Tactics

Key facts

Characteristic

Reason

Overview

Tactics is military thinking: choosing the ground before a fight, spotting that an enemy line is a screen for a flanking column, estimating how long a gate will hold, planning an ambush that accounts for the retreat. It is a Reason skill because it is analysis applied under time pressure. It comes up before combat, in war councils, when the party commands allied troops, and whenever the Director shows a battlefield and asks what the heroes do first.

How it works

Characteristic: Reason. Skill group: Reason skills. Test: 2d10 + Reason; 11 or lower is tier 1, 12 to 16 tier 2, 17 or higher tier 3. Training grants a benefit and unlocks attempts untrained heroes cannot make. How it is used: Tier 3 reads the enemy's plan and identifies the decisive weakness. Tier 2 gives a sound read with a gap. Tier 1 gives a wrong assessment the party may commit resources to. Edges and banes: Time to scout, a vantage point, and knowledge of the enemy grant an edge (+2). Ambushes, unfamiliar fighting doctrines, monstrous or mindless foes, and no reconnaissance impose a bane (-2).

Tips and playstyle

Best for: Tacticians and any party that fights organized enemies rather than lone monsters. Character concepts: Aristocrat career officer, Gladiator schooled in troupe combat, martial upbringing in a war college. Synergies: Lead to turn a plan into orders, Monsters for enemies that do not fight like soldiers, Terrain Lore and Architecture for the ground and the walls you fight over.

Frequently asked questions