Discussion:Large Scale Battles

Mmmmmm152 14:13, 15 December 2009 (MST)

I'm planning on running a war campaign with high level pcs. We have a level 20 wizard with a ridiculously high intelligence, a level 18 rogue/shadowdancer/assasin who is pretty much only good at sneaking around, a ranger who gets 7 attacks per round with his two axes and various feats, and one level 14 druid 4 barbarian. Now we all own a keep that we hang out in. I want to have a army of various creatures to assault it. Now my question is how do I run this? I know their are suggestions for pcs doing small scale things in part of the larger battle but I don't think that would really fit seeing we don't have our own army. Though we do have roughly 100 skeletons. Most of them medium size and one colossal. Also how would xp work? I expect this to be at least a decent challenge. Sure they can take out 1 CR1 warrior in .5 seconds but what about an army? This can also be a general discussion for running large scale battles. I would also like to mention that the catapults seem too weak. 5d6 damage doesn't even come close to doing any significant damage to high level pcs. A huge rock hitting you in the face is a huge rock hitting you in the face. And how is that suppose to do any damage to a wall with more than 100 hit points?--Mmmmmm152 14:13, 15 December 2009 (MST)

Jay Freedman 14:32, 15 December 2009 (MST)

About Experience: Just let your boys level up when you feel they should. Say, after a successful defense or after defeating the armies commander. Don't worry about exp for every soldier or skeleton. When your players have overcome a huge obstacle or epic battle then just level them. Easy as pie.

As for the battle: Maybe a "Breach and Hold" run. Have small elite squads breach an opening in the walls and have your PC's hold that location until all enemies are dead. Do that three times in differing locals then have a boss fight in the courtyard. Just an idea?

  Hooper   talk    contribs    email   15:17, 15 December 2009 (MST)

You may want to look into purchasing the Complete Warrior. If memory serves correct, it has rules for running a small party through a warzone (or maybe it was Tome of Battle?). The general concept was to only focus on your party's mission, while detailing what is going on around them in the battle. I.e. let npcs do the general fighting while your party is asked to sneak behind the enemy lines to cut off their supply route. Something simple and concise.

Green Dragon 15:55, 15 December 2009 (MST)

One, I'm pretty sure, it takes time for one to level their character (days for level gained −1 I think).

Also I recommend you take a look at Heroes of Battle — it's all laid out in there.

Mmmmmm152 07:39, 16 December 2009 (MST)

I will take a look at heroes of battle thanks. But I'm pretty sure that's mainly for when the pcs have an actual force on their side. I'm pretty sure that 100 skeletons aren't going to be very affective against 1000+troops. But maybe the battle could work like this: Pcs do long range stuff from keep walls, we have to stop them from coming in from various holes in the walls (or they destroy enemy siege engines and the enemy has limited breaches.) Maybe they would have to think of ways to block off holes and defend against the incoming troops. Would that work? Also How many siege engines would a army of about 1500 troops of mostly primitive races(i.e. trolls, bugbears, hobgoblins)have? I bet they wouldn't have very many on hand but how many would they build?--Mmmmmm152 07:39, 16 December 2009 (MST)

Green Dragon 14:17, 16 December 2009 (MST)

“	This supplement for the D&D game reveals the pivotal roles characters can play in the midst of great battles. With rules and options for creating or playing adventures on and around battlefields, Heroes of Battle plunges characters into wartime situations and challenges them with climactic battles of epic proportions.	”
—Heroes of Battle Product Blurb

I recommend you start by reading the product blurb at least before commenting on the book. It's character based or can be used for both.

173.71.146.244 15:20, 19 December 2009 (MST)

Ok listen. There's a bit of Homebrew that will really help you out. It's on this site even, head over to the Homebrew and select Sourcebooks. Click on Races of War, and look to find Mass Combat Rules, or something similar to that. You will find a great way to run large scale combat.

Yo, this might work..... MAYBE IDK. XP

Yeah i've been trying to figure this one out too, but ive found this Homebrew template that you can splash around as The Health bar of THE WHOLE FRICKIN ARMY!!!! yeah basically you treat the whole army as one big creature, and when the health bar runs out, that fight is over. Call it a Morale meter or a Reinforcement meter, basically you add the total HP of each creature involved in battle, or the ones that will enter the fray, and when one dies that creatures HP is subtracted from the total HP of the Battle, and when the total runs out you are able to leave the fight nad move on to the next. Then throw in some slightly tougher Elites, Some suiciders(Cuz it's funny to be chased by sprinting zombies with Powder kegs attached to them, while fighting baddies.) then some Brutes a couple lurkers, and just a Pinch of siege weapons leading up to a boss battle in the Courtyard for some terribly awsome battle, oh and just a bit of splosions' EVERYWHERE. Oh and i forgot the Template it is Legion Possesed, Tweak however needed to fit your gameplay.

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