There's a couple of options. Because I'm running lower fantasy games, they are just part of a unit if they want to be but without serious mechanical impact. Alternatively you can have the unit they are paired with increase one power die step. Last option if you like superheroic stuff is to give the party their own power die or each individual character a power die!
Not a big fan of the super heroics but was thinking more a long the lines of dueling with rival leaders the players know. Maybe zoom it in, but that might feel bogged down. Maybe there is a streamlined way to do it beyond just having them imbedded 🤔
Regardless this way of battle is much more my style as it’s faster but still feels grand and impactful
You could use the "lead from the front" rule from Mythic Bastionland if you want PCs embedded in units to have a felt impact:
"One individual within a Warband can add their Attack dice to the Warband’s attack Roll, leading from the front. If they do, they suffer the same Damage that the Warband does until their next turn."
This is a system where damage = highest of all attack dice rolled (modified by some other factors), so keep that in mind. I think that would work well with the mass combat system described in this post since it already uses "roll all keep highest" for multiple units ganging up on one.
Basically, the PC can decide to increase the average damage output of their unit by getting stuck in and showing the grunts how it's done, at the cost of giving up the protection normally afforded by the mass of bodies around you.
I actually playtested this system with an Odd-like haha. This is a good option depending on scale I think! For warbands where you have dozens of troops it works well, in my case we were talking more like hundreds and thousands of troops making up units, so the PCs weren't a significant combat enhancement!
This is really simple and easy to cycle at the table. I especially like the opposition that reverses high and low rolls based on the ground advantage. Very clever and easy to see the math-ing without a Games Workshop law degree.
I wonder if there's a way to build in annihilation based on flanking, blocked retreats or bad going. Maybe the opposition tag? Some mud and longbows can end cavalry in a very dramatic fashion (cough Agincourt cough)
Giving advantage on those circumstances is a kind of potential soft benefit. Another option is to steal the ‘enhanced’ attack from Into the Odd and Cairn, boost a side a d20.
But a set of terrain or tactical tags could be a nice way to expand things! One to think on…
You can use any pointcrawl or hexmap you like really! Or if you prefer battlemaps with a traditional grid you can use that too. Any kind of map that suits your particular purposes!
well very stupid doubt, but coming from a most PbtA background, each tag is assigned as a single? and if so, the SLOW tag only makes the unity slower or is it assumed to be a more strong one?
Nice simple rules to keep things moving. Scalable is a nice feature, too.
When I try mass combat, I will have to give this a try.
Let me know how it goes!
I will let you know. It is going to be while before I get to it though.
Sounds easy enough, I’ll have to give it a try, but what about including heroes/characters? Would you do something like SD Hell March?
There's a couple of options. Because I'm running lower fantasy games, they are just part of a unit if they want to be but without serious mechanical impact. Alternatively you can have the unit they are paired with increase one power die step. Last option if you like superheroic stuff is to give the party their own power die or each individual character a power die!
Not a big fan of the super heroics but was thinking more a long the lines of dueling with rival leaders the players know. Maybe zoom it in, but that might feel bogged down. Maybe there is a streamlined way to do it beyond just having them imbedded 🤔
Regardless this way of battle is much more my style as it’s faster but still feels grand and impactful
You could use the "lead from the front" rule from Mythic Bastionland if you want PCs embedded in units to have a felt impact:
"One individual within a Warband can add their Attack dice to the Warband’s attack Roll, leading from the front. If they do, they suffer the same Damage that the Warband does until their next turn."
This is a system where damage = highest of all attack dice rolled (modified by some other factors), so keep that in mind. I think that would work well with the mass combat system described in this post since it already uses "roll all keep highest" for multiple units ganging up on one.
Basically, the PC can decide to increase the average damage output of their unit by getting stuck in and showing the grunts how it's done, at the cost of giving up the protection normally afforded by the mass of bodies around you.
I actually playtested this system with an Odd-like haha. This is a good option depending on scale I think! For warbands where you have dozens of troops it works well, in my case we were talking more like hundreds and thousands of troops making up units, so the PCs weren't a significant combat enhancement!
Very cool system! I'd love to know more about how you used it in a pointcrawl.
I might be able to do a breakdown of it at some point!
Lovely, I'll be on the lookout for that one!
Could be fun to try writing out all the orders and then resolving them all at once like in games like Star Wars Armada
That could be fun as well!
This is really simple and easy to cycle at the table. I especially like the opposition that reverses high and low rolls based on the ground advantage. Very clever and easy to see the math-ing without a Games Workshop law degree.
I wonder if there's a way to build in annihilation based on flanking, blocked retreats or bad going. Maybe the opposition tag? Some mud and longbows can end cavalry in a very dramatic fashion (cough Agincourt cough)
Giving advantage on those circumstances is a kind of potential soft benefit. Another option is to steal the ‘enhanced’ attack from Into the Odd and Cairn, boost a side a d20.
But a set of terrain or tactical tags could be a nice way to expand things! One to think on…
This is great. Very flexible with the splitting of the squads, and roll low for “low power” situations. No notes.
Thanks!
I dig it, but do you have an example of this point crawl battlefield?
You can use any pointcrawl or hexmap you like really! Or if you prefer battlemaps with a traditional grid you can use that too. Any kind of map that suits your particular purposes!
Nice!
Seems like a simple, clean system that stays pretty effective.
Thanks!
well very stupid doubt, but coming from a most PbtA background, each tag is assigned as a single? and if so, the SLOW tag only makes the unity slower or is it assumed to be a more strong one?
You assign them in any combination that makes sense!
okie dokie