HONOUR, VALOUR, PRIDE - heroic mass battle

[Kindling]

HONOUR
VALOUR
PRIDE

This is another of my ideas for Savage Worlds based houserules, for use in my Dark Silver campaign. This time, mass battles.

There are few, if any, master tacticians in the world of Dark Silver. Warlords lead by example from the front lines rather than directing action from the rear. It is they and their personal guard who form the tip of the Boar's Snout to puncture the enemy shield wall or who ride at the head of the decisive cavalry charge. Their bravery and prowess spurs on their followers and their bright helms and proud banners are rallying points in the maelstrom of battle.

Of course there are such things as ambushes and surprise attacks, but these rules assume that the armies are meeting in the field, drawn up in battle-lines to face each other blade on blade, shield on shield.

Basically the idea is that the PCs and a few key NPCs are the heroes and champions among the warbands, and that their glorious or not so glorious actions will influence the outcome of the overall battle as their troops look to them for inspiration and their enemies know fear as they see them redden their blades with deeds of violence.

I've tried to keep the mechanic fairly simple, by just tracking in very abstract terms how well the battle is going for the PCs' army - a stat I'm calling Gumption for lack of a better word ("Victory Points" seems to vague, and "Morale" isn't the only thing it measures). The base Gumption is 0 to begin with, but will start at +1 if they significantly outnumber the enemy, +1 if they have a cavalry advantage, +1 if their troops are generally better in terms of equipment, training and motivation than the enemy and +1 if the enemy are fatigued. If any of these situations are reversed, the modifier becomes negative rather than positive, so -1 if the enemy are the significantly larger force, -1 if the enemy bring more horsemen, and so on.

If the PCs have been up to any cunning tricks before the two armies meet for battle, additional modifiers could be added to the starting Gumption to reflect the outcome of their exploits. Say they managed to destroy the enemy's supplies in a daring night raid two days earlier, that could be an extra +1 as their foes are weak from hunger.

I'm also leaving it intentionally vague as to how big a numerical advantage counts as "significant" in terms of gaining a Gumption modifier from it, as I imagine that in some situations numbers may make less of a difference.

Once the battle-lines are drawn up, the PCs may taunt the enemy or give inspiring speeches to their own warriors, gaining a further +1 to Gumption if their Taunt or Persuasion rolls succeed.

Then there will be an opportunity for champions from either army to step into no-man's-land and issue challenges to single combat. It's up to the PCs if they issue or accept any challenges at this point, and these fights should be done as normal combats, with the PC's victory meaning a +1 to Gumption, and a -1 to Gumption being suffered if they lose - not to mention that most such single combats are to the death!

I'll try to avoid having NPC champions from the two armies fighting each other as much as possible, but if it has to happen I'll probably just resolve it with an opposed Fighting roll from the two warriors, then briefly describe the loser's death. Like with PCs, if an allied NPC wins their duel then there's a +1 to Gumption, and if they lose there's a -1.

After all challenges have been issued and single combats fought there will be a brief exchange of missile fire. If the PCs' army has more warriors with ranged weapons than the enemy, or generally better ranged weapons (crossbows versus the enemy's slings and javelins, for example) then they gain +1 Gumption from the archery exchange, but if the enemy have the missile advantage, they take -1.

I want there to be a chance of one of the PCs being hit by a missile at this point, but I'm not sure quite what I want to determine the probability of it; maybe have it based on the volume of fire the enemy can unleash? Like say work out the percentage of the enemy army that have ranged weapons, then half that is the percent chance of a PC being hit or something. If a PC is wounded by a missile they must make a Spirit roll to act like the wound is insignificant or their troops will be demoralised and take -1 Gumption. If they're incapacitated by the missile, it's -2 Gumption and is automatic.

After the missile exchange the two armies will close with each other and the melee brawl will commence. There are two options at this point. Either all the PCs are fighting together at one point in the battle-line as an elite unit of heroes, or they're spread out with like three leading the centre and one on either flank or something like that.
The first option is gonna be a lot easier to keep track of but the second wouldn't be too impossible either I don't think. Either way, once the armies clash the PCs will find themselves in a kind of eye of the storm, on open space at the heart of the crush of men and horses where small-scale manoeuvre and heroic combat are possible. In game terms I'm thinking of an area of maybe 50 by 50 feet in which they and a few NPC allies can fight successive waves of enemies who will enter from the far edge of the space.
As well as regular enemy mooks the PCs should also be faced with those enemy champions who survived the single combats at the start of the battle.
If the PCs are split up along the battle line, there will simply be one such eye of the storm for each group of PCs.
The PCs' actions will be highly visible to the troops around them, both allied and enemy. If they seem to be winning their allies will be emboldened and their enemies scared, and if they are beaten back or wounded their men will lose heart and their foes will scent blood and press the attack. Basically, this means what happens to the PCs in these eye of the storm combats causes modifiers to Gumption each round.

