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Hi all, I posted this over at Dragonsfoot but I thought it might be of some interest here as well. I am working on a simple set of rules for a Blackmoor campaign using mainly the Chainmail mass battle rules and a pinch of OD&D. Why mass battle rules instead of the man-to-man rules? I wanted something even more light weight than man-to-man combat, where each player controls a main character and a number of followers, which fight together as a small band of combatants.
I need your feedback so please let me know what you think.
Campaign Setup: The majority of the players would begin as members of the city guard: first level fighting-men. A player may instead choose to be a first level spell-caster (i.e. magic-user), but note that these character types may only cast spells once they reach second level and become Seers (q.v. for other restrictions on spell-casters). There are no other class choices, although characters may develop through play to gain titles as thieves, assassins, paladins and so on. Characters have no stats, hit points, or AC. The player characters will roll for their one ability score, Charisma, using 3d6. Highest Charisma is the party caller (party caller will subsequently be the highest level character, or if there is a tie in both respects then the tied players will make an agreement among themselves). Charisma also determines reaction rolls, maximum number of followers and the base loyalty modifier for followers, as per Men & Magic.
Equipment: Each character begins with 3d6 x 10 silver in earnings to equip themselves (commoner characters will have 3d6 x 10 copper instead and young nobles and merchants will have 3d6 x 10 gold coins). Characters also begin with whatever equipment is relevant to their role, although they do not own this equipment. For example, city watch have halberds and chainmail, tower guards have bows and chainmail, palace guards have sword and shield, dungeon guards have clubs and leather armour etc.
Missions: The campaign will start with the player-characters being ordered on a mission by the Baron to delve into the dungeons of Castle Blackmoor. After this initial scenario, there will be a jobs board in the town square showing missions the players may take on. There are no true "adventurers" in this campaign; rather the player-characters are assumed to be guards (etc.) who take up extra missions in their free time. Each mission awards a certain amount of silver pieces, which must be split amongst the characters according to the internal decisions of the players. Every character (including followers that have levels) earns an equal number of experience points equivalent to the silver piece reward. So if fourteen party members survive a successful mission, they may earn 300 sp divided amongst them and 300 xp each. Monsters defeated and treasure earned during the mission itself does not award any experience, although the referee may give on-the-spot XP awards to individual player-characters for clever play.
If a normal-man follower does something that only a heroic individual would do (like wield a magical sword), then the referee may announce that the normal-man is promoted on the spot to a first level fighting-man (although followers must always be a lower level than the player-character, so if the player-character is still 1st level at the end of the adventure, the promoted follower will leave at that point to start his own retinue.)
Magic: Only spell-casters (i.e. magic-users) can cast spells from magical scrolls, which are consumed in the process. Spell-caster characters do not otherwise have any innate ability to cast spells and so they must find, purchase or create their own scrolls (the latter two at considerable cost in gold and time). Spells have no pre-determined effect and are simply described with a title. The effect of a spell should be adjudicated on the spot by the referee, who should also assign the spell a complexity value (see Chainmail: Fantasy Supplement). The referee should take both situation and precedent into account when determining a spell's effect, but note that players may never dictate the effect of a spell (even one they have created themselves). Note that spell-caster characters always fight as light foot and gain none of the normal benefit from weapons or armour (although they may gain the + modifier for a magical weapon or defensive talisman). Wearing armour will also negatively impact their casting throw, as the referee sees fit. If the casting throw of 2d6 results in the Immediate result, the spell takes effect simultaneously to combat. A result of Negated means the spell fails and the scroll is destroyed. Any other result means the spell will take effect next turn unless the caster is injured in this turn, in which case the spell fails. Thus, a Theurgist (who casts as a Seer) would need to roll a 9+ for a spell with a Complexity of 2 to take effect immediately. A throw of 6 or less would mean the spell is lost and any other result would mean the spell takes effect next turn as long as the caster is not wounded this round. A Wizard casting the same spell would never fail, but would have the spell delayed a turn on a roll of 4 or less on 2d6.
