| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
These feats (and one skill use) are intended to represent a soldier who is practiced in fighting with a unit. They are intended to enhance both the soldier's effectiveness, and that of his allies. I felt the lack of these when writing up fideles and thought I would produce a few. In addition to these feats, if you are using third-party materials I would add Improved Flanking and Formation Expert from Complete Warrior as Combat feats, and Coordinated Spell from Complete Arcane as a Metamagic feat.
These are a first draft and may be underpowered, overpowered, or unclear. Comments are welcome.
Wide Flanking (Combat): You can flank a foe if an ally threatening the same creature is in a square adjacent to one that would normally allow you to flank that creature.
Got Your Back (Combat): Choose an ally in a square adjacent to you. Attempts to make sneak attacks against that ally provoke attacks of opportunity from you. At 10th level, you can keep an eye on two nearby allies.
Pincer Attack (Combat): If you and an ally are flanking a foe, and you come before your ally in the initiative order, you may declare that you are using this feat and ready an action to attack when your ally does. You and your ally attack simultaneously, and in future rounds you drop to immediately after your ally in initiative order. For this attack, the target is denied any Dex bonus to AC. In order to use this feat again, either another flanking ally must have and use Pincer Attack, or you must again delay until the next attack of an ally after your turn.
Tie Down (Combat): You can hamper a chosen foe in making attacks of opportunity against your allies. You must attack a specific enemy and declare that you are using this ability on that enemy. Until your next turn, if your foe attempts to to make an attack of opportunity against anyone else, you can attempt to interrupt their attack with an attack of opportunity of your own.
Covering Fire (Combat): You are practiced at firing rapidly in the general direction of foes to distract them. You must take a full attack with a physical weapon to use this feat. You can fire or throw twice as many projectiles as you normally could, but you can only aim at a grid intersection. Foes adjacent to that grid intersection or in line of effect between you and those squares are distracted; spellcasters and those performing delicate actions must make the usual checks to concentrate. Allies of yours beyond the area of effect gain concealment from foes within the area of this effect.
You may hit foes by chance; roll once at the beginning of the turn for each foe within the area of effect, or entering it, before your next turn, up to a number of times equal to the number of projectiles you fire. A critical hit is resolved as a normal hit.
Spellshot (Metamagic): You can distribute the damage of a line or ray spell that deals damage of an energy type, breaking it in to small amounts and firing it rapidly in the general direction of foes to distract them. Use the rules for the Covering Fire feat, but the number of projectiles fired is as high as you wish. The damage of the spell is rolled normally and divided by the number of projectiles fired. Other effects, such as possible blinding and stunning, are much weaker; the GM should adjudicate these situations.
Prerequisite: ability to cast a damage-dealing line or ray spell with an energy descriptor of 1st level or higher.
Special: if you have fighter levels and qualify for this feat, Covering Fire includes this ability.
Coordinated Blow (Combat): You and any number of allies with this feat, all of whom threaten the same foe, declare that you are using this feat and delay your attacks until the turn of some particular ally, who need not have this feat. When that ally attacks, you all do. (If more than one ally is using Coordinated Blow, the fact must be communicated by the first user.) The totaled damage rolls from all attacks that hit and do not bypass the creature's damage resistance count as a single attack for the purposes of overcoming damage resistance.
Formation Spell (Metamagic): You can prepare a burst, emanation, or spread-shaped spell which will exempt from immediate effect any creature or object in a given selection of squares that you choose at this time (presumably your allies, in a practiced formation) removed from its normal shape. The area exempted is lost. A formation spell takes up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level.
Formation Movement (Combat): Describe a selection of squares on the field, one of which must be designated as being occupied by you. You and any allies in these squares can, at your communicated command, take a 5-foot step in a direction of your choosing as an immediate action of yours. All involved must be legally able to take a 5-foot step in the direction chosen. If you have had several hours to train with your allies, you and your allies may ignore difficult terrain or darkness. If your Leadership score is 12 or higher, the formation can take the step as long as you can take a 5-foot step and your allies are not restrained. For every 3 points your Leadership score is above 9, you may specify an additional formation.
Prerequisite: Leadership
Combat Signals: A "language." You have elected to have one of your languages, whether starting or picked up with Linguistics, be a system of combat signals practiced by yourself and your allies. Messages sent using this system, consisting of a mix of quick gestures and short calls or whistles, can convey a wide range of battle-related orders and concepts without the need to hide your message from foes. Even an active tongues ability is no help; it will distinguish 'words' of unfamiliar jargon. Sending such a message is a free action if you have Combat Signals as a learned language; if you do not, it is a standard action with a Linguistics DC of 10, and you can only send common sorts of battle-related information, in the GM's judgment. To understand each other's messages, a group must take a least a few hours of training to share and practice their system.