Wargame rules

This is a summary of most of the rules for Archmage's d20 wargame RP.

You must contact Archmage by email or post to the off-wiki thread if you have questions.

Creating Loyal Units

Your leader will command, at the start, 4 "units." A unit consists of a maximum of 9 soldiers. These are your leader's combat-worthy followers; he or she will have other followers that are non-combatants, but the majority of the game will focus around the battles. Each unit is constructed with 8 points.

• Warrior: 1 point buys a 1st level barbarian, fighter, ranger, rogue, or scout.
• Spellcaster: 2 points buys a 1st level bard, cleric, druid, healer, sorcerer, warmage, or wizard.
• Professional: 3 points buys a 2nd level character of any class listed thus far.

Each unit will also have one commander. The commander is a 3rd level character of any class, pending permission. The commander is the only character that may be of the marshal character class.

• A 1st level character starts with 150 gp worth of equipment and valuables, regardless of class.
• A 2nd level character starts with 1,000 gp worth of equipment and valuables, regardless of class.
• A 3rd level commander starts with 2,500 gp worth of equipment and valuables, regardless of class.

Soldiers under your command, especially those that come with more gear, are not going to be willing to transfer that gear to their allies while they are still living. It's theirs! This means that you cannot purchase a 2nd level character and transfer his equipment to lower level characters.

Nekojin or inujin faction units have a level adjustment of +1. As a result, for the sake of balance, they are more costly. It costs 1.5 points for a 1st level warrior, and it will also buy a 1st level ninja or samurai (for nekojin) in addition to the others previously mentioned. A 1st level spellcaster costs 3 points, and a professional costs 4.

If you wish to have troops of an unusual type, such as units that include monsters, please discuss the matter with me personally. The most common races on Ka'thalar are humans, inujin, nekojin, and elves.

Character stats are determined by the elite array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. Assign each number to one stat, then apply racial modifiers if applicable. You may roll stats for your commanders, but you may only roll once, you must keep what you get, and I roll the stats for you.

Your four combat units are not your army's only fighting force, but they are the only ones you will have the most direct control over on the battlefield. These are your elite troops, and it is assumed that their success or failure on the battlefield will reflect on the rest of your army. Think FFT, where your 5-man unit would turn the tide of major battles through their actions. This is an abstraction that is mostly necessary to avoid tedious playouts of mass combat.

Leadership

Your General is the most important person on the battlefield. If you've played Ogre Battle, think of your General as the Opinion Leader, except that you don't actually take him into battles. The General is an ambiguously-levelled character whose stats are not clearly defined. You do need to pick a character class (just one) that represents his basic set of abilities. He is assumed to be charismatic and intelligent, but strategic and diplomatic successes will be largely determined by your choices and roleplaying on his behalf. Very few if any dice will be rolled for diplomacy performed by the General.

The General's position at start is in your starting territory. He can be moved around as you wish, but he can only travel as fast as a normal unit. If you want to move your General around with any frequency, it is best to utilize mounts or vehicles.

If the General cannot or will not conduct diplomacy personally, there are other ways to get the word around. Messages may be sent to the leaders or officers of other factions either by runner or by magic, assuming it is available. You can also hire professional diplomats or recruit aristocrats to plead your case, and their chances of success might be slightly better depending upon your faction's reputation.

If a General is located in a territory and it is captured, or his path crosses path with an enemy force, there is a risk that the General will be caught up in the battle and killed, though he might escape unscathed. The General is assumed to be high-level, but an element of realism is applied that is lacking in standard d20 combat; your General, no matter what, cannot fight an entire army and win.

Commanding Officers

Each fighting unit must have one character designated as its commanding officer. The commanding officer must be at least level 2. He must also have INT 10+ and CHA 13+. Most units need orders from an officer in order to take action in combat. An officer can communicate with his soldiers however he likes, be it verbal language, magical communication, a secret sign language, whatever. A secret sign language would fall under the speak language skill and cost as much as a regular language.

If an officer falls in combat, another unit may attempt to become the new officer and rally the troops to keep fighting. This requires a DC 15 Charisma check. A note for Jak, since he's playing orcs, is that he can ignore everything I said about leaders and the CHA score. Because orcs are usually wont to follow the strongest looking guy around, your unit commanders must have STR 15+ OR CHA 13. Orcs are generally pretty easy to push around, but your individual soldiers should have a reason to look up to their unit commander. Also, if your leader falls, a new leader can assume his position with a DC 15 Intimidation check.

Capturing Territory

Overland movement by your units is based upon the speed of the slowest member. A unit can march for 8 hours a day with no penalties; attempting a longer forced march may cause subdual damage and fatigue your units in accordance with d20 rules. Moving over certain types of terrain might reduce your army's movement, such as through a forest with no path.

• Speed 20 units can move 16 miles a day. Not wearing armor that reduces movement speed can help your units move faster, but beware of an ambush!
• Speed 30 units can move 24 miles a day.
• Speed 40 units can move 32 miles a day.

