.Cry Havoc Unit Combat System Free Preview!

By Skip Williams

This excerpt is taken from Chapter Three: Unit Combat of Cry Havoc by Skip Williams. It features a broad overview of the unit combat system. In addition, this preview includes the beginning of the section describing a fighting unit's statistics. As you will see through this excerpt, the beauty of this system is that it maintains the feel of d20 gameplay. That's because it uses the standard d20 rules for individual combat (Chapter Eight of the Player's Handbook), exploded out to handle units of troops rather than single characters. I hope you like it as much as I do. —Monte

Combat between units works much like combat between individuals. Unit combat, however, requires a slightly more abstract approach in order to keep battles running smoothly and quickly.

General Principles
The guidelines presented in this chapter allow quick resolution of battles involving anywhere from several dozen to a few hundred troops. Since speed of resolution is paramount, this system glosses over certain elements of battle that miniature wargames might handle in some detail.

The unit combat system takes standard d20 character combat concepts and expands them to unit scale. This approach keeps the terms, procedures, and die rolls familiar to players who already know the d20 System, and it allows character-to-character interactions and roleplaying within the scope of a much larger battle.

The Fundamentals
A few fundamental assumptions form the basis for the rules presented here.

1. A unit has an attack bonus, an Armor Class, a speed, and all other statistics that an individual creature has. Each of a unit's statistics is the average of that statistic over all the creatures in the unit.

2. A unit in combat acts in much the same way as an individual would. A unit can take almost any action in combat that a character can, and resolution of its actions occurs in much the same way.

3. A unit in combat seldom can assess the battle as a whole. Thus, it remains preoccupied with what's happening immediately around it.

What Is a Unit?
Any collection of creatures moving and fighting together can be considered a unit. A typical unit (called a homogeneous unit) consists of at least 10 creatures of the same kind, all with identical armor and weapons. It's quite possible, however, to form a unit with mixed equipment, mixed spells, or even mixed creatures (called a mixed unit).

A unit works like a character in many ways. A unit is the building block of a force in the same way that a PC is the building block of an adventuring party. A single figure on a battle mat represents a unit in a battle just as it does a character in an adventure, except that a unit figure represents anywhere from 10 to 50 actual creatures.

A unit on the battlefield can attack other units, or it can attack individuals. Conversely, both individuals and units can attack a unit. The term "combatant" refers to any entity fighting on the battlefield -- either a unit or an individual.

Unit Combat Sequence
Like combat between individuals, unit combat is cyclical-that is, the order in which units act does not change from battle round to battle round. Generally, unit combat runs as follows.

1. Unless an ambush or other circumstance makes the troops and commanders on one side of a battle unaware of their enemies, units begin ready to fight and are not flat-footed, as creatures in individual combat often are.

2. The commander-in-chief for each division involved in a battle makes a command check (see page 20) to determine initiative for the battle.

3. The commander-in-chief for each division directs the units under her command to act. The commander-in-chief with the highest initiative check result acts first, followed by the one with the next highest, and so on. Units on each side make morale checks as necessary when they or their foes act.

4. When all the commanders-in-chief have acted, Steps 2 and 3 repeat until the battle ends.

Unit Combat Basics
The following sections outline the basics of unit combat for the convenience of players and DMs during play. But this sidebar is only an outline -- full descriptions of the concepts in this section follow.

Except where noted, unit combat follows the rules given for combat between individuals in Chapter Eight of the Player's Handbook.

Battle Rounds
Unit combat takes place in one-minute battle rounds rather than the six-second rounds used for combat between individuals. This slower pace represents the lengthy grind of battle and the difficulty of coordinating large groups in a combat situation.

Initiative
During the first battle round of a fight, the commander-in-chief of each division involved makes a command check (see Giving Orders, page 35) that serves as an initiative check. Each round that the fight continues, divisions act in initiative order.

Attacks
A unit can move and attack once (one full attack) per battle round. A unit that does not move can make a double attack (two full attacks) each battle round.

