Warriors

AX.GAN.07.01 - Warriors

Warriors are defined by direct confrontation, physical or tactical engagement with the forces arrayed against them. They stand between.

Criteria Key: - [L] Lineage | [A] Primary Attribute | [T] Theme - Six lineage-rooted Warriors, three universal Warriors, nine total.

WARRIOR QUICK REFERENCE

Profession	Lineage	Attribute	Favored Save	Power Access
Highwatcher	Aedyn	Speed	Speed Save	None (aerial tradition optional)
Pride Champion	Misa	Body	Body Save	None
Stoneholder	Dura'Kai	Body	Body Save	None (earth tradition optional)
Compact Warden	Voren	Wit	Wit Save	None
Tide Guard	Sereindal	Speed	Speed Save	None
Ember Sworn	Ashari	Body	Body Save	Fire/Force (optional)
Reckoner	Universal	Body	Body Save	None
Skirmisher	Universal	Speed	Speed Save	None
Commander	Universal	Wit	Wit Save	None

HIGHWATCHER

[L: Aedyn] [A: Speed] [T: Warrior]

The one who sees first, and arrives last, because they have already chosen where to land.

Aedyn culture teaches that the highest form of combat is not strength but certainty. A Highwatcher studies the battlefield from above, sometimes for hours, before committing. When they act, they do so with absolute knowledge of where they will be and what will happen when they get there. Their training is not about how to strike but about when: the science of the moment that cannot be recovered from.

The Highwatcher's discipline is built on veyrak, the Aedyn concept of holding the whole before attending to the part. They do not enter a conflict. They conclude one. Other warriors fight where the battle is. The Highwatcher arrives where the battle will be decided.

Favored Save: Speed Save (Speed + Acrobatics)

Power Access: None. If a Genre Catalog develops an aerial or atmospheric tradition, Highwatchers are the appropriate access point.

Suggested Talents: Precision, Acrobatics, Notice, Stealth

Starting Equipment: Light armor (wind-treated leather, flight-compatible), one ranged weapon and one light blade (dive-strike secondary), Observation Kit +2D (spyglass and field tools), flight harness.

Progression Track

Thermal Read | Combat | Stage 1 | Free Action | Self | Short Rest
Mechanical effect: When the Highwatcher acts on the same Turn in which they
  were airborne at any point (including the immediately prior Turn), they gain
  Advantage on their Initiative roll and on their first attack roll this Turn.
  If already at the top of initiative, they may instead add +1D to that first
  attack. The Highwatcher has read the field before landing.
Limit: Once per Short Rest. Requires flight or elevation prior to acting.
Genre Note: This represents the discipline of observation over aggression.
  A Highwatcher who did not take the high ground before combat does not
  have access to this ability, positioning is the prerequisite.

Commitment Strike | Combat | Stage 2 | Primary Action | Single Target | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: The Highwatcher commits to a single target with complete
  certainty before rolling. This attack gains Advantage. If it deals any damage,
  reduce the target's Defense by 1 for the remainder of the encounter (minimum 1).
  This represents not a wound to armor but a read of how the target moves, the
  Highwatcher has found the angle.
Limit: Once per Long Rest. Must declare before rolling.
Genre Note: The Defense reduction is permanent for this encounter, the
  Highwatcher identified a genuine structural vulnerability, not a lucky hit.

Veyrak's Descent | Tactical | Stage 3 | Primary Action | Near Range | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: At any point in the encounter, the Highwatcher declares one
  enemy their Mark as a Primary Action. For the remainder of the encounter:
  all the Highwatcher's attacks against the Mark have Advantage; all allies who
  can see the Highwatcher gain +1D to Notice rolls against the Mark; and the
  Mark cannot benefit from concealment or cover in the Highwatcher's line of
  sight (the Highwatcher has already mapped every position they can reach).
Limit: Once per Full Rest. One Mark per encounter.
Genre Note: Veyrak, the view from above, is not metaphorical here. The
  Highwatcher has been watching the Mark since before combat began.