On the overland map, one inch is equal to 24 miles.

To capture a territory, you must take its capital city (or the largest city in the territory); this guarantees that most of the population is under your rule. A territory with armies from multiple competing factions is contested, and who "owns" it is largely up to the people. A current owner with a good reputation in that territory will potentially continue to recieve tributes and may be displeased about the territory's potential for changing hands.

The Cost of War

It is assumed that all Generals own at least a simple house in their own territory. This house is one to three rooms, made of wood, and generally a poor base of operations. It is worth 1000 gp. Upgrading to a better base, such a fortified tower, will not come cheaply. A tower costs 50,000 gp!

All Generals also begin play with 2,000 gp in liquid assets. More money will be earned by capturing resource points and receiving tributes from the citizens of captured territories. The list of things to spend money on is vast. Carriages, carts, beasts of burden, boats, and wagons will all make transporting supplies or units more rapid. Building fortifications in territories will prevent them from being taken as easily and establish your power on the map.

Siege weapons can be built or purchased that will devastate the enemy. You may buy anything you wish; if you cannot find it on a list, ask me and I will assign a cost.

If your army controls a significant natural resource point, such as a forest that they can clear-cut or a large stone quarry, some goods and services will be reduced in cost. For example, a General in control of a quarry might only pay 50 to 75% of the cost for his tower since he can get the materials cheaply.

Care and Feeding

Most units will need to eat. A unit's daily upkeep is 5 sp per member based on the cost of one day's rations. It is usually necessary for each unit to carry his or her own rations in the interest of sharing the load; these should be noted on the character sheet of the soldier in question. Units can only restock rations in civilized areas, but some units that have access to certain skills may be able to hunt or forage if they do not have food and are outside of a village. If units do not have food, they will suffer morale and other penalties based on how long it has been since they have eaten.

Your initial units represent your loyal followers; while more loyal followers might join you based on your reputation, recruiting mercenaries is a more certain (though more expensive) means of expanding your forces.

A basic mercenary is a 1st-level warrior. He comes with his own basic equipment and asks for a base price of 3 sp/day. He must also be fed from your bankroll, so a basic mercenary costs 8 sp/day.

More expensive mercenaries are available. Mercenaries with PC classes will be more costly. Mercenaries that are more rare because they are already likely to have allegiances will be more costly. Mercenaries that don't like your faction but are willing to work for you anyway will be more costly. Expect to pay about 1 gp/day at minimum.

The Adoring Masses

Your subjects are a source of income and labor. If you are benevolent and have a good reputation, they will work for the revolution for little to no cost, and they will provide you with tribute to fill your war coffers. If not, you can always enslave people and force them to work the salt mines. The amount of tribute received is based on the size of the population under your rule.

• The base rate is 12 gp/week in tribute per 100 citizens.

This rate assumes that the locals are tithing roughly 10% of their earned income to their leader and that the territory has no special access to resources, such as a large gold deposit. If your reputation is good, you may receive additional tribute.

If your subjects are not providing you with tribute, you may tax them at whatever rate you wish. High taxes will decrease your popularity.

Reputation is scaled based on a seven point ladder:

• Loathing: Your subjects hate you. They are crushed under oppressive rule and wish to see you deposed. They will provide 0% tribute. They may even rebel.
• Unrest: Your subjects are unhappy because of a perception of unfair rule. It is more than likely that they will give you nothing, but they are not yet at a state of rebellion.
• Distaste: Your subjects dislike you. They will react poorly to taxes and give you no tribute.
• Neutral: Your subjects are indifferent to your presence. You can tax them a bit and they won't want to cut your throat.
• Satisfied: Your subjects are at peace and pleased with their new leadership. They will give you at least 10% tribute. They will work and do tasks for you for little or no cost.
• Adoring: Your subjects love your just and benevolent rule. They will give you at least 15% tribute and might even give you 20%. They will throw themselves at your feet to serve their noble ruler.
• Fanatical: Your subjects will weed out dissenters for you. They will give you at least 20%tribute. They will line up to die for you as though they dwarvish frat boys standing in line at a beer keg. They might even proclaim you a god and worship you.

Factions have both reputation by territory and overall. News of good deeds gets around, and so does news of evil ones.

Tactical Adjustments

While in battle, the rules for advanced combat facing will apply. This includes the rules regarding shield facing. In short, attacks from the side or back are at bonuses and attacks to squares behind the character are at penalties. The direction a character is facing determines flanking directions and sneak attacks, as well as shield efficacy. A character may adjust his facing as a free action once per round.

All combat will take place on a square grid. Each square is equal to 5 feet, as per usual.

You will have no direct control over non-officer characters in combat. Your officers will assign them orders and they will be carried out to the best of the soldiers' ability. Most soldiers will be intelligent enough to understand complex orders, so don't worry about the idea that your soldiers will stand around looking stupid or be unable to perform sneak attacks or anything silly like that.