Homebrew: Mass Miniature Battle System

Sooner or later, every adventurer will be confronted by the rigors of mass battle, especially when they are in command of a fief. When armies clash, adventurers often take central stage. The outcome of a mass battle can be determined abstractly, as per this post. Alternatively, the engagement can be played out as an epic miniature battle.

These Miniature Battle Rules use a simplified system, in order to streamline play.

 

Glossary

AB: Attack Bonus
AC: Armor Class
HD: Hits
Hero: An individual miniature representing a single, heroic, individual
ML: Morale bonus
MV: Movement
Stand: one miniature, representing 10 individuals of that type
Unit: multiple stands of the same type, grouped together and performing actions collectively

 

Stat Blocks

Stand and Unit stat blocks are written in the following format:

AB (attack bonus); AC (armor); HD (hits); MV (move); ML (morale bonus); Special rules

Goblin
AB +4; AC 15; HD 2; MV 30; ML -1; Nimble Escape: Disengage as bonus action

Guard
AB +3; AC 16; HD 2; MV 30; ML +0

 

Turn Sequence

At the start of each turn, side initiative is determined. Each side rolls a d20, adding the Charisma modifier of the side’s general. The side that rolled the highest can decide the turn order.

On their turn, a side activates all units one by one. Once activated, a unit can move up to their movement and perform one maneuver. A maneuver is similar to an action in standard D&D combat: melee, ranged attack or spellcasting. Once all units of both sides have been activated, a new turn begins.

 

Movement and Distance

Movement is measured in points. Every inch of distance requires 5 movement points. Conversely, for every point of movement a unit can cross 0,2 inches or 0,5 centimeters. Movement can be broken up to take place before and after a unit’s maneuver.

Disengaging from an enemy within melee range requires an action, unless specified otherwise in the unit’s description. Neglecting to disengage while moving away immediately allows the enemy unit a melee maneuver.

Attacks and Hits

Most of the time, melee attacks are performed by the front stands of a unit. Exceptions are made for units with reach, whereby the second rank of stands is also allowed to make attacks. Ranged attacks can be made as long as the enemy unit that is the target of the attack is within range.

Attacks are made by rolling a d20 for every eligible stand in the unit and adding the unit’s AB per rolled die. For every roll that beats the enemy unit’s AC, a Hit is scored. The total number of Hits is divided by the enemy’s HD, the result is the number of enemy stands slain.

Melee maneuvers are made with Advantage whenever the enemy unit is wedged in between two attacking units.

 

Clashes

Whenever Heroes on opposite sides meet, there will be clashes. In this case, a regular D&D combat is initiated between the Heroes that are involved and 10 regular units of an adjacent stand as preferred by the side in question. After the clash is resolved, the Mass Battle will resume.

 

Morale

Once certain conditions are met, a Morale save must be made by the unit. Base DC 10. Failing the save means the unit becomes Frightened. The second time the unit fails the save, the unit becomes Routed and flees the scene. These conditions are:

After losing 25% of the number of stands
After losing 50% of the number of stands
After losing 75% of the number of stands (save made with Disadvantage)
When a unit’s Hero is defeated in a Clash
When confronted with enemies that have a characteristic causing the Frightened condition

Heroes are exempted from making Morale saves.

Rallying Units is possible by Heroes. As a bonus action, Heroes within 10 can make a Charisma (Intimidation) or Charisma (Persuasion) check against DC 10+the number of turns the unit has been frightened and routed. When the check succeeds, the unit may immediately make a new Morale save.

Greyhawk, Birthright, The Balance and the Old Faith

When searching the blogosphere on what makes the World of Greyhawk unique as a setting, sometimes the answer "militant neutrality" is given. See this thread and here as examples. In the EN World thread, this passage in particular summarizes it best:

Greyhawk is not concerned with the triumph of good over evil. The very nature of the evils loose on Oerth makes such triumphs fleeting at best. Greyhawk endures evil and circumvents it. It does not defeat it.

And:

Perhaps accounting for all of this, Oerth has strong and active neutrally aligned forces, working to preserve a balance between good and evil. While hardly organized, these forces nonetheless manage to be quite effective. The Circle of Eight, mighty wizards all, seeks a middle path. Istus, the divine Lady of Fate, tests all but favors none. Druids are a quiet but ever present presence. Indeed, many of Greyhawk's deities reflect a distinct neutral bent.

In Gygax's Gord novels, the hero is heralded as Champion of Neutrality. And other protagonists are all of a distinctively neutral bent. What is more, Mordenkainen, Gygax' original Player Character, is an active proponent of the Balance and leader of the Circle of Eight. The demigod Zagyg, Gygax' author avatar in the infamous Castle Greyhawk, is Chaotic Neutral and serves Boccob, the god of magic and non-interventionism.

