I recently wrote about the trouble of dice pool mechanics with large number of participants to roll for. I presented some solutions such as using a new mechanic, changing the way you roll for things (using "rerolls," for example), or just not giving mooks situational modifiers.

I think there may be a more creative way to attack this issue: allow mooks (and/or others) to combine their dice pools. One of the great things about the Septimus core mechanic is that it has diminishing returns built in. Adding new dice -- especially beyond three or four in the pool -- has fairly negligible results. It will never hurt the players to let the monsters pool their attacks.

So, say we have five goblin archers that all throw two dice in the attack. Instead of having them roll six attacks with two dice each, you could have them roll one attack with 10 dice. They're almost certain to hit (avg result of 6.648, 98% of hitting TN5, 83.84% of hitting TN6, 51.54% of hitting TN7), but will only inflict one wound. Let's compare the number of successes when (1) rolling five attacks of 2d6 and (2) rolling one attack of 10d6.

	4	5	6	7	8
5x2d6	3.75	2.75	1.50	0.14	0.00
1x10d6	1.00	0.98	0.83	0.52	0.23

As you can see, the DM is much better off rolling separate attacks until the TN gets to 7. Then he's best off with one giant 10d6 dice pool to try and land a hit. That's the diminishing returns in action. The plus is that it is a "bank error in the PCs" favor. I'm generally ok with those. The downside is that there's no incentive to economize time at the table under most circumstances, and if the DM decides to screw the players he could all of a sudden land three times as much damage as they're expecting.

One way to control this is possibly through the economy of actions. Maybe the DM gets a limited number of attacks to split amongst all the monsters however he wishes, the number being based on the leadership and morale of the enemy force. If he only has three attacks, and he's got the five goblin archers, a cave troll, and a worg to play with, he'll probably want to attack once with the troll, once with the worg, then pool all the goblins together. This has the nice effect of modeling "fog and friction" and rewarding effective command and control "force multipliers." For example, say the DM could also add a non-combatant shaman that gives his force one extra attack each round. Now the PCs have a strategic choice: do they take out mooks to reduce the number of attacks getting chucked at them, target the leader-shaman to reduce the effectiveness of the enemy's dice, or hit the heavy hitters to take them out of the fight?

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Another option is to let the players roll. For example, maybe instead of having monsters roll to hit a player, the player needs to roll against a fixed TN to "dodge" the monster. A very accurate monster might have a higher TN, whereas a weaker or less precise one might have a lower TN. I like putting rolls into the hands of players quite a bit, but this can lead to some wonkiness if there are players on both sides of a conflict.

It also doesn't solve the time consuming need to roll many dice pools over and over; in fact, it might make it worse (especially with a slow player!), although players might not mind slowing down the action if they throw more dice. You could introduce a rule that says that adding more monsters increases the TN. For example, maybe dodging an arrow from one goblin archer is TN4, but two is TN5, four archers in TN6, eight archers is TN7, and so on. I'd have to work out the math to see exactly how that progression should work out.

Mechanics and Efficiency

I really like the math behind my proposed core mechanic (in short: roll a pool of D6s, retain the highest, boxcars = 7). It works great for PCs and singleton foes. However, in a playtest I came up against a problem: it doesn't work well for hordes of mooks.

In traditional D&D, if you have a half dozen goblin archers you just roll six D20s to see if they hit. Likewise, if the wizard hits a squad of orcs with a fireball, you just roll a fistful of D20s to see if they save. With the dice pool mechanic, you generally have to roll one monster at a time unless they have a pool of "one;" if you color code your D6s, perhaps 2-3 at a time.

One work around would be to treat the dice pool as a "reroll." For example, say each monster has a dice pool of 2D. You could roll 1d6 for each of them and then reroll for any that failed on the first check. That is probably faster than setting up a color coded dice pool but still requires two steps. Another "solution" would be to limit situational bonuses or modifiers given to mooks; maybe part of being a mook is that you don't get modifiers to your dice pool.

I also recently thought of another simple dice mechanic that uses D6s but gives a bit more fidelity at the top of the scale: Exploding dice.

• Roll a D6 vs. a TN.
• If you roll a 6, roll again. If you get a 5 or a 6, then add 1 to your result. If you get another 6, roll again.

That gives an approximately 1/20 chance of getting a 7, and a 1% of getting an 8. That is, setting a TN of "7" is basically like saying, "You need a hail-mary natural 20 to hit this TN."

Distribution:
1 (16%)
2 (16%)
3 (16%)
4 (16%)
5 (16%)
6 (10%)
7 (5%)
8 (1%)

The problem is that it doesn't scale well with modifiers. A straight +1 modifier is fairly huge, as it doubles the chances of getting a 7 and quintuples the chance of getting an 8. You could reduce the number at which a highly skilled individual's dice "explode." For example, if you get to roll again on a 5 or a 6 then the distribution looks like this:

1 (16%)
2 (16%)
3 (16%)
4 (16%)
5 (10%)
6 (15%)
7 (5%)
8 (1%)

That leads to a somewhat wonky distribution, though, where 6 is more likely than 5.

