Rules Of Engagement (5e)

Rules of Engagement For Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition This is a set of rules I created for my homebrew campaign. They are general enough to be used in any setting or adventure. It is mostly a combination of the Unearthed Arcana rules for Mass Combat and a few strategy video games. They are highly loose on rules so that they can be modified easily during your session. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.

Created by Nick “Goldy” Drakopoulos |

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Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2 DISSECTING A UNIT ................................................................................................................................................................. 3 ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS! .............................................................................................................................................................. 3 NUMBER & CR ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4 BATTLE RATING ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4 DEFENSE RATING ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 INITIATIVE & STEALTH ................................................................................................................................................................. 5 MORALE ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 SPEED ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 ABILITIES ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 CREATING A UNIT .................................................................................................................................................................... 7 UNIT SIZE & SPACE ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 COMMANDER ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7 BR & DR TOTAL .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7 UNIT ABILITIES............................................................................................................................................................................. 7 MORALE LEVEL ............................................................................................................................................................................ 7 DISASSEMBLING A WAR MACHINE ................................................................................................................................... 8 GUARD UNIT................................................................................................................................................................................ 8 TYPE ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8 ARMOR CLASS.............................................................................................................................................................................. 8 HIT POINTS .................................................................................................................................................................................. 8 SPEED ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 ABILITIES ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 CREATING A WAR MACHINE ................................................................................................................................................ 9 WAR MACHINE’S SIZE & SPACE .................................................................................................................................................. 9 TYPE & STAT BLOCK .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 WAR MACHINE ABILITIES............................................................................................................................................................ 9 WAR MACHINE CONDITIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 9 COMBAT...................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 DETERMINE AMBUSH ................................................................................................................................................................. 10 INITIATIVE .................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 TAKING TURNS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 10 REPEAT ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 COUNTING CASUALTIES............................................................................................................................................................. 11 UNITS CONDITIONS............................................................................................................................................................... 12 APPENDIX A – COMMANDER ABILITIES ......................................................................................................................... 11 APPENDIX B – UNIT ABILITIES ............................................................................................................................................ 12 APPENDIX C – WAR MACHINE ABILITIES ....................................................................................................................... 13

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.

Introduction

take up a 5 by 5 square space(more on that later). Now that is fun!

When dealing with massive battles of hundreds or even thousands you cannot possibly do it with the normal rules of the player’s handbook. In that occasion we are talking about armies and armies are organized and fight in units.

When talking about armies we have to take into consideration the war machines. From a simple ballista to a siege tower, war machines can drastically change the balance of power. Therefore, in addition to units we will have war machines that function not too differently from a unit.

Army combat functions similarly to the combat rules in the player’s handbook. That means that units take turns in initiative order and during those turns they can perform actions such as attack, hide etc. Bonus actions are not present in such large scale combat, because they are insignificant.

PCs should be important in battles of such scale. The simple reason being, that otherwise it would be boring. They would have to constantly roll dice that they have no control over. Instead try to give them important tasks. Maybe they are the commanders of a few units and are tasked to encircle the enemy. Maybe they are the last line of defense between the enemy and the friendly siege engines. Giving a PC to command units is the easiest way to make a massive battle interesting for them. Another is to engage in smaller scaled combat every now and then during the battle. For example, if each party member commands a unit and they fight against an orcish horde, have them engage in normal combat(PH) when fighting against the enemy warchief’s unit. If you do so raise the stakes. Since every round in Mass Combat equals 10 in normal combat, whenever they encounter a warchief’s unit have the normal combat section take 10 turns and then return to the Mass Combat one. That way the player’s will race against the clock to kill the enemy warchief so that they will break the spirit of the horde.

Units also have different stats most of which are based on their Monster Manual stat block. They can also use special abilities and can have commanders that have special abilities of their own. The time scale is also different. Each round in Mass Combat represents 1 minute in the game world (10 rounds of normal combat). Armies use a significantly larger battlefield and therefore if you’re using a grid you cannot represent the units in a 5 by 5 feet square scale(Unless of course you have an entire room to use as a battlefield in which case…go for it!). Think of it as looking at the battlefield and zooming out to see the entirety of it. An easy way to represent entire armies on a grid is by using a grid scale of 100 by 100 feet per square where every unit takes up one square. But, a unit that takes up one square isn’t much fun now is it? Here we are going to use a grid scale of 20 by 20 feet where each unit will

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commander abilities in Appendix A. Feel free to create your own! Go wild!

