So my players are itching to try out some mass combat and I have a few concerns. Right now I'm setting up to have a couple of CR1 (Using River Kingdoms Rules) armies roving around and the fluff isn't as important right now as not torpedoing the game.
Armies:
Dovan's Bandits
Hargulka's Trolls
Armage's Tiger Lords
Maegar's Forces (Nomen)
Anyways the way I'm intending on using these is probably have one bandit army roving around as a "test" battle for the PC's, having it have a minor impact on the kingdom. After the original test battle I'll probably bring in a few small Troll armies to conclude book 2.
Maegar's Forces are around as a hireable mercenary army if the PC's get into trouble. I want them to have friendly relations, thoughts?
Tiger Lords, well in Book 4 Drelev's Fort has already surrendured to Pitax and this is after Drelev defeated Armage's barbarians. I'd like to have at least the threat wandering around outside of their map right now. Sort of as a "hey there's a war to the west as well". I don't think this could screw anything up unless the PC's tried to help out Drelev too much, he's already bitter about their prosperity anyways.
So my questions this time:
Is book 2 to early to start using small battles?
Is it too much of a reveal to have the tiger lord armies attacking to the west?
Thoughts on tying Maegar more into the story this way?
I had my ruler meet Maegar when he was granted his titles and the right to rule (and 50BP). However having the King of Brevoy show up in Restov and request the PCs presence -- or even do a tour of their starting land, and you can have an easy opportunity to meet Maegar, or Drelev.
Of course we've seen DM_aka_Dudemeister include mass Combat in Book 2 in this thread!
|
Waiwode beat me to it! I've run mass combat in book 2. I think mass combat works better/makes more sense at lower levels when the PCs are powerful enough to lead but not so powerful as to be able to take a force of hundreds down on their own.
I'll be doing it again in book 4 (players might even choose to lay seige to Fort Drelev, and will definitely fight the Tiger Lord barbarians to reach Twice-Born's tomb.
I ended up with a mass combat here on the PbP forums between an NPC hastily raised militia led by Kesten Garess and Hargulka's forces. The PC's were absent, having just taken the Fey keep to the west and were resting in the Narlmarches while Hargulka and his men marched through the night.
I was using my 6 player conversion so Hargulka and Nagrundi were both powerful enough to count as an army as well as counting Hargulka's force of Trolls & Trollhounds as one army.
The PC's ended up racing back to their capital at breakneck speed while Kesten and the militia desperately held the walls of Kardasholme, their castle.
I found the mass combat at such low army CR's VERY swingy but I enjoyed narrating them to the group as the PC's raced home. Hargulka's army ended up being crushed by the militia on the walls, but they were in turn destroyed by Hargulka...
I will shamelessly plug my PbP here, very proud of the game and my excellent players and ig anyones interested to see how the mass combat tc. unfolded, the events all begin on this page-
So in short, no- I don't feel its too early to start small battles. I also tied Maegar much more to the story of chapter 2 as he has essentially made an alliance with the PC's nation and actually fought alongside them against the giant Owlbear (I switched the order around so the Owlbear attack happened first). They've discussed trade agreements as well as a military alliance and I want that connection to become stronger in the inerlude before the events of book 3. I think Varnhold Vanishing becomes a lot more meaningful if Varn becomes a paternalistic figure of sorts to the group.
I wanted to use Varn's daughter as another hook to tie them but the Baron married an ex-PC as a result of a romance that was budding throughout the first chapter.
Its not too late to see if I can get her romancing with one of his loyal Statkari though...