Erik Mona, in Living Greyhawk #0, describes Mordenkainen's militant neutrality as follows:

Mordenkainen's view of "enforced neutrality" is not a tit-for-tat equality but rather a detailed theoretical philosophy derived from decades of arcane research. He has fought ardently for the forces of Good, most recently during the Greyhawk Wars, but just as often has worked on darker plots to achieve his ends.

Ever since reading that quote, I wondered what this theoretical philosophy composed of arcane research would be. As I am preparing to shift my campaign over to Oerth after completing my current campaign in the Sunset Realm, my attention was drawn to this conundrum.

I have concluded that, in *my* Greyhawk, the Balance propagated by both Beory and Boccob is one and the same: a balance of nature and natural forces, neither good nor evil, necessary for the flow of lifeforce and arcane magic. Mordenkainen's arcane research delved into ley lines, arcane energy and the necessity for not one civilizing power to gain dominance, for the development of civilization on a grand scale would limit the flow of arcane energy. The druids of the Old Lore agree with this basic insight, but disapprove of the sole focus on arcane magic, rather taking the perspective that all natural life must flow unopposed by civilization.

What do you think is at the foundation of Mordenkainen's philosophy? And why do the Druidic Hierophants disagree with him? I would love to read your views in the comments!

Empire of the Dragonlords

From the history books of the Loremasters of Draconis:

It is no secret that the ancient tribes of Mankind learned the ways of magic from otherworldly beings. Under the guidance of the Eldar, the Men of Aurora prospered. Great towers and palaces were raised unto the skies, shaped by the magic power of the land. The Eldar were wise in the ways of magic and arcane knowledge, including the mightiest of spells, was at its height in those early days of Empire.

Men being men, however, desired ever greater power. And even the mightiest of spells, of the ninth and tenth grade, were not enough to satisfy these desires. So men sought out the original sorcerers of the Earth - the Dragons.

Over decades, the wizard-lords of the Empire fought and subjugated the mighty Dragons. Eventually, an accord was reached by the more orderly Dragons and the wizard-lords of the Realm. The Empire of Draconis entered a new phase of expansion as Man and Dragon entered into an arcane alliance.

The Eldar, seeing their strict teachings disregarded and forgotten, fought against these Dragonlords but to no avail. The power of the Eldar was broken and the Dragonlords reigned supreme. The Dragonmen, children of the Dragons, established themselves within the borders of Mankind. The Empire of Draconis expanded to encompass the entire continent. Expeditions on dragonback established footholds on the eastern continent of the Enlightened, as well as on the continent to the south, the ancestral birthplace of Mankind.

The Eldar, broken and on the run, fled into the forests and glades, the hidden and secret places of the Earth. There, those that still upheld the arcane mysteries developed as the High Elves. The Eldar that abandoned the magical ways and embraced their lives in the wilderness became Wood Elves.

The Empire of Draconis, with Aurora as its capital, grew and prospered for centuries. But without the guidance of the Elves, Man's cities choked and blocked the natural flow of magic across the land. The Men of Aurora grew dependent solely on their bond with the Dragons, their magical knowledge slowly fading. As long as that bond lasted, the Empire thrived. But that bond, as all things, came to an end - as did the Empire.

Sunset Realm War Machines

With the siege of Antissa, it is time to turn our thoughts to that stickiest of options in D&D: mass combat.

Over the years, many systems have attempted tot encapsulate D&D mass combat. The original version of Dungeons & Dragons evolved out of Chainmail. During the AD&D-era, Battlesystem provided a system to simulate fantasy battles with either cardboard counters or miniatures. For the parallel Basic D&D-line, the system of War Machine was invented, wherein DMs could simulate strategic warfare on a large scale. For the Birthright Campaign Setting, a system using army cards was designed to quickly fight battles between competing domains. In the 2000's, a skirmish game once again under the name of Chainmail was released and that evolved into the D&D Miniatures Game. None of the systems stuck and D&D eventually remained the sole territory of small parties of adventurers fighting for high stakes. Yet the desire of many DMs remains to run large-scale, epic battles in the vein of Game of Thrones.

All these systems sought to solve the puzzle by presenting only a piece of it. Perhaps the key to running a D&D campaign involving epic battles across the entire continent is modularity. Perhaps by combining different systems, we can provide the experience we seek. When determining the results of a battle offscreen, away from the current area visited by the players, we can use War Machine. When the PCs are directing the strategy of a kingdom yet remain aloof from the battles themselves, we can use the army card system of Birthright. And when the PCs are in the thick of it, on the front lines, we can take a page from Battlesystem and duke it out, miniature army for miniature army.

As for Antissa, the PCs are currently far to the south of the city, investigating a mysterious tower. To resolve the siege (if it can be resolved at all, considering Antissa's capacity to teleport in supplies) I will defer to War Machine and attempt to adapt it to 5E.

