My group begins war of the River Kings this week, and Ultimate Campaign arrived just in time with some new options for Mass Combat (but it looks like the rules are mostly the same as what is in the AP).
So, a question for DM's whos players got this far.
How did you let them raise their armies?
The players kingdom has plenty of BP to raise a few good armies. But it seems that there are NO RULES (or even suggestions) for actually raising the army, just rules to maintain it (via consumption). So what worked for your groups? If they want to hier elite Kobold warriors (lets say warrior 5 or what the heck warrior 8+) did you let them? The highest class level in the sample armys is 4 (is there a reason for that?).
If the PCs have the BP to keep a collosal army of 10th level fighters (2000) with an ACR of 18. Consumption of 9 (or 36 a month) Does this sound out of line?
Trying to wrap my head around the rules...and logic keeps getting in the way. In my mind there are simply not 2000 level ten fighters running around the area. I would guess there are maybe 10-20 or so (and that is a number I literaly just made up). But if I say you can only hire Fighter 4's am I gimping them, unnecessarily? Do the rules assume the PCs will raise what they can afford? Is the fighter 10s that comprise an army, an abstract concept in the way that BP is? Maybe they are not really 10th level fighters, and that is just a representation of the army's strength? Not sure what concepts to hold and which to let go of?
I guess my real big question is: "In order to run a fun and exciting war (not tactical, as rules are not set for that) what restrictions did you other DMs impose upon your players as they were assembling their armies?"
Suggestions please.
So, I re-read the WotRK mass combat rules (the ones IN Kingmaker) last night and came away with some new perspectives. I think some of my confusion was from reading the UCamp rules while prepping for the game.
First, I am now convinced that the players should NOT be making their own armies with the mass combat army rules. If I allow that I really will get an ACR 18 mounted hoard that will roll across the Glenebon Uplands and right into Pitax. I found a note that says that the AP assumes that the PCs will have about an ACR 11 army. And that the example armies in the back are the player’s standard choices (of course they can be adjusted to fit the needs of each group using the rules provided … etc …) But my point is that the AP seems to assume that the provided armies are a good starting point. That is what I was missing, some point of reference.
ALSO, and very important and ALSO missing from the UCamp rules are the size prerequisites! You need a Kingdom size of 150 to get a colossal army in WotRK. So here is what I plan to present to my players tonight:
The standard armies available to muster are the ones listed in WotRK. Your Kingdom is not yet 150, so you can only raise a gargantuan army max. If you want to customize your starting armies I am going to base them off of the listed ones available. That means, if they have NPC class levels (max level 3 since that is the highest one in the mod), and if they have PC class levels (max level 2 since that is the highest one in the mod). If you want to raise a “monster” army I will be using “base” monsters (not advanced, no extra HD or class levels), and the GM will tell you how many you get based upon what he thinks you can logically get in the region. Also, you will need to have had contact/treaties with said group of creatures based on the prerequisites listed in WotRK.
How does that sound? Too restrictive, or just right?
Nope, makes sense. You build the armies, they can ask for them.
Let us know how it went?