11. Warfare

After the PCs complete the Activity Phase of a Kingdom turn, they may take the Army Activities step, in which each army currently maintained by the kingdom may take a single Army activity. The order in which they are attempted is chosen by the players.

Army activities are presented below, and may only be taken during the Army Activities step (but note that Recruit Army is a Leadership activity instead).

Deploy Army, Disband Army, Garrison Army, Offensive Gambit, Outfit Army, Recover Army, Recruit Army, Train Army.

RARITY TRAIT, ALIGNMENT ABBREVIATION, TYPE TRAIT
ARMY LEVEL

• Scouting. This entry lists the modifier for an army’s initiative—typically equal to the Perception modifier of the army’s individual creatures—or the Scouting DC to detect an army that lies in ambush in a hex (to generate a Scouting DC, add 10 to the Scouting modifier).
• Recruitment DC. This lists the DC required to recruit the army (as a general rule, this DC is equal to the standard DC for the army’s level.)
• Consumption. This lists the number of Food Commodities the army consumes during the Kingdom turn’s Upkeep Phase. If you fail to pay Consumption during a Kingdom turn, all of your armies increase their shaken and weary conditions by 1. An army whose shaken or weary conditions reach 4 or higher as a result of this increase immediately disbands; this causes the kingdom to gain 1d4 Unrest and increases one Ruin of the party’s choice by 1.
• Description. This gives a brief description of the army.

AC. This lists the army’s Armor Class; Saves. Armies have two saving throws: a Maneuver save and a Morale save.

• Maneuver. This modifier applies to all checks made by the army to maneuver, be it to execute a complex tactic or to minimize damage and effects from unusual physical dangers.
• Morale. This modifier applies to all checks made by the army to avoid becoming shaken or to resist effects that undermine cooperation, bravery, loyalty, and such.

HP. This lists the army’s Hit Points. When an army’s Hit Points reach zero, it becomes defeated. An army cannot be reduced to fewer than 0 Hit Points. The army’s Rout Threshold (RT) is listed in parenthesis after its Hit Points. RT is typically half its maximum HP. An army that is resistant to fear or is particularly brave generally has a lower RT, while the rare army composed of creatures that are entirely immune to fear won’t have an RT listed at all. An army’s HP cannot be reduced by damage—they are reduced only as the result of a war action. Typically, a successful army Strike reduces the target army’s HP by 1, or by 2 on a critical hit. An army’s HP doesn’t automatically recover at the end of a battle.

Melee. The name of the attack the army uses for a melee Strike, followed by the attack modifier. An army inflicts 1 point of damage on a hit and 2 points on a critical hit. Melee Strikes can only be used against engaged armies.

Ranged. The name of the attack the army uses for a ranged Strike, followed by the attack modifier. An army inflicts 1 point of damage on a hit and 2 points on a critical hit. An army can use its ranged Strike up to 5 times in each war encounter before its ammunition is depleted (unless it has the Increased Ammunition tactic). An army automatically replenishes its ranged Strike shots at the end of a war encounter.

Tactics. Any tactics known by the army are listed here.

Gear. Any gear outfitted by the army is listed here.

Special Abilities. Additional unique abilities possessed by the army are detailed here.

When you recruit an army from a specialized group, the GM provides you with the army’s statistics, but the majority of your kingdom’s armies will be recruited from its citizens. When you recruit an army, follow these steps.

Step 1 — Choose a Basic Army Type

(Skip this step when recruiting a specialized army—its type is listed in its stat block.) Choose the basic type of army you want to recruit from infantry, cavalry, skirmishers, or siege engines. Statistics for all four basic armies are found below. You cannot choose an army whose minimum level is higher than your current kingdom level.

Step 2 — Recruit the Army

Take the Recruit Army activity as a Leadership Activity of a Kingdom turn to recruit the army.

Step 3 — Adjust Statistics

When you recruit an army, be it a, its level adjusts to match your kingdom level. Unless you recruit an army at minimum level when your kingdom is the same level, this means you must adjust the army’s DCs and check modifiers as detailed under Basic Armies by Level.

Step 4 — Choose Initial Tactics

All armies can know at least one tactic. When you recruit a basic army, choose its tactics from any that it qualifies for (but note cavalries and siege engines “spend” their first tactic on Overrun and Engines of War respectively). Specialized armies already have one or more tactics listed in their stat blocks; you only add tactics to these armies after they increase their level.

Step 5 — Place the Army

A basic army starts in the same hex as one of your kingdom’s settlements. A specialized army starts in the hex in which you first encountered and recruited them. A settlement can support any number of armies.

Step 6 — Adjust Consumption

When you recruit an army, your kingdom’s Consumption score increases by the army’s Consumption score. You don’t have to pay Food Commodities for the army immediately, but you will need to do so during the Upkeep phase of your next Kingdom turn.

Step 7 — Name the Army

Give your army a unique name and decide on any other flavorful elements for the army at this time if you wish. While the quality and magical nature of gear affects your army’s statistics, the specific weapon and armor types do not.

TRAITS
ITEM LEVEL

Price. This lists the gear’s price in RP. (Gear that has multiple types includes a Price for each type instead.)
The section after the line describes the gear.

Type. If multiple types of the gear exist, entries here indicate the name of each type, its level, its price, and any other relevant details or alterations from the above description.

