How to Make a Troop in Pathfinder 1e
A troop is a underutilized creature subtype that makes combat easier for DMs to run, and easier for players to understand, while speeding up combat. It feels similar to 4e’s Minion mechanic that simplifies the goal of having a lot of monsters in combat: threatening, but empowering to the PCs.
Troops were introduced in Paizo’s Bestiary 6, and included a few sample prebuilt creatures. It looks very confusing on the surface, and the information is spread all over on what they do, how to make one, and how it can be used. After doing some of my own research, I think troops are really neat, and I wanted to break down my understanding of what they are and how to make them.
What is a Troop?
A troop is similar to a swarm: it has a size that it occupies that is larger than the individual parts are (a troop of Medium creatures takes up a space of 20 ft x 20 ft, comparable to a Gargantuan creature). Even though the troop is made of many creatures, they collectively have one AC and one pool of HP, make one saving throw and one initiative roll. Once a troop’s HP hits zero, it’s effectively defeated, and the individual remaining members of the troop disperse.
The key component of this is that at the start of the troop’s turn, they deal damage automatically to any creature it shares a space with (just like swarms, they can move into spaces with other creatures, surrounding them) or are within range of (for Medium or Small creatures, that would be within 5 ft).
Although the troop takes up a 20 ft x 20 ft space, they don’t have to maintain that static shape like the Delightful Children from Down the Lane. They can morph into any shape, as long as it contiguous and is the same number of squares (16, if each square is 5 ft x 5 ft).
Because a troop is also not a single creature, it has weaknesses and immunities to reflect that. Troops are not affected by the following combat maneuvers: bull rush, dirty trick, disarm, drag, grapple, reposition, or trip. Troops are immune to the staggered and dying conditions, cannot be flanked, but can be affected by critical hits and precision damage. A troop cannot be the target of spells or effects that affect a specific number of creatures (like a single target, or specific multiple target like haste). However, a troop takes 50% additional damage to spells or effects that affect an area. Finally, some of these above rules can change depending on the effect being used on them, or the immunities or weaknesses of the base creature.
How to Make a Troop in ~6 steps
1. Make a Concept
The hardest part of making a troop is actually just what the troop is made of. Guards, goblins, zombies, cultists, whatever you want! Here, I am suggesting humanoids (or undead humanoids), but you could try anything you want!
2. Pick your CR
The Challenge Rating should be whatever makes sense for your combat. As an overview, the CR of a creature should match the level of what your PCs are. A CR of one or two lower will be easier, and a CR one higher will be a bit harder. If your group has 6 or more people, then inherently, they’re equal with a CR of one higher than the party level. Check the rules here for more information!
3. Look at the Monster Creation Chart
It’s so easy, y’all, to make a troop. With the CR, find the equivalent AC and HP, and that is your approximate AC and HP for this troop. Here’s the chart for easy reference.
4. Calculate the Actual Values
I change my mind, this might be the hardest part for a DM. If you don’t want to calculate anything, however, then you don’t need to adjust anything! You are almost done with this creature. Just use the existing AC and HP on this chart!
If you are calculating everything, then the next substep is to generate Ability Scores. You can make them however you want: standard array, point buy, roll for it. Treat it like you are making a single character. If one member of this troop is nimble and clever, give them higher Dex and Wis. If they are strong and stout, give them high Str and Con. If you are using existing creatures, take their Ability Scores instead of generating your own!
Once you have your stats, you can calculate the HP first, or the AC first. I’ll do HP first.
For humanoids, their hit dice, HD,(what will be used to calculate their HP) is a d8. For every d8, add their Constitution modifier, just like making any other creature. The average (if you don’t want to roll) for a d8, is 4.5. So, let’s walk through an example.
I am making a CR 4 troop, which should have approximately 40 HP. They are humanoids, and have a Constitution modifier of +1. So, I ask myself, “how many d8+1 will approximate to 40, or, to make it even easier, how many 5.5 (the average of 4.5 + 1) goes into 40?” The answer is either 7 or 8: seven hit dice would give me an average of 38 HP (rounded down), and eight hit dice would give me 44 HP. I’ll go with the former, so this CR 4 troop has 7 HD, with an HP of 38.
For AC, I can be a bit more creative. Again, let’s go with a CR 4 troop, which should have around 17 AC. To calculate that, it is 10 plus Dexterity modifier plus Armor bonus plus Shield bonus plus Dodge bonus plus Natural Armor bonus plus …etc. etc. Let’s say this Troop has a Dexterity of +2. So their current AC is 12, which can be boosted to 17 a few different ways. Let’s give them a Hide Shirt (+3 Armor bonus), and a Heavy Shield (doesn’t matter which, but it gives +2 Shield bonus). Now with 10 + 2 + 3 + 2, they have an AC of 17!
