Inspiring Courage

General ACKS Forums Ask the Autarchs
1

Duskreign’s Minion here.
It is unclear to me how exactly the Bard’s inspire courage works. I know it takes 1 round, and only works on allies not in combat. What I don’t know know is what exactly combat entails.

  1. If initiative has been rolled, is everyone assumed to be in combat?
  2. If a character is not in melee, and not attacking with a ranged weapon, is that character in combat?
    In short, is this intended to be used once the fighting has started?
    Additionally, is the number of times it can be used each day tied to the Bard or the receiver? For instance, a 3rd level Bard can only inspire the same characterter 3 times per day, but could the Bard inspire 100 such characters each 3 times per day, or is there a limit? Consider a Bard striding through the ranks of an assembled army, rallying the troops. Could he orate for a round, move 100’ and orate for another round and so on until the army is ready?
2

Duskreign -

  1. No. “Engaged in combat” has a specific meaning. It means within 5’ of an enemy. You can use it on archers, for instance, or infantry that have not yet been sent into the fray.
  2. No, that character is not engaged in combat. See above.
  3. The number of times it can be used per day is tied to the receiver. The Bard can stride through the ranks of an assembled army, rallying the troops.