Attack Roll
A unit attacks as a group, making one attack roll for all the creatures in it and using their average attack bonus. This roll represents how effectively the creatures in that unit fought. The higher the unit's attack roll, the more hits it scores (see Table 3-3). Because the creatures in a unit attack more or less in unison over the course of a one-minute battle round, the unit can hit an opponent more than once with each attack.

Damage
Each hit from a unit deals one damage factor (5 hit points) to an enemy unit, or standard damage for the weapon and wielder to an enemy individual.

Armor Class
A unit's Armor Class is the average of the Armor Class values of the creatures in it.

Hit Points (Damage Factors)
A unit's ability to withstand damage is roughly equal to the total hit points of all the creatures in it. Divide the hit points of each creature by 5 and round down to find the number of damage factors the unit has. The sum of all the individual creatures' damage factors equals the damage factors of the whole unit. Successful attacks against a unit reduce its damage factors. The unit's total decreases as creatures in it die or drop out because of injuries.

Attack Options
An attacking unit has the following basic options available.

Attack: A unit can move and make a full attack (melee or ranged), or make a full attack and move. A unit that does not move can make two full attacks (see Double Attack, below). In unit combat, a unit always makes a single attack at its highest melee attack bonus for an attack of opportunity or the first attack of a charge, and a full attack in most other cases (see Chapter Eight in the Player's Handbook).

Charge: A charging unit attacks twice-once with a single melee attack as part of the move, and once with a full attack after the move. When making the charge, the unit moves up to its speed in a straight line or gentle curve, then makes a single melee attack with a +2 charge bonus on the attack roll. The unit also takes a -2 penalty to its Armor Class until its next turn. It then makes a full attack (just like a standard unit attack) immediately after charging, but without the charge bonus.

Double Attack: A unit that does not move (except to adjust its position) can make two full attacks.

Double Move Charge: A unit can move up to double its speed in a charge and make a single melee attack.

Spells
A unit can move and cast a spell that would normally have a casting time of one standard action in individual combat. A unit that does not move (except to adjust its position) can cast a spell with a casting time of up to one minute. To cast a spell with a longer casting time, a unit must remain stationary (except for adjusting its position) for the entire time required to complete the casting.

Saving Throws
Each of a unit's saving throw bonuses equals the average of that saving throw bonus for all the creatures in it.

Movement
Each unit has a speed measured in feet. It can move that distance as well as attack or cast a spell with a casting time of one standard action. The unit can move before or after attacking or casting.

A unit can also move twice in a battle round (that is, move twice its speed), provided that it does not attack or cast a spell. It can also run, but only if ordered to do so.

Unless it is under orders to the contrary, a unit must move toward the closest enemy it can see.

A unit in melee contact with an enemy unit (that is, within 50 feet of it) cannot move away unless ordered to do so. If so ordered, it breaks melee contact, usually provoking an attack of opportunity from the enemy unit.

Death, Dying, and Healing
Each time a unit takes damage from a melee or ranged attack, it suffers casualties, losing one damage factor (5 hit points) worth of creatures for each successful hit against it. When a unit consists only of creatures with more than 5 hit points each, every hit the unit takes wounds a creature. Wounded creatures in a unit take damage from melee or ranged attacks before nonwounded creatures do, but a unit loses a creature only when it runs out of hit points. Some kinds of terrain and spells that affect areas may wound several creatures in a unit without killing any of them.

Wounded creatures in a unit can receive magical healing, which reduces the damage they have suffered.

Unless otherwise noted, consider any creatures that are eliminated from units as dying (between -1 and -9 hit points, inclusive). Use of the Heal skill during a battle cannot return such a creature to the unit, though the quick application of a healing spell may allow recovery (see Injury and Death, page 44).

A unit continues functioning at its full capacity until it has no more creatures in it. Do not remove a unit from the battlefield until it has lost its last creature.

Grids and Miniatures
Unit combat takes place on a square grid with one square equal to 50 feet. Simply place markers or figures on the grid to indicate the positions of units.

Orders
In the noise and confusion of battle, units do not always do exactly the right thing. When left to its own devices, a unit attempts to attack whichever enemy happens to be closest to it. A skilled commander, however, can order a unit to attempt more intricate maneuvers than it could manage on its own.

