Veteran

Hardened by their travels, training, or other practical experiences, Veteran warriors employ their vast understanding of armed combat to gain the upper hand against any opponent. While often past their former glory, a Veteran's unrivaled knowledge and skills allow them to excel in adapting to their enemies' movements and tactics--- with proper preparation, Veterans can overcome even the most dire circumstances. These fighters typically lived amid bitterly dangerous environments or were once involved in a great cause beyond themselves, yet now wander as vagrants with little to their names. 

3rd  -  Warriors' Stances, Tactical Instinct

7th  -  Kinesthetic Intelligence

10th -  Stance Mastery

15th -  Press the Attack

18th -  Tactical Brilliance

Warriors' Stances

Upon selecting this archetype at 3rd level, you learn four of the Warriors' Stances listed below. Veteran fighters may enter a Stance during their turn as a Bonus Action, often providing unique opportunities to make weapon attacks, move, or avoid damage depending on the Stance. Veterans maintain their chosen stance and its effects until they enter a different stance, leave the combat encounter, or are afflicted with an incapacitating condition. Stances require the use of simple or martial weapons and cannot be entered/maintained while mounted.

You may enter stances a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per short rest. At 10th level, you will learn an additional two stances and replace one learned at 3rd. 

Day Stance

Requires a ranged weapon. While maintaining the bold Day Stance, your ranged attacks no longer suffer from disadvantage when targeting an enemy within 5 ft. and can be used to make opportunity attacks. When making one of these point-blank attacks, you may push the creature 5 ft. in any direction.

Fire Stance

Usable with any weapon. While maintaining the ferocious Fire Stance, you are rendered vulnerable to all damage types. In return, you deal maximum damage with all weapon damage rolls and bypass any applicable enemy resistances (immunities excepted).

Fog Stance

Usable with any weapon. While maintaining the magic-smothering Fog Stance, you have advantage on saving throws made against spells. Additionally, you may use your reaction to make an opportunity attack on any creature casting a spell within your attack range before they cast it.

Night Stance

Requires a ranged weapon. While maintaining the elusive Night Stance, missing a creature with a ranged attack no longer reveals your position when hidden. If you are more than 30 ft. away from the target, your position remains unknown even if the attack connects, although they will know the direction from which they were attacked.

Petal Stance

Usable with any weapon. While maintaining the graceful Petal Stance, you benefit from +2 effective AC if you’re wearing light or no armor and may leap up to 5 ft. in any direction whenever an attack roll against you misses. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. 

Rain Stance

Requires a melee weapon. While maintaining the tranquil Rain Stance, you benefit from +2 effective AC against ranged attacks. When targeted by a ranged attack which misses, you may expend your reaction to try deflecting the projectile. Make an attack roll using your equipped weapon on a creature or object within 60 ft. of you, causing the ranged attack to hit that target instead if it succeeds.

Rot Stance

Usable with any weapon. While maintaining the malignant Rot Stance, gain temporary HP equal to your fighter level plus your proficiency bonus whenever you kill a hostile creature. While you have temporary HP from Rot Stance, your attacks deal 1 additional damage for every turn you have possessed it. Further kills refresh this temporary health, but it is lost upon exiting the stance.

Snow Stance

Usable with any weapon. While maintaining the guileful Snow Stance, your first weapon attack against a creature each turn reduces their movement by 15 ft. until the end of their next turn. Creatures with their movement reduced this way cannot make opportunity attacks against you.

Stance of the Seasons

Usable with any weapon. Unlike other stances, maintaining the Stance of the Seasons grants no passive benefits. Instead, you may use a bonus action on a subsequent turn to make a special weapon attack which can either knock the creature prone, move them 10 ft. in any direction, or disarm them on a failed CON save (DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + ability modifier according to weapon). After this flourish, you may immediately assume a different stance with no additional action cost. 

Stone Stance

Requires a melee weapon. While maintaining the unbreakable Stone Stance, you benefit from +2 effective AC against melee attacks. When targeted by a melee attack which misses, you may expend your reaction to attempt a counterattack using your equipped weapon.

Thorn Stance

Usable with any weapon. While maintaining the vengeful Thorn Stance, you may use your reaction to make an opportunity attack on any creature within your attack range which directly damages you. If you’re instead damaged from outside of your attack range, you may then move 5 ft. in the creature’s direction without consuming your reaction.