PRIDE CHAMPION

[L: Misa] [A: Body] [T: Warrior]

The body is the argument. The Reckoning proved it.

Where most cultures produce warriors through necessity, the Misa produce them through philosophy. The body is not a weapon; it is a statement of values. A Pride Champion has passed the Reckoning, survived alone, returned with proof of worth, and chosen their pride not because they had to but because they chose to. That sequence of decisions has made them into something physical training alone could not.

Misa combat is not technique-first. It is commitment-first. The Pride Champion does not calculate the odds of a fight. They decide whether the fight is worth having, and then they are entirely in it, every capability available, every reserve burned. Other cultures' warriors conserve; a Pride Champion converts.

Favored Save: Body Save (Body + Fortitude)

Power Access: None.

Suggested Talents: Strike, Athletics, Fortitude, Endurance

Starting Equipment: Medium armor (articulated, permits full range of motion), one standard weapon (chosen at character creation, many Misa fight with natural weapons supplemented by blades), Endurance Kit +2D, pride colors as identifying markings.

Progression Track

Spotted Coat | Social/Combat | Stage 1 | Free Action | Close Range | Short Rest
Mechanical effect: The Pride Champion's physical presence, patterning,
  posture, and the specific quality of attention they project, reads as
  genuinely dangerous to creatures capable of threat-assessment. Once per
  Short Rest, force one enemy within Close range to make a Wit Save
  (Threshold 2). On failure, the target is Shaken until the end of their
  next Turn or until they deal damage to any creature, whichever comes first.
  No hostile action is required; this is presence alone.
Limit: Once per Short Rest.
Genre Note: This is not an Intimidate roll. It does not require the Champion
  to do anything. The patterning communicates at a biological level.

Tepara's Threshold | Combat | Stage 2 | Primary Action | Single Target | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: At the moment of irreversible commitment, the Champion's
  first attack of the encounter; this ability may be declared before rolling.
  The attack gains +2D and, if it deals damage, the target is pushed one range
  band away from the Champion (no Save). This represents the Misa ideal of
  total presence at the point of action: the crossing of Tepara's threshold,
  from stillness to absolute motion.
Limit: Once per Long Rest. Must be the first attack of the encounter.
Genre Note: Tepara of the Open Water is prayed to at the moment between
  stillness and motion. This ability is that prayer made physical.

Pride's Weight | Support | Stage 3 | Free Action | Near Range | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: The Pride Champion becomes a living anchor. Once per Full
  Rest, until the start of the Champion's next Turn, all allies within Near
  range who can see the Champion may use the Champion's Body Save result
  instead of their own for the next Body-based effect targeting them.
  Additionally, allies who would be reduced to 0 Health this Turn by a
  Body-based effect are instead reduced to 1 Health (this secondary effect
  applies to one ally only, the Champion's focus in a critical moment).
Limit: Once per Full Rest. Declared as Free Action; effect is immediate.
Genre Note: Pride's Weight is not magic; it is the psychological reality
  of fighting beside someone whose body has already proven what a body can do.

STONEHOLDER

[L: Dura'Kai] [A: Body] [T: Warrior]

The lodge does not fall while one of us remains standing.

Dura'Kai warriors are not aggressive; they are immovable. Their combat philosophy draws directly from their elemental heritage: earth does not pursue, it holds. A Stoneholder stakes their ground at the beginning of an engagement and makes leaving that ground the most consequential decision an enemy can make. They do not chase. They make themselves the feature of the terrain.

The Stoneholder is the distilled expression of Dura'Kai conviction: a thing that has decided where it stands and has not changed that decision. Opponents learn quickly that forcing a Stoneholder to move is more expensive than going around them. Going around them is usually also a mistake the Stoneholder anticipated.

Favored Save: Body Save (Body + Fortitude)

Power Access: None. If a Genre Catalog develops an earth elemental tradition, Stoneholders are an appropriate access point.

