D&D 4E - Rules of War - Page 3

Azisien · 03-27-2010, 12:41 PM

So I've been DMing a new 4E campaign for the past 6 months. I still consider myself a 4E noob, but that's besides the point.

My players are getting to the point where they have the option and probably will start commanding troops, at least on a small scale at first.

A little bit about the campaign I'm running.

There are two major nations on the continent: the Hellteth Empire and the Traylane League.
The Hellteth are strict, mostly human, anti-magic, highly militaristic. They occupy roughly 70% of the landmass of the continent. They used to rule most all of the continent. Totalitarian government run solely by an Emperor, rank achieved by birth.

The Traylane League is a newer nation, a little over a century old. It took a civil war to split from Hellteth. They tend to be more progressive and accepting, so there's more racial heterogenity. They embrace magic and the dwarves have gifted them with a variety of technological advances, including primitive firearms. However, they're also still a bunch of corrupt oligoarchs. League government is run by their council, which consists currently of 10 dwarves, 1 human, and 1 eladrin. About 30% of continental landmass.

The PCs are under a two-year mercenary contract with the Traylane League, currently working for one of the dwarf nobles.
After a thrilling conclusion to an evil druid quest and some brief coma time, the PCs return to the League and find Hellteth has suddenly declared war, and seem intent on taking back their old land.

I have googled on several occasions for "war" rules in D&D, I couldn't even find any for 3E.

I am planning on designing my own unless some awesome ones materialize. This thread is mostly an idea wall I can bounce things off of, or ideas I can borrow.

I had one of my players draw (he's better than me) a map of the continent on chart paper, and I'll be using Risk pieces to designate armies. My plan for the rules is to make use of 4E's "swarm" rules and treat entire armies, big or small, as swarms. I was going to simplify the gameplay rules into single rolls for the swarms, as well as simplifying HP into something like "Army Status."

Specialized units (mages, grenadiers, etc) could join these armies to provide bonuses to the swarms. Armies don't "heal" unless they have cleric/herbalist specialists, or if they go to cities. If they're in cities, they can "draft" over time to regenerate their numbers.

The rules need to be simple but fun, and as best as possible based on D&D stuff already at hand.

Some may ask why even bother with rules? Why not just shift the narrative according to whatever influences the PCs have and just roll with it? Well my short answer is "because I can." Half the fun for me in D&D is designing my own rules, the other half is playtesting them. I think my players will also appreciate having concrete rules to toy with beyond their usual at-will/encounter/daily powers.

So...anybody seen rules like this before, or have any good ideas?

03-27-2010, 12:41 PM	#1
Azisien wat Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 7,177	D&D 4E - Rules of War So I've been DMing a new 4E campaign for the past 6 months. I still consider myself a 4E noob, but that's besides the point. My players are getting to the point where they have the option and probably will start commanding troops, at least on a small scale at first. A little bit about the campaign I'm running. There are two major nations on the continent: the Hellteth Empire and the Traylane League. The Hellteth are strict, mostly human, anti-magic, highly militaristic. They occupy roughly 70% of the landmass of the continent. They used to rule most all of the continent. Totalitarian government run solely by an Emperor, rank achieved by birth. The Traylane League is a newer nation, a little over a century old. It took a civil war to split from Hellteth. They tend to be more progressive and accepting, so there's more racial heterogenity. They embrace magic and the dwarves have gifted them with a variety of technological advances, including primitive firearms. However, they're also still a bunch of corrupt oligoarchs. League government is run by their council, which consists currently of 10 dwarves, 1 human, and 1 eladrin. About 30% of continental landmass. The PCs are under a two-year mercenary contract with the Traylane League, currently working for one of the dwarf nobles. After a thrilling conclusion to an evil druid quest and some brief coma time, the PCs return to the League and find Hellteth has suddenly declared war, and seem intent on taking back their old land. I have googled on several occasions for "war" rules in D&D, I couldn't even find any for 3E. I am planning on designing my own unless some awesome ones materialize. This thread is mostly an idea wall I can bounce things off of, or ideas I can borrow. I had one of my players draw (he's better than me) a map of the continent on chart paper, and I'll be using Risk pieces to designate armies. My plan for the rules is to make use of 4E's "swarm" rules and treat entire armies, big or small, as swarms. I was going to simplify the gameplay rules into single rolls for the swarms, as well as simplifying HP into something like "Army Status." Specialized units (mages, grenadiers, etc) could join these armies to provide bonuses to the swarms. Armies don't "heal" unless they have cleric/herbalist specialists, or if they go to cities. If they're in cities, they can "draft" over time to regenerate their numbers. The rules need to be simple but fun, and as best as possible based on D&D stuff already at hand. Some may ask why even bother with rules? Why not just shift the narrative according to whatever influences the PCs have and just roll with it? Well my short answer is "because I can." Half the fun for me in D&D is designing my own rules, the other half is playtesting them. I think my players will also appreciate having concrete rules to toy with beyond their usual at-will/encounter/daily powers. So...anybody seen rules like this before, or have any good ideas?