Draft 1 of the War Game: Combat as I want to run it

This whole thing might get scrapped! But, if not, this is how the combat mini-game, for now known as the War Game, plays out for me in We Mortal Legends. As a note, I'm probably scrapping the idea of no specific game states/procedures in the game; I've grown fond of procedures as both player and GM.

I've decided to play with combat as it's traditionally considered for the following reasons:

• I want less of a focus on distinct actions.
• I want more of a focus on the battlefield.
• I don't like Hit Points as an abstraction.
• I wanted a way to make combat with more than 10 participants to be able to shift to larger scale combat if needed.

These things can be achieved a thousand different ways without making significant changes to combat. But rule design is one of my favorite hobbies, so I don't really care if there's way to achieve these through whatever strange alchemy one would want to prefer now.

THE WAR GAME

WHAT IS THE WAR GAME?

The War Game is a dynamic combat method. It prioritizes speed, environmental-based problem solving, and changing combat states from large scale to small scale or vice versa.

War Game Goal: The goal is for all enemies to have fled, surrendered, died, or been rendered incapacitated. As long as there is a single hostile enemy towards the PCs, the War Game continues--or, alternatively, can switch to the Rogue Game. There can be additional goals such as:

• Protecting someone from death.
• Destroying an object or something similar.
• Holding off an enemy force so that a ritual can be completed.
• Taking over a small territory to create a sanctuary of some sort.

Losing the War Game: PCs fail the War Game if they surrendered, are incapacitated, killed, flee, or if an additional goal of theirs is made impossible to achieve. 

ANATOMY OF THE WAR GAME

Below are the lingua franca for the War Game:

Hit Dice: Unlike the standard hit dice (HD) of D&D-compatible games, Hit Dice in the War Game dictate how many Maneuvers (see below) a creature can use during their turn. If a creature has no armor protecting it, then when it takes damage from any source, it can expend 1 HD to survive whatever wound it's taking. When an HD must be rolled, it is rolled with a d8.

Maneuvers: Maneuvers are actions that a creature can take on their turn. These can be anything from a single weapon attack, to putting distance between them and the enemy, to attempting to grapple, or even basic movement at length. Performing any maneuver costs 2 HD, or 1 if only a single HD is left. HD spent this way are regained when the next round starts.

Wound: Damage suffered without armor to sponge it up, or damage that overcomes the armor reduction, results in the loss of 1 HD of the attack's target. Sometimes a wound has a special property, which is stated in the property of the weapon or attack being used. If damage is taken and the target has 1 or fewer HD, they are incapacitated or dead, as per the attacker's decision. This lost HD can only be recovered in the following ways:

• Healing tools.
• Magical healing.
• Special features.
• 8 hours of rest to regain 1 HD.

Weapon: Every weapon is filed into a type (dagger, longsword, hammer, maul, etc) that gives weapons a special property. All weapons deal 1d8 of damage before properties are are factored in. This damage is dealt to armor pools, or to the toughness rating of objects, such as doors or locks.

Armor Class (AC): Armor has a point value associated with it. There are Suits, Helmets, Shields, and Accessories. These further breakdown into things like Full Helmets and Visors, or Breastplates and Gambians, and so on. Total up the armor value, and pay attention to any properties the armor may have associated with it. Add this number to your Dex modifier or the 2nd digit in your Savvy score. This is your armor pool, which can be used to reduce damage when damage is suffered. 1 HD can be spent at the start of your turn to recover the amount of armor rolled, but you can never have more than your maximum pool.

Attack: Attacks are automatic, with no roll needed to inflict damage. Attacked targets can either use armor, inventory slots, or spend 1 HD to dodge away from the attack to avoid it. An attack is considered a maneuver, and the roll of HD (totaled if more than one is spent) spent determines the damage of the attack.

• Mighty Attack: By declaring an attack as mighty, the attacker removes 1 HD from the target, regardless of how much armor is left after damage is dealt. As a result, they cannot spend HD to dodge until the beginning of their next turn.

Environmental Factors: An environmental factor is a detail on the battlefield that can be used as an aid in someway. It is suggested that every battlefield has at least 3 factors included, with no more than 6 or 7 being in motion for sake of keeping things quick. Invoking an Environmental Factor is considered a maneuver. These can be anything from cover from ranged attacks, boulders to tip over, cliffs to push people over, and so on. If desired, you do not need to define these things: players can ask if X is there, and that can be one of the Environmental Factors. Sub-definitions are offered below for types of factors:

• Cover: Reduces all damage from standard ranged attacks to 0.
• Distractions: Such as sand to throw into the eye, chandlers to swing off of, or animals to scatter in front of the target. They can only be invoked once on a specific target and, when invoked, prevent the target from spending HD until the end of the round.
• Hazards: Boulders or cliffs, flaming pits or vats of acid--these hazards are dangers to anyone who comes into contact with them. When used, the target's armor is reduced to 0 for that round and they lose 1 HD.

