One of the hardest things for me about higher-level play in D&D is that, inevitably, we’re going to war. It just makes sense that at some point above level 10, we’re going to get into wars between nations, factions, religions, devils and demons, etc. At that point, either I need to present the war as a bunch of solo, special-forces vignettes – which is an OK approach, but misses something for me – or a bunch of players who never had much interest in wargames are going to have to grasp a unit-level wargaming system. – DM Thorin
We’ve talked many times on the show about focusing in on the theme of your campaign, and allowing everything that you create and design to reflect that theme.
In our Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign, that theme is simple:
War. And lots of it.
As it was in the original Chronicles of the Companions, the Heroes of the Lance find themselves fighting against a seemingly insurmountable force in the Dragon Army of Takhisis.
Outside of my love for the stories of Krynn, and 5e’s return to the Dragonlance saga, I was really interested in playing with the companion strategy board game, Warriors of Krynn. We’re all huge board game fans, and I was excited to see how the designers built a game that played along with the campaign. It was, and is, a lot of fun, and a great addition to the campaign as it gives the feel of facing an incredibly powerful army, but (and there’s always a but)… as the characters attained higher level and amassed magical items, spells, and gear, it felt less and less like they were a part of the game. It broke some of the immersion that an RPG engenders. So, what to do?
Well, as our theme of the campaign is war… what better way to reflect that (and scratch our new Warhammer itch) than borrowing from DM Thorin’s mass battle rules that we played in our Woodstock Wanderers campaign and have the characters lead the Beacon’s Bold (my name for the army of Kalaman) against the assault of the Invincible Red Dragon Army in the Siege of Kalaman?
So here are the revised rules for a mass combat system that will allow for large scale battles that will feel familiar to both old-school wargamers and players new to D&D alike.
Endless thanks to our resident Mage, the Wizard Washburn, at Paper Terrain for the table set up!
1. Set Objectives and Time Limits
One of the things that is found in many tabletop wargames is an objective. In something like Warhammer 40K, you obtain victory points by “controlling” objectives. In other games, it might be that you need to defend a city, or take the hill. Whatever it is, having a clear objective, just like in any adventure, helps focus the players on a goal. For this game, the objective was clear: Control the Warrior’s Gate for 5 Battle Rounds So Reinforcements Can Arrive.
Setting a time limit on the game serves to focus the players actions, as well as create the sense of tension and urgency that a mass battle should have. For this game, I set it at 5 battle rounds, with initiative being rerolled for every round, so that it creates the randomness of the battlefield. This further allowed certain events to take place each round, such as enemy troops arriving, reinforcements bolstering the characters ranks, etc.
2. Attach the Characters to Units
Rather than have each player control a character and units, put them all together into one turn. Each player has a unit they are commanding. That unit moves with them, then the unit takes actions, and then the player takes actions. So the Battle Progression looks like this:
- Initiative – Siege Weapons on Initiative 0
- Move with Unit
- Unit Action(s)
- PC Action(s)
- Morale Check
- End Turn
The characters are leading troops in battle, so the unit follows the PC and moves at the same speed. I adjusted from DM Thorin’s original rules in that I allowed the PCs to attach or detach from their units, to allow for a larger variety of options. This had a drawback though, in that the morale check that the unit might have to take each round would be hindered if the PC was not attached to them.
3. Units are Based on Existing Monsters and NPCs
For Armor Class, attack bonus, damage, defenses, etc., the units were based on existing NPCs from the Monster Manual and the Dragonlance adventure. For example, the players had the choice to lead Beacon’s Bold soldiers (knights), Beacon’s Bold Cavalry (Knights with Lance and Mounts for increased movement) Kalaman Militia (pikemen) and Kalaman Archers (archers.)
Much like DM Thorin, I didn’t include multi-attack to reduce the amount of rolling, but you could depending on how you want them to play. One caveat to this: I allowed the unit of Sivak Draconians that had infiltrated the ranks of the Beacon’s Bold to have multi-attack, just to make them a little more bad ass…
Finally, I changed the movement mechanic to reflect traditional wargaming. Each unit had a move of 6″ (tape measures are required!) For mounted units or flying units, the movement could be anywhere from 12″ to 36″ (1″ per 5′). For the cavalry, I included a Charge action where the player could roll 2d6 and, if that amount of distance could reach the target, the Charge would be successful, dealing additional damage. If not, the Charge would fail.
Here are some sample stat blocks provided to the players:
Beacon’s Bold Soldiers (12 man units/4 columns)
HP 200
AC 18
MV 6”
Longsword +5 to attack
Damage 1d8+2
STR +3
DEX +0
CON +2
INT +0
WIS +0
CHA +2
Saving Throws Con +4, Wis +2
Beacon’s Bold Cavalry (4 man unit)
Hit Points 100
Armor Class 15 (chain shirt)
Movement 12”
Charge Roll 2d6, must reach the enemy. Then can attack. +5 damage on successful charge.
Lance +5 to attack, dmg 1d12+2
Longsword +5 to attack, dmg 1d8+2
STR +2
DEX +2
CON +1
INT +0
WIS +1
CHA +1
Saving Throws Con+3, Str +4
4. Unit Attacks and Saving Throws
Unlike the PC, the unit is a summary abstraction of many characters. So, when it’s at 100% HP, the unit has 4 columns and each column gets a roll. As you could see in the stat blocks, each column represented 3 models.
When attacking, a full-strength unit rolls a d20 for each column to attack (4 rolls at 100% hit points), makes one damage roll, and multiplies that damage by the number of hits rolled.
Example: Beacon’s Bold soldiers at full strength – 4 rolls with a +5 attack bonus. 3 hits, 1 miss. You roll a 4 for damage on the d8. That’s 6 damage total x 3 hits = 18 damage. For every 25% loss of hit points, you lose one column, and therefore lose one attack.
For saving throws, they roll a save for each column and multiply the damage taken by the number of failures. (There’s no half damage on made saves. Damage spells are still totally unit-breaking, though, so half damage isn’t needed.)
Now, as the unit loses hit points, it loses columns. For every 25% of the hit points lost, they lose one column, and therefore roll one fewer die. So attacks are less effective, but area spells can deal less damage (since there are fewer targets now to hurt).
Also, every time a unit loses a column, it has to make a morale check at the end of its turn. This is a Charisma or Wisdom Saving Throw by the unit leader (or using the unit save values if no leader) with escalating difficulty:
1 column lost: DC 10
2 columns lost: DC 15
3 columns lost: DC 20
4 columns lost: unit destroyed
If the morale check fails, the unit immediately dissolves and is removed from the field. If there’s a leader, it stays in play to fight on alone.
The overall effect is that units have less effect on the battle as they lose hit points and columns. We added the idea of healing magic being able to return units to the battle in much the same way as for the characters. For every 25% increase in hit points, the unit could regain a column.
Final Thoughts
Playing out large scale battles in a game like Dragonlance, or DM Chris’ upcoming Lord of the Rings campaign, is a must-have. It defines the world that you’re playing in. But, as we have all found, while D&D developed from wargames, it is anything but that.
But, with some quick changes, a concept or two from actual tabletop wargames, and a good amount of minis (not required, but as the pictures show… definitely WAY more fun!) you can create a mass battle that feels familiar to veteran wargamers and D&D players alike without having to learn an entirely new system and new playstyle for a single battle.
Until next time, Heroes… LIVE THE ADVENTURE!
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