Stonehearth Guard

The Guard are dedicated defensive Stonehearth Arms units that serve the overlapping functions of site security, personnel protection, and law enforcement in Stonehearth jurisdictions.

From the Stonehearth zones in Baldur's Gate to the high-visibility City of North Point and throughout the Marquisate, the Guard have become the new gold standard of defense. In addition to municipalities, the Guard are assigned to Stonehearth government sites, bases, installations, laboratories and forts.

One of the most famous assignments for the Guard is the Stonehearth Treasury and Mint. The amount of gold moved through that facility has made it a target of dragons and a place of dreams. The Guard has kept the gold, and the people working with it, safe and secure. This includes anti-counterfeiting operations.

As they are a key part of the Arms, they are still technically a gendarmerie rather than a civilian police force. They are the authorized investigators of all criminal matters and are the lead for anti-cult operations and neutralizing unfriendly foreign influence. Given the final two, there is often cooperation and joint operations with the Sergeants-at-Arms.

Being a part of the Army, they are mentioned in the Army section of the Arms description – but their visibility as being separate from the combat infantry has become so high, they require a separate tour for those new to Stonehearth areas.

## History of the Guard

From the earliest days after the formation from the House, taking the momentum from House Greathearth, the new House Stonehearth was reticent to make a defensive Guard force in the same cut as every other patriar in Baldur's Gate. This led to complex assignments, and often special details for the foot soldiers. Later, it would become part of their trademark reversed "every soldier a cop" capacity that had certain advantages.

It also had some profound drawbacks, not the least of which was preventing combat units from actually decompressing when rotating through after daily battles with trolls and all manner of undead. There were political stumbling points as well: cities didn't want to give up their battalion.

It was the merging of these two factors that eventually convinced House Stonehearth to adopt an official "Guard" class. If they were going to do it, though, they were going to do it with every lesson-learned and best practice that Toril could offer. And then they were going to leverage all the primal-magic logistical wonder they could to make the Guard a premiere piece of the Arms.

By 1485, as conflict raged between friendly Cormyr and the Shadovar Netherese, the decision was made to create the Guard and ease it into place.

## Future of the Guard

Over the last four years, the Guard has been trained and rotated into place, gradually supplanting the combat infantry from their sheriff roles. The police function of the Infantry has been phased out, and while the reception has been generally good, it has been controversial to a public that has been subject to waves of troll attacks, liches, vampires, zombies and skeletons.

## **Mission Profiles**

The Stonehearth Guard have come to redefine defensive military force. In Stonehearth tradition, they are an active defense, responding before the threat reaches the gates, but they are the quintessential bulwark against threats. They are assigned to particular facilities and will remain at one site for the majority of their tour, creating familiarity with the patterns and a better sense when things are out of place.

They protect the rear echelons of forward-deployed Infantry units, they are the protectors of Infantry bases and key government sites (like the treasury and the mint), and they are the municipal gendarme across the Marquisate to enforce laws and investigate crimes. Defensively, they share protection duties with the Marines, who are assigned to port and maritime facilities.

## **The Candidate Path**

Prospective candidates for the Guard need to attain a *minimum* Infantry progression (level 6), if only for the anti-mind control indoctrination. Concurrently, they must serve a minimum of two years in the infantry before they are eligible to test into the Guard.

Less than 15% enter this way – most will serve a full 6 years in the Infantry. The competition for the Guard is intense: while prestige is on par with the infantry, there is a pay bump and soldiers remain closer to home. Infantry experience gives a natural advantage to those candidates vying for entry.

Should a player's character choose to go this route, success at the candidate path is presumed. This included early entry if that's a player's desire, though unless a player has a very specific development arc for their character, DMs may choose to make early entry based on experience-gained probabilities.

If a character gains early entry into the Guard, there should be a role-play/character history element to that plot development, including dealing the anti-hotshot attitudes of the professional Guards.

## **The Stonehearth Arms Guard**

The Stonehearth Guard build on their Infantry experience, but in game terms, this technically branches the character into a multi-class status. The Guard is a Fighter hybrid class, and multi-class rules apply for challenge ratings, combat, experience and so on. Most new Guard would be written as Infantry 6/Guard 1.

### Class Features

As a Stonehearth Guard, you gain the following class features.

#### Hit Points

* **Hit Dice:**1d10 per Guard level
* **Hit Points at 1st Level:**10 + your Constitution modifier
* **Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per Guard level after 1st

### Proficiency Bonus

Your Proficiency Bonus is always based on your total character level, as shown in the Character Advancement table, not your level in a particular class. For example, that Infantry 6/Guard 1 has the Proficiency Bonus of a 7th-level character, which is +3.

