Mass Combat
Although it is theoretically possible to run a combat with dozens or even hundreds of active participants, such battles last interminably and quickly stop being fun. As a result, Exalted uses the following rules to abstract mass combat into the existing system by making battle a clash of units rather than individual characters. Units do not fight in the standard one-tick increments of individual battle. Instead, they track time with long ticks that last approximately one minute each. Storytellers should keep in mind that these rules aren’t appropriate to every engagement, particularly if the clash of armies only serves as a dramatic backdrop to smaller-scale personal combat. Once protagonists become involved in the direction of mass combat or the Storyteller wishes to leave a battle’s outcome to dice rolls and strategy rather than a plot device, use these rules. Moreover, mass combat in Exalted assumes that unit leaders fight at the vanguard, leading from the front rather than the safety of the rear. Those who wish to direct a battle from the rear are not unit leaders. Instead, they take the role of generals, using relays and standard bearers to communicate orders to the unit leaders under their command. Therefore, a distant general can direct an entire force but cannot personally rally troops to victory through her own prowess.
Units
You Wear Them
The metaphor of the rules is that the military apparatus of mass combat is merely an enhancement to the commander. Troops comprise a bonus for their leader, adding to his traits. In addition, troops marching in formation possess the ability to force their context on individuals they engage. Characters who come into contact with aggressive units of troops will be forced to fight them as solo stacks in mass combat, not as heroes facing a large number of individuals in normal combat. This is a part of the nature of Creation, and Storytellers shouldn't let characters fight individual members of units once the unit is gathered together in the field.
It's worth noting that units in mass combat are rarely destroyed through sheer damage unless they are set upon by a truly ferocious supernatural power. More often, units are rendered ineffective by exhaustion and gradual loss of Magnitude by failed morale checks, until their commanders stand alone and unaccompanied on the battlefield.
Every unit on a battlefield falls into one of two broad categories. First, there are solo units, who are individual characters that are not part of any group. However, most units are complementary units, made up of a commander and all those who directly follow her orders. Statistically, a complementary unit is its commander, with trait bonuses awarded according to the numbers, equipment and training of her troops. The special traits of complementary units include:
Magnitude: The size of a unit.
Drill: The trained discipline of a unit.
Endurance: The physical reserves of a unit's members. Solo units also have this trait.
Might: The overall mystical power of a unit, factoring inmagical equipment.
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Rating: The skill of the unit members at attacking.
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Damage: The lethality of unit members when attacking.
Armor: The average protection provided by unit members' armor.
Morale: The overall bravery of a unit.
Special Characters: A non-numerical listing of important characters within a unit's ranks.
Formation: A non-numerical trait that describes a unit's current tactical arrangement.
Magnitude
The Magnitude of a unit is a direct assessment of the number of characters that are part of it. High Magnitude confers the advantages one would expect; such units inflict more damage and can take more damage (as expressed through casualties). However, large units have trouble executing orders with any speed. Consequently, most professional militaries strike a balance, breaking their forces into manageable unit sizes, each led by a different commander. The following table assumes that a given unit is made entirely of extras (apart from the commander). If this is not the case, then the appropriate number of health levels indicates how many standard combatants a character type qualifies for. For example, heroic mortals have seven health levels instead of three. This means that every heroic mortal is worth a little more than two unit members.
Since heroes have a substantial advantage, Magnitude rounds up to a factor of 3. Exalted and other magical beings might qualify for substantially higher factors. Each Magnitude value over 9 has a maximum member size double to the previous rating.
| Magnitude | Members | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | Solo |
| 1 | 2-10 | Fang |
| 2 | 11-75 | Scale(s) |
| 3 | 76-150 | Talon |
| 4 | 151-300 | Wing |
| 5 | 301-650 | Dragon |
| 6 | 651-1,250 | — |
| 7 | 1,251-2,500 | — |
| 8 | 2,501-5,000 | Legion |
| 9 | 5,001-10,000 | First Age Legion |
Drill
While sheer numbers can win a battle, disciplined training is what separates an angry mob or a howling barbarian horde from professional soldiers. The Drill trait represents the degree to which rigid military discipline, marching and formation practice and individual combativeness have been instilled into the unit. Drill provides flexibility, allowing units to rapidly change formation as needed to respond to threats. It also enhances the survivability of troops, keeping them together and their formation dressed even in the press of battle.
Drill is not a function of average personal prowess, but rather, a cooperative spirit ingrained through intense training. As such, the trait cannot be precisely calculated based on the average statistics of unit members. To determine this value, consult the following table for reference examples.
| Drill | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Undrilled | Solo units; mobs, throngs, rabbles, warbands, thugs in uniform |
| 1 | Barely Disciplined | Poor village militia, gendarmes, low quality troops |
| 2 | Disciplined | Good militia, mediocre troops, Imperial peltasts, Lintha pirates |
| 3 | Crisp | Excellent militia, good troops, Imperial medium foot, Seventh Legion reservists |
| 4 | Crack | Excellent troops, Imperial heavy foot, Seventh Legion line troops, Immaculate monks, Mountain Folk warriors |
| 5 | Flawless | Superb troops, the Legion of Silence, tiger warriors, Seventh Legion veterans, brass legionnaires, brides of Ahlat, veteran Mountain Folk warriors |
Endurance
Although units composed of automata or the walking dead might be functionally tireless, mortals cannot march and fight indefinitely. Therefore, every complementary unit has an Endurance rating equal to its (Drill + Stamina). For solo units, Endurance equals (Stamina + Resistance). This trait decreases precipitously over the course of a battle. If Endurance drops to 0, the unit is at -2 on all actions from fatigue effects.
