Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
War! What is it Good For (in your campaigns)?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="toucanbuzz" data-source="post: 8473869" data-attributes="member: 19270"><p>Good timing. I'm running a 5E Kingmaker reboot in which players explore & conquer a frontier, then found a barony. Over time, they learn a learned troll has the same idea for the frontier: a monstrous kingdom where humankind aren't welcome. Eventually, this leads to war and mass combat rules. Lessons learned:</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Mass combat rules should be used sparingly, be simple, and allow each character to control a unit of troops so one person isn't doing everything. This worked well. If I had it to do over again, after a milestone in combat (e.g. a friendly troop or enemy troop is lost), I'd have implemented a mini-mission, similar to what <em>Red Hand of Doom</em> did. <em>I used Matt Colville's Strongholds and Followers and own his supplemental Warfare, which had more complicated rules than we needed at the time.</em></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Mass combat allowed for a meaningful result to all the (in game) years of effort and mini-game of building up the barony. There's some pride in actually seeing bang for your buck and we had several roleplay encounters as the raw recruits were being built up to soldier status, or the volunteers showed up from their farms with pitchforks or their grandpappy's sword.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">It provided an unusual distraction (mini-game) to the D&D experience. I do this from time to time to liven things up. Most recently, while the PCs were off invading the enemy castle after their troops soundly thumped the enemy, assassins attacked their council. PCs took control of NPCs they've known for many (game) years, including the town's beloved 3-legged dog.</li> </ol><p>Next, war will come into play as a civil war in the nation they're in. I've been planting this seed since Session 0. They've seen it coming as rumors of a marriage between the King-Regent and the eligible daughter of House Lebeda becomes reality, forcing the three opposed Dukes to take action now or face the King-Regent becoming king and legitimizing his choice of Duke to replace a lost line, giving him the strength he needs to wrest power from those Dukes. The PCs swore fealty to the King-Regent, accepted his soldiers and coin, but secretly have made a promise to faction that when the time comes, they will stand down (effectively making them rebels).</p><p></p><p>We'll see how that plays out, but I don't expect their barony of a couple thousand people to contribute meaningfully when we're talking armies of tens of thousands taking to the field. Instead, their presence may be political, or curbing a threat to everyone from the frontier. The War simply makes things more urgent.</p><p></p><p>If the wrong decisions are made, it may even lead to the Barony being stripped away. There's very few second chances in this "game of thrones."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="toucanbuzz, post: 8473869, member: 19270"] Good timing. I'm running a 5E Kingmaker reboot in which players explore & conquer a frontier, then found a barony. Over time, they learn a learned troll has the same idea for the frontier: a monstrous kingdom where humankind aren't welcome. Eventually, this leads to war and mass combat rules. Lessons learned: [LIST=1] [*]Mass combat rules should be used sparingly, be simple, and allow each character to control a unit of troops so one person isn't doing everything. This worked well. If I had it to do over again, after a milestone in combat (e.g. a friendly troop or enemy troop is lost), I'd have implemented a mini-mission, similar to what [I]Red Hand of Doom[/I] did. [I]I used Matt Colville's Strongholds and Followers and own his supplemental Warfare, which had more complicated rules than we needed at the time.[/I] [*]Mass combat allowed for a meaningful result to all the (in game) years of effort and mini-game of building up the barony. There's some pride in actually seeing bang for your buck and we had several roleplay encounters as the raw recruits were being built up to soldier status, or the volunteers showed up from their farms with pitchforks or their grandpappy's sword. [*]It provided an unusual distraction (mini-game) to the D&D experience. I do this from time to time to liven things up. Most recently, while the PCs were off invading the enemy castle after their troops soundly thumped the enemy, assassins attacked their council. PCs took control of NPCs they've known for many (game) years, including the town's beloved 3-legged dog. [/LIST] Next, war will come into play as a civil war in the nation they're in. I've been planting this seed since Session 0. They've seen it coming as rumors of a marriage between the King-Regent and the eligible daughter of House Lebeda becomes reality, forcing the three opposed Dukes to take action now or face the King-Regent becoming king and legitimizing his choice of Duke to replace a lost line, giving him the strength he needs to wrest power from those Dukes. The PCs swore fealty to the King-Regent, accepted his soldiers and coin, but secretly have made a promise to faction that when the time comes, they will stand down (effectively making them rebels). We'll see how that plays out, but I don't expect their barony of a couple thousand people to contribute meaningfully when we're talking armies of tens of thousands taking to the field. Instead, their presence may be political, or curbing a threat to everyone from the frontier. The War simply makes things more urgent. If the wrong decisions are made, it may even lead to the Barony being stripped away. There's very few second chances in this "game of thrones." [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
War! What is it Good For (in your campaigns)?
Top