New Campaign Idea: War!

[FunkBGR]

Alright - so, maybe it's all the movies about war that have come out recently, or maybe it's just something else - but has anybody else played in a campaign or ran a campaign where the PC's were individual 'commanders' of a squad or platoon, and basically led an assault against various things?

I'd really like to start a new campaign with my group where they are a part of the battlefield, but then, say BBEG appears and its up to them to take him down before he rallies his troops back into action, or maybe a covert or diplomatic mission happens - and they go in sans troops.

A couple of things here that I think I'd need, and perhaps some peeps on the boards can help:

A mass combat system - I want simple, not complex. Perhaps if there was one that put squads or platoons into a statblock - that'd be what the pc 'controls' while the massive battle was going on. He'd also be able to use his character, but it's kind of a his PC leads, the troops follow.
- I'd also like one that the PC's could be like, "I want a squad of goblin siege engineers" and we could piece it together quicklike.

A map - how would I make a big map to track 'campaign progress"?
- First, I'd need to make a (BIG) continent map. I suck at drawing, but I think I could use some computer program - anything come to mind? CC2? I don't know of any others.

A way to print said map - can you take a large file to a place like Kinko's and get it laminated and stuff? It'd prolly have to be poster sized I think, for what I was envisioning, but is this feasible and not too expensive?

Any thoughts? Maybe I'm just plain crazy - but I think this could be immensely fun, and a different take on D&D - I just don't want to be playing Risk or Axis and Allies in another guise though . . .

 

[scourger]

Not a whole campaign, but

I did run a big battle for my players of Omega World. I used the mass combat system from the Judge Dredd d20 Rookie's Guide to Block Wars supplement. It worked very well. It makes the big battle abstract with the leaders able to fight it out individually in a very cinematic style. It might be a little antithetical to the typical RPG game to have the PCs always in command of large groups of troops, but you could have them as a strike team on independent missions and occasionally called upon to lead big formations in battle.

 

[Tonguez]

I've played a War scenario wherein the PCs were a goblinoid tribe facing invasion from a neighbouring human kingdom (using my own homebrew mass combat system)

Here's a list of some possible encounters that could be used in your War scenario (here the PCs (starting with an NPC class at level 1) are in camp/village and facing an invading force - it will need to change for a offensive force) Many of the ideas were sourced from earlier threads at Enworld.

1) The camp's food source goes (Maybe an accidental fire), PCs must find a new source of food (Perhaps even hunting down monsters to eat).

2) The enemy launches an attack. Not a strong one (Since they're expecting weakling goblins). The PCs manage to fend them off, but now have to hunt the survivors (if any).

3) The shaman recieves some visions; first, that their main force are going to die. The second reveals the whereabouts of some item/weapon/whatever which must be retrieved, then gotten into the hands of the most able warrior of the tribe (This weapon one of the PCs will eventually inherit, when they become powerful enough to be considered the highest level member of the party). It's guarded by traps, and perhaps some puzzles.

4) The tribe, still depending on the PCs, are approached by new inhabitants of the area, an enemy to their tribe's enemy, or by some whom they have had skirmishes in the past. The PCs then become the spokesmen, trying to negotiate trading terms, or perhaps have these new 'allies' help their tribe defeat the enemy

5) One of the females gives birth to a child that is half fiend, tiefling (Whatever race they happen to be), half-dragon, or somesuch. The Shaman could leave what to do about the child up to the PCs, as a test of their character, or they may need to negotiate what to do about it.

5a) The Pcs now have to figure out Why the female gave birth to a 'tainted' baby. Is there such a creature in the hills? Some dirty secret of the tribe?

6) The PCs, as further bastions of the war effort, look to make deals with a monster near by, convincing it to help them (Mr. Ettin, if you go to the front lines, we'll give you a goat every month).

7) Monsters. Just monsters. Maybe some stirges are building a nest nearby (it's breeding season), or something similar with giant ants.

8) The tribe loses the fight. A messenger runs back to the tribe, warning them that they have lost, and the enemy is now regrouping and healing before heading their way! They must move everyone out, and find a new place, fast!

following the attack on the PCs village this is the mission I actual played:

1. The enemy is scouring the area with war dogs (IMC I used Velociraptors!!) killing any survivors they find - the PCs had to sneak around and gather the survivors (also having to fight to save a couple of captured tribesman) then flee

2. They reached an ancient burial cave only to find it occupied by a pair of OwlBears which the PCs need to clean out (or find another site)

3. The tribesman then fortified the cave and set about collect weapons, gathering food and keeping everyone happy (this is the Roleplaying session) (here you can throw in whatever random encounter you like eg I had the few remaining pigs the tribe has start disappearing - it is discovered that they are being stolen by a mimic that lives back amongst the funery pots)

4. The PCs decide to train the tribesman getting them ready to make an attack against the invaders and drive them out.

5. To succeed the PCs must steal the enemy god (Major Artifact giving +5 Morale Bonus to their attacks) - PCs need to sneak into the enemy camp and steal/destroy the artifact

6. While there they locate their old War chief, the PCs go in to rescue him finding him blinded and crippled. He asks the PCs to kill him instead- he doesn't want to go back to face the tribe

7. Successfully stealing the enemy god the PCs and with band of 100 warriors defend the Mountain Pass leading to the burial cave/camp

8. Finally the enemy asks for peace negotiations and the PCs are members of the delegation meeting with the enemy forces

 

[The Horror]

Well, I've run Godlike before if that's any help. In that, players are soldiers in WWII operating within a very strict chain of command and often in control of squads of men.