Math
Odds of getting a 6: .166
Odds of getting a 5 or a 6: .333
.166 * .333 = 5.5%

Alternate OD&D Fighting Man

Here is a Fighter I've been working on for some time. It is currently oriented towards a Swords & Wizardy power level -- and I'll use that nomenclature -- although it could be easily modified for AD&D.

The Fighting Man (Alternate)
XP: As stock Fighting Man with 10% XP penalty.
Hit Dice: As stock Cleric.
Saves: As stock Fighting Man.
Technique: Technique measures the sophistication of a fighting man's "bag of tricks." In general, new players (i.e., beginners) should start with low technique scores. Advanced players should begin with moderate to high Technique. There are thus two ways to handle this attribute.

• Technique as a Derivative of Wisdom (w/ Advanced Group): Utilize the fighter's Wisdom score for Technique. Convert the 3-18 WIS score to a modifier per the following conversions: 0-1 (1), 3-5 (2), 6-8 (3), 9-12 (4), 13-15 (5), 16-18 (6), 19-21 (7). Using this option, the DM should consider allowing Wisdom scores to be increased over the course of the campaign or supplying items which increase the derived Technique attribute as player skill improves.
  
• Technique as a function of Level (w/ Basic Group): Utilize the fighter's level divided by two +1 to determine the Technique score. For example, Level 1-2 (1), 3-4 (2), 5-6 (3), 7-8 (4), 9-10 (5), 11-12 (6), 13-14 (7), etc. If the campaign will progress to higher levels (for example, ~20) then use intervals of three levels to spread out progression so that technique tops out around 7.
  
  

Reserve: At the start of each major adventure or quest, place one entire side of a chess set (i.e. all white or all black pieces) into a bag or pool and shuffle them. These pieces are known as the "reserve." When the reserve is gone, it is gone, so a player must be careful to ration their pieces throughout the adventure.
Draw Hand: At the start of the quest, the player randomly draws a number of pieces equal to their technique score from their reserve into their "hand." Special: For each henchman in the fighter's employ, reduce the initial hand size by one.
Put Pieces into Play: Players may put pieces into play out of their hand in three ways. First, they may use them to hire retainers. Second, they may deploy them to provide static benefits.
Recruit: Throughout an adventure, players have an opportunity to draw new pieces from their pool into their hand. Whenever a milestone is reached, the player rolls 1d6. If the die roll is greater than or equal to their Technique score, then they may draw a new piece from their reserve into their hand. A milestone should occur approximately six times per Adventure/Major Quest. The GM may also allow a recruitment roll to occur after appropriate rest has occurred. The size of the hand may not exceed the Technique score (i.e. it is beneficial to use pieces regularly); if the hand is too large to draw a new piece, the player may see what they drew and put a piece in their hand back into the Reserve (i.e., swap them).
The Graveyard: Once a piece is in the graveyard, it is out of play for the adventure. It cannot be put back into the reserve until the next quest. Note that pawns can be promoted into any piece, but it may take time.

Benefits of Pieces

Hiring Retainers: First, players may expend pieces from their hand in order to hire a retainer. In order to do this, play the piece directly onto the board and expend a salary in silver pieces equal to the below formula:
Level ^ 2 per Day (Hazard Pay) or per Week (Garrison Pay)

The new retainer has a 1 in 6 chance of showing up each combat round (dice until they arrive if it is relevant). They will be appropriate to the setting. In the underdark, they might be an escaped slave or defecting foe. In a village, it might be a militiaman. In any event, the combat statistics will generally adhere to those below.

• PAWN (Light Infantry): Pawns are light foot troops representing lightly armed and armored militia, peltasts and other such expendable rabble. Still, even an inexperienced militiaman can show promise and be promoted.
  
  HP: 1 (always; a passed save that normally results in 1/2 damage results in no damage to a pawn). Save: As fighter -4. To Hit: As fighter -4. Damage: Level/3 + 1 (ranged, short range hurled weapons only), Level/3 + 1d6 (melee). AC: 13 + 1/3 Level. Move: 12"/4 spaces. Special: Promotion, Sacrifice, Formation, and Fodder.
  
  Promotion (Special): Each time a Milestone occurs, there is a 1 in six chance that a Pawn may be promoted to another piece.
  Formation (Special): Pawns gain +1 to hit, +1 saves, and +1 AC for each adjacent Pawn. This stacks with multiple pawns.
  Fodder (Special): Cost 1/2 normal wages to recruit.
  Sacrifice (Special): At any time, sacrifice a Pawn. Another piece regains 1d6 HP per three levels.
  
  
• BISHOP (Archer): Bishops represent missile troops such as archers, crossbowman, slingers, and so on.
  
