I've been diving deep into the Mass Combat rules in the run up to WOTRK... and I'm hitting some snags.
Here are the Big Questions:
1) What guidelines should I use to cap levels or sizes on player armies?
2) Is there any functional benefit at all for a CR5 army of 500 Level 2 Fighters over a CR5 Army of 25 Level 10 Fighters?
3) All things being equal, is there ever a reason NOT to use a higher level but smaller army?
I lean in general towards capping individual humanoid army units at level 5, but that creates significant problems later on in the game. I also notice that a couple of armies in WOTRK and a number in the addendum to SOATS have humanoid units leveled 6-8. It feels unfair to limit the players if it's considered kosher for other unnamed nations.
The largest possible reserve army is Huge (when stationed in a Garrison). If I keep with a lvl 5 cap, this means that a CR4 base + 4 for huge results in a maximum CR of 8 for regular armies. The first mass combat encounter for WOTRK has a CR10, a CR6 and a CR5. If my players want a ghost of a chance out the gate, they need either several garrisons full of armies or they need to raise massive armies on the fly (which always struck me as weird).
If I allow up to lvl 10 armies... things get really weird. All of a sudden, it makes zero sense to recruit a huge army of anything, since the best armies are the highest levels. Worse, the higher the level, the bigger bonus stats they get from spellcasting etc. and the LESS they pay in upkeep for weapons/armor/mounts/etc. AND the less penalties you take for defeat.
Even in lower levels, size makes no sense. Why make a colossal army of CR1 humans when you can make a huge army of CR3 humans? The latter is the EXACT SAME THING with 1/5 resource costs.
WOTRK's guidelines for armies are pretty unhelpful too. The kingdom will probably be Size 100+ by then... which means they can recruit a gargantuan army of 2nd level fighters? Whoop de doo. Is anyone in Kingmaker actually going to make an army like that?
Anybody have thoughts on this? I'm thinking about implementing an experience point mechanic for armies, but that may just make things even more complicated and less sensible.
Maybe I'll just say they can't recruit units of more than half of APL and use the WOTRK's guidelines for max army size (Huge at this point).
|
I know you're trying to make the basic Mass Combat rules work with an AP, but for your players' sake, let me please offer you this alternative:
It will be a little more work for you but trust me, it will be so much more fun to actually play out a battle where the PCs get to have an immediate effect than do the bookeeping for the abstract system from Ultimate Campaign. The battles will play out much more like normal encounters.
OH GOOD LORD... it's just $10??? I'm sorely tempted.
This better not be another mathtastic deathfest...
Attention peoples:
It was NOT a mathtastic deathfest. A LOT more fun than the standard rules.
My review here:
http://paizo.com/products/btpy991r?The-Very-Last-Book-About-War