WAR! huh! what is it good for?

[Lord Zack]

Really, in a typical medieval fantasy setting, war should be far, far more common than peace. Pretty much every year, Lords are likely to marshal they're armies and fight amongst one another in from spring until planting time, over various grievences. Furthermore there are likely to be raids from goblinoids, etc, quite frequently.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

On the topic of mechanics, there are basically two schools of thought, with a compromise in the middle for a third option.

1> Follow the guidance of the 3x 'Heroes of Battle' and treat the war-zone as a dungeon. Have various encounters spread about and the PCs actions gain or lose 'victory points' for the overall battle. The encounters are key fights or set pieces buried in the backdrop of war.
You design this alot like a normal session and the PCs are mostly autonomous. Their impact on the armies is minimal.
Note: There is a thread in the 4e House rules regarding the building of platoons out of individual monsters, so like in my current campaign the group is fighting against 200 veteran Warriors, which are modeled as 5 'standard' monsters.


2> Follow the guidance similar to 'Cry Havok' which has rules for mass combat where the players get to 'play' the armies. They become arm chair generals directing the troops instead of their PCs.

3> Mix and match depending on the goal. Mix in some PC vs key encounter with leaning over the sand-table directing troop movement.

Depending on access, you might want to look up the CP2020 module 'Chrome Berets', which does an excellent job of presenting a sand-box style small war that gives the players a choice of these three options.

 

[David Howery]

what happens with the PCs kinda depends on what level they are... I've run 'it's war!" scenarios where the PCs were fairly low level, and they were basically set up as an 'elite squad' who did things like knock down bridges, guard supply caravans, etc... plus a Rorke's Drift style battle where they were besieged in a small fort by a zillion goblins. OTOH, I've also run war scenarios where the PCs were fairly high level and leading armies... basically, the course of the war depended on them...

 

[howandwhy99]

War creates factions, so even civilized artisans can compete against each other for your dollar.

But overall war divides stuff by Alignment, so the whole multiverse may be aligned to one ethos or another or be neutral overall. Some parties, like Druids, may even be attempting to balance both forces.

 

[jonesy]

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all

War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

Ohhh, war, I despise
Because it means destruction
Of innocent lives

War means tears
To thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go to fight
And lose their lives

I said, war, huh
Good God, y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing
But a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Ooooh, war
It's an enemy to all mankind
The point of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest
Within the younger generation
Induction then destruction
Who wants to die
Aaaaah, war-huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it, say it, say it
War, huh
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh
War, huh, yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y'all
War, huh, good God
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War, it's got one friend
That's the undertaker
Ooooh, war, has shattered
Many a young mans dreams
Made him disabled, bitter and mean
Life is much to short and precious
To spend fighting wars these days
War can't give life
It can only take it away

Ooooh, war, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me

War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Peace, love and understanding
Tell me, is there no place for them today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there's got to be a better way

Ooooooh, war, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
You tell me
Say it, say it, say it, say it

War, huh
Good God y'all
What is it good for
Stand up and shout it
Nothing

To Edwin Starr it was an important message to all mankind. To my party it was Tuesday.

"I love the smell of spellfire in the morning."
"Tell the archers to strike the moment the enemy cavalry gets to that ridge. By the time they do, we'll be in their rear decimating their artillery."
"A dragon! They have a dragon! Get the archmage!"
"Fireball the bunker from the air. It's the only way to be sure."
"I lost two thousand men yesterday. The bards are still singing their hymns."
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Tent!"
"The thing that's always worried me about being one of the few is the way we keep on getting fewer."
"The war's over there!" "Oh, so it is. Let's go have some fun, shall we?"
"A truce? You want a truce? Your barbarian killed our entire command staff!" "So you don't want peace just because we are more efficient than you are?"
"The entire enemy column on the northside is an illusion. Charge in, through, and into the breach!"

 

[SkredlitheOgre]

My 3.x group were involved in a war once. Our characters were placed as company leaders, each of us commanding about 500 soldiers. We handled it narratively, mostly. As the head of each group, we rolled our attack rolls as kind of a Leadership thing. For most of us, it went really well. One of the players critically failed, so his 'Flying V' formation was decimated. For those of us that succeeded, we got to tell a couple minute long bit about what we did and how we did it.

'Flying V!' became the battle cry of the guy who failed. That was awesome.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

When the PCs are not directly involved it can be used to add a theme of human horror. I will assume that the bulk of the troops on both sides are either levies or mercenaries - I run a game set during a Reformation/Counter reformation, around the 1620s to the 1650s.

Atrocities - a village burned, the women staked spreadeagled upon the ground and used in a most inhumane fashion, the men killed. The reason? The soldiers needed food and the village tried to turn them away.

The joy when the PCs discover that the atrocity was committed by their own side, and that the village, likewise, was theirs.