Note that while the *minimum* Infantry level is 6 prior to cross-over, and represent a full enlistment cycle, fully roleplay-realized characters are likely to wait until level 10 (when early retirement or transfer may take place without restriction); or level 12, with the completion of a full second cycle. As such, the Level/Proficiency Bonus columns make the assumption of level-1 start and let players look at equivalent character progressions. The exact proficiency bonus will be determined by the level the character jumps.

For more on multiclassing character progressions, check:

* **Primal Multiclass Characters**

### Proficiencies

Infantry soldiers taking up the Guard class gain no new, separate proficiencies beyond what is listed on the Features and Special Training columns below. The training is extremely specific based on the best practices and lessons learned of the Stonehearth Arms, so most player choices for the Fighter class are either preselected or substituted. Those Features and Special Training are detailed below the table.

### **Features and Feats in the Stonehearth Marines**

#### ***2nd Method Wandism (Gendarmerie Training)***

This is technically 2M Wandism (untrained), but only in the class sense that Guards, Marines and Rangers aren't fully trained in arcane theory. Rather, this is focused Gendarmerie Training (same as the Marines), that turns a military-grade *Wand of Casting* into a professional tool.

There are four initial spells taught, including the usual training tool: the cantrip-level Mage Hand.

* Mage Hand. As the conjuration cantrip.
* Light. No components, otherwise as the evocation cantrip.
* Zone of Truth. As the 2nd-level enchantment.
* Arcane Hand. No components, otherwise as the 5th-level evocation.

#### ***Gendarmerie***

The Marines and Guard are both trained as security and law enforcement officers. This includes perception training, psychology and deductive reasoning, as well as the administrative and logistical processes. In game mechanics, that translates as four default skills:

* Skill: ***Investigation*** (INT) Looking for clues, making deductions, and finding hidden objects
* Skill: ***Insight*** (WIS) Analyzing body language, truthfulness, predicting next moves
* Skill: ***Perception*** (WIS) Spot, hear or otherwise detect particulars in the environment
* Skill: ***Intimidation*** (CHA) Attempting to influence through conveying unfriendly intentions

#### ***Feat: Field Medic***

* This is a 60-hour first responder-level medical course that combines mundane (non-magical) medical training in diagnosis and treatment, including the tools to do so (a Healer's Kit).
* Treat for shock: can stabilize dying without kit on successful wisdom check. Will automatically stabilize dying with a use of a Healer's Kit.
* Trauma kit: Will heal 1d8 +medic's INT mod per wound treated.

#### ***Defense***

* While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

#### ***Protection***

* When a creature a character can see attacks a target other than them – that is within 5 feet of them – they can use their reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. They must be wielding a shield.

#### ***2M Wand Training (2nd Pass)***

* Detect Magic, as the 1st level divination.
* Identify, as the 1st level divination.
* Silence, as the 2nd level illusion.
* Mending, as the transmutation cantrip.
* Fire Bolt, as evocation cantrip (1d10 damage, fire).

#### ***Feat: Charger***

* When you use your action to Dash, you can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or to shove a creature.
* If you move at least 10 feet in a straight line immediately before taking this bonus action, you either gain a +5 bonus to the attack’s damage roll (if you chose to make a melee attack and hit) or push the target up to 10 feet away from you (if you chose to shove and you succeed).

#### ***Small Unit Tactics***

* Bonus die on initiative roll. This is the Guard's catch-up to the skill first learned in the Infantry. Levels on this chart indicate combined Infantry/Guard levels.

 d4

#### ***Indomitable***

* Beginning at Guard-6 (12-combined), the character can reroll a saving throw they've failed. If they do so, they must use the new roll, and can't use this feature again until they've finished a long rest.
* They can use this feature twice between long rests starting at Guard-13 level and three times between long rests starting at Guard-17.

#### ***Shield Master***

*The character uses shields not just for protection but also for offense. They gain the following benefits while wielding a shield:*

* If they take the Attack action on their turn, they can use a bonus action to try to shove a creature within 5 feet of you with their shield.
* If they aren’t incapacitated, they can add their shield’s AC bonus to any Dexterity saving throw they make against a spell or other harmful effect that targets only them.
* If they are subjected to an effect that allows a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, they can use their reaction to take no damage if they succeed on the saving throw, interposing their shield between themselves and the source of the effect.

