Tactics

Its meant as a fighter/rogue high magic equivalent. The goal is this replaces folks considering Eviscerate and Doom Blow as capstones.

• Martial Tricks:(2xp per; prereg 75xp in martial skills) - gain 1 point of Martial Tricks. You may spend a martial trick point to prepare a general tactic or a martial tactic.
• Stealth Tricks:(2xp per; prereg 75xp in stealth skills) - gain 1 point of Stealth Tricks. You may spend a stealth trick point to prepare a general tactic or a stealth tactic.
• Scouts get both at 2xp per; hybrid classes get it at 3xp per for their hybrid, 4 xp per cross. scholars & artisans get it for 4xp per.

General Tactics:

• 2: Break Free. 1 per LP, with 5 seconds of RP, deal 20 points of damage to your armor to break out of pin/shackle/web.
• 3: Polished Shield. 1 per LP, a spell that hits a shield may be bane'd.
• 3: Double Tap: 1 per LP, While wielding two weapons or claws, when you successfully deliver an assassinate or slay on a target, you may use it a second time on the same target with the offhand weapon within 5 seconds. This effect does not replicate any modifiers to the skill (like heavy hitter or assassin's eye).
• 2: Iron Grip: 1 per LP, you may call “Bane” to any effect that attempts to Disarm or Shatter a wielded Two Handed Weapon.
• 5: Generalist: Your Improved Assassinate also act as Improved Slay. Your Improved Slay also act as Improved Assassinate.
• 1: Powerful Meditation: as per High Magic ability

Martial Tactics:

• 1: Armor Shift. 1 per LP, Take a weapon delivered swing with the “body” carrier as if it did not have the body carrier. Call “Altered”.
• 2: Armor Expertise. Act as if wearing 4 more points of physical armor. Can be purchased up to 5 times. Note does not increase max allowed armor.
• 3: Smith's Armor. Any time you use a “Fast Refit” on yourself, it acts as 2 uses.
• 2: Heavy Hitter. 1 per LP, +50 damage of a slay.
• 2: Bloody Armor. 1 per LP, when you use a Resolute you are also affected by a “Mend Armor 20”.
• 2: Recoil. 1 per LP, when a weapon skill is parry'd it is not used.
• 3: Defensive Mind Set. 1 per LP, You may meditate and expend a slay to refresh a parry.
• 1: Offensive Mind Set. 1 per LP, You may meditate and expend a parry to refresh a slay.
• 2: Spell Parry 1 per LP, as per ritual.
• 5: Second Wind. 1 per LP, when you'd bleed out, you instead wake as if you'd had first aid applied.

Stealth Tactics:

• 2: Armor of Grace: May be purchased up to 5 times. Each purchase grants the user 8 points of armor that does not stack with physical armor, but is subject to the normal maximum armor restrictions. This armor does not require the blacksmith skill to refit and is refit via stretching exercise, but otherwise follows the rules for armor refitting.
• 3: Redirect Strike: 1 per LP, When hit with a physical delivery weapon, poison, or spell “strike”, you may call bane.
• 3: Trap Avoidance: 1 per LP, as per the ritual.
• 3: Slippery Mind Set. 1 Per LP, You may meditate and expend an assassinate to refresh a dodge.
• 1: Killing Mind Set. 1 Per LP, You may meditate and expend a dodge to refresh an assassinate.
• 1: Feint with Globe: 1 per LP, When you throw an alchemy or trap globe, and entirely miss the target, you may retain the globe.
• 2: Assassin's Eye: 1 per LP, +100 damage of an assassinate.
• 3: Swashbuckler's Grace: While not using a Weapon Style with a 1H weapon, your backstabs count as weapon proficiencies when you are not attacking “From Behind”.
• 3: Dodge This: 1 per LP, When an opponent uses a dodge or phase to avoid a weapon delivered attack, you may expend 1 use of this skill to use the attack again and this attack counts as “From Behind”.
• 5: Reflexive Ghostform: 1 per LP, you may assume Gaseous Form in response to an attack. The effect lasts one minute, and may be ended earlier. You must end the effect with a 3-count solidify. Effect ends immediately if hit with a Solidify spell.

Unresolved questions:

• Are we okay with skills that duplicate rituals? There is a solid precedent in “Battlemage's Strike” and “Enhanced Strike”
  • Armor of Grace and Armor Expertise are meant to be a ways to spend build to not need Arcane Armor; partially also as a QoL
• Are we okay with tactics that are just for powering rituals? Its sort of a weird edge case, but without it spell parry can't scale up anywhere equivalently to Cloak.
• Should we just remove Doom Blow and Eviscerate entirely? The big burst damage can be replicated with “Heavy Hitter”+slay
  • maybe move slay/assassinate (but not improved slay/assassinate) to /20 instead of /30 if we do.

• Feedback from Andy:
  • Need to consider that assassinate costs 1, and dodge 5 – and this lets you trade a 1 XP skill for a 5. (similar but less bad for slay); maybe make this per swap?
  • Change swashbuckler's grace to be 2:1, and let it be down with 2-weapons. Keeps from being overly fighter-parity.
  • Stone Heart needs an “Altered” call, which might make it cease working since meta-gaming. Otherwise its the only silent skill in our system.
  • need some sort of tactic to make “Counteract” better – maybe against all strikes? (probably to good; need to figure out some reasonable limit)

Remove:

• Martial:
  • 5: Mighty Blow. 1 per LP, you may swing with “Massive” for double weapon damage. You may not use this with any other skill or ability.
• Stealth:
  • 5: Stone Heart: 1 per LP, when you are Killing Blow'd you may treat it as a normal weapon hit that knocks you unconscious. Additional Killing Blows given during this unconsciousness period reset the timer. If you take damage while in this state, you begin Bleeding Out as normal.