If unit members have not rested for several hours before a battle, subtract the fatigue value of the troops' armor from their starting Endurance.
Might
Instead of figuring out every power that supernatural forces bring to the battlefield and trying to figure out the complex interactions thereof, Exalted mass combat abstracts such capability into a single rating. To figure out a unit's Might, use the following table, adding the best equipment bonus (if any) that applies. Keep in mind that the following numbers assume that the overwhelming majority of unit members possess the listed powers and/or equipment. A handful of Exalted scattered among a throng of their followers do not impart Might to the whole. Instead, such individuals qualify as special characters. Few units outside of the Army of Heaven qualify for Might greater than 3 in the Second Age.
| Might | Unit Composition |
|---|---|
| 0 | No supernatural abilities; strictly mortal troops. |
| 1 | God-Blooded, trained thaumaturges, young Dragon Kings, average ghosts, Mountain Folk warriors. |
| 2 | Younger Terrestrial Exalted, neomah and other non-combative First Circle demons, weak gods and elementals, ghost warriors, young faerie nobles, elite Mountain Folk warriors. |
| 3 | Older Terrestrials or younger Terrestrials with numerous Charms for enhancing one another, Immaculate monks, young Celestial Exalted, erymanthoi and combative First Circle demons, lesser combative deities such as lion dogs and scarab guardians, veteran nemissaries or war ghosts, experienced faerie nobles |
| 4 | Experienced Celestial Exalted or very old Terrestrial Exalted, Immaculate masters, Second Circle demons, Dragon King elders, warlike divinities such as celestial lions. |
| 5 | Lesser elemental dragons, elder Celestial Exalted (Essence 6+). |
| Bonuses | Equipment |
| +1 | Thaumaturgical talismans and alchemical potions. |
| +2 | Basic magical armor and weapons, powerful thaumaturgical artifacts such as gunzosha armor. |
| +3 | Essence-discharge weapons, magical power armor such as warstriders or dragon armor. |
| +4 | Powerful First Age artifacts or divine weapons. |
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Rating
Every complementary unit has a Close Combat and Ranged Attack Rating, representing the overall skill of its members. To derive the values, take the average (Dexterity + appropriate combat Ability) for all unit members and halve this pool, rounded down. A unit has access to its Close Combat Rating only when equipped with appropriate weaponry. Even though a regiment of archers could theoretically punch and kick their opponents in close combat, the fact that they are carrying bows means that they can use only their ranged attack. If every member of a unit carries the same weapon (which is generally the case), the Accuracy of that weapon factors into the attack pools before halving them. Therefore, a squad of elite soldiers (Dexterity 3, Melee 4) equipped with chopping swords (Accuracy +1) would have a Close Combat Rating of 4.
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Damage
These traits measure the amount of injury that units can inflict with their close combat and ranged attacks, respectively. To derive these values, average the damage of the primary weapons carried by the unit members. (This is just the weapon damage if they all have the same weapon.) Then, divide (Strength + weapon damage) by three, rounded up. Do not factor in the effects of any Charms or non-constant bonuses/supernatural effects. For example, the aforementioned elite infantry (Strength 3) with their chopping swords (+5L) have Close Combat Damage 3.
Armor
This trait measures the resilience of armor worn by unit members. Divide the full lethal soak of the troops by three, rounded up. The mobility penalty for a unit equals the average mobility penalty of its members, rather than that of its commander. Hardness ratings for a unit equal the average Hardness and require that all members have at least that rating or better as a result of innate powers, magic or equipment.
Shields
In order for the commander to gain the DV benefit of a shield, it is necessary for the majority of the complementary unit to use shields.
Morale
As every wise commander soon learns, high morale can lead weaker units to victory over larger and better-equipped units. Conversely, low morale saps the effectiveness of the best units. The Morale of a unit equals the lower of either its members' average Valor or the Valor rating of its commander. In the case of mounted units, Morale uses the average Valor of the steeds if that is less than the soldiers' normal Morale. Units comprised chiefly of walking dead and automata have perfect Morale even if their commander does not, indicating they automatically succeed on any Morale check (and therefore do not bother making them). Assorted battle magic can temporarily confer perfect Morale or an equivalent bonus on other units.
Special Characters
In the most basic unit formations, the commander is the only person of importance and guides his followers through heroic example and prowess. In practice, however, such a simplistic model carries numerous weaknesses. First, a warband led by a champion risks falling apart entirely if that champion falls in battle. Therefore, it is advisable to have lesser officers on hand who can assume command if the worst comes to pass. Second, commanders cannot efficiently manage large units on their own, so they require aides to repeat and carry orders through the unit. Finally, a commander/followers model fails to take advantage of other distinguished combatants within the horde who can contribute unique skills or powers to the success of a unit.
A complementary unit may have a maximum number of special characters equal to (Magnitude x 2). These can be freely mixed and matched from the three options that follow, and unit commanders do not count against this limitation. However, unless they are directly targeted, all special characters in a unit always survive until the unit loses its last dot of Magnitude, when they sacrifice their lives at the last to protect their commander.
At the end of a battle, or whenever a unit regains points of Magnitude during a battle, all special characters in excess of the unit’s normal Magnitude limit must leave the unit.
Hero
These characters are subofficers who are capable of assuming command if their unit commander dies. Furthermore, heroes may attack other units in close combat as if they were solo units, effectively giving their unit additional (but weaker) attacks. Finally, heroes can break away entirely and take part of a unit with them, transforming the breakaway group into a new unit under their own command. A hero can lend her Close Combat Rating to her unit, using her trait rather than the unit leader's, but this trait is limited as normal by the commander's War.
