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D&D 5e Mass Combat System

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Suggested Price $2.00

Are you ready to wage "total war" in D&D?

This supplement offers a new alternate system for unit-based, tactical mass combat between armies ranging from hundreds to many thousands (even tens of thousands).

It also contains detailed rules for strategic campaign elements—including ruling and developing territories by constructing improvements for raising, training, and maintaining armies. Once they have land to rule and an army to fund, even your richest heroes will never have too much treasure!

V7 (6/11/2019): Advantage/disadvantage factors further simplified, and a small number of attack and morale modifiers added (so that flank attacks or panicking allies will always affect a roll); Sharpshooter unit ability rebalanced)

V6 (5/25/2019): Long-awaited major revision in response to playtesting feedback!

  • Advantage/disadvantage simplified to be like the standard rules
  • Cover bonus to unit AC added
  • Morale checks now made on same turn as attacks (instead of next)
  • How to end wavering/routing clarified and simplified
  • Great Attack special ability clarified; Sharpshooter reworded to conform to cover rule; Stride improved
  • (V6.2: Corrections to how wavering ends and to Charge special ability; minor wording errors corrected throughout)

V5 (11/25/2018): Great Attack special ability rebalanced and reworded; typos corrected in Rangers unit; wording clarified for Teleport ability of Mezzoloth/Nycaloth units

V4 (10/28/2017): Morale description clarified (removed outdated references to undead); removed morale check penalty for mercenary units (Patrick Wyman's "Tides of History" autumn 2017 convinced me that late medieval professional mercenaries were not more likely to flee a joined battle)

V3 (5/12/2017): Optional initiative added, melee attacks of missile infantry fixed to better correspond to other units, spellcaster units ability uses adjusted to better correspond to the spell slots of 3rd level characters, Defend and Sharpshooter unit ability adjusted to be more usable/useful, and construction point value of Settlements readjusted

V2 (1/27/2017): Number of units stationed at keeps, castles, and palace clarified and rebalanced

If you enjoy this booklet, you may also like my other products (linked below):

D&D-5e-Planar-Creature-Expansion

D&D-5e-Dinosaur-Dragon-Expansion

D&D-5e-Mount-Expansion

D&D-5e-Monster-Expansion

D&D-5e-NPC-Foe-Expansion

D&D-5e-Epic-Monster-Expansion

D&D-5e-Magic-Item-Expansion

D&D-5e-Weapon-Feats

D&D-5e-Alternative-Character-Options-Archetypes


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Reviews (7)
Discussions (11)
Customer avatar
Rafael M January 15, 2022 8:39 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi, Scott! This is a really good ruleset, and I think after reading many others — including the big ones like Kingdoms & Warfare —, this is what I'll be using in my campaign.

I'm yet to fully test it, but I've already implemented basic functionality in Foundry VTT alongside a damage calculator, which anyone can check out here: https://the-stash.gitlab.io/mass-combat-calculator/

That said, I have a question. How should I go about having one gargantuan creature, e.g. an ancient dragon, wandering alone in the battlefield and eventually facing another gargantuan creature one on one? Should I switch to normal combat when they face each other? Must they always be accompanied by other troops (minimum of 10, as in the troop numbers table)? Perhaps I could use the rules as is and extrapolate so the number of troops actually represents the lone creature's health pool?
Customer avatar
Robert B January 20, 2020 10:09 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Any chance you could adapt this to FG (Fantasy Grounds)?
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Customer avatar
Scott M February 05, 2020 11:32 pm UTC
CREATOR
Unfortunately that it beyond my limited technical ability. I can do a bit with Roll20, but even there I couldn't come close to figuring out how to integrate the system. But maybe someone else knows how?
Customer avatar
Angelo I August 26, 2019 11:29 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Why can only 150 medium-sized creatures fit into a space 150x150ft? According to my calculations, it should be something around 900.
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Customer avatar
Scott M August 27, 2019 9:26 pm UTC
CREATOR
Honestly, this is mostly an artificial restriction just to constrain the bigness of the math--and to mirror the typical total war unit sizes. Certainly a DM could allow much bigger units if desired, and if the calculation sizes aren't too unwieldy.

That said, most historical armies would not pack 900 troops into a 150-ft front. Shields, weapons, shoulders, and movement all take up more space than the "5 foot square" of D&D, especially when fighting. Some of the most tightly packed historical formations, such as a Greek phalanx or Anglo-Viking shield wall, might indeed have 30 men shield-to-shield across a 150-ft front, but the number of ranks were usually 6-8--that gets you up to 240. On the other hand, there are a few attested hoplite battles in which sources report depths of 25 and once even 50. Hence, a unit size of 900 doesn't totally lack real historical precedent. Thanks!
Customer avatar
Eduardo T June 11, 2019 5:44 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hello. I love this rule set . I saw you released V6 but I just can download V5. Any idea? Thanks and congrats.
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Customer avatar
Scott M June 11, 2019 5:59 pm UTC
CREATOR
I'm so sorry to hear this is happening again. The solution some folks found that worked the last time this happened was to delete the old file version from your purchase library and then to "buy again" the file (you should be able to do so for 0.00 since you already bought it previously, but since it is 'pay what you want' you can certainly 'pay' 0.00). The latest version *should* be in your library after this.
Customer avatar
J. L. B January 10, 2019 6:38 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hey Scott, I was wondering if you'd answer a quick question!