Suggested Talents: Fortitude, Endurance, Strike, Grapple

Starting Equipment: Heavy armor (stone-set lodge-forged plate), one heavy weapon (maul or great mattock) or shield (for the defensive variant), Fortitude Kit +2D, a lodge stone, a piece of rock from the Stoneholder's home ground, worn at the belt.

Progression Track

Ground Claim | Resilience/Combat | Stage 1 | Free Action | Self | Short Rest
Mechanical effect: When the Stoneholder takes no movement action on their
  Turn, they gain +1 Defense until the start of their next Turn. Additionally,
  they may make one Opportunity Attack per round as a Reaction even against
  enemies who do not provoke one by standard rules, the Stoneholder's
  command of their ground means any enemy entering or exiting their Close
  range does so at risk. This Opportunity Attack still follows standard
  Opportunity Attack resolution.
Limit: The Defense bonus resets each Turn. The extended Opportunity Attack
  is always active when the Stoneholder has not moved.
Genre Note: This is not a special stance; it is the natural consequence
  of the Stoneholder's complete stillness. The earth holds.

Lodge Wall | Tactical | Stage 2 | Primary Action | Close Range | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: The Stoneholder commits fully to a defensive position.
  Until they voluntarily move, all allies within Close range gain +1 Defense
  and are considered to have cover against any ranged attack that must pass
  through the Stoneholder's position. Enemies who attempt to move through
  the Stoneholder's occupied space must succeed on a Body Save (Threshold 3)
  or be stopped adjacent to the Stoneholder and lose their remaining movement.
Limit: Effect ends immediately when the Stoneholder moves. Once per Long Rest.
Genre Note: Lodge Wall is a statement, not a tactic. The Stoneholder is
  declaring that this ground will not change hands today.

The Earth Does Not Apologize | Resilience | Stage 3 | Reaction | Self | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Full Rest, when the Stoneholder would be reduced
  to 0 Health by a single attack, they instead drop to 1 Health. The hit
  lands, the Stoneholder does not avoid it, but it is not enough.
  Immediately following this Reaction, the Stoneholder may make a free
  Intimidate check (Wit + Persuade or equivalent social threat roll,
  Threshold 2) against the attacker. Success inflicts the Shaken condition.
  The Stoneholder does not speak for this check; their continued standing
  is the statement.
Limit: Once per Full Rest.
Genre Note: This is not stoicism performed for effect. The Dura'Kai do not
  apologize for their weight. The attacker learns this firsthand.

COMPACT WARDEN

[L: Voren] [A: Wit] [T: Warrior]

They do not fight because they want to. They fight because something needs protecting, and no one else is big enough.

The Voren concept of strength-as-obligation produced a warrior archetype that no other culture arrived at in quite the same way: one defined not by aggression but by the weight of responsibility. A Compact Warden is a mediator who can enforce. They know the terms of every agreement that bears on the current situation, and they act as the consequence for violating those terms. They are, in Voren tradition, the mechanism by which peace has teeth.

The Compact Warden embodies the Stewardship Compact's central paradox: that a commitment to preventing violence requires the credible capacity to deploy it. Their combat training is real and thorough. They simply prefer to make it unnecessary by ensuring all parties understand exactly what it means.

Favored Save: Wit Save (Wit + Resolve)

Power Access: None.

Suggested Talents: Tactics, Persuade, Endurance, Strike

Starting Equipment: Medium armor (well-maintained, lodge-marked), one standard weapon (typically a heavy walking staff that doubles as a weapon), Diplomacy Kit +2D (documents of compacts, sealing wax, ledger), a copy of the current Stewardship Compact terms.

Progression Track

Long Memory | Knowledge | Stage 1 | Free Action | Self | Short Rest
Mechanical effect: The Compact Warden retains every agreement, commitment,
  threat, or promise made in their presence; this is a narrative fact.
  Mechanically, once per Short Rest, they may invoke a specific prior
  commitment (made in this session or documented in a prior one) as direct
  leverage in a social or tactical roll. The invocation adds +2D to that
  one roll. The commitment invoked must be something actually stated, the
  Warden is citing the record, not manufacturing one.
Limit: Once per Short Rest. The invoked commitment must have been
  established in play.
Genre Note: The Warden's power here is not persuasion; it is evidence.