Sorcerer
These characters might be actual sorcerers, skilled archers or neutral observers embedded deeply in the ranks for their own protection, but First Age tactical manuals such as The Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier use the designation "sorcerer" for all such individuals. Sorcerers can lead the unit in missile fire, lending their rating in the place of the unit's. This is limited by the commander's War rating, as normal. In addition, sorcerers have the capability to make ranged attacks independently of their unit, but they cannot assume command or lead troops to break away into new units as heroes can.
Relay
Possibly the most important special characters to organized military units, relays are the assorted drummers, buglers, standard bearers and signalmen who carry the commander's orders through the ranks. Units with a Magnitude of 3+ must have at least one relay for every dot of Magnitude, or else, they suffer communication failure. This means the unit can only assume the unordered formation and it suffers a penalty of -2 to its effective Drill. Besides passively maintaining order and communication, relays can stand in for the commander when the unit hesitates and tests for rout, and in other situations when commands are vital.
Formation
Trained military units can assume any of four basic formations as best suits changing battlefield conditions. Because these formations measure the density of large units rather than describing the actual geometric structure of their deployment, commanders can order any particular configuration that fits in the listed strictures. The denser a formation's structure is, the higher the Drill rating necessary to execute it.
Unordered (Drill 0)
This "formation" is a total absence of such—a loose band of like-minded combatants rallied behind a charismatic leader. Unordered units can win battles by sheer dint of numbers, but they fight at a distinct disadvantage against better-organized units. Only barbarians field their forces in such a chaotic manner by choice, although professional units may be forced into unordered drill if directed attacks take out the relays necessary to maintain order.
Skirmish (Drill 1)
In this formation, unit members stand far enough apart that they could barely reach one another with a long staff. This increases mobility and minimizes the casualties imposed by arrow volleys and other ranged attacks, but it leaves the formation more vulnerable in close combat against units that can rush into the gaps in the ranks.
Relaxed (Drill 1)
This is the default formation, spacing unit members wide enough apart that they can each touch the nearest soldier's fingertips if they spread both arms wide. Relaxed formation takes a middle road between skirmish and close, gaining no advantages nor suffering any of the drawbacks of the others.
Close (Drill 2)
In this compact arrangement, soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder without any gaps for enemy troops to press through. Close formation ranks fight with maximum synergistic efficiency, gaining bonuses to their defenses and morale. However, their tight spacing leaves them more vulnerable to area-effect attacks from siege weapons, sorcery, First Age Essence discharge weapons and the like. On modern Second Age battlefields, such weapons are less common, so professional forces usually engage enemies in close formation.
Other Unit Rules
Although mass combat rules abstractly represent complementary units as characters, they remain groups of individuals. This situation confers a range of special rules modifications:
Targeting
Any magic or effect that specifically targets one character must be directed at the commander or a special character within the unit, rather than at the unit as a whole. Effects that extend to multiple targets must be capable of affecting a number of individuals equal to the unit's Magnitude to affect the unit. Effects that target an area rather than individual targets must reach most of a unit in order to affect that unit. Effects that extend to every target in sight work if the majority of the unit is within line of sight.
Note that a commander may use reflexive and/or supplemental Charms to benefit his own unit's actions regardless of the unit's Magnitude. In this case, the Charm activation does not actually represent a single Charm use, but rather, a repeated and dramatic use during the action ticks that is reinforced by the unit's own action. For example, an Archery Excellency could add dice to the attack of a 300-man wing, which translates to a particularly effective archery volley rallied by the example of the commander's own skilled archery. Adamant Skin Technique does not actually grant every member of a unit invulnerability, but rather, represents a unit failing to lose enough soldiers to translate into a lost health level. For a particularly small unit, this might mean the leader threw himself into the path of the enemy like a mother bear guarding her young. In a larger unit, his example of heroism inspired the unit to greatness so that only a handful died or deserted. Obviously, not every Charm translates into such a rationalized context, so the Storyteller will have to adjudicate every new Charm use to see if it possibly makes sense (vetoing those that do not). That said, Storytellers should be lenient when it comes to interpreting unit-supported Charm uses, erring on the side of drama and coolness whenever in doubt.
Immunities
Complementary units do not suffer wound penalties or any other internal penalties not universal to all members. Similarly, groups cannot suffer knockback or knockdown—magical or otherwise—unless the effect encompasses every member of the unit (such as an earthquake). If a unit is successfully knocked back or down, it must check immediately for rout. Units may not be grappled; the closest equivalent to a mass combat grapple is an Envelop attack. Crippling effects must be able to simultaneously affect every member of a unit in an identical fashion to have any effect at all.
Order of Battle
Declaration of War
Small-scale battles begin when a character uses the Join Battle action to switch the scene from narrative time to combat time. Large battles follow the same general process, switching from narrative time to war time when a unit commander initiates the Join War action. Apart from name and scope, Join War is almost exactly like Join Battle, prompting all units who see the initiator's aggression to reflexively Join Battle as well in response. The roll to determine the characters' first action for Join War uses ([Wits + War] – Magnitude). Solo units use (Wits + Awareness) as normal, as do any heroes or sorcerers who wish to independently calculate their initial action in order to act separately from their units.
Unexpected attacks in mass combat are resolved similarly to normal surprise attacks but require actual concealed ambush to enact. A unit cannot spring at another unit in a peaceful situation and take them by surprise, since a unit that is in sight will betray its intentions too soon for any possible bonus. The roll to conceal a unit is ([Dexterity + Stealth] – Magnitude) but otherwise follows the same rules and is resisted by the highest (Perception + Awareness) of the commander or any special characters in any unit that has a chance to spot the ambush.
