Warfare

Description

Ability Score Used:	Choose One
Usable Untrained?	No (Bailiwick)
Armor Check Penalty Applies?	No

Only Brawlers, Fighters, and Warlords may learn this bailiwick skill. No other class may place ranks in it unless they have an ability which specifically states they may put ranks into a bailiwick skill not normally offered by their class. A bailiwick skill is a skill that represents the core competency of a style of adventure, and has many useful applications.

The warfare skill is an expression of your practical knowledge of all things related to conflict. Warfare isn't a thing of book learning, it is that feeling you get in your gut, that solid certainty that 'this way' is right and 'that way' is wrong. For each rank a character places in warfare, the character receives a free rank in Knowledge (Engineering). Note that no character may ever have more ranks in a skill than his character level.

Each character class gains a single bailiwick skill at character creation, and this bailiwick skill is always a natural talent for your character. When you place your first rank in this skill, you must select one of your ability modifiers, and use that ability modifier as the key ability modifier for this skill. Once selected, this ability modifier may not be changed, except through the Character Retraining rules. Natural talent skills never suffer an armor check penalty, even if you associate that skill with your STR or DEX modifier.

If you gain a second bailiwick skill (usually through a racial trait), it is not automatically a natural talent (even though you typically get to choose which of your ability score modifiers is aligned to the second bailiwick skill). Armor check penalties do apply to the second bailiwick skill if you choose to associate it with your STR or DEX modifier, and you do not gain matching ranks in the linked skill for that bailiwick skill (in the case of warfare, Knowledge (Engineering)).

As with all skills, the uses below are merely suggestions, and by no means the full gamut of possible ways a skill can be used. Players and GM's are encouraged to find additional ways to use each skill.

Identify Extraordinary Ability

You can use warfare to identify an enemy monster's extraordinary ability as it is being used, but you must be able to clearly see the ability as it is being used. You use your knowledge of martial tactics and combat experience to determine what the monster is doing, and how it can be countered effectively. This skill use may only be attempted during combat.
Action Required:	Immediate action
DC of Check:	10 + CR of creature or object being evaluated
Modifiers to Check	Partial Cover / Concealment: If the enemy creature has partial cover or partial concealment from you when you attempt the check, you add +5 to the DC. Distance: For every 10 feet beyond the first 10 feet the creature is from you, the DC is increased by +1. Large Target: checks against extremely large things can be done from longer distances. For every size category above Large, the range band increases by ten feet. For example, a size Huge creature in normal conditions is +1 to the DC per twenty feet, a Gargantuan creature is +1 to the DC per thirty feet, etc.
Take 10? / Take 20?	No, since this skill use may only be used during combat.
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies). Assisting allies must have ranks in warfare.
Results of Success	You may read the description of the monster's extraordinary ability in its bestiary entry to know exactly what it does.
Consequences of Failure	You gain no useful information about the ability in question.
Retry Allowed?	Only if that maneuver or power is used again where you can sense it.
Provokes AOO?	No