  HP: 1/level. Save: As fighter -2. To Hit: As fighter -2. Damage: Level/3 + 1d6 (ranged, medium range projectiles), Level/3 (melee). AC: 13 + 1/3 Level. Move: 9"/4 spaces. Special: Select either Fodder, Longbowman, Crossbowman, or Provide Arms.
  
  Fodder (Special): Cost 1/2 normal wages to recruit. Represents slingers with non-specialized arms.
  Longbowman (Special): Use long range projectiles instead of medium.
  Crossbowman (Special): +2 to hit vs. armored targets.
  Provide Arms (Special): Sacrifice the Bishop. Another piece on the board gains a ranged attack equal to the base Bishop.
  
  
• KNIGHT (Light Horse): Knights represent light horsemen, or, if dismounted, light skirmishers.
  
  HP: 2/level. Save: As fighter -2. To Hit: As fighter -2. Damage: Level/3 (ranged, short range projectiles), Level/3 + 1d6 (melee). AC: 13 + 1/3 Level. Move: 24"/8 spaces (outdoors), 12"/4 spaces (indoors), +2 AC vs. Opportunity Attacks. Special: Provide Mount, Charge.
  
  Provide Mount (Sacrifice): Sacrifice the Knight. Another piece on the board gains the Knight's movement rate and AC bonus vs. Opportunity Attacks.
  Charge: The Knight charges, gaining +1d6 damage on a single melee attacks. This power may only be used once.
  
  
• Rook (Shield Bearer): Rooks represent heavily armored, slow moving troops that protect others. Equipped with only light weapons, they wear chain and bear heavy shields.
  
  HP: 2/level. Save: As fighter -2. To Hit: As fighter -2. Damage: Level/3 (ranged, short range projectiles), Level/3 (melee). AC: 15 + 1/3 Level. Move: 9"/3 spaces. Special: Provide Cover, Shield Wall.
  
  Provide Cover (Sacrifice): Sacrifice the Rook. Another piece may reroll a failed saving throw or negate 1d6 damage/three levels.
  Shield Wall: One ally adjacent to the Rook gains +2 AC.
  
  
• Queen (Heavy Infantry): Queens represent heavy troops, armed and armored with the best available gear.
  
  HP: 3/level. Save: As fighter -2. To Hit: As fighter -2. Damage: Level/3 (ranged, short range projectiles), Level/3 + 1d6 (melee). AC: 17 + 1/3 Level. Move: 6"/2 spaces. Special (Choose one): Pikes, Swords, Maces, Two-Hander, Fodder.
  
  Swords: +1 to hit.
  Pikes: -1 AC. The Queen uses a polearm, gaining reach (first strike) as well as any other benefits accorded to spears, such as double damage vs. charging foes.
  Maces: +2 to hit vs. heavily armored foes.
  Two Hander: -1 AC. +1d6 melee damage. Represents massive two handed weapons.
  
  
• King (Specialist): Kings are something of a wildcard. They may represent specialists who don't always have a combat role. While physically frail they can have interesting benefits. They represent inspiring prophets to be protected, archaeologists exploring ruins, and other unique and interesting individuals who may provide benefits if they can be kept alive. The DM and player are encouraged to be creative when a King is put into play. The king still costs funds to recruit and maintain; this represents money spent keeping the finicky specialist happy.
  
  HP: 1/level. Save: As fighter -4. To Hit: As fighter -4. Damage: Level/3 (ranged, short range projectiles), Level/3 (melee). AC: 12 + 1/3 Level. Move: 9"/3 spaces. Special: Inspiring, Reward.
  
  Fodder (Special): Cost 1/2 normal wages to recruit.
  Inspiring: Adjacent allies gain +2 damage, +2 saves.
  Reward: For each milestone reached while the king is deployed and actively adventuring with the party, place 1 token on the king. During any rest, remove a token for a benefit. Some example benefits:
  
  The King represents a merchant couriering valuable goods. He rewards the party with Level ^ 2 in SP.
  The King represents an archaeologist interested in exploring ruins. He rewards the party by answering one question or providing a clue, similar to a Commune/Legend Lore spell.
  The King represents an alchemist. He gladly hands over a useful portion or item.
  The King represents a sacred prophet. The party gains extra XP for escorting him.
  
  

Deploying Pieces: A Fighting Man may also deploy pawns to gain a static benefit which is usually a "buff." These pawns cannot be directly attacked or otherwise affected. The player may voluntarily sacrifice any deployed piece at any time. In this case, the player immediately gains a significant benefit but the piece goes to the graveyard. There is no limit to the number of pieces deployed at any given time, but benefits do not stack.

• Pawn: Gain a bonus when dealing with any non-combat skill check.
  
