D&D 5E Mass Combat Rules?


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Lanefan

Victoria Rules
I dreamed up my own mass combat rules a long time ago, based on how another DM ran some army-v-army stuff and riffing off that.

Still haven't had the opportunity to try 'em out, in part due to player disinterest and in part due to there not having been any good army-v-army battles involving PCs in my campaigns for a very long time now.
I have been considering how to use magic the gathering for mass combat...
Please explain, because at first glance I can't imagine how in the nine hells that would function. :)
 


Garthanos

Arcadian Knight
Please explain, because at first glance I can't imagine how in the nine hells that would function. :)
I havent fully worked it out yet but here is some handwaving.

Basically playing a land becomes gaining control of a resource or capturing a space that has that resource (pre defined battle area perhaps with some resources upside down til you move creatures on to it). And playing a creature card is in general marshaling troops.

It would definitely be a variant game. The main thing needing added is perhaps a sense of creature location. There are now many many cards that have appropriate battle context like ones that enhance allies which attack with them.

And there is a pretty cool expansion (actually they feature in more than one expansion but like the guilds of ravnica) But also this one where the idea can be capturing the crown. The Monarch
There are cards like one that allows a player to decide this turn they get to choose which creatures attack and which defend... a Warlords gambit kind of card.

Adding locations
Variants of magic the gathering let you chose to put cards in separate piles so one could draw a land card or gain a creature. There is already an expansion where there is a monarch card. And creatures with various warlording abilities are big in it.

Some abilities might be given with custom pregame cards

For instance one where you can call a retreat order by paying a creatures casting cost and save it from death (discard a card too maybe?)

Terrain could be predefined and place on the field and acquired by using a creature to take control of it instead of attacking the enemy with it. (like how some cards might allow you to tap them to draw another card)

In Chainmail they included this option to allow details of the terrain in a battle to be player defined...
A. On a number of 3" x 5" index cards draw the following: 1. Two with rivers 2. One with a marsh 3. One with a pond 4. One with a gulley 5. Two with woods 6. One with rough ground 7. Four with variously shaped hills 8. Eight blanks B. Each opponent draws up to four times: 1. The weaker or defending side draws first. 2. Terrain is placed anywhere on the table at the drawing player's option
 


Garthanos

Arcadian Knight
 


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