Military adventure

Two orcs

Officially better than you, according to PoN
I'm currently writing and playtesting a military adventure for 5th level characters. The PCs have been ordered/offered to defeat a minor neighbouring kingdom, they are given free hands, a year , a small war chest and a thousand untrained but vengeful peasants who saw their homes burned by the enemy. The adventure itself details the map, neutral forces, command structure, rumors and strategic attitude and resources of their opponent (and minor dungeons who the PCs are raiding to afford better mercenaries). It is built to be quite difficult, a sleepwalk with a conventional army will likely see the PCs defeated by supply raids, assassination and magic.

Has this been done before? Has it been done well? The tactical battle type adventure I've read have all dealt with organizing the defense of a city or similar less proactive and broad situations.
 

Two orcs

Officially better than you, according to PoN
Domains at War: Battles

I think it will be playable in most systems as I write exact troop numbers and the enemies are written up as monsters rather than using the proficiencies and classes of ACKS.
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
OK, I have the perfect solution for you for this, for both running the actual large-scale battles and also all the adventure stuff leading up to it.

Dynamic Battle System
by DangerousPuhson

Phase I - Assess Army Strength Rating

In the first phase of combat set-up, we want to get an idea of how strong each army is. This is done by calculating a Strength Rating, using the following formula:

Strength Rating = ((# of combatants x armament score) / defensive score) + (# of siege weapons x 50) + (# of defensive emplacements x 100)

Combatants: The number of creatures in each army. Mounts and riders are treated as separate combatants, and counted individually. As a general rule, most small and medium humanoid creatures count as 1 combatant for the purposes of determining a Strength Rating. Large and Huge creatures (not including mounts) count as 2 combatants, while Tiny and Diminutive creatures count as 0.5 combatants. Other sizes can be tabulated at the DM’s discretion.

Armament score: A flat score reflecting the quality of weapons at each army’s disposal (higher is better). Armies with crude weapons are rated at 0.5, standard arms are rated at 1 and exotic or advanced weapons at 1.5 or higher (DMs discretion). Mounts do not serve to increase an army’s armament score; however the number of mounts is added to the total number of combatants in an army. Siege weapons are added to the total overall army Strength Rating, rather than the armament score.

Defensive score: A flat score reflecting the quality of armor and defenses used by each army (lower is better). Determine the majority type of armor used by the army as a whole (light, medium or heavy); Armies with crude, natural or light armor are rated at 1.5, medium armors are rated at 1 and heavy armor at 0.5 or lower (DMs discretion). Large defensive emplacements such as moats, bunkers, towers, walls, etc. are added to the total overall army Strength Rating, rather than the defensive score.

The Strength Rating will allow us to determine when certain actions/events will take place during the battle, as well as how much damage each army does to each other and player characters in combat, and the threshold at which an army will concede defeat. In a sense, the Strength Rating is also very much like an army’s “hit points”, in that they can suffer Strength Rating damage through the course of the battle, and armies without any remaining Strength Rating have been utterly vanquished. The formula to calculate Strength Rating is done only once, at the start of the battle; afterwards, Strength Rating is tracked by how much damage is dealt by the players and opposing army.

Example: An army of 2,000 goblins are attacking a human force of 400 militiamen. The goblins are crudely armed and wear little to no armor (Armament score of 0.5, defensive score of 1.5), though they field three large siege slings that can fire flaming pots of pitch, and 200 of their number ride tamed wolves. The human militia is decently armed with swords and maces, but wears only light armor (armament score of 1, defensive score of 1.5), however they are entrenched behind a palisade wall with a nearby tower providing vantage support. The goblins have a Strength Rating of 883: ((2,200x0.5)/1.5) + (3x50). The humans have a Strength Rating of 467: ((400x1)/1.5) + (2x100). The goblins are far stronger than the human militia.

Phase II - Develop Battle Milestones

At this phase, we set the end parameters for the battle, as well as the conditions through which armies will undertake certain actions depending on their current Strength Rating. Think of this as a dynamic timeline for the battle, one which forces events or actions based on the strength of each army.