In a war encounter, the focus is on a clash between opposing armies on the field of battle. These rules don’t work particularly well when an army attacks a single target—such encounters are better played out with the PCs facing the threat themselves.

But what if the PCs want to fight with their soldiers on the field of battle? For the most part, a PC who fights in an army won’t noticeably affect that army’s stats. Having a famous (or infamous) founder of the kingdom fighting at your side in battle can bolster an army’s mindset, though, so if a PC chooses to fight in this way, they grant a +1 status bonus to that army’s Morale checks.

A better way to incorporate PCs in battles is to have them confront specific singular enemies on the field of battle while the armies themselves fight it out all around them. In such a case, play out the war encounter to its completion to determine the degree of success achieved (see Victory or Defeat), then play out the battle between the PCs and their foe(s). If the PCs win this battle, the result of the war encounter is improved one degree, but if the PCs lose their battle or the enemy escapes, the result of the war encounter is worsened one degree.

Normally, armies move through the Stolen Lands during Kingdom turns via the Deploy Army activity, but if the PCs wish to travel with armies during hexploration they can do so. In this case, when the PCs come across a non-army encounter, assume the PCs’ forces hang back while the PCs play out the encounter in encounter mode as usual. When the PCs encounter an army, they can engage it with their own army in a war encounter. If the PCs leave an army during hexploration, that army remains in its hex until the PCs return to guide it in hexploration mode again or until they move it with the Deploy Army activity during a Kingdom turn.

Armies can move across the battlefield to engage enemies, to retreat and regroup, and seek terrain advantages during their war actions, but their relative positions on the battlefield remain abstract throughout the encounter. What does matter is relative position between armies. During a war encounter, armies can be in one of the following three relative positions. Two of these positions—engaged and distant—are also conditions.

• Near. When war encounters begin, the armies involved are normally considered near—close enough to advance and engage with a foe, but far enough to avoid direct conflict. An army cannot attempt melee Strikes against an enemy that is near—only ranged Strikes. Indicate an army is near by placing its token on the grid in any square not adjacent to another army.
• Engaged. An army that is engaged can attempt melee Strikes against other armies it is engaged with. Indicate armies that are engaged with each other by placing their tokens adjacent to one another. An army can be engaged with up to four armies at once.
• Distant. An army that attempts to disengage or retreat can move to a distant point on the battlefield. Attacks on a distant army are possible via ranged Strikes, but at a –5 penalty for the range. Indicate a distant army’s position by placing its token or miniature on the table just off the edge of the grid. (Armies that manage to flee the battle entirely are taken off the table.)

Each army in the battle makes a Scouting check to determine its initiative. On the first round of a war encounter, armies are usually near. (Armies that have the Ambush tactic may be able to begin a war encounter engaged; armies that have the Opening Salvo tactic may be able to begin a war encounter distant.)

Each army takes three war actions on its turn, chosen from Basic War Actions or from any other war actions the army may have access to.

At the end of the round, after every army has acted, there’s a chance that armies might rout. An army whose HP is at or below its Rout Threshold must attempt a Morale check; the DC is equal to the highest Morale DC among the remaining enemy armies. On a critical success, that army no longer has to check for routs at this step for the remainder of the encounter (but it can still become routed from other effects). On a failure, the army increases the value of its shaken condition by 1. On a critical failure, the army becomes routed.

After checking for routs, the round is over and the next one begins.

Once all armies on a side are routed or destroyed, the encounter ends; see Victory or Defeat to determine the final results of the encounter.

The PCs won the battle! Roll a basic Warfare check to determine the repercussions for the kingdom.

Critical Success. The damage suffered in the battle was relatively minor. Restore 1 HP to every damaged army, and at the start of your next Kingdom turn, gain one bonus Fame or Infamy point and reduce Unrest by 1.

Success. The damage wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Restore 1 HP to every damaged army.

Failure. The battle was hard fought, but your armies bore the results of the clash as well as could be expected.

Critical Failure. Although you won the battle, it took its toll on some of your armies. Any army that was damaged in the battle increases its shaken or weary condition value (the party chooses which) by 1.

The PCs lost the battle! Roll a basic Defense check to try to minimize damage and to determine repercussions.

Critical Success. Many soldiers survived the lost battle. All defeated armies are restored to 1 HP, and one damaged army of your choice heals 1 HP.

Success. One damaged army of your choice escaped the brunt of the loss—that army heals 1 HP. Gain 1 Unrest.

Failure. The battle was a loss. Gain 1 Unrest.

Critical Failure. The loss has crushed your armies’ spirits. Each army that participated in the battle increases its shaken or weary condition (the party chooses which) by 2. Gain 1d4 Unrest.

You’ll see the following traits in some war actions.

• Army Type Trait. A war action that lists an army type trait (Infantry, Cavalry, Skirmisher, or Siege) can be used only by army units that have that trait.
• Attack. An attack war action functions as any other attack action. They resolve against an enemy unit’s AC, and each attack action made in a round increases the army’s multiple attack penalty.
• Maneuver. This war action pits one army’s mobility against another’s. When an army attempts such an action, it must attempt a Maneuver check against the opposing army’s Maneuver DC.
• Morale. This war action pits one army’s conviction and bravery against another’s. When an army attempts such an action, it must attempt a Morale check against the opposing army’s Morale DC.