Questions tagged [mass-combat]
For questions about combat involving large numbers of participants, frequently requiring separate combat rules to adjudicate.
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How much health does a detachment have, and do they benefit from Multiple Attackers?
Cairn SRD:
Detachments
Large groups of similar combatants fighting together are treated as a single detachment. When a detachment takes critical damage, it is routed or significantly weakened. When ...
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How does one balance massive resources in large battles/scenes to the party?
This is mainly for Starfinder. My players are L4.
So, my players have set up a successful political party on the moon of Europa, which is currently in revolt against the Soviet Union. One of the PCs ...
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In "UA: When Armies Clash", how is damage dealt to solos and PCs?
I was looking over "Unearthed Arcana: When Armies Clash", and one thing strikes me as odd.
The rules in the PDF state (on p. 1 of the PDF):
A stand uses the statistics [...] of the ...
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Rules for DM’ing large scale battles [duplicate]
I am working on a campaign and there is a very good chance that the PC’s may find themselves involved in a large mass battle, a large siege or possibly both if things go slightly sideways in regards ...
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Turning VTM battles more dynamic
I'm playing a VTM 20th edition campaign with my friends, and they are really liking it, the only thing that is not great is the combat.
Sometimes the group battle just one or two enemies, and it's ...
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What system can I use for a small scale battle? [duplicate]
I am DMing an homebrew DND 5e adventure. My players are going to defend a village from an orc tribe.
The village will have around 100 armed farmers. Players also gained support of a local dwarven ...
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How can I model the mechanics of an army battlefield scene?
TL;DR;
I want to model a strategic battlefield fight for my players to command and participate. I'm seeking advice on how to model it mechanically so that it is exciting for the players.
Background
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Is there a guide to implementing realistic army logistics in D&D? [closed]
I just read Grain into Gold. If you don't know it, it is a guide for creating a realistic medieval/fantasy economy.
I just wanted to know if there is any equivalent for fantasy army management, ...
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How can I combine numbers of low CR creatures so that using them doesn't bog the combat down?
I have a whole series of encounters built around various kinds of spiders, controlled by some significant baddies in service to Lolth.
At the bottom of this arachnid hierarchy is a large number of ...
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What rules are there for resolving mass combat?
I have been running a game of Dark Ages: Mage. Due to certain events, there is going to be a battle between two armies. How is the result of such a fight decided, according to RAW?
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Homebrew game-designing problem: Ranged unit attack roll in Large-scale Battle? [closed]
I've run into a little homebrew game-designing issue and maybe you may have just the creative solution I'm looking for. I'll try to explain this as best as I can!
I've been trying to create an ...
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How to design a combat encounter for 20 characters? [duplicate]
Over the course of the last 30 month, I GMed ongoing campaigns for three different groups. One of them had to be disbanded due to one problematic player. Another one dissolved because we couldn’t find ...
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Are there rules on how PC can manage rank in a large scale battle? [duplicate]
Does 5e large scale battle exist in spreadsheet form, or is it more ethereal like making strategic and creative decisions and inspiring the DM in roleplay?
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Will save method for ambushes
Players run a kingdom... Tiny kingdom. Pimple on the axe of their huge empire enemy. Only hope of victory is guerrilla warfare and forest ambushes.
An effective ambush doesnt result in a fight. It ...
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Is there a proper way to handle large combat engagements with party members involved?
For instance, a party of four player characters raise a force of 30 militia men to go take a bandit camp. When they get there the bandit camp has 40 men, and none of them notable.
For the sake of ...
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How to describe combat between NPCs, the Dungeon World way
I am a novice Dungeon World GM. In our last session my players almost lead an orc raiding party to a small village, which was preparing for a unrelated bandit raid at the same time.
The party ...
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How well do the 2017 UA Mass Combat rules work?
My players (level 12-13), through a series of... decisions, have ended up in a situation where they and perhaps a few hundred to a thousand allies will be facing off against a garrison of several ...
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Where do I put my commanders?
I am unsure where to put the commanders on the battlegrid. Do I place them inside a unit, or are they a unit of their own?
My problem with this is, like in the Total War games, that the best way to ...
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Is there a way to simulate mass battles using the DnD engine?
In a nutshell, I'm debating starting up a campaign that would use the Hundred Years' War as a backdrop, and as such, would have many battles that would have hundreds or thousands of combatants. Is ...
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What are the mechanics for large scale combat?
My players have recently become leaders of a group that includes 256 people and I don't know how the mechanics work for cases such as this. Is there a guide somewhere for large scale combat that ...
