Tactics

[Szatany]

Notes from the designer:
An idea straight from a MMO, I thought worth giving a shot.

General tactics can be a tool for DMs who, for whatever reason, want to ban or tone down magic items in their games because many tactics replicate properties of those items. For that very reason, tactics offer item bonuses.
Tactics can be also a good noninvasive tool to fix underpowered powers without any house ruling. See Meticulous Aim as an example of how to fix careful attack.


TACTICS
Tactics are minor static abilities that can be used to fine-tune your character. General tactics can represent a knowledge on how to hunt a specific kind of monster or how to use a skill more effectively. Class tactics usually enhance one or more of your powers in specific ways. Skill tactics enhance skills and are not applicable during combat (at least by rules as written, a clever player can always find a way).
Once you have the Tactician feat, you can learn as many tactics as you want, but you are limited by the slots you have: you can have one active tactic at a time for each tactic type.
Time: It takes one day to learn heroic tier tactic, two days to learn a paragon tier tactic, and three days to to master a epic tier tactic.
Puting a tactic into a slot takes no time but can be done only during a short or extended rest. If there already is a tactic in that slot, it is replaced.
Cost: Learning a tactic costs the same as selling value of a magic item of the same level (72gp for 1st level tactics, 104gp for 2nd level tactics, and so on). See page 223 of PHB for details.

FEATS
Tactician (heroic)
Prerequisite: Trained in History or Streetwise
Benefit: You can learn and use tactics. See above for acquiring, allocating, and using tactics.
At 1st level you have one slot for general tactics, one slot for class tactics, and one slot for skill tactics.

Adaptive (paragon)
Prerequisite: Tactician
Benefit: Whenever you spend an action point, you can also swap one active tactic for another tactic you know of the same type.

Strategist (paragon)
Prerequisite: Tactician
Benefit: You have one additional slot for each tactic type.


TACTICS TALLY
Lvl General Tactic
1 - Winterborn
2 - Bolstering Morale
3 - Blood-willed
5 - Battle-hardened
5 - Undead Hunter
13 - Acid Shield
16 - Flame Shield
24 - Covering Mobility

Lvl Class Tactic
1 - Meticulous Aim (ranger)
1 - State of Frenzy (barbarian)
2 - Unfaltering Strike (fighter)
4 - Long Battle Solution (martial power source)

Lvl Skill Tactic
2 - Incantation Mastery
5 - Cling

GENERAL TACTIC DESCRIPTIONS

Acid Shield
Level 13 general tactic
Requirement: Acid Resistance
Benefit: Your acid resistance improves by +5.

Battle-Hardened
Level 5 general tactic
Benefit: If you use your second wind when you are bloodied, regain an extra 1d10 hit points.

Blood-Willed
Level 3 general tactic
Benefit: When you are bloodied, you gain a +1 item bonus to saving throws.

Bolstering Morale
Level 2 general tactic
Benefit: When you gain temporary hits points from an at-will power you use, you gain 1 extra temporary hit point. This increases to +2 for encounter powers and to +3 for daily powers.

Covering Mobility
Level 24 general tactic
Requirement: You must be carrying a shield
Benefit: You gain cover against all attacks that use a blast or burst area of effect.

Flame Shield
Level 16 general tactic
Requirement: Fire Resistance
Benefit: Your fire resistance improves by +5.

Undead Hunter
Level 5 general tactic
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls and skill checks against undead.

Winterborn
Level 1 general tactic
Prerequisite: Trained in Acrobatics or Survival
Benefit: You ignore difficult terrain caused by snow or ice.


CLASS TACTIC DESCRIPTIONS

Meticulous Aim
Level 1 ranger tactic
Benefit: You gain a +3 bonus on attack rolls with Careful Attack power.

Long Battle Solution
Level 4 martial power source tactic
Benefit: You gain a +1 item bonus on damage rolls with martial at-will powers.
This increases to +3 if you have no daily or encounter powers left.

State of Frenzy
Level 1 barbarian tactic
Benefit: You can use rage strike by spending an encounter power instead of a rage power (you don't need to have an unspent rage power to do so). If you do, you deal half damage on hit and no damage on miss.

Unfaltering Strike
Level 2 fighter tactic
Benefit: You can roll twice and choose a better result on attack rolls with Sure Strike and Precise Strike powers.


SKILL TACTIC DESCRIPTIONS

Cling
Level 5 skill tactic
Prerequisite: Trained in Athletics
Benefit: You don't fall if you fail Athletics check by 5 or more.

Incantation Mastery
Level 2 skill tactic
Benefit: Your gain a +1 item bonus on skill checks required by rituals.

[MarauderX]

Since ENWorld hasn't been cooperating, I will keep it short.

The tactics set as listed seems a labored approach to adding a dimension to the game that isn't really needed. It seems that keeping things simple and low-powered would only be mitigated by using the tactics items listed.
Contact Bill Slavisec at Wizards about how this added layer might be better suited for a ultra powergaming group than for a common game.

[Minigiant]

I like the idea somewhat. I had a similiar idea to Rituals that contained a category of abilities that works very much like your Tactics (the others where Training, Proficiencies, Science, and Crafting).

My only issue is that by itself, Tactics can easily become boring, weak, or broken depending on how you make them.

Also to make it more 4e-like and party based, I suggest you should only allow 1 tactic per character but let the Tactician place them on allies.