Tactics I

[MrMorden]

Hey all...

Can somebody tell me how the "tactics I" feat is supposed to work? The description is very vague in the T20 book.

My rule of thumb has been to give the PCs the benefits of the feat when they have a line of sight to each other, and thus can coordinate and watch each others' backs...make sense?

thanks

 

[far-trader]

It is kind of vague, on purpose I think, so each ref can work it out to work for their game.

The way I've thought of making it work, and not tried so there may be problems, is that the character/player with the feat is the defacto leader so what they say "the plan" is for whatever (marching order, ambush setup, etc.) will benefit from the bonus IF the rest of the group sticks to the plan. For NPC's that's just a skill test of the tactician's Leader skill. For PC's it's a little harder, but basically if they agree to the plan they get the bonus but once any ONE of them starts improvising (i.e. adding to or deviating in any other way from the plan)* all bets are off and the tactical bonus is gone. I think this is also a good point to have the group reroll initiative with a penalty for the plan going off the rails, the penalty should probably be equal to the bonus from the tactician.

* Naturally the tactician can do this without penalty as long as, as you mention, communication is possible and positions are known. Once one person (or more) of the plan goes rogue they can't be brought back for that action. The tactician could regroup/hold the rest for the bonus with a successful Leader test.

My ideas are to stay flexible in the application of this "rule" since players have a habit of going around rules

Don't be afraid to improvise.