Dissecting a Unit

Unit Card. Similar to a Monster Manual stat block, a unit has its own. Below we are going to look at each of the stats and what they represent. Most of the stats presented come out from the Monster Manual stat block of each creature.

A unit is comprised of two parts. One is the unit card and the other is the commander card. Commander Card. Because this is organized combat each unit needs a commander. A unit that does not have a commander gets the “Unorganized unit” condition. The commander does not count towards the unit’s stats(BR,DR etc. more about it later). A common commander has a Charisma Modifier of 0 and no abilities.

Rock, Paper, Scissors! Mass combat is a constant game of “rock, paper, scissors”. Units are divided into 3 categories: Infantry, Skirmisher and Cavalry. Each type has advantages and disadvantages against the others. Each type however has sub-categories and combinations. For example Horse Archers would be a Skirmisher-Cavalry unit. Unit types are presented below.

The commander’s card consists of their Charisma modifier and the commander’s abilities. The commander’s Charisma modifier counts towards the unit’s initiative and morale checks. While no other stats are used there are abilities that use the commander’s dexterity, intelligence etc. Commander abilities can be passive (Born Leader), used a specific number of times (Rally, powerful potions and spells etc.) or can be a recharge ability (A dragonborn’s Fire Breath for example). You can see examples of

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Normal

Number & CR Number is the stat that represents how many of each creature the unit holds. CR is the Challenge Rating of the creatures written in its stat block. For example, if a unit is consisted of 50 Goblins and 50 Orcs it would look like this:

Spear-Armed

Normal

Skirmisher Cavalry Normal

Battle Rating Similar to the Unearthed Arcana rules for Mass Combat we’ll be using Battle Rating (BR) to simulate the combat effectiveness of a unit when attacking. A unit’s BR is based on the Challenge Rating (CR) of the creatures that comprise it. There are creatures, however, too weak to provide support in mass combat on their own. Creatures such as Goblins, Kobolts, Bullywugs or even a common guard are too weak to be of any relevance in a battlefield alone. These kinds of creatures must group up in order to be relevant. For example a Troll alone has a BR of 4. A unit of Goblins that wishes to reach an equal BR must be comprised of 40 Goblins. A unit of peasants (commoners) that has a CR of 0 functions the same as these weaker creatures. The BR of a unit can be decreased in battle when it’s attacked and suffers casualties. When a unit suffers casualties its BR is reduced by rolling a damage die as we’ll see in the “Combat” section. When it reaches 0 the unit is completely destroyed and cannot rejoin the battle.

The following apply to units depending on their type: 



 



 

Normal Infantry units have advantage when fighting Spear Armed units. Spear Armed Infantry units have advantage when fighting cavalry units. All Skirmisher units have advantage when attacking from afar. All Skirmisher units have disadvantage when fighting in melee range. All Skirmisher units increase their range by 20ft. for every 20ft. they are positioned above the target. Cavalry units have disadvantage when attacking Spear Armed units. Cavalry units suffer retaliation casualties when fighting Spear Armed units from the front.

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DEFENSE RATING = 10 + BATTLE RATING MODIFIER

Battle Rating by Challenge Rating CR BR 0 +1 per 25 creatures 1/8 +1 per 20 creatures 1/4 +1 per 10 creatures 1/2 +1 per 5 creatures 1 +1 per 2 creatures 2 +1 3 +2 4 +3 5 +4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

DR is used similarly to a creature’s AC.

Initiative & Stealth Initiative and stealth are two stats taken directly from the creature’s stat block. If a unit consists of different creatures, the lower stats of every unit are kept and used in the unit’s card. A unit has proficiency in stealth only when all the creatures that comprise it have proficiency in Stealth (that includes the commander).

+5 +6 +7 +8 +10 +12 +14 +16 +18 +20 +25 +30 +35 +40 +50

Morale Every unit has a morale level that represents how eager or desperate the units are in the fight. Depending on the level of morale each unit has a modifier as presented in the table below. Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9

Depending on the unit’s BR, it has a modifier. Units increase their BR Modifier by 1 per 5 BR. For example the unit of Orcs above has a BR Modifier of +2 since it has 10 BR. If it had a BR of 5, its modifier would be +1. Always round down. A unit with a BR of 8 would still have a BR Modifier of +1. This is the unit’s attack bonus as we’ll explain in the “Combat” section.