The best way to set objectives is to outline numerical milestones based on Strength Rating for each army (blocks of hundreds or thousands). As the battle progresses, damage done by each army reduces the other’s Strength Rating. Once one army’s Strength Rating dips below the milestone threshold, it triggers an event or action that affects the battle. These events and actions are entirely subjective to the campaign and the nature of the armies, and should be developed by DMs to serve as points of focus for players participating in the battle. Consequences of these events affect the battle either by causing Strength Rating damage to armies, direct damage to players, trigger time-sensitive situations or activate story-based events (deaths of important NPCs, destruction of property, etc.). Milestones can also be used as the deployment of mini-objectives for the party to tackle in order to gain an edge or suffer a loss throughout the battle by dealing with situations as they arise (generally by affecting either army’s Strength Rating in a positive or negative way depending on the outcome).

The final milestone of the battle is essentially the condition that ends the battle; the retreat, surrender, or destruction of one army. Weak or cowardly armies might break early in the battle, even if they still have the numbers to carry on the fight - This is represented by a milestone that triggers with that army’s defeat when it reaches a Strength Rating of <200 or <100 or thereabout. Stronger or more desperate armies may not consider retreat or surrender as an option, and so would have their defeat triggered when their Strength Rating is reduced to 0, effectively wiping the whole army out.

Example: In the above-mentioned goblin vs. human battle, the following milestones will trigger once the goblin army is reduced beyond a certain Strength Rating (goblins start at a Rating of 883):

  • At a Rating milestone of 800, the goblins use their siege slings to lob firepots onto the battlefield. Dexterity saves needed every 3 turns for any player character in battle or they suffer fire damage. The slings are manned by crews of 4 goblins, and cause 10 points of Strength Rating damage to both armies (they hit indiscriminately) every 3 turns unless stopped. If stopped, the goblin army suffers 50 points of Strength Rating damage.
  • At a Rating milestone of 650, the goblins set fire to the human watchtower. Occupants within call for help and will die if the fire is not extinguished or they are not rescued within 5 turns, causing the death of Field Commander Heinrich and 30 points of Strength Rating damage to the human army.
  • At a Rating milestone of 300, a goblin wolf-rider captain will break away from combat to flank the humans; he will cause an additional 10 points of Strength Rating damage to the humans per turn until defeated.
  • At a Rating milestone of 150, half of the goblins will be forced into retreat while the other half lays down their arms and surrenders. Victory for the humans!
 
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DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
Phase III - Create Battle Modifiers & Scenarios

Battle modifiers are things that you can throw into a battle to turn the tide of the fight, without resorting to DM magic or Deus Ex Machina. While the milestone events from Phase II develop over the course of the battle, battle modifiers are generally established before combat begins. They consist of small advantages accumulated by an army beforehand in order to ensure victory; things like securing supply caches, recruiting mercenaries, making battle plans, building defenses or siege weapons, calling for reinforcements, forging weapons, training conscripts, assassinating enemy commanders, and basically anything else that requires some form of preparation before the battle.

The best way to employ battle modifiers in your campaign is to allow players to be (partly) responsible for them, either by crafting mini-quests for the players to secure the battle modifier themselves, or by allowing players to creatively invent their own modifiers and figure out the logistics behind them. In this way, the players feel more like they have a stake in the battle, and such preparations help them not to feel bored or uninvolved. It is also an easy way for the DM to slip some side-quests into their campaign and to reward the players with more than just treasure and experience points.

Each battle modifier should impact the battle much in the same way a milestone event would; either directly attacking the enemy army Strength Rating, bolstering the friendly army Strength Rating, mitigating a bad event that may occur over the course of the battle, or directly helping the player characters (buffs, wards, healing, etc.). Failure to secure battle modifiers might result in consequences for the battle as well (attacks against players, damage to Strength Rating, bad events, etc.).

Examples: In the days leading up to the expected conflict, the players learn of a few combat modifiers that would potentially improve their odds of victory with the human militiamen.

  • A nearby cave houses a half-mad hermit who is known to have once been a powerful Wizard. If the party can convince him to fight on their side, the human army gains 15 Strength Rating and a Wizard that lobs fireballs into the fray, causing 5 extra Strength Rating damage each round to the goblins.
  • A goblin supply stash has been discovered stashed away in an old watchtower a few miles from the anticipated battlefield. If the party can kill the goblin guards and secure the supplies, then the goblin army will start the battle weakened by 30 Strength Rating points. The goblins will also not have enough supplies to utilize their siege slings and firepots, which will directly affect the outcome of that earlier-described milestone in the Phase II example.
  • The local priest can tend to the wounded on the battlefield, but he needs acolytes and healing herbs to help him. If the players can recruit enough acolytes and track down the necessary herbs, then the human army can regenerate 5 Strength Rating points per round from magical healing.
  • A fletcher has come to town offering quality arrows for wholesale to the militia forces. He is obviously price-gouging, but the soldiers are desperate. Players can use many means to secure the arrows; either convince him to lower his prices through shrewd negotiation or rough intimidation, steal the arrows outright from the fletcher, or buy the arrows with a rare gemstone found in the depths of a nearby crypt. If the arrows are secured, then the human army increases its ability to deal damage (+5 Strength Rating damage per round). However the fletcher might also take his business to the goblins if he is offended by the humans, in which case the goblins gain the extra damage, and also make a hail-of-arrows attack against the party every 2 rounds of battle (Dexterity save or take damage).
Phase IV - Run Combat

