Officer of War

The Quintessential Fighter
Author Matthew Sprange
Series The Quintessential Series
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2001

Armies require leaders to function, and good leaders to attain victory. Officers of war are individuals who are trained to lead soldiers into battle and to bring them home again safely. A good officer of war is one who can both fight and rally troops with moving speeches, doing all he can to succeed in the orders given to him by superiors, all the while keeping as many of his soldiers alive as possible. Such men are rare and valuable commodities for any army, possessing an equal mix of leadership and skill in arms that is hard to find.

Officers of war NPCs are often found in well-trained armies and mercenary companies, usually within the upper echelons of any such organisation.

Hit Die: d10

Requirements

To qualify to become a officer of war, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +7 or higher
Alignment: Any non-Chaotic
Feats: Endurance, Leadership
Skills: Knowledge (military) 8 ranks
Unit: Must have led a unit of at least 20 mercenaries or soldiers

The Officer of War
Level	Base Attack	Fort	Ref	Will	Special
1	+1	+2	+0	+0	command
2	+2	+3	+0	+0	rallying call
3	+3	+3	+1	+1	marching cadence
4	+4	+4	+1	+1	calming presence
5	+5	+4	+1	+1	inciting speech

Class Skills

The officer of war’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Strength), Diplomacy (Charisma), Handle Animal (Charisma), Heal (Wisdom), Intimidate (Charisma), Jump (Strength), Knowledge (military) (Intelligence), Swim (Strength), and Wilderness Lore (Wisdom)

Skill points at each level: 2 + Intelligence modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of officer of war prestige class.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: The officer of war is proficient in all simple and martial weapons, and all armour and shields.

Command: Officers of war know how to effectively lead large numbers of men into battle and retain the organisation of the unit. He may add his class level to his Leadership score.

Rallying Call: At 2nd level, the officer may shout encouragement to any faltering troops within 60 feet as a standard action. All allies within range may make an immediate Will save at DC 15 to recover from any lingering cowering, frightened, panicked or shaken effects. This class feature may be used once per day for every class level the officer of war has attained.

Marching Cadence: Knowing the benefit of moving troops into position quickly, the officer of war can force march any unit he commands with no ill effect. The unit may increase the distance they travel in a day by 25%.

Calming Presence: On achieving 4th level, the officer of war exudes a confidence that bolsters his men in the heat of battle. All allies within 60 feet of the officer of war gain a +2 morale bonus to all Will saves.

Inciting Speech: Before entering battle, the officer of war may give a rousing speech to the men he leads into combat. This takes one minute an affects all allies who can hear the speech. When the inciting speech has concluded, the officer of war makes a Leadership check at DC 20. If successful, all those who bore witness to it receive a +1 morale bonus to all save, attack and damage rolls for the next hour.