  En Passant (Sacrifice): Make an Opportunity Attack (yes, you can make a second). If your game doesn't use OA's, then the DM will allow this to be used whenever an adjacent foe opens themselves to an attack (fumbles, moves uncautiously, uses a ranged attack in melee, etc).
  Promote (Special): Each time a Milestone occurs, there is a one in six chance that a Pawn may be promoted to another piece.
  
  
• Knight: Gain +2 AC vs. Opportunity Attacks.
  
  Dash (Sacrifice): Make a full move, immediately, at any time. The +2 bonus vs. AC increases to +4.
  
  
• Bishop: Gain +2 damage on all ranged attacks.
  
  Sharpshooter (Sacrifice): During your turn, make an extra ranged attack. The attack ignores all penalties from cover and concealment. If it hits, it deals +1d6 damage. You may not move during this turn unless it is a charge.
  
  
• Rook: Gain +2 to saves and +2 to AC.
  
  Shields Shall be Splintered (Sacrifice): An enemy that just hit you must reroll their successful attack.
  Second Chance (Sacrifice): If you just failed a save, roll again.
  
  
• Queen: Roll initiative twice each round and take the result you prefer. If your DM does not reroll initiative each round, then you are considered to have "first strike" and may go first each combat.
  
  Gambit (Sacrifice): During your turn, make an extra melee attack with +2 to hit. If it hits, the attack deals +1d6 damage. You may not move during this turn unless it is a charge.
  
  
• King: All adjacent allies gain +2 to saves.
  
  
  King's Castle (Sacrifice): Also requires a Rook to be Sacrificed. Swap places with an ally or piece no more than 1/2 your speed away. You and the ally both regain 1 HP per level and gain +2 AC until the end of your next turn.
  Rally the Troops (Sacrifice): Roll 1d6 for every three levels. Heal allies you can see by this amount. Apportion D6s of healing however you see fit. Any troops which have failed morale are entitled to a new check to rally.
  
  
  

DM Notes


Milestone Placement: Placing milestones is the most important aspect of this variant fighter and requires careful thought. In general, six milestones per quest is the breakeven point for different Technique levels. If there are more than six milestones, then lower Technique scores have somewhat of an advantage as they will pull ahead due to their superior ability to recuit. If there are few milestones, then high Technique scores which start with many chessmen in the hand will be superior.

Examples of Milestones include defeating any opponent with a name (i.e. hated foes, sub-bosses, etc), achieving a secondary objective, particularly good play, as rewards similar to treasure, etc. The DM should consider placing at least 2d6 milestones throughout their dungeon key, expecting the players to actually find approximately 1/3 of them, and be willing to occasionally throw in 1-2 milestones per session "ad hoc." Milestones should not be automatic rewards for surviving combats. Indeed, they should not be awarded for most wandering monster encounters. Milestones should be viewed as a reward that motivates players to achieve secondary objectives which further the plot and adventure.

It is not inappropriate to hint (appropriately, in game) that certain achievements may result in a milestone award in order to steer players that way. For example, the elves may speak of a pool in the forest which has restorative properties if drunk from by a weary traveler. Finding this pool is a milestone, regardless of whether the players fight three random encounters on the way there or none at all.

If you are stingy with awarding milestones for in-game objectives, consider granting milestones for rest. Very stingy DMs or those running free-form campaigns with few obvious objectives might award a milestone for every full night or day of rest. DMs that prefer an action-packed campaign with defined plot might only award rest for a full day of rest (taking Sunday off), a longer period like a week, or even a restorative stay at an inn in town (also a good way to siphon money from adventurers!).

The Power of the Dark Side (Optional Rule): This system may be tied to alignment.

• Chaotic characters may only use the black pieces. Retainers will tend to be chaotic ne'er dowells (rogues, brigands, humanoids, mongrels, etc) with all the social consequences that entails. All chaotic hired retainers gain +2 damage. If a Fighting Man has any black piece deployed, he exudes an aura of dread equal to his charisma score in inches that gives -2 to saving throws. This aura includes allies.
  
• Lawful characters may only use the white pieces. Retainers will tend to be law and order types such as militia, men-at-arms, good demihumans, etc. All lawful hired retainers gain +2 morale and +2 to saves. If a Fighting Man has any white piece deployed, he exudes an aura of charity equal to his charisma score in inches. He may allow any ally within this aura to gain the benefit of his deployed piece instead of himself. The benefit may be changed from round to round by taking time equal to a normal move.
• Neutral characters may use either set of chess pieces, but they must select one army at the start of the adventure and use it until the conclusion of the adventure. Their aura radius is halved and the bonus to damage/morale/saves is halved (+1 instead of +2), however. Excessive use of one army or the other may change the character's alignment.

Specialization (Option): The player may choose to specialize in any type of piece (except for pawns). Whenever a milestone occurs, the player may declare that they are promoting normally (1/6 chance to convert a pawn into any piece) or they may declare a specialist promote, in which case there is a 2/6 chance to promote the pawn into the designated specialist piece. For example, an archer could specialize in Bishops. This makes it easy for them to rapidly promote pawns into Bishops which aid their ranged attacks.

