Hi, all
I'm writing up a character that uses the 3rd party Spheres of Might rules to have an allied troop of kobolds under his command, and I'm running into some rules questions about that subtype. Without going too much into Spheres of Might rules for building cohorts, let's just assume we apply the Troop subtype onto a kobold rogue 1 for the following.
1: Can a PC occupy the same space as friendly troop?
1a: Does this provide soft cover for the PC and/or his enemies?
1b: Is the PC's reach unimpeded if he's standing within a troop?
1c: Can friendly troops share their spaces with each other?
2: If a troop doesn't have a special ability to make attacks at range, can a troop ever make ranged attacks, even if equipped with ranged weapons? How would damage and possible area be calculated?
3: Troops are not subject to flanking, but can they flank others?
3a: If the troop shapes itself so that it is on both sides of a target, can it flank with itself?
1: Can a PC occupy the same space as friendly troop?
EDIT: I would say NO. However, the troop could shape around the PC to protect them.
1a: Does this provide soft cover for the PC and/or his enemies?
Since a single creature from the troop would already provide soft cover, the answer seems to be YES.
1b: Is the PC's reach unimpeded if he's standing within a troop?
I'd think so.
1c: Can friendly troops share their spaces with each other?
I don't see any rule which would allow this. Moving past each other is appearantly not an issue, even if a whole troop passes multiple squares of another troop, but at the end of either troop's turn, they can't share squares.
2: If a troop doesn't have a special ability to make attacks at range, can a troop ever make ranged attacks, even if equipped with ranged weapons? How would damage and possible area be calculated?
Well, if the creatures get ranged weapons, that should be reflected by some ranged troop attack. Personally, I'd let the ranged attack always hit (like the melee one), but reduce its damage by ~1/3 in comparison to the melee attack, to compensate the increased range.
If the troop is accompanied by powerful single creatures capable of ranged attacks (mundane or magic), IMO it's usually ok if the troop is restricted to melee.
3: Troops are not subject to flanking, but can they flank others?
I'd think they can and I'd apply the following line from CRB, page 197: If a flanker takes up more than 1 square, it gets the flanking bonus if any square it occupies counts for flanking.
3a: If the troop shapes itself so that it is on both sides of a target, can it flank with itself?
I guess so. There are rules which allow single creatures to flank with themselves (Dimensional Dervish, Circling Mongoose etc.), so it's not much of a stretch if multiple creatures that "threaten all creatures within their reach or within their area" (Bestiary 6) do the same.
Thanks for the answers!
1: Can a PC occupy the same space as friendly troop?EDIT: I would say NO. However, the troop could shape around the PC to protect them.
(...)
1b: Is the PC's reach unimpeded if he's standing within a troop?I'd think so.
1c: Can friendly troops share their spaces with each other?I don't see any rule which would allow this. Moving past each other is appearantly not an issue, even if a whole troop passes multiple squares of another troop, but at the end of either troop's turn, they can't share squares.
The one thing that gives me pause here is this sentence in the "Troop attack" paragraph: "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."
This suggests that a troop acts like a swarm with regards to sharing spaces, but it is the only mention of it in the troop subtype rules. Since swarms are typically made of creatures that are small enough to share spaces with enemies/allies anyway, it might make more sense to turn a blind eye to the bolded part.EDIT: Although, come to think of it, maybe it's only there to cover the case of a troop fighting tiny creatures...
The one thing that gives me pause here is this sentence in the "Troop attack" paragraph: "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."
This suggests that a troop acts like a swarm with regards to sharing spaces, but it is the only mention of it in the troop subtype rules. Since swarms are typically made of creatures that are small enough to share spaces with enemies/allies anyway, it might make more sense to turn a blind eye to the bolded part.
Well, a troop is a type of swarm, so it makes sense that they act like one.
The troop subtype represents an organized group of trained soldiers that act as a unit, rather than as individuals. A troop is something of an abstraction, in that the component creatures that make up the troop are mostly irrelevant; only the troop as a whole matters for the purposes of combat. A troop is similar to a swarm, but is normally composed of Small or Medium creatures. Large groups of Tiny or smaller creatures should use the normal swarm rules.