Tactics

This is written assuming you have a decent grasp of the rules and are reading in good faith. I have not taken the time to wordsmith this to an ironclad level. Use it at your own discretion.

For the purposes of a creature power, I would change the Tactics skill from the following:

The adept directs combat to the advantage of his soldiers. For the “commanding” character to effectively use the Tactics talent, his troops must be at least Friendly to him. The commander comes up with a plan, and decides whether his troops are taking the offensive or the defensive. He then makes a Tactics test against the opposing commander’s Social Defense.

If his troops were on the offensive, they gain a +1 bonus to their Attack or Damage tests (commander’s choice) for each success achieved. If on the defensive, they add +1 to their Physical, Mystic, or Social Defense (commander’s choice) for each success achieved. A Rule of One Result works to the enemy’s advantage; the adept completely fails to read the situation and his own troops suffer a –1 penalty to their tests or Defense Ratings, as appropriate.

The adept may command a maximum of Tactics rank × 20 troops at a time for a number of minutes equal to his Tactics rank.If several characters attempt to command the same group of soldiers, the highest success level determines the bonus—and who is in command. This talent is typically used by an adept to command gamemaster characters. It may be used on player characters, but the bonuses provided by this talent are only effective as long as the commander’s plan is being followed.


To the following:
The adept directs combat to the advantage of his soldiers. For the “commanding” character to effectively use the Tactics talent, his troops must be at least Friendly to him. The commander comes up with a plan, and decides between two modes: Offensive and Defensives. He then makes a Tactics test against the highest Social Defense +5 among the players, or the commander, whichever is more applicable. You’re the GM, use your discretion.

When picking the offensive variation, two PC namegivers must be chosen. The bonus only applies against those two targets. For defensive, the bonus only applies if the namegivers do not double move or advance recklessly (GM discretion). The effect ends for that namegiver if they do.

The talent always works for at least one success except on rule of ones. In the offensive mode, they add +1 to their Attack and Damage tests for each tier. (One for Novice, Two for Journeyman, Three for Warden). For every extra success, increase the bonus by an additional +1. Then, subtract 1 from their Physical Defense, Mystic Defense, and Social Defense. In the defensive mode, they add +1 to their Physical Defense, Mystic Defense, and Social Defense. For every extra success, increase the bonus by an additional +1. Then, subtract 2 from their Attack and Damage tests.

This ability lasts until the end of combat. The bonuses provided by this talent are only effective as long as the commander’s plan is being followed.

So it would work like the following examples:
Novice tier, Offensive.
Tactics result is 15.
Applicable social defense is 10, TN 15. No extra successes.
Total bonus to attack and damage: +1
Total bonus to physical, mystic, and social defenses: -1

Novice tier, Offensive.
Tactics result is 20.
Applicable social defense is 10, TN 15, one extra successes.
Total bonus to attack and damage: +2
Total bonus to physical, mystic, and social defenses: -1

Journeyman tier, Offensive
Tactics result is 15.
Applicable social defense is 10, TN 15. No extra successes.
Total bonus to attack or damage: +2
Total bonus to physical, mystic, and social defenses: -1

Journeyman tier, Defensive
Tactics result is 20.
Applicable social defense is 10, TN 15, one extra successes.
Total bonus to attack or damage: -2
Total bonus to physical, mystic, and social defenses: +3

Justification: I think the original version just applying a blanket bonus is ripe for RNG to swing battles. This version reduces the potential encounter change and allows for a predictable “hit the leader” style of combat. I also think that being told by a leader to be “better” should not exist. I think giving them a tradeoff, since not all NPCs can get the benefit of stances, is good. There is still a chance of explosion, but it is mitigated. It will occur in a smaller percentage of cases. Given standard PC defenses, I would expect no more than one extra success barring insane results. This is a skill, it does not get Karma.
Notes:When using this version of tactics, do not stack it with offensive and defensive stances on the namegivers. This is too much.