They came from Outer Space

I have always disliked the common fantasy stereotype of Elves. You know them, the immortal, high-magic, wise and nature-loving Tolkien-guys. In literature, they come off as boring, all-powerful Dei Ex Machinae. Why bother with the struggles of Aragorn and Frodo if Legolas and Elrond and Galadriel can lift their pinky and accomplish more. Yes I know, Tolkien's Elves are a fading race and they can't use their magic because Sauron will devour their souls or whatever. But seriously, look at this guy:

Hit them with your best shot.

Anyway, the originally Nordic Elves-as-spirits-of-light by way of Tolkien's immortal warrior-wizards were ported onto early D&D and since then fantasy has been stuck with them. But I don't buy them. As a roleplaying race, they are impossible to play. Many Elf characters I have met during my time behind the screen were simply older, more magical and pointy-eared humans. That goes for Greyhawk Elves or Faerun Elves or Dragonlance Elves. The DARK SUN campaign setting managed to reconceptualize Elves as shorter-lived, tall, lanky, impossibly fast thieves. But these were EINO - Elves In Name Only. They might as well have been called Flumkin; the racial name was the only recognizable aspect of Dark Sun's Elves.

That said, there are a few fantasy settings that have taken the Nordic/Tolkienish/Gygaxian concept of D&D Elves and taken them in new directions.


Warhammer
By far the oldest of the settings beside Greyhawk, the Warhammer World (may it rest in peace, in Games Workshop's new Age of Sigmar gameline this setting has been destroyed) was actually a twist on the old and tried fantasy concepts. Dwarves were miners and smiths but also mohawked rage-fighters. Orcs were savage warriors but also possessed by a magical energy that manifested itself through combat (WAAAGH!).

The Elves of the Warhammer World at first glance are similar to Tolkienish/Gygaxian stereotypes. But when you take a look beneath the surface, remarkable complexity is revealed. Yes they are a dwindling race of Chosen People. Yes they are Arrogant Bastards who know what is best for humanity. Yes they are the original practitioners of magic.

But they also are the setting's Atlantis expy, have a vaguely feudal Japan-vibe, and trapped in medieval stasis.

The grimdark space-fantasy equivalents, the Eldar of Warhammer 40K, are even more twisted. Their race is dying because an entire demonic Chaos God was born from the Eldar's collective sins. Since then, they seek to escape death and become immortal for fear of their souls being devoured by said Chaos God.


Birthright
This underrated, unappreciated late-2nd Edition era D&D setting actually presents standard fantasy Elves as fairly creepy and scary. Elves were the original inhabitants of the main continent, Cerillia. Over centuries of human colonization, the Elves were driven to the edges of the continent and deep into its wildernesses. As a result, Elves hate humans. One of the main Big Bads of the setting, Rhuobe Manslayer, is an Elf who regularly organizes Wild Hunts to harry mankind.

Interestingly, in keeping with the stereotype, the Elves of Birthright were also the original practitioners of magic. In Birthright, arcane magic comes from the land and wild, undespoiled places. Human civilization weakens the flow of natural magic and as the land becomes more developed, magic diminishes. Not so in the domains of the Elves. Elven cities, like Feng Shui, are built in accordance with the flow of magic. As such, development of Elven realms never diminishes its magic rating. This is, in my opinion, a unique twist on the use of magic and why Elves are so good at it. By  the way, there are no Elven Clerics in Birthright.


Eberron
The Eberron setting, developed for D&D 3.5, reconceptualized Elves as the familiar immortal wizard-fighters but, again, put a new spin on familiar tropes. Eberron's creator, Keith Baker, puts the Elves' relationship with death center-stage. Elves are split into a number of cultures. The Elves of Aerenal seek to transcend death, bonding with positive energy to live and counsel into eternity. They are creatures of dedication, infinite time to learn, and tradition. The Elves of the Tairnadal seek to emulate the great deeds of their ancestors, seeking to channel their ancestors through their actions. Other Elves turned to darker arts and invented the discipline of necromancy.

What I find interesting that Baker takes established tropes - such as the high-magic skill and immortality - and twists them around. Yes, the Elves are long-lived but they can only become immortal by bonding with deathless energy or emulating their ancestors. Yes, the Elves are high-magic but they learned their magic while rebelling against the Giants of ages past.


Space Elves
Ultimately, I want my Elves to be - you know - Elves! Not just long-lived humans. Not just pointy-eared expies of the players. Elves should be mysterious, alien even.

So what if, in my campaign, Elves are, in fact, alien? What if they came to the campaign world from some place in the Great Dark Beyond, fleeing some abhorrent menace that they themselves created? What if the Elves that settled on this world are, in fact, using its natural sources of magic for their own ends? What if these Elves are the last remnant of a dying race, even further pushed to the fringes of civilization by human conquerors? What if the more traditional among them have radicalized in the face of their hardships and developed a means to transcend mortality? What if the new generation - the PC's generation, the generation that has been born on this world - seeks completely different goals than their fathers who fled to this world?

That would be an interesting take on Elves I think.