Morale: Whenever one of the following conditions is met, a morale check must be rolled for that side immediately:

• Half of that side's fighters are somehow rendered incapacitated.
• A goal for that side is failed.
• A designated leader of that side is somehow rendered incapacitated.
• Two rounds pass without one side having inflicted any damage or wounds to another.

Should one of these triggers occur, the GM (or players if this is for them) rolls 1 HD. Any creatures with the # rolled or less begin to immediately flee, and cannot spend HD for any other reason unless they are damaged in the fleeing.

Small Scale: Any War Game that features 10 or fewer individuals is considered small scale. These small scale War Games use the above rules.

Large Scale: Any War Game that features more than 10 individuals is considered large scale. During a large scale War Game, each faction involved takes the average of their HD and the average of their armor into one large pool. Name a leader for these factions. Environmental factors can be used by factions. Below rules are elaborated for the large scale War Game.

Leader: On a faction's turn, members decide what to do and the leader confirms what maneuver the faction is taking. If a leader is incapacitated or killed during the war game, than that faction loses all but 1 HD.

Casualty: When an HD is lost by a faction during a large scale War Game, this represents one wounded member of that faction. If all HD are lost, than the leader of the faction is incapacitated, and remaining members are scattered and surrounded. This either leads to a small scale War Game or an end to the War Game.

Roles (Optional): Factions can have roles, if the PCs or GM so chooses. For example, an enemy faction may have archers and spearmen in it. When an HD is lost, other than the leader, the attacking faction decides which member is taken out. So, if all the archers are taken out of a faction, the faction can no longer make ranged attacks with bows. 

Leader Killing: The leader of a faction can be directly attacked. The attacking faction declares their maneuver as Leader Killing and rolls 1 HD. If the number rolled is 7 or higher, the leader is incapacitated or killed. If it is lower than 7, than for every number lower, the attacking faction loses 1 HD.

PLAYING THE WAR GAME

Below is offered a listed procedure.

1. The PCs are either attacked or engage another group of individuals. Total participants are decided and the GM decides if this is a small or large scale War Game.
• In case of a small scale War Game, everyone rolls 1 HD; the highest decides which side goes first, and popcorn initiative is used from there.
• In case of of a large scale War Game, both sides leaders roll 1 HD; the highest decides which side goes first and so on.
• At anytime, someone can choose to spend 1 HD to go right at that moment instead of their normal order.
2. Goals are established for both side, though this need not be written down, etc.
3. All participants declare their maneuvers on their rounds and resolve them accordingly.
4. At the start of every round, the GM is free to introduce or change any Environmental Factors of their choosing.
5. Once one side has been sufficiently defeated, the War Game ends.

Contested Maneuvers: Whenever a creature does something that a creature would normally resist (such as being grappled, shoved, etc.) the targeted creature must spend 1 HD. The # rolled is added to the defender's Strength or Athletics attribute; the attack's rolled # is likewise added to their Strength or Athletics attribute as well. The creature with the highest total decides the outcome.

Getting Back Into It: If a creature is killed or incapacitated and then brought back into the fight, they go last for the next 2 rounds and cannot spend 1 HD to go sooner.

d6 Armors

1. Arming doublets/aketons adds +2 to your AC pool and you can add pieces of other armors to it, increasing it further by +1.
2. Chain/Scale adds +6 to your AC pool, is loud as hell, and permanently decreases in armor value by 1 point every time it total AC is reduced to 0.
3. Gambeson adds +4 to your AC pool, can be ignited, and is stiff enough to lower your Dexterity or Savvy score while worn by -1.
4. Lamellar armor adds +4 to your AC pool, though you can't spend AC to protect your arms or legs from called shots.
5. Piecemeal armor adds +2 to your AC pool for each piece that covers: torso, arms, legs, and head.
6. Plate armor adds +8 to your AC pool, is loud as all hell, and prevents dismemberment.