Modifier Description -10 Breaking -8 Desperate -4 Discouraged -2 Shaken 0 Normal +2 Eager +4 Courageous +8 Inspired +10 Unbreakable

Every time a unit must make a morale check it uses this modifier then adds the commander’s charisma modifier and any bonuses or penalties from abilities. A morale check’s DC is 10.

Defense Rating A unit’s Defense Rating (DR) simulates the combat effectiveness of a unit when defending. A unit’s DR is determined using its BR modifier.

A unit that is reduced to half its original BR must make a Morale check or retreat. As long as the unit remains under half its

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original BR, every time it suffers casualties, it must make a morale check or retreat. However, even if it succeeds it drops a Morale Level.

Speed A unit’s speed, because every round takes 1 minute, is its normal speed times 10. For example a normal guard has a speed of 30ft. A unit of Guards would have a speed of 300ft. If a unit consists of different creatures it uses the speed of the slowest creature.

Abilities Abilities in units function the same as commander abilities but they must be used by the entirety of the unit. For example a unit of archers can use fire arrows to attack war machines, a unit of orcs fights like a horde and they may gain some bonuses when attacking near allies etc. you can find examples in Appendix B.

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make the unit’s card. After you do that, fill the unit’s card with the following stats: Number, CR, Initiative, Stealth, and Speed. Add the commander’s Charisma Modifier to the initiative or keep it separate if you intend for the commanders to move from unit to unit during the battle.

Creating a Unit Unit Size & Space A unit is a group of soldiers or monsters fighting together as one group. To make it easier for the DM to handle, a unit is comprised of up to 400 tiny, small, or medium creatures taking up space of 100x100 ft.(or 20x20 squares if the suggested grid scale) and larger creatures take up more space as shown in the table below.

BR & DR Total Once you have created the unit only a few details remain. Total up the BR and its modifier including any mounted creatures just like you would for any other creature. Then proceed to fill the DR as explained in “Defense Rating”.

Creature Size in Units Size Tiny Small Medium Large Huge Gargantuan

Space in Unit 1 (5x5 ft.) 1 (5x5 ft.) 1 (5x5 ft.) 4 (10x10 ft.) 9 (15x15 ft.) 16 (20x20 ft.)

Unit Abilities Choose from the list in Appendix B or make your own abilities depending on the type of unit you want to create. Once again, go wild!

Morale Level For example, a unit can comprise of 25 gargantuan creatures and 200 medium creatures. The total space taken up is 400, 200 for the medium ones and 200 for the gargantuan ones. If the unit does not reach the size limit it still takes up the limit’s size to make it easier to represent on a grid.

A unit’s base Morale Level is 4. Start with that and then decrease or Increase depending on factors that might change a unit’s morale. Examples of such factors are:   

Once you do that, write down the number of creatures and their CR.



Commander As mentioned above, each unit can have a commander. It can be either a common one, someone special (maybe someone important in the campaign, a king or a general etc.) or even a Player Character. Create the commander’s card before you

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One of the armies is vastly outnumbered An important figure leads an army A great victory was achieved or a great defeat was suffered recently One of the armies wields a fearful weapon

engines. However they can also attack infantry, skirmishers, cavalry and machines only with disadvantage. The only exception is when the target is large enough.

Disassembling a War Machine A war machine can drastically change the balance of power in a battle. Most of the times you’ll see them used in sieges but their use is not limited there. War machines can inflict great casualties on the enemy infantry too.

Machine. These types of siege engines are commonly used to inflict casualties from long range. They cannot target walls and other siege engines unless specified otherwise. For example a ballista can use fire projectiles to attack a siege tower and set it ablaze. The same applies for a wooden wall.

Armor Class War machines do not have a BR and DR like units. Instead we use Armor Class(AC) to simulate how easy it is to damage.

Hit Points Hit Points in war machines are used to represent how easy it is for the siege engine to break down or get destroyed. The HP of a war machine is not decreased by suffering casualties like any unit. Siege engines and other forms of attacks against war machines must have a separate damage die.

Guard Unit The unit that is currently wielding/using a war machine is considered a guard unit. Whenever the war machine is attacked, unless specified otherwise the attack is made against the guard unit. The guard unit is just like any other unit with the difference that the war machine itself takes up space in it (with exceptions). That means that when you create such a unit you have limited space for the unit’s creatures.

