Any open content mass warfare system?

[0-hr]

I'm putting together an OGL game and am thinking of putting in some rules for mass combat. Does anyone have any suggestions for open conent warfare systems?

I've read a little about "Stongholds & Dynasties" as well as the newer "Fields of Blood", but haven't actually been able to flip through either to check what is open (or to evaluate the systems).

If someone knows of a good open content warfare system, please let me know. I'd particularily like to see one that worked in a non-magical setting.

 

[Desdichado]

We like "Cry Havoc" by Malhavoc. Mongoose also had a decent system, but it was poorly written and difficult to decipher, unfortunately. Cry Havoc actually seems quite similar to it, though.

 

[Ranger REG]

Mongoose also had a decent system, but it was poorly written and difficult to decipher, unfortunately.

I thought they revised the Open Mass Combat System in Strongholds & Dynasties.

 

[Desdichado]

Quite likely they did. The system itself wasn't bad in Quintessential Fighter, it was just hard to figure out exactly what they meant.

 

[Psion]

The system itself wasn't bad in Quintessential Fighter, it was just hard to figure out exactly what they meant.

See here, and Matthew Sprange didn't understand how I could come to that conclusion.

It's relatively easy to use and scales well, but you sort of have to make assumptions about the way some things are supposed to work to make it work right.

That's just based on Quint Fighter. Don't have strongholds and dynasties.

 

[Voadam]

Oathbound Arena has a quick one as well. Each unit of 1000 people is treated as a character with levels, BAB, and damage (multiple dice). Each person is 1 hit point and each damage represents casualties, either dead or too wounded to fight. Leveling increases BAB, damage, and defense, and for certain unit types gives special abilities, but does not affect hit points. All attacks do damage but are modified by attack roll v. defense as a modifier on base damage. Mage units and archery can attack at range, divine units can heal, fight, or support well, and units can even multiclass. High ECL races add in levels directly and training and battlefield success can increase a unit's level. There are also some rules for siege weapons as units, and some construct mecha rules which I do not like.

 

[cybermonkey]

If someone knows of a good open content warfare system, please let me know. I'd particularily like to see one that worked in a non-magical setting.

Testament: Roleplaying through the Biblical Era has open content on its warfare system. The setting itself is low magic and it looks pretty basic and there are rules how the players can alter the outcome of a particular fight.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Oathbound Arena has a quick one as well. Each unit of 1000 people is treated as a character with levels, BAB, and damage (multiple dice). Each person is 1 hit point and each damage represents casualties, either dead or too wounded to fight. Leveling increases BAB, damage, and defense, and for certain unit types gives special abilities, but does not affect hit points. All attacks do damage but are modified by attack roll v. defense as a modifier on base damage. Mage units and archery can attack at range, divine units can heal, fight, or support well, and units can even multiclass. High ECL races add in levels directly and training and battlefield success can increase a unit's level. There are also some rules for siege weapons as units, and some construct mecha rules which I do not like.

Yep, that pertty much sums it up. The system is 100% open content. In fact I'm thinking about making a few adjustments and posting it as its own PDF eventually. There is a touch of errata on movement rates, which you can find on the Bastion boards. I'll probably include rules on how to scale the system to accomodate smaller unit sizes more easily.

The only thing your summary doesn't cover is the damage mitigation table. The reason for it is that my belief is that no force will ever be so superior to another force that they will not take any casualties during a round. The damage mitigation table takes a number of factors into consideration and allows you to increase or decrease the number of casualties based on your level of success or failure.

It's a very simple system, currently taking up no more than 10 pages, and is designed to be malleable. I'm also not a wargamer, so I designed it for roleplayers to rapidly handle mass combat in a hero focused game.