Action Options
The actions possible in mass combat parallel the actions available in standard combat (see [Action Options Summary). Similarly, each action has a Speed that determines how many long ticks the unit must wait before acting again, as well as a DV penalty indicating how much the action impairs defense. The following changes apply.
Move
Units move at X times their normal movement rate per long tick, where X is a Speed modifier based on the formation of the unit (see the accompanying table). For solo units, apply this multiplier after subtracting any penalties from wounds or armor. Unlike many tasks, the movement rate of a complementary unit is not based on its commander's statistics, but rather, on the average Dexterity of unit members (minus the average mobility penalty of the armor with which the unit is equipped).
| Formation | Speed Multiplier |
|---|---|
| None (Solo) | x100 |
| Unordered | x30 |
| Skirmish | x100 |
| Relaxed | x70 |
| Close | x40 |
Terrain Effects
Although terrain can certainly play a role in personal combat, the small scale of such conflicts lessens the tactical significance. In mass combat, terrain is extremely significant. Units gain the usual DV bonuses for cover and height, using the following guidelines to determine the cover afforded by a particular condition: tall grass (25% cover); heavy terrain such as boulder fields and forests (50%); makeshift field fortifications, siege lines, dense jungle or bamboo groves (75%); bunkered in prepared stone fortifications (90%). If multiple conditions apply, only the most advantageous determines the cover afforded. In addition to providing cover, terrain also affects movement options:
Open: Terrain is considered open if it provides a maximum of 25% cover and both mounts and humans can run through it without difficulty or risk of serious injury. Any unit can move freely through open terrain.
Difficult: This terrain allows infantry to pass with normal movement (but not with a dash). However, the land is dense or unstable enough that horse-sized mounts move across at half speed (after all modifiers) and chariots, wagons and limbered artillery cannot pass through at all. Examples include forests and other conditions affording a maximum of 50% cover.
Extreme: This terrain is all but impassable. Infantry moves through at half speed, and anything larger cannot pass. Examples include abatis, thick underbrush, marsh and the like. When actual barricades are the source of extreme terrain, they may be attacked as if they were an oak door, with each destroyed section opening a path wide enough for a unit to pass and deep enough to move a full move action through.
Cavalry
In order for a unit to receive the usual benefits of being mounted, every member must sit astride a comparably sized steed. More importantly, every rider must have a Ride rating equal or better than the control rating of their mount. For larger mounts, passengers in a howdah do not need to meet this requirement. Otherwise, the only battlefield consideration associated with cavalry is that such units have a Morale based on the average Valor of the steed type if that value is less than the average rating of the riders. The following table assumes average values. Therefore, some horses will be faster than others, especially those of superior breeding such as the herds of the Marukani.
| Mount | Speed/Long Tick | Valor |
|---|---|---|
| Horse | 200 yards | 2-3 |
| Simhata | 400 yards | 4 |
| Elephant/Mammoth/Yeddim | 100 yards | 3 |
| Chariot | 2/3 speed of team | team average |
| Drawn Artillery | 1/2 speed of team | team average |
Flight
In order for a unit to receive the standard benefits of flight, all members of the unit must be able to fly, whether by their own power or through some artificial conveyance. Flying units do not occupy the same space as units below them unless they land (at which time they cease to be flying units).
Dash
In mass combat, a dash is called a charge or a forced march and has the same Speed multiplier for formation order as a basic move. For mounted units, a dash action doubles their listed Speed for the duration of the action. This rate is calculated assuming average unit statistics. Solo units can dash normally without a roll, but complementary units require greater coordination. To execute this maneuver, the unit must be in a formation other than unordered, and the commander's player must roll (Charisma + War) at difficulty (the unit's Magnitude – Drill)—minimum difficulty 1. The Endurance of any unit that makes a charge immediately decreases a number of points equal to the average fatigue value of the armor worn by unit members.
Guard
Units following this order focus on defense, an advisable tactic for steadily advancing units under fire from ranged volleys.
Inactive
The inactive action remains in mass combat to accommodate units prevented from doing anything. However, since a unit cannot be knocked unconscious or grappled, such circumstances rarely come up in play. A spell that induces sleep across a wide area is an example of what would be required to make a complementary unit inactive. Of course, solo units could become inactive far more easily.
Miscellaneous action
Besides the aforementioned Join War action replacing Join Battle, a number of additional miscellaneous actions are possible and often necessary within the scope of mass combat. Note that multiple units cannot coordinate attacks, since coordination of combat effort is implicit in the unit structure. If multiple solo units wish to band together, they must take the Merge Units action for each to fold into the group, designating a unit leader and any special characters. Quite often, it is better for such characters to remain solo than to band into such a weak unit where the rank-and-file assume a disproportionate risk of dying.
Change Formation (Speed 5, -1 DV)
By giving this order, a commander can rearrange a unit's configuration for maximum tactical advantage. The unit must have sufficient Drill to assume the desired formation, and the commander's player must successfully roll (Charisma + War) at a difficulty of (the unit's Magnitude – Drill)—minimum difficulty 1. If any relay in the unit has a better (Charisma + War) than the commander, use her pool instead. If the unit was attacked since its last action, add one to the difficulty. If that unit is currently engaged with an enemy unit, add two instead. The benefits and drawbacks of a new formation go into effect immediately, making the Change Formation action ideal for pulling a spread-out unit into a tightranked close order to hit an enemy's lines with a flurry. Units can wait to take their usual afforded move on a tick until after completing this maneuver.
