Saagael
First Post
Warning: Lots of text incoming.
So my players have a chance to train and lead a small group of troops to defend some ruins against a massive army of undead. For this scenario, I'm trying to create a mass combat system that feels more like a tabletop wargame (Like Warhammer and the like) than tactical 4e combat, and will capture the epic feel (they're level 22, so being epic is a must) of mass combat while still being relatively easy to learn and play. I'm requesting some input from the lovely enWorld community.
So the players have 10 squads of 15 units, with the option of recruiting 2 more squads from the surrounding area with skill checks. The enemy has 100 squads of 50 units. That's 180 vs 5000 (remember what I said about epic?). For this system, each squad is assigned a level ranging from 1 to 7, which is set based on how well the players do when training the troops, foraging for food, and crafting/repairing/enchanting weapons and armor. The same goes for the enemy squads, though 90% of enemy squads are level 3 or lower.
Defense structures (barricades, pit traps, magical defenses) can be built, and have a level ranging from 1 - 3. Same goes for siege engines.
During the battle, there will be several goals that can really help the players. Destroying enemy siege weapons, identifying the enemy spy and killing/capturing them, and defeating enemy commanders (I'm open for more of these). These goals would culminate in a normal battle of players vs monsters.
However, the mechanics of combat resolution on a mass scale are what's eluding me. What happens when an enemy troop and allied troop go toe to toe? With only a "level" stat to differentiate skill, it has to be simple. So far my best idea is that each sides rolls Xd12, where X is the squad level. Whoever rolls highest out of all their rolls wins and kills the enemy. If the player is fighting behind a defensive structure and loses the combat, they roll a d6, on a 5 or 6 the troop survives.
Then there's the defenses and siege engines. I'm thinking that enemy siege engines can attack a defense per turn. They roll a d6, and if they roll 5 or 6, they score a hit. The players then roll a d6 for each level of the defense. On a 5 or 6, the defense remains, but loses a level (level 0 defenses are destroyed on a hit no matter what). Any other result and the defense is destroyed. Siege engines are automatically destroyed on hit by other siege engines.
Player siege engines (which have levels 1-3) can attack enemy siege engines, and large enemies. Rolling is the same for players as enemies: 1d6/level, and a roll of 5 or 6 is a hit and destroys the siege engine or large enemy.
That's about all I've got right now. I have yet to crunch numbers to see what the percentages for this system are, but will get around to it. Does this sound like a decent system to use? Is it overly complicated or redundant? Would you change anything? And thanks for reading if you got this far, I know it was a mighty wall of text.
So my players have a chance to train and lead a small group of troops to defend some ruins against a massive army of undead. For this scenario, I'm trying to create a mass combat system that feels more like a tabletop wargame (Like Warhammer and the like) than tactical 4e combat, and will capture the epic feel (they're level 22, so being epic is a must) of mass combat while still being relatively easy to learn and play. I'm requesting some input from the lovely enWorld community.
So the players have 10 squads of 15 units, with the option of recruiting 2 more squads from the surrounding area with skill checks. The enemy has 100 squads of 50 units. That's 180 vs 5000 (remember what I said about epic?). For this system, each squad is assigned a level ranging from 1 to 7, which is set based on how well the players do when training the troops, foraging for food, and crafting/repairing/enchanting weapons and armor. The same goes for the enemy squads, though 90% of enemy squads are level 3 or lower.
Defense structures (barricades, pit traps, magical defenses) can be built, and have a level ranging from 1 - 3. Same goes for siege engines.
During the battle, there will be several goals that can really help the players. Destroying enemy siege weapons, identifying the enemy spy and killing/capturing them, and defeating enemy commanders (I'm open for more of these). These goals would culminate in a normal battle of players vs monsters.
However, the mechanics of combat resolution on a mass scale are what's eluding me. What happens when an enemy troop and allied troop go toe to toe? With only a "level" stat to differentiate skill, it has to be simple. So far my best idea is that each sides rolls Xd12, where X is the squad level. Whoever rolls highest out of all their rolls wins and kills the enemy. If the player is fighting behind a defensive structure and loses the combat, they roll a d6, on a 5 or 6 the troop survives.
Then there's the defenses and siege engines. I'm thinking that enemy siege engines can attack a defense per turn. They roll a d6, and if they roll 5 or 6, they score a hit. The players then roll a d6 for each level of the defense. On a 5 or 6, the defense remains, but loses a level (level 0 defenses are destroyed on a hit no matter what). Any other result and the defense is destroyed. Siege engines are automatically destroyed on hit by other siege engines.
Player siege engines (which have levels 1-3) can attack enemy siege engines, and large enemies. Rolling is the same for players as enemies: 1d6/level, and a roll of 5 or 6 is a hit and destroys the siege engine or large enemy.
That's about all I've got right now. I have yet to crunch numbers to see what the percentages for this system are, but will get around to it. Does this sound like a decent system to use? Is it overly complicated or redundant? Would you change anything? And thanks for reading if you got this far, I know it was a mighty wall of text.
