D&D Mass Combat rules question...

[Veril]

The essence of Heroes of Battle is you determine the flow and outcome of the combats assuming that the player characters aren't there. Then decide what the effect of the players would be depending on what they do.

A war is made up of many battles, firgure these battles out independently of each one. Focus in detail on the PC's actions and the area around the PC's.

The enemy are setting up war machines on a hill overlooking the city - if the PC's make a daring raid and destroy the war machines they gain victory points for their side. So you detail the hill, the forces on the hill, an entry/exit strategy/fights for the PC's, and perhaps a reinforcements to arrive while destroying the war machines.

PC's get sent off to strike against enemy supplies - this is the PC's attacking several enemy caravans - which will have guards and stuff. After 1-2 successful raids the enemy will send out a dummy caravan to destroy the PC's.

PC's guarding a gate or a wall. Have baddies climbing the wall while a battering ram beats on the gate. perhaps they have to go support a different section of the wall.

The enemy have a gifted strategist, a surgical strike by the PC's to kill him, destroy his plans etc at the headquarters tent is planned.

On the battlefield, there will be units with specific tasks and areas - just think about the ones where the PC's are.

 

[Li Shenron]

HoB focuses more on acheiving strategic goals while the battle as a whole rages on. If you acheive these goals you get victory points which can help turn the tide of the battle one way or the other. The strategic goals could be knocking a pair of hill giants from their perch, disrupting the supply line of the enemy, rescuing prisoners, making an attack on the enemy leaders camp and more. All of this occurs while the battle rages on all around you. Success or failure can help turn the tide of the battle.

My perspective is from one that likes what HoB is trying to accomplish.

Well, nothing else? Is it all what HoB does mechanically, give you "victory points" if you accomplish a mission? That's not much of a mechanic IMHO... :\

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Grim Tales: Mass Combat would be my recommendation.

Pinotage

What he said. In addition to being very flexible and quite elegant, it is also reasonably priced at $1.95.

 

[Arnwyn]

Are there any mass combat rules on could use w/ D&D? What I am interested in is playing individual PCs during a war with hundreds or thousands of soldiers running around. The problem is, I don't want to roll 1000 d20's to see if everyone hits. The other problem is, I don't want the PCs to die so quickly if an "army" of enemies decides to attack them. Perhaps this is covered in DMG2 (which I do not own)?

My recommendation is both:

1) Fields of Blood (Eden) - good for mass combat from many hundreds to thousands (army scale)

2) Open Mass Combat System II ("OMCSII") (Mongoose; found in Seas of Blood and Strongholds & Dynasties books) - good for 30 to a few hundred combatants (large skirmish scale)

I use both of these resources IMC, depending on the scale involved, and it works marvelously... for me, at least.

 

[IronWolf]

Well, nothing else? Is it all what HoB does mechanically, give you "victory points" if you accomplish a mission? That's not much of a mechanic IMHO... :\

I summarized somewhat.

The book also covers recognition points for characters. Over time these points can grant some bonuses when working with other NPC's. This didn't seem quite as valuable to me, but it is in there.

Of course the book as a few feats and PrC's added in, as well as some new spells. I didn't think much of the PrC's, but some of the feats looked useful.

The book also introduced flowcharting as a way to help maintain the flow of battle and what can happen based on PC actions. I thought this was also very helpful for a DM trying to run an exciting battlefield adventure without turning it into just rolling a large number of dice playing out the actual large scale battles themselves.

The section on battlefield maps was also useful in getting the DM to think about the battle field.

This book may not be for everyone, but I think I could potentially find it very useful for a campaign if the DM wanted to have large scale battles and allow the PCs to have an integral role. The flow charts, victory points and battlefield encounters were great sections in my opinion.

 

[Li Shenron]

I summarized somewhat.

The book also covers recognition points for characters. Over time these points can grant some bonuses when working with other NPC's. This didn't seem quite as valuable to me, but it is in there.

Of course the book as a few feats and PrC's added in, as well as some new spells. I didn't think much of the PrC's, but some of the feats looked useful.

The book also introduced flowcharting as a way to help maintain the flow of battle and what can happen based on PC actions. I thought this was also very helpful for a DM trying to run an exciting battlefield adventure without turning it into just rolling a large number of dice playing out the actual large scale battles themselves.

The section on battlefield maps was also useful in getting the DM to think about the battle field.

This book may not be for everyone, but I think I could potentially find it very useful for a campaign if the DM wanted to have large scale battles and allow the PCs to have an integral role. The flow charts, victory points and battlefield encounters were great sections in my opinion.

Ok, now it looks better If it was only a matter of victory points, I would have said that there's not a need at all to buy a book for that, as I could just easily decide myself e.g. 3 "missions" during the battle, and require the PCs to succeed in 2/3 to turn the battle into a favorable outcome.

The idea of flowcharts makes things more interesting. It still feels to me that the book provides advices, but not actual rules.

 

[Nightfall]

Pint,

Sadly I've never had much luck with RPGNOW.com. Do you think someone could convince them to also work with DTRPG.com? I'd love to see some of those on there too.

 

[Wrathamon]

How about the D20 Black Company mass combat rules?

 

[Nightfall]

I didn't read it that closely but I thought it was the same as the Cry Havoc...

 

[Pinotage]

Pint,

Sadly I've never had much luck with RPGNOW.com. Do you think someone could convince them to also work with DTRPG.com? I'd love to see some of those on there too.

If all else fails, you can always pick up the Slavelords of Cydonia hardcover. It is one of the best Mass Combat systems I've seen. The advantage of the pdf is that it comes with a handy excel spreadsheet that helps sorting out numbers and things.

Pinotage