And, that thinking has brought me to this....
Treat the encounter like a skill check.
The "skill" is the character. His level represents "ranks". I'll use STR as the key stat. And, I'll throw in a modifier for type of weapon used.
Thus, a 1st level Barbarian with a STR 16 would be: d20 + 1 + 3 + weapon modifier.
The weapon modifier will be based on its relative damage. It will also consider armor, too.
Each round, I'll throw opposed rolls for the round. The differnence in the die rolls represents damage to the combatant with the lowest total.
I like this little mechanic. I think it might be useful for all types of encounters that the PCs can see but not be directly involved with. It's easily scale-able.
The structure of a skill check is familiar and becomes plug-n-play with the d20 system.
d20 + skill rank (character level)
+ governor stat (appropriate ability score)
+ combat modifier (usually a relative modifier of equipment and special abilites like Feats).
Roll the check Opposed, and the difference in check totals reveals which side hurt the other.
Let's say the PC's clan, the Blue Foxmen, has a blood fued with a neighboring clan, the Grath. 27 Blue Foxmen take the field against 42 Grath.
The Foxmen break into three skirmish groups of 9 warriors each. The PCs occupy the center group (with NPCs making a total of 9).
The Grath break into three groups in answer, with 14 warriors each.
From a GM's point of view, here's how I run this encounter: I set up a check, like mentioned above, for each of the three Grath units and each of the three Fox units.
Initiative doesn't matter, so whatever makes for best description will be decided first.
I'd want to do this from the PC's point of view, so, I'd probably start with them as they scream out their war cries and launch themselves at their enemy with their kinsmen by their sides.
I'd play out the PC encounters normally using normal combat rules. For the rest of the NPCs in their group, I'd roll the skill check.
The check is flexible, so the difference in the Opposed checks can men the total men that were lost, or I can use some fraction of that number.
In an extremely large battle, I might use the difference to represent how many men are lost. But, since we're only dealing with less than 100 men on both sides, I can divide the difference by 3. For example, the Grath roll 17 and te Foxmen roll 9. The difference is 8 / 3 = 2.6. Two Foxmen fall that round.
And because it's not likely that large groups of men fall on only once side of the battle, we can take, as casualties, one third of the men the fell on the enemy's side. So, if the Foxmen lost 2 men, the Grath lost none. Next round goes in the Foxmen's favor, and the Grath lose 5 men--so the Foxmen would lose 1.
It's up to the GM to figure a fair ratio depending on the fight.
Every round, play out the PCs as normal, then, the last thing before going to a new round, roll to see how the NPCs are doing.
Because there is a Fog of War, the PCs cannot see how the skirmishes are going to the left and right of them. So, the GM need only roll these two rolls (one throw for each side) behind his screen to keep up with what is happening on those sides of the battlefield.
Here's how I'm thinking something like this could play out in a game:
1. The GM decides on the structure of the
war check. In this case, the "rank" will be the average level of the unit, the "governor stat" will be the number of people in the unit, and the combat modifier will be a number determined by the GM after he as assessed the armor, weapons, and special abilities of the unit.
Thus, the left hand flank of the Foxmen would throw d20 + 3 - 1 + 0.
Where:
"+3" - rank - is the averge leve of the 9 warriors in the unit.
"-1" - governor stat - 9 warriors means a -1 if it were a stat.
"+0" - combat modifier - The GM has determined that the Foxmen have no advantage in armor, weapons, Feats, or Special Abilities over the Grath.
Likewise, the Grath's check would be: d20 + 2 + 2 + 0.
"+2" rank because the Grath average 2nd level in their unit of 14 warriors.
"+2" stat mod because 14 warriros is akin to a stat of 14 with a +2 modifier.
"+0" combat modifier because the GM determines that the Foxmen and Grath are evenly matched with weapons, armor, Feats, and special abilities.
2. The GM determines, based on the size of the units in the conflict, that 1/3 of the difference in the throws will represent how many men from the losers side falls. 1/3 of that number represents how many on the victor's side falls.
3. The encounter starts as a normal game encounter, focused on the PCs and what they see. Roleplaying prevails. The GM describes everything.
4. At some point, the actual encounter will begin. Describe the action from the PC's point of view. Run combat normally, centered on the PCs.
"You scream at the top of your lungs as you charge toward the Grath! Beside you, your kinsmen bellow out their own war cries!
"The Grath line approaches, and men from both sides beging to hack at each other. Caelis finds himself in front of a big, burly Grath who has tattooed a blue and black design on his face. Thrallan sees that two Grath have turned toward them. Both only wear loin clouts, boots, and horned helms. They're a bit shorter than the rest of the Grath, but they seem to be working in tandem.
"Roll Initiative!"
5. At the end of the PC's combat round, roll the war check opposed roll and describe the results.
6. Secretly, roll for the left and right flank skirmish units and jot down the results. The PCs can't see what's going on, but you can use this information to keep a handle on how the battle is going.
7. Back to the PCs for round 2....
