Level Up (A5E) Mass Combat?

[CleverNickName]

Should the "leveled-up" 5th Edition include rules for mass combat?
Is that something you would be interested in?
If so, how far would you go down the rabbit hole with it?
If not, what puts you off about it?

 

[CleverNickName]

I voted "maybe as a stretch goal." I would really like to see mass combat included in an "advanced" rules set for 5th Edition, similar to the way it was included in the Rules Cyclopedia. One of my favorite (and longest-running) campaigns revolved around a group of heroes who settled in an old ruin and claimed dominion over the area (by permission of the local king, of course). They made repairs and fortifications to the ruin, then expanded their territory and founded a town. They spent the next few years defending it from invaders, clearing out monster nests, forming treaties with neighbors, waging war against the frost giants, etc., and eventually fought for their own independence and became rulers of a sovereign nation.

I don't think it needs to be a completely different project; a single chapter should cover everything I need to run that style of campaign. But I wouldn't want it to pull focus from the rest of the project.

 

[RangerWickett]

I figure in 5E, the easiest way to do this is just to stat military units as high-Challenge creatures. A troop of 25 soldiers would be a Challenge 4 Huge creature with, like, 125 HP and four attacks per round. Attacks that affect an area deal double damage to the unit if they include 2 spaces of the unit, or triple if if they include the troop’s entire space.

A battalion of 300 soldiers would be, like, a Challenge 20 Colossal Creature (do they have colossal in 5E?), with 1000 HP, multiple high-damage attacks, reactions, and legendary actions to represent different tactics. It might have a really long 'reach' to represent there being troops arrayed in defensive lines outside the main body, and the ability to make unlimited opportunity attacks.

Now, unit vs unit tactical combat is different than long term military strategy, with supply lines, scouting, sieges, etc. That sort of stuff would deserve its own book, since unless you're Sun-Tzu, you can't really condense the entirety of all military knowledge to a short chapter.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I can live with or without it. If its in, I'm sure I'll be able to do something with it, if not, no biggie.

It as to be simple and elegant. I have no need for a 5e-themed wargame.

 

[ART!]

I went with "Yes, please", but if I could vote for two options the runner up would have been "stretch goal". It's something I want, that's for sure.

Integrate it into the existing mechanics of combat, though, maybe like how @RangerWickett suggests. I don't want a ton of new stuff to figure out. It'd be nice to have some dials to play with, so if you want to just roll a few dice to determine the outcome, you can do that, but if you want to bore down into turn-by-turn stuff you can do that, too.

I'd like PC actions to be able to make a difference, at any scale.

I'm slowly planning out a 5E game that needs some large-scale combat mechanics.

 

[CleverNickName]

It as to be simple and elegant. I have no need for a 5e-themed wargame.

Agreed. I don't think it would work as a separate game, but I think most players agree that it would be nice to have some elegant rules in your back pocket, in case you need to run the occasional mass combat scene.

 

[CleverNickName]

I figure in 5E, the easiest way to do this is just to stat military units as high-Challenge creatures. A troop of 25 soldiers would be a Challenge 4 Huge creature with, like, 125 HP and four attacks per round. Attacks that affect an area deal double damage to the unit if they include 2 spaces of the unit, or triple if if they include the troop’s entire space.

A battalion of 300 soldiers would be, like, a Challenge 20 Colossal Creature (do they have colossal in 5E?), with 1000 HP, multiple high-damage attacks, reactions, and legendary actions to represent different tactics. It might have a really long 'reach' to represent there being troops arrayed in defensive lines outside the main body, and the ability to make unlimited opportunity attacks.

Now, unit vs unit tactical combat is different than long term military strategy, with supply lines, scouting, sieges, etc. That sort of stuff would deserve its own book, since unless you're Sun-Tzu, you can't really condense the entirety of all military knowledge to a short chapter.

Swarm rules could be interesting, too.

 

[R_J_K75]

Only if its easy to create an adventure, scenario for, and takes up a page or two of the product. I dont have any use for a miniature based wargame or even a long drawn out battle or war based campaign in the RPG. Id prefer something thats easily resolved and abstract. I wouldn't want to have to figure out troops, regiments, and heavy siege weapons, I just want to do a little prep and then be able to determine the outcome with a little dice rolling in a short period of time.

 

[Morrus]

It’s not something we plan to do. It’s too big a topic to squeeze into a core rulebook.

 

[glass]

Kinda moot given @Morrus's response, but I voted "out of scope". It'd be nice to have, but this is going to be a pretty big book already!

Also, he can correct me if I am wrong, but I think he has said that they won't do stretch goals that involve whole new subsystems that risk delayng delivery. So if there were any chance of it, it would not be as a stretch goal.

_
glass.