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So, Feldgrau's got a lot of skeletons. They're meant to be cannon fodder, but I'm using a VTT and would rather not have to mess with a dozen one-hit wonders when there's a more interesting alternative. I figured this would be a perfect place for the troop rules from Reign of Winter.
Troop Subtype: A troop is a collection of creatures that acts as a single creature, similar to a swarm, but typically as part of a military unit. A troop has the characteristics of its type, except as noted here. A troop has a single pool of Hit Dice and hit points, a single initiative modifier, a single speed, and a single Armor Class. A troop makes saving throws as a single creature.
A single troop occupies a 20-foot-by-20-foot square, equal in size to a Gargantuan creature, though the actual size category of the troop is the same as that of the component creatures. The area occupied by a troop is completely shapeable, though the troop must remain in contiguous squares to accurately ref lect the teamwork of trained military units. A troop has a reach equal to that of the component creatures based on size or armament. A troop can move through squares occupied by enemies and vice versa without impediment, although the troop provokes an attack of opportunity if it does so. A troop can move
through any area large enough for its component creatures.
The exact number of a troop’s component creatures varies, but in general, a troop of Small or Medium creatures consists of approximately 12 to 30 creatures. Larger creatures can form troops, but the area occupied by such a troop should increase proportionally according to the size of the component creatures.
Troop Traits: A troop is not subject to flanking, but it is subject to critical hits and sneak attacks if its component creatures are subject to such attacks. Reducing a troop to 0 hit points or fewer causes it to break up, effectively destroying the troop, though the damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. A troop is never staggered or reduced to a dying state by
damage. Also, a troop cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, except by area effects that include such effects. A troop can grapple an opponent.
A troop is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate and multiple target spells such as haste), though it is affected by spells or effects that target an area or a nonspecific number of creatures (such as fireball or mass hold monster). A troop takes half again as much damage (+50%) from spells or effects that affect an area. If a troop is rendered unconscious by means of nonlethal damage, it disperses and does not reform until its hit points exceed its nonlethal damage.
Troop Attack: Creatures with the troop subtype don’t make standard melee attacks. Instead, they deal automatic damage to any creature within reach or whose space they occupy at the end of their move, with no attack roll needed. A troop’s stat block has “troop” in its Melee entry with no attack bonus given. The amount of damage a troop deals is based on its Hit Dice, as shown in the table on page 313 of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary.
Unless stated otherwise, a troop’s attacks are nonmagical. Damage reduction sufficient to reduce a troop attack’s damage to 0 or other special abilities can give a creature immunity (or at least resistance) to the troop’s attacks. Some troops also have other special attacks in addition to normal damage. Troops threaten all creatures within their reach or within their area, and attempt attacks of opportunity as
normal with their troop attack.
Because of the chaos of combat, spellcasting or concentrating on spells within the area of a troop or within its reach requires a caster level check (DC 20 + spell level). Using skills that involve patience and concentration requires a successful DC 20 Will save.
Felgrau's got random patrols that included large groups of skeletons, plus some set encounters with more groups. I'll list all forms of these groups.
12 burning skeletons
8 burning skeletons
4 skeletal champions
8 skeletal champions
2 skeletal champions
8 bloody skeletons
12 skeletons
8 skeletal champion archers
It looks like anything with 8 or more skeletons is worth replacing with a troop.
This is the first time I've made a monster from essentially scratch, so I'd appreciate any input. I know skeletons aren't supposed to have feats, but I need to give them Stand Still so they can do their job of shielding the cultists. So I'm cheating and giving them an Int score of 3 to indicate that they have a group coordination as a troop.
The party should be level 8, and are usually engaging the skeletons alongside more creatures to bring the encounters to CR 8 or 9. Skeletal champions are the main exception, as they're already at CR 8.
You may notice I'm leaving off gear. Looting troops is weird, so I'm just going to allow the party to recover what they would have off of the original groups.
Human Skeleton CR 1/3
XP 135
NE Medium undead
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 4 (1d8)
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +2
DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, undead traits
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee broken scimitar +0 (1d6), claw –3 (1d4+1) or 2 claws +2 (1d4+2)
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 14, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Improved InitiativeB
Gear broken chain shirt, broken scimitar
12 skeletons is CR 5, so we're looking at a 7HD troop.
Skeleton Troop CR 5
XP 1,600
NE Medium undead
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 52 (7d8+21)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +7
DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, undead traits, troop traits
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee troop (2d6+4)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
TACTICS
During Combat Free-roaming skeleton troops typically rush forward and spread out as much as possible to engage as many enemies as they can reach, regardless of if this causes them to provoke attacks of opportunity. Troops accompanied by a cultist will usually be ordered to form a wall to prevent enemies from reaching the cultist.
Morale A troop disperses when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer.
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 14, Con —, Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 21
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved InitiativeB, Iron Will, Stand Still, Toughness
Skills Perception +7
Burning skeletons add +1 CR, fiery aura, change in immunities, 1d6 fire damage, +2 Cha, and fiery death. In Feldgrau, burning skeletons come in groups of 8 and 12, or CR 5 and 6 respectively. The CR 6 version is easily made by adding the template to the CR 5 skeleton troop, but for the other I've got to take off 2 HD.
Burning skeleton Troop CR 6
XP 2,400
NE Medium undead
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7
Aura fiery aura (1d6)
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 59 (7d8+28)
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +7
DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune fire, undead traits, troop traits;
Weaknessess vulnerability to cold
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee troop (2d6+4 plus 1d6 fire)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
TACTICS
During Combat Free-roaming skeleton troops typically rush forward and spread out as much as possible to engage as many enemies as they can reach, regardless of if this causes them to provoke attacks of opportunity. Troops accompanied by a cultist will usually be ordered to form a wall to prevent enemies from reaching the cultist.
