Large Scale Combat Rules

These rules are for use in Destiny's Gate, during Large Scale Combat, of armies against armies.
For the Quick and Dirty lowdown, skip to the bottom of the page.

Basic Rules

Armies will have a number of HP equivalent to their numbers. Example: An army 1000 man strong has 1000HP.
The Attack to Defense Ratio will be 60/40. This is to allow an army with twice the numbers to be defeatable by a smaller opposing force.
Example: The previous army (1000 man strong) will be 600 ATK and 400 DEF.

Terms:
HP: Health Points or Human People. An approximate number of people in any given army. When the HP is depleted, the army is defeated and in fact, destroyed.
ATK: Attack Rating. ATK is the number of HP damage an army attempts to inflict. Base score is 60% of the full number of the army.
DEF: Defense Rating. DEF is the resistance to HP Damage an army has available. Base score is 40% of the full number of the army.
DEF Save: During the Resolution phase, the DEF save means how much from the opponent's ATK is subtracted.

Rules of Engagement

Army battles are settled in a roll off by the GM-Controlled NPC (Called the Army Leader), and the PC currently in charge of the army (Preferably a Tactician-type, but anyone currently in charge will do). The roll is a simple opposed roll, of Leadership vs Leadership.
The Winner inflicts damage on the loser based on the winner's ATK rating, subtracted from the loser's DEF rating. Then 200HP are, regardless, added to the damage of the losing army, allowing for even a cripplingly outmatched army to cause some damage to the enemy troops via good Leadership.
The GM and PC roleplay out the post-resolution state of their forces, regroup and ready for the next round. Damage inflicted is taken to the base HP of the army. Half of the damage is taken out of ATK, and the other half is taken out of DEF. As you can see, DEF will not remain on the same ratio as it started, meaning an army taking a lot of damage will lose more DEF than attack. This is normal, as the less people you have, the more likely to try to hit hard you are, unless you choose to run away.

Strategies

• Charge: The most basic and simple tactic. This comes in many flavors, from charging on open terrain to unleashing a volley of arrows or even laying down a steam of magical fire. The GM or PC should mention what kind of charge this is, as some abilities are better suited against some types of damage. Opposed Leadership Roll, Player vs GM. No Bonuses.
• Flanking: Positioning the army to attack a side of the opponent's forces, causing chaos and destabilizing their defensive positions. Not easy to do on the best of days. Opposed Leadership Roll. Flanker gets a -3 penalty to their roll due to the difficulty of their movement. If they succeed, the opponent is at half DEF score.
• Back Attack: Striking the enemy from behind their attack formations. Must be set up via RP or other means first. On a successful roll, the army attacking from the back does full damage, without defense. Can be combined with All-Out Attack.
  • Ambush: A variation of the Back Attack, in which an enemy lies in wait and springs a trap on the opponent unawares. The terrain needs to be appropriate. Can NOT be combined with All-Out Attack. Both are subject to an opposed Leadership roll, with the Ambushers at a -2 penalty, but must get GM approval beforehand, or be set up with a Special or Super.
• All-Out Attack: No holding back. The army rushes ahead, throwing defense to the wind and hoping to simply crush the opposing forces with sheer numbers. The army choosing to All-Out Attack will get its DEF added to its ATK for this attack. However, failure means they take the opponent's full damage, without a DEF save.
• Defensive Positions: The army makes a defensive stand. The DEF and ATK are temporarily inverted. During the resolution phase, ATK and DEF are returned to normal for calculating damage and score adjustments.

Order of Battle

The battle has four basic steps, with a few optional ways to modify the outcome.

First Step: Choose Strategy
From the previous list, pick the strategy your army will adopt. Take into account any modifiers, make note of them, and RP out what the PCs are doing. Detail what your assault consists of, due to some characters having an ability to mitigate or enhance certain types of damage.

Second Step: Roll-Off
Honestly the simplest part. The Player and GM each roll Leadership. After modifiers, highest score wins. Move to step three.

• On a roll of 1: The army suffers 200HP damage extra, even if it 'wins' the roll due to a higher modifier. If it loses the roll, it operates at half DEF for the resolution. Called a 'Botch'.
• On a roll of 10: The army, provided it wins the roll, may reroll immediately. If it wins, it inflicts the damage again. If it loses, it takes no damage and the opponents break away. Called a 'Critical Chance'.
• If one army rolls a 1 and the other army rolls a 10, the Winner inflicts double damage BEFORE the DEF save, including the minimum 200HP damage becoming 400HP. This is called a Critical Botch for the losing army. At The GM's discretion, other problems may strike the losing army.

Third Step: Resolution
There are two possible outcomes here. A tie, or a win. This is where the PCs' Stat Bonuses come into play. The player should add the PC's relevant Stat Bonuses to either their DEF or their ATK to calculate damage.

• In case of a Tie, both armies take 200HP damage, losing 100 to ATK and 100 to DEF.
• Winner inflicts ATK score, minus the loser's DEF score, +200 HP. (Any successful roll not somehow affected by a Special will cause at least 200 HP damage to the losing army)

Both armies should tally their losses and divide the damage in half from ATK and DEF.

Final Step: Roleplay:
Roleplay the army's new position, then ready for the next round, and get ready to start again. Then see First Step.