The key behind a long term war game is to focus on the interpersonal relationships with other members of the squad, so that when individual members die things are all the more dramatic. Play up the downtime and recreation periods. Have some conflict within the group when people refuse to follow orders and so on.

Also, remember that even though the PCs may win small engagements, their side can still be losing the war overall. You can really drive home the pointlessness of war when they have to retreat from a position they have just lost half their squad capturing last game.

A good thing to do is send them deep into enemy territory on recoinnasance missions and such like. They can do those on their own without the rest of the squad, and carry out some sabotage missions while they are at it.

You also have to think carefully about how magic will influence the outcome of the war. Is intelligence gathered by scrying spells reliable? How easily can a wizard dish out damage on a battlefield? Can magical defences be broken down by battering rams in a relatively short time? Is the entire war going to become about wizard superiority? This adds in the entire possibility of a cold war wizard buildup before the conflict begins, with mass assasinations by covert teams (often of PCs) to eliminate opposing magic users.

Anyhow, hope this helps at least a little.



The Horror

 

[Droogie]

First off, what genre of game is it? D&D or modern? If you want to run a game about a tight-knit unit of grunts like Saving Private Ryan or Platoon, I'd suggest a more modern setting, since that kind of small unit dynamic is more common in modern warfare rather than medieval-style war.

If its D&D, I'd suggest Fields of Blood: the Book of War by Eden Studios. It has rules for creating any type of unit you could dream of, and it also has some quick-combat rules if you don't feel like dealing with the full-out battle rules. There are two types of unit in the game: Martial units, which are your common infantry and cavalry and such, and Special units, which are powerful monsters or whatever you want. Individual PCs, if they're high enough level, can be special units unto themselves, or they can take command of a unit of soldiers to bolster its effectiveness.

Also, half the book is devoted to the Realm Management rules, which enables you to run Kingdom vs. Kingdom , similar to a computer real-time strategy game. Drawback: it doesn't work very well for very large realms, so if you plan on a "continent" size map or you're trying to convert a big exisitng map, you're out of luck. There is a yahoo news group devoted to the book, so maybe someone over there has some house rules up on running the game a bit easier.

 

[Starman]

First off, what genre of game is it? D&D or modern? If you want to run a game about a tight-knit unit of grunts like Saving Private Ryan or Platoon, I'd suggest a more modern setting, since that kind of small unit dynamic is more common in modern warfare rather than medieval-style war.

Standard medieval warfare certainly didn't involve small-unit tactics, but I think the D&D paradigm certainly does. After all, what is an adventuring party, if not a special forces unit.

Starman

 

[The Shaman]

I'm working on a mini-campaign for d20 Modern in which all of the characters are paratroopers in a counter-insurgency role. Right now I have just two adventures planned, but since the war ran for eight years, I can certainly flesh it out if I want to.

The players' characters will start as privates and may work their way up in the ranks as non-coms - they could very well find themselves running a squad at some point (but probably not much beyond that due to the logistical hurdles of running the game with that many NPCs).

This is my first foray into a true wargame/role-playing game cross-over. I think it's important to stress that this will still be very much a roleplaying game, not just combat scenarios - there is a definite "hearts and minds" element that the game will explore.

 

[Quickleaf]

Well, if you want really simple, use Koewn's mob "template" over here:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=109416

As for troop morale...Use a Will save, maybe with the following modifiers (to really make the leadership feat shine):
Captain present: +captain's CHA modifier
Captain with Leadership feat present: +captain's character level

Besides morale, another consideration is "battle feats" and "unit cohesion." Battle feats would mostly be based on leadership, and provide benefits to the unit the character leads. Unit cohesion would be a way for a special forces unit of PCs (who are sticking together for a long time) to spend 10% of the experience points to buy a 10-level "Unit Class." At 1st level and every even level, the Unit Class provides a special unit feat. One example would be an oath of fealty to a saint which provides the entire unit with +1 AC and saves as long as they maintain their oath.

About the lamanating thing, Yeah, Kinko's will do that. I remember it being something like 12$ for this project I did last year for a medium poster.

 

[FunkBGR]

These sound great

One problem I'm coming up with is that more and more it seems to be a lot like those RTS video games where you have hero units that lead smaller troops - I kind of want this - but more on a D&D level.

I was planning on doing this in a D&D setting, not modern, but definitely Modern would be fun - easier to do with the world map.

I'm getting started on this, and thinking about various ways to make culture a big part of it - I want something more than warring nations in Europe.