[MECHANICS] Dungeon! - Simple Large-Scale Combat

Simple Large-Scale Combat

Large-scale battles should never be fully played out with each individual unit having a full Turn. Instead, choose which units are important, likely the party of player characters and an enemy party of important NPCs. These units have Turns as normal, but they are not always in combat. Instead, treat the battlefield like a dungeoncrawl, with zones instead of rooms. Certain zones will be impassible or compromised due to the enemy's control or the clashing of ally and enemy foot soldiers, while other zones may contain battlefield events such as finding a wounded soldier or running into enemies.

"Dungeon" Turns and Attrition Rolls

Continuing to treat the battlefield like a dungeon, Dungeon Turns should occur every 10 minutes. The Encounter Die should be rolled just like in a dungeon. Additionally, another type of roll should be made at this time... an Attrition Roll. The GM rolls 1d100 twice, adding the total number of allied troops to one roll and the total number of enemy troops to the other. The side with the lower value loses 1d20 + 10 troops while the side with the higher value only loses 1d20 troops. In the case of a tie, both sides lose 1d20 troops. Once a side has lost over half of their troops, they are likely to consider retreat.

Unit Strength

As show above with Attrition Rolls, most units are effectively only worth 1 point of manpower when it comes to large-scale combat. However, other creatures, effects, or mechanisms may be worth more than a single troop is. Your GM may opt to use the examples below to add onto the relative strength of either side of large-scale combat.

• Advantageous Terrain: Worth 30 units.
• Cavalry: Worth 10 units.
• Monster, Dragon, etc.: Worth units equal to its CR.
• Siege Engine, Catapult, etc.: Worth 20 units.
• Stronghold, Defensive Walls, etc.: Worth 50 units.

Ending Large-Scale Battles

There are a few ways large-scale battles can end. As mentioned above, it is likely that a battle will end with one side retreating. Unless this battle is the all-or-nothing last battle of a war, it is unlikely that every single unit will fight to the death. Once one side retreats, the battle ends.

Another reason to consider retreat is because of the threat of Capture. When an Attrition Roll is made, one side may attempt to capture the other side's remaining units. This can only be attempted if the targeted side has lost over half of their troops, and if the Capturing side outnumbers the targeted side by double the number of units or more. If a Capture is attempted, half of the targeted side's remaining troops become captured and the other half are forced to flee, ending the battle.

Finally, be it through the Encounter Die on a Dungeon Turn or by reaching a specific zone of the battlefield, facing off against the enemy party can have a great impact on the battle. If the enemy party flees or is defeated, the enemy army will retreat, ending the battle.