Steward's Warning | Social/Combat | Stage 2 | Primary Action | Single Target | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: The Compact Warden formally warns one enemy or NPC,
  stating in plain terms what will follow if they proceed. This is not a
  threat; it is a declaration of consequence. If the warned target attacks
  the Warden or any ally under the Warden's stated protection before the
  end of the encounter, the Warden gains Advantage on all attacks against
  that target for the remainder of the encounter. All allies who witnessed
  the Warning also gain +1D to their first attack against the warned target.
Limit: Once per Long Rest. The warning must be stated aloud.
Genre Note: The Warning is only effective if the target understands it.
  In situations of language barrier, a witnessed gesture and demonstrated
  capability may substitute at GM discretion.

Compact's Weight | Social | Stage 3 | Primary Action | Near Range | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: The Compact Warden declares a formal Accord, a simple,
  specific condition stated aloud ("No one leaves until this is resolved";
  "You will not harm them while I stand"). Every creature within Near range
  that can hear and comprehend the Warden must make a Wit Save (Threshold 3)
  or gain the Accorded condition (see AX.GAN.09.02). Accorded creatures
  will not take actions that directly violate the stated condition for a
  number of rounds equal to the Warden's Wit value. Creatures that break
  the Accord early suffer Disadvantage on all actions for the remainder
  of that encounter.
Limit: Once per Full Rest.
Genre Note: The Accord's power is legitimacy, not magic. In cultures where
  the Voren Compact carries legal weight, this ability may extend beyond
  the encounter into political consequence.

TIDE GUARD

[L: Sereindal] [A: Speed] [T: Warrior]

The deck is never still. Neither are they.

Sereindal shipboard combat evolved to function in conditions that would disable anyone trained for solid ground: pitching decks, rigging above and water below, variable footing, and the constant need to prioritize the ship's survival alongside the crew's. A Tide Guard is trained for all of it, quick repositioning, reading an enemy's footwork against unstable terrain, and the specific skill of fighting in close formation without interfering with the sailors who need to keep the ship moving.

A Tide Guard on solid ground is an exceptionally dangerous fighter. The techniques developed for decks translate: they read movement, use terrain, and fight in a way that treats the entire environment as something that can be worked with or exploited. They are never more dangerous than when the ground is bad.

Favored Save: Speed Save (Speed + Acrobatics)

Power Access: None.

Suggested Talents: Acrobatics, Strike, Athletics, Notice

Starting Equipment: Light armor (salt-cured, free range of motion), one standard weapon (typically a cutlass or boarding axe, one-handed, functional at close range), one light weapon (secondary), Acrobatics Kit +2D (rope, climbing gear, grip resin), fleet identification token.

Progression Track

Sea Legs | Movement/Resilience | Stage 1 | Passive | Self | Always Active
Mechanical effect: The Tide Guard ignores Disadvantage on any roll caused
  by unstable terrain, partial footing, or environmental movement, ship
  decks, mudslides, earthquake conditions, ice, sloped surfaces. They also
  never trigger hazard effects from difficult terrain when moving through it
  at half speed. When an enemy attempts to knock the Tide Guard Prone,
  the Threshold for the relevant Save increases by 1.
Limit: Always active. No usage limit.
Genre Note: This is not agility; it is adaptation. The Tide Guard has
  spent years learning how terrain fails and how to not fail with it.

Crew Formation | Combat/Tactical | Stage 2 | Primary Action | Close Range | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: When the Tide Guard is adjacent to at least one ally,
  they may initiate a coordinated Strike. Both the Tide Guard and one
  adjacent ally make a melee attack against the same target simultaneously
  as a single Primary Action (both roll separately). Because the attacks
  arrive simultaneously, the target cannot use their Reaction between the
  two attacks, both land before any response is possible. The ally must
  be able to reach the target and must consent to the coordination.
Limit: Once per Long Rest.
Genre Note: Crew Formation is a trained response, not a complex maneuver.
  Sereindal combat drills emphasize exactly this timing, the coordinated
  sequence that leaves no gap for defense.

