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I'm arriving at a point in a current campaign where I intend to thrust the players into a massive scale conflict between two enormous hosts. After browsing around some, I keep coming back to L5R's mass combat tables as my preferred method. The trouble therein, of course, is the fact that L5R is an entirely samurai-based setting with rewards and conditions reflecting said inspiration. I'm not trying to copy-and-paste it wholesale over to Pathfinder, as that would be futile and make no sense. What I'm hoping to do is get some input and different perspectives on how to make it fun, engaging, and worthwhile. I have yet to explore this much beyond the brainstorming process, so I'll likely be returning fairly frequently to update the thread with "progress so far." Until I have started the actual conversion process, I will give a brief explanation of how the original L5R tables worked, and then impose upon any with a spare moment or two to offer some ideas (mostly pertaining to opportunities in said combat, although alternate ideas for a mechanic in general are welcome by all means).
How it works: There are four levels of engagement: Reserves, Disengaged, Engaged, Heavily Engaged. The dangers and opportunities involved will vary according to the level of engagement. Those in the Reserves rarely receive damage (unless their army is being decimated) but aren't afforded many opportunities to impact the fight at large. Heavily Engaged places the player in the thick of enemy forces, receiving far graver injuries while being afforded several opportunities for heroics that can turn the battle in their favor.
There are two factors at work here: the performance of the heroes, and the performance of the opposing generals. What rolls will handle this in the Pathfinder version are still up in the air. The two generals make opposed "battle" rolls, with modifiers based upon strength & size of the involved forces as well as "Heroic Opportunities" that players successfully pursue. The result will determine if they are Winning, Losing, or at a Stalemate.
After having determined if the army is Winning, Losing, or in Stalemate, the players will make the appropriate "battle" rolls and consult the table to see how they fare. Each entry will basically break down as follows: Damage received, (*)Glory received (this is a mechanic that will need switched, as Glory does not exist in PF - derp!), and Heroic Opportunities options.
(*): Thoughts on replacing glory have thus far strayed into the territory of XP gains, Hero Point acquisition (more on this in a bit), and boons. I'm hesitant to grant flat XP, as it would then be one-sided in favor of the front-line martial characters. I like the idea of Battle-only Hero Points, and if instituted would come up with a quick-list of Battle-only Hero Point uses like mitigating damage, adding to the general's "battle" roll, improving the character's "battle" roll, spontaneously changing level of engagement, and so on. Boons are another limited option, that could reflect lives saves or friends made by virtue of the awe-inspiring slaughter the Player dished out during the fighting.
Heroic Opportunities are situations that arise throughout the course of the fight that present the players with a unique scenario that might allow their forces to capitalize on the player-initiated momentum. Examples include, fighting your way into the enemy's archers, gaining an open shot at a commanding officer, stumbling into an enemy spellcaster, confronting a "champion" NPC from the opposing forces, and so on.
What will help me at this point: I need to come up with a substitute for the Battle rolls that will be as fair as possible to all classes. Using BAB seems like the easiest route, though I want some considerations given to the Rogue/Priest and Caster progression charts as well. Spells should be a huge tide turner in warfare, and while I expect a mage's capacity to participate in prolonged fighting to be astoundingly low, I would expect rounds in which they unleashed their arcane repertoire to come with enormous bonuses. Rogues, on the other hand, while savvy enough to participate in the hand-to-hand aspect of massive warfare, should obviously be able to capitalize on the chaos of fighting to employ some of their more dastardly attacks.
I'll work on coming up with a list of Heroic Opportunities in the mean time. At first, they will be designed specifically for the encounter I'm working this conversion for, although if any one deems it worth the effort I would be more than willing to open it up to Mass Battles in general.
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Exalted has a decent Mass battle mechanics, there was also another book that covered this that I liked I think it's Fields of Blood? (someone correct me if wrong.
Basically what it did was creating units of fighters 10 men strong each making a stat block for the unit
Example:
Medium Infantry
HP: 70
Initiative: +1
AC: 18
Melee Attack: +3
Damage: 6
Saves: +4Fort, +1 Ref, +0 Will
Feats: ???
Equipment:
Longsword, Large Shield, Scale Mail
Hp = 7 (average from a warrior with +2 Con x10)
AC: Is the AC of the majority in the unit
Melee attack is the average bonus to melee attacks
Damage: Static average damage the unit does to another unit.
Saves: as normal for a warrior NPC
Feats play an interesting role like power attack adds 1 to the damage directly while feats like weapon focus still add just the +1 to melee attacks.
If units would have more than one attack they just add a +1 to their melee to represent the likelihood of hitting.
Heroes joining or being part of a unit add bonuses to the units. If I remember he adds HP, melee and damage to the unit, while he still takes saves separately. Heroes cannot be singled out unless another enemy hero is fighting in the other unit which they can duel it out or just keep fighting as units with bonuses.
I do not have my L5R books at hand but will give them a read and give you my 2 cents on that also if you don't mind.
By all means. My aim is to mostly gloss over the bulk of the fighting, and use the L5R system's take on it to highlight moments where the PC's actions push the army towards victory.
Another thought is to introduce a "Fumble/Crit" mechanic to mirror the Heroic Opportunities. Whether this would be reflected in scenarios ONLY available to people who roll natural 1s or 20s or simply constitute some sort of bonus I have not settled on. I will likely go with the former.
Fumbling could simply provide enemy combatants a Heroic Opportunity against the Characters - An enemy spellcaster decides the player is causing too much trouble and drops a fireball on the player's head; An enemy champion watches the player cut down three soldiers in a single round and catches the player by surprise; Multiple units isolate the player from their forces in an attempt to bring them down (thus forcing them into a much heavier level of engagement)...
Critical success might mean a separate class of Heroic Opportunities altogether, adding a player-favorable stipulation to the result. This might range from a flat bonus to getting the drop on whomever they are pursuing.
Well, I got a Google Doc typed up, but given its origins I'm not sure if linking to it here would be kosher.
I don't know if it'll help, but the Pathfinder Kingmaker Adventure Path: War of the River Kings has a set of rules for mass combat. Might be worth taking a look at it. As I recall they are pretty cool.