Tips on civil war appreciated

[Nucacis]

Hi all,

New member here, been lurking for quite some time. Time to step out of the shadows!

I'm currently running a (3.5) homebrew campaign and my players are on the verge of entering a battlefield, since the country they are presently in, is engaged in a civil war.

I have a LOT of work to do apart from the battlefield (cities, quests, NPCs, plotline etc.), so I've been on the lookout for published material that contains either full-blown civil war (or, battlefield, large-scale battle etc.) or anything that might be helpful, but with no luck. Anyone know of scenarios, modules, rule books or the like that might be useful? Even a scorched battlefield would be awsome...

Thanks in advance,
Nucacis

 

[Jon_Dahl]

About mass-battles I highly remommend Red Hand of Doom. The only problem is that it's basically "good guys vs. bad guys" so it really doesn't cover human vs. human battles. Otherwise it's easy to adapt to almost any situation involving epic large-scale combats.

Other than that I recommend Heroes of Battle. It'll certainly have some use to you.

 

[Nucacis]

Thanks a lot - I have both so I'll be sure to read them and take whatever I need. It won't be "real battle" since the players are pretty low-level but it'll give them a sense of danger and imply that the country is not a safe place to roam about. They are heading for the town/city where the rebel forces are training/gathering and the battlefield is mostly for backdrop but knowing my players, they'll meddle and interfere evenso and I want to be ready .

Thanks again,
Nucacis

 

[Noir le Lotus]

My DM told me that our Kingmaker campaign will involve some large scale battles, so maybe you should check the last modules of this AP.

 

[Grogg of the North]

As an alternative to the large epic battle, have your PCs accompany the army to the gates of the enemy city. Have the party or the army or whomever is in charge demand the enemy's surrender. If they refuse, you can ask for a challenge. The city's champions versus the party. Think Achilles vs. Boagrius from the movie Troy.

If the party wins, the city must surrender and join the party's cause. If the party loses they must withdraw from the field of battle and leave the enemy city intact. Of course you can always have the enemy fail to honor the vow, betray the party at a crucial battle, or something else.

This puts the entire war effort on the PCs. Which means that if they are successful they should have the adulation and support of the entire army and possibly even noble titles and lands in the newly conquered lands.

That could open up more possibilities in the campaign. Putting down a rebellion, protecting the new citizens from attacks from orcs sensing weakness and so forth.

 

[Arrowhawk]

I believe there is a source book in 2nd Edition called BATTLE SYSTEM Miniatures Rules which deals with mass combat. The Maztica Boxed Set offers modifications to those rules for use in the Maztica campaign. If there isn't already a 3.5 conversion out, I'm sure a determined person could do it themselves.

 

[Ranger19k]

The 4th Module for the EN War of the Burning Sky Series (The Mad Kind's Banquet) has a pretty cool civil war/battle fight scene. You might be able to get something out of that.

 

[nijineko]

i would look here for the reason why 3rd ed has no mass combat system, and what happened to the rules....