DogBackward
First Post
I like to think of hit points as a good indicator of morale. They don't represent simply physical resistance, they also represent the will to fight on. However, in that case, it's not often that monsters get to run away when their hit points have been depleted, unless you ignore the "falls unconscious" part of HP 0. However, one of the things I've always done to make mass combats more manageable is also something that models morale very well.
When I have more than 3-5 or so of the same type of creature, I combine all their HP into a single total. Each attack against any of the same type of creature goes against that total HP. For every increment of total damage dealt to the group that is equal to the normal HP total of one of the group, one member dies. Only one member of a group can be killed per target of any given attack. So if you deal 13 damage to a 6 HP goblin, then you've only killed one goblin, even though you've removed two (and 1/6) goblins worth of HP. This allows for much larger battles, as you don't have to try to keep track of each individual monster's hit points. If you have 30 goblin warriors at 6 HP and 20 goblin archers at 4 HP, you only need to keep track of two hit point totals: Goblin Warriors (180 HP) and Goblin Archers (80 HP).
Because of this, it is possible to reduce a group of monsters to 0 HP using this system, but still have some of those monsters alive, conscious, and on the field. It is at this point that the creatures break and try to run away. If the PC's decide to try to chase them down, each one is considered to have 1 HP and dies in one hit. If the monsters get away, and show up in a later battle, or bring reinforcements, they only add +1 HP to the group's total HP.
This has worked pretty well as a model of morale in my games. For small groups, there's no real reason to use morale, as there's no group-think going on. If one guy turns and runs, it's not likely that it'll trigger a mass exodus like in a large group of combatants. If a small group has the guts to attack the PC's, they likely have the guts to stick it out. If not, you can just decide when they run on your own.
With this method, hitting with a lot of small damage attacks is much less likely to cause a rout. If you're only dealing 4-6 damage per round, you'll almost never be dealing more HP in damage than a single monster has, which means that by the time you've removed all the monsters' HP, there won't be any left on the field because of overkill. This makes sense, as it can be hard to recognize that you're losing when the enemies are only slowly whittling away your numbers. But when that Fighter gets in there, dealing 2-3 goblins worth of HP per hit, they're definitely going to notice. And you can have up to 2/3 of their number that turn and flee after a few rounds, if the Fighter rolls well enough for damage. And again, that makes sense. If one man cuts through 1/3 of your fighting force in a few rounds, it's entirely likely that an untrained, inexperienced (a.k.a. "Low HP") group of monsters will turn and flee.
It also makes these large-scale battles go much more quickly, instead of turning into a grindfest of "Killing each goblin, one at a time, for the next 50 rounds".
When I have more than 3-5 or so of the same type of creature, I combine all their HP into a single total. Each attack against any of the same type of creature goes against that total HP. For every increment of total damage dealt to the group that is equal to the normal HP total of one of the group, one member dies. Only one member of a group can be killed per target of any given attack. So if you deal 13 damage to a 6 HP goblin, then you've only killed one goblin, even though you've removed two (and 1/6) goblins worth of HP. This allows for much larger battles, as you don't have to try to keep track of each individual monster's hit points. If you have 30 goblin warriors at 6 HP and 20 goblin archers at 4 HP, you only need to keep track of two hit point totals: Goblin Warriors (180 HP) and Goblin Archers (80 HP).
Because of this, it is possible to reduce a group of monsters to 0 HP using this system, but still have some of those monsters alive, conscious, and on the field. It is at this point that the creatures break and try to run away. If the PC's decide to try to chase them down, each one is considered to have 1 HP and dies in one hit. If the monsters get away, and show up in a later battle, or bring reinforcements, they only add +1 HP to the group's total HP.
This has worked pretty well as a model of morale in my games. For small groups, there's no real reason to use morale, as there's no group-think going on. If one guy turns and runs, it's not likely that it'll trigger a mass exodus like in a large group of combatants. If a small group has the guts to attack the PC's, they likely have the guts to stick it out. If not, you can just decide when they run on your own.
With this method, hitting with a lot of small damage attacks is much less likely to cause a rout. If you're only dealing 4-6 damage per round, you'll almost never be dealing more HP in damage than a single monster has, which means that by the time you've removed all the monsters' HP, there won't be any left on the field because of overkill. This makes sense, as it can be hard to recognize that you're losing when the enemies are only slowly whittling away your numbers. But when that Fighter gets in there, dealing 2-3 goblins worth of HP per hit, they're definitely going to notice. And you can have up to 2/3 of their number that turn and flee after a few rounds, if the Fighter rolls well enough for damage. And again, that makes sense. If one man cuts through 1/3 of your fighting force in a few rounds, it's entirely likely that an untrained, inexperienced (a.k.a. "Low HP") group of monsters will turn and flee.
It also makes these large-scale battles go much more quickly, instead of turning into a grindfest of "Killing each goblin, one at a time, for the next 50 rounds".