+1 if a PC incapacitates an enemy warrior and succeeds at a Spirit roll to make it look particularly heroic or frightening
+1 if a PC uses Intimidate on an enemy warrior and gets a raise
+1 if a PC causes an enemy champion to become Shaken and succeeds at a Spirit roll to make it look particular heroic or frightening
+1 if a PC wounds an enemy champion
+1 if a PC successfully uses Intimidate on an enemy champion but doesn't get a raise
+2 if a PC uses Intimidate on an enemy champion and gets a raise
+2 if a PC incapacitates an enemy champion
-1 if a PC is Shaken for more than 2 rounds
-1 if a PC is wounded and fails a Spirit roll to act like it's insignificant ("I ain't got time to bleed!")
-2 if a PC is Incapacitated
-2 if a PC tries to flee from the battle - as in leave the eye of the storm combat area by crossing the edge towards the rear

If there are NPC champions in the PCs' army I will try to make sure they're fighting at other points of the battle-line and just make a Fighting roll for each of them every round to see how they're getting on.

If they get a failure they've suffered a wound and this causes -1 Gumption as well as giving them a -1 to further rolls as in normal combat. If they suffer 3 wounds and then get a fourth failure they're incapacitated for -2 Gumption.
If they succeed they continue fighting but achieve nothing of note this round.
If they get a raise they've done something heroic and cause a +1 bonus to Gumption.

Basically this would continue until Gumption reaches a certain positive number, at which point the enemy break and flee and the PCs' army is victorious, or a certain negative number, at which point the PCs' army crumbles and is defeated. I'm undecided at the moment about what numbers to use, but I'm leaning towards something like 10 for victory and -5 for defeat, although I'm aware that that could mean the outcome is mostly determined before the two armies actually clash in melee. I'm not sure whether I like that or not, so I may end up increasing it to like 15 for victory and -10 for defeat or something.

After one army starts to flee there may well be a few isolated pockets of stubborn resistance or other opportunities for more action for the PCs to get into - not least trying to escape alive if their army is the one that lost - but the fight as a "mass battle" is essentially over.

[Steerpike]

Looks like an interesting system!

Things you might want to include:

- Terrain.  Having your men in cover should help a lot vs. missile fire.
- Weather.  Again this will screw with missile fire.  Mud can also make balance difficult.
- Fortifications.  Could these rules be adapted for attacks on forts?
- Flank attacks.  What happens if it's a normal pitched battle but then a group of cavalry appear from round a nearby hill, spears leveled?

[Kindling]

Good points. I think the flank attack would be the most complicated addition, as I imagine that weather would affect both armies equally, while cover could just negate the bonus from a missile advantage and having to fight uphill could just be a simple -1, with a +1 for fighting downhill. Assaulting fortifications could give maybe a +2 if defending, -2 if attacking and possibly give the defenders an automatic missile advantage as the attackers will have to advance across a killing ground to reach the walls. Maybe the PCs could muck around with ladders and stuff before they start the eye of the storm combats too...

[Kindling]

BANNERS:

All great warlords have battle-standards that they or their chosen men carry onto the field. Just as much as the hero whose sigil it bears, the banner is a rallying point and an inspiration to the fighting-men around it. It is a great humiliation to let one's banner fall or be captured, and a great source of pride and honour to fight to the heart of the enemy and steal their flag.

The PCs may have fashioned their own banners or icons to carry into battle, or have carried with them by an NPC ally. If not, one of the warlords in their army may well appoint them their standard-bearer, or to the honoured position of guarding their standard-bearer if an NPC is given the task.

A banner must be carried in one hand, so a standard-bearer may use a one-handed weapon or a shield, but not both, and not a two-handed weapon. If the standard-bearer become Shaken, adjacent enemies may attempt an opposed Strength roll to snatch the banner from their hands. If the standard-bearer suffers a wound, they must succeed on an Agility roll or drop the banner. If the standard-bearer becomes incapacitated, the banner is dropped automatically.

