Path of the Phalanx

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# Path of the Phalanx
The soldiers that fight wars together can sometimes forge a bond, and often that bond is shattered though the combat they yearn for. When all seems lost, a warrior can find that their immense fury can bring back a facsimile of their comrades to fight by their side, if only for a moment.

### Soldiers of Torment
Beginning at 3rd level, you gain the ability to call upon warriors beyond the reach of age and distance. When you begin raging, you can summon two **Phalanx Soldiers** to unoccupied spaces within 10 feet of you. As a bonus action on your turns, you can command both the soldiers to immediately take an action on their turn, whether from their statblock or another action. You don't need your voice to command them; they follow your will, and can't be forced or compelled to do otherwise. A soldier will vanish into spectral dust if it moves more than 60 feet away from you, if it is reduced to 0 hit points, or if your rage ends.

In combat, the soldiers can either act on your initiative immediately after your turn, or can roll initiative once and have all soldiers act on that initiative. The soldiers can use reactions and move as though they were living creatures.

While raging, you can use your action to re-summon one soldier with half its maximum hit points, as though you had just began raging. As long as you command your soldiers on your turn or re-summon one, your rage doesn't end due to not taking or dealing damage directly.

The number of soldiers you can summon increases to three at 6th level and four at 10th level.

### Dreadful Commands
Starting at 3rd level, your command over your soldiers lets you use basic tactics in combat. When you have at least one **Phalanx Soldier** summoned, you can use a bonus action to make all summoned soldiers follow one of the following orders on their turn:

**Press Forward.** You command all your soldiers to move up to 15 feet towards an enemy that you or a soldier can currently see. The distance the soldiers can move increases to 20 feet at 6th level and 25 feet at 10th level. If a soldier ends this movement within 5 feet of a hostile creature, it can make a shield attack against it.

**Shield Wall.** You order all your soldiers to form a line by moving up to 10 feet to spaces adjacent to each other. If an attack that targets a friendly creature within 10 feet of this shield wall passes though the line, the creature can add your Rage Damage bonus to its AC for that attack.

If you command the soldiers to do something else, such as attack, the line breaks and the bonus is lost. The distance the soldiers can move increases to 20 feet at 10th level.

In addition, you add your Rage Damage bonus to your AC while raging.

### Dire Lord
At 6th level, your command over your army grows. You gain access to the following Dreadful Commands:

**Close Ranks.** You order all your soldiers to move up to 15 feet towards a friendly creature the soldier can see. For every soldier that ends this movement within 5 feet of a friendly creature, it gains a +1 to AC until the start of your next turn.

**Noble Sacrifice.** Choose one soldier that is currently summoned. That soldier immediately drops to 0 hit points and you gain temporary hit points equal to your barbarian level.

In addition, whenever you use your Reckless Attack ability, you can cause all soldiers within 10 feet of you to also be affected by the ability.

### Soldier's Surge
Beginning at 10th level, your knowledge of war and the experiences of your soldiers makes you much more cunning. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, choose a skill or tool. If you haven't already, you gain proficiency in that skill or with that tool. If you already have proficiency in it, you instead double your proficiency bonus whenever you use that skill or tool. This lasts until you finish a short or long rest.

In addition, you gain access to the following Dreadful Command:

**Pile On.** One soldier of your choice can immediately make a spear attack against a creature it can see within its weapon range. If the attack hits, it gains a bonus to the damage roll equal to the number of soldiers within 5 feet of the target. For the purposes of this attack, you also count as a soldier.

\pagebreak

### Commander's Glory
At 14th level, you can use your soldiers as a method to gain immense glory for yourself. As an action, you can sacrifice any number of currently summoned soldiers. For each soldier you sacrifice in this way, you gain the following benefits for the duration of your rage and cannot re-summon that soldier until your rage ends:

- Your speed increases by 5 feet.
 - You gain a +1 bonus to your AC.
 - Your Rage Damage bonus increases by +1.
 - You gain 3 temporary hit points at the start of your turn.

<div class='descriptive'>
 
 ##### Alternate 14th Level Feature: Call of War
 When you begin your rage, or as an action while raging, you can call upon the souls of warriors to bring about ruin. 2d4 + 2 warrior spirits with the statistics of  **berserkers** appear within 60 feet of you instead of your Phalanx Soldiers, fighting until your rage ends or until they drop to 0 hit points. The berserkers are friendly to you and your companions and follow your commands.
 
 ___
 Once you use this ability, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
 
 </div>
 
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> ##### It's Your Army
> Think about what your Phalanx Soldiers look like and how they act. Are they bloodthirsty warriors that ignore anything not holding a weapon? Maybe they march in unison as a perfect unit or they can move as individuals. Do they all look the same, or do some look larger than others, a rag-tag group of warriors?
>
> With your DM's permission, you can replace the Spear attack in the Phalanx Soldier statblock with a different weapon available in the Player's Handbook, such as a whip or a greatsword.
>
> ##### Art Credit
>
> ["Tactical Formation"](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zAavb4) and ["Joan of Arc Cover Art"](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/bvygm), both by Bayard Wu
>
> GMBinder waterstains made by u/flamableconcrete on Reddit
 
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___
> ## Phalanx Soldier
>*Medium humanoid, same alignment as its creator*
> ___
> - **Armor Class** 12 + your Constitution modifier (natural armour, a minimum of 12)
> - **Hit Points** 9 (increases to 15 at 10th level) + twice your barbarian level
> - **Speed** 25 ft. (increases to 30 ft. at 6th level)
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|16 (+3)|12 (+1)|17 (+3)|9 (-1)|11 (+0)|9 (-1)|
>___
> - **Saving Throws** same as its creator
> - **Damage Resistances** poison, psychic
> - **Condition Immunities** charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned
> - **Senses** darkvision 15 ft., passive Perception - the same as its creator
> - **Languages** understands the languages of its creator but can't speak
> - **Challenge** -
>
> ### Actions
>
> ***Spear.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* 2 + your Strength modifier to hit, Reach 10 ft., one target. *Hit:* 1d4 (increases to 1d8 at 10th level) + 3 + your Rage Damage piercing damage.
>
> ***Shield.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* 2 + your Strength modifier to hit, Reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* 1d4 + 3 bludgeoning damage, and the target is pushed back 5 feet.