Combat between armies is resolved on a turn-by-turn basis. Each turn, both armies automatically hit each other, damaging their opponents’ Strength Rating for the amount of their Damage Output, as calculated by this formula:

Damage Output = ((current Strength Rating x armament score)/10) + applicable battle modifiers and milestones

In addition, players engaged in combat with the opposing army suffer automatic damage (rounded up) each turn they are within reach of their opponents’ weapons. This damage to players is calculated as follows:

Damage Output to Players = ((current Strength Rating x armament score)/100) + applicable battle modifiers and milestones

In addition to the normal damage one army does to another, players and unique NPCs can also damage the enemy army directly. The dynamics of these attacks differ from normal attacks however:

Melee attacks employed against the enemy army deals weapon damage normally against the army’s Strength Rating, however the army is considered to have Resistance against all melee attacks, even magical ones (half damage). Ranged attacks deal only a single point of damage to the enemy army Strength Rating per attack. All spells that affect a single target, either damaging or non-damaging, do 1 point of damage to the enemy army’s Strength Rating. Damaging spells with an area-of-effect deal half of their normal damage to the enemy army’s Strength Rating (rounded down). Non-damaging spells that affect multiple targets deal 1 point of damage to the Strength Rating per target affected by the spell. Spells that help allies or heal wounds increases allied Strength Ratings using the same principles as the spells outlined above. Spells that do not directly affect specific targets, cause damage, or otherwise inhibit combat have no negative effect against an enemy army or positive effect on an allied army.

All attacks made against an enemy army automatically hit. All saving throws made by an army automatically fail. An enemy army can Restrain characters within reach, receiving a total bonus of +10 on such checks. As a group, an army is immune to all status conditions – instead, individuals in the army are affected, with each creature affected by a status condition causing 1 point of damage to the army’s Strength Rating.

Phase V - Resolve Outcome

Outcome of the battle is resolved by comparing the army Strength Rating to the list of milestones created in Phase II. Presumably a milestone was made for each army that results in its defeat – at that point, the DM will end the battle in their own narrative, ideally by outlining what happens to remaining forces once the fighting is finished, or by giving a narrative concerning the state of the battlefield and the scene of the ensuing carnage. Specific consequences and subsequent aftermath is left to the DM to determine, but may include: fleeing soldiers who may or may not rally at a later time, bodies to pick clean and dead to bury, damage control measures like fire extinguishing and wound tending, NPC narratives and story exposition, player rewards, political implications, prisoners to manage, and whatever else fits the campaign.
 

Two orcs

Officially better than you, according to PoN
You've written up an entire adventure as a solution to a problem I don't have!

My question is if there are any known adventures that deal with similar scenarios so that I can use their design strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
You've written up an entire adventure as a solution to a problem I don't have!

My question is if there are any known adventures that deal with similar scenarios so that I can use their design strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
Not really, I've just reposted something I already put up on Reddit a few years ago. Re-reading your original post, yeah I guess my suggestion doesn't work if you've already got a system :p

But if your question is "what exists out there kinda like this?" then my only answers for you are 3.5e's Red Hand of Doom or Pathfinder's Kingmaker Adventure Path. Not aware of others.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Domains at War: Battles
Have you used this system before? How happy were you with it?

I've tried a few others, but either I didn't prep enough or, because the mass combat is so sporadic in our campaign, I've never really gotten comfortable in a particular system. I'm looking for something that let's the PC express/learn some combat tactics & strategy, as well as be involved in the blow-by-blow action via rolling results.

@Puhson: I need to digest your massive reply too. I may give it a whirl since we've got a big battle brewing in the coming weeks (and free is awesome).
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
Yes. In fact, my regular group is using it again right now - just started a mass invasion session.