d8 Environmental Factors - Cover

1. Broken ruin walls, crumbling, can be pushed over onto those near by.
2. Trees, thick and old, animals flee the canopy when noise is made close by.
3. Fog, which provides no real protection, but makes it hard to determine your location.
4. Furniture, easily broken, not big enough for you and someone else.
5. Building wall, sturdy, easily followed behind.
6. Other creatures, likely to move and maybe attack if used for cover.
7. Bushes and foliage, provides no real protection but hides your location.
8. Pits or otherwise holes in the floor, also provides no real protection but can get you the hell out of the way.

d8 Environmental Factors - Distractions

1. Sand, ash, dust, or soot, all ready to be thrown into someone's eye.
2. A crowd of people, perhaps as small as a gathering or as large as a festival, ready to scream and cause chaos.
3. Flickering lights, likely in a lantern or wall-torch, ready to be struck or put out.
4. Inclement weather picking up, such as rain turning into a downpour, to allow fleeing.
5. Nearby animal groups, always ready to be incited into a full blown riot.
6. Swingable vines or chandeliers or tapestries, to either throw onto someone to confuse them, or to otherwise use to swing off of.
7. Large, echoing caverns or plates of metal that, when struck, make loud, confusing sounds.
8. Mirrors that reflect a warped reflection of everything around them when stared into.

d8 Environmental Factors - Hazards

1. Large, precariously placed objects prepared to be pushed onto someone. Targets stuck in hazard are considered subdued.
2. Easily-ignited materials close by, and something ready to spark them, such as a match or torch accompanying fireworks or oil. Fire, until put out, keeps AC at 0 for those ignited.
3. Hardly-covered pitfalls lined with dung-covered spikes. Makes a limb unusable when fallen into.
4. Cliffs looming over expanses too deep to be survived. Kills whoever is thrown off, as long as falling can kill them.
5. Lightning storms, hail, or fast moving winds carrying sharp debris. Reduces HD by an additional -1.
6. Tangling cloth, branches or vines that wrap around whoever is thrown into them. Targets stuck in hazard are considered subdued.
7. Hidden piles of quicksand or mud. Reduces movement by 10 feet for every round stuck in hazard.
8. A vat of acid, pit of lava, or other place where being pushed into will cause a very bad day. Destroys 5 inventory slots per round stuck in hazard.

d12 Weapon Categories

1. Axes strip 1 HD from the target when max damage is rolled.
2. Bastard swords double damage if wielded in both hands.
3. Daggers immediately remove 1 HD when a subdued, grappled, or incapacitated is attacked.
4. Garrote wires ignore AC entirely and instead immediately removes 1 HD.
5. Guns ignore armor and remove 1d4 HD on a hit.
6. Lances skewer targets when max damage is rolled and the attacker is riding something.
7. Mauls permanently reduce a target's AC by 2 when reducing their AC to 0.
8. Shields (because these are really weapons, tbh) add 2-4 points to the PC's AC pool depending on shield size.
9. Spears shove enemies back when hit by 10 feet.
10. Torches light things on fire if max damage is rolled.
11. Warbows can shoot up to 400 yards and damage HD directly if not blocked with a shield or metal armor.
12. Whips can subdue a target if max damage is rolled. Targets subdued this way can be shoved to the ground or disarmed at the same time.

d4 Wound Types

1. Bleeding wounds, left by bladed or skewering weapons, reduce AC maximum by 5 (minimum 1).
2. Broken bones or ruined limbs, left by crushing or piercing weapons, make either attacking or moving as a maneuver almost impossible.
3. Burning keeps a target's AC at 0 and removes 1 HD at the start of every round.
4. Lingering wounds leave a special condition on the player, as determined by the GM, such as being blinded, missing an arm, etc.

Draft 1 of the Rogue Game: A mini-game for running Stealth Encounters

Talking in the OSR discord about new ways to do stealth has led me to want to make stealth into a mini-game, much like combat. So, this is my attempt at what is the Rogue Game.

WHAT IS THE ROGUE GAME

The Rogue Game is similar to combat--it is a separate mini-game within the greater game itself. If played with We Mortal Legends, just bust these rules out in the middle of gameplay. Otherwise, this will begin a series of actions much like running a combative encounter.

Stealth is the Rogue Game. In the Rogue Game, players will navigate traps, shadows, and guards all looking to catch the players.

Rogue Game Goal: There is a goal at the end of the Rogue Game: to reach an area where stealth is no longer required to progress forward. This can be a treasury, escaping a dungeon, or reaching the apartments of some target of assassination. There can be additional goals as well, such as:

• Recovering treasure.
• Recovering information.
• Killing a target.
• Planting evidence.
• Sabotage.

