A Harvest of Men (III)

War Week continues!  Yesterday I talked about some potential modifiers for the mass-battle system I’m working out.  The bare bones of the system are in place, although the numbers might need some adjustment — the modifiers are still pretty tenuous, for instance.  But the basic pieces are mostly there.

The main thing still missing is the effect of the PCs’ choices.  Even if they’re soldiers pressed into service rather than an elite commando squad, they’re still the protagonists of the story.  They should be able to make decisions that influence the outcome of the battle.

PC decisions

PCs have a few options to change their odds.  (Major NPCs can also benefit from similar options, should the GM not choose to grant them plot immunity.)

First, a PC can expend a daily attack power to gain a +5 bonus to one d20 roll.  This represents the PC using that power during one of the day’s battles.  (The PC is assumed to use his at-will and encounter powers freely.)  The PC can also use a daily item power or, with the GM’s permission (and some nice description) a daily utility power to gain this bonus.  The PC can expend multiple powers on one roll if he likes, but the bonus is reduced by 1 each time, to a minimum additional bonus of +2.

Second, a PC can spend an action point, if he has one, to reroll a die.  The reroll gains a +2 bonus (or +5 if the character is a human with the Action Surge feat).

Third, a PC can choose to Strive for Glory or Strive for Survival.  By Striving for Glory, a player adds dice (the exact quantity is the player’s choice, to a maximum of double the starting amount) to his dice pool, therefore increasing the possible number of successes (and the possible resulting Glory).  By Striving for Survival, a player subtracts up to half the dice from his dice pool, to a minimum of 1d20, decreasing the possible number of failures (and limiting the loss of healing surges).

Rolling

The basic mechanism, once the DC is found, is for each character to roll the number of dice that are in the pool.  Each failure costs a healing surge; a character who runs out of healing surges is dead, captured, or has some other catastrophe befall him.  Each success represents the character acquitting himself well on the field, and is worth one Glory point.  The overall number of successes vs. failures describes the general course of the battle; a major battle involving 4 PCs (5 dice, times 4 players, plus the GM’s 5 dice = 25 rolls total) with 13 successes and 12 failures is a close-fought victory, whereas one with 21 successes and 4 failures is a rout.

Glory

Glory is the mechanism by which I measure how the NPCs perceive the PCs’ performance.  A PC who earns a good deal of Glory can expect improved reactions from soldiers and commanders, and perhaps even the civilian population.  A PC who earns little Glory can expect to be thought of as a coward.  Of course, the Glory to be earned depends on the intensity of the conflict; it’s difficult to distinguish oneself by affecting the course of the war during a light skirmish, whereas a brutal killing field offers many opportunities for a would-be hero to show off a bit — and many witnesses to his success, or lack thereof.

Cowardice or Incompetence is the stigma a character earns if he achieves too little Glory.  A character with a martial background is more likely to be thought a coward; those of other backgrounds may instead be considered incompetent.  The effects are basically the same:  soldiers who know of the character’s reputation will look down upon him.  He will have a penalty to many social skill checks against soldiers, officers, and particularly-patriotic civilians who know of him.  He can overcome this stigma by participating in another battle to better effect; it will also be forgotten by many in the course of time (although officers along the PCs’ chain of command, and soldiers beside whom they were fighting, will tend to have long memories…).  This should not be too severe a penalty, although it may result in other consequences if the PC is, say, a knight bound by the code of chivalry.  It’s meant to motivate the player to do better, not to punish a couple of bad rolls too severely.

A character will earn this stigma only after achieving less than one success in a medium or heavy conflict, two successes in an intense one, or three successes in a killing field.  A character never earns this stigma for fighting in a light skirmish, even with zero successes.  (Running from such a conflict would be another matter, but that’s roleplay, not a result of this system…)

Adequate Performance is the level at which the character earned enough Glory to not be considered a coward, but not enough to distinguish herself on the field of battle.  This is the minimum level the players should want to aim for, in order to avoid the social impact of the above level.  It’s relatively easy to achieve, in most cases, through expenditure of daily powers or skill points if pure luck fails.

Glorious Performance is enough to get the character noticed by her fellow soldiers.  She’ll enjoy a minor social skill bonus from soldiers, officers, and patriotic citizens.  Although the bonus will fade with time, the character’s own companions and commanding officers will remember her deeds and remain generally well-disposed toward her, unless something happens to change that.  A character who achieves this level of performance gains an action point for the next period of activity, whether that’s further warfare or adventuring.

A glorious performance is somewhat difficult to achieve.  It requires two successes for a light skirmish, three for a medium conflict, five for a heavy, seven for an intense, and eight for a killing field.

Heroic Performance is the kind of thing that inspires songs and stories:  the character pulls off some monumental feat, perhaps even one that proves decisive in the battle.  This is an overwhelming success, the sort that probably earns the character a commendation and maybe a battlefield promotion or a knighting.    The character will find himself celebrated, enjoy a social skill bonus when dealing with soldiers of that nation (and a smaller one when dealing with civilians), and perhaps earn a reward of some value — a low-level character might be granted a warhorse or a new suit of plate armor, while a high-level one might earn a title and lands or a magical weapon or crest.  The character also gains two action points for the next period of activity.

Heroic performance is only possible by Striving for Glory.  It requires seven Glory for a medium conflict, 10 for a heavy, 13 for intense, and 16 for a killing field.  A character never earns heroic performance for fighting in a light skirmish.

Tomorrow:  Walking through an example.

Related posts:

1. A Harvest of Men: In Play
2. War Week: A Harvest of Men
3. A Harvest of Men (II)
4. War and How to Wage It
5. Heroic Effort