Reading through your ruleset, I think you did a phenomenal job capturing that Total War feel for a D&D Mass Combat system. I wonder, though, if you could explain to me your thought process in the design of your rules for casualties by means of division of damage. The math is really solid, but it is quite a bit of extra arithmetic (especially calculating percentiles and division) for every instance of damage done through the course of a fight.

I like the system, but I anticipate that this specific algorithm will drag my players out of the immersion of battle and into the 'process of mechanics', as it were. Am I wrong? Do you have any ideas or strategies to alleviate this as a potential problem?

Either way, keep up the good work! It really is very well done and thought out.
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Customer avatar
Scott M January 11, 2019 1:40 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks very much for the compliment! As to your question, you already predicted the chief answer--because the math is really solid. The mathematical operations may not be as elegantly simple as we could hope, they ultimately are what give the system the 'total war'-like feel of casualty attrition over time. In my own group's playtesting, we loved actually seeing big units get whittled down, breaking, rallying back to the fight and small, elite units holding their own due to the unit size/damage division. We couldn't think of any other mathematical operation that would allow this outcome in the same way. The other mathematical option for mass combat that we could have considered was percentile-based, something akin to the old 'Battle System' from the mid 1980s (which I encountered in the Basic D&D Companion Set). I absolutely LOVED this as a kid and spent many hours designing and destroying armies with my buddy--but ultimately this approach is chunkier, revolving around decisive-swing time blocks rather than...See more
Customer avatar
Scott M December 12, 2018 2:03 am UTC
CREATOR
Since at least some folks haven't been able to download version 5, let me provide the substantive changed wording here...

Great Attack
If this unit is equipped with versatile or heavy melee weapons, on its turn when it rolls a “20” on a melee attack or eliminates an enemy unit, it then can make one melee attack as a bonus action against an enemy unit it can reach this turn.

MEZZOLOTHS (FIEND, MEDIUM)
Teleport. Use action to teleport 1 space, or reduce damage rating to 4 to teleport after attacking.

NYCALOTHS (FIEND, LARGE)
Teleport. Use action to teleport 1 space, or reduce damage rating to 10 to teleport after attacking.
Customer avatar
Aldo S December 03, 2018 5:14 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi Scott, great work for these rules!
I'm trying to download the new update v.5, but in the download section I can only download the old v.4.

Thanks in advance!
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Customer avatar
Scott M December 03, 2018 11:43 pm UTC
CREATOR
Oh, I 'm so sorry about this! I'm not certain what happened. I've gone back into the document's settings, made sure that v5 is the only document available, and "saved" it as the downloadable file. Could you please try again and let me know here if there's still a problem?
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Customer avatar
Aldo S December 04, 2018 10:57 am UTC
PURCHASER
Only one file is on download, and it's the v.4 :/
I mean, I click "to get the file" and the file downloaded is the v.4.
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Customer avatar
Scott M December 05, 2018 12:19 am UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for letting me know. I deleted the old file (which appeared to me on my screen to be v5), and then I re-uploaded the v5 PDF in its place and saved it as the only available file. Hopefully this will make the latest corrected copy available to you and everybody else.
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Customer avatar
Jayme A December 07, 2018 1:31 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hi Scott,

I'm also getting a v4 download on this page. And when I go to my library, the only file available is:

"DnD_5e_Mass_Combat_System_v4.pdf"

With an Updated time of 2018-12-04 18:16:57
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Customer avatar
Scott M December 07, 2018 12:10 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for telling me. All I can do at this point is contact the site management and beg their technical help.
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Customer avatar
Aldo S December 07, 2018 6:55 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Yes, also for me still v4
Reply
Customer avatar
Chris J December 11, 2018 3:04 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Any update? I just re-downloaded it again today and it's v4.

Love this stuff, btw. LOVE IT.
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Customer avatar
Scott M December 12, 2018 1:54 am UTC
CREATOR
I wrote to Community Content Help on December 7, but so far no response. If any purchasers know whom to contact for help, please do!
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Customer avatar
Aldo S January 09, 2019 11:57 am UTC
PURCHASER
No answer yet?
Lazy DMSGuild... :/
Reply
Customer avatar
Scott M January 11, 2019 1:14 pm UTC
CREATOR
No, sorry. :( But have you tried clearing your cache and then attempting the download? Wondered if maybe it could have something to do with that.
Reply
Customer avatar
Aldo S January 14, 2019 12:43 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Yes I tried clearing cache but didn't resolve.
By the way I just tried to "buy again" this file, and downloading it after the "purchase", the file was v5 ;)
I hope this can help others having my same issue :D

EDIT: In my library was still the v4 version. I deleted the file from it, "purchased" again, and now is the v5 in my library too.
Customer avatar
Aarón S November 24, 2018 6:49 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi Scott, these are wonderful rules and we're using them next Saturday with a small siege. However, even though I think they are fantastic, I have some doubts about the meaning of some characteristics of the units. Perhaps it is the fact that English is not my native language, but could you help me with the following?