Fighters and Unique Mechanics

I'm really happy with the unique mechanics I've developed for "elemental" (clerical?) magic as well as roguish gamblers. They aren't perfect, but I think they do a great job of using unique mechanics to support a special "feeling" for each character class or role.

I came up with another for "fighting men:" chess pieces! Chess pieces are great because they are very common gaming equipment as well as inexpensive: a set of basic plastic chessmen can be had for <$5. Basically, the fighting man starts with a 1/2 set worth of chessmen (i.e. all the blacks or all the whites). The fighting man may deploy a piece in order to gain a static, lasting benefit. He may sacrifice the piece in order to gain a burst benefit. And finally, he can deploy a piece to "summon" a hireling, man-at-arms, or other helpful ally.

The number of pieces that can be present at any given time should be limited, probably to an attribute -3.

However, once a piece is deployed, it cannot be "recalled;" if the player wants to get rid of it, it must be sacrificed. I'm not exactly sure how pieces should be restored; I am inclined to think that it should only be between adventures. After all, there are 20 pieces so they should last awhile.

Here's an example:

PAWN: Representative of foot soldiers. Some medieval scholars likened each pawn to a medieval profession, usually those of a commoner or artisan.

• Deployed: +1D to any mechanical art. At the end of each encounter, there is a 1/3 chance that a deployed pawn can be promoted to any other piece.
  
• Sacrifice: En-Passant. Lash out at a foe that disregards your zone of control and gain +1D on an opportunity attack.
  
• Summon: Minion, basic man-at-arms
  

One could also do something with the white vs. black pieces, similar to the red vs. black cards.

Civ V Gameplay Report: The Good

I haven't been posting much lately. Work has been extremely busy, I'm working on some night school, and we may be moving in the near future. Plus, I got Civilization V. As fans of the series know, the Civ games are very good at destroying your free time. Here's some notes on gameplay.



First off, the good.

• City States. The first iterations of Civ had barbarians that roamed the land; they generally had no cities unless they managed to capture one from a player (rare). In Civ 4, we saw Barbarian Cities. If left alone in an unexplored corner of the map, the Barbarians would set up an actual bonafide city that could be captured. The problem with this is that you couldn't interact with them, and everyone was at war with them all the time.
  
  Civ V introduces minor players called "city states." City States can be interacted with diplomatically. They always like gold and gifts of units, but they will also ask for you to complete missions like connecting to them with roads, defending them from predatory Civs, or doing their dirty work to take out another City State. They are also actually useful to have around: militaristic ones give you up-to-date useful military units and tend to pump out a lot of units that will fight on your side against your enemies, cultured ones give your empire culture which can otherwise be hard to get, and maritime civs give you food.
  
  If you are allied with a city state, they will also give you access to strategic resources. This is great; in previous iterations of the game, if your empire didn't have a key resource like Coal you could bet dollars to donuts you'd better go to war to get it or risk losing. Now, you can maintain relations with a City State that has the right resource.
• Barbarians. Rather than spawning out of the fog of war, barbarians come from camps which pretty actively spew out units. This makes it much more strategic to set up a defensive line rather than just exploring like crazy.
• Fewer Cities. In the past, generally the more cities you had, the better, unless corruption became crippling. Small empires can be quite viable in Civ 5, which is nice if you don't care to manage two dozen cities. Cities also work a larger area which means that they tend to be further apart, which also means fewer cities are viable.
  
• Less strongly specialized cities. Civ IV used "National Wonders" which each civ could build once to encourage specialized cities. This was encouraged because each city could only build two and they had major multipliers tied to them. That is, you'd have a science city, a money city, a factory city, etc. I always stressed out about making sure I put the right wonder in the right place, and often waited until too late in the game to make sure that my ironworks was next to coal, iron, or both. Civ V still has national wonders but most of them just provide a static bonus ("+X gold") as opposed to a multiplier. You can also build as many as you want in one city, again making a one-city game viable. This is a good balance, I think.
• Military. Unit stacking and the stack of doom is gone. Ranged units actually have a range. Units don't battle to the death, and may survive two or three attacks (or more, if dug in and having combat advantages). There are now strategic, operational, and tactical elements to combat. Additionally, units out of garrison cost a lot more in upkeep than units in garrison. This creates a quite realistic "mobilization" phase to many conflicts; in peacetime, you want your units spread out garrisoning cities, but in war you need to spend a few turns to mobilize and get them to the front. All in all I'm fairly pleased with the changes.
• Infrastructure upkeep. Roads now cost gold to maintain. This keeps you from spamming roads everywhere, which is not realistic and also is annoying.

All of the elements come together to form some really interesting interactions. Here's an anecdote from a recent game.