Exalted Effects

The Player Characters are phenomenally strong additions to any army. All of them can turn the tide of a battle to whatever army they choose to back. All of them affect the army's effective strength by granting a Stat Boost to the army during the Resolution phase. At the base, this can turn a small force into a dangerous threat. Player Characters also each possess a Special ability, a move they can use at various points in the battle (Usually either just before the die roll or after the resolution), which can either cause or prevent important damage. These have their own limitations. Finally, every Player Character also has a Super Ability, an overwhelmingly powerful effect which can turn the tide of battle, but at the cost of the Player Character's participation, either due to self-destructive side effects or simply over-exhaustion.

Stat Boost: Every single PC (almost) grants 500 extra points to their army. This can go from 500 in ATK or DEF, or 250 in both, depending on the character's abilities for battle, and whether they are Offensive, Defensive, or Balanced. This Stat Boost comes into play during resolution. Even effects which may halve DEF take into account the PC's Stat Bonus before taking effect.

Special Ability: Every Player Character has a Special Ability. Most are relatively unique (though some people share the same ability), and come in two flavors. Active and Passive. Active Special Abilities need to be declared, usually before the roll, with some exceptions, and have a limited number of uses. There is also a cooldown of a turn before an ability may be used again. An ability used on turn 1 can only be used again on turn 3, and so on. Note that Abilities can Stack, allowing more than one player to use them in a single turn and combining advantages. Passive abilities are always active, so long as the PC is still within the army. (See below)

Super Ability: All Player Characters have a singular, one-shot Super Ability. This ability is generally overwhelming or seemingly unfair, but allows for the PC to cause serious turmoil on the battlefield. This ability can generally be used at any time during the four phases, with some exceptions. This ability will normally allow for rather impressive damage or a very unique and potent turn of events. However, for various reasons, it will either exhaust, drain, or actually wound the PC, to the point where they need to leave the battlefield, thereby denying their army use of their Special or Stat Bonuses. Only ONE Super may be used in any given turn. These do NOT stack, and whoever types it first gets to use it first.

Optional Rules

Rules regarding terrain, movement, weather, and other such things. These are largely optional and should only be used if the PCs and GMs plan for it (Ambushes and High-Ground combat).

• A- Specials have a cool down of one round, preventing them from being spammed and instantly winning the game.
• B- Good RP from everyone should get a +1 bonus, and bad RP should get a -1 penalty that the GM may not need to announce. (Optional)
• C- Terrain Modifiers: Where armies fight
  • C1-Plains: Any unobtrusive or otherwise generally flat (or lightly hilly) area counts as Plains. Plains have no terrain modifiers. If in a grassy area, mention for Naomi.
  • C2-Forest: Any heavily wooded area. +1 to Ambush or Flanking attacks for any army within the Forest area. An army choosing to defend gets +200 DEF in a forest.
  • C3-Desert: Heavily sandy areas with harsh conditions. ATK penalties of -200 for any army fighting in the Desert. Flanking or Ambushes are at -2 to success.
  • C4-Swamp: Swamp or otherwise muck or tar filled area. All Defensive Positions attempts are at -2 to succeed. Regular DEF lowered by 100. Ambush success +3, but no flanking bonus.
  • C5-Mountain - High Ground: Strategically higher to attack and grants a better view of the enemy forces, in mountainous terrain. DEF +1000, Bonus of +3 to attack rolls. Flanking at -2
  • C6-Mountain - Both: Both armies are fighting on a large mountain. Flanking at -4. Automatic HP Loss after a failed/tied roll is 400HP, not 200. DEF +500 for each side.
  • C7-Frozen Tundra: Like plains, but in sub-zero conditions. Ice Magic causes an extra 400HP damage after DEF Save. Losses on a tie is now 300HP, not 200HP.
  • C8-Heavy Snow: Fighting in knee or hip-deep snow. -2 to Flanking, no Ambush penalties. -200 ATK on both sides.
• D- Weather: The conditions for battle.
  • D1-Sunny, Overcast, Light Rain, Light Snow: No modifications.
  • D2-Heavy Rain: Windy and powerful storm, influencing visibility and movement. Flanking +1, Ambush +1.
  • D3-Tempest: Wind powerful enough to blow people away, or hinder movement. Flanking -3, Ambush -3
  • D4-Heavy Snowfall, Sleet, Snowy Mountains: Blinding snow, and freezing cold. -200 ATK, -100 DEF, Flanking +3, Ambush +3. After 4 rounds, both armies lose 100HP extra per round from frostbite and other weather related wounds.

Quick and Dirty Rules

To avoid all the reading above:

Army Stats: Health Points = ATK (60%) + DEF (40%)
Choose Strategy:

• Charge: No Modifiers
• Flanking: -3 To Leadership roll for the Flanker.
• All-Out Attack: DEF is added to ATK for the turn, effective DEF is 0.
• Defensive Positions: ATK and DEF are inverted for the turn.
  • Back Attack/Ambush: If set up with RP before, Leadership roll at -2 penalty to succeed. Opponent gets no DEF for this strike.

Activate Special/Super: If Applicable.
Roll Off: Leadership vs Leadership, high number wins.

• Rolling a 1 causes the loss of 200HP regardless of victory. Losing the roll means defense is halved (and damage is taken as normal).
• Rolling a 10 and winning means you get to reroll an attack, which even if lost, costs you no HP, but winning will inflict damage.
• Rolling a 1 and a 10 on opposite sides means the one who rolled 10 does double damage (before DEF save).

Resolution: Winner's ATK - Loser's DEF, then +200 = HP damage taken. Half is lost from ATK, half from DEF. Add PC Bonus stats to relevant stat.
Activate Special/Super: If Applicable.
Ready for next turn..