Read the Current | Tactical | Stage 3 | Primary Action | Near Range | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: The Tide Guard spends one Primary Action studying the
  movement patterns of every combatant within Near range. For the next two
  rounds: they may make one Opportunity Attack per round as a Reaction
  against any enemy who moves within Close range (even if the movement
  would not normally trigger one); and they may redirect one ally per round
  to any adjacent unoccupied position as a Free Action, repositioning them
  without consuming the ally's movement.
Limit: Once per Full Rest. Effect lasts two rounds from activation.
Genre Note: A Tide Captain leads by reading where the current is going.
  The Tide Guard applies this to bodies, not water, same principle.

EMBER SWORN

[L: Ashari] [A: Body] [T: Warrior]

Not fire as weapon. Fire as commitment. Once lit, it does not negotiate.

The Ashari physical martial tradition is not about technique; it is about total presence. An Ember Sworn has taken the cultural virtue of full commitment and weaponized it: they do not fight strategically, they fight absolutely. Their elemental nature means that every strike, grapple, and clash carries actual heat. Other cultures produce warriors who are dangerous. The Ashari produce warriors who are ablaze.

The Ember Sworn is distinguished from the Ashari's other martial tradition, the Hearthspeaker, by intent. The Hearthspeaker fights to protect and rally. The Ember Sworn fights to finish. Where the Hearthspeaker is fire as warmth and transformation, the Ember Sworn is fire as commitment's final word.

Favored Save: Body Save (Body + Fortitude)

Power Access: Fire elemental tradition (Force category), if developed in the Genre Catalog.

Suggested Talents: Strike, Fortitude, Endurance, Intimidate

Starting Equipment: Medium armor (heat-resistant, hearth-worked), one standard weapon (typically a weapon that can carry heat, a hearthblade or iron-wrapped club), Fortitude Kit +2D, hearth-ash applied to the skin as ritual preparation before combat.

Progression Track

Heatskin Strike | Combat | Stage 1 | Free Action | Self | Short Rest
Mechanical effect: The Ember Sworn's Ember Touch Inherited Perk (1 bonus
  fire damage on successful unarmed strikes or grapples) increases to 2.
  Additionally, any enemy who successfully initiates a grapple against the
  Ember Sworn takes 1 automatic fire damage at the start of each round they
  maintain the grapple. This is not optional, the Ember Sworn burns.
Limit: Always active once unlocked. Grapple damage applies each round.
Genre Note: Enemies with fire immunity are unaffected. Enemies with fire
  resistance reduce this damage normally. Make the heat visible, the
  contact is memorable.

Full Burn | Combat | Stage 2 | Free Action | Self | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Long Rest, at the start of their Turn, the
  Ember Sworn may declare Full Burn. For that Turn only: all of their
  attacks deal +1D fire damage in addition to rolled successes; they shed
  bright light to Near range; and they are immune to the first Shaken or
  Hindered condition applied this Turn. At the end of the Turn, the Ember
  Sworn takes 2 damage, the cost of burning this hard. This damage cannot
  be avoided or reduced.
Limit: Once per Long Rest.
Genre Note: Full Burn is a moment of total commitment, not a sustained
  state. The fire does not spare the Ashari. They accept this.

Hearthflame | Support/Combat | Stage 3 | Reaction | Near Range | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Full Rest, when an ally within Near range is
  reduced to 0 Health, the Ember Sworn may immediately act out of Turn
  sequence as a Reaction: they move to the fallen ally (up to Near range,
  ignoring difficult terrain), automatically stabilize them (no roll, no
  Kit required), and make one melee attack against the nearest enemy at
  Advantage. This Reaction does not consume the Ember Sworn's upcoming Turn.
Limit: Once per Full Rest.
Genre Note: The Ashari do not leave their hearth's members to die alone.
  Hearthflame is the guarantee of that. The attack following the
  stabilization is not vengeance; it is the fire continuing.