Morale
Morale is a measure of how well the unit stands up to adversity. A unit checks morale whenever it takes damage, and in certain other circumstances as well.

Base Line and Rendezvous Point
Each force involved in a battle treats one edge of the battlefield as its base line -- usually the edge from which it entered the battle. A unit that fails a morale check often retreats toward its base line.

The troops in any unit have orders to go to a prearranged place on the battlefield when they don't know what else to do. Troops that find themselves without orders and without nearby enemies to attack can move toward this rendezvous point.

Unit Combat Statistics
Several fundamental statistics determine how well a unit performs in combat. This section summarizes these statistics, and the following sections detail how to use them. You can keep track of each unit's statistics using copies of the unit record sheet on page 133 (downlod PDF, 60k).

Unit Attack Bonus
A unit's melee attack bonus is:
Average base attack bonus + average Strength modifier + size modifier + weapon damage modifier + miscellaneous modifiers.

A unit's ranged attack bonus is:
Average base attack bonus + average Dexterity modifier + size modifier + range modifier + weapon damage modifier + miscellaneous modifiers.

Average Base Attack Bonus
A unit's base attack bonus equals the average base attack bonus of all the creatures in it. For a homogeneous unit, this value equals the base attack bonus of a single member. To determine the average base attack bonus for a mixed unit, first find the base attack bonus for each creature in it. Then multiply each of these values by the number of creatures to which it applies, add up the results, divide by the total number of creatures in the unit, and round down.

A base attack bonus of 6 or higher allows a unit to attack more than once when it uses a standard unit attack , just as it allows an individual to attack more than once when using the full attack action (see Chapter One of the Player's Handbook).

Examples: The following examples demonstrate how to calculate a unit's base attack bonus.

1. A unit of 10 ogres has a unit base attack bonus of +3. Each ogre has a base attack bonus of +3. Since this value is the same for all creatures in the unit, the average equals +3.

2. A unit of five ogres and five bugbears has a unit base attack bonus of +2. Each ogre has a base attack bonus of +3, and each bugbear has a base attack bonus of +2. Multiplying +3 by 5 (the number of ogres) gives a result of 15, and multiplying +2 by 5 (the number of bugbears) gives a result of 10. Dividing the total of those values (15 + 10 = 25) by 10 (the number of creatures) gives a final result of +2 (25 / 10 = 2.5, rounded down).

Average Strength Modifier
Use the general procedure described above to determine this value.

Examples: The following examples demonstrate how to calculate a unit's average Strength modifier. Use the same method to calculate its average modifier for any other ability score, substituting the appropriate value for the Strength modifier.

1. A unit of 10 ogres has an average Strength modifier of +5. Each ogre has a Strength score of 21, which provides a +5 Strength bonus. Since this value is the same for all creatures in the unit, the average equals +5.

2. A unit of 5 ogres and 5 bugbears has an average Strength modifier of +3. Each ogre has a Strength modifier of +5, and each bugbear has a Strength modifier of +2. Multiplying +5 by 5 (the number of ogres) gives a result of 25, and multiplying +2 by 5 (the number of bugbears) gives a result of 10. Dividing the total of those values (25 + 10 = 35) by 10 (the number of creatures) gives a final result of +3 (35 / 10 = 3.5, rounded down).

Size Modifier
This modifier works exactly like the size modifier for individuals. In a mixed unit, use the size modifier of the majority of creatures. If there is no majority, use the size modifier for the largest creature.

Range Modifier
This modifier works exactly like the range modifier for individuals.

"d20 System" and the "d20 System" logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 4.0. A copy of this License can be found at Wizards' d20 home page. This content is produced under version 3.0, 1.0a, and/or draft versions of the Open Game License, the d20 System Trademark Logo Guide, and System Reference Document by permission of Wizards of the Coast.
Designation of Product Identity: The following items are hereby designated as Product Identity in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Game License, version 1.0a: Any and all Malhavoc Press or montecook.com logos and identifying marks and trade dress, including all Malhavoc Press product names, page design, and all illustration.
Designation of Open Game Content: The remainder of this excerpt is Open Game Content."Cry Havoc " ©2003 Skip Williams. All rights reserved.

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