In the "Cost to Equip", it reads that it's "the number of gold pieces needed to equip each soldier with the weapons...". When it referes to each soldier, does it mean that I need to expend, let's say 90 gp for each soldier of the unit? Or does it mean that it's the cost to equip the whole unit? I have a similar doubt with the "Pay", I don't really know if the number, let's say 30 gp/month means 30 gp for each soldier in the unit or the unit as a whole.

Thank you very much for the ruleset, Scott, love them!
Reply
Customer avatar
Scott M November 25, 2018 9:54 pm UTC
CREATOR
I am so glad you enjoy the document! Both "Cost to Equip" and "Pay" refer to the number of gold pieces for EACH individual soldier. So a unit of 100 medium infantry (90 gp to equip, 30 gp pay) would cost 9,000 gp to raise plus 3,000 gp every month the unit is in the field.

Armies are very expensive to raise and keep in the field! (In Earth's history, the king of England during the Hundred Year's War spent more than his entire annual royal revenues just to field an army of barely 10,000 in France for a single campaign season.) So no matter how much treasure characters find adventuring, they almost certainly will never have enough money to maintain a large army for a long time. Characters who rule an army will always need to look for new revenues or capture new sources of treasure (just like historical medieval armies).
Customer avatar
Angelo I October 06, 2018 5:44 pm UTC
PURCHASER
If I had money I would give you more than anything else costs on this site. Thank you for these great rules. The only other improvements I could even think of making would probably be an index (and better categories for rules), and some autoresolve tables. I love this!
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Customer avatar
Scott M October 07, 2018 4:17 pm UTC
CREATOR
I am happy to make this system available pay what you want for exactly this reason. I would rather people use and have fun with them than not be able to afford them. Thanks very much for your kind words of support!
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Customer avatar
Angelo I October 08, 2018 3:29 am UTC
PURCHASER
May I make some suggestions? Firstly, I feel like the generic soldiers have a few too many manuevers, such that it actually takes away strategies and weakness. Basically every infantry has 6+ things it can do besides move and attack, and I feel that looses focus. Howver, as stated, those are generic soldiers, and can easily be tweaked.
I'm having some great fun turning Homebrew Imperial Legion soldiers into your great mass combat stat blocks, and I'm working on some new manuevers. I'm doing some playtesting for them on my own hex battlemap, and if you'd like I can send them to you for you to include. I don't mean to pressure you (it is your product), and I'm still very happy with the result. Sorry if I came off pushy at the beginning. Have a good one.
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Customer avatar
Angelo I October 08, 2018 3:30 am UTC
PURCHASER
(I think the website may have glitched and sent two messages, read later one)
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Customer avatar
Angelo I October 08, 2018 3:33 am UTC
PURCHASER
Oh yeah also personally I'd take out the clause about women being less physically strong than men, seems like not the best thing to bring up in a rulebook. Just my opinion.
Customer avatar
Leon F June 24, 2018 12:05 am UTC
PURCHASER
We had our first session and it was a huge success. We played on Roll20 and extended the rules, using these as a solid foundation to handle the war outside the Well of Dragons as a culmination of the Rise of Tiamat. The war is not over but I can report about the system. I will talk about what I did to build on the game.

First, I wanted a much larger scale. We played "regiment" style but instead 3x the troops and a scale of 300' squares we use 5x the troops at 500' hexes. Hexes worked great. I also wanted to have armies move, so each unit (regiment) was part of a battalion of 10 such units. Every player was directed to run an army that (in our instance) consisted of 2 battalions. So there were 5 armies/10 battalions. Battalions moved on a 5' per hex map using daily movement. Armies moved at a normal pace of 4 hexes (20 miles) per day. They could move 1 hex more if they moved fast or 1 hex less if they moved slow. That gave them a perception roll. We did the larg-scale tactical movement...See more
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Customer avatar
Scott M June 24, 2018 11:49 am UTC
CREATOR
I am so happy to hear that you had a great session using this system in RoT, thank you for sharing! The impetus for making this system for D&D came from a similar session my own group wanted to have several years ago--we still talk about it today as one of our favorite memories. As you point out, using hexes makes the system simpler in a lot of ways and I often recommend doing so when possible.

The ideas for improvements you mention are in many ways my "dream" if I had the time and means to expand this design and write it up as a full book. As I'm sure you noticed, this system mainly revolves around "tactical" (unit maneuvers) scope, with only the broadest and most simplified "strategic" (wider and longer-duration concerns) elements. If I had the time and resources to making this a full professional product, I'd definitely want to add meatier rules on terrain, concealment, and wide-scale strategic movements plus things like supply lines, sieges and storming, naval...See more
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File Last Updated:
June 11, 2019
This title was added to our catalog on October 06, 2016.