Lieutenants and Promotion

Satra was pleased. The fire gensai she hired has performed spectacularly; his speed and skill had outshined many others in that battle, and she probably wouldn't have won without him. His skill with the blade was not as great as her own, but he had sparked an interest. She asked his name. "I am called Kaji," he replied. "You are quite skilled, Kaji, and I could use a reliable swordsman at my right hand. Would you join me?"

In only a few weeks of training, his prowess had substantially increased. His potential was even greater than she had anticipated; perhaps he may even command his own warband some day. - HailSpork

Lieutenants

Number of Lieutenants: A warlord is limited to a number of Lieutenants serving under him equal to its Warlord Level, with a minimum of one.  A warlord may use all of their Lieutenants in a warband if they wish.

Eligible Creatures: In order to become a Lieutenant, a creature must have leadership potential.  They must be intelligent and level-headed, but must also not be so strong of a leader that they might challenge the Warlord for leadership of his warband.  Thus, warlords may only choose creatures to be a Lieutenant that meets all of the following criteria:

Creating a Lieutenant: A creature is considered a Lieutenant when it has been given any amount of XP by its warlord.  How Lieutenant XP is awarded is described in detail in the Experience section.  If a warlord creates a new Lieutenant that would give the warlord more Lieutenants than he can control, an existing Lieutenant must be chosen to be replaced by the new Lieutenant.

Gaining Levels: A Lieutenant gains Warlord Levels using almost exactly the same method as a warlord.  The only difference being that upon reaching Warlord Level 2 and if the Lieutenant is not already a commander, the Lieutenant gains Commander Rating 0 and a partial commander effect as explained below.  Lieutenants who reach level 2 and become commanders can no longer be brought into a warband by Warband Building commander effects, since commanders do not benefit from commander effects, unless the Lieutenant's Warlord has the Leadership feat.

Limitations: There are two main limitations for Lieutenants that don't exist for warlords.  First, a Lieutenant may never have a higher Commander Rating than the warlord it falls under, and second, a Lieutenant may never use an Artifact.

Commander Effects

A Lieutenant's commander effect is earned in two stages, and is not completed until the Lieutenant is Promoted.  A Lieutenant begins by gaining a partial commander effect upon reaching Warlord Level 2.  Upon promotion, the Lieutenant completes his commander effect as described below.  Lieutenants who are existing commanders, do not gain a partial commander effect at Warlord Level 2.  Also, some Lieutenants (those that cost more than 30 points) do not have the option of completing their commander effect and instead will only ever have the partial commander effect gained at Warlord Level 2.

Upon Reaching Level 2: When a Lieutenant who is not a commander earns its 2nd Warlord Level it gains Commander Rating 0 and a partial commander effect.  Choose one partial commander effect from the table below where: TYPE must be a type or subtype of the creature except Humanoid, ENEMY-TYPE is any group of creature types from the Creature Type Groups table, and ENEMY-ALIGNMENT is one of the alignments not held by the Lieutenant

Partial Commander Effects
TYPE followers gain attack +2
TYPE followers gain Save +2
TYPE followers gain +2 AC
TYPE followers gain Spell Focus 1
Whenever TYPE Followers cast spells that deal damage, they deal damage +5 over printed amount
TYPE followers that activate within 6 of this commander gain Powerful Charge +5
TYPE followers who rally may take their turn as normal
TYPE followers that successfully rally heal 10 hp
TYPE followers gain Save +4 on rally attempts
TYPE followers gain +4 AC against ENEMY-TYPE enemies
ENEMY-TYPE enemies gain Morale Save -2
ENEMY-TYPE enemies lose Conceal
Followers that successfully rally heal 5 hp
Followers gain Save +2 on rally attempts
Followers gain +1 AC
Followers gain +1 melee attack
Followers gain +1 ranged attack
Followers gain +2 melee attack against larger enemies
Followers gain +2 ranged attack against larger enemies
Followers gain +2 attack against ENEMY-ALIGNMENT enemies
Followers gain +2 attack on attacks of opportunity
Followers gain Pushback
Followers who rally may immediately move up to their speed
Followers gain Save +1
Tyrranical Morale +2
 