Mercenaries turned bandit when their wages are late, or when their patron refused to pay following a lost battle.

Mercenaries that claim a town as their own, defying the noble that holds the title. (And what do the PCs do if they are hired by the noble, only to find that the soldiers are defending the town, not pillaging it? The 'noble' wishes to squeeze more taxes from pockets already emptied by war.)

A city that switches sides every time a new army approaches. (Very common.)

A faction that either uses the war as a means to claim independence, or to forward a claimant to the throne.

A 'free city' that has declared itself neutral in the war - think Casablanca.

A 'neutral party' that profits from the war, or a faction that claims allegiance to one faction, but materially supports another. (Cardinal Richelieu was very good at this - using the 30 Years war to secure French independence.)

A war fabricated to unite assorted factions under a single banner. (The Iron Chancellor Gambit - the Franco-Prussian War was largely to unite the Germanies at the expense of Napoleon III's France.)

Make it a religious schism and you can add that to the fun as well....

The Auld Grump - we'll go walking in the green grass, hush, hush, hush.
All you pretty fair ones, won't you walk along with us?
So pretty and so fair do you take yourselves to be,
Come and be my partner, won't you walk along with me?

Well, I'll never be a farmer, my face all covered in dirt.
I'd rather be a soldier, with bright buttons down my shirt.
If ever we are married, then a soldier's wife you'll be.
Come and be my partner, won't you walk along with me?

CHORUS

Well, I'll never be a miner, who toils down under the ground.
I'd rather be a soldier, when the guns begin to pound.
If ever we are married, then a soldier's wife you'll be.
Come and be my partner, won't you walk along with me?

Chorus

The Auld Grump

 

[haakon1]

I've run 'it's war!" scenarios where the PCs were fairly low level, and they were basically set up as an 'elite squad' who did things like knock down bridges, guard supply caravans, etc... plus a Rorke's Drift style battle where they were besieged in a small fort by a zillion goblins.

Done this.

OTOH, I've also run war scenarios where the PCs were fairly high level and leading armies... basically, the course of the war depended on them...

Haven't done this. But then again, I think D&D gets boring by about 12th level (talking pre-4e D&D, no idea with 4e), and I think "Saving Private Ryan" makes a much better adventure than "move around the army men on the map and be a general".

 

[haakon1]

When the PCs are not directly involved it can be used to add a theme of human horror. I will assume that the bulk of the troops on both sides are either levies or mercenaries - I run a game set during a Reformation/Counter reformation, around the 1620s to the 1650s.

Canon Greyhawk says the Great Kingdom collapsed in civil war, with "demons stalking the land" and all sorts of special effects to a speed metal soundtrack, as I read it.

I say the Great Kingdom collapses by human hands, to the Four Horsemen, old school style: war, mercenary banditry, famine from the destruction of crops and villages, and plague from lack of food, housing, and sanitation.

Mercenaries turned bandit when their wages are late, or when their patron refused to pay following a lost battle.

Mercenaries that claim a town as their own, defying the noble that holds the title. (And what do the PCs do if they are hired by the noble, only to find that the soldiers are defending the town, not pillaging it? The 'noble' wishes to squeeze more taxes from pockets already emptied by war.)

I'll have to use one of these plots sometime.

A 'free city' that has declared itself neutral in the war - think Casablanca.

Just did this.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Another direction that can be taken, in an exploration/exploitation style game, is the effect that wars among the parent nations have upon their far flung colonies.

I just finished up on a setting based on the French & Indian War a few months back - a nine year conflict that is considered part of the Seven Years War.

Part of the fun was the lack of high level NPCs - the higher ranking officers being busy with matters in the parent territories.

Heartbreaking errors of judgement - the humans and dwarfs (Brits and mercs from the Germanies) managing to offend their allied orc tribes while the elves (French) solidified their own ties. Fiscal miscalculation all around.

And some very early cases of what is now known as Post Traumatic Shock Disorder. (Fought all through this wilderness in '59... still fancy I see shadows movin', time after time, still fancy I see shadows moving time after time.... If it doesn't make you happy, well it leaves you numb, best cure for the shadows is a bottle o' rum, only cure for shadows is a bottle of rum.)

Orcs or elves, for Regulars and for the milishy, would be a terror - rangers shooting from the shadows, then moving on before you can spot them, only to return, hours later.

Regulars being deployed in terrain that they have no training for. Milishy with no training at all. Against natives that were raised knowing how to fight in that same terrain.

Roads are that are unreliable, with a limited canal network being the backbone of commerce.

The fact that you have no idea which of the natives are your allies and which are either enemies or opportunists.

Poor supplies and lack of standardization for the militia on one side, an overabundance of unnecessary encumberage for the Regulars upon the other. (Five uniforms? In the field? Why?)

The Auld Grump