So my current party of 6 players may soon find themselves in a situation where they're on one side of a series of large battles...basically a small-scale war. I'd like to offer them some options on how to handle this if it should come up and here is what I have so far:
1) I can make up a series of missions for them to do parallel to the rest of the forces fighting. I'd make encounter rolls on the way to the mission and on the way back to see if they run into any enemy forces outside the mission itself. I can see this dragging a bit because it means that every session will be one or more missions for several sessions and it might get stale. It would also put a lot of burden on me because every sessions might be new terrain, new types of enemies etc.
2) As an alternative, they could simply join the fighting alongside the rest of their allies. I would describe the battle and roll dice to see who took damage and how much. Anyone taking enough damage to die would get Death Saves as usual. This can be risky for them since they really COULD die (they're lvl 4 and likely won't be 6 by the time this all happens) with little recourse. On the plus side, it's easier for me and I've told them that three 'weeks' of this (average 1 battle per week) would essentially grant a level. They could use this tactic if they want to fast-forward over some span of time (waiting for reinforcements, some magic item being made, whatever). This would let me off the hook planning out every battle though.
How do you all handle your PCs getting involved in big battles, wars etc? Any suggestions on how I might handle this better? Thanks in advance.
The first option could actually be very interesting if you vary the missions. Scouting out enemy positions and stealing information, as well surgical raids and counter reconnaissance before the battle in full, attacking or defending an area mid battle against opponents could be one very hard encounter that can be very memorable.
What are the armies composed of? I've had two war campaigns, and the bit that will always stick out is when our Druid convinced the hippogryphs (used as mounts by enemy knights) to help us escape with the battleplan. We spent the rest of that campaign flying around blasting people to ruin with spells and bows, and our Paladin bought a lance and went ham on the whole chivalrous crusader act. Ended up killing a young green dragon with It too.
If you do go for the first one, make sure to keep the encounters different, roll for other groups performing similar missions and use those results alongside the party's to assign modifiers to an overall roll for the battle. If the party fails to stop the enemy from securing the aid of a band of ogres, make sure they encounter a few ogres in the battle itself. If they recover the enemy plans, but the enemy know this, the opposing general will have to come up with a new plan quickly, perhaps a less well optimised plan for the task at hand. Record how well the party do in the battle and decide if they achieved their objectives. This can be as simple as jotting down how many soldiers they defeated or how close they got to taking the enemy gates.
The end result should make them feel like they were a major part of an organic, well planned war effort. This method can be lengthy, but I personally find it much more satisfying and immersive than simply rolling for the result of two clashing armies. If you are still unsure, outline a few missions, but also draw up a rough diagram of where a series of battles would lead (If side A wins then side B retreats to X and so on), then present these options to your players. If they change their mind part way through then you will still have a fall back and they get to try some different things.
If it is a war they are joining I give my players a number of major objectives and then ask them to choose one that they would wish to complete, I try to keep it at 3. The objectives might be killing an enemy commander, sabotage a unit/fortress, or interrupting a ritual spell that would turn the tide to the enemies favor. All would be important but as a small combat team they can only choose one for themselves and trust other groups to handle the rest.
From their I build multiple missions to complete before the main objective can be attempted. These tasks can range from scouting, weakening enemy forces, infiltrating the opposing army, gathering allies, mystical item hunts or resource gathering. Don't over flow with the build up missions, keep it to like 3 or 4, then I let them go off after the objective or attempt more prep missions of greater difficulty as the enemy has realized what they might be planning. The more prep missions completed, the more resources or allies they can call in to help with assassinating a commander, destroying a bridge, or whatever you gave them the choice of doing.
I find this method gives my players a choice of what they want to do without forcing them into anything while allowing me to control certain aspects a little bit better like terrain and enemy. The players only make up a small aspect of the larger war so it wont be expected of them to fight all fronts at the same time. Fighting a war is about have a major objective and completing prep-missions to increase your chances for success.