In addition to changing formations as a normal action, commanders can also order their units to spread out when they come under missile fire. Resolve the incoming attack completely, including damage, and then make the usual command roll to switch. If successful, the unit immediately assumes Skirmish formation before the next tick, but the commander must also test for rout at increased difficulty for the formation.
Disengage (Speed 0, -0 DV)
Once a complementary unit attacks another complementary unit in close combat, the two units are considered engaged. In order for either group to move away from the other, it must first perform a successful Disengage as an automatic reflexive action. Doing so requires a successful roll of ([Wits + War + Drill] – Magnitude) against a difficulty of (the opposing unit's Drill + 3). Disengaging is not necessary to take any other actions except retreating.
Turn (Speed 3, -1 DV)
Although individuals can whirl to face their adversaries on all sides, large units lack such flexibility. Complementary units may reflexively shift the direction they face by less than 90 degrees on any long tick in which they take another standard action. Turning more than 90 degrees requires this miscellaneous action to achieve. Roll the (Charisma + War) of the commander or the best relay at a difficulty of (the unit's Magnitude – Drill)—minimum difficulty 1. If a unit suffers an attack aimed from directly behind it, this attack imposes the usual advantages of an unexpected attack.
Split Unit (Speed 3, -1 DV)
Events over the course of a battle might make it necessary for part of one unit to break away and become a new unit. Doing so with this action is automatic, provided that the parent unit can spare a hero to become the commander of that unit. Calculate the Magnitude of the new unit based on the numbers allocated to it and recalculate the Magnitude of the parent unit based on the losses. Even if the breakaway group is small enough that the loss does not constitute a full point of Magnitude loss, the parent loses a minimum of one Magnitude dot (representing the disruption caused by an immediate restructuring of the command chain). As many special characters as the new unit's Magnitude can hold may be ordered to follow the unit as it splits away.
If a new unit lacks sufficient relays (and it often will), the new unit cannot assume a formation besides unordered. Furthermore, both the original and the new unit risk suffering hesitation and becoming automatically unordered as a result of the maneuver. To prevent this, roll the (Charisma + War) of the commander or the best relay in each unit at a difficulty of (the unit's Magnitude – Drill)—minimum difficulty 1. Add two to the difficulty if the original unit was engaged with another unit at the time of the split. Expelling a single special character from a unit to become a solo unit is far easier and may be done as a Speed 0, -0 DV reflexive action on any tick. The character cannot resist, although it is always possible that she may turn around and challenge her former commander to a duel.
Merge Units (Speed 3, -1 DV)
If two allied units take significant casualties, they may join together to form a whole and stronger unit. When this happens, one of the two must use this action to successfully absorb/assimilate into the other. Doing so triggers both commanders' players to make a reflexive (Charisma + War) roll at a difficulty of (their own unit's Magnitude – Drill)—minimum difficulty 1. If either fails, the merge fails, and the unit (or units) that failed hesitates. If successful, the larger unit adds the numbers of the smaller to its own and recalculates Magnitude, while the smaller unit ceases to exist. Either commander may assume control of the merged unit, but if there is a dispute, the commander of the larger unit retains control. Similarly, all special characters from the smaller unit may fill vacancies in the merged unit, but any characters in excess of the unit's limits must either leave and immediately become solo units or fade into the rank and file (from which they may not be retrieved for the remainder of the battle).
Far less dramatically, two friendly units may exchange or transfer special characters, provided that the units are adjacent. This is also a form of Merge Units action, but the difficulty for both commanders to succeed is only 1. Failure merely delays the transfer until they can try again. This also happens if a heroic solo unit wishes to enter ranks and join as a special character and the unit has space for another such character, save that the joining character's player does not need to make a War roll.
Signal Units (Speed 3, -0 DV)
While every unit follows the dictates of its commander, each unit commander reports back to a central general that guides them all toward victory. A unit may use this action to send a signal across the battlefield to a maximum number of units equal to the number of relays the sender has in its ranks. Such messages are usually coded or not intended to be private, such as an order to charge.
Rally (Speed 4, -1 DV)
Effective commanders know that passion and personal charisma can lead a unit to victory. Performing a rally requires that the commander step out from the ranks and address the troops, after which the commander's player should roll (Charisma + [War or Performance]) at a difficulty of (the complementary unit's Magnitude – Drill)—minimum difficulty 1. A relay can stand in for a commander in this. The effects of a successful rally depend on the speaker's objectives:
Organization: Success promotes one rank-and-file character to take the role of relay. Units cannot surpass their usual limit of (Magnitude x 2) special characters, so a unit cannot rally endless extra relays as a preemptive measure against relay casualties or future growth.
Numbers: Success draws scattered allies to the unit's banner, increasing its Magnitude by 1. Assume that the unit has the minimum personnel necessary for that new Magnitude. Should the unit not have sufficient relays to accommodate its new Magnitude, it immediately becomes unordered until such time as the commander appoints new relays with another rally. Commanders can rally for numbers only if another allied unit with a greater Magnitude lost a dot of Magnitude earlier in the same battle. A unit can rally to recover its own panicked deserters in the event that it loses Magnitude. Rallying for numbers is not a miracle and does not resurrect the dead or create soldiers out of thin air, so the Storyteller can veto this use of rallying if no reinforcements are available.
Second Wind: Success restores a number of Endurance points equal to the unit's Drill rating (minimum 1). This cannot increase an Endurance rating above the unit's Magnitude.
Flurry
Note that a unit can attack only one other unit with an action, even with the aid of a flurry. However, a flurry is an excellent means of attacking the same unit repeatedly.
