[Blue Trails]

I'm back with another unit. I don't generally enjoy designing squads as much as designing heroes, but this one has proven fun at my table.



Figure Pictures:

Spoiler Alert!

The first figure used is a Pathfinder Battles miniature from the Wrath of the Righteous collection. The name of the figure is Baphomet Cultist. The second figure used is a D&D Miniatures miniature from the Icons of the Realms: Elemental Evil collection. The name of the figure is Fire Cult Warrior. The third figure used is a Pathfinder Battles miniature from the Kingmaker collection. The name of the figure is Jaethal, Half-Elf Inquisitor.



I claim no ownership of these images; credit goes to Paizo Inc., MinisGallery.com, and Paizo Inc., respectively.

Character Bio:

Spoiler Alert!

Coming soon...

Card Text:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = Fiendsoul War Dancers
GENERAL = UTGAR
PLANET = TORIL
SPECIES = PLANETOUCHED
UNIQUENESS = COMMON SQUAD
CLASS = FIGHTERS
PERSONALITY = MENACING
SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 1
MOVE = 5
RANGE = 1
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3
POINTS = 80

FEARMONGER BONDING
After revealing an Order Marker on this Army Card and before taking a turn with the Fiendsoul War Dancers, you may take a turn with a Large Terrifying Hero or a Planetouched Hero you control that follows Utgar.

REACH
If an opponent's figure is within 2 spaces of a Fiendsoul War Dancers, and its base is no more than 2 levels above that War Dancer's base or 6 levels below that War Dancer's base, that Fiendsoul War Dancer may add 1 to its range when attacking that figure.

OTHERWORLDLY REFLEXES 2
When a Fiendsoul War Dancer rolls defense dice against a normal or special attack by a non-adjacent figure, if there is at least one revealed Order Marker on any Fiendsoul War Dancer Army Card you control, that Fiendsoul War Dancer receives two additional defense dice.

Designer's Thoughts:

Spoiler Alert!

The Fiendsoul War Dancers are an attempt to create a aggressive "melee" squad that can push certain ranged attackers out of otherwise advantageous positions. Barring excessively hilly terrain, 5 Move and REACH allow a War Dancer to close to striking distance against shorter-range foes after a single round of attacks, while OTHERWORLDLY REFLEXES 2 allows the War Dancers to prompt movement and encourage engagements once they reach their target. This latter power also gives the squad a better shot at surviving volleys from ranged Commons and mass special attacks from the likes of dragons or Q9, but it is not meant to be used passively; if their army loses initiative, or if they stop seeing Order Markers, a squad of War Dancers becomes much easier to destroy.

Finally, FEARMONGER BONDING draws from a tiny pool of candidates to help the squad achieve their design goals. The primary option would be Torin, who amplifies the War Dancers' threat to ranged squads with Evil Eye Protection and helps break through certain cheerleaders and Raelin-boosted squaddies with Battleaxe; alternatively, C3V's Zombie Hulk exists as a cheap bonding target that can wear down high-defense targets and pods when run in multiples, and it allows the War Dancers to spread out further across the map than does Torin. Finally, the option to bond with a Planetouched Hero exists solely to entertain the possibility of creating a Planetouched faction in the future.

It was surprisingly difficult to find three black-clad, polearm-wielding, human-like sculpts, which leads to the odd case of a squad whose members do not obviously share a species. Although I stopped keeping up with D&D before its fifth edition was released, I have heard that "Planetouched" is now used as an umbrella term for aasimar, tieflings, and the like; meanwhile, in third edition D&D, with which I am significantly more familiar, there existed tiefling equivalents for many of the non-human core races. Because the War Dancers' design is intended to emphasize fiendish elements over mortal appearances, and because tiefling-type variants can vary wildly in appearance, I think the Planetouched species is a feasible way to tie the squad together regardless of differing physical features.