RECKONER

[A: Body] [T: Warrior] | Universal

They wander until they find something worth standing in front of.

A Reckoner is a warrior defined not by allegiance but by accomplished deed. Every culture produces them eventually, soldiers separated from armies, warriors who completed their proving trials and kept going, those who discovered they had a code somewhere beneath the calluses. A Reckoner has no fixed home and no fixed commander. What they have is a demonstrated record of survival and a set of personal standards they will not compromise.

They are not mercenaries in the transactional sense. A Reckoner who commits to a cause is genuinely committed, not contracted. The difference is that they chose it themselves, which makes them both more reliable and more dangerous when they decide the cause has drifted from what they agreed to.

Favored Save: Body Save (Body + Fortitude)

Power Access: None.

Suggested Talents: Strike, Fortitude, Endurance, Intimidate

Starting Equipment: Medium armor (travel-worn, well-maintained), one standard or heavy weapon (reflecting their personal style), Endurance Kit +2D, a personal token from somewhere they've been, the GM and player define this.

Progression Track

Trail-Proven | Resilience | Stage 1 | Free Action | Self | Short Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Short Rest, when the Reckoner suffers a Body
  Condition (Hindered, Staggered, or worse), they may immediately make a
  Body Save (Threshold 2) as a Free Action to delay the condition's onset
  by one round. The condition applies normally at the start of their next
  Turn regardless. This is not avoidance; it is the body that has been
  here before and knows how to keep moving until it can stop.
Limit: Once per Short Rest.

Reckoning Strike | Combat | Stage 2 | Primary Action | Single Target | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Long Rest, the Reckoner channels accumulated
  observation of one enemy into a single decisive attack. Declare before
  rolling. The attack gains Advantage. If it deals any damage, it deals
  +2 additional damage beyond rolled successes.
Limit: Once per Long Rest. Declare before rolling.
Genre Note: The Reckoning Strike is earned through watching. A Reckoner
  who fights an enemy they've never seen before can still use this; they
  are always watching, even when they appear not to be.

One Who Stands | Resilience | Stage 3 | Reaction | Self | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Full Rest, when the Reckoner would be reduced
  to 0 Health by any single hit, they remain at 1 Health instead. The hit
  lands and is fully witnessed, the Reckoner does not dodge or absorb it
  differently. They simply continue. Immediately following, they may take
  one Free Action: a declaration, a weapon draw, or movement up to Close
  range. They do not fall.
Limit: Once per Full Rest.
Genre Note: One Who Stands is meant to be witnessed. When it triggers,
  make it visible and named. This is the moment the Reckoner's reputation
  is built.

SKIRMISHER

[A: Speed] [T: Warrior] | Universal

They're never where you expect them. That's the entire technique.

The Skirmisher is the fastest warrior on any field, not the strongest, not the most armored, but the one who is never in the same place twice. Every culture with warfare develops them independently: the cavalry scout who learned to fight alone, the jungle raider who survived by never stopping, the city defender who learned that holding a street is easier when you control it from four different positions simultaneously.

A Skirmisher does not win by absorbing punishment. They win by ensuring the enemy can never establish the rhythm to land it.

Favored Save: Speed Save (Speed + Acrobatics)

Power Access: None.

Suggested Talents: Acrobatics, Strike, Stealth, Athletics

Starting Equipment: Light armor (flexible, minimal restriction), one light weapon and one standard weapon (Speed-governed), Acrobatics Kit +2D, three days' field rations (Skirmishers travel prepared).

Progression Track

Slip | Movement | Stage 1 | Reaction | Self | Short Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Short Rest, when an enemy's melee attack misses
  the Skirmisher, they may immediately move up to Close range as a Reaction.
  This movement does not trigger Opportunity Attacks. The Skirmisher
  exits the engagement before anyone can respond to the miss.
Limit: Once per Short Rest. Triggers only on a missed melee attack.