Activate Charm/Combo/Power
During mass combat, commanders, solo units and special characters within a complementary unit may use Charms or Combos as appropriate to standard timing rules, substituting long ticks for standard ticks. Such characters may use any reflexive Charm at any point in any long tick, regardless of what Charms they have used prior in the tick or recently. Spells are a slightly different matter. Characters permitted to use Charms may fully cast one spell of any level as a Speed 5, -2 DV action. If a unit leader does this, the casting consumes the action of the unit, as they provide support and cover. It is far more tactically efficient, however, to leave spells to designated sorcerers (as in the special characters of that designation). Spells that take longer than five minutes to cast may not be cast more quickly, instead requiring the appropriate preparatory period before the sorcerer uses a single casting action to complete the magic.
The normal members of a unit may not use individual Charms or spells at any time during mass combat, as their magical prowess (such as it is) is a function of the Might trait. Note that Charms with a scene duration last for a full battle regardless of how long that battle lasts.
Attack
Within mass combat, attacks resolve in the same overall sequence. However, the assorted bonuses granted by a complementary unit to its commander modify pertinent rolls. Moreover, such units do not keep track of health levels in the usual fashion. Most importantly, an attack by one unit against another is not a single attack, but rather a sustained volley of missiles or clash of ranks.
Unit Bonuses
For the most part, a complementary unit has the same statistics as its leader. It uses her personal traits, such as Virtues, Willpower and Essence. Whenever a commander has her unit take any action, she uses the standard Ability rating or her War rating (whichever is less) for the dice pool. This means that her War rating acts as a cap for her other Abilities in mass combat, so a commander with Dexterity 3, Melee 5 and War 4 has an effective Melee of only 4 and a seven-die pool for Melee. A unit leader adds her unit's Close Combat Rating and her unit's Ranged Combat Rating as bonus successes to close and ranged attacks, respectively, applying this bonus immediately after the attack roll. The number of bonus successes added from unit attack ratings cannot exceed the commander's War rating, before applying modifications from formation. For example, a character with War 3 commands a unit with a Close Combat Rating of 4. Ordinarily this means the character would only add three successes (the limit of her War rating), but in close formation, a unit's Close Combat Rating and maximum bonus from Close Combat doubles (i.e., six successes). After establishing the bonus successes added by a unit's combat skills, add an additional number of successes equal to the unit's Might. So, a crack unit of young Dragon-Blooded archers with Ranged Combat 5 and Might 2 commanded by a character with War 4 would add six successes to ranged attack rolls.
Magnitude can also play a roll in the success of actions. If one unit attacks another and those units do not have the same Magnitude rating, the larger unit applies the difference in bonus successes to its attacks or subtracts the difference from the successes of attacks by the smaller unit. This bonus/external penalty cannot exceed +/-3. Besides improving attacks, Might also adds to the commander's Essence rating to determine if particular effects can target the unit and/or to help him defend against the effects of hostile Charms. A unit's Close Combat/Ranged Damage Ratings each add to the raw damage of close and ranged attacks, respectively, while a unit's Armor adds to its commander's natural bashing, lethal and aggravated soak. One half a unit's Close Combat Rating adds to the commander's Parry DV.
Formation Modifiers:
Close formation doubles the unit's Close Combat Rating, as well as doubling the DV bonuses awarded by shields and cover against close combat attacks. However, enemy units attacking a unit arranged in Close formation double their own Magnitude for the purposes of ranged attack bonuses. Finally, units in Close formation subtract two difficulty from all hesitation rolls.
Relaxed formation doubles shield and cover bonuses against ranged attacks.
Skirmish formation doubles shield and cover bonuses against all attacks and adds an additional +3 DV against ranged attacks. Enemy units who attack a unit in skirmish formation with a close combat attack double their Magnitude for the purposes of calculating attack bonuses. If the attacker is arranged in Close formation, the attacking unit's Magnitude triples. Units in skirmish formation add two to the difficulty of hesitation rolls.
Unordered units add two to the difficulty of hesitation rolls.
Ranged Attacks
Because every attack with ranged weapons represents a volley, every "shot" consumes three ammunition rather than one. This means that most troops only have four shots for bows if they are mobile or seven if they have taken up a fortified position from a prepared emplacement. Sorcerer-type unit members using bows or other ranged weapons consume three times the normal ammo with each shot as well. Additionally, the range increments of a unit's volley assume the equipment of the unit rather than the commander, so a squad of archers led by an Exalt armed with a powerbow would not benefit from the superior range of the powerbow. Weapons wielded by sorcerers are not bound by this limitation, allowing them to serve as snipers.
Enveloping
Designated a close combat attack as enveloping imposes a -2 external penalty and requires that the attacker's Magnitude be at least 1 higher than the target's. If successful, the larger unit spreads out and flanks the smaller from both sides, trapping the smaller unit in the center. If the trapped unit attempts to Disengage, add three to the difficulty. If the larger unit attempts to disengage, add one. Until one of the two disengages, the effects of enveloping remain.
Attacking Commanders and Special Characters
Killing a commander can cripple or outright dissolve a unit, making assassination the ideal means of defeating a larger force. However, such a "called shot" is seldom easy. The attacker suffers an external penalty to the attack equal to half the Drill or Magnitude of the target unit (rounded up). If the target unit is presently unordered, use the lower of Drill or Magnitude. Otherwise, use the larger. Furthermore, an attack against a unit commander must be done with ranged weapons, or else the attacker's unit must have engaged the intended victim's unit on a previous long tick. The victim may defend normally. Should any attack successes penetrate the victim’s defenses, levels of damage subtract directly from the commander's health levels rather than those of the unit he commands. If slain, a hero in the unit can and must take his place, or else the unit begins to dissolve (see the "Mob Rule" sidebar). This same system resolves attacks against special characters within a unit, but sorcerers double the Magnitude of their unit when determining its defensive bonus.