The War with England

I was on a continent with England, Russia, and three minor city states. Russia and I had ganged up on England all game (with me egging Russia on to bleed Russia dry while I focused on my economy), but failed to conquer her. I eventually got a tactical edge and swept in for the kill, sweeping up London, which was quite a prize with many wonders of the world.

However, England had a city state allied with her, Budapest; Budapest (as England's client) was waging a proxy war with Genoa, who looked to me as their patron (and whose benefits I rather enjoyed). When England collapsed, Russia moved in with a sizable bribe and asserted protection over England's old ward, and the city-states continued to fight. I kind of wanted Budapest for myself, but was willing to let Russia run it for now; besides, I swept up the third city state -- Helsinki -- which was also a defunct English client shopping for a new patron, which happened to flank Russia and provide uranium which I figured might be useful in the future as I didn't have any other supplies.

Proxy War

However, I had a problem: Budapest was kicking Genoa's butt. Forever, their war was like a fight on the short bus; lots of flailing but not much damage. But, after England went down the tubes, I think Russia began funneling units to them. I began to give my older units into my client and the proxy war started to escalate. Eventually, things got desperate and my client was on the verge of collapse. I talked to Russia, gave them a small bribe, then entered the war against Budapest on behalf of my little buddy, delivering punishing airstrikes on Budapest's front line units, dropping paratroops into a defensive position next to the city, and pounding front units with naval fires (sound familiar?) in order to save Genoa.

I quickly dealt with Budapest's attack. Russia, alarmed, warned me that they weren't happy. At this point, I got greedy and went for the gold ring of capturing Budapest itself which I had wanted for some time rather than signing a cease fire or pulling back. I calculated that the Russians were not willing to risk war to protect their new client, and told Catherine to take a hike, as I figured I would complete the war in a turn before she could intervene. My economy was not in great shape as I was still assimilating the English cities so I used air power and a few tanks to quickly seize Budapest, leaving most of my heavy armor units in garrison in the cities, with a token border patrol force dug in on my border with Russia.

Russia Strikes

I miscalculated: Russia freaked out and declared war as her client folded. Additionally, America and another overseas power took exception to my actions and entered the fight with Russia. They saw me crush a major civ then roll over a minor city state and thought that I was a "bloodthirsty menace to the world;" plus, I think Russia put them up to it. Russia opened up with a nuke on my left flank followed by an armored column through the gap, driving towards the recently conquered city of London. The initial attack tore a whole in the left flank of my border watch, and my small navy was largely caught out in the open and badly mauled by Catherine's new allies.

Knocked back on my heels, I fought a slow delaying action that ended up against the walls of London until my armor could get mobilized out of the cities; I also struck back with my sizable but exhausted and damaged air force. After the two minor campaigns to defend Genoa and seize Budapest, a lot of the bomber and fighter wings were in the "yellow" already. Still, I had no options other than to call in airstrike after airstrike as Catherine's units threatened to break through in the center and right and as they surged up against city walls on the left.

Catherine also sent a large naval task force up against my ally with uranium. She pounded the city into oblivion and captured it within a few turns; I funneled a few units to Helsinki but they could only slow the inevitable. Still, with Catherine's navy busy up North, I managed to get a submarine and battleship out to sea, and using them to scout I managed to sink a few battleships that were foolhardy enough to venture within land-based air coverage as she sent her forces south. At this point, I abandoned the Manhattan project and threw the production into more conventional units.

Counterattack

It took me about three turns to bring up my armor divisions and artillery which was just in time, as my exhausted air wings were starting to be destroyed. A great general spawned just in time to help the armor units counterattack and cut off Catherine's advanced forces on the left flank and destroy the rear-echelon artillery and anti-aircraft guns. My armor then dug in and spent the next three turns bombarding the cut off forces into oblivion. I also managed to catch an American expeditionary force off the coast and savaged their convoy with air and submarine attacks before most of them could land to relieve Catherine's isolated army, which was crushed as I closed the pocket.

At this point, my armor divisons were damaged but my air, paratroops, and artillery were sound, and my navy was rapidly gaining superiority and forcing Russia's boats to hole up in an inland sea with only one entrance to the ocean. I surged forward and marched straight for Moscow, using massive artillery and airstrikes to wear down the city as my paratroops dug in on key high ground held off Catherine's relief column from reinforcing the city. As I seized Moscow, Catherine's war allies backed out on her and sued for peace on fair terms. Catherine also offered an olive branch but was not willing to give much up. I rejected her offer; she replied by dropping a second nuke on her own recently lost territory, which vaporized some of my paratroopers. It was too little too late though, and my mechanized units had dug in by the time her troops reached the doorstep.

Cut off from uranium, I had abandoned my Manhattan Project. I decided that a cease fire with Russia would just give her time to build more nukes, which was unacceptable. We had both taken a pounding but she had a sizeable navy holed up and a lot of ground forces up north racing down in my direction. With her continental monopoly on uranium, I would be at a major strategic disadvantage if she could catch her breath.

