The guard is a defense oriented fighter-type with emphasis on the use of protective armour, shields and combat skills. The Guard will often specialise in two or three weapons. The main focus of the Guard is combat skills often with an emphasis on melee.
Guards are often respected for their bravery and reliability, seen as the steadfast backbone of any combat group. However, their methodical approach and focus on defense can sometimes frustrate more aggressive or agile allies, who might find their cautious tactics overly conservative. Enemies quickly learn to fear the unyielding resilience of a well-trained Guard.
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Core Abilities
Constitution: Your soak and staying power—perfect for a shield-first frontline. It keeps you functional while anchoring Defense (e.g., stance/soak plays) and long Athletics pushes in heavy armor.
Self Discipline: Composure under pressure. It stabilizes your guard, helps you hold a Defensive Stance, cleanly Disengage, and generally elevates Defense; it also shows up in a number of melee and control moments across Melee Expertise and Tactics that reward restraint.
Supporting Abilities
Strength: Shoves, grapples, and finish pressure—adds teeth to your line-holding. Strong fit for Melee Expertise (bind/break, crush, charge) and Brawling control when foes try to push past you.
Agility: Footwork and weapon handling while armored—lets you reposition, cut angles, and keep DB high. It pairs naturally with Defense (evasive options), Movement entries/exits, and precision in Melee Expertise.
Important Abilities
Quickness: Initiative and interrupts; helps you punish openings and raise/adjust your guard in time.
Presence: Command aura at the line—useful for drawing fire and keeping enemies focused on you instead of your backline.
Intuition: Reads feints and flow; helps you anticipate charges, flanks, and when to step in or peel back.
Boldness: The nerve to step into harm’s way and hold the gap when the party needs a wall.
Minor Abilities
Memory: Handy for routes, patrol patterns, and (Standard Operating Procedures), but not a limiter in the scrum.
Reasoning: Planning helps, yet your kit pays out more on timing and fundamentals.
Empathy: Nice for crowd control via de-escalation, but rarely your lever mid-melee.
Creativity: Improvised tricks are good, just secondary to solid shield work.