Initiate Duel
When armies clash, many hundreds or thousands die. In the world of Exalted, compassionate heroes and champions might valiantly step out of their ranks to face one another while their units pull back and watch. Indeed, many battles in Creation merely serve as a prelude to such duels.
Initiating a duel requires that two units be engaged in combat. Either the commander or a hero designated by the commander must step forward as a champion. If a hero wishes to engage in a duel without her commander's permission, she must first hijack her unit's action. If the target character does not wish to accept the challenge, then the challenger makes a standard attack roll without unit bonuses as a called shot. If successful, no damage is dealt, but the target is forced into a duel. If the target voluntarily accepts the challenge, no roll is necessary. Regardless, initiating a duel counts as an attack for purposes of action speed and DV penalty.
Once a duel begins, both participants step outside of war time. The passage of long ticks temporarily halts in breathless anticipation. In the midst of the battle, both combatants automatically perform Join Battle actions and start a normal personal combat against one another, with any scene-length Charms still active from fighting in the mass combat. This duel plays out until one character is dead or incapacitated, or until both participants choose to withdraw back to their armies. At that point, the long tick count resumes. Killing a commander in a duel has all the usual effects of such, forcing immediate replacement by a hero or the unit dissolves.
Subterfuge is often predominant in these matters. Characters who are serving as special characters in the involved units can meddle in the duel as normal characters. Characters not part of the units or serving in their rank and file are without recourse, though the Storyteller may rule otherwise for very distant characters who stand ready to act at vast remove guided by some remote sense.
Also, obviously, dishonorably conducted duels will not carry much weight in diplomatic negotiations. Currently, it is thought highly ignoble to slay characters by meddling in the duel. Units whose special characters perceptibly break the sanctity of the dueling- ground suffer an immediate hesitation test at +2 difficulty. This is likely to change as the Time of Tumult grinds on and the wars of Exalts become more absolute and less a sporting diversion.
Unit Damage
The minimum damage that a unit inflicts with each successful attack is not the Essence rating of the commander, but rather, the Magnitude of the attacking unit. All complementary units begin play with full health equal to the leader's maximum, regardless of the current health of their commander. Units composed wholly of extras and led by extras would have only an extra's base health levels. Where possible, armies see that the leaders of units are at least heroic mortals, but what proportion of units consists purely of extras is probably best left to Storyteller taste.
When units take damage, the damage subtracts from this separate health track until they reach Incapacitated. At that time, the unit resets its health back to full and loses a dot of Magnitude.
A particularly severe attack can actually press through this cycle multiple times, costing the unit multiple dots of Magnitude. Once a unit drops to Magnitude 0, everyone is dead save the former commander, whose own health remains wherever it was at the start of battle (lowered by any successful called shot attacks at the commander during the war). Whenever a unit loses one or more Magnitude from a single attack, the commander's player must check for rout.
Note that units will very rarely be destroyed entirely by damage. This would represent a unit that had to be killed to the man, its formation hanging tight unto the last. This is true to automata and supernaturally crack troops, but more often, units will suffer hesitation due to damage and lose levels of Magnitude in that fashion, as troops shy from fighting or rout entirely.
Units do not bleed, risk infection or spend prolonged actions dying. In a similar vein, anyone who falls to Incapacitated on a battlefield dies from a coup de grace if they belong to a unit that is currently engaged with an enemy. Storytellers can make occasional exceptions for dramatic purposes, so a dying soldier can issue a last message or a protagonist can miraculously live to fight another day, but fallen Exalts can count on intensive enemy efforts to confirm their demise.
Casualties
Mob Rule
Players and Storytellers reading through these rules might wonder how they model large numbers of leaderless disorganized adversaries, such as zombie hordes and angry torch-wielding mobs. The simplest way is to give the mob a leader. Zombies typically follow the necromancer who created them, and unless they are given very specific orders and constant direction, they tend to scatter and rampage through the countryside. Angry mobs usually have someone at the forefront spurring the group onward. The standard assumption of these rules is that units deprived of a leader disintegrate, but an army doesn't just vanish off the map in the span of a minute. It takes time for the ranks to crumble in demoralized panic (or wander off without direction, in the case of automata and zombies).
To handle this, the leaderless unit immediately assumes unordered formation and recalculates its core statistics as if an average member were the leader (which may be an extra, meaning that the unit now has only three health levels per dot of Magnitude). All relays immediately fade back into the ranks, lost in the confusion, while sorcerers must either break away as solo units or also fade into the rank and file. Lacking special characters, no characters can be singled out for attack. The unit must continue whatever general action plan it was in the process of doing when it lost its leader. (Units engaged with an enemy unit must continue to fight, while those marching to specific location keep moving until they get there.) Once a unit completes its task (defeats the enemy forces pressing against it, reaches the destination, etc.), it cannot move or do anything else except repeatedly guard. If attacked with ranged weapons, it can defend itself and thereafter respond with its own ranged attacks or move to engage the enemy unit in close combat. If attacked and engaged in close combat, the unit can defend itself and fight back, but it slips back into waiting as soon as it triumphs. Most importantly, leaderless units make an automatic check for rout at the beginning of every tick in which they have completed a course of action and are just waiting for orders that aren't coming (i.e., upon defeating an enemy or reaching the destination). The difficulty starts at 0 and cumulatively increases by one every time this specific rout check is made. Even units with perfect morale must make this check, rolling five dice. Therefore, a large horde of zombies might hold together long enough to devour a band of militia, but once it has done so, the zombies start wandering off.