Failing the Rogue Game: The Rogue Game fails if players die, if Guards alert the entire Complex to the players presence, party SD falls to 0, or if the players are somehow captured or incapacitated during the Rogue Game.

The Rogue Game vs Stealth: The Rogue Game is initiated whenever the players need to move stealthily throughout a large space (such as dungeon halls, a large treasury with a dragon in it, or across a field to a castle wall). Normal stealth can and should be used for your appropriate system when doing short-term stealth traveling.

ANATOMY OF THE ROGUE GAME

The following terms are the lingua franca of the Rogue Game. They will be explained in practical terms further below.

Round & Turn: As per combat. Each round is equal to a minute of time if you need to measure time. It can easily be considered as ten minutes or so as well.

Zones: The tunnels, maps, and rooms where the Rogue Game takes place. Each zone has its own guards, Light Dice dedicated to it, and obstacles. The more zones a Rogue Game includes, the more difficult it is.

Shadow Dice (SD): The entire party has a pool of shadow dice. This is a die whose size can change throughout the Rogue Game, depending on certain conditions. This also decides turn order, as discussed in the next section.

Light Dice (LD): These are used by the Gamemaster, who has either a 1, 3, or 5 light dice. They function the same as Shadow Dice, and are used to set DC's for checks, saving throws, or contested checks between Guards/traps against the PCs. The more you have, the more difficult the Rogue Game. They start at d20 and can vary in size like Shadow Dice. Each zone has the maximum number of LD in it--once all LD are used in a zone, no more can be used. LD can be triggered during any player's turn.

Skulduggery: These are actions a PC can take on their turn. It can be anything from moving forward (at half their normal movement rate), undoing a trap, scanning the area, or setting an ambush. As a default, these things have no roll associated with them. The players, being cautious, simply do them. However, the GM can choose to spend Light Dice to force the player to spend Shadow Dice to impose difficulty on the roll. EX: John wants to peek around the corner and scope out the tunnel. Normally, he does so just fine. The GM rolls one of their 3 Light Dice. John must spend a SD and roll above the LD to see what's down there. In these situations, the GM should always explain what is imposing difficulty on this.

Guards: Guards are anything that can detect a player. How many guards, what kind, their movement patterns--all of this should be thought up in vague terms by the GM. If you need a simple statblock for guards, use this:

Name:

Number: How many Guards are in this specific patrol.

Reaction: A d6 table for the Guards reaction to the players or a single reaction they will try to take.

Movement Pattern: What parts of the zone they frequent.

Special Qualities: Unique stuff.

Obstacles: Obstacles are traps, environmental hazards, area-based spells/curses, and treacherous territory. When encountered by the PCs, these obstacles must somehow be overcome. If the PCs method of overcoming the obstacle is not full proof (such as flying over a pit or using rope to climb a cliff), the GM can spend an LD for free to set a DC for the obstacle.

PLAYING THE ROGUE GAME

Below is offered a listed procedure. Specifics will be below that.

1. The PC's enter into an area dangerous that they want to stealth through. The Rogue Game begins.
2. Take the total Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma modifiers (or the combination of the Savvy+Athletics 10's digits in We Mortal Legends) of the party and add them together. This will give the party their entire pool of d20 Shadow Dice. If using 5E, take the Proficiency bonus of the party and add the highest Dexterity modifier found in the party. Having these numbers on hand before a session begins makes things faster.
3. GM decides how many Light Dice they have, and how many zones there are, and what is inside the zones. This is best to have prepared before the game.
4. The following factors are considered for lowering the die size of the SD.
• More than half the party is wearing medium or heavier armor.
• The players are in open daylight.
• There is nothing to hide the players.
• Guards are already alerted to the player's presence.
• A PC is dead, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated.
• Something is actively chasing the PCs.
5. If all of the above conditions are met, the Rogue Game ends in instantaneous failure.
6. Compare LD and SD pools to see who goes first.
7. Each PC can take a turn. Use popcorn intiative or a marching order to decide this.

PCs will encounter obstacles and Guards throughout the Rogue Game. They must use Skulduggery to overcome these obstacles. 

Lowering SD: Shadow Dice decrease by pool size and die size. A single die must be spent in order to succeed against the GM's LD. When an SD is spent, the rest of the party can elect to help, allowing the SD to be rolled twice and the higher number to be taken. If the SD is lower than the LD, the entire pool of dice decreases in size by 1 die step and the obstacle is still overcome. If this occurs when the SD are 1d4's, the Rogue Game is lost. NOTE: Just because failure is mitigated in a way doesn't mean there are no consequences. Losing the SD vs LD showdown can trigger Guard features, call more Guards to an area, or cost hit points, as per GM's discretion.