The only thing I'd change from when I originally wrote this is to put a cap on the damage output of the army against player characters, because if they're fighting an 8,000 Strength Rating army with a 1.5x armament score, that's 120hp of damage per round inflicted. I'd just give it a hard cap and say "10hp damage per round" or whatever seems reasonably fair
 

Two orcs

Officially better than you, according to PoN
Have you used this system before? How happy were you with it?
It's a fun stand alone wargame and it lets different player characters fill different roles on the battlefield and there is a difference between a high Int/Wis commander and a high Cha commander, or a commander who is simply great at personal combat. Units behave as you would expect them to (except dragons which are incredibly fragile) heavy cavalry has to carefully line up their charges, light cavalry can harass with impunity, heavy infantry holds the lines and light infantry is hard to pin down but melts away facing stiff opposition. There is a big difference between human and orc/ogre armies as well, as the latter are generally stronger but because of their poor discipline they'll get stuck in melee and can't do fancy stuff like holding their actions or setting spears against a charge. High morale armies will slaughter each other while low morale armies break easily and get killed in the post battle rout (provided you have light units to hunt them down).

I have played a few scenarios as training but only used it briefly in a real campaign as a player. It's not a complicated game but the procedure takes a while, a full battle might take an entire session. There is also the Domains at War: Campaigns book which details moving armies, pillaging hexes, conscripting people from your domain etc.

It's very robust balance wise, you can try something cheesy like having a unit of only 1st level mages casting sleep and it's going to have an impact but not so much that recruiting standard troops isn't usually a better idea.
 

Two orcs

Officially better than you, according to PoN
I did a 3 session playtest of my adventure, the players got bogged down in the hexcrawl. They were underfunded from the start and failed their negotiations with available mercenaries so they had to raise cash through adventuring to afford equipping the available vengeful peasants. The military aspect worked well once it got going and there was a dramatic battle trying to squash a cavalry force disrupting their supply line. This was a new playstyle for both me and the players and the dance of information-decision wasn't as smooth as in a regular adventures.

Conclusion: I should write a much simpler affair and make sure vagaries of recruitment don't stall the action. Giving players broad options from the start would be better, if the referee wants to include more logistic challenges or buildups they can cut those parts from the adventure themselves. I wanted to play up the mysterious aspect of the land and the adversaries, but spellig out a few key mysteries would probably be more satisfying than what happened now: a complete lack of info that gradually gets filled in through scouting, rumor gathering and interrogation.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
Keep wanting to play this, but it hasn't materialized yet in the campaign.

Also, I kept wondering if the Domains at War (combat) would actually translate very handily to a turned-based computer-program---not as a substitue for the whole game-experience, but just to speed up and simplify that portion for DM & players and eliminate the need to cart around a large-scale hex map and tokens. I even thought about writing an open-sourced one, but would probably get in legal trouble.

Thanks for the update!
 
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Two orcs

Officially better than you, according to PoN
The rules are published under Open Game License. Autarch has an automatic treasure table generator on their website written by a player, I'm sure they wouldn't mind hosting another play aid.
 

Reason

A FreshHell to Contend With
I did a 3 session playtest of my adventure, the players got bogged down in the hexcrawl. They were underfunded from the start and failed their negotiations with available mercenaries so they had to raise cash through adventuring to afford equipping the available vengeful peasants. The military aspect worked well once it got going and there was a dramatic battle trying to squash a cavalry force disrupting their supply line. This was a new playstyle for both me and the players and the dance of information-decision wasn't as smooth as in a regular adventures.

Conclusion: I should write a much simpler affair and make sure vagaries of recruitment don't stall the action. Giving players broad options from the start would be better, if the referee wants to include more logistic challenges or buildups they can cut those parts from the adventure themselves. I wanted to play up the mysterious aspect of the land and the adversaries, but spellig out a few key mysteries would probably be more satisfying than what happened now: a complete lack of info that gradually gets filled in through scouting, rumor gathering and interrogation.
It sounds like you have either a mini-campaign- the slow burn & full trials & tribulations version you just play tested or the scaled down idea for a few sessions. Given that you gave the PC's a year, I'd actually prefer the longer version- there aren't many adventures which do such things so doing it all out seems more appealing to me than just a side diversion for a session or two. Seems like there's scope for the PC's to break off into "regular" D&D sessions to loot funds or deal with tactical issues anyway.
 
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