Speed Just like units, war machines have a speed of their own. When a unit wields/uses a war machine, the war machine’s speed becomes the unit’s speed.

Type

Abilities

In general we can split siege engines into two categories: Siege Engine and Machine.

War machines can use abilities in exactly the same way as commanders and units with one slight difference. They are passive and their effects come into place only when manned (Active).

Siege Engine. These types of war machines are commonly used to damage structures like walls buildings and other siege

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Creating a War Machine

War Machine Conditions

War Machine’s Size & Space Before creating a war machine you have to decide on the size of it. Depending on the size, the number limit of the guard unit changes.

War machine conditions are not too different from the unit ones that we’ll see later on, meaning that they have a trigger and an effect.

Type & Stat Block

Condition

After you pick a size you have to choose what type of war machine it is. It can be a siege engine or a machine one or maybe even a hybrid if it fits your campaign setting.

Manned

Unmanned

After you do that, pick an AC and HP that fits your engine. There is no rule to limit you here but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be fair. Keep in mind that the enemy must be able to hit the engine even if they have to roll really high and that the engine must be able to at least take one or two hits. If your war machine can attack, determine a damage die that would fit its destructive capabilities.

In combat (Manned)

Destroyed

Speed is tied to the weight of the engine and the creatures that wield it. A siege tower might have a speed of 60ft. when being pushed by soldiers for example and 80ft. when trolls are added to the mix. Don’t overdo it, though. War machines are heavy and slow-moving, even the lighter ones.

Trigger A unit used an action to become a guard unit. The engine has no guard unit An enemy unit is adjacent to the war machine The war machine drops to 0 HP

Effect Its speed becomes the unit’s and all abilities begin taking effect All abilities are not active and its speed is 0

Its speed becomes 0

It can no longer be manned

Walls and gates could be considered siege engines with a speed of 0ft., because they function the same way. If you want to manage the damage on a large structure like a castle wall or an important building you could split it into groups of 5 squares (using the suggested grid. That way when it gets destroyed you can know exactly the number of creatures that fall along with it.

War Machine Abilities Choose from the list in Appendix C or create your own. Go wild already!

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Initiative

Combat

Step 2 Similar to the Player’s Handbook,

each unit will have initiative representing the order of combat. However, because the Dungeon Master will have a lot of units to control, and that is a difficult task on its own, no unit will make an initiative roll. Each unit will have a base initiative as explained in the “Dissecting a Unit” section.

Alright, so you have created your units and war machines and the opposing armies are ready to clash! Combat is structured the same way as in the PH in the sense that you determine surprise, roll initiative and each unit gets a number of actions and so on. But let’s go into more detail.

Determine Ambush

Many units will have an equal score in initiative using this system. As a solution to that, try rolling a base d20 for units that have the same initiative. Another solution is to split it to Army 1 and Army 2, roll a d20 and whenever there is a tie in initiative, Army 1 (for example) goes first, depending on the roll.

Step 1 First we have to determine if a unit is

surprised. However because we are talking in units and not creatures, a unit that is “surprised” is being ambushed. How do we determine that? A unit that is trying to hide in a location that would allow it (a forest, behind a hilltop etc.) must roll a stealth check against the enemy unit’s perception (determine that by using the lowest perception of the creatures that comprise the unit), if the creature is expecting battle or passive perception (determine that by using the lowest passive perception of the creatures that comprise the unit) if it’s not. For example, a unit that is traveling close to an enemy stronghold will expect battle and a unit that is transferring goods between two towns will not.

Taking Turns Step 3 Every round, units take turns in

initiative order starting from the highest. During a unit’s turn, the unit can move, take an action and/or use an ability. Movement. The unit moves a number of feet (or squares if you’re using the suggested grid) equal to its speed. If it encounters an enemy unit within melee range, it stops and is then considered “in combat”. That means it can no longer move out of the enemy unit’s reach without taking an opportunity attack, unless it takes the “Disengage Action”. An opportunity attack is a normal attack just like the unit would do on its own turn. If a unit turns to face a different direction it uses a quarter of its speed (¼) for every 90o it turns.

During an ambush the attacking unit inflicts +1d4 casualties for the first 2 turns and every time it does the defending unit must make morale check or retreat.

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Actions. Each unit can take one of 3 actions: Attack, Guard and Disengage. 