5. Put everything together
The next substeps for creating a normal character, or even a normal enemy to fight would involve a bit more process, but for a troop, it’s even easier. We don’t need to worry about the specifics of what weapon to deal what kind of damage, what feats or abilities or classes to choose. A troop deals automatic damage based on the number of hit dice (HD) it has.
This troop has 7 HD, so they deal 2d6 damage (let’s say their Strength modifier is +2, so 2d6+2). The rest of their values, like saving throws are automatically calculated based on HD as well!
Using this chart (we don’t need the BAB details, though if we did, humanoids have a medium BAB progression), we pick one saving throw (Fortitude, Reflex, or Will) and make it a good save (let’s go with Will, so +5 for having 7 hit dice) and the other two get poor saves (+2). Humanoids get 2 + their Intelligence modifier Skill Ranks (let’s give them a +1 for their Intelligence modifier) for every HD (quick math: 21!) to spend on whatever skills we want.
For Feats, since troops deal static damage automatically, you shouldn't pick feats that focus on attack rolls or damage increases like the typical Weapon Focus or Power Attack. Some good options would be Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Greater Fortitude, Toughness, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Run, Fleet, or Skill Focus, as these generalize the combat process. If the creature already exists, check out what feats they have. The troop should have a higher AC than the base creature (because it is a group), so those existing feats will be a great starting point.
6. Flavor Town
Now, this creature might be a little boring, so add some latent abilities to spice up how this troop of combatants might actually act. And this is where you aren’t following any rules, per se, but coming up with tiny changes to give tactics to the troop. One suggestion is to pick from existing classes, or, if the creature already exists, see what special abilities and features they already have! For other customization options, here are few of options I’ve found:
The troop deals +1d6 more damage with its troop attack to any creature that it shares a space with. This could represent ferocity, a large number of creatures, or nimble creatures.
The troop gains fast healing 5. This represents a troop of clerics, where some of them are casting cure spells during each round.
As a standard action, the troop selects one 10-ft radius space within 80 ft of them, dealing 4d6 damage to all creatures in that area (reflex DC 15 for half damage). This could represent a troop of archers, or wizards casting fireball. For actual numbers, just consult the above chart for average damage (4d6 averages out to 17) and DC. I just checked the CR 4 line for high damage and primary DC to calculate these values. See, super easy!
There are also troop-specific CR adjusters, like Elite Troop and Skirmishers. Check out this link for details!
7. Homebrew
One of the problems that can arise from using troops is that they automatically hit. PCs can invest a lot of focus into their AC and that automatic hits from troops, especially if you use troops frequently, can undercut the investment the player put into their character and protection that AC offers.
One solution could be making multiple attacks against each target from the troop. For any target within range, make 2 to 4 attacks against them to see how many hit. This will slow down the swiftness of using troops in an encounter, but it can make it fairer in the eyes of the PC, especially if only 1 attack gets through (which could deal more damage than the standard troop would). If you are using this, you should check out the above chart to calculate approximate damage. But this will let you use those feats you love that focus on attack rolls and boosting damage!
Another idea is to give the troop a slightly higher than normal attack bonus for its hit dice, but it gains +2 for every additional square of the troop that is able to hit the target. For example, if the troop has an attack bonus of +6 normal, make that a +9 to make them more imposing, and if its shape allows it to hit the target from three squares, the troop makes one attack per turn with a +13. This still makes it a dangerous foe and focuses on strategy and position, but it can allow for higher AC to still save your PC.
A lot of these details I got from the Reddit posts by u/FundamentalistBanana, which you can check out here: The Troop subtype, and why you should be using it, and The Troop Subtype: A Second Attempt. Also, check out the existing troops from Paizo to get ideas for special attacks and flavorful effects.
Here are some sample troops that I made, just to show some ideas.
I added the bomb throw ability to give this a feel of the alchemist class. Their HP is average, and the AC is a hair lower, but this should still be a threatening combatant with the troop damage and bomb damage.
I used the same stats as the Rhinoceros in the Bestiary, and just recalculated everything. This creature is still pretty big, and has a lot of HP, but it’s AC does fall a little short. To make up for that, I added Damage Resistance to give it more sustain. I also adjusted the space to be 30 ft to reflect that this is crash of rhinos are individually size Large instead of size Medium.
I hope this break down of what a troop is and how to make one is easy and encourages you to throw troops into your own campaigns! There is some other information that I didn’t cover, I would recommend looking through existing troops and reading the material listed below.
