Foot soldiers are the backbone of any army, stout soldiers who “hold the line” in the face of the enemy’s charge with a bristling wall of pikes, decimate an opposing force’s ranks with a hail of javelins, or hew with their swords in the bloody grind of close combat. Foot soldiers close the gap when their foes try to flee the field, and are tough enough to shrug off blows that would fell a common man.

Changing a foot soldier’s character class from warrior to fighter creates a professional veteran soldier. This necessitates a number of changes, the foremost of which is using the heroic numbers for his ability scores. In addition, the foot soldier receives a bonus fighter feat such as Combat Reflexes, Power Attack, or Weapon Focus.

Different varieties of foot soldier can be easily created by exchanging weapons and armor. For example, replacing the longspear and greatsword with a shortspear, longsword, and heavy steel shield increases the foot soldier’s AC by 2. Foot soldiers can serve as bodyguards or hired muscle for mid-level NPCs, or as the rank-and-file guards at a city gate, in front of a temple, or manning a castle’s walls. Foot soldiers are usually found in squads of six (CR 3), sometimes accompanied by a guard sergeant (CR 4).