In the chaos of combat, most fighters focus on the enemy in front of them. But a good Envoy? A good Envoy sees everything.
They track the sniper's barrel swinging toward the Mystic. They notice the merc's finger tightening on the trigger before the shot fires. They read the alien predator's body language as it coils to lunge at the wounded Operative. And in that split-second before the attack lands, they shout a single word:
"WATCH OUT!"
It's not magic. It's not telepathy. It's battlefield awareness honed through desperate firefights, near-death experiences, and the absolute refusal to watch another ally go down on their watch. The Envoy sees the attack coming and gives their ally the fraction of a second they need to twist away, raise a forearm to block, or shift their stance just enough that the killing blow becomes a graze.
Commission officers drill this instinct into their tactical coordinators—your job is to see threats before your squad does. Chronologist field teams rely on their Envoys to call out temporal anomalies manifesting as attacks from sideways in time. Viridian Ascent bio-squads use pheromone bursts and empathic warning signals—a Watch Out delivered through scent and shared sensation rather than sound.
Ebon Syndicate enforcers approach it transactionally: You're worth more to me alive, so I'm keeping you that way. Riftsworn scouts develop preternatural awareness of danger through exposure to reality-warping phenomena—they know when an attack is coming because the fabric of space-time flinches a microsecond before impact.
The best Envoys develop signature warnings—phrases their crews recognize instantly. "LEFT!" "DOWN!" "INCOMING!" Sometimes just a hand signal, a comm-click pattern, or a specific whistle. What matters isn't the form—it's the trust. When the Envoy shouts Watch Out, you move. You don't think. You don't hesitate. You move. Because that fraction of a second is the difference between armor deflecting a shot and that shot punching through your lung.
And when the smoke clears and your ally is still standing because you called it in time? That's when they know: this Envoy has their back.
Watch Out Feat 1
Source Player Core pg. 108
[Reaction]
Trigger A creature targets an ally within 60 feet with an attack, and you can see both the attacker and your ally.
You signal a warning to your ally, granting them a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack.
Tactical Analysis
Reaction Timing: Before the Roll
Critical Mechanic: Watch Out triggers when a creature targets an ally, which means it activates BEFORE the attack roll is made.
This is important because:
You don't know if the attack will hit yet
You must decide whether to use your reaction before seeing the die result
You risk "wasting" the reaction if the attack would have missed anyway
But you also prevent hits you wouldn't have known about
GM Ruling: Most GMs announce "The sniper targets your Mystic" before rolling, giving you the opportunity to use Watch Out. Some GMs roll first and only announce on hits—clarify your table's ruling on reaction timing before the campaign starts.
When to Use Watch Out
High-Value Targets:
Low-AC allies (Mystics, Witchwarpers, skill-focused characters)
Wounded allies close to unconsciousness
Allies who are critical to the encounter (healer, only spellcaster, etc.)
High-Threat Attacks:
Attacks from high-level enemies (more likely to hit or crit)
Attacks with deadly effects (poison, disease, conditions)
Critical threat range attacks (weapons with critical specialization)
Don't Use Watch Out:
When the ally already has high AC or cover (+2 circumstance bonus won't stack)
Against attacks targeting allies with high enough AC that they're unlikely to be hit
When you need your reaction for something else (Attack of Opportunity, other reaction feats)
Watch Out is the Envoy's signature guardian reaction—a simple, reliable way to protect allies through battlefield awareness and timely warnings. It's not flashy. It doesn't deal damage. But when your Mystic survives a sniper shot because you called it in time, when your Operative avoids a critical hit that would have downed them, when your crew makes it through the mission because you were watching their backs—that's when Watch Out proves its worth.
In Starfall's dangerous galaxy, where ambushes are common, snipers lurk in every shadow, and Rift anomalies attack from impossible angles, having an Envoy who sees threats before they land is often the difference between mission success and catastrophe.
"Watch out!" Two words. One reaction. A lifetime of battlefield awareness distilled into a split-second warning that saves lives.
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