Mass Combat

[MrStabby]

So the UA mass combat system for 5th edition... kind of has some rough edges?

Does anyone know of any alternative rules designed for 5th edition that would work well for this kind of combat?

I want a big climactic battle but with some smaller "mission" type roles in the middle of it and I want my players to have a role at all levels of it.

[Sigreid]

Not designed for 5e, but I always liked the way D6 Star Wars did mass combat. You only really track what the players do, and the battle goes as the player fights go. And you make their tasks harder or easier based on how hard the overall battle is supposed to be.

[NecroDancer]

I just focus on how well the PCs fight and roll percentage dice for the army, depending if the PCs take down leader or capture key locations one side gets an advantage

[Zman]

You can always just skip the rolling for mass combat and narrate what makes sense modified when necessary for what the characters do. Give the characters choices and depending on how successful they are, the choices they make, and how quickly they complete them it determines if the battle is victorious.

Here is a simple example.

Party has a fight at the west wall and defeats the enemy saving some NPCs. Horns sound to the north calling for reinforcements as they norther wall and gate is being overrun. At the same time calls for aid at the south gate where the Knights are massing to ride forth and cut the head off the proverbial snake, but can't do so unless the gate is cleared.

In this scenario the defenders will win regardless, but depending on the characters action it can happen multiple ways. If the party heads south they can clear the gate and the knight contingent can win the day, but the north wall is overrun dozens of civilians, soldiers, and burning a portion of north town. Maybe even a reoccurring NPC dies in the fight as well. If they go north they save civilians, soldiers, and their friend, but the Knights are delayed and while able to break the horde, they are unable to kill the leader requiring a future mission or resulting in future problems.

That is a simple example, and a complex battle could have even more choices, contingencies, and possible outcomes. Sometimes a battle will hinge on the players actions, sometimes their actions merely shape the outcome.

[ClintACK]

What are you looking for the system to do for you?

You don't really want to sit behind your DM screen and roll dice to decide what happens between the good NPCs and bad NPCs down at the far end of the battlefield, do you?

Battles are confusing. Your Players don't need to know exactly what's happening everywhere on the battlefield -- just the big dramatic turning points, where they can make a difference.

"The sky is torn asunder as an enormous demon enters the fray swinging a massive ball-and-chain, knocking dozens of pikemen and their shield-bearers out of the line. The whole course of the battle hangs on a thread." (Oh, dear God, the DM ported War Hulk over to 5e and gave it to a Goristro with a cheesy reach weapon?!) -- That, they need to notice and deal with. The precise casualties the NPC archers on the left flank are inflicting on the worg-riding enemy cavalry? Fudge it.

[MrStabby]

Ok, what I want out of it is a good question.

1) A change of pace and a chance to kind of play a different game for a bit whilst still progressing the same story with the same characters there.

2) Have the characters be able to use their class abilities and stats to impact the battle

3) To have a kind of campaign defining epic scene

4) Specifically - there would be a number of caves and portals that a small number of PCs could be sent through and part of the fight would be to seize these locations and hold them until the raid on the far side (executed in normal D&D scale) could be completed. By having the same team responsible for holding the territory they would need to escape to and the work on the far side I had hoped to put extra time pressure on the PCs.