The Campaign Builder's Guild

Tybalt · August 23, 2006, 10:28:12 AM

Has anyone ever had a war be the main backdrop or focus of their campaign? For mine, the earlier adventures are a precursor to war.

Some of the adventures I have planned are somewhat traditional D&D and yet are about the war, adapted in some cases. For instance scouting missions, rooting out spies, escort missions, raids and the like. One of the players commands a small unit of troops (scouts, light crossbowmen, etc) while the others are experts in the service of the government. So I'm working out a system for prizes of war and the like.

I would be grateful for any advice from anyone who has run such things. While I have a good deal of knowledge of the subject my players are finding it kind of new.

Matt Larkin (author) · August 23, 2006, 11:08:31 AM

I recommend Heroes of Battle, since it's all about this. I've had war in the background of many campaigns, but it's never been the main focus.

Elven Doritos · August 23, 2006, 11:37:23 AM

I've run a few war-based battles in my time, and Heroes of Battle is definitely an excellent resource for war-driven campaigns. It includes rank-and-file soldier stats, tactics for believable fantasy warfare, and oodles of campaign advice.

Túrin · August 23, 2006, 11:39:16 AM

The kind of advice you need greatly depends on the way you use war as a backdrop. One of the campaigns I play in, for example, has a strong war focus. The island where we live has been overrun by undead, and most remaining humans have gathered in the capital city, which is now under siege. Currently, there has been only one attempt to break the siege, in which most of the human leaders were killed. As two of the few remaining people capable of leading an army, we, the two PCs, now lead the army. However, defending the city is far from the main focus of the campaign: most of the actions focuses on the attempts by the PCs to restore order to the city, and, more importantly, secure their position so as to make sure that once the undead are defeated, the city has no choice but to accept them as the new rulers of the city. The campaign is highly political, rather than focusing on the combative aspects of war.

Túrin

Epic Meepo · August 23, 2006, 01:09:01 PM

@Turin: I really like the siege angle. Most war-related campaigns I've seen focus mostly on combat and most political campaigns I've seen focus more on intrigue than on wide-scale warfare. That siege campaign you mention strikes a balance between the two. Very cool! I might have to steal that idea some day.

Tybalt · August 24, 2006, 06:39:24 AM

What I have in mind is this:

New Edom is a small Republic bordered by the Dwarvish nation of Svartaheim to the north, the Wood Elves of Carnmag to the northeast along with the Great Swamp, and the Goblin Confederacy to the east and the Celtic Kingdom of Fer Dhomlann to the west.

The King of Fer Dhomlann had claim to the region that has become New Edom long ago, but it used to be just wild country populated by outlaws and monsters. The New Edomites have not only tamed the area but made it richly fertile, and the King has attempted to negotiate for their subservience to varying degrees, all met with refusal. Therefore he has declared that the nation must bow to his will and has set upon a plan for invasion. In the meantime, the Goblins have for a long time regarded parts of that land as theirs. What I was picturing was the King (reluctantly) making a deal with the Goblins in order to pull the Republic two ways and thus make invasion easier. He attempts to conquer the country as rapidly as he can so that he can be in a position of strength when he has to deal with the Goblins. The Goblins more or less have the same plan. They have chosen after contests of strength, will and many witch-doctor prognostications a warlord for the Confederacy of tribes.

What I had in mind would be the idea that parts of the country would be overrun, and that both enemy groups would be halted by natural obstacles, fortifications and the like, but that similar to the idea above the remaining safe or free areas of the land would virtually be under siege. It might require the characters questing for powerful magic or allies in order to liberate their country, but I had in mind the idea that the main campaign is 'throwing off the yoke of the oppressors'.

Velox · August 24, 2006, 10:43:59 PM

Sounds good. The situation is almost similar to Germany in WWII, fighting a war on two fronts. A seiged city is a frightening and horrible place to be in. Fear is the prevailing attitude. Some form of indirect attack (rockets, bombs, airborne units, magic, etc) may be able harm the citizens of the city-under-seige, regardless of the cities defenses. Destroyed or conquered parts of cities may seem like grotesque mockeries of what they once were, now occupied by alien enemy forces.

Consider the magic/technology level of your campiagn, and modify the battlefield accordingly. For example... if fireball flinging wizards are relatively common, then the tactics will change. There might be trenches or other ways to avoid getting blasted by a lobbed fireball.

