Strategist

Strategists are leaders who support their team in and out of combat. They might be inspirational warriors who lead from the front, but they can also be noncombatants who lend aid without interfering directly. Strategists are known for their supernatural planning abilities, staying three steps ahead of their enemies at all times.

Strategist talents focus on supporting allies instead of acting directly. Many of these talents give tactical combat bonuses, letting their allies have extra actions, damage, or defense. Strategists have almost no talents that affect only themselves. Strategist ribbons give them the social and tactical abilities they need as leaders.

Examples of strategists in fiction include Princess Leia from Star Wars, Roy from Order of the Stick, and all the protagonists of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Novice Talents

Chessmaster

You reveal you planned for this exact situation all along!

You announce that you planned this all along! You explain the details of your plan, which retroactively become fact. Your plan must be something that you could have conceivably prepared within the past 24 hours. Your plan cannot involve any actions that would require die rolls to succeed. The GM has final say on whether any plan is reasonable.

For example, if you are investigating a dungeon, you could announce that you remembered to bring 100 feet of rope and a grappling hook, as you had anticipated that you might fall down a chasm.

As another example, if you are in a meeting with the evil mayor, you could announce that you had arranged for the captain of the guard to be wandering by at just the right time, as you had predicted that the mayor would reveal his plan at this exact time.

Expose Weakness

You reveal that an enemy is critically weak to a certain type of damage
Range
60 feet
Duration
1 minute

Your target has 5 Weakness to a damage type of your choice.

Inspire Courage

You inspire your ally to fight on stronger than ever
Range
60 feet
Target
An ally you can see within range (other than you)
Trigger
Your ally makes an attack or is targeted by an attack

Roll 1d6. Your ally adds the result to their attack roll or to their DC against the attack.

Joint Assault

You coordinate your attack with an ally, striking simultaneously
Range
60 feet
Target
An ally you can see within range (other than you)

Make a Strike. Your ally can immediately make a Strike against the same target.

Motivational Speech

You motivate your allies to fight harder for a short time
Area
30-foot emanation
Duration
1 minute

Your target gains +2 Defense. When your target succeeds on a Strike, they can choose to deal an extra 1d6 damage.

Order

You shout an order to an ally, spurring them to action
Range
30 feet
Requirements
Your target hasn’t been affected by Order in the past minute

Your target can immediately use a power.

Strategem

You plan your next attack, predicting exactly how it will go
Duration
Until the start of your next turn

Make an Intellect roll. The next time you make an attack roll, use this result instead of making a new roll.

If your attack roll would have any bonuses or penalties, apply these when you would have made the attack roll. If your attack roll would have advantage or disadvantage, make another Intellect roll when you attack, then take the higher or lower result.

Warning Shout

You call out before your enemy acts, alerting allies to the danger
Range
60 feet
Trigger
Your target uses a power

You disrupt the triggering power.

Veteran Talents

Critical Weakness

You can find even more damaging weaknesses in your enemies
Prerequisites
Expose Weakness

Your Expose Weakness power gives your target 10 Weakness to two damage types of your choice instead of its normal effect.

Inspire Heroics

You inspire your ally to otherwise-impossible heroism
Prerequisites
Inspire Courage

When you use your Inspire Courage talent, roll 1d10 instead of 1d6.

Knight's Move

You quickly command your target to advance or retreat
Range
60 feet
Requirements
You must target a creature other than yourself

Your target uses the Stride power.

Victorious Call

You shout in victory as an enemy is defeated, bolstering your allies
Trigger
You see an enemy fall to 0 health
Range
60 feet
Target
All allies in range (other than you)
Duration
Until the end of your target’s next turn

Your target has advantage on attack rolls.

White Raven Tactics

You shout a quick series of instructions that let an ally take another turn
Range
30 feet
Requirements
You must target a creature other than yourself

Your target immediately takes an extra turn. This turn occurs outside of the normal turn order, and doesn’t count as their turn for the round.

Master Talents

Invigorating Speech

Your speech energizes your allies, letting them keep fighting
Prerequisites
Motivational Speech

When you use your Motivational Speech talent, each of your targets heals 8d6 health.

Revise Strategem

You adapt your strategies based on the result of your latest predictions
Prerequisites
Strategem

When you use your Strategem talent, you can choose one of the following effects:

  • Reroll the Intellect roll for Strategem
  • Strategem targets a willing ally you can see within 30 feet, replacing their next attack roll instead of your next attack roll

Warlord's Charge

You lead your allies in a coordinated charge against one enemy
Area
30-foot emanation
Target
Any number of creatures in the area

Choose an enemy. Your target can immediately Stride in a straight line towards that enemy and make a melee Strike against them.

All of your targets charge at the same enemy. You can’t choose a different enemy for each target.

Epic Talents

Ribbons

Charades

You can communicate through signs and gestures as easily as through speech

You can easily communicate silently with other creatures through rapid hand gestures and signals, and can easily understand them in turn, even if the other creature has no proficiency in any sign language. You can replace the Auditory trait of any power you use with the Visual trait.

Predict Line

You predict the exact words that a creature will say next
Range
30 feet

You predict the the exact words your target will say next. If your target wasn’t about to speak, this power has no effect.

Your next line is “Is this a JoJo’s reference?”

Scary Shiny Glasses

You adjust your glasses, and they glint in the light to hide your eyes
Requirements
You are wearing glasses (or equivalent eyewear)
Trigger
You make an Intellect roll as part of forming a plot

You have advantage on the triggering roll.

Silver Tongue

You always know exactly the right words for any situation
Trigger
You make a Spirit roll to influence another creature with words

You have advantage on triggering roll.

Study the Enemy

You study a creature and learn its physical capabilities
Target
One creature you can see
Requirements
You haven’t used Study the Enemy on this target in the last 24 hours

Make an Intellect+Notice or Spirit+Notice roll against your target’s Spirit+Stealth or Spirit+Perform DC.

Success
You learn your target’s Strength and Agility scores, their maximum and current health, and all shields or weaknesses they have
Failure
You learn your target’s maximum and current health