How much is too much when listing die roll modifiers for
your game? Finding out when a force occupies desired ground and how much sooner
they got their then their opponent was what sent me down this tangent. It shows
me again the flexibility of the USR game system. For DIY minded Keepers and players
bent on creating their own worlds, USR is a good place to start. It is free you
know.
I continue to playtest Deluxe USR Sword & Sorcery’s Mass
Combat rules. I’ve let the simple resolution mechanics be my guiding hand when wondering;
“more modifiers?” More rules to account for a myriad of battle situations pop
into my brain and I want to add all sorts of chrome if I get carried away. What
about this? What about that? But then I look at the frame work I’m using,
(U)nbelievably (S)imple (R)oleplaying. Constructing rules for mass combat encounters
can and does take much from traditional war games. Consistent movement mechanics
appropriate to the scale of the encounter. I organize the encounter around the
constituent troops involved, I have “units” like any other war game, movement
facing, etc. Terrain is accounted for. But here is the trick, for me. I’m
playing a role-playing game and I don’t want to get into a detailed tactical
simulation. I want a useful tool to aid both player and Crypt Keeper run an exciting
mass battle, and then get back to the player specific focus of TTRPG’s.
The answer has been the games base character attributes,
specifically Action. Any situation not covered in these sparse rules can be
answered with a Contested Action Roll. Want to know if your cavalry beats the
enemy to the narrow ford? Roll a Contested Action Roll, high roll wins. Withdraw
under the cover of darkness keeping the enemy unawares? Roll a Contested Action
Roll. Degrees of failure and success are useful time keepers as well. If you
beat your opponent’s roll by two you got the ford two hours before they do. Or
two days, depends on the scales of movement being used.
Contested Attribute rolls don’t even need to be against the same attributes. Forces climbing a steep cliff face would need to see if they can get to the top before the enemy spots them. Forcing your army over treacherous ground and you can’t have any delays. Probably should use a Non-contested Action Roll with difficulty set by the CK. But by and large competing against your enemy; Contested Action Roll. Action vs. Wits? Why not? Subterfuge, fakery and misdirection lend themselves to a Wits vs. Wits roll, but I can see where one force is combating the weak morale of their enemy and a Wits roll vs. Ego makes sense. However you choose to assign the contested attributes, it gives you a fast resolution mechanic which includes degrees of success if you like.
Contested Attribute rolls don’t even need to be against the same attributes. Forces climbing a steep cliff face would need to see if they can get to the top before the enemy spots them. Forcing your army over treacherous ground and you can’t have any delays. Probably should use a Non-contested Action Roll with difficulty set by the CK. But by and large competing against your enemy; Contested Action Roll. Action vs. Wits? Why not? Subterfuge, fakery and misdirection lend themselves to a Wits vs. Wits roll, but I can see where one force is combating the weak morale of their enemy and a Wits roll vs. Ego makes sense. However you choose to assign the contested attributes, it gives you a fast resolution mechanic which includes degrees of success if you like.
The Contested Action Roll adds a great deal of excitement for
maneuvers during combat. Anytime troops try to pull off a maneuver (not an
attack) with the enemy close enough to engage contested action rolls are a
great way to adjudicate the success or failure of the maneuver.
These rolls should not be drowned in numerous die-roll
modifiers. The small scale of numbers you are dealing with makes a +1 or +2 a significant
bonus. Reduce advantages between opponents until you have only a significant
factor to consider against each other. The easiest to figure, and will come up
many times, is a force attempting a maneuver in front of the enemy and commanders
and leaders are present. A +4 Leadership Specialism going against +2 Insite
Loyalty Specialism you just reduce down to +2 for better commander. The other
force has no commander, get the full +4! The CK can always consider limits on
total modifiers allowed at any one time. You just have to ask yourself how “swingy”
do you want the battle to be. If opponents can pile up modifiers against each
other the final value of the die rolls can vary widely. Capping them makes for
a contest where creating advantage for your army is more difficult.