The advantage of gradual disintegration is that a unit deprived of a leader can still fight on as it crumbles, possibly avenging its leader. More importantly, a hero from another allied unit can attempt to break away and rush to the floundering unit, reaching the soldiers in time to assume command before the whole unit falls apart. If these rules add undue complexity—if it furthers the story for a leaderless unit of extras to balk and perish in its hesitation without having further effect on the battle—don't use them. Assume the unit disbands and ceases to have an impact on the battle immediately, as the individual soldiers perish or flee.
Even in the bloodiest of slaughters, not every character who is lost when a unit loses Magnitude actually dies. Many flee. In the best-case scenario, wounded soldiers withdraw to the back of the ranks so that they can serve in future battles. However, people do die in war—many, many people. If a character belongs to a unit that lost any dots of Magnitude, roll (her Wits + Willpower) against a difficulty of the largest number of Magnitude points the unit lost from any one attack. If the roll fails, the character died during the battle. On a botch, she lives, but she must live out the remainder of her nasty, brutish existence with the agony of the gruesome maiming she suffered. All survivors must then repeat this roll with a difficulty of the total number of Magnitude dots lost in the battle. If this rolls fails, roll one die. The result is the number of unsoakable lethal health levels of damage the character suffered, which could still be sufficient to kill her. Following this, mortal survivors should check normally for infection.
As noted previously, unit commanders and special characters are protected from random death as casualties, at least until they are the only characters remaining. If a character does not wish to take part in hostilities and accept the risks of warfare, she had best desert at the soonest opportunity and keep running, for most armies take great pains to make examples of cowards and traitors.
Exhaustion
Every time a unit attacks or suffers an attack, that unit risks losing an Endurance point once the attack is resolved. Players of commanders or their best relays can avert this loss with a reflexive (Charisma + War) roll at a difficulty of the Fatigue value of the troops' armor. A number of modifiers apply to this roll, adding or subtracting from the difficulty as follows (minimum difficulty 1):
| Circumstance | Difficulty Modifier |
|---|---|
| Unit's Morale 3+ | -1 |
| Unit has perfect Morale | -2 |
| Unit is engaged with an enemy unit | +2 |
| Unit charged as last action | +1 |
| Hot weather/snowy | +1 |
| Desert/blizzard | +2 |
| Extreme temperatures | +3 |
Units with no Endurance remaining suffer a -2 penalty on all actions from fatigue.
Healing and Recruitment
While solo units recover from wounds like the characters they are, complementary units cannot miraculously regenerate reinforcements. Instead, a unit must spend a period of wellsupplied rest recruiting or integrating reinforcements sent by superiors. Healing a single dot takes a number of days equal to (the current Magnitude of the unit + 1), repeating the cycle as many times as necessary to recover full strength. Once the unit regains its first point of Magnitude in this fashion, it also regains full health. During an actual battle, limited healing is possible through rallying, but this is simply a reallocation and regrouping of forces.
Hesitation and Rout
On the battlefield, failure and despair can be fatal. The undead hordes of the Deathlords and the combat automata of the First Age don't feel fear, but mortal units that believe themselves beaten soon become so. Whenever a unit experiences a rout condition (see the following table), roll the unit's Morale at standard difficulty. Apply a dice penalty/bonus equal to the unit's (Magnitude – Drill), and adjust the difficulty according to the condition that triggered the rout check, as well as the unit's current formation:
If a rout check succeeds, nothing happens. On a failure, the unit hesitates. It cannot move until its next action. Worse, the unit loses one dot of Magnitude by every success by which the roll failed. This loss goes into effect immediately but has the dubious benefit of resetting the unit's health track to full. This does not displace heroes or sorcerers, but it might force extraneous relays to fall back into the rank and file.
| Event | Difficulty Modifier |
|---|---|
| Suffering Magnitude loss from damage | +0 |
| Receiving the first ranged attack since the unit's last action | +0 |
| Receiving a ranged attack from flame or Essence weapons | +1 |
| Being the subject of a spell | +1 per Circle |
| Becoming engaged with an enemy unit | +0 |
| ...that is superior or led by a supernatural being | +1 |
| ...that is overwhelmingly superior or composed of supernatural beings | +2 |
| Successfully disengaging from an enemy unit | +1 |
Special Character Actions
Until and unless they act independently of their unit, special characters do not need to be tracked as separate units in the tick rules. If a player wants to have a fast special character act prior to a slower, larger army, he may perform a Join War action for that character as if she were a solo unit when battle begins (using [Wits + Awareness] for the Join Battle roll as usual). If a player does not do so, the character cannot act independently until a long tick when her unit takes an action. Once a special character does act, it becomes separate for the purposes of timing and may remain "out of sync" with the unit until and unless the character uses Guard to wait and realign. "Falling back in line" is always a valid action to perform for the action of a special character's unit, provided the character can act. This action allows the player to stop declaring the special character's actions again until some future action tick of the unit when the player decides to have the character take a separate action again.
When a special character acts separately from her unit, she does not receive any of the benefits of the unit except that a called shot is necessary for anyone else to personally attack her. Sorcerers always remain with their unit for the purposes of determining the range of their attacks or spells. Heroes must attack an enemy unit with which their unit is already engaged (or a special character thereof) in order to remain part of their unit's ranks. If a hero wants to run off and assault some other unit on the battlefield, she must be ejected to become an actual solo unit (or take part of the unit as a smaller breakaway unit).