trigger · is_field_marshal

Hands-On Usage

is_field_marshal is commonly used to distinguish field marshals from corps commanders in character-related events or decisions, restricting trigger targets to field marshals only—for example, allowing only marshals to trigger certain promotion chains or receive special traits. It can also be used within unit_leader loops to filter out non-marshal characters and prevent accidental modifications to regular commanders.

# Add a special trait only if the current character is a field marshal
add_trait = {
    character = THIS
    limit = {
        is_field_marshal = yes
    }
    trait = legendary_commander
}

Synergy

• [is_corps_commander](/wiki/trigger/is_corps_commander) — Commonly paired with is_field_marshal in OR/NOT blocks to collectively cover or exclude all land army commander types.
• [add_field_marshal_role](/wiki/effect/add_field_marshal_role) — Before promoting a character to field marshal in an effect block, first confirm with is_field_marshal = no that they do not yet hold that rank, avoiding duplicate assignment.
• [promote_leader](/wiki/effect/promote_leader) — Pair with is_field_marshal = no as a prerequisite condition to ensure only non-marshal commanders are promoted.
• [has_trait](/wiki/trigger/has_trait) — After confirming marshal status, further check whether they possess specific traits to implement multi-layer filtering logic.

Common Pitfalls

1. Scope Misuse: is_field_marshal only functions within CHARACTER scope; calling it directly in a national or state scope will cause script errors or always return false. Beginners often forget to switch to the correct scope first using methods like any_army_leader or country_leader.
2. Confusion with is_army_leader: is_army_leader checks whether the character is actively commanding an army, whereas is_field_marshal checks the character's job rank—these have different meanings. A marshal may not be actively leading troops, and a corps commander may still hold marshal-level rank; mixing them up causes unexpected condition failures or false positives.