Help with a War

[questionmark]

I want to run a large scale battle for my group but i have never done something like this before. I could really use some help. How can i keep things moving as not to bog down the game, but at the same time try to make my players feel like they are apart of a war. Anything to watch out for?

Some base info:
Turmish area of FRCS
avg char lvl 22
lots of magic in the world
defending the country from destruction.


thanks

 

[Dark Jezter]

The D&D Miniatures Handbook and Malhavoc Press' Cry Havoc are two books that have mass combat rules.

The MHB mass-combat rules require lots of miniatures to utilize, but allow you to control every individual unit on the battlefield. You also need a ruler/tape measure to measure out distances.

The Cry Havoc mass combat rules are very similar to the D&D combat rules, except on a larger scale. You can use a battlemat and counters with this system. Cry Havoc also has quick army combat rules where a battle (or even an entire war) can be resolved with a few dice rolls.

 

[MarauderX]

You as the DM may want to already know who should win the fight, but if not you can still avoid bogging down the game by separating what the PCs experience from the rest of the battle.

And you can use the Farland mass combat program. It's easy, gives you what you want most of the time, but you may have to worry about magic more than usual.

 

[Ron]

I have played and runned a number of adventures in which the players were participant in large scale engagements. Quite frankly, forget about any mass combat rules set. It is pointless. The PCs will not make much of a difference in the fray, unless they are the generals leading the battle.

Alternatively, design some meaniful encounters that you might convincently argue may change the upcomming of the battle. Run then as a regular game session and I am sure that the players will be much more satisfied knowing that their PCs were critical to the outcome of the result (which you should decide by yourself).

 

[maddman75]

When I've done things like this, I generally won't go for full out mass combat. It's much more interesting IMO to keep things on a small scale. The PCs are highly skilled specialists - it would be a waste to simply put them on the line with the other grunts. Instead deal with the results of large battles by DM Fiat, with this influenced by the success/failure of the PCs' missions. Sample missions

- Run the blockade! A city or fortress is under seige, and the heroes must get needed supplies into the city. Optionally, they are within the city and must escape to send for help.

- Find those plans! The PCs must infiltrate the enemy camp to find their plans and return them to the commanders.

- Hold the chokepoint! A bridge or pass is critical to the war effort, and the heroes must hold them off as long as possible/until help arrives.

The only place I see where you may run into trouble is the level of the PCs. Once you get to that point, unless there are epic level characters on the enemies side they can pretty well lay waste to mundane armies. So you may end up with epic champions vs. epic champions instead, with the victors annialating the opposing army.

Which sort of begs the question why bring an army in the first place?

 

[kengar]

As some folks have already mentioned, there are Mass Combat rules that can make the larger part of the battle run easier. I prefer abstract mass combat, like what's used in the LOTR RPG (Decipher) & Pinnacle's Savage Worlds.

The basic idea is that each side is given a rating, based on number of troops, etc. The opposing "generals" roll v. their Battle Knowledge or Strategy skills every "round" (usually 1 hour of fighting). Each time a side loses a round, they lose some of their forces (their rating goes down). Each round's rolls are modified by things like morale (the side that lost last round or is outnumbered is at a skill penalty), fortifications, and PC actions.

You can have PCs make abstract attack or spellcraft rolls to represent how well they are doing in the fight v. a DC. What I like to do is set up a few skirmishes for the PCs to be involved in (either covert missions or in the thick of the fight, etc.). Depending upon how well they do in each fight, they can give a bonus or penalty to their side's Battle roll that round. Each time a side loses a round, there is a morale check and a failure indicates a retreat or rout.