Upon Promotion: All Lieutenants who are not original commanders automatically gain +1 Commander Rating upon promotion and may choose, by increasing their point cost by +5, to gain an additional +1 Commander Rating for a total of +2 and to complete its commander effect by choosing one of the following, where ALIGNMENT is one of the alignments held by the Lieutenant

So a complete commander effect, for those creature eligible to gain them, would consist of: 2x partial commander effect, a partial commander effect + warband building, or a partial commander effect with its TYPE restriction removed

Warlords are not allowed to cost more than 35 points, so this option is only available to Lieutenants of 30 points and under.  Lieutenants who are already commanders gain no special benefits upon promotion.

Promotions

There are two main reasons why a player may want to promote a Lieutenant.  A player may be growing bored of playing the same warlord for a long time, but doesn't want to loose all the assets that warlord has built over his career, and wants his legacy to continue.  Also, there may be a non-commander creature that a player would like to have as their warlord, and thus they work toward making that creature eligible for promotion.

Eligibility for Promotion: The only criteria needed to be eligible for promotion is the Lieutenant must have a Commander Rating.  Thus a Lieutenant who is already a commander could be promoted at any time, where a Lieutenant that is not initially a commander must be at least Warlord Level 2, and have gained the Commander Rating 0 that is granted at Warlord Level 2 before it can be promoted.

Benefits of Promotion: Upon promotion a Lieutenant immediately gains +1 Commander Rating, and if the creature is 30 points or less may choose to increase their point cost by +5 in order to gain an additional +1 Commander Rating and a promotion commander effect as described above.

Bringing Magic Items: A promoted Lieutenant may take with it a number of Minor magic item equivalents equal to his XP ÷ 500 rounded down.  For example a Lieutenant with 2750 XP who is being promoted could choose 5 (2750  ÷ 500 = 5.5 → 5) Minor magic items or their equivalent from his former warlords items.  Artefacts may not be taken by promoted Lieutenants.

Bringing Other Lieutenants: A promoted Lieutenant may bring with it a number of its former warlord's Lieutenants where the total XP of these Lieutenants equals half the XP of the new warlord.  For example a Lieutenant with 2750 XP who is being promoted could choose Lieutenants with a total of 1375 XP (2750 ÷ 2 = 1375) to bring with him, which for example could be one Lieutenant with 1375 XP, or a Lieutenant with 1000 XP and a Lieutenant with 375 XP, or any other combination that adds to half the promoted Lieutenants XP. Remember as well that a warlord is limited to a number of Lieutenants serving under him equal to its Warlord Level, with a minimum of one.

Faction of Promoted Lieutenants: When a Lieutenant with more than one faction is promoted it must choose which faction it will lead as a warlord; however, this may prevent it from bringing some Lieutenants with him unless they are also the chosen faction, or the promoted Lieutenant chooses a Warband Building commander effect that allows them.

The Old Warlord: Because a newly promoted Lieutenant will take with it a number of magic items and Lieutenants as described above, this could greatly weaken the competitive power of the warlord who is promoting the Lieutenant, especially because a player will most likely give the newly promoted Lieutenant the old warlord's best magic items and lieutenants.  For this reason, and the limitation of one non-epic warlord per faction, most warlords who promote one of their Lieutenants immediately retire, although it is not mandatory if the one warlord per faction limit is not broken.

Lieutenant Career Summary

There are three different possibilities for how Lieutenants could progress (Actually 4, since you could choose not to gain the +1 CR, complete the commander effect, and +5 point cost upon promotion)

Non-commander, <=30 points: This kind of Lieutenant has all of the options open to it.  It gains Commander Rating 0 and a partial commander effect upon reaching warlord level 2, then upon promotion +1 CR and the option of taking: an additional +1 Commander Rating, complete its commander effect, and +5 point cost.

Non-commander, 31-35 points: This kind of Lieutenant does not gain the option upon promotion, since this would put the creature over 35 points.  It gains Commander Rating 0 and a partial commander effect upon reaching warlord level 2, then upon promotion +1 Commander Rating.

Commanders: This kind of Lieutenant gains no special benefits upon promotion. They do not gain any bonus to their commander rating, nor do they gain any addition to their existing commander effect.