As a side note on war as a back-drop, I once played in a game where the sun mysteriously dissapeared, and everyone fought over food and provisions. The player group (fairly powerful high-level high-magic types in a low-magic and low-level world) organized a huge army to march across a vast desert to seige the capital city of a huge and powerful empire. Being a rogue in a war game is sooooooooooooooooooo much fun. I was a shadowdancer, so I got to sneak in and infiltrate, assassinate commanders, steal plan, real cool stuff like that. Other players lead cohorts and followers as "special forces" sqauds (kind of like Achilles and his boys in "Troy"), which in turn were followed by legions of soldiers. It was awesome to overtake our enemy's capital.

To make it really cool you'd have to figure out how actions such as those my character (the shadowdancer) took will affect the battle. Loss of important commanders, stolen battle plans, etc.

Tybalt · August 25, 2006, 11:56:13 AM

That sunless campaign sounds pretty cool, and the idea of playing a rogue in war as well. I also appreciate the ideas about the effects of magic/tech on the conduct of the war.

I was thinking actually that magic might be something quested for on both sides to break the deadlock of the war; I'd planned to have say half the country occuppied, with the capital besieged off and on over a long period. (The capital city of New Edom, Touchstone, was built for the little Republic by Dwarves and so is almost impregnable)

I have begun planning the war in phases.

Phase 1: the players are involved with preventing the enemy from invading the eastern part of the Republic via the great Silver River and linking up with their goblinish allies. In part, whether or not they successfully align with the various aquatic people via the Lizard-Folk is crucial to how well their people succeed. They are also involved with scouting for enemy activity.

Phase 2: The players are involved in a campaign to sweep around thorugh Goblinland to the rear (think perhaps of such campaigns as that of Bedford Forrest in the US Civil War, Ban Tarleton in the Revolutionary War or Cossack raiders against Napoleon). To some extent this would be classic 'monster bashing' but with the idea in mind that this would damage the goblins' ability to make war at all with home and resources damaged or destroyed. They would try to link up with one of the last bastions of Grey Elvish power in order to do this.

Phase 3: If phase 2 works out, the players along with elvish and other allies are able to assault the main stronghold of the Goblin Confederacy, possibly bringing them to terms or even driving them out entirely.

Phases beyond that I haven't quite worked out; I am more or less working on the premise that defeating the goblins would be the main focus of the first part of this campaign.

snakefing · August 26, 2006, 04:17:59 PM

Quote from: TybaltWhile I have a good deal of knowledge of the subject my players are finding it kind of new.

You didn't say exactly what your players are having trouble with.

If they just don't have as much background knowledge of war, tactics, etc. then you might have to lead them around a bit for a while. For example, assign a drill sergeant NPC as an assistant, and use that character's voice to give them background, information, or (less often) advice to help fill in the gaps.

Sometimes players who are used to other campaign styles have a problem adjusting to the fact that certain events are going on around them that they don't have any control over. If this seems to be the case, you might try a few adventures that deal directly with small aspects of the situation. For example, they may not be able to prevent the village from being sacked, but they can rescue the mayor, save some of the townsfolk, or delay the enemy long enough to allow the company to perform a tactical retreat and live to fight another day. Focus a lot on the things they did accomplish, so they don't get too hung up on what they didn't do.

In a lot of campaigns, players get the idea that whatever situation they are presented with, they are supposed to save the day all by themselves. But in a war campaign, a lot of times the idea is to accomplish what you can, then get out alive to fight another day. You may have to ease them into this a bit, by starting out with smaller, easier-to-digest adventures with relatively clear-cut goals. (Like, this squad is pinned down in a burned-out mill, your job is to get them out alive, either by distracting the enemy forces, or punching a hole through their lines.)

There's time enough for the superheroics later, when they've achieved some reknown (and added some levels).

Anyway, I hope that helps give you some ideas.

Tybalt · August 27, 2006, 10:15:11 AM

That does help, yes, that gives me some sense of how I can challenge them without overwhelming them. You hit the nail on the head; they're used to being the heroes in a more absolute kind of way.

Basically, while we all agreed to play this campaign they don't know much at all about the basics of military stuff at all, not the terminology, not nothing. However in the previous game we were having problems with party unity and I hit upon this idea to keep them together; they're happy to try something new out but they're used to playing in game scenarios that are much more individualistic as well.

The group have a small unit with them as I said before and I will probably use the unit's sergeant as you suggested.

One element I kind of like too is that I have a constant reason to have more powerful NPCs on their side busy, requiring the players to do the more low level stuff. On the plus side for them it means that training and the like will be a bit more regularly available. (their commander is a Ranger Lord, who has been given command over the area's militia and regular forces)

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