My pc's have been on the fringe of a full-on war and have expressed an interest to pick a side and get down and dirty. I feel like there's enough mechanical or narrative options to manage the balance of power, but no real solution to make the actual clash feel epic and manageable for the PCs. The below is my homebrew attempt to come up with something that works - happy to hear your thoughts!
1. Step one: The initial clash: The scene is set, armies are in position and your PCs are in the thick of it, on the front line. Either their army advances, or the enemy hord is charging them. In order to make the initial clash of the ranks epic, I'm simply using the rules explained by Dungeoncraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FE60ORaQB4 - Which in short comes down to an appropriate saving throw (strenght/dex) to avoid damage in the initial clash (for PCs on the first ranks). If the PC makes the saving throw, I've added an opportunity attack to give them the upper hand in the first encounter i've lined up for them as part of the battle, which brings us to step two ...
2. Step two: In the thick of it: Ranks have clashed, damage has been dealt, blood and mud are flying, now what? To avoid an endless slogfest with too many rolls, this is what I've thought of: I prepare waves of encounters which are to represent in a cinematic way the role which my PCs are playing in the battle. Each time including a "commander" or "high risk" unit to make it important (e.g. a hill giant among the ranks of a goblin army). The party then concludes their encounter as a micro-scene in the battle. BUT... and this brings the chaos, the "battle" itself has an initiative turn as well!
Say what? Based on the balance of power ahead of the battle, I quickly pull together a random table (1d6 to 1d12 depending on the expected lenght of the encounter). On the first initiative turn on each round, I roll the dice for a random effect. This can be either a positive effect helping the PCs or a setback potentially damaging them. The balance of positive/negative effects in the table is based on the balance of power. E.g. for an evenly balanced clash, a d6 table coulb be:
(negative) The players need to make a DC10 saving throw or be struck with a volley of enemy arrows (1d6+2 on hit)
(positive) An ally shoots an arrow at the strongest enemy that the players are facing (+4 to hit and 1d8+2 piercing)
(negative) An enemy warcry echoes through their ranks, giving all hostile creature advantage on their next attack roll
(positive) Your commander sounds its warhorn, intimidating enemy forces and giving the dissadvantage untill their next roll
(negative) 1d4 low-level enemy combattants rush to your encounter
(positive) One spearman from your ranks rushes in to skewer/restrain an enemy combattant for the PC in most dire need
All of these can be tailored to the setpiece you've created (e.g. add huge projectives randomly crashing in the midst of the melee, damaging friend and foe alike, or have very specific effect to damage high-profile enemies that you've foreseen (e.g. the beforementioned giant gets hit in the eye with an arrow and has dissadvantage for the rest of combat etc).
You can continue this for wave after wave, giving PC's the impression of cutting their way through rank and file, into enemy ranks and towards the enemy leader. All the while keeping it very fluid etc.
It's still a work in progress and it does require some prep, but I feel like this could really boost the epicness of enormous combat scenes (e.g. 1000+ units), without detracting attention from the players, but making it very clear constantly that they are in the thick of it.
What do you think?
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Hello!
My pc's have been on the fringe of a full-on war and have expressed an interest to pick a side and get down and dirty. I feel like there's enough mechanical or narrative options to manage the balance of power, but no real solution to make the actual clash feel epic and manageable for the PCs. The below is my homebrew attempt to come up with something that works - happy to hear your thoughts!
1. Step one: The initial clash: The scene is set, armies are in position and your PCs are in the thick of it, on the front line. Either their army advances, or the enemy hord is charging them. In order to make the initial clash of the ranks epic, I'm simply using the rules explained by Dungeoncraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FE60ORaQB4 - Which in short comes down to an appropriate saving throw (strenght/dex) to avoid damage in the initial clash (for PCs on the first ranks). If the PC makes the saving throw, I've added an opportunity attack to give them the upper hand in the first encounter i've lined up for them as part of the battle, which brings us to step two ...
2. Step two: In the thick of it: Ranks have clashed, damage has been dealt, blood and mud are flying, now what? To avoid an endless slogfest with too many rolls, this is what I've thought of: I prepare waves of encounters which are to represent in a cinematic way the role which my PCs are playing in the battle. Each time including a "commander" or "high risk" unit to make it important (e.g. a hill giant among the ranks of a goblin army). The party then concludes their encounter as a micro-scene in the battle. BUT... and this brings the chaos, the "battle" itself has an initiative turn as well!
Say what? Based on the balance of power ahead of the battle, I quickly pull together a random table (1d6 to 1d12 depending on the expected lenght of the encounter). On the first initiative turn on each round, I roll the dice for a random effect. This can be either a positive effect helping the PCs or a setback potentially damaging them. The balance of positive/negative effects in the table is based on the balance of power. E.g. for an evenly balanced clash, a d6 table coulb be:
All of these can be tailored to the setpiece you've created (e.g. add huge projectives randomly crashing in the midst of the melee, damaging friend and foe alike, or have very specific effect to damage high-profile enemies that you've foreseen (e.g. the beforementioned giant gets hit in the eye with an arrow and has dissadvantage for the rest of combat etc).
You can continue this for wave after wave, giving PC's the impression of cutting their way through rank and file, into enemy ranks and towards the enemy leader. All the while keeping it very fluid etc.
It's still a work in progress and it does require some prep, but I feel like this could really boost the epicness of enormous combat scenes (e.g. 1000+ units), without detracting attention from the players, but making it very clear constantly that they are in the thick of it.
What do you think?