Recovering SD: If the PCs take a 10 minute breather to regain their composure in between zones, they can choose to either regain all missing SD, or to boost their SD by 1 die step if below a d20.

Lowering LD: If all LD in a zone are overcome, the LD in the next zone are all decreased by 1 die step.

Raising LD: If SD are decreased by 1 step, LD are increased by 1 step in the next zone.

Combat in the Rogue Game: There isn't true combat in the Rogue Game. If an ambush or assassination works, with or without roll, it just works. This can create new obstacles however: all the guards are dead, but now the bodies have to be hidden lest they be discovered. At the GM's discretion, a 2nd LD can be rolled and spent when an ambush or short combat happens, subtracting that many hit points from each PC's maximum hit points.

Changing Zones: Zones are easily changed. Once the PCs reach the end of one zone and enter into another, they are given a chance to take a breather. This does not mean they are safe: guards and other dangers can find them.

EXAMPLE SCENARIO FOR THE ROGUE GAME:

Stronghold of the Witchmother

Time of Day: Night

Zone #: 3 (fields, castle wall + courtyard, interior stronghold)

LD #: 5

Fields

Guards:

• 5 patrols of Castle Guardsmen watch with arrows, burning oil, treacherous, and bells.
• Blink dogs in the fields hunt slowly, seeking anything they can find hidden.
• Ravens bewitched to flock around discovered invaders.

Obstacles:

• Pitfalls dug and hidden underneath the field soil. Spikes are underneath.
• 20 foot wide moat around castle wall.
• Random moving spotlights on castle wall.

Castle Wall + Courtyard

Guards: 

• 5 patrols of Castle Guardsmen, same as those watching over the fields.
• 4 Gargoyles positioned in the 4 cardinal directions.
• 5 more patrols of Castle Guardsmen who walk around the perimeter of the courtyard.

Obstacles

• Gravel pathways and dry leaves in the grass to make footsteps noticeable.
• Statues that, if approached, will sing.

Interior Stronghold

Guards:

• 10 patrols of Castle Guardsmen, 6 of which are currently sleeping in barracks.
• 5 Sentient Paintings whom can move from one painting or mirror to the next.
• The Mother's Daemon, a demon conjured by the Witchmother of the Stronghold. Haunts the doorway between her bedchambers and the rest of the stronghold.

Obstacles:

• Stairways that, if the railing is not touched when going up or down, rumble and move.
• Doors enchanted to look false to look like walls behind the doors.
• Rats that swarm those traveling the Stronghold at night without a charm from the Witchmother.
• Lamps and scones that shed white light on hallways, making classical shadow-stealth impossible.

Guard Stats

Name: Castle Guardsmen

Number: 3

Reaction: Scream intruder and engage in melee combat.

Movement Pattern: Castle walls; watch over fields; courtyards; interior strongholds.

Special Qualities: Wear a breastplate (medium armor), and have crossbows, long swords, daggers, and spears. 1 HD per guard.

Name: Blinkdogs

Number: 2

Reaction: Scream the scream of a woman being gutted before disappearing and attacking.

Movement Pattern: Fields

Special Qualities: Can teleport a distance of 30 feet and make attacks with claws and fangs afterwards.

Name: Gargoyles

Number: 1

Reaction: Sing the Witchmother's anthem, fly into the air, then swoop in to attack.

Movement Pattern: Courtyard

Special Qualities: Immune to bladed weapons, can fly, and strike with fists that do damage as if boulders.

Name: Sentient Paintings

Number: 1

Reaction: Will jump from painting to painting searching for Guardsmen to alert.

Movement Pattern: Interior Stronghold

Special Qualities: Move from painting to painting at a rate of 3 paintings a turn. Each room or hallway has 1d8 paintings in it. If painting is destroyed with Sentient Painting inside, the Sentient Painting is killed.

Name: The Mother's Daemon

Number: 1

Reaction: 

1-2: Bargain with the players, offering them assistance if they kill the Witchmother and offer them a blood sacrifice.

3-4: Will engage the players in combat.

5-6: Will wake the Witchmother.

Movement Pattern: Interior Stronghold - Witchmother's bedchambers only.

Special Qualities: Cannot be hurt save through spell or magic weapons. Invisible but has a shadow. Attempts to possess players (free use of an LD). If successful, will only be exorcised through magic or rendering possessed player incapacitated. If struck with Holy Water, hears prayers, or if the doorway is destroyed, it is dismissed.