The adventurers enter a dungeon, a ruins, sewers, or abandon temple and find themselves in a series of personal battles. A group of goblins pepper them with small black arrows before they repel down to the floor and engage in hand-to-hand combat. Skeleton warriors emerge from their earthen graves, exploding debris throughout the crypt, rusted and jagged weapons slicing at their moral opponents as they charge in a silent rage. The floor collapses under the party's weight, the rotten boards shower down on them and that's when they notice the soft, sticky floor moves. A family of green slimes quickly move up the hands and slip beneath armor and clothing.
All scenes from close battles. Something we all have some skill in. However, what happens during large battles? There are many different systems out there to manage large battles. No GM wants to roll for each individual participant. But the personal touch is lost in these systems. It becomes more of a practice in accounting. Calculating numbers of troop strengths and giving various advantages in battle a score to be considered in the column of numbers.
I don't have an answer, but I've been involved with many of the sub-systems during play. What should be a climatic battle came down to number crunching. It detaches the personal heroics from the game.
From Total War Rise of Mordor
Like I mentioned, I don't have a clear answer. However, I have run a handful of big battles over the past year and I found my non-system works fairly well. This works for me, your mileage my vary.
- I keep the battle as personal focused on the adventurers as much as possible.
- The massive battle that happens around them is part of the setting. Assign a few rolls with advantages worked in and have the players roll these.
- Allow for heroics that you wouldn't normally allow in a regular game. For example, say a fight is surrounded by goblins and he does 15 points of damage. Each goblin has 3hp each. Fighter killed 5 goblins in a single swing.
- In addition, if the players come up with crazy ideas let them attempt them. Give it a roll, if they succeed fantastic, if they fail fantastic. Even in success and failure, results are not always what the players expect.
- Use tactics for the enemy to make it interesting to keep the players on their toes because they will have been scheming what to do. I know mine will.
- Always have one or two twists ready for the battle. Good or bad.
- Make sure you keep the pressure on the party.
- Allow death to occur. If one of the party goes down, allow one last heroic act.
- Then after the battle is over, consider the repercussions of it. It will have a ripple effect.
While this is not a comprehensive list, nor an organized system, it is a loose philosophy to enter into larger battles to keep them personal.
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