Using an Ability. A unit can freely choose to use an ability in battle. The unit then proceeds to follow the ability’s instructions. Read the ability carefully. Some may require you to sacrifice the unit’s action.

Attack: A unit that chooses to attack an enemy unit within range must make an attack roll using its Battle Rating modifier against the enemy unit’s Defense Rating. A successful or not hit will determine if the enemy suffers casualties or not, according to the table below.

Repeat Step 4 Step 3 is then repeated for each unit

in initiative order. Then a new round begins starting from unit with the highest initiative. Remember to determine ambush at the start of each new round. The battle is over when all the units of one side are broken and/or retreating.

Suffering Casualties (Casualties are subtracted from the unit’s BR not Number)





Critical Fail

The attacker suffers 1d4 retaliation casualties

Failure/Tie

The unit with the highest BR wins. On a tie both sides suffer 1 casualty.

Success

The enemy unit suffers 1d4 casualties

Critical Success

The enemy suffers 5 casualties and must make a morale check or drop a morale level

Counting Casualties Step 5 After the battle is over it is time to

count the losses. Take each unit and count how much BR it lost in casualties. 10% of that is creatures that managed to escape. After that use the “Battle Rating by Challenge Rating” table to determine the exact amount of creatures that survived. Do the same for the remaining BR and add the two numbers. Always round down. Repeat for the rest of the units.

Defend: A unit that chooses to defend gets the following effects: 1. Any enemy unit that moves and/or ends its turn in range of the defending unit is attacked by it. This does not apply on skirmisher units. 2. Enemy units that attack the defending one, have disadvantage on the roll. 3. The unit’s speed becomes 0. Disengage: A unit that takes the disengage action can move out of an enemy unit’s melee range without getting attacked.

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Units Conditions Just like any creature in normal combat can be in certain conditions like “dazed”, “stunned” etc. so too can be the units. However because a certain number of creatures being blinded is irrelevant to the overall battle the conditions of a unit are different. Conditions in units are presented in the table below. Condition

Trigger

Effect

Unorganized

A unit that has no commander.

Disadvantage on all rolls

In combat

A unit that is in melee range of an enemy unit.

The unit cannot move but only change direction, unless it takes the disengage action.

Routing

A unit that fails a Morale check to retreat (BR below half/Ambushed etc.).

The unit must spend its move action moving as far away from the enemy forces as it possibly can.

Flanked

A unit that is attacked from the sides or back in melee range.

The unit suffers +1d4 extra casualties and every time it does it must make a morale check or retreat.

Outnumbered

A unit that is In Combat with 1 or more units that their combined BR is double or more than its own.

The unit has its Morale Level decreased by 1. Morale goes back to normal if the unit stops being outnumbered.

Last line

A unit that is considered “the last line of defense” in the narrative or for whatever reasons the DM chooses.

The unit is inspired and therefore its Morale Level can’t be lower than 8.

Hidden

A unit that is either unseen or hidden from the enemy preparing for an Ambush.

Any attack the unit makes against unsuspected units are considered “Ambush”.

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BR modifier when it ambushes an enemy unit.

Appendix A – Commander Abilities

Merciless. The soldiers are ordered to leave none alive. Any casualties that the commander’s unit inflicts are fatal casualties.

Beast tamer. If the commander leads a cavalry unit then it has advantage on Perception checks against being ambushed.

Necromancer. The commander is a necromancer and will use any dead body to their advantage. If a unit (enemy or friendly) within 60ft. suffers casualties, 1(one) of these casualties becomes zombies that join the commander’s unit.

Born leader. The commander’s unit raises its morale level by 1 at the start of the battle. Folk hero. The unit is inspired by having their hero fight on their side and gains advantage on morale checks as long as he commands it.

Rally. Once every 5 turns the commander can rally a unit that is retreating and is within 60ft of the commander’s unit. The target stops retreating and is back in the fight.

Frightful presence. The commander instills fear at the hearts of his enemies. All enemies of the commander within 60ft. of the unit have -2 on all Morale checks.

Show of force. The commander leads not with their charisma but with pure strength. Whenever the Commander’s Charisma modifier is needed you can choose to use Commander’s strength modifier instead.

General. The commander is the general of the entire army. Every friendly unit within 60ft. is inspired and gains 2 levels of Morale. If the commander dies or his/her unit breaks, nearby friendly units within the same range lose that benefit and also decrease their Morale level by 2.