Total War

The war went on for some time, but accelerated as more major cities fell. I was careful to avoid alienating any of the other civs, and I think Russia's nuke attack backfired somewhat as others were hesitant to enter the war. Cut off from her fickle allies, having lost her capital, and having lost air superiority, I gained the upper hand. Her navy was destroyed in port as my land forces overran the coast; any ships that dared to sail were caught in the trap of the narrow strait and mercilessly ambushed by a waiting submarine wolfpack. Eventually, Helsinki was liberated and Catherine's last city fell.

While I fell behind the rest of the world in technology while duking it out with Catherine, the addition of her cities provided a boost to my economy once they were integrated. I managed to eventually eke out a space race victory.

So, all in all, there are some interesting interactions. The entire war came about unintentionally. Russia and I had been fairly firm allies all game. Even some squabbling over influence over city states and picking up the pieces of the English empire wasn't enough to destroy the entire relationship. However, ultimately a skirmish between our clients which grew into a "cold war" style proxy conflict eventually erupted into a full on war.

The elements of nuclear deterrence were also present. Russia knew I had no uranium and thus no nukes, so Catherine nuked me at the outset of the war. Why not? I had no good deterrent. She nuked me again once she was desperate for survival. I'll try to hit some of the bad and ugly points about Civ V later.

Real World Data -- Loads

I recently read a newspaper article on the heavy loads carried by combat soldiers and the impact thereof.

The key point was that carrying loads of 100 lbs in combat on a regular basis -- even when the bearer is a young, physically fit male -- causes injuries. A USMC after-action-report finds that heavy loads limit the mobility of riflemen with tactical consequences.

Note how well this maps to the rule of 7; a 100 lb load is around 7 stones, and that is apparently beyond the max load that can be carried safely. It also hints at some possible mechanical consequences to heavy loads beyond speed penalties. Perhaps there is a risk of long-term ability score damage or other long-term consequences to carrying such extreme burdens in combat conditions.

Morale

Delta recently had a great post on cavalry. It is worth reading.

It also made me think about morale. I love the idea of the AD&D morale rules. In the real world, most combats are not to the death; they are merely until one side or the other breaks and runs. Cavalry was integral to this process. A massed cavalry charge or unanswerable arrows from horse archers were both bad for morale. Likewise, cavalry made a fight decisive because after a foe broke and ran, pursuit horsemen could run down the routed enemy and finish them.

The trouble with morale is that it is far too cumbersome to use. We need a simple, faster system. Here's my initial hack.

THE MORALE CHECK
A morale check is a dice pool against TN5. The pool consists of:

• Base die (1) -- you get one for free
• If within Leader's Command Radius (4+/-FIRE, or just 4 for OD&D types), add Leader's Spirit Primacy or 1, whichever is greater
• Spirit Primacy, if any (apply any penalties if Spirit Damage has been taken); for mooks that don't have all their detailed stats noted out, this is either zero or one (if you decide the troops are elite or otherwise high morale)
• Unit's Quality in relation to the Current Phase (in the first phase of a fight, add the Cardinal primacy, for example)

The TN is adjusted as normal; that is, for a threat or source of difficulty a tier higher than the unit, increase the TN by one per tier. For example, a normal man facing an orc is TN5. Against an ogre, that'd be TN6. And against a hill giant would be TN7. Use the worst or scariest threat impacting the unit.

WHO MAKES MORALE CHECKS
In general, each PC should be controlling 4+/-3 other figures, maximum. This limits the number of morale checks that need to be made. Larger numbers of very weak followers should be combined into one figure.

Likewise, on the foe side, designate a few monsters as "leaders" (no more than one per PC or so) Each leader should have no more than 4+/-3 other figures under its command. If there are a lot of "mook" or minion types then combine them into larger figures.

Example: A pair of high level PCs goes into a goblin's lair. There are 16 goblins, but the DM batches them into groups of four under a goblin lieutenant. There are also three worg riders; the DM decides that they are important enough to dice for individually.

Generally, players decide what their characters will do. Players should check morale as anyone else. However, a PC can ignore the results of a roll and act exactly as their player decides. If, prior to rolling the dice, the player agrees to follow their results, then the DM should grant a bonus to such actions (for example, if the player takes their chances and ends up with "fight," give a bonus to hit).

WHEN TO MAKE MORALE CHECKS

• At the start of each phase (each battle has three phases which occur every 5 rounds or so), make a morale check. Note that you make a check to see if a new phase begins whenever someone with a name goes down (including PCs, enemy leaders, etc) so that may trigger a round of morale checks via this mechanic.
• If its leader quits the field or is hors de combat. Yes, this may mean double jeopardy.
  
• When subjected to certain attacks that inspire fear: Cavalry charges or firearms would certainly qualify.
• When suddenly plunged into darkness (surface creatures) or bright light (underdark creatures): Have you ever been suddenly plunged into total black inky darkness? It can be scary, especially if you're in combat and someone is also trying to kill you. This also makes spells like the lowly "light" spell perhaps quite useful in certain cases because it can provoke a morale check.
• Unit observes other nearby unit out of control.
• Unit receives a critical hit.
  