So my current party of 6 players may soon find themselves in a situation where they're on one side of a series of large battles...basically a small-scale war. I'd like to offer them some options on how to handle this if it should come up and here is what I have so far:
1) I can make up a series of missions for them to do parallel to the rest of the forces fighting. I'd make encounter rolls on the way to the mission and on the way back to see if they run into any enemy forces outside the mission itself. I can see this dragging a bit because it means that every session will be one or more missions for several sessions and it might get stale. It would also put a lot of burden on me because every sessions might be new terrain, new types of enemies etc.
2) As an alternative, they could simply join the fighting alongside the rest of their allies. I would describe the battle and roll dice to see who took damage and how much. Anyone taking enough damage to die would get Death Saves as usual. This can be risky for them since they really COULD die (they're lvl 4 and likely won't be 6 by the time this all happens) with little recourse. On the plus side, it's easier for me and I've told them that three 'weeks' of this (average 1 battle per week) would essentially grant a level. They could use this tactic if they want to fast-forward over some span of time (waiting for reinforcements, some magic item being made, whatever). This would let me off the hook planning out every battle though.
How do you all handle your PCs getting involved in big battles, wars etc? Any suggestions on how I might handle this better? Thanks in advance.
The first option could actually be very interesting if you vary the missions. Scouting out enemy positions and stealing information, as well surgical raids and counter reconnaissance before the battle in full, attacking or defending an area mid battle against opponents could be one very hard encounter that can be very memorable.
What are the armies composed of? I've had two war campaigns, and the bit that will always stick out is when our Druid convinced the hippogryphs (used as mounts by enemy knights) to help us escape with the battleplan. We spent the rest of that campaign flying around blasting people to ruin with spells and bows, and our Paladin bought a lance and went ham on the whole chivalrous crusader act. Ended up killing a young green dragon with It too.
If you do go for the first one, make sure to keep the encounters different, roll for other groups performing similar missions and use those results alongside the party's to assign modifiers to an overall roll for the battle. If the party fails to stop the enemy from securing the aid of a band of ogres, make sure they encounter a few ogres in the battle itself. If they recover the enemy plans, but the enemy know this, the opposing general will have to come up with a new plan quickly, perhaps a less well optimised plan for the task at hand. Record how well the party do in the battle and decide if they achieved their objectives. This can be as simple as jotting down how many soldiers they defeated or how close they got to taking the enemy gates.
The end result should make them feel like they were a major part of an organic, well planned war effort. This method can be lengthy, but I personally find it much more satisfying and immersive than simply rolling for the result of two clashing armies. If you are still unsure, outline a few missions, but also draw up a rough diagram of where a series of battles would lead (If side A wins then side B retreats to X and so on), then present these options to your players. If they change their mind part way through then you will still have a fall back and they get to try some different things.
Hope this helps you.
If it is a war they are joining I give my players a number of major objectives and then ask them to choose one that they would wish to complete, I try to keep it at 3. The objectives might be killing an enemy commander, sabotage a unit/fortress, or interrupting a ritual spell that would turn the tide to the enemies favor. All would be important but as a small combat team they can only choose one for themselves and trust other groups to handle the rest.
From their I build multiple missions to complete before the main objective can be attempted. These tasks can range from scouting, weakening enemy forces, infiltrating the opposing army, gathering allies, mystical item hunts or resource gathering. Don't over flow with the build up missions, keep it to like 3 or 4, then I let them go off after the objective or attempt more prep missions of greater difficulty as the enemy has realized what they might be planning. The more prep missions completed, the more resources or allies they can call in to help with assassinating a commander, destroying a bridge, or whatever you gave them the choice of doing.
I find this method gives my players a choice of what they want to do without forcing them into anything while allowing me to control certain aspects a little bit better like terrain and enemy. The players only make up a small aspect of the larger war so it wont be expected of them to fight all fronts at the same time. Fighting a war is about have a major objective and completing prep-missions to increase your chances for success.
Both of you have given me some good ideas! Thanks!
Now...I'm off to plot a war mwahahahahahaha!