Brastlewark Sapper Squad

A sapper squad's offensive abilities ignore the first 5 points of Hardness when deployed against inanimate objects or structures.

Troops are composed of many individuals, represented by four "segments" on a battle grid. Each segment is 10 feet on each side and as tall as the individual members of the troop. Segments must remain contiguous. Each one has to share at least 5 feet of one of its edges with another segment—being adjacent on a diagonal isn't sufficient! You can measure flanking, cover, and the like using the center of any segment. A troop has two Hit Point thresholds in its HP entry and loses segments as it crosses thresholds. Typically, the higher threshold is at 2/3 of the troop's maximum Hit Points and the lower is at 1/3 of its maximum. Once the troop drops below the higher threshold, it loses one segment, leaving three segments (12 squares) remaining and setting the first threshold as the troop's new maximum Hit Points. This repeats when the troop drops below the lower threshold, leaving two segments (8 squares). At 0 Hit Points, the troop disperses entirely, with the few remaining members surrendering, Fleeing, or easily dispatched, as determined by the GM. Typically the creature who caused the troop to lose a segment decides which to remove, or the GM decides when a specific creature wasn't responsible. To restore lost segments and maximum Hit Points, a troop needs to spend downtime to use long-term treatment on casualties or recruit new members to replace the fallen. Troops are typically immune to non-damaging effects that target a single creature, such as a Charm spell or the Demoralize action. An ability that can target 5 or more creatures can target an entire segment, increasing to two segments if it can target 10 or more creatures and to the entire troop if it can target 20 or more creatures. An ability that affects all creatures in a certain range affects all segments in range (make any checks or saves separately for each segment). As examples, an 8th rank charm spell (with 10 targets) can affect two segments, and an ability that Demoralizes all creatures within 30 feet of you would affect all segments that are fully within that range. A non-damaging ability that would prevent a segment from acting, cause them to flee, or otherwise make them unable to function as part of the troop for a round or more removes the segment entirely. The troop loses a number of HP required to bring it to the next threshold. If an ability both deals damage and has a non-damaging effect, apply the damage then the rest of the effect.

Whenever a troop moves, you move one of its segments and the other segments follow behind it. At the end of the movement, you can group the other segments adjacent to the one you moved as you see fit, provided none of them moves farther than the moving segment. If you choose not to move the troop any distance, you can instead reshape the position of all the segments as long as one stays in place.

While Burrowing, the sapper squad can position its segments into a 20-foot-wide straight line and move at half Speed to leave a 20-foot-wide tunnel behind them that can be safely traversed by other creatures. Unless shored up by a crew of skilled laborers, the tunnel collapses after 10 minutes.

The squad bombards a 10-foot burst within 30 feet with satchel charges, dealing 2d6 fire damage and 1d6 bludgeoning damage to all creatures in the area (DC 18 reflex save). On a critical failure, a creature is also Deafened for 1 round. When the squad is reduced to 2 segments, this area decreases to a 5-foot burst.

1 to 3 Frequency once per round Effect The sapper squad strikes with their picks against enemies in a 5-foot emanation with a DC 18 reflex save. The damage depends on the number of actions. 1 1d6 piercing damage 2 (2d6+4) piercing damage 3 (2d6+7) piercing damage

Requirements The sapper squad is underground

The sappers deploy explosive charges to displace the earth above them. The surface area within 15 feet directly above the sappers' spaces becomes difficult terrain until the start of their next turn. Any creature already in the area takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage (DC 18 reflex save). On a critical failure, the creature also falls Prone.