Stealth expert. The commander specializes in sneaking around and striking only when the time is right. The unit gains +2 on all stealth checks. Synchronized volley. If the commander’s unit is a skirmisher one, every time it makes a ranged attack, all skirmisher units within 60ft. of it make an attack against the same target. Their attacks do not count as their actions.

Inspire. Once every 5 turns the commander can increase the BR modifier of a unit not further than 60ft. by 2 for 2 turns. Intimidate. Once every 5 turns, if the commander’s unit inflicts casualties, the target must make a morale check or retreat. Lurker. The commander specializes in ambushes. Therefore the unit has a +1

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Known enemy. The unit has advantage on BR checks against enemies it has fought before.

Appendix B – Unit Abilities

Monstrous attack. A unit of monsters instills fear to the hearts of the soldiers that are brave enough to face them. Each time the unit inflicts casualties the target must make a morale check or suffer 2 more due to attrition.

Born warriors. They live and die in battle. Born and bred to fight, the unit has advantage when fighting against all infantry and all skirmish units have advantage against it.

Specialized skirmishers. When attacking an enemy unit with a skirmish attack the unit gains a +2 BR modifier but when attacked in melee range it has a -2 DR.

Bound by ritual. The unit is bound by a ritual. Maybe a necromancer raised the dead. Maybe a powerful wizard charmed the king’s guard. Either way the unit will automatically be destroyed if the caster dies or is forced to break the ritual.

Spikes. The unit can put spikes in front of its starting position before the battle. Spikes inflict 2d4 casualties to cavalry units when they move through them.

Cautious retreat. The unit can move freely out of reach of an enemy unit without taking the disengage action.

Vicious ambush. During an Ambush the unit inflicts +2 casualties.

Ferocious charge. If the unit (cavalry) moves at least 40ft. this turn and attacks, then that attack is a ferocious charge. On a successful hit the unit inflicts +1d4 casualties breaking the enemy line and can continue to move through the unit with half the speed. The unit must also make a morale check or suffer another 2 casualties on a fail. While inside an enemy unit, if targeted by a skirmish attack the enemy unit will also be considered a target.

Total defense. When the unit takes the guard action it inflicts +1d4 casualties. Undead. A unit of undead blindly follows the orders of its master. Therefore, it cannot retreat and can only be destroyed if its BR reaches 0. Unorganized unit. The unit has no sense of organized combat. Either because of lack of proper leadership or plain old stupidity, the unit has disadvantage on all rolls plus all enemy units have advantage on all rolls against it.

Flaming missiles. The unit ignites its missiles giving it the ability to damage flammable structures and war machines.

Worg cavalry. A cavalry unit that uses worgs, because they are terrifying and strong creatures on their own, inflict 1 extra casualty.

Horde. The unit fights like a horde and gains +1 BR modifier for every similar ally unit that is adjacent to it.

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guard unit’s size but melee attacks against the guard unit have advantage.

Appendix C – War Machine Abilities

Invisibility cloak. The war machine as well as the guard unit is protected by magic. A cloak of invisibility covers both and enemy units are unable to see them and therefore target them. A unit can attempt to pinpoint their location by noticing where the projectiles are coming from and must make a DC 10 perception check to do so. After it does, the war machine and its guard unit are targetable but with disadvantage. The cloak has a range and melee units can move through the cloak and discover the machine.

Bound by nature. The war machine (siege engines and walls included) is covered in a thick layer of vines and moss. Whenever it takes damage, if the damage is equal or lower to 4 then the vines soak up the damage and regenerate at the start of the next round. If it takes damage again before it regenerates then the damage applies normally. Hot oil. A war machine can use its “Hot Oil” ability once every 3 turns. When used, the unit (friendly or not) that is adjacent and in front of the machine will suffer 3 casualties.

Quick load. The war machine can fire two shots this turn but the next 2 turns will have disadvantage on all attack rolls.

Cover. Skirmish attacks against units wielding this war machine have disadvantage. Flaming shots. The guard unit ignites the missiles it loads dealing an extra 1d4 damage to war machines. Front cover. Units that are using the war machine cannot be targeted by skirmisher units from the front or sides. Intimidating shot. The unit wielding the war machine loads and fires a shot of body parts gathered from their enemy. The target must make a morale check or drop a level of morale. Transport. The unit wielding the war machine is inside the machine itself. The machine does not take up space in the

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