Morale A troop disperses when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer.
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 14, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 21
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved InitiativeB, Iron Will, Stand Still, Toughness
Skills Perception +7
SQ fiery death (3d6, DC 16)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Fiery Aura (Ex): Creatures adjacent to a burning skeleton troop take 1d6 points of fire damage at the start of their turn. Anyone striking a burning skeleton troop with an unarmed strike or natural attack takes 1d6 points of fire damage.
Fiery Death (Su): A burning skeleton troop explodes into a burst of flame when it dies. Anyone adjacent to the troop when it is destroyed takes 1d6 points of fire damage per 2 Hit Dice the troop possessed (minimum 1d6). A Reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the troop’s Hit Dice + the troop’s Cha bonus) halves this damage.
Burning skeleton Troop CR 5
XP 1,600
NE Medium undead
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +5
Aura fiery aura (1d6)
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 42 (5d8+20)
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +4
DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune fire, undead traits, troop traits;
Weaknessess vulnerability to cold
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee troop (1d6+4 plus 1d6 fire)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
TACTICS
During Combat Free-roaming skeleton troops typically rush forward and spread out as much as possible to engage as many enemies as they can reach, regardless of if this causes them to provoke attacks of opportunity. Troops accompanied by a cultist will usually be ordered to form a wall to prevent enemies from reaching the cultist.
Morale A troop disperses when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer.
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 14, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +3; CMB +7; CMD 19
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved InitiativeB, Stand Still, Toughness
Skills Perception +5
SQ fiery death (2d6, DC 15)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Fiery Aura (Ex): Creatures adjacent to a burning skeleton troop take 1d6 points of fire damage at the start of their turn. Anyone striking a burning skeleton troop with an unarmed strike or natural attack takes 1d6 points of fire damage.
Fiery Death (Su): A burning skeleton troop explodes into a burst of flame when it dies. Anyone adjacent to the troop when it is destroyed takes 1d6 points of fire damage per 2 Hit Dice the troop possessed (minimum 1d6). A Reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the troop’s Hit Dice + the troop’s Cha bonus) halves this damage.
On to bloody skeletons. They add +1 CR, fast healing, channel resistance +4, +4 cha, and deathless, which is a bit weird on a troop, but who cares. They only appear in groups of 8, or CR 5, so a simple feature swap with the smaller burning skeleton troop gives this:
Bloody skeleton Troop CR 5
XP 1,600
NE Medium undead
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +5
Aura fiery aura (1d6)
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15 (+2 armor, +2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 47 (5d8+25); fast healing 2
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +4
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, deathless; DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, undead traits, troop traits;
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee troop (1d6+4)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
TACTICS
During Combat Free-roaming skeleton troops typically rush forward and spread out as much as possible to engage as many enemies as they can reach, regardless of if this causes them to provoke attacks of opportunity. Troops accompanied by a cultist will usually be ordered to form a wall to prevent enemies from reaching the cultist.
Morale A troop disperses when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer.
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 14, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 18
Base Atk +3; CMB +7; CMD 19
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved InitiativeB, Stand Still, Toughness
Skills Perception +5
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Deathless (Su): A bloody skeleton troop is destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points, but it returns to unlife 1 hour later at 1 hit point, allowing its fast healing thereafter to resume healing it. A bloody skeleton can be permanently destroyed if it is destroyed by positive energy, if it is reduced to 0 hit points in the area of a bless or hallow spell, or if its remains are sprinkled with a vial of holy water.
That just leaves skeletal champions. A group of 8 skeletal champions is CR 8, so this group needs to be made from scratch. When I saw they have Intimidate, I figured it would be fun to give them Dazzling Display even though the prereq of Weapon Focus makes no sense.
Skeletal Champion CR 2
XP 600
Human skeletal champion warrior 1
NE Medium undead
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+6 armor, +1 Dex, +2 natural, +2 shield)
hp 17 (3 HD; 2d8+1d10+3)
Fort +3 Ref +1 Will +3; channel resistance +4
DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, undead traits
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk longsword +7 (1d8+3/19–20)
STATISTICS
Str 17, Dex 13, Con —, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +2; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats Cleave, Improved InitiativeB, Power Attack, Weapon
Focus (longsword)
Skills Intimidate +7, Perception +6, Stealth –1
Skeletal Champion Troop CR 8
XP 4,800
NE Medium undead
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +15
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 12, flat-footed 19 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +1 natural, +2 shield)
hp 102 (12d8+48)
Fort +7 Ref +6 Will +10; channel resistance +4
DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, undead traits, troop traits
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee troop (3d6+6)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
TACTICS
During Combat Skeletal champion troops are highly organized and seldom break out of a regular formation. They start combat by intimidating their enemies with a display of their coordination, then march forward using an appropriate formation (typically a pincer to surround small groups). They prefer to avoid provoking attacks of opportunity unless they need to reach an enemy who is using area attacks on them.
Morale A troop disperses when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer.
STATISTICS
Str 22, Dex 14, Con —, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 27
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dazzling Display, Improved InitiativeB, Iron Will, Stand Still, Toughness, Weapon Focus (troop)
Skills Intimidate +18, Perception +15, Stealth +11
For the archers, add the special ability:
Silver arrow volley (Ex): As a standard action, an archer troop can target a single square up to 200 feet away with a volley of silver arrows. This attack deals 3d6 piercing and silver damage to all creatures within a 20-foot-radius burst (Reflex DC 18 for half). The save DC is Dexterity-based.
Whew! Please let me know what you think.
You're welcome. I only got around to using them a couple of weeks ago myself. Thought they worked pretty well, although the weakest ones were a little fragile. Don't forget about the extra HP from desecrate with these guys, I forgot to include it.