomes designed for that battle (see The Victory Point Framework, page 41). More victory points will earn the PCs a better outcome for their army, while characters who shirk their duties, play it safe, or otherwise fail to perform as expected could hurt the fortunes of their army. Discussed below are a number of ways PCs can earn victory points, along with suggested awards for each completed mission. You can add new activities worth victory points to reflect the character of a specific battle or alter the awards as you see fit. For example, in a battle between two armies separated by a river, establishing control of the largest bridge might be worth 100 victory points, not the normal 10 to 70 points for a “seize maneuver point” mission (see page 84). Chapter 3 describes how to construct a victory point framework for a particular battle and how to assign victory point thresholds necessary to achieve different outcomes. Those decisions are in your hands. The victory point awards themselves are described in this chapter because
