Last Guard

Without a call to war, a last guard can stray only a short distance from the location they failed to defend, typically 120 feet. Some last guards are instead bound to a province, kingdom, or nation, rather than a specific location.

The troop chooses one of the squares it currently occupies and redistributes its squares to any configuration in which all squares are contiguous and within 15 feet of the chosen square. The troop can't share its space with other creatures.

Lifesense allows a monster to sense the vital essence of living and undead creatures within the listed range. The sense can distinguish between the vitality energy animating living creatures and the void energy animating undead creatures, much as sight distinguishes colors.

When a last guard is destroyed, they re-form after 2d4 days within the location they're bound to, fully healed. A last guard can be permanently destroyed and move on to the afterlife only if they successfully defend the location they're bound to from large-scale attack, or fulfill a call to war.

Thresholds 220 (3 segments), 110 (2 segments) 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.

A creature with void healing draws health from void energy rather than vitality energy. It is damaged by vitality damage and is not healed by vitality healing effects. It does not take void damage, and it is healed by void effects that heal undead.

The last guards unleash a soul-shaking bellow in unison. All creatures in a 60-foot cone take 7d6 sonic damage (DC 42 will). Any creature that fails its save is also Frightened 3 (or Frightened 4 on a critical failure). If the troop occupies 8 or fewer squares, this area decreases to a 30-foot cone.

1 to 3 Frequency once per round Effect The last guards engage in a coordinated attack with their spectral curve blades against each enemy in a 5-foot emanation (DC 40 reflex). The damage depends on the number of actions. 1 1d8+2 slashing and 1d8 void damage 2 2d8+14 slashing and 2d8 void damage 3 3d8+14 slashing and 3d8 void damage

The last guards charge, swarming through their foes. The troop Flies up to double its Speed, dealing 4d8 void damage to each creature whose space it moves through (DC 40 reflex). Any creature that fails its save is also Drained 1 (or Drained 2 on a critical failure). The troop can affect each creature only once in a single use of Spectral Charge.

Whenever the troop Strides, they first Form Up as a free action to condense into a 20-foot-by-20-foot area (minus any missing squares), then move up to their Speed. This works just like a Gargantuan creature moving.