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View Full Version : Mass Combat for any D&D edition (WIP)



slachance6
2014-12-09, 08:52 PM
MASS COMBAT
This is a guide to handling large battles in D&D, whether it's an orc horde attacking a dwarven fortress, a battle between two human armies, or a tribe of elves hunting a dragon; any time a battle is too large for ordinary D&D combat to handle. These rules are compatible with any version of D&D, or any medieval fantasy system for that matter. All you need is a set of dice, a battle grid and some kind of marker.
Turns are played as followed, with some exceptions: Each side rolls a d20, and the side which rolls higher goes first. Each piece is a unit, which could be a squad of soldiers, a war beast or a siege engine. Each square represents 25 feet; most units take up one square. On your turn, each unit can take an action, which is usually a move or an attack (moving and attacking is called a charge). Attacks are always the last things done in a round, and are done simultaneously unless noted otherwise. Actions are detailed below.
Move: Units can march up to their move speed in a straight line only. This speed is divided by two in difficult terrain such as forest, steep hills and cities.
Attack: Unit attacks an adjacent enemy unit, or any within range if ranged weapons are available. Roll the attack's damage die and subtract it from the enemy hit points. If the defending unit is made up of multiple soldiers, this usually represents the number of enemies killed.
Defend: Unit enters a defensive position. Not all units can do this effectively. While in a defensive position, enemy damage dice are reduced two sizes (d10 becomes d6, d20 becomes 2d6) for one turn.
Turtle Formation: This is a combination of Move and Defend. Unit moves its speed minus 1, and enemy damage dice are reduced one size. Any unit that cannot Defend cannot use Turtle Formation. Any rule that applies to Defend also replies to Turtle Formation.
Charge: This is a combination of Move and Attack. Unit moves its speed and makes an attack, increasing the damage die by one size. Enemies that attack that unit increase their damage dice by one size.
If any unit is reduced to 0 hit points, it is destroyed. If a unit made up of multiple soldiers is reduced to half hit points, it is diminished, meaning its damage is cut in half. Two adjacent diminished units can merge at any time and combine their hit points; this doesn't count as an action. Below are examples of some units.

Standard Infantry
HP 16
Melee damage 1d8
Speed 3

Archers
HP 12
Melee damage 1d6
Ranged damage 1d6/1d4, range 4/8
Speed 3
Cannot defend

Heavy Infantry (dwarves, hobgoblins etc)
HP 16
Melee damage 1d6
Speed 2
Enemy damage die is reduced by 1, stacks with defense

Aggressive Infantry (orcs, raiders etc)
HP 16
Melee damage 1d10
Speed 4
Cannot defend

Sub-Par Infantry (goblins, militiamen etc)
HP 16
Melee damage 1d6
Speed 2
Defend reduces die by 1 less

Pikemen
HP 14
Melee damage 1d8
Speed 3
Cannot defend
When charging or taking a charge, this unit attacks first

Cavalry
HP 12
Melee damage 1d10
Speed 5
Enemy damage die is reduced by 1
Enemy receives no damage bonus from charging

The following are not squads of soldiers, and cannot be diminished.

Giant (ogre, golem etc)
HP 18
Melee damage 1d6
Speed 3
Cannot defend
Dragon (could also be a giant eagle or wyvern)
HP 16
Melee damage 1d8
Speed 3, fly 5
Cannot defend
Greater Dragon
HP 24
Melee damage 1d12
Speed 3, fly 6
Cannot defend
Large size
War Beast (rhino, drake, warg etc)
HP 18
Melee damage 1d4
Speed 2
Can hold a diminished archer unit
Cannot defend
War Elephant
HP 26
Melee damage 1d10
Speed 2
Can hold a full archer unit, enemy damage dice against such a unit are reduced by 2 sizes
Cannot defend
Large size

The following are siege engines. All require a crew of men to operate. If the men are somehow separated from the engine, treat them as a diminished standard infantry unit, or a full-sized one in the case of a trebuchet. All siege engines deal half damage against infantry and double damage against buildings.

Cannon
HP 8
Ranged damage 1d8, range 10
Speed 1
Catapult
HP 6
Ranged damage 1d10, random location in 2*2 square
Speed 1/2
Trebuchet
HP 8
Ranged damage 2d6, random location in 3*3 square
Cannot move in combat
Large size

Ballista
HP 6
Ranged damage 1d8, range 8
Speed 1
Battering Ram
HP 6
Melee damage 1d10
Speed 1

The following are stats for buildings. Buildings cannot be harmed by infantry.

Weak Wall (House, simple barricade): HP 6 per square
Medium Wall (Town wall, small fort): HP 24 per square
Strong Wall (Keep, defensible city): HP 70 per square
Weak Door: HP 4
Medium Door: HP 16
Strong Door: HP 40