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Tips and techniques for running larger-scale battles in interesting and engaging ways?
So, my players threw me for a loop last weekend when they decided to go a little off-script at the end of our session. Normally I’m pretty good at rolling with changes, but this one has me a little ...
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How do I account for palisades and other similar defenses in an invasion?
I am running Princes of the Apocalypse for my group and have determined that the next session will be
My question is this: although there are a few suggested ways of dealing with such large numbers ...
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How can I very quickly summarize a series of easy combats?
(Similar to this question, but for 5e and with slightly different requirements.)
I have a group of players who are in an area where there are two opposing factions they're planning to pit against ...
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How can I run a large battle in The Dark Eye?
I assume we all know the epic battle scenes from the Peter Jackson's movie version of LotR: Return of the King:
Cinematically speaking, it can't get any more epic than this. Creating such a battle ...
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How would magic effect mass warfare? [closed]
In the campaign world of Forgotten Realms, how could mass warfare be conducted between city states? What magical options exist in 5th edition assuming the number of medium and high level NPCs is ...
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How to make and set up Army scale battles
I am nearing the climax of a nearly year and a half story, and before the final boss I wanted to have a massive army scale battle. This is a 3.5 game, the armies will be mostly using martial weapons, ...
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Keeping Mass Battles interesting for players
It happens on rare occasion that the characters I GM for end up in some bigger battle. Often this follows lots of preparation and planning of strategies and tactics. Sometimes it just happens that the ...
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Roleplaying games for political intrigues, mass battles [closed]
My friends an I want to start a political campaign on Skype. Each player would play a character or faction/kingdom. They should be able do wage war and do mass battles against each other, do the ...
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Odds of Tzeentch's Curse in Mass Battles port
Mass Battles is often casually considered an easy mechanic of Savage Worlds to port to other systems. I'm finding it easily so, save some edge cases.
I like the idea in Mass Battles of heroes running ...
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What's the best way to DM semi-large battles (~50 guys on each side)?
In one of the campaigns I'm running, the players are about to enter a large fight (~50 vs ~50). This includes around 40 regular units, and 6 Player Characters versus around 45 regular units and 5 ...
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Good source for D&D 3.5/Pathfinder siege warfare rules?
Is there a complete D&D 3.5/Pathfinder mass combat rules set for conducting siege warfare, or do you have to cobble together incomplete rules from different sources (Stronghold Builder's Guidebook ...
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Any rules or supplements for mass combat in Underwater or Aerial fantasy environments? [closed]
I want to create a Pathfinder campaign for my players that culminates in a war between fantasy cities. I've been researching mass combat rules looking for something comprehensive that effectively ...
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Any software to help manage mass combat from Ultimate Campaign? [closed]
I'm new to Pathfinder (haven't event looked at RPGs since AD&D 2e) and I've been investigating the concept of mass combat for a campaign I'm thinking about creating.
I guess Ultimate Campaign ...
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Is there a mass combat system for 4E D&D which has the following features?
Related question that doesn't answer mine because I have slightly different requirements
I am interested in a mass combat system for 4E, but before I just roll my own, I want to know if there is a ...
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What are the essential design features of a combat system that make it scalable from single combat to mass warfare?
My question stems from this post by p.marino, as it raised my curiosity. I do not wish to spend the time and money to acquire and read Silhouette Core. Furthermore, I lack the knowledge of piles of ...
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Are there mass-combat rules in pre-Reloaded Deadlands?
Running pre-Reloaded Deadlands and my party may be encountering a large combat. I was looking, but cannot find anything that deals with 25-40 opponents.
Anyone?
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How do I quicken / sum up larger (but not army-scale) d20/DnD3.x combat?
I'll be rather specific:
Imagine you have five lv7 characters (in DnD3.5), a bunch of their followers (skeletons raised by their priestess and whatnot), and they're facing about the same number of ...
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Are there any published rules for dealing with mass combat in D&D 4e?
I'm looking for reference material for running large scale/war/mass combat simulations in D&D 4e. By mass combat I'm speaking of unit numbers in the 100's or 1000's, on two or more sides of the ...
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How can I model an army squadron to assist the players through the use of player-controlled minions?
In the chat playtest my players have decided that they are members of an army squadron. What is the best way to present the feel of working in a squad alongside other soldiers?
Nominally, I'd like ...
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Combat rules for large battles
In the later chapters of a future campaign I'm thinking of having a section where the players take charge of parts of an army and fight a larger battle. I don't want to hand-wave the strategy, I want ...