#### ***Quickdraw: Wand of Casting***

* The character can switch between any weapon and their holstered *Wand of Casting* in a single round – and make an attack with the wand.

#### ***Volley***

* The character can use their action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point they can see within their weapon’s range. They must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and they make a separate attack roll for each target.

#### ***Survivor***

* At Guard-18, they attain the pinnacle of resilience in battle. At the start of each of their turns, they regain hit points equal to 5 + their Constitution modifier if they have no more than half of their hit points left. They don't gain this benefit if they have 0 hit points.

#### ***Bulwark***

* At Guard-20, the character can extend the benefit of their Indomitable feature to an ally. When they decide to use Indomitable to reroll an Intelligence, a Wisdom, or a Charisma saving throw and they aren't incapacitated, they can choose one ally within 60 feet of them that also failed its saving throw against the same effect. If that creature can see or hear them, it can reroll its saving throw and must use the new roll.

### **Features and Feats from the Infantry**

#### ***Close Quarters Battle (CQB)***

* Advantage on pointblank range, ignore loading quality.

#### ***Combat Ballistics***

* *Archery evolved:* gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls made with ranged weapons.

#### ***Sharpshooter***

* Ignore half and 3/4-cover, no disadvantage on long-range shots.

#### ***Savage Attacker***

* Once per turn when rolling damage for a melee weapon attack, that damage roll can be rerolled the and use either total.

#### ***Action Surge***

* The first Action Surge is granted when the character is in the Infantry (2nd level overall). The character can push yourself beyond their normal limits for a moment. On their turn, they can take one additional action on top of their regular action and a possible bonus action.
	+ They must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again
* At Guard-11 (17-combined), they can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.

### **Stonehearth Guard Issued Equipment**

#### **Armor**

 Full plate, Arcanium

Stonehearth Guard retain the Arcanium armor and helmet that was issued to them as Mobile Infantry.

The armor is an enchanted steel-titanium alloy (Formulation R741) that is nearly as light as mithral, allowing up to +2 max Dex bonus to AC (and no Dex penalty against ranged fire), stainless (does not rust). The alloy provides a +2 AC bonus, with +1 accounted for by hardness (physical resistance), and +1 magical dispersion.

* Banded mail: a laminar splint mail in horizontal configuration. Would provide AC 16 in normal steel.
* Full plate: full-body protection. Would provide AC 18 in normal steel.
* **\**Cost note:*** this cost is the projected cost if reproduced elsewhere. Stonehearth arcane process allows production at 1/4th this cost. That production cost is secret and sensitive information: the inflated "estimated" production cost (above) is a form of information warfare to discourage other entities from attempting to follow the Stonehearth lead.

**Helmet**

The helmet is also made with the Arcanium R741, provides visored, full-face protection. In both visor-up and visor-down configuration, attuned to provide platoon-wide magical voice communication. In visor-down configuration, provides darkvision (60’).

**Upgradeable armor**

Modular enchantment sockets: each major piece of armor (pauldrons, chest, each gauntlet, upper arm, etc.) may modified with an "ingot," a coin-like chip that carries a specialized enchantment. These may be awarded for exceptional service (or purchased), and modify the protective value of the armor. Popular ingots include Protection vs Poison and Protection vs Disease.

**Shield**

* An Arcanium R741 shield, this provides lightweight (6 lb.) protection +2 when utilized on the off-hand.
* When slung on the back, will provide a +2 bonus vs rear attacks.
* Stand and upper notch allow the shield to provide both cover and act as bipod to steady long-range shots.

#### **Weapons**

**Longsword, MIC STD 1457** (versatile; 1d8+2 [+1d4 Fire] / 1d10+2 [+1d4 Fire]):

* +2 hit
* +2 damage (+1 Piercing/+1 Slashing)
* Damage, *plus:* +1d4 Fire

**Smoothbore Projector:** ammunition (range 50/150), 1d10B/1d8P, heavy, loading (30 shots), two-handed

**Rifled Projector:** ammunition (range 150/600), 1d6B/1d8P, heavy, loading (30 shots), two-handed

**Special Ammunition:** further modifies damage. If utilized, replace damage stats with special stats.

* Incendiary Rounds; *utilized on Troll Patrol:* Damage as normal +1 Fire (results in other damage becoming permanent, preventing regeneration).
* Explosive Rounds: 1d8P/1d8B/1d10S/1d8fire
* Other, more exotic rounds also exist...