War Machine

This week we continue our exploration of army combat in the Tome of Whispers. Last time we looked at the overall nature of the game mode and its phases. This time we're going to take a look at the heart and soul of the system, troops. Troops are to army combat as characters are to standard combat. At the scale of army combat, each troop can be thought of as a single individual. The soldiers comprising the troop are abstracted into an aggregate. Characters in troops can still have an important effect on the outcome, but we'll take a closer look at how that works in part three of this miniseries.

Because of their aggregated nature, troops behave a lot like swarms. Individuals within a troop cannot be targeted specifically. Similarly, effects that target a specific number of creatures cannot target a troop. The exception is, of course, for other troops. Troops can attack each other as if they are single creatures. Most individuals can do very little against a whole troop, but some very large monsters might have better luck. We'll talk more about troop-on-monster interactions in a future installment. Generally speaking, however, the best way to fight a troop is with a troop of your own.

Each troop has its own statistics, like characters do, but with a much more streamlined set. The primary metrics for determining a troop's effectiveness are its commander, hit points, level, morale, and tactics. These statistics can improve over the course of a campaign as the troop gains experience. A rag-tag group of volunteers might become a crack team of grizzled veterans by the end, assuming they survive of course!

Commander

Each troop has a specific commander. This is always a character, though it can be an NPC and does not have to be specifically a player character. The troop's commander chooses the troop's strategy each round. If there are multiple troops in an army, each one has its own commander. There may be an overall battle plan decided at a higher level of command, but ultimately each troop's commander must decide for themselves how to proceed based on how the battle is going and what the enemy is doing. For many war stories, player characters might start out as grunts, working their way up to command as things progress.

Hit Points

A troop's hit points represent its unit cohesion. These hit points supersede any individual character hit points that its members might have, and characters do not usually lose their own hit points while part of a troop. Losing troop hit points represents attrition and exhaustion. Unlike characters, which have a variable number of hit points that grows over time, each troop always has a maximum of 100 hit points. A troop will likely lose hit points as the battle progresses. If a troop reduced to zero hit points suffers 100% casualties. Otherwise, a troop can continue functioning as long as it has hit points remaining.

Level

Like characters, troops have a level. All troops start out at level 0 when first formed. The only way for a troop to increase in level is through participating in army combat. If a troop survives a battle with less than 50% casualties, it gains a level. This happens even if the troop was on the losing side. A troop does not lose any levels if it suffers less than 75% casualties, but a troop that suffers 75% casualties or more can no longer function and must be replaced with a new troop. Some troops might be veterans of previous wars, with a level higher than 0 at the start of a campaign. Standing armies often have higher-level troops supplemented by more expendable units or fresh recruits. A troop's level is independent of the level of any of its constituent members.

Morale

If a troop's hit points represent its physical cohesion, morale represents its internal cohesion. Morale is measured in points but has a floating value that can rise and fall over the course of a battle. The specific value of a troop's morale is not important. Its effects are based on whether it has passed certain thresholds, which get farther apart as they get farther from zero. Good morale can make up for a lack of tactics, but bad morale might cause a troop to disband altogether, even if it still has hit points remaining. Each troop has a certain amount of morale when it is first organized. Professionals and volunteers generally start with pretty good morale, while conscripts are on the verge of disbanding right from the beginning.

Tactics

A troop's tactics modifier represents its effectiveness. It behaves in many ways like a skill. When a troop attempts a check, it uses its tactics modifier. If a check is attempted against a troop, the DC is the troop's tactics DC. A troop's level is always included in its tactics, and each type of troop has its own base tactics modifier. Bonuses and penalties can also modify a troop's tactics modifier and DC. A troop's morale is a likely source of these bonuses and penalties, as are heroic actions taken by characters that are part of the troop. The luck of the dice also plays a big part, opening the door for underdogs to come out on top.

Troop Types & Subtypes

Every troop has a basic type. Each one has a base morale value, a base tactics modifier, and a requirement for how long it takes to recruit a troop of that type. For example, conscripts have bad tactics and morale, but a troop can be organized very quickly. Professionals, on the other hand, have good tactics and morale but require training that adds a lot of time to the troop's recruitment. For this reason, professional troops tend to be organized in advance of a war story.

In addition to a troop's basic type, there are also several subtypes a troop can have. Subtypes represent more specialized troops and, while they do not alter the troop's base tactics or morale, they can further increase the recruitment time. This increased recruitment time comes with special abilities that a troop gains access to. For example, irregular infantry takes no extra time to recruit but has nothing special. Cavalry troops take longer but are trained to use mounts, or artillery troops can use siege weapons. Battle mages take the longest to recruit but use coordinated casting to use spells on troops as if they were single creatures!

Troop Perks

Like characters, troops gain perks as they grow in level. These perks offer permanent boosts to a troop's statistics or might offer new strategies that can be used in battle. Troop perks do not have level prerequisites, but might have other prerequisites, like a troop subtype. Troop perks let a troop take on its own unique identity. An irregular infantry troop might take the Dependable perk to become regular infantry, an artillery troop might take the Fire Team perk to reduce the reload time of its siege weapons, or a regular infantry troop might take the Anti-Cavalry perk to gain an edge in an engagement where they might ordinarily be at a disadvantage.

Strategies

Strategies are the actions that a troop uses during the Execute phase of the army combat round, as chosen by the troop's commander during the Orders phase. All troops have access to all strategies, though some strategies might only really be useful for certain types of troops. Depending on the strategy chosen by the troop's commander, a troop might Dig In for defensive bonuses, Engage an enemy troop, or March into another hex. There are several strategies included in the Tome of Whispers, but it's not an exhaustive list. Your group might come up with your own strategies to add to the basic ones already provided.

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Because troops are a primary focus of army combat, it's very important that each troop feels like a character in its own right. As a war story is told, troops take on their own identities, growing and changing, but also risking being lost. Even so, actually using troops is very straight-forward. An individual battle is as easy to run as standard combat, if not easier, with enough tactical variety to be satisfying for all participants, especially when heroic characters get involved! But that's a focus of another part of this miniseries. Next time we'll return to the card game to introduce another new villain, so stay tuned!