As with the fate of heroes on the battlefield, the fate of banners can affect the morale of the common warriors, causing modifiers to Gumption.

-1 if a standard of the PCs' faction is dropped
+1 is a standard of the PCs' faction is raised again
-2 if a standard of the PCs' faction is taken by the enemy
+1 if a standard of the PCs' faction is rescued from the enemy
+2 if the enemy that took a standard of the PCs' faction is incapacitated AND the standard is rescued
+1 if an enemy standard is dropped
-1 if an enemy standard is raised again
+2 if an enemy standard is captured
-2 if a captured standard is rescued by the enemy

STEALTH:

In most adventuring parties, not everyone is a mighty warrior in gleaming mail. While it is these characters who will be the most inspiring on a battlefield, their less conspicuous comrades can still play a vital part in fighting alongside them, evening the odds and keeping them alive.

The eye of the storm in a battle is a place of mad fury and bloodlust, but even amongst the chaos the cunning warrior can move unseen. If a character moves only in spaces adjacent to the sides of the eye of the storm combat space, they can make a Stealth roll to be ignored. It's not that they manage to hide exactly, more that they allow themselves to blur into the surrounding jumble of warriors and carnage so that they are ignored, thought not to be an immediate threat.

If a character using stealth in this way is just attempting to move unseen, a simple success on the Stealth roll is sufficient. If they wish to attack while remaining undetected, a raise is required.

If a character using stealth does something that would cause a bonus to Gumption and manages to remain hidden, then their action is only glimpsed in passing, as part of the greater maelstrom, and has less impact. If they would usually need a Spirit roll to cause the bonus, then they cause no bonus. Otherwise they must make a Spirit roll. On a failure there is no bonus, on a success half (rounded up) the usual bonus applies, and on a raise the normal bonus applies but they are no longer undetected.

If they are using stealth and would do something to cause a penalty to Gumption, they must make an additional Stealth roll. On a success, there is no penalty as they manage to remain inconspicuous and their ignominy goes unnoticed.

[Tangential]

I'd cinder expanding the ramifications of fortifications as you did banners. Castles were important. Do you think a +1/-1 for Gumption for one "tech gap" between forces would cover that circumstance?

Liking this a lot, too.

[Kindling]

Sorry Jaerc, maybe it's because I didn't sleep properly last night, but I don't quite understand what you're suggesting. Perhaps you could explain in sleepy-people-words?

[Tangential]

Yawn. Now that I'm super tired myself and capable of speaking in such a to gue ai'll give it a go. Several games and histories of man suggest "tech level" as a measurable cultural value. Earth has frequently had TLs of different levels simultaneously pending geography and wealth, etc.

How would this system Andre chariots vs. cavalry, guns vs swords, or biplanes vs RPGs?

[Kindling]

Ah, gotcha. Well, I kind of wrote this for Dark Silver, and in Dark Silver the tech gaps tend to be quite small (except for the Snaketalkers, who often use neolithic weapons in an otherwise early Medieval setting) and have more to do with what a given faction can afford or produce than what they know about... Anyway due to the lack of huge divergences, I kind of assumed that would be included as part of the "better trained/equipped troops" thing.

I think this system breaks down once you take it to a tech level past the high Medieval. As soon as ranged weapons become the deciding factor, rather than melee combat, a whole new approach will be necessary. The basic idea of Gumption representing overall how the battle's going while the PCs fight small unit actions as part of the greater conflict could probably stay the same, but what affects Gumption would have to change, I think. Maybe not so much for, say, Marlburian or Napoleonic battles, but once you enter the modern era the idea of heroic champions deciding the battle just becomes a little too far-fetched. Perhaps they could be an elite strike team sent after key objectives, and so continue to have a disproportionate effect on the tactical situation, but the mechanics would have to change to reflect the change in the PCs' battlefield role.

[Kindling]

Somewhat related, just watching a BBC documentary about Anglo-Saxon art and one expert, when discussing a hoard of jewellery says something like "People often look at these pieces and say that surely they must be for parade, but they are for the battlefield" before going on to describe the Anglo-Saxon warrior as a "psychopathic peacock" .... these guys were clearly wearing so much gold so they'd be visible in the fight and more likely to win Gumption bonuses!

[sparkletwist]

Generally speaking, any game that lets you go out into battle looking like a psychopathic peacock is a game that I want to play. :D