Size Up Enemy

You can use the warfare skill to determine the CR of a monster you can perceive, by assessing how easily it moves, how readily it wears its armor or carries its weapon, the general wear and condition of the creature's equipment, and other telling signs of its general effectiveness in a fight. You may use this ability out of combat or in combat, though each take different amounts of time and have different target DC's.
Action Required:	Out of Combat: Full round action In Combat: Standard action
DC of Check:	Out of Combat: 10 + the CR of the creature In Combat: 15 + CR of the creature
Modifiers to Check	Partial Cover / Concealment: If the enemy creature has partial cover or partial concealment from you when you attempt the check, you add +5 to the DC. Distance: For every 10 feet beyond the first 10 feet the creature is from you, the DC is increased by +1. Large Target: checks against extremely large things can be done from longer distances. For every size category above Large, the range band increases by ten feet. For example, a size Huge creature in normal conditions is +1 to the DC per twenty feet, a Gargantuan creature is +1 to the DC per thirty feet, etc. Rushed Assessment: You can reduce the time taken to size up an enemy in combat to a move action (from a standard action) by adding +5 to the DC. You can do it as a swift action by adding +10 to the DC.
Take 10? / Take 20?	You can take 10 out of combat, but not in-combat. You cannot take 20.
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies). Assisting allies must have ranks in warfare.
Results of Success	Out of Combat: You learn the exact CR of the creature, and the name of that type of monster. This does not give you the personal name of the creature studied, obviously. In Combat: You learn the exact CR of the creature, and the name of that type of monster. This does not give you the personal name of the creature studied, obviously. In addition, the GM should allow you to review the "Offense," "Defense," and "Combat Tactics" sections of that monster's bestiary entry. You may not read the any other portions of the monster's bestiary entry, including its description, special abilities or out of combat sections.
Consequences of Failure	You learn nothing.
Retry Allowed?	You may only attempt to size up enemy once per group of creatures examined per 24 hours. This means you cannot size up a group of enemies out of combat, fail, and then try again once you start fighting them.
Provokes AOO?	No

Identify Enemy Leader

You can determine the leader of the opposing side of an encounter, if there is such a thing. This may inform your attacks or other plan of action. This needn't be a leader monster role, but rather the alpha monster, captain, or general biggest dude among them. Mindless monsters, non-social monsters, or highly chaotic monsters may not have a leader, but most monsters have enough social structure to include a leader within a group, to keep the subordinates organized and acting efficiently.
Action Required:	Swift
DC of Check:	10 + the CR of the leader (or the CR of the encounter, if it is higher).
Modifiers to Check	Partial Cover / Concealment: If the enemy creature has partial cover or partial concealment from you when you attempt the check, you add +5 to the DC. Distance: For every 10 feet beyond the first 10 feet the creature is from you, the DC is increased by +1. Large Target: checks against extremely large things can be done from longer distances. For every size category above Large, the range band increases by ten feet. For example, a size Huge creature in normal conditions is +1 to the DC per twenty feet, a Gargantuan creature is +1 to the DC per thirty feet, etc.
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	No
Results of Success	You identify the leader and may take actions based upon that knowledge. If there is no leader in the GM's opinion, you gain that information as well and may act on it.
Consequences of Failure	You are unable to gain any information.
Retry Allowed?	No. You may only attempt this skill use once per encounter.
Provokes AOO?	No

Suggest Tactics

You may call upon your martial skill in combat to suggest tactics, strategies, and gambits. This can be used to determine which foes to attack first, whether to press the attack to the left or right, which ally to place in what location, and a myriad of other uses. This skill is particularly helpful for players who may not be the best at deciding on appropriate tactics, even though their characters would be experts. In such a case, the GM (or other players) can make suggestions to the player (to the best of their ability) if the player makes this skill check.
Action Required:	Immediate action
DC of Check:	10 + double the CR of encounter
Modifiers to Check	Hostile Territory: If you are in a particularly dangerous environment (such as the caves inside an active volcano), it is more difficult to pick appropriate tactics. Add +2 to the DC. Alien Territory: If you are on a plane or in an environment that doesn't behave the way you would expect a normal world to behave (odd gravity, etc.), add +5 to the DC. Oddly Motivated: Some creatures are motivated by things which make no sense to humanoids, making them very hard to predict. Examples include fey and doppelgangers. Add +2 to the DC.
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	No
Results of Success	The GM will give you sincere advice on how to do well in an upcoming battle. If the GM doesn't have any solid advice to give, they should give players a chance to confer among themselves and decide on a good plan. This time doesn't really happen in-game; instead, the martial character simply comes to this plan instantly, drawing on their own experience.
Consequences of Failure	You gain no useful information.
Retry Allowed?	No. The check represents what you know, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn't let you know something that you never learned in the first place.
Provokes AOO?	No

