War stories

Cthulhu_Wakes

Cthulhu_Wakes

Black Sun in a White World
Has anyone aside from myself and a few others actually run a true, honest to God war story? I'm talking massive invasions, brutal rebellions, the mass undertaking of logistics, putting that Conviction 5 through it's paces.
 
this was before mail and steel but i ran a game where a circle of solars marries into control of the Marukahn. they then got the res piss legion before ejava took it south and tried to get a war going against Thorns.
 
Indeed, I don't use mass combat rules. Huge battles are more set piece and thematic unless people have a true stake in them.
 
Not in Exalted as of yet, but I fear one is coming.


Now Palladium Fantasy, that is another matter. Had to make my own mass combat system for it too.
 
I've always wanted to run and be part of a militarily focused game, no luck as of yet. What kind of problems did you run into, throughuot the game but especially in the beginning? Any suggestions?
 
Haven't done warstories persay, but I have had my party go through warstruck nations...seeing the injured troops, the battered buildings, the scarred terrain, and the regular citizens in despair over lost loved ones...gets quite emotional
 
I really had no troubles really in the beginning, I simply had outer world events take a course as my PCs were hunkered down and adventuring inside of Rathess fighting for their lives (long story). When they emerged victorious and a few members less they found the Scavenger Lands on the verge of war with the Realm and it's new Emperor (also a long story). Suffice it to say, they were asleep in apartments in Lookshy when they awoke to find the naval guns of Lookshy Manse and Harbor opening up on a Realm blockade and the city basically resembled Baghdad from '91, flak and implosion bows opening up as Realm airships skirted the airspace. It was wicked.


The entire city was on alert, and the PCs watched in near awe at the sight.
 
The more and more I read the Outcaste book, the more and more I salivate for a good war game.


Did you give your PCs any control of military forces? As much as I like the idea of taking a small band and building them into a force to rival Lookshy, it just seems easier and less stressful to let the Solars inherit a sizable force. Also, what ratio dice rolls to thematic action do you use?
 
I ran a very long game at once, it was all about an invasion by a monstrous army of first circle demons, led by possessing entities. they used a charm that allowed them to take over a living host and subvert them phisically and mentally. the circle of Solars were the first to discover the invasion, along with a Fair folk Catafract, and a pair of Dragonblooded scouts. the solars had to build an army, make peace with a dragonblood outpost, and plan and fight a major war in the east. over all it was a blast in a half, I will say that.
 
Nice Gtroc   :D


DG- Mainly I used thematic action, though they did get into a few scuffles miles outside Lookshy and across the river in Goodharbor. It was brutal fighting there, mud slick ground, warstriders, yeah...big scale fights. And honestly, they didn't make an army. They talked several key players into helping them, and had a tenuous alliance with Ma-Ha-Suchi, seeing as he made a move on the South.


The war on Lookshy was sick. The war to get the Realm's brown water barges in the Yanaze was alone a big gamble. The PCs viewed and took part countering in a few massive Realm offensives. Six foot legions landed in the Marukani coasts and they slugged it out with local Confederate troops and Lookshy foreign legion, plus my PCs and several other Solars and gods.


That was merely a DIVERSION for the real invasion fleet. Half the entire Wood Fleet, plus elements from the Fire and Air navies, carrying some thirty legions to the shores. This was during the campaign I introduced one of the more insidious (though not entirely original) parts of the Defense Grid the new Emperor found. Clones. A long hidden, replicated army. It was a damn good plot point and shock to the PCs. I loved it.
 
Haven't done it in Exalted yet, but have done war stories in other settings


they can be a lot of fun


but some players wont go with them because they feel the dice rolls take too long
 
Shit, I just make a lot of it thematic, long cinematics. It works better. Fights only happen really everyonce in a while for the PCs.
 
CW, thats EXACTLY the kind of game I'd love to run or be part of. The imagery, complexity and depth of story...and so EPIC! The runup to the conflict...the battles themselves, years of conflict...and then the aftermath of a war ravaged land...so many ideas...sigh...but no playground for the little ideas to enjoy.
 
Indeed, I have several war stories written up, some are in Plot Forming, and some are here in me brains, ready to be written down. I love epic war stories, think the Clone Wars, think Patriot, think Gladiator's opening scenes. That stuff simply screams out it's appeal to me. Now with the new Wonders of the Lost Age book, I can make it all the more interesting on the mortal front.
 
dgiannantonio said:
I've always wanted to run and be part of a militarily focused game, no luck as of yet. What kind of problems did you run into, throughout the game but especially in the beginning? Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Sorry, took me a bit to get back to this thread.


The Palladium game itself lasted a a year of weekly games. One of the last games I had where the schedules worked out for a regular weekly thing.


The first 3-4 months were normal fantsay game stuff, travellin the world, discovering new stuff, etc. Eventually, they got drawn into a war used as nothing more than a distraction for the BBEG to assemble Castlerake, a legendary sword that could topple nations.


Once they got involved, they ended up up raising their own army. It was a mixed army, Human, Wolfen, even a couple young Dragons. It even had a small division of magic users. And the most unique NPC I've ever ran, a Dwarven Chef who had weapon skill slots in Frying Pan and Cleaver. He took out 6 demons when the enemy attacked the camp before they crippled his leg.


The mass combat system I made was much like the one for Exalted, in that it was an abstraction, and the troops served as little more than bonuses to the commanders. If the PC were directly involved, we rolled it out, in 3 steps. In between each step was a "mini-game" so to speak, where the PCs and a squad of NPCs would try and take an important objective or defeat a major enemy commander or unit. The results of the mini-battles would give bonuses or penalties to each phase of the mass battle. If they sectioned off an NPC commader to take an objective at a different location (which they often had to, by the end of the game these guys had read The Art of War just to keep from losing the war) at the same time, I simply used the NPC commander's stats and rolld out the mass battle in secret. They heard the results of the battle later, when a runner brought word or the main force reached that location.


With the way it works, Exalted Mass Combat would not be much different. How in depth you get in any battle scene will depend on how involved the PCs are with that battle. Watch some good war movies, both modern era and ancient era like Troy or Braveheart. Modern movies will give a good idea how magitech would impact a sword and shield battle, and the older ones will get you down to te gritty level of combat that you'd see in wars were the majority of the fighting is up close. Use them to guide your narration.
 
Very cool dwarf in the game you made Ops.   :D  Yeah we had our own half assed mass combat system for most of our games. Mainly consisting of a single die of varying size (d4 to d20) representing heroes or units. Then you roll, then cancel out the dice and the side that has dice left wins, then you fill in the story cinematic. It was a good way of doing things.
 
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