Roleplaying Grand-scale Battles

[Ravilah]

In my weekly game, my paragon-level players are currently rallying troops, making allies, and laying plans to besiege and take down a city. A pitched battle will take place for sure, not just an extended siege.

I have never run a session like this before. I'm not sure how skill checks and attack roles from the players apply to the movements of a thousand allied archers or spearmen. Of course, the NPC soldiers will all have their own NPC generals and captains. My plan was to have the players undergo a special "secret ops" mission during the battle, but want them to feel involved in the battle too.

But does this mean that I just decide the outcome of the battle beforehand? Or should the quality of the PCs' planning and preparations count for something? How do I adjudicate the flow of the battle, reward well-laid plans, but also allow for the unexpected?

I don't know what I'm asking for really. I just know that my players are REALLY looking forward to this battle and I want it to be an epic encounter (that's "movie epic" not "third tier epic"). I appreciate any help you can offer.

R

 

[ExploderWizard]

What you want to do here is focus on the PC's and what they are doing during the battle. There could be an unexpected special troop from the enemy that the PC's must deal with alone or it could spell disaster for their side.

You can use the PC's private battle as a measure of how things are going for their side. A decisive swift victory might mean that the enemy force is demoralized and loses the engagement. If the PC's get pounded and have to retreat then perhaps their enemies seize the initiative and the PC's side gets defeated.

Also, if the players have been making plans ( and assuming their gathered intelligence is good) be sure that they get to help execute those plans at some point.

GURPS had a neat mechanic for large scale battles. The players would each make battle survival rolls to see how well they fared in the conflict. You could make a normal roll, play it safe and increase survival chances, or go for glory making the roll (and failure consequences) more dangerous.

In that case the actual battle outcome could be judged based on the fate of the players.


There are several ways to resolve the action. Ultimately you should decide what type of resolution would be the most entertaining for your group.

 

[TarionzCousin]

In my weekly game, my paragon-level players are currently rallying troops, making allies, and laying plans to besiege and take down a city. A pitched battle will take place for sure, not just an extended siege.

One Bad Egg's Hard Boiled Armies is still available. It is a steal at $2.75.

The blurb:

If you’re a fan of the fantasy novels of Glen Cook, J.R.R. Tolkien, and others—or maybe you just pine for the days of Birthright—you might just have an itch that needs scratching. It’s the itch to take armies onto the field of battle, where swords by the hundreds clash and contend for victory.

There’s just one problem. Right out of the box, Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition does a lot for combat on the personal scale, but when it comes to the broader field of battle—when things go macro—the tools to handle a clash of thousands just aren’t there.

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Inside this 35-page full-color PDF, you’ll find:

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[karlindel]

I recommend running them as a skill challenge. Mike Mearls articles in Dungeon 166 and 167 give good advice on this topic.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Archive

 

[IronWolf]

What you want to do here is focus on the PC's and what they are doing during the battle. There could be an unexpected special troop from the enemy that the PC's must deal with alone or it could spell disaster for their side.

You can use the PC's private battle as a measure of how things are going for their side. A decisive swift victory might mean that the enemy force is demoralized and loses the engagement. If the PC's get pounded and have to retreat then perhaps their enemies seize the initiative and the PC's side gets defeated.

I agree with this. Focus on the PCs actions and immediate directions for helping determine the overall tide of the battle. If the PCs are doing well, having victories then the overall tide of battle should reflect as much.

Didn't Heroes of Battle cover mass combat in this manner or is my mind failing me?