Combat: Combat is resolved in simultaneous rounds using the Chainmail Combat Tables (if the situation allows it, there may also be an initial round or more for just missile fire, using the Chainmail mass battle rules, as the two sides close for melee). Players can organize their men into fighting bands for the purpose of determining attack dice, but each band automatically uses the least-armed and armored member to determine type. Whether a man fights as armored foot, medium horse, light foot etc. depends entirely upon how he is armed and armored and it is recommended that the referee comes up with a consistent record of counting certain weapons and armour as light, medium or heavy in nature. Thus a character with a halberd and leather armour (a mix of heavy weapon and light armour) could be considered to fight as heavy foot in effect.
Normal men are slain with a single hit. Characters with levels and other unusual types like monsters can suffer a number of hits equal to their OD&D fighting capability or HD (considering only the first value before any modifier). Thus, a Myrmidon may sustain up to four wounds before dying (for being a hero-type), strikes fantastic creatures as a hero with a +1 modifier and counts as 6 men in normal combat. Hero-types can survive 4 wounds and count as 4 men (give or take modifiers) in combat, Superheroes can suffer 8 wounds and count as 8 men (give or take) in combat and Wizard-types can survive 6 wounds and count as at least 6 men in combat. The referee distributes damage to a band of combatants based on the context and situation. If the player-character takes the lead, he will endure the most hits. If he slinks towards the rear, he will be relatively safer but the followers' morale may suffer.
Monsters use their OD&D HD to determine their hits and fighting capability, while referring to Chainmail for their attack type. For example, since the Balrog has 10 HD in Monsters & Treasure and fights as Heavy Horse according to Chainmail: Fantasy Supplement, the Balrog will fight as 10 heavy horse in the campaign and take 10 wounds to slay. Likewise, an Ogre will fight as 5 heavy foot and take 4 wounds to kill, a true Troll will fight as 7 armored foot and take 6 wounds to kill (regenerating 1 wound per round after being hurt), a typical Red Dragon will fight as 10 Heavy Horse and take 10 wounds to slay and so on. Note, the latter assumes a Very Old Dragon: younger Dragons will reduce the attack/defense type (from Heavy Horse to Medium, Light, Armoured Foot etc.) and throws on the Fantasy Combat table for each category younger than Very Old, such that a typical Very Young Red Dragon will attack as 10 Light Foot, will be hit on the Fantasy Combat table with a +5 bonus and will attack on the same table with a -5 penalty (although it will still require 10 hits to slay).
Some creatures, such as Dragons, true Trolls and Balrogs, may only be slain through fantastic combat, as noted in Chainmail. Roll on the Chainmail fantasy combat table using 2d6. Each successful strike inflicts one wound and allows the attacker to immediately roll again (and so on until an attack fails to hit).
Miscellaneous: All other actions should be simply adjudicated by the referee, using the context and precedent to determine outcomes. Thus, if a character has become known for his strength, the referee may give him a chance to lift a portcullis (it is recommended that player-characters can acquire appropriate sobriquets through memorable events during the course of the campaign that would indicate such special talent or unusual nature). If a player-character wishes to be saved from danger (such as a trap in the dungeon), the player must describe a plausible escape from the harm and then the referee may leave it up to a vote by those at the table (the referee breaking ties), may leave it up to a die roll or may simply rule on the spot. Characters may carry whatever is reasonable and must of course rest and eat and so on. Characters with land and title may attract soldiery for mass battles (using the Chainmail rules), but only followers will join them in the dungeon. The rules for man-to-man combat and jousts may be followed in the case of formal duels and competitions, but are not normally used for combat.
Addenda: Magical weapons work as described in Chainmail (page 38). In addition to subtracting its modifier from the opponent’s roll in fantastic combat, magic armour also allows the character to ignore a number of hits each combat round of normal combat up to the magic armor's value. Thus if 30 Orcs (Heavy Foot) surround a Hero with +3 Plate Mail (Armoured Foot), they will roll 15 dice and cause hits on a 6 and the Hero will ignore the first three hits. If the Hero later comes up against a Giant, the Giant will only be able to strike the Hero on a roll of 9 or higher. Because of the power of magical weapons and armour, these should be exceedingly rare, especially beyond a +1 level of enchantment. Magical shields use the rules in Monsters & Treasure (i.e. if the shield bonus is greater than that of the armour, there the shield will only block a hit or provide its modifier to fantastic combat on a roll of 5 or 6, checking each time.
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