• Whenever anything else that may be terrifying occurs, at the DM's discretion.
  

COMMUNICATIONS
By default, troops are "in communications" until they fail their first morale check. Troops which are "in communications" act basically as their leader wants them to. Even if the leader doesn't have direct line of sight to the troops, they remain under the player's control simulating the unit following prebriefed orders under effective NCO leadership.

Once a unit fails a check, then it goes "Out of Communications." A unit which is out of communications is on "autopilot" and rolls randomly to see what it does based on either its quality or doctrine:

	Generic No Doctrine	Cardinal Offensive	Fixed Defensive	Mutable Flexible
Fight	1-2	1-3	1	1
Freeze	3-4	4-5	2-5	2-3
Flee	5-6	6	6	4-6

Example: A unit of impetuous knights (Cardinal/Offensive!) waits upon a grassy knoll overlooking a battle. Their leader has ordered them to wait to charge in until he blows a horn; he's planning on using them as a decisive force to crush the foe late in a battle. A new phase occurs and the unit checks morale -- and fails! The GM then rolls on the autopilot table to see what they do each round. The first round they hold in place (4), but then the DM rolls a (2) -- they charge, springing the trap early!

For a unit out of command, interpret the above results as follows:

• FIGHT: Unit attacks in an intelligent manner (archers shoot arrows, they don't move to melee). Unit will attack a foe it is engaged with first, then a hated foe if within charging range, or the nearest foe otherwise. If no foes can be attacked in a given round, then the unit will move aggressively to set up an offensive posture.
• FREEZE: Unit holds position in an intelligent manner. Unit will continue to melee if engaged, or consider parrying to hold a line or setting against a charge. If unengaged, unit may consider moving to nearby defensible terrain if that is a good idea. Unit may use missile weapons against a foe but will not seek to melee unless it is already engaged.
• FLEE: Unit retires in an intelligent manner. If engaged in battle, unit will seek to withdraw and disengage. Unit will retire in good order towards the nearest visible leader, away from the worst visible foes, or towards a known place of safety--whichever is wisest.

COMMAND
A unit which is out of communications and fails a second check is out of command as well. Continue to dice for reactions as above. However, all reactions will be more extreme.

• FIGHT: Unit will aggressively charge to engage (1) a hated for and then (2) the nearest foe. Unit will not be careful or cautious and may attack in a berserk manner.
• FREEZE: Unit is struck with indecision. Unlike above when it chose a reasonable and intelligent course of action, the DM should now dice for a random reaction instead of picking one which makes sense: hold position and set vs. charge, use missile weapons, do nothing, etc.
• FLEE: Instead of an orderly retirement, the unit retreats. The unit will move as quickly as possible (1-2) away from the nearest foe, (3-4) towards their leader or (5-6) to a place of known safety. The unit may provoke some attacks with this movement but it is barely controlled.

CONTROL
A unit which is out of command and fails a third check is out of control. Continue to dice each round for its action but consider the most extreme result. Also, out of control units are bad for their side's morale. Whenever anyone else sees an out of control unit they must check morale themselves. Thus, a clan of orcs can quickly devolve into a bloodfrenzied "fight," or an army can rapidly rout out of control in a chain reaction.

• FIGHT: The unit blindly and berserkly attacks with wild abandon and no concern for its own welfare. It may inadvertently attack other friendly units. It may fight to the death.
  
• FREEZE: The unit is absolutely paralyzed and takes no actions, even ones which can be accomplished in relative safety.
  
• FLEE: The unit routs in panic. First it will flee from the nearest foe in the most direct manner possible, then towards its leader (if visible), or finally, to a known place of safety. It is possible for units to flee into an even more dangerous situation (for example, the fastest way away from a foe is deeper into a dungeon).

RALLYING
It is clear how a unit moves down the Communications-->Command-->Control slippery slope. But how does it climb back up the ladder?

First, a leader may direct the unit's reaction even while it is out of comms/command/control. To do this, the unit must be within the command radius of the leader. The leader then spends an action on a Quality+Spirit check (specializations in Rhetoric may be helpful), TN source of the fear. If succesful, the unit disregards its randomly rolled response and attacks (if the leader rolled cardinal), freezes (fixed), or flees (mutable).

Next, a leader may rally the unit. To do this, the unit must be within the command radius of the leader. The leader then spends an action on a Mutable+Spirit check (specializations in Rhetoric may be helpful). Success moves the unit back up the chain one step.

Finally, the unit may improve of its own accord. Any time the unit heals, move it up the morale chain one step for each hit healed. For example, if the unit uses a second wind or gets a break out of combat it will recover its composure. Healing from allies or magic may also have this effect.