Wind Stance

Usable with any weapon. While maintaining the nimble Wind Stance, you may use Actions and Bonus Actions interchangeably. However, you can only attack once when you take the Attack action on your turn during this time.

Tactical Instinct

At 3rd Level, you develop a knack for recognizing brewing confrontations and can make split-second decisions to prepare. Once initiative is rolled and results are known, you may move a distance up to your walking speed before the first turn is taken. You may climb, jump, and swim during this time using a portion of the allowed distance accordingly. 

Kinesthetic Intelligence

Starting at 7th level, you realize your past or potential vigor to grow fully attuned to your body, massively enhancing your physical prowess. You ignore additional movement costs whenever climbing or swimming (1:1 from walking speed) and are unaffected by difficult terrain.

Additionally, you may switch an equipped weapon as a free action once during your turn– any further swaps use a bonus action as per usual. Furthermore, you may now switch equipped weapons and assume a stance during your allotted preparation time from Tactical Instinct.

Stance Mastery

At 10th level, you may learn two new Warriors’ Stances, replace one already known for another, and select two previously known to master. Mastered stances are direct upgrades to their counterparts and will replace them permanently once selected. You can only master a stance known since 3rd level. Options are as follows:

Abyss Stance

Replaces Fog Stance. You now have advantage when attacking any creature concentrating on a spell. Should your attack connect, the creature then has disadvantage on their concentration saving throw and is then silenced until the end of their next turn should they fail.

Blizzard Stance

Replaces Snow Stance. You may now reduce creatures’ movement on all attacks, as opposed to only the first made against each target. Additionally, creatures with their movement reduced to 0 this way will fall prone.

Blossom Stance

Replaces Petal Stance. Increase AC bonus to +3. In addition to the stance’s previous effect, you may leap 5 ft. after successfully damaging a creature with a weapon attack as well as upon succeeding in any Dexterity saving throw against an enemy.

Briar Stance

Replaces Thorn Stance. Your opportunity attacks made after taking damage no longer consume your reaction if they succeed in damaging the opponent. Also, your movements made toward distant attackers can be extended up to 10 ft.

Death Stance

Replaces Rot Stance. Temporary HP received per kill now stacks instead of refreshing with additional kills. Gain 2 damage per turn you possess temporary HP instead of 1.

Inferno Stance

Replaces Fire Stance. You are no longer vulnerable to slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage. Additionally, you may now exit Inferno Stance as a reaction to taking damage from any source.

Moon Stance

Replaces Night Stance. You may now make attacks using your weapon’s long range without receiving disadvantage. Decrease the range at which your position can be discovered to 15 ft.

Mountain Stance

Replaces Stone Stance. Increase AC bonus to +3. Make counterattacks with advantage.

Stance of Fate

Replaces Stance of the Seasons. You may now select two conditions to apply to your special weapon attack instead of one through separate saving throws, including the new options of frightened or goaded which apply upon failed WIS saving throw (DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + ability modifier according to weapon).

Storm Stance

Replaces Wind Stance. You may now attack twice when you take the attack action while maintaining Storm Stance as opposed to once.

Sun Stance

Replaces Day Stance. Make point-blank attacks with advantage. You may now apply knockback to any target within 30 ft. when making ranged attacks.

Torrent Stance

Replaces Rain Stance. Increase AC bonus to +3. Deflections split incoming projectiles in two, allowing you to redirect the projectile to one additional target.

Press the Attack

Once you reach 15th level, before making a weapon attack on a creature during your turn, you may choose to expend all remaining uses of Extra Attack (if you have any) to make that number of repeating attacks on the same creature using the same attack roll. This flurry of strikes overwhelms the opponent, allowing you to slip in one additional attack, still via the same attack roll. The targeted creature cannot react to receiving attack damage until after all attacks are made. 

Additional attacks gained from an action surge are not included, as they are sourced from a separate attack action. Should the target creature be incapacitated or die before all attacks are used, excess uses of Extra Attack are not expended and you may keep the additional attack.

Tactical Brilliance

By 18th Level, your tactical expertise has become so pronounced that you may instruct all allies in earshot to assume precise combat positions upon entering a battle. This allows every allied creature who can hear and understand your language(s) to benefit from the effects of your Tactical Instinct after initiative is rolled. 

Also, you may choose to give up to two creatures specific instructions, such as to advance toward a specific enemy, retreat toward the group, or move to a particular location. Those creatures can choose either to comply to the best of their ability or decline their movement altogether (best used on non-player entities).