Harrying Strike | Combat | Stage 2 | Primary Action | Single Target | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: The Skirmisher makes one melee attack. If it deals any
  damage, in addition to that damage, the target's Speed Save pool is reduced
  by 1D until the end of their next Turn (minimum 1D). They are not Slowed
 , they can still move and act, but their reactive coordination is
  disrupted. This reduction does not stack with itself.
Limit: Once per Long Rest.
Genre Note: A Harrying Strike does not stop the enemy. It unbalances them
  long enough for someone else, or the Skirmisher's next position, to
  take advantage.

Fluid Engagement | Movement/Combat | Stage 3 | Primary Action | Near Range | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Full Rest, the Skirmisher enters continuous
  motion for one full Turn. They may move up to their full movement speed
  and make a separate light weapon attack against each enemy whose space
  they pass through or adjacent to during that movement, maximum one
  attack per enemy per Turn. Each attack rolls separately. This movement
  does not trigger Opportunity Attacks from any enemy targeted this Turn.
Limit: Once per Full Rest.
Genre Note: Fluid Engagement is the Skirmisher's full technical expression.
  Narrate the movement as a single continuous action, the attacks are
  incidental to the motion, not interruptions of it.

COMMANDER

[A: Wit] [T: Warrior] | Universal

They're not the most dangerous person on the field. They're the reason everyone else is.

The Commander is the warrior who makes other warriors better. Every large-scale culture develops them, the officer who reads terrain faster than anyone, the veteran who knows exactly what the enemy is doing two moves before they do it, the presence whose arrival on a field changes what the field means. A Commander may not be fighting in the front line. They make the front line coherent.

They are defined by tactical intelligence applied in real time, by the ability to see the whole engagement and communicate it in terms others can act on under fire.

Favored Save: Wit Save (Wit + Resolve)

Power Access: None.

Suggested Talents: Tactics, Persuade, Notice, Strike

Starting Equipment: Medium armor (rank-marked for ally identification), one standard weapon, Tactics Kit +2D (maps, signal equipment, command documents), a written copy of their current standing orders or operational mandate.

Progression Track

Read Formation | Knowledge/Tactical | Stage 1 | Free Action | Self | Short Rest
Mechanical effect: Once per Short Rest, at the start of combat or at the
  start of any Turn, the Commander assesses the field. They may ask the GM
  one tactical question with an observable answer: "Who is the primary
  threat to our weakest member?", "Where is this group's defensive
  vulnerability?", "What is the best defensible position in this space?"
  The GM must answer truthfully based on what a tactician of this caliber
  would actually observe. This is expert attention, not supernatural sense.
Limit: Once per Short Rest.
Genre Note: The question must be answerable from visible evidence. If the
  answer genuinely cannot be observed, the GM says so, and that itself
  is meaningful information.

Coordinated Strike | Tactical/Support | Stage 2 | Primary Action | Near Range | Long Rest
Mechanical effect: The Commander issues a precisely timed order. Up to three
  allies within Near range who can hear the Commander each immediately take
  one Free Action or one movement action (their choice), acting simultaneously
  and out of normal Turn sequence. This does not consume any of the allies'
  upcoming Turns. The Commander's own Turn proceeds normally after.
Limit: Once per Long Rest.
Genre Note: Coordinated Strike creates the tactical moment, the flank
  that lands exactly right, the repositioning that changes the fight. Use
  it to create elegance, not just advantage.

Rally | Support | Stage 3 | Primary Action | Near Range | Full Rest
Mechanical effect: The Commander issues a full-field Rally. All allies within
  Near range who can hear the Commander immediately: recover from the Shaken
  condition if they have it; gain +1D to all attack rolls and Saves for the
  next two rounds; and, if they are at 0 Health and have not yet failed a
  stabilization check, gain one additional stabilization attempt immediately.
Limit: Once per Full Rest.
Genre Note: Rally is a turn-of-the-encounter ability. Use it when the fight
  has gone badly and the Commander has decided that is enough of that.
  Make the delivery of the Rally as specific to the Commander's lineage
  and personality as possible; this is their defining moment.