Craft Magic Item

When combined with the Creator feat, warfare can be used to create magic items. A day of crafting a magic item is 8 uninterrupted hours of work in an appropriate work space. While you can do other things during that day, you must have 8 consecutive hours in your work space for it to count towards the number of days required to make the magic item. Working fewer than 8 hours at a time fails to reduce the number of days required to finish the work – you can't work fractions of days and then add them together to create a day of work. Days of work need not be consecutive. You can take breaks or go adventuring, then come back and keep working, and this does not harm the final product in any way, except to delay its completion date. However, if you begin working on a different magic item before the first one is finished, all work on the first one is lost, and any components used for its creation are destroyed, just as if you had failed the check.
Action Required:	2 days, +1 day per caster level of the item being created. You can never reduce the time to create a magic item below 3 days, no matter how well you roll.
DC of Check:	If your skill check result is at least an Easy DC for your current level, but less than an Average DC the time required to complete the magic item is increased by 1 day OR 10%, whichever is worse. If your skill check result is at least an Average DC for your current level, but less than a Challenging DC, the required time to complete the magic item is unchanged. If you roll grater than or equal to a Challenging DC for your current level, but less than an Impossible DC, the required time to complete the retraining is reduced by 1 day OR 10%, whichever is better. If you roll greater than or equal to an Impossible DC for your current level, the required time to complete the retraining is reduced by 3 days OR 25%, whichever is better.
Modifiers to Check	If you are attempting to create a magic item that has more than one enchantment on it, the caster level of the item is determined by taking the highest caster level of the enchantments you wish to add, and then adding +3 caster levels to that number for each additional enchantment you are adding after the first. The maximum caster level of an item is 35, and if an item's caster level is above 21, you cannot create that item until you have at least 21 ranks in your bailiwick skill.
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	Yes, but only if each assisting ally has Cooperative Crafting (Feat). Up to 5 allies with that feat may assist.
Results of Success	You create the magic item after the designated number of days.
Consequences of Failure	If you fail to achieve at least an Easy DC for your current level, or you roll a natural 1 on the die, the attempt fails. The components you intended to use in the item's creation are destroyed, including any monetary expenses for the item. This failure occurs on the final day of the item's creation, meaning you also lose a number of days equal to its unmodified creation time (minimum 3 days).
Retry Allowed?	Yes, though you must procure new components to replace the destroyed ones, and begin the process again. You gain a +5 circumstance bonus on each retry after a failure, as you incorporate your new knowledge of what not to do.
Provokes AOO?	Yes. Don't try this during combat.

Beseige

You can use Warfare to assess the defenses of a fixed place. This can be used on either the offense or the defense side of a siege. The GM is left to determine the exact effects of this ability, but it will generally lead to more or fewer sunders being inflicted in a day of siege-work. This does NOT work against vehicles or bogeys, even if they are involved in a siege action.
Action Required:	One day per level of the Settlement Size chart in the Merchants page.
DC of Check:	10 + twice the CR of the settlement + the size level of the settlement
Modifiers to Check	-
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies). Assisting allies must have ranks in warfare.
Results of Success	Offensive Side: You add +1 sunders per day inflicted against the enemy's defenses. You gain an additional +1 sunder per day for every 5 by which you exceeded the target DC. Defensive Side: You reduce the number of sunders per day inflicted by the enemy's siege by -1. You reduce it by a further -1 sunder per day for every 5 by which you exceeded the target DC.
Consequences of Failure	You gain no benefit.
Retry Allowed?	Yes, but you must spend an additional week working through the process again.
Provokes AOO?	No.

Generalship

Warfare can be used to improve how well you lead a combat unit of NPC's. You deliver a rousing speech to (or simply loom competently before) the troops, after which the check is made. You stiffen their resolve, pump up their confidence, calm down their jitters, shame their fears, and fire up their fighting spirit.
Action Required:	5 minutes. May only be done out of combat.
DC of Check:	10 + double the CR of the campaign, or average level of your troops, whichever is higher.
Modifiers to Check	Lawful Alignment: If your troops are of a lawful alignment, reduce the DC by -2. Chaotic Alignment: If your troops are of a chaotic alignment, increase the DC by +2 Leadership: If you possess Leadership (Feat), reduce the DC by -2 Loyal: If your troops have a disposition above "Friendly" (see Diplomacy), decrease the DC by -5 per disposition category above "Friendly". Mutinous: If your troops have a disposition below "Friendly" (see Diplomacy), increase the DC by +5 per disposition category below "Friendly".
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	No. You're up there by yourself, and no matter how good your staff may be, you are the one who is calling the shots.
Results of Success	If you succeed on this roll, NPC troops under your command can take twice as much damage/casualties before they are required to make any sort of rout/morale checks. At the GM's discretion, this may have other effects as well.
Consequences of Failure	If you fail this roll, you do not fire your troops, but mercifully, you also do not make their morale any worse.
Retry Allowed?	No, you cannot retry this check during this battle. Hopefully, there will be a next battle, when you can try again.
Provokes AOO?	no.

Determine Properties of Magic Item

Attempting to ascertain the properties of a magic item takes 3 rounds per item to be identified and you must be able to thoroughly examine the object. Note that this skill may be used to assist another party member's attempt at determining the properties of a magic item, even if the other party member is using a different skill to make the check.

You can use warfare to identify the properties and command words (if any) of a magic item you are holding. This is identical to the Naturalism and Spellcraft ability to identify magic items. It is also very similar to the Barter ability, except that it is faster. Warfare may also be used to assist another party member's attempt at determining the properties of a magic item, even if the other party member is using a different skill to make the check.
Action Required:	3 rounds per item you are attempting to identify
DC of Check:	10 + double the caster level of the item
Modifiers to Check	Identifying a Martial item, such as weapons, armor, implement, ammunition, damage-dealing alchemical item, etc.: +4 to the roll Identifying non-Martial item, such as Hat of Disguise or other non-damage dealing items.: +4 to the DC
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies).
Results of Success	Item is identified, including the command words (if any) needed to trigger its magical properties.
Consequences of Failure	Item is not identified
Retry Allowed?	You must wait 24 hours before retrying on the same item. Any attempts in the meantime always fail.
Provokes AOO?	Yes

Inspire Troops(Epic)

If you make a Warfare skill check while you are in command of a large number (typically more then twenty) of allied NPC creatures against a DC of 15 plus 2x their highest CR, the affected troops will never rout or fail a morale check. All the affected creatures must be able to see you in order to be affected, but the results of the skill check last for 24 hours after you have made the roll. This is a great thing to do on parade grounds and when you have your army amassed. This check generally takes one minute per tousand troops you wish to inspire, to a maximum of one hour. If you spend an hour inspiring troops, you can affect any number, as long as they can all see you at some point during this time.
Action Required:	Non-combat only, one minute or more.
DC of Check:	15 + 2xCR of highest affected creatures.
Modifiers to Check	Warfare Modifiers DC Modifier For each Diplomacy category below "Friendly" +5 For each Diplomacy category above "Friendly" -5 Favorable conditions2 -2 Unfavorable conditions2 +2 Terrible conditions3 +5 1 Making Warfare checks against extremely large things can be done from long distances. For every size category above Large, the range band increases by ten feet. For example, a size Huge creature in normal conditions is -1 per twenty feet, a Gargantuan creature is -1 per thirty feet, etc. This can also apply to things like cities, and it is left to the referee to work how many Titanic Pluses that Million-man Army covers, but it can probably be seen well enough for Warfare to work for a long way indeed. 2 Favorable and unfavorable conditions depend upon the sense being used to make the check. For example, bright light might decrease the DC of checks involving sight, while torchlight or moonlight might give a penalty. Background noise might increase a DC involving hearing, while competing odors might penalize any DC involving scent. 3 As for unfavorable conditions, but more extreme. For example, candlelight for DCs involving sight, a roaring dragon for DCs involving hearing, and an overpowering stench covering the area for DCs involving scent.
Take 10? / Take 20?	Take 10, yes. Take 20, no.
Allows Assists?	Yes, up to 5
Results of Success	The troops are immune to routs, poor morale, breaking in the face of the enemy, etc, for one day.
Consequences of Failure	No effect.
Retry Allowed?	Yes, but you may not attempt to Inspire Troops more than once per day. If you fail the roll, you may try again tomorrow. If you survive that long....
Provokes AOO?	Non-combat only.

Hardened Supply Lines(Epic)

All NPC and ally troops under your command who can see you at some point during an hour-long inspection may [Types_of_Movement#Overland_Movement
Action Required:	Non-combat, one hour.
DC of Check:	5 + 2xCR of highest creature under your command
Modifiers to Check	Warfare Modifiers DC Modifier For each Diplomacy category below "Friendly" +5 For each Diplomacy category above "Friendly" -5 Favorable conditions2 -2 Unfavorable conditions2 +2 Terrible conditions3 +5 1 Making Warfare checks against extremely large things can be done from long distances. For every size category above Large, the range band increases by ten feet. For example, a size Huge creature in normal conditions is -1 per twenty feet, a Gargantuan creature is -1 per thirty feet, etc. This can also apply to things like cities, and it is left to the referee to work how many Titanic Pluses that Million-man Army covers, but it can probably be seen well enough for Warfare to work for a long way indeed. 2 Favorable and unfavorable conditions depend upon the sense being used to make the check and for Hardened Supply Lines, the weather. Rain, snow, mud, extreme cold or heat, all count as unfavorable conditions. For example, bright light might decrease the DC of checks involving sight, while torchlight or moonlight might give a penalty. Background noise might increase a DC involving hearing, while competing odors might penalize any DC involving scent. 3 As for unfavorable conditions, but more extreme. For example, candlelight for DCs involving sight, a roaring dragon for DCs involving hearing, and an overpowering stench covering the area for DCs involving scent. For Hardened Supply lines, severe weather also counts, with gale-force winds, sheeting rain, hail, lightning, tornadoes, swampy mud, utter aridity, salt-pan conditions, hostile terrain (walking on ground made of speartips, for example), etc, all counting as terrible conditions.
Take 10? / Take 20?	Take 10 yes, take 20, no.
Allows Assists?	Yes, up to 5 allies.
Results of Success	The affected troops may hustle every other day without penalty.
Consequences of Failure	No effect, but no benefit either.
Retry Allowed?	No, you may only try to Harden Supply Lines once per day. If you fail the roll, you may try again the next day, but there is no effect on the day you failed.
Provokes AOO?	Non-Combat only.

Break Ambush(Epic)

(DC 15 + double encounter's CR) - If you are surprised, you may make a Warfare roll before the surprise round is initiated as a free action. If you make this roll successfully, it completely eliminates the surprise round from the combat. Just skip over to round 1 with no one surprised. Note that this does not have any effect if you are not surprised, even if others among your allies are surprised.

If you are surprised, you may make a Warfare roll at a DC of 15 plus double the CR of the highest CR creature involved in the combat, either enemy or ally. If you are successful, you negate the surprise round completely. This roll must be made after your surprise is announced, but before the GM begins the surprise round resolution for any creatures. If you wait until the surprise round starts, it is too late. Be quick, or be dead.
Action Required:	Immediate
DC of Check:	15 + 2xhighest CR in the combat
Modifiers to Check	None. It happens, or it doesn't.
Take 10? / Take 20?	no
Allows Assists?	No. This happens too fast for your allies to help you.
Results of Success	Any surprise round is skipped for this combat.
Consequences of Failure	There is no effect on any creature and the surprise round is resolved as normal.
Retry Allowed?	No, not for this